IT WAS A SHOOTOUT FOR THE ROYAL SPA TOWN

On Wednesday 31st August 2005 Tunbridge Wells FC  played a replay against Littlehampton Town FC in the FA Cup. On the previous Saturday, they had drawn 1-1 by the seaside and going back to Royal Tunbridge Wells and the Culverden Stadium, the Wells drew after extra time 2-2.
Then began the penalty taking ritual in which after 20 shots at goal each, Tunbridge Wells ran out winners, 16-15. Despite having a stadium that held over 3,000, a miserly crowd of 122 only saw this record breaking shoot out and in the next round, weary from their exertions, the Wells lost 0-2 to the Metropolitan Police FC.
The previous record for penalties under such conditions was 24.
Founded in 1886, The Wells reached the heady positions of the second round of the FA Cup during the 1930s and in 2013 got to Wembley, only to lose to Spennymoor in the FA Vase.
A spa town, Tunbridge Wells has much to celebrate and not pay the penalty.

A FULL DAY'S WORK FOR THE AMATEURS

Guernsey FC from the Isthmian League Division One South, played Phoenix Sports, a Kent side from Division One North, on Saturday in the FA Cup and this meant the following timetable. 

Most away games are like this for the islanders, with players having to organise their week's football to fit in work, most of the players are amateurs.

The game at Phoenix was brought forward to a 2pm kick off  to allow the Islanders time to get their plane home. After being ahead with minutes to go at 2-1, the visitors let the lead slip and Phoenix forced a replay. The Guernsey boys cannot play replays at "home", an agreement made with the FA when the club first joined the league. Obviously travel costs for their opponents were considered too expensive and times unsociable. 

So the Guernsey FC are taking their opponents to the Dripping Pan at Lewes on the 2nd September.

Ironically, the winners of the replay will host Lewes in the next round, so the Green Imps may be playing the first ever FACup tie on the island on the 12th September.

THE MRS SAYS..."LET'S GO OUT"

I was driving from Malton, north of York, to Barnsley this afternoon and missing all the football news. Actually sometimes I forget that football is on....well not really but there were quite a few distractions, such as Women's Ashes, Rugby selection, Rugby League, FA Cup prelims, Mo Farrah.... until I saw a sign for Stanford Bridge; one of the great medieval battle grounds in Yorkshire. I immediately thought of Chelsea.

Meanwhile, at the London Stamford Bridge, Chelsea lose and drop more points.

Jose will take his wife out for dinner. Today was his 200^th league game with the Blues and coincidentally, if he had won, it would have been his 100^th win at Stamford Bridge; it is likely that they would not go out.

Mrs Mourinho, Matilde, says “He is more likely to take me out when he loses”. I wonder if he has been seen on the streets tonight.

If he had won then he would have things organised at home and he would have had a “quiet night in “

Sometimes Jose walks through Chelsea after a match and enjoys the banter from the locals as he heads home. I wonder if he would have been approachable tonight?

He has, at home, won 76, drawn 22 and his only previous defeat was against Sunderland in April 2012. That made 99. With John Terry sidelined due to a recent red card, Palace manager, Alan Pardew, knew he had a chance. Look what happened! Pardew, once at Newcastle, has done it before.

LINNETS, DUCKS, MOLES, BUCKS-MUST BE THE CUP

There are 160 fixtures in the FA Cup Preliminary Round starting tonight with AFC Liverpool v Radcliffe Borough, St Ives Town v Norwich Utd with Wantage Town v Didcot Town (right by the railway museum) looking to progress.

Then with the majority of ties on Saturday and a few on Sunday, these will complete the latest phase of matches towards the most famous Cup Final in the business.

I have followed a few clubs since the first qualifying rounds, especially since Penistone got knocked out and I shall be watching the progress of Pontefract Collieries who are away at Runcorn Linnets. The Linnets club is run by a Trust and has only been operating since 2006. Nice name-no explanation for why?

Coleshill Town-heavy winners in the last round by 11-0, are drawn at home but have to play away at Stafford Rangers because of ground problems.

Risborough Rangers victors over Ampthill (my brother's local) are at home to Aylesbury (note, not Aylesbury United) whilst Cowes Sports (mentioned with the Spurs history thing)
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/linnets-cowes-and-spurs.html are on the island v Wimborne Town.

Aylesbury United (known as the Ducks) played a full England XI in 1988 in preparation for the nations assault on the European Championships. In 1994-5 in a fairly successful FA Cup run (meeting QPR in the Third Round proper) the team made their goal celebration “the Duck Walk” famous and even made a TV programme “They Think Its All Over”. 

Aylesbury FC has been a club since the 1930s but only known as Aylesbury since 2009. Nicknames the Moles they get their name from....you guessed it, moles that dig up their pitch!

Another island team, Guernsey, kick off early at 2pm at Phoenix Sports, a team based near Bexley. Cove, from Hampshire, the shortest name in the draw, host North Leigh, near Witney. Getting nostalgic, one of my old clubs, Horsham, are away at Deal Town in Kent and Godalming travel to Marlow, Bucks.

BUGS v CHINS?

To be honest I am a little short of ideas for today's massive impart of information. Rooney's hat trick, Barnsley's 3-5 defeat at home to Everton or another story involving John Stones. Nice piece in the DTelegraph about paying attention to detail. I watched a junior player get stuffed by his full back time and time again recently because he kept turning on to the full back's good foot! Why not take the ball on the other side? It can't take long to work that out?

Anyway the one fixture that stood out today was a United Counties League Division One match between Bugbrooke St Michaels and Northampton Old Northamptonians Chenecks, Yes! all of those.

So Bugbrooke have a facility that allows them to make progress in the pyramid, if they could and to play in FA Vase and Cup matches because their ground has stuff like a barrier round the pitch and a “tunnel” for the players to walk out through....I ask you?

Bugbrooke therefore played in the Vase since 1999-00 and the FA Cup from 2012-13.

The ONs, on the other hand, don't have stuff near their pitch and cannot make their way into the proper cups or leagues, but they are happy. They derive from the Northampton Grammar School and a far sighted gentleman who formed a team at school to allow boys to play football rather than rugby. I think that happens a lot as there are some very good soccer players in our rugby schools.

Chenecks comes from the gathering of various letters from the four Houses that exist in the school. Houses make for competition and you know the old fashioned GSchools and PSchools love competition.

So Chenecks comes from Chipseys, Spencer, Beckett and St Crispins (you work it out??). The team was formed in 1946, joining the town league in 1950 and the UCL in 1969. There has been no venture into ground development so the next stage is out of the question. It's only a game after all.

Good luck lads. (badge is ONs!)

WAG WORKS

Thanks to Jermain Defoe and his use of money, I am now on the case of the £25 million worth of footballer, Morgan Schneiderlin, who earns £10 a minute playing in the Manchester United squad, totting up to £100,000 a week, allegedly. Good for him and may it last long.

In the meantime, his girlfriend, Camille Sold, who has come to live in the luxury of the north-west of England, is not following in WAG footsteps, for she is working in the Manchester City centre Adidas store, taking home about £15,000 pa and she seems happy with that.

It's just a hobby when your partner is paying the rent and everything else, but all credit to her for not basking in his shadow and sitting at home reading fashion magazines. Morgan seems a decent sort of chap and Camille clearly has her head screwed on.

How do we know she is a shop assistant? Well, she wears his United shirt number 28 and she is not hiding behind the counter, manning the tills and helping on the shop floor. Avid United supporters have put two and two together. Oh and yes, Morgan has been seen picking her up from work and walking home with her. Good girl!!

It's not quite that simple though, because Camille, who has been dating Morgan since early this year, is living with him at the moment at the 5 Star Lowry Hotel and is a Management and Marketing undergraduate, who has moved from home city Strasbourg. Perhaps she is on a work assignment?

I think she has other irons in her fire though since she appeared on the TV programme "KohLanta" the French version of Survivor and could well blaze a career in film?

Refreshing!!

ITS JOB LOT

As Jermain Defoe advertsies for a PA and is offering a salary of between £50-60,000 pa, I was amused to read about Stuart Ripley, a ex-Blackburn Rovers footballer, a flying winger, who won the Premier league with his Lancashire club in 1995. Ripley is now 47 years old and a qualified solicitor and law lecturer working in the north-west.

He started his playing career with Middlesbrough playing over 240 times, he then went to Bolton, Rovers (188 games), Southampton (53) Barnsley on loan and Sheffield Wednesday. He also played for England U21s and the England full team twice. Goal scoring was not his strength though, slotting only 44 goals in his entire career between 1985 and 2001.

Ripley played with some of the greats including the "Shearer and Sutton" forward line, whom he was clearly supplying with great crosses and passes!

He then went to university at 34, read French, Criminology and took a Law course. With a post graduate course in addition, he joined a Manchester firm and described his move as “away from football which is not real life.

Jermain Defoe is clearly not living in the “real world” as he announced today, his need for an Executive Personal Assistant. The job is not quite a cosy as it seems because the lucky applicant will have to water plants, fill his fridge, look after his and his mum's diary, manage family members and pets, turn water into wine and divide the Red Sea ETC ETC.

He or she will have to create a Jermain Defoe Global Brand in London not in Sunderland where the prolific scorer is working at the moment. The position is working for Defoe Enterprise Ltd and this demands being on call for 24/7. Apparently selecting and organising his wardrobe is one task on the list.

I wonder is Stuart Ripley is looking over his shoulder at Defoe's demands and wondering if the PA might also do a degree on behalf of the Sunderland striker.

WORTH MORE THAN A RANSOM

I wasn't quite sure what I should do about this video footage (SEE BELOW), which is of poor quality and therefore we must realise how lucky we are to be able to view our great players on film accurately. This film does not do Alfredo di Stefano much credit but it will have to do since today marks the 52nd anniversary of this giant of 1950-60s football being KIDAPPED.

Yes, snatched by the National Liberation Army Front in Caracas during Real Madrid's pre-season tour in South America. They wanted a propaganda operation to bring the World into listening to their demands. Revolutionary, Paul del Rio got his chaps to abduct "the greatest footballer in the world" at that time. August 1963? Pele? Puskas?
Stefano was an Argentinian by birth, played for his home nation 6 times, he was a veteran Colombian league player who represented that country 4 times and ended up with citizenship and playing in Spain 31 times scoring 23 goals.

After being "held captive" for three days, he was released unharmed and even sent his kidnappers a letter thanking them for their hospitality
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCAlqBamBjs

As a player he was best known for his time with Real Madrid in the 195s0 and 60s, known as Saeta Rubia, the blonde arrow. Real were the strongest side in Europe at that time. I watched him and his team in all white, on TV, thrash Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in the European Cup Final at Hampden Park.
He turned out in over 500 club matches and scored over 400 goals.

In management, he worked in those three countries and made his mark in Spain at Real Madrid, twice in short spells when he led his team to 5 runners up medals in various competitions. In 1983 he was defeated in the European Cup Winners Cup by Aberdeen and manager Alex Ferguson!

Alfredo died on the 7th July 2014 aged 88 following a heart attack and illness.

he is playing against England here in the celebratory match for the 100th year of the FA, in 1963; FIFA v England.

AIR CRASH AND WORTHING UNITED FC

Born in West Sussex and having played many times in Worthing and against senior teams from the coastal town, I am distressed to hear the news that two Worthing United FC players were killed in the dreadful Shoreham Air Show crash on the A27 this weekend. The club plays at Step 5 in the pyramid and were Division Two champions last season.

In the shadow of Lancing College chapel, an independent school nestled in the South Downs, the plane crash took place, bringing carnage to the Shoreham by-pass, a busy road that runs past the Shoreham Airport. Lancing College has a fabulous footballing reputation and over the years will have provided a good foundation for youngsters in the area and hosted matches involving teams of Worthing boys.

The two youngsters, aged 23, from the Southern Combination Premier League team, were in the wrong place at the wrong time and stood no chance when the plane came down.

Matthew Grimstone, a goalkeeper, and Jacob Schilt, a lively midfielder, were on their way to a game against Loxwood FC, to the north of the county, when the disaster happened. The game was postponed of course.

It will take a long time for the club to recover from such as travesty, but the best way to remember the lads will be to get on with the season and play in their memory. All footballers and fans will share the club's sadness

THERE'S A QUIFF IN THE AIR

Ian McMillan's piece in the match day programme, demanded that Barnsley footballers should “...run thi blood to water” and so I guess many of the Barnsley footballers did that today in their 0-0 draw with bottom of the table Bradford City. This was a Yorkshire derby; over 10,000 came to watch; nearly 2,000 from West Yorkshire and the rest from the South. I basked in a very hot sun in the East Stand for three quarters of the game.

The Bard of Barnsley enjoyed the amazing hairstyles on show, especially George Smith's “incredible undefeatable quiff” but it was the home centre back Marc Robert's flashing and gelled quiff that won the hearts of the crowd, who by some social media miracle were able to tweet their choice of Man of the Match to the Barnsley FC IT department before the end of the match.

Roberts, 25 years old, is another product of the amazing Penistone DNA that has recently provided English football with John Stones and Louis Reed.; local boys make good. Roberts signed a three year contract this season having joined the Tykes from Wakefield, Worksop and Halifax Town.

So Marc well done on your success and well done Barnsley for hanging on to a 0-0 draw, despite the various acts of nature that contrived to change the result of their Saturday afternoon, with only 20 minutes of the game left.

The game could have gone either way prior to this, quite frankly, and it wasn't a master piece, but as a cumulo-nimbo cloud hovered over Oakwell, a clap of thunder brought the two crowds to a moment of silence, as people thought lightning and went “ooooeeerr”!

At this point the Barnsley midfield number 7, Josh Scowen, fell over on the edge of his third, as if struck by a bolt and gave the ball to a surprised Bradford centre forward, who with the keeper just to beat really should have scored. He didn't.

The rain fell, the crowd moved to the back of the stands (there was room!) and the game went into chaos as 22 men struggled to concentrate on the new pitch conditions, wet shirts and “lubricated” hair styles.

Blades might not have been the appropriate footwear with 15 minutes to go, the light, silky ball and greasey pitch created many other hurdles for players who are testing their skills in what is only a Division One game, so not a very accomplished standard. Barnsley hit the post with just about the final attack of the game. they should have nicked it.

DRAWN TO SPORT-HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEN TAYLOR

Happy Birthday Kenneth Taylor! Who he? The Daily Telegraph birthdays list tells me that Ken is 80 today, so why not tell you about a sportsman who has other irons in his fire.

Ken played cricket for Yorkshire and England, three tests between 1959 and 1964. As a spin bowler, he had several “darts up his sleeve to get out stubborn batsmen”. His father worked in the textile mills on a loom as a weaver and his maternal grandfather was a ventriloquist who operated a Punch and Judy show on Blackpool seafront.

Brother Jeff also played football for Huddersfield, Fulham and Brentford and went to London University to read Geography and he joined the Royal College of Music and became an opera singer.

Ken played football for Huddersfield Town from 1953 to 1965, appearing 250 times and England U23s briefly, before going to Bradford Park Avenue (then a league side) from 1965-7 and finally to Sligo Rangers in Ireland, for a few games 1968.

On the 21 December 1957 he played in an extraordinary league game between Huddersfield and Charlton Athletic. With the London side down to 10 men, the Terriers went on a rampage and were 5-1 up with 27 minutes to go when Johnny Summers went on a spree and scored 5 goals, as well as assisting in his teams other two. Final score 6-7 to Charlton. Never before (or again) has a Football League team scored 6 and lost.

In the summer Ken played for Yorkshire CCC between 1959-68, a team that dominated County Championship cricket and won the third Gillette One Day Final in 1965.

Ken played 313 games for his county, a dour batsman, scoring over 13,000 runs at an average of nearly 27, he also took 131 wickets and 150 catches, fielding was what he was best known for. He only played a few games for England but he did open the batting with Arthur Milton against India and scored 160 against Australia on Yorkshire soil at Sheffield in 1964.

Having broken his finger in the game he did not play for his country again, but truned to art which was his favoured skill. He studied at the Huddersfield School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art in 1956, eventually becoming a professional artist, teaching in Norfolk for 30 years. His biography “Ken Taylor: Drawn to Sport” by Steven Chalke was published in 2006. His son Nick also played first class cricket.

http://www.examiner.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/huddersfields-ken-taylor-drawn-sport-7192817

AT THE DOUBLE

On the 20th August 1960 Tottenham Hotspur had begun a new season having come third in the First Division (in those days the top division) in the previous campaign. Burnley had won the title that year. Playing Everton at White Hart Lane, in front of over 53,000 fans, the two teams were heading for a draw when the England centre forward, Bobby Smith, who was more bull than gazelle, was brought down in the box for a penalty, but the referee played advantage and Les Allen, a silky number 10, took advantage and slotted the first goal. Two minutes later Smith scored the second to send the Spurs to the top of the league. 

Smith was from North Yorkshire and he scored 176 goals for Spurs in 271 games. He started at Chelsea, went to Brighton briefly and I saw him play for Hastings United in an FACup qualifier at Horsham Town. He was on his way down by then and actually quite old! His career with England was fairly successful with 15 goals in 13 games.

By the end of the season Tottenham had won the league and the FA Cup, beating Leicester City in the 1961 final.

I saw Spurs draw 4-4 with Burnley at WHLane in front of a crowd of over 58,000, a game Spurs were well in charge at half time, 4-0, until John Connelly, an England winger, and Ray Pointer, also an England centre forward made their mark. Pointer was a proven goal scorer but he only played three times for England scoring twice. Spurs scored 115 goals that season and conceded 55, the second lowest in the division.

The next season, Leicester represented England in the European Cup Winners Cup because Tottenham were playing in the European Cup, as it was known then, Aston Villa won the Football League Cup, Birmingham City played in the third Inter Cities Fairs Cup (open only to one city from each European Country-16 countries participated) and lost in the final to Roma over two legs. Sheffield Wednesday were first Division runners up and Newcastle and Preston were relegated.

IT'S ONLY MONEY AFTER ALL

Phil Neville is putting his Cheshire country home up for sale at £3.5 million. It has four floors six bedrooms, a swimming pool, cinema, games room blah blah blah, to keep the chaps happy.

The room with the signed football shirts and the indoor pitch are a bit special. And if you don't fancy the stairs, take the lift.

The selling agency describe the house as one of the most advanced technologically-plenty of IT and gadgets to keep the missus occupied.

It is understood that he is selling up to move to Spain as assistant manager at Valencia.

Pictures courtesy Altrincham Today

John Terry on the other hand, is treating himself after being put on the bench last weekend, buying a Ferrari 275GTB (top) 3.3V-12litre BLUE beast. I would have had an ice cream or a burger, but John needs speed........... Zouma!!

The Germans are rather less flashy although the Bayern squad do cut a fashion in their traditional dress. Tad overpaid maybe?

IT'S A LONG WAY TO MAKE A POINT

There are some fanatical fans in the Football League and many will go to the ends of the earth to support their teams. Well, this is going to be true for Carlisle United, who face a 779 mile round trek to Plymouth Argyle, as the Cumbrians under manager Keith Curle, visit Home Park tonight.

This is one of the punishments for living so far north or south! Shame.

Carlisle has gained only a draw in eleven visits to Plymouth, travelling 8580 miles for one point. In total this season in league 2 the Cumbrians will notch up 11,810 miles in total, a longer distance than from Carlisle to South Africa!

Plymouth's return trip to Brunton Park is on January 2^nd and of course this will mean travelling on News Year's Day or before!! So far 69 club tickets have been sold by the Argyle for this rematch.

If you are a betting man/woman then take this into consideration when you look at the fixture card and lay your money. York City are playing Yeovil tonight also.

At other times, Gateshead to Torquay in the National League is 389 miles and AFC Bournemouth to Newcastle in the Premier League racks up 357 miles. So which ever status your club may have, it all costs money in coach expenses and hotels, not to mention the environmental costs!

Can the “computer” help make English clubs' travels a little more user friendly? Probably not, but could the leagues arrange more “derbys” at sensible holiday times and have the longer journeys at the  bulk standard weekends. Don't do long distances midweek, think of the fans. Regional the leagues and have massive play offs at the end of the season, The Americans do. The National League has done it's best for tonight's games, so maybe somebody is thinking about it?

When would you play Brighton v Middlesbrough, Fleetwood v Gillingham, Hartlepool v Exeter and Morecambe v Portsmouth?

OR

Man U v Man C, Liverpool v Everton, Leicester v Stoke, Palace v Chelsea, Villa v WBA, West Ham v Arsenal, Tottenham v Watford, Southampton v Bournemouth, Newcastle v Sunderland and that leaves Leicester v Norwich and Swansea v WBA. Sorry Baggies? Sorry Foxes?

http://www.sportmapworld.com/map/soccer/england/fa-premier-league/

LINNETS, COWES AND SPURS

It's a shame that Ellesmere Rangers got a hammering on Saturday in ther FA Cup at the hands of Coleshill Town, but it seemed appropriate because this video shows you how poor the losers were and how sad the goalkeeper was; having had a bit of a 'mare.

I found the Coleshill website as I was searching for some info on Runcorn Linnets, another nice club name, midst the long list of the FA Cup qualifiers from Saturday's round.

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/coleshilltown/videos/coleshill-town-v-ellesmere-rangers-fa-cup-14815-70516.html

Runcorn Linnets, definitely underdogs, play Glasshougthon Welfare at home on Tuesday (tomorrow) in a replay having been held to a 2-2 draw on Saturday. The winners are at home to Pontefract Collieries-yes, the team that beat Penistone Church on Saturday! Booo!

Across the water, on the Isle of Wight, Cowes Sports, the Yachtsmen, founded in 1881, had a lofty position in the original Southern League in 1898-9 playing against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Millwall and Bristol City. 

The Spurs became the winners of the 1901 FA Cup even though they were still lounging in the lower league and they have therefore the honour of being the only non-league club to win the cup since the foundation of the Football League in 1888. Spurs did not join the FL Division Two until 1908, when they immediately won promotion to Div One. In the first match, Sheffield United with the HUGE Billy Foulke in goal for the Yorkshiremen and 9 internationals in their side were favourites, 

110,820 people saw out a 2-2 draw at the original Crystal Palace ground. A disputed goal when the Spurs' goalie, curiously named Clawley, appeared to pushed outside the post and the linesman signalled a corner. The referee waved aside the linesman's decision and pointed to the centre circle for a goal. There was disbelief from most of the crowd but the Blades drew level. 

The following Saturday at Burden Park, Bolton, only just over 20,000 crowd turned up because the railways refused to offer cheap tickets and the Spurs won 3-1. John Cameron, of Spurs, who scored in the replay became the first secretary of the Professional Footballers' Union. The club had three days of celebration and provided their winning team with a night out in Luton where according to the Tottenham Weekly Herald, "The (local) ladies were evidently desirous of smiling their appreciation of the merry Spurs. In this department the team scored heavily." Spot Billy in the film!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrwI1AVrSa4

Back at Cowes, Lee Bradbury and Gary Rowett started their professional careers amongst the Island “Yachtsmen”. 

Cowes play Melksham Town also at home, on Tuesday in another replay, following Saturday's 2-2 draw. Whoever gets through has a home tie v Wimbourne-its still regional you see.

My brother didn't watch Ampthill Town lose to Risborough Rangers 0-3 on Saturday, but both teams did get a mention on the FA Cup website (www.theFA.com), over some family matter at the helm of the club. It was Rangers' first venture into the big boys' competition and the club has earned £1500 in prize money following the win. They are home to Aylesbury next.

There are 160 ties this time to be played by the end of the last weekend in August as the 135^th playing of the FA Cup gets well under way.

EARLY ONE MORNING, JUST AS THE SUN WAS RISING

If you happen to wake up at around 5am, with the headphones' wire from your portable DAB radio wrapped around your neck, you might recover from the fright that you have been re-enacting a scene from Fifth Shades and tune into Radio Five Live. This morning there was another episode of the Non League Football Show broadcasting at that time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b065s65v#play

You have 29 days to listen to this-or part of it.

This is a weekly programme that concentrates on the higher stages of the Pyramid but this week of course the producers got embroiled in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup, FAN owned clubs like FC United of Manchester, Community Status clubs (using Banbury Town FC as an example) and the appropriate use funding-£260 million is available to help improve English football. 

Some of this is appropriate to my local club Hepworth United FC, trying to achieve FA Charter Community Status to help boost its clubhouse building plans. The club is hoping to form a hub around which the local community can enjoy our national game. This is not just about playing the game. Creating a “gardening club” at the football ground be formed? Could HUFC have a wild flower garden established on that bank or in the areas near the dry stone walls? Plant some shrubs, attract insects!

What would you prefer to have offered to your club £5,000 or 10 volunteers? Our club needs to engage more people, especially those who have time on their hands (bloggers for example) who can help out and benefit socially. For example the club needs an IT wizard, somebody to help raise money, a media person, someone to clean the clubhouse when it is built!

Interviewed on his way back from a game was the owner of the The FA Cup factfile website, shown below, who edits a “blog” which covers all sorts of Non-League Football bits and pieces; worth having a look!

Stick with it and scroll down through his various entries, if you like unusual snippets about the sport, then you will find them there. There is some interesting stuff about the FA Cup:-

https://facupfactfile.wordpress.com/

Follow @FacupFactfile on Twitter there is a Non-League Day coming soon.

"MINED" YOUR Ps and Qs

I could hardly contain my excitement as I saw Penistone Church FC appear on the TV screen this morning as one of the BBC's featured games. PCFC were playing PCFC! Pontefract Collieries and hardly a miner amongst them. Some of the language was industrial but both teams gave a great account of themselves with two switch off moments by the home team at throw ins that led to the goals. Penistone lost 0-2.

There would have been a couple of hundred watching, it cost me £3, the bar was busy and the subs and ball boys continue to play in the penalty areas wearing out the goalmouths. The poor groundsman must be tearing his roots out.

So the dream ends for PCFC and PCFC march on.

Other results were registered on the teleprinter from yesterday with Coleshill Town grabbing the headlines by beating Ellesmere Rangers 11-0.

My brother would have gone to Ampthill today to watch them lose 0-3 to Risborough Rangers but he had to go to a barbeq. Que?

There were 184 games played in the Extra Preliminary Round with Royal Wotton Bassett Town FC probably the longest named club and Cove FC, the shortest. Glebe FC didn't make their tie, being “not accepted” and United Services Portsmouth Club kept the flag flying.

Steve Harmison once an Ashes hero finds getting Ashington FC through the tie difficult as they only drew 2-2 against Albion Sports FC.

I SAID "WALK IT INTO THE BACK OF THE NET"

I have to write about this because my friend Charles said I should.

If you didn't read about it or see it, there was an act of remarkable sportsmanship from Doncaster Rovers manager Paul Dichov this week when he insisted on letting his opposition Bury, score an unchallenged goal after there had been a mix up following a re-start. Some players just don't get it do they?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1l86G1EAwY

This isn't the first time such an incident has occurred and thankfully sportsmanship does exist in football, though it is sometimes hard to believe.

In a Capital One Cup 2^nd round tie in August 2013 Birmingham City played Yeovil and were 2-1 up as time drifted to a conclusion. Blues keeper Colin Doyle kicked the ball out of play after an injury to one of his players....wasting time Jose???.....Yeovil had possession of the ball from the throw in and Byron Webster managed to “chip” the ball over the oppo keeper's head into the net... 2-2. In extra time Yeovil went ahead and under manager's instructions allowed Birmingham's Lee Novak to walk the ball into the net 3-3. Penalties then decided the game as the Blues ran out winners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHmNdXNy1f4

If you want a few more howlers then have a look at this lot below, though one or two links might not work (the Paolo di Canio)or are not in the same vein.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/top-5-unsporting-goals-watch-2233243

ORGAN TUNING ON A WEDNESDAY

I was in the Penistone library this afternoon looking for a history of my local village church, which probably only dates back to the mid 19^th century. A friend of mine who is a leading expert on church organs, was assessing the worth of the local Carlecotes organ and this led me to want to find out more about the church, the Hall and the village. The organ, a James Conacher creation, is not to be sniffed at. It's a beauty, I am told by Mr Wood.

Rooting around in the Penistone library, I was shown the Danesfield collection, left by a local family, and this was not catalogued, so it was with luck that I came across a scrapbook showing a couple of line drawings of the captains of Thurlstone FC and Rotherham Wellgate FC who were competing in a local cup competition, the Clegg Challenge Shield.

J. Charles Clegg was a Sheffield “Wednesday “footballer in 1867 who stayed loyal to the developing league team and became club chairman and then FA chairman and president. Originally a cricket club, Wednesday CC (founded in 1820) used football to keep fit in the winter months and by 1868, Wednesday had formed a serious football club.

Clegg had been in the fifth "unofficial" international playing as a forward, versus Scotland at the Oval on February 24th 1872. He scored the only goal. He then played in the first official England international side against Scotland in Glasgow on November 30th, becoming Wednesday's first official international. It ended 0-0.

In 1876 the club acquired the services of Scot, James Lang, who was not paid directly but had a job at the club and therefore became, reputedly, the first ever professional footballer in England.

In the scrapbook, there were more line drawings of an FA Cup final played at the distinctive Kennington Oval (gas holder in sight) between the Wednesday and the then, very successful Blackburn Rovers. Wednesday had just won the 1889 Football Alliance league and in 1890 made the final but lost heavily to Rovers 1-6.

The club was elected to the Football League in 1892 and won the FA Cup in 1896 beating Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Originally playing at Bramall Lane, professionalism led the club to Olive Grove and then in 1899-1900 to Owlerton (the Owls) on the edge of the city, where the Hillsborough Stadium was built.

A PLAGUE ON YOU

Eyam is a village in the Peak District that is very famous for its delightful local stone buildings, its church and the history of the London plague getting to the village via some cloth from a London supplier in the 1660s. The dreaded plague devastated the village and the village now lives off the history of that and the tourism that goes with it. Today on a sunny day, it was heaving.

Eyam Hall, a National Trust property, offers much more than the plague's history and the church is so popular that it has had its lead stolen twice. It cost the church about £50,000, along with grants, to replace the roof! I understand that if there is a third attempt at theft, the perpetrators may be in for a surprise. YOU have been warned.

More funding has gone into the local footy pitch which is in view of the crowded cemetery. The Lottery, I was told by the nice Geordie, acting as a guide and protector in the church today, provided the finance and the pitch has been levelled, drained, seeded and is like Wembley.

Teams are queuing up to play there. Eyam belongs to the Hope Valley League, formed in 1907 and local lads and construction workers from the various neighbouring quarries and dams made up teams.

After the 2^nd World War the league was hanging on to enough teams to make a seasonal fixture card worthwhile, but by 1972 it had four divisions and now it has three.

Eyam FC is lounging quietly in what might be called Div 3 but is actually titled B. Well known villages such as Tideswell and towns like Bakewell provide teams, eager to get their studs onto the newish pitch.

Eyam FC has a home derby league match versus Stoney Middleton on the 26^th August and a Saturday fixture away at Fairfield. Take in the plague, a game and then a pint in the Miners Arms. To be recommended for Sunday lunch too. By the way get some water onto that pitch!

PUT THE WINDASS UP THEM

The Capital One Cup throws together the Windass family today as son Josh plays for Accrington Stanley (who are they?) against his dad's present team Hull City.

Josh broke his leg at 18 years old and was released by Huddersfield Town. Dad was at Hull and in a trough of depression and alcoholsim having “retired” from playing, he had a number of issues to deal with. His family fell apart and in 2012 life was not good.

The pair got hammered by the tabloids and gradually they have rebuilt their lives. Josh is playing successfully in the Accies midfield and Dean is an ambassador at Hull.

Josh is in his third season in league football having suffered at Huddersfield after the encouraging Lee Clark was sacked and the new manager didn't see Josh as part of his plans. He had to get a job on a building site and played a few games with Harrogate Railway in the non-league.

Dean was released from Hull in 1990 and had to slum it working on building sites too, until he was picked up by the Tigers again in 1991. Having been at Barton Town Old Boys and Scarborough Athletic, he is now playing at Walkington FC in the East Riding league

Accrington's manager, John Coleman has started Josh 54 times and watched him score 7 goals.

Dean played 732 games scoring 234 goals at 9 professional clubs from 1991 for 19 seasons.

Josh has three seasons under his belt and wants to follow his dad.

Certainly Dean has always been a character and you cannot fault his playing record.

THE YOUNG AND THE OLD

Reece Oxford at West Ham, was part of the defeat of Arsenal and at 16 years and 237 days following his positive performance on Saturday, he is the 7th youngest player to play in the Premier League. He awaits his GCSE results, coming up soon. Will he need them?

Matthew Briggs at 16 years and 65 days is the youngest ever (to date), having played for Fulham in 2007. A left back, he is now at Colchester.

Izzy Brown was 16 years and 117 days old when making his debut for WBA in 2013 and he moved to Chelsea where he won the FA Youth Cup last season and then moved to Vitesse Arnhem.

Aaron Lennon was 16 years and 129 days old when he appeared for Leeds Utd when they lost to Tottenham in 2003 and then he moved to Spurs and recently to Everton.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, a striker, made his debut at Aston Villa in 2015 at 16 years and 176 days, was blooded by Tim Sherwood and 16 years and 191 days old Joe Baxter was the youngest Everton debutant in 2008 and played regularly at Oldham and Sheffield United.

Gary McSheffrey was 16 years 198 days old and part of Coventry's first league win at Villa Park in 1999. He is 32 now and at Scunthorpe.

At the other end, Arsene Wenger stood at his 1068th Arsenal match, which represents a FIFTH of all the Gunners' matches since 1886.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/tailored-made-for-football.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/its-fair-play-in-europa-league.html

JUST ONE IN A HALF MILLION GOALS

I got so excited about seeing proper live football yesterday that I missed the anniversary of the 500,000^th goal being scored in the Football League.

On the 8^th of August 2006, the well travelled Gary Taylor-Fletcher tucked away a 25 yarder for Huddersfield Town in 3-0 defeat of Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United.

Playing at home, at the Galpharm Stadium, Taylor-Fletcher made football history that day. In 107 seasons of the FL, there had been 170,000 games played. His goal came in the 79 minute on a day when 62 goals were scored in 32 league games. He played 41 times for the Terriers and scored 11 goals, which is about his ratio over his playing career.

The Football league generously presented Gary with a commemorative trophy.

KEEP OFF THE PITCH

Having ventured south to the Leicester/Derbyshire border last night to watch the Blues Brothers movie in the open air grounds of Calke Abbey, along with a neat picnic constructed from my local Brindon Addy's farm shop, I decided to take in the North-east Counties league match between locals Penistone Church and Shirebrook Town. The visitors come from near Mansfield which is why I mentioned Calke Abbey-well they are close-ish and it gives me an excuse to do this.

It is the first weekend of the new season. Penistone have had a few friendlies and the excitement was brewing midst a decent crowd if 185 (see later). The pitch was dry and bumpy and the grass a bit hay like, but the sun shone and the lagers flowed.

Shirebrook used to be a Sunday side until about 1985 when they decided to play proper football. They moved to a new ground as they progressed through the pyramid and got sponsorship for the pitch at Langwith Road, installing floodlights.

They played Mansfield Town (The Stags) in 1991 and drew a crowd of over 2,000 to open the new facilities and later in 2001, when they had to upgrade the ground and surroundings even further to ensure a place in the new league, 1966 World Cup legend Ray Wilson did the honours and cut the ribbon for the dressing rooms!

Having been called Shirebrook Colliery, they decided to change the name to “Town” when the coal mine closed in 1993.

Pensitone Church has done much the same, with a nice white painted metal barrier round the pitch (which is too close for safety), a “tunnel” for the players to emerge from and disappear to the dressing rooms in safety, and a walk way for the officials to enter and leave the pitch with security at hand- well a couple of committee members in high viz jackets.

The standard of football was good and the 1-2 defeat not really deserved by the home side, though I thought the visitors had the best player on the pitch-at least for the first half when their number 11, a nippy forward (winger) ran riot. On the home side, Penistone's Ash Ellis is such a good player but a bit Le Tissier like.

With all the fabulous additions to the Memorial Ground, I cannot understand why there is allowed a bunch of youngsters (sons of the players? and ball boys?) to have a casual kick around on the pitch and in the goalmouths before the game, at half time and after the game? It's village!!

The subs were shooting in at the bar end of the field for much of half time also, causing havoc amongst the punters between the pitch and the bar, with their plastic glasses of Carlsberg and chip butties. What does the groundsman think, seeing his goalmouths being worn to a shred so early in the season?

Hey ho! There was a local gent with the player lists in his filofax, keeping detailed notes of the game and timings, which reassured me that I am not a real anorak; I am just flirting with groundhopping and I never got a programme.

FOREST OR COUNTY?

The Vitality Balloon hovering over the Test Match shows great views of the Trent bridge cricket ground and the City ground, the home of Nottingham Forest Football Club. The footy pitch is looking good, ready the new season tomorrow.

The City Ground has not always been Forest's home ground. Founded on the 15th May 1865, the club emerged from a Bandy (sort of ice hockey game) and Shinty (Irish hockey??) club. The first official match was against Notts County in 1866. The club played at the Castle Ground and were regarded as the first team to wear shinguards (outside their socks) in 1874 and for the match between them and Sheffield Norfolk (after the Park) in 1878 to be controlled by a referee's whistle.

The club used the Racecourse ground and the Meadows around the end of the 1870s, also Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, the Parkside Ground and Gregory Ground between 1873-1885.

Between 1890-5, the club played on the Town Ground, where in 1891, in a representative match between the North and South, the first crossbar and nets were used in an official game.

Forest joined the Football Alliance (a league) in 1889 and the Football League in 1890 and then played on the City Ground in 1898.

Originally known as the Nottingham Football Club, Notts County is the older of the two clubs, forming in 1862, being older than the Football Association and all professional clubs in the Football League today. Notts is used with reference to the county name (Nottinghamshire).

Their original pitch was at Park Hollow in the castle grounds and by 1864 the club played “outside opposition” so looked for a bigger venue. This was chosen to be the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, which was all very well until clashes with cricket matches disrupted their fixture card. The club also played at the Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire Cricket ground at Beeston between 1877-80.

In 1883, the club played at the Castle Ground (till 1894), another ground mainly used for cricket or shared with Nottingham Forest at the Town Ground (1895-6). They then shared at the City Ground between 1899-1909. It was not until 1910 that the County moved to Meadow Lane.

During the Second World War when Meadow Lane was bombed and also at other times when the Trent has flooded, County has had to share with Forest at the City Ground.

Notts County of course has the honour of letting Juventus, when the Italian giant was being founded, use their black and white strip which was regarded as being “both aggressive and powerful”.

YOU INTERFERING WITH ME?

Thank heavens the offside rule has been changed again! No longer will a player standing in an offside position be penalised if he is not “interfering with play”. Much relies on the discretion of the officials of course.

In the recent past, the phrase “not interfering with play” was commonly quoted by referees even if a player was standing in direct line in the six yards box with the goalkeeper, as a shot was fired in.

A forward may also distract a defender by being marked by him but was still deemed not offside.

So the referee will have to judge whether a player has made a conscious effort to interfere with the ball or pattern of play to be deemed offside.

The ruling from the International Football Association Board enables referees to tweak last year's law and Mike Riley, the manager of the Professional Match Officials Board said that referees will still encourage attacking play.

The original offside law (pre 1863) suggested that a player would be “off his side” if he is standing in front of the ball. Passing therefore would have to be backwards or timed cleverly forward for a player to rush on to or what was known as a “pass through”.

Cambridge University Football rules in 1848 and later Shrewsbury School's football “rules” based on the light blues' laws, said that there must be three players between an attacker and the goal as he receives the ball. These were often adopted by other football associations.

The boys at Charterhouse school changed their ruling to two players early on. Charterhouse developed the “dribbling” game on their “fast and flat dry pitches” in London and later at Godalming so passing was not often an issue!

This number was later adopted by the FA in 1925 and the number of goals scored in the Football League increased by 50% following this change in 1925-6.

I saw an experimental offside law in the USA in the days of the New York Cosmos when you could only be offside in the final third of the pitch. Inevitably the game spread out along the pitch with centre forwards (Giorgio Cinaglia, the Italian centre forward, for example) lurking and being man marked on the “offside line”, one third of the pitch away from the opposing goal. Chaos.

I wonder what degree of interference there has to be for a player standing in a blatant offside to be penalised? We shall soon find out.

DON'T BE DISTRACTED BY THE Z CARS THEME TUNE

There have been a few late starters in the lower leagues, plying their trade, waiting for the big moment when a club comes calling. Grant Holt knocked around with the likes of Rochdale and Shrewsbury before he stepped up to Norwich; Ian Wright, of course, was famously spotted late, at 27, playing at Greenwich Borough; Ricky Lambert was at Macclesfield and Bristol Rovers before he made it to Liverpool and in the news, James Vardy, started life at Stocksbridge Pressed Steels, down the road from me.

Troy Deeney makes the news this week as his team Watford FC climb into the Premier League. as captain he has a carer record of over 350 games and 116 goals, so Troy hopes to impress amongst the best defenders in the world.

Living on the Chelmsley Wood estate in Birmingham, in a 19-storey high rise, his family life was unstable and debt collectors knocked on the door. He was 15 when Aston Villa came calling, offering him a trial.

Fresh from knocking around with his mates and local girls, he played footy, got sweaty, sprayed on Lynx and carried on playing, but was not impressed by the potential exit route offered by the club that timetabled the week as training and more training,and a game at the end. Having said that he could make the last day, he turned up, played, enjoyed the post match beans-on-toast meal but unsurprisingly was not asked to return.

Another kid from the estate did get asked back but he was released having stolen a first team player's watch and he is now driving vans up and down the M40. This act of theft came as a natural instinct to a boy from the rough end of town and Troy had similar dark qualities.

In 2006, Walsall picked Troy up at 18 and after a loan spell at Halesowen Town, and 125 games for the Saddlers, in 2010 he went to Watford, had money to burn. With a nickname of Johnny Concrete, it would not be long before he blotted his record by getting involved in a fight in a Birmingham night club, the evening after his father had been diagnosed with cancer. He died at 47 years old. Troy was put away for ten months for affray, at Her Majesty's Pleasure at Winson Green prison and later in an open prison, serving three months after he had shown remorse and good behaviour. This turned his life round.

He got rid of the "negative energy" surrounding him, none of his hangers on came to visit him in prison, he worked hard on his fitness and married his childhood sweetheart, Stacey. He has been scoring regularly for three seasons at Vicarage Road repaying his Watford mates who helped the family pay the bills during Deeney's time in prison.

His first game this season is away at Everton and as a late developer he has much to prove. He thanks the stability given to him by Stacey, his mum and football at Watford FC. Watford run out to the Z Cars theme tune , so we hope their captain won't be reminded of the darker days when the police were very much part of his life.

1934 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (not a Dunlop)

The Telegraph Book Shop is advertising Half Time by Robert Winder, The Glorious Summer of 1934. Post depression, England's sportsmen gave the country heroic efforts to distract them from the struggles of the day. Hedley Verity, Henry Cotton and Fred Perry gave them much to shout about. Verity was a Leeds based bowler succeeding at test level especially against Australia in 1934, who died at war in Italy in 1943 only 38 years old.

Henry Cotton was born in Cheshire and ended up studying and playing cricket at Alleyns School in Dulwich, until he had a head to head with the Headmaster over an issue, who banned him from playing cricket. Cotton and his brother took up golf and Henry ended up with three British Open Championships to his name, particularly one in 1934 when he scored 65. Dunlop named a “ball” after this feat and many other great achievements on the golf course.

Fred Perry we all should know was our most famous tennis player before Andy Murray. Born in Stockport he won three Wimbledon titles between 1934-6. He was also World Table tennis champion around that time.

Football had some great moments that year including the “Battle of Highbury” when the Italian national side, World Cup winners that year, took offence to a challenge early on in the game when Ted Drake nailed their centre half and broke his foot. It was carnage after that and several English players were on the end of elbows and nasty tackles. England went 3-0 up after the Italians were distracted and eventually hung on to win 3-2, with seven Arsenal players in their ranks.

Manchester City's 19 year old goalkeeper Frank Swift made an error in the early period of the Wembley Cup Final against Portsmouth and allowed Pompey to take the lead. Centre forward Fred Tilson, got Frank to one side at half time and said “I'll plonk two in next half”, he did and City won. Frank fainted at the final whistle, but came round to collect his medal from the King.

Sadly Herbert Chapman, by then Arsenal manager, died on January 6^th just before a league game against Sheffield Wednesday. Chapman had developed a cold a few days before, after watching football and this turned in pneumonia, as he refused to take to his bed. One of the nation's great managers, his bust stands at the entrance to the Emirates Stadium.

IT MUST BE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE LOCAL WATER.

I got one of those door to door deliveries a couple of days ago. I think it was Hermes or one of those companies where local people in their VW Golf or often driving something less exotic arrive at your front door and give you a parcel.

I remembered the last time I was waiting for a parcel sent to me from Pembrokeshire. It was a long wait and quite urgent, so I eventually had to go to the “hub”, which happened to be a private garage in Penistone, to pick it up. I arrived, got my parcel, had a chat with the nice lady and found out that her son played for Sheffield United and England U18s. This small town gem in South Yorkshire is churning out the stars. Don't forget local lad John Stones will you!

http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/its-all-foreign-to-me.html

http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/rio-overtaken-by-stones.htm

http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/stones-wants-to-be-englands-rock.html,

How can you forget Stones? I keep mentioning him!

So Louis Reed? Local boy makes good as a midfielder and at 18 he has just signed a 3 year contract for the Blades encouraged by Nigel Adkins' arrival and the new manager's impressive presence at the Sheffield club.

Reed has been at United since he was youngster in their academy and at 16 years and 257 days he is the youngest player to represent the club in any competition, making his debut on April 8^th 2014 against local rivals Rotherham. So far he has made 31 appearances for Sheffield and 4 for England.

One of his recent appearances for his country was against Russia in June at the Arena Khimki, Moscow. His parents and brother almost missed the game having been delayed at the airport by “red tape”. But they got their and saw their boy make a significant contribution to an away victory.

http://www.thefa.com/news/england/development/2015/jun/match-report-england-under-18s-v-russia-in-moscow-080615

IT'S ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE!

The 93rd Community Shield is being played in a few hours time and I am starved of football. I should have gone to Oakwell yesterday to see The Tykes beat The Terriers 2-1 in a pre-season friendly. Hoping to save some money, however, I went to Penistone Church but they played their weekend friendly the night before! Couldn't find Hepworth United?

So I would quite like to see the next instalment of Mourinho v Wenger challenge but it's on BT Sport and if I go to pub, I shall only drink beer. So much for the community and charity in the FA Community Shield, or as it was once called the Charity Shield.

Thomas Dewar was a Scottish Whisky distiller who gave the original Sheriff of London Shield in 1898 to the winner of an annual match between a professional club and an amateur club, to raise money for hospitals and charities. Good idea.

The first match was between the Corinthians and Sheffield United, a drawn game in which the Old Carthusian, G.O.Smith, played and he also scored in the 2-1 defeat of Aston Villa at the Crystal Palace on the 8^th November.

This charming contest continued till 1907. The professional side tended to win and as the gap between pro and amateur became too great, the idea ran out of steam. So the FA adopted the idea and ran the FA Charity Shield from 1908-9. 

After the 1^st World War, the contest was played occasionally between A Professional XI v An Amateur XI and later between the First Division Champions and Second Division Champions, but quickly changed to the FA Cup winners and First Division Champions.

This format has remained the same virtually for the entire time. However, in 1950 the England World Team played an FA XI that had toured Canada. A reminder that England had lost to the USA in the World Cup!

In 1961 Spurs played another FA XI because Spurs had done the double that season, for the first time since the contest was devised.

In 1971, Arsenal couldn't play due to a pre-season match clash, so Liverpool, the Cup winners took on and lost to Leicester City, the Second Division champions.

In 1972 Derby and Leeds declined the invitation to play so Aston Villa, Third Division champions, played Manchester City, fourth placed in the top division. City won 1-0.

There were other oddities but in 2002 the Charity Commission challenged the specification of what happened to the ticket money and the contest was renamed the Community Shield. Arsenal have won 13 times out of 21 games and Chelsea have won 4 times out of 10. Manchester United has won most times, 20.

It's still all for Charity, let's hope the two managers show some today!

Below is Sunderland FC and the original 6' high shield sold at auction for £26,000 and now in the Watford Museum.