INTO THE FALCONS' NEST

It's time Sam and his boys stood up and were counted (or at least accounted for) as England slip quietly into another round of international qualifications for a tournament we know we don't have a chance of winning but we all live in hope. By the time the World Cup Finals come round in 2018 we shall no longer have the motivation of "it's been 50 years since 1966".

What ever, Sam is our new hope and he has control of yet another English "Golden Generation". This week the Lions are heading towards the Falcons of Slovakia (Slovenski Sokoli) a nation only recently freed from the shackles of Czechoslovakia. Of course this freedom meant therefore they are only "half a country".

The Slovaks first official match was against Germany in 1939 in Bratislava resulting in a remarkable 2-0 victory. Here are the chaps ready for action.

After the War, the country was subsumed into Czechoslovakia and played no football as an independent state, though Slovakians made a major contribution to the Czechoslovakian side (8 players out of 11) that won the 1976 European Championships.

So Sam's boys are heading to play a World Cup 2018 Qualifying tie at the 20,000 capacity Stadio Antona Malatinskeho. This is named after the legendry Anton Malatinsky, a player and manager of the national side. He died in 1992 but made his name for Spartak Trnava, turning out 6 times for Slovakia and 10 times for the Czechoslovakian team. Legendry, well apparently enough to have a stadium named after him?

Their previous national stadium has artificial turf so is not acceptable in FIFA competitions.

Remember that we found the Falcons (and Martin Skrtl) difficult to break down in France (0-0) this Summer and they beat Russia, losing to Wales. Reaching the knock out phase somehow, the Falcons lost 3-0 to the efficient German side.

England also has the added hurdles of Scotland, Slovenia, Lithuanian and Malta to jump by the end of March 2017, before we head off to Russia!  

Where is Slovakia?

                       

ANTONIO TOOTING ALONG

Once a swimming pool attendant, with a Jamaican background Michail was dragged out of Tottenham's academy as a junior by his mum to do his GCSEs. Michail Antonio is making news just as Jamie Vardy did last season. He was part of Tooting and Mitcham's Junior Club from 12 years old and played his first senior game against Hendon in 2007 at 17. He scored on his debut. From 2008 he spent four years at Reading, played at Tooting again, went to Cheltenham, Southampton, Colchester and Sheffield Wednesday in 2014, was player of the season at Nottingham Forest in 2015 and then joined West Ham United for whom he has played 31 times, making over 280 appearances so far. His total transfers mount up to £8.5 million. I hope T&M FC benefit from his "sell ons".

Tooting and Mitcham FC, located in Morden South London was formed after the uniting of Tooting FC (1887) and Mitcham Wanderers (1912) in 1932. Two major FA Cup runs may be remembered by us oldies; the 1959 entertainment of Nottingham Forest when they lost 0-3 in a replay back at Forest after a 2-2 draw on a frozen pitch. Prior to that they had beaten bother Sutton United and Horsham (two of my old teams!), then beaten Bournemouth in Round One and Northampton in Round Two.

In 1975-6 they eventually lost to Bradford City in a 4th Round tie. Various other honours may be recorded on their boards of honour, especially those linked to the local leagues and Surrey County Cup Finals.

KERALA IS STACKED

With the transfer deadline creeping upon there are always foreign players migrating into our leagues and a few of ours heading in the other direction, but "that way" traffic is not so common. Taking the plunge and joining a foreign club seems unattractive to our lads.

One player who has chosen to go abroad is Graham Stack...who? He is an English born Irish international footballer, a goalkeeper, who has played 7 times for the ROI U21s.

OK not a legend then, but he has a fascinating story which started with him being part of the Arsenal "Invincibles" of 2003-4 appearing for the Gunners a handful of times in their League Cup assault which ended in the semi-final, losing to Middlesbrough. 

Between then and 2009 Stack went on loan and played for Beveren (24 matches) in Belgium where he was attacked on a pitch and he responded by punching one of the assailants. This did not go down very well. He was at Millwall (26) (nothing to do with his punching ability), Reading, Leeds, Wolves, Plymouth, Blackpool finally getting some stability at Hibernian (56 games) and then Barnet for 125 games, winning the Conference Premier in 2015.

In 2016 he set off to India and joined the Kerala Blasters FC who were founded in 2014 and play in the Indian Super League. Sachin Tendulkar is one of the owners of ther club which is located in Kochi, supported by an average gate of 47,000+ crowds. Kochi, known as the "Queen of the Arabian Sea" is located on the south west coast of the Indian peninsular in the state of Kerala. It is a very important port once based on the spice trade but now one of the major growth cities in India.

British players associated with the Blasters club include Wally Downes (once very much part of the Wimbledon Crazy Gang)), Steve Coppell (manager), Terry Phelan, Michael Chopra and Stack is the goalkeeping coach. So he is amongst friends!

NOT MUCH OF A KNEES UP

Not for the feint hearted, the Shaun Barker recovery story shown here reveals the grim return from a shattering injury to the few minutes he got at the end of the Burton Albion v Derby County "derby" on Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTdef6LNG-c

Barker's career began at Rotherham in 2002 and for four years he played with the Millers 133 times. He then went to Blackpool under the "Oyston's" regime and spent three years there appearing in 149 matches. Derby came next in 2009 and in 105 games he played through till he had issues with a knee injury. He had knee surgery to solve the problem but later on the 22nd March 2012 a collision against Nottingham Forest with goalkeeper Frank Fielding and colleague Marcus Tudgay, resulted in a "suspect broken leg". This looked like a dislocated knee cap but finally turned out to be a ruptured medial ligament, damaged anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments and various other horrors that made his leg look as though it was "hanging off the knee joint".

Spending three and a half hour in surgery, with 8 weeks in a brace followed, working for 6 hours a day on the KneehabXP to strengthen his quads. Unable to return to playing fitness, the once Rams captain eventually left Derby County in May 2015 at 33 years old, signing on for Burton Albion under old boss Nigel Clough, who of cojurse had been "sacked" by the Derby board.

On the same day, the 26th of August, he made his short debut against Derby in a 1-0 win at the Pirelli Stadium. Coming on to the pitch at the end of the fixture, it was over four years since last playing competitively. He hopes this is a new start to the rest of his career.

During his recovery he set up his own blog and charity aimed at helping people in the city of Derby.
http://theshaunbarkerfoundation.co.uk/

IT'S A GRIM BUS RIDE HOME TO CLEETHORPES

The joy of living in the Pennines is having the broad choice of many matches on a Saturday afternoon to visit. I could have gone to Huddersfield for a 1-0 win, or  Oakwell to witness 4 goals for the home side, the local Hepworth United reserves were a mile away, but I went to Penistone Church for their Northern Counties East league game against Grimsby Borough, a long way for the opposition to come for a 9-5 beating! But at least they can reminisce on the way home about being part of some historic aggregate score and analyse why they got hammered. Four penalties shared between the teams helped the total number of goals rise but it was a fascinating match and well worth the £3 concessions' entry.

Grimsby Borough FC, the Wildernesse Boys, was founded in 2003, from the local Lord Tennyson pub gathering in Louth and shares the brand new council run Bradley Football Development Centre with Cleethorpes Town FC, a very impressive set up.

You really need a map of the local area to get a feel for what's where, but it is near Grimsby Town FC who of course, as a League club, were renowned for not playing in a place named Grimsby, but are located in Cleethorpes, but you knew that.

After spending a season in the Lincolnshire League which they won, they then took the Central Midlands League by storm. But ground conditions prevented their promotion initially until they ground shared with Brigg Town. In July 2012, having moved to the BFDC, a local derby with Grimsby Town took place and the "professionals" won 12-3.

By the way Borough's first game at the BFDC was against Scarborough Athletic in a NECLeague Cup tie, which Borough lost 3-4 having been 3-0 up. So the club is use to playing around with a large numbers of goals, particularly giving them away.

IL GRANDE TORINO

As always I am looking for inspiration for this blog and this morning, while chatting to a house guest about Italy, she is a fluent speaker and so is her husband, inevitably I turned the conversation to CALCIO and eventually into crowd control and graffitti. I mentioned the rivalry between Pisa and Livorno and the resultant scrawlings on walls all over the beautiful leaning tower city. Her interest was based on an experience trying to drive through an Italian city when the local football crowd was "turning out". Not a valuable experience.

She went onto mention Milan and the conversation quickly swung round to the 1949 Superga air disaster. On the 5th May, an Italian Airlines' Fiat 212, flying back from Lisbon after a friendly match against Benfica, carrying all the Milan team and officials got lost in fog and had a dodgy altimeter. The outcome was a crash landing into the retaining wall of the Basilica Superga which took the lives of all the players and many of the officials-31 in total. This will explian how influential the team was in World football.
https://fiveinmidfield.com/2011/05/04/gone-but-not-forgotten-%E2%80%93-il-grande-torino-and-the-tragedy-of-superga/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEuhGNtfJrw  This video gives a good coverage of the event and the losses.

The Torino team was a leading member of Serie A and had won five consecutive league titles in the 1940s and the Double. The Grande Torino was obliterated along with the heart of the Azzurri, the Italian national side. When the Italian FA sent its national squad to the Brazil World Cup in 1950, they went by boat!

Founded in the late 19th Century, the Torino club was made up from Swiss and English locals. The club ran Football and Cricket teams and by 1889 another club, Nobili Torino, was formed. In 1891 the two eventually merged to create Internazionale Torino. FC Torinese was set up in 1894 and in 1900 there was a handful of clubs leading to the National Championship which included in December 1906 the Foot-ball Club Torino. The rivalry at the time between Torino (very much an old school club) and Juventus (who were professionals) remains as strong today as it was when all this developing.

While football was developing popularity, the traditional game of Pallone dwindled (see also pallupugno). If you want to find out more about this game that involves a sort of "gloved" hand (actually a wooden cyclinder) and either an inflated ball or a very hard rubber ball, played a bit like real tennis or Fives, then have a look at this link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallone

YOUR SHIRTS NUMBERED

August 25th 1928 when Sheffield Wednesday beat Arsenal 3-2 on the opening day of the new season, the crowd saw the two teams run out on to the pitch with numbers on their backs. They were numbered 1-22. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Swansea Town (as the club was then called) did the same. Chelsea won 4-0, wearing black numbers on a white patch. All clubs were told to stop doing this with immediate effect by the FA and League but Herbert Chapman was not happy with this "waste" so he had his reserves wear the numbered kit.

Chelsea then toured South America introducing the numbered kit to their opponents who nicknamed Chelsea as "Los Numerados".

Numbering gradually crept into the game and in the 1933 FA Cup Final Everton players wore 1-11 and Manchester City 12-22. (note there were no subs). Everton won 3-0. See left.

A week later (6th May) the "Toffees" wore the same kit in the league game v Wolves, but it was not until 1939 that the Leafue management Committee eventually voted in the official wearing of numbers. The war got in the way so by 1946/7 numbers were used for the first time by all clubs (although "cost" of providing new numbered kits was a problem and spoil the colours!).

England's first venture into numbered shirts on the 17 April 1937 in a loss to Scotland at Hampden Park Glasgow.

FIFA did not insist on numbers on World Cup shirts until 1954.

Retiring shirt numbers became a bit of a trend but inevitably a club could end up with "no sensible numbers" to use. However Maradona's shirt for Napoli number 10 was hung up for good, as was Baggio's 10 at Brescia, Maldini's 3 at AC Milan and for Chelsea (to complete the circle) Zola's 25. Understandable.

Some shirt numbers given to modern day players have been totally inappropriate especially when legends such as Pele, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Moore and Johnny White (yes the 1960'sSpurs player) might have had their numbers welded onto their backs. Can you number them?

Oops.

MARTLETS-THEY HAVE BRANCHES EVERYWHERE.

Dundalk FC, became the first Irish side to reach the play off round of the  UEFA Champions League after beating Bate Borisov of Belarus 3-1. Last night they bowed out of the competition losing to
Legia Warsaw 1-3 on aggregate, but maintaining some self respect when drew 1-1 away in the second match.

They regard themselves as one of the best team in the SSE Airtricity League. Originally turning out in white kit they are still known as the Lilywhites though their colours are yellow and black now.

Robbie Benson smashed in a first goal after 19 minutes and Dundalk players will have had that twang of excitement as they thought a turn over was possible in this tricky away leg. But it was not to be as Legia pulled one back and that was that. Here is Robbie's goal, though the commentary is in Polish but there is a sending off  and they equalise.....which is self-explanatory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVnxm4e2FGk

Dundalk have been one of the leading FAI clubs after foundation in 1903. There was a side playing in the town in 1892 and the team known as  Dundalk played the Institution 2nd XI in a friendly on the 17th December. There was a team from the town known as the Rovers but by 1903 influenced by the local military and railways, Dundalk GNR was founded in September 1903 which spawned the present club. Dundalk FC officially took its name in 1930.
Dundalk now plays at Oriel Park and following the week's BIRD theme, they have three red martlets on their club badge. See them before, have we?

Main rivals are neighbours Drogheda United, the Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers. Dundalk has had some considerable interest in the various European competitions over the years. In 1969-70 the were beaten by Liverpool FC 10-0 and 4-0 in the UEFA Cup and in 1981 in the European Cup Winners Cup Tottenham thumped them 1-1 and 1-0.

In 2015 the club won the League of Ireland, The FAI Cup, President's Cup and were voted best "Team" in the RTE Awards.

COASTERS v THE AMMIES: LOCAL NORTH WEST DERBY

If you haven't already indulged in the "Class of '92" and got to know all about Salford City and the club's famous investors, then shame on you. Needless to say I have given the club plenty of mentions in the past year or so.

You can catch up with Salford City's latest news this Thursday in a new series on BBC. Remember, the two managers Bernard and Anthony are little bit fruity with their language, so make sure the kids are in bed. What you see is what you get.

Salford has had a flying start to their Vanarama National League North campaign, with an unbeaten start, having played 4 with 10 points and a goal difference of 6, they are 4th.

AFC Fylde, their hosts in the league tonight are a step ahead with 10 points and a goal difference of 9, lying 3rd. Fylde's manager Dave Challinor, very much a lad from the north west, having played at Tranmere, Bury and Stockport in his pomp, is looking for another victory over the "super stars".

Halifax Town and Harrogate Town sit above them both in 1st and 2nd place.

AFC Fylde have a fantastic new stadium. The Coasters, chaired by David Haythornthwaite, are at home in a £18 million new build. He vows to take the Lancashire club into the Football League by 2022. With crowd of 1500 plus they are beginning to make some money. Blackpool will be helping out by playing at Mill Farm in Brett Ormerod's testimonial.

The club crest is explained on this link. there is a bit of Latin but you know what this blog is all about-education, education, education: "Let the field be joyful".
http://www.afcfylde.co.uk/details-on-the-new-club-crest/

The new complex includes the 6,000 seater stadium, 3G pitches for football and hockey, a fitness suite, several stores (including Aldi!!), restaurant and hotel, a sports' science facility, all employing over 500 people. Sited at Jct3 off the M55 it has excellent route links.

As a community club, AFC Fylde is forming a hub for local footballers of all ages; it's a great facility for the north west. Located in Wesham the club formed in 1988 when Kirkham Town merged with Wesham. Having had lots of success in the local Lancashire leagues, the North West Counties and winning the FA Vase in 2008, the club is definitely not to be "Fyled" away.

ACROSS THE AIRWAVES

The broadsheet I was reading today, once I waded through post Olympics stuuf, had a small advert for "Royal London" entitles "On this day in history" which happened to mention that the first televised football was on Match of the Day on August 22nd 1964. 20,000 viewers tuned in on BBC2 to watch highlights of Liverpool beating Arsenal 3-2 at Anfield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIHPVNWqPPw

The BBC2 channel was relatively new and could only be picked up in and around London and only with televisions updated to the new 625 line. Clubs were suspicious of this innovation and believed that televised football would affect numbers on the terraces.

Several clubs tried to block the eventual move to BBC1 until BBC agreed not to reveal which match it was going to feature on Saturday's.

Televised football goes back to 1937 when a trial match between Arsenal and their Reserves was filmed on 16th September at Highbury. The great Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman, typically, was party to this innovation. Only TV owners close to Alexandra palace could get a signal. A year later the England v Scotland (9th April) and FA Cup Finals (30th April Huddersfield v PNE) began to be televised annually.

It wasn't until 1947 that a 5th Round FA Cup tie between Charlton and Blackburn Rovers was televised fully and the 1954 World Cup managed to get to some sets in the UK for the first time.

When floodlights had been introduced the European Cup ties became more accessible on ITV and gradually matches were showcased on programmes such as BBC's "Soccer Special" and in 1964 "Match of the Day". This was gradually leading up to having TV in place more reliably for the 1966 World Cup which of course went terribly well.

By 1969 MOTDay showed Liverpool v West Ham in colour for the first time.

DRAW, TIE, DRAW, REPLAY OR HAMMERED

There are a few local derbies on show this weekend, many in the FA Cup and over the weekend a few in the Premier League and Football League. Middlesbrough v Sunderland is one, Wednesday and Leeds, Huddersfield and Barnsley.

In the Cup my favourite local derby must be the 4-4 TIE at Taunton Town against Tiverton Town. Too many Ts for me, but at least my name isn't Tommy Taylor, driving a twenty ton Thames Trader. It's a old joke but a cracker.

4-4 was a draw also played out by Droylesden v Radcliffe Borough (a Manchester derby) and two clubs from the Eastern Counties, Yaxley FC (the Cuckoos) and Dereham Town (the Magpies, founded in 1884), the derby of the birds.

Cheshunt, from Herts scored 8 against Basildon United from Essex, NIL. No derby coincidence really but a nice score.
Chasetown (formed originally as Chase Terrace Old Scholars Youth Club) knocked in 9 against Brocton FC, of course known as the Badgers, from Stafford, with no reply.

One derby tickled me and that is Ascot United (in Berkshire by the racecourse, not where the Derby is run) 4 Didcot Town (in Berkshire by the western railway line and power station) 3; the derby of the "cots".

West Ham v Bournemouth couldn't be further apart but today we have to mark the initiation of the London Stadium by the Hammers. Here are a few shots of the Olympic Park, a stadium I visited on August 8th 2012 when Usain Bolt was on his way to winning another gold medal.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/11116146/Take-a-look-inside-West-Hams-new-football-stadium.html?frame=endScreen
It's a wonderful structure. Bye bye Boleyn Ground or as we all knew it Upton Park.

A BRIDGE TOO FAR

It was worthwhile watching Hepworth United Open Age 1st team play this afternoon at Kirkburton. Very much a home game being played away, since the Far Lane facilities have not been completed (or started!) at our regular ground.

Worsbrough Bridge also have pitch problems, having their tradition gound deemed unfit, and going into ground share with Grimethorpe Colliery at first and then, at the last call, Maltby Main FC.

Kirkburton's pitch is perched upon one of those gritstone hills, so today's squalls of rain and wind came in periodically and Hepworth's attack swept in with them, towards the hapless Worsbrough Bridge Athletic FC Reserves goal.

By half time Hepworth was 4-0 up, with excellent taken goals and finally a splendid 8 in total, completed the rout. Three more points in their new league and a confident start by manager Bob Wright's team.

Worsbrough Bridge would have liked past centre forward Geoff Horsfield on their front line, he might have offered a greater threat. A Barnsley boy, he played at his local Athersley Recreation FC and went to Worsbrough. Out of his 413 games at the higher level, 108 were for Birmingam City and 67 for WBA. Well liked as an old fashioned centre forward, Geoff suffered from testicular cancer and was successfully treated making sure that his plight was well documented to make others aware of the illness.

Worsbrough Bridge Athletic started life in 1923 as Worsbrough Bridge St James' and are known as the Briggers. After WW2 the club was renamed as WB Athletic and then WB Miners' Welfare. They played in the Barnsley League, joined the Sheffield Association up till 1971, then moved into the Yorkshire League which merged with the Midland League in 1982 to form the Northern Counties East League and play in Division One.

Their reserves now play in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Division Two North, hence the league match against Hepworth Utd. In 2006 they were renamed WB Athletic.

Sharp eyed punters will note that their badge in very similar to Barnsley's, with glass blower and miner. Do they look like martlets too?

THE OLYMPICS ARE GOING, THE CUP WILL STILL BE THERE

Hepworth United v Wosborough Bridge Miners' Welfare FC 2.15 ko or an FA Cup Preliminary Tie? I'm going very local and giving the HUFC support even thought hey still have no clubhouse and cannot therefore match the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior County League pitch requirements. They are borrowing a pitch that has changing facilities. Don't worry the work on the clubhouse is starting soon!

So I would have gone to Shaw Lane v Colwyn Bay or Handsworth Parremore v Stocksbridge Park Steels FC for a cup game. How can you not be fascinated by the Cup when you get onto a website like this one:
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/FA_Cup_Results_Stats_2015-16.html

So far it hasn't been updated for 2016-17 but you can find all sorts of stuff going back to 1872 when the Cup began.

To update yourself with this year's FA Cup news try this truly overwhelming website:
https://facupfactfile.wordpress.com/mentions/facupfactfile/

This lot is Aston Villa from 1887 who beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at the Oval. Glasgow Rangers reached the semi-final losing to the Villa 3-1. On their way they had a walk over at home to Everton, beat Church, Cowlairs, had a bye, the Lincoln City 3-0 and finally the Old Westminsters (from the famous London Public School) 5-1 in the semi-final.
Yes I know you cant read this but if you went on the website you can find it.

SPORTING MEMORIES

Please have a look at this website
http://www.sportingmemoriesnetwork.com/
https://twitter.com/SportsMemNet

I think I have referred to this excellent "charity" before and as I seem to keep forgetting where I hid the kitkat (no melted in my other pair of trainers) or whether I have had a beer already today, I think this is a very good idea to help us oldies keep our brains working to a maximum.
It has been highlighted on Talksport today (H&J) around 2.45pm.....try the podcast.

There are many ways this very worthwhile idea can be employed by you;
how about doing your own blog!! OR using social media or the old fashioned post to link up with friends over sport OR meeting up with friends and having a chat OR volunteering to help Sporting Memories set up a local hub.

I guess many of us do this anyway but there may be people out there, near you that need to be brought into the "club" to share their memories and enjoy a social occasion.

You could even introduce a "Walking Football" session also.

MARTLETS v PEEWITS

I think they are martlets although I always associated the bird with my home county Sussex. Mayor of Penistone and local land owner gave the town land on whihc to build a school and there you have it.PGS was where my other half attended for a while before A levels. The bird is the family motto and the school's motto is "never stop flying", though the martlets seem to quite happy on the ground.
 v

I do know the Emley bird is a peewit (the northern lapwing) and they occupy the moors at breeding around Emley which is just about the highest point in the area. That is why there is a huge television mast erected, enhancing the view...at 1084 feet high...that's the tower. It is claimed to be the 23rd tallest in the world. Hmmm.

Tonight is a long waited derby between Penistone Church and AFC Emley, in the NPL Division One. Church have worked their way up in the divisions to get to these dizzy heights and Emley have faltered after a halcyon period in the 1970-1990s when the FA Vase, Trophy and various local cup finals, Yorkshire league Cup and Sheffield Senior Cup came their way. But as many do, they floundered financially and had to rebuild.

At their pinnacle they were in the Northern Premier League Premier Division and played Bolton and West Ham in some exciting FA Cup ties, but most recently they have experienced more mundane moments and now find themselves in the local derby against Church.

It's a 7.45 ko, I am with the Hepworth United FC Juniuors from 6-7pm but aim to get my concessionary entry ticket by 7.30pm.

Emley has been done before so remind yourself.
baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/masterly-emley-and-bashed-bashley.html

FOX, GIANT, MAJOR AND BILLY

August 1957 was the month that a British Football League player William John Charles left home to play for Juventus for a fee of £65,000. This was an amount twice the previous record spent by Real Madrid on John Fox Watson of Fulham, one of the few early international transactions from an British league club and of course Charles opened the flood gates, with Jimmy Greaves, Gerry Hitchin, Dennis  Law and others heading south (for a while).

Watson was a Scot who had played local football as a youngster and then signed for Bury FC pre-war. He lost a few years being called up and then he joined Fulham, went to Real Madrid briefly, came back to Crystal Palace and ended up at Canterbury City (Kent!).

I have given John Charles quite a bit of space in a previous blog which you should read. He was an outstanding player and gentleman. The Gentle Giant.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/with-il-gigante-buono-wales-might-have.html

Taken from his local side Gendros in Wales, he trialled at Leeds and was signed on in September 1948 by Major Frank Buckley and making his debut in front of a small appreciative crowd against Queen of the South in a friendly.

The result was 0-0 which does not sound too exciting, but Charles was still a teenager and he snuffed out Billy Houliston, a Scottish international who, 10 days earlier, had run England riot at Wembley in front of over 98,000, helping the Scots to a 3-1 victory.

Houliston played 120 games after the war, in the Scottish league and scored 60 goals. His robust style of play unsettled the England defenders and he scored 5 goals in 7 appearances for his country. He did not upset JC in the friendly, however.

The remarkable link is that Charles was scouted and then joined Leeds Utd in 1948 managed by the POMO man, Major Franklin Charles Buckley. Buckley managed clubs from 1919 including Norwich, Blackpool, Wolves, Hull, Leeds and finally Walsall through till 1955.

The Major was responsible for the development of the Position Of Maximum Possibility, a style of play adopted by Graham Taylor, John Beck and David Bassett and others. Basically Long Ball!

John Charles, between 1948 and 1974 played 715 matches scoring 370 goals, remembering that he could play anywhere, he often found himself at centre half, whihc makes that tally all the more impressive. His career took him from Juve to Leeds again, briefly, Roma, Cardiff City, Hereford Utd as player-manager and then Merthyr Town and finally Hamilton Steelers in Canada. He died in February 2004 aged 72.
JC represented Wales 38 times scoring 15 times. He was never cautioned or sent off.

TAKE THIS WITH A PINCH OF SALT

What to do this week? The FA Cup Preliminary Round on Saturday beckons and I suspect there will be a juicy tie somewhere near me.

Remember Guernsey FC? unfortunately they play their historic first ever FA Cup tie on the island almost in France, a serious bit of travelling for Thamesmead Town:  ko 1pm. No chance for me of course. Should Guernsey win they will be at home against to Chertsey Town or AFC Hayes.

Harrogate Railway Athletic v Norton and Stockton Ancients has a certain transport theme, I could use my railpass, while Northwich Victoria host (sharing at Witton Albion) Cheadle Town, conquerors in the last round of my nearest local eligible FA Cup club, Penistone Church.

Dare I risk a trip over the Pennines and visit another club that has a nickname (amongst others) of The Salts? Every geography student will know why (yes it's salt pans from Roman times and the settlement used to be called Condate). This of course this links up with yesterday's blog on Saltaire. There is a plan to all this, believe me! Though it has got nothing to do with the evaporite!

By the way Northwich has the famous Bill Meredith on their books, 11 games and 5 goals. Who? Well it was in the 1890s and he came from Chirk and was a very famous Welsh international (48 caps). He turned out for Manchester City and United, but not at the same time,

This is a magical weekend for the small clubs, with money available for the winners (£1925) and the prospect of a fruitier tie next, a draw that has already been made. The winner in the next round, the First Round Qualifying will earn £3,000. There are 116 ties to be played on or around the 3rd September. You do the math.

This week I could be at Salford City v FC United of Manchester in the National League North on Tuesday and on Wednesday Penistone Church host AFC Emley in the Northern Counties East Division One League. I can get in for £3 as an OAP.

Thursday is a bit dull, St Helens Town v Sandbach United at Prescot Cables in the league and Friday-well it's cricket, so no go.

DON'T TAKE THIS WITH A PINCH OF PEPPER

My grandson has been dragged away from me and his grandma to visit friends of his parents in Saltaire. At a few weeks old he didn't have much say in the matter and I hope that I live long enough to take him to the "Company Village" founded by Titus Salt the great 19th century philanthropist. I can then educate him in the finer arts of Industrial Yorkshire and the development of sport.

Salt built his factory on the banks of the River Aire (hence Saltaire) and the Liverpool/Leeds Canal, perfect for shifting commmodities in and out of his mills.

The great coincidence is that this weekend we have also had staying with us our grandson's other grandparents who live in Hawick on the Scottish borders and who indulge in keeping alpacas. Crazy link coming up then.....Salt was one of the first textile owners in the new industrial world to appreciate the value of alpaca wool and so he specialised in alpaca products. Note the design on Salt's statue.

 But as all great philanthropists do, he also provided cleaner work conditions, nice housing for his workers, a school, health facilities, bath houses, churches, a hospital and sports' facilities. having been designated an Unesco World Heritage Site, Saltaire is a fascinating place to visit and of course it is not a museum, but a working settlement that has a bowls club,a cricket club, tennis club and Salts Football Club.

The Hirst Lane sports' ground dates from the 1920s but the club was playing football much earlier than that. Based on past evidence there would have been a break in play during the 1st World War and the club revitalised afterwards. The club house was built in 1937 and the team plays in the West Riding County Amateur League Premier Division (Step 7). The Salts' Reserves play in Division Two.

More recently the Shipley Juniors Club has merged with Salts and if you happened to have watched "Ripping Yarns" on TV the fictional club Barnstoneworth United was based on the football ground. I could go into the story but no doubt you will look up past episodes of the comedy drama.

By the way they play in a delightful pink strip.

REVVED UP AND RARING TO GO

56 hits to go for 20,000, how's that? Today was Barnsley v Derby at Oakwell and I would write about the game, how effective Barnsley were; hard working, honest, gathered together. And how disappointing Derby were with that talent available. To be fair the Barnsley keeper made three outstanding saves, but then barnsley hit the post, so it could have been 3-3 thriller. In the end the Tykes were comfortable winners and the Derby staff looked uncomfortable.

So the match programme was informative as ever, this time two fans, Neil and Gaz, set off for london to find the grave of the Reverend Tiverton Preedy, the founder of Barnsley St Peter's FC. Born in 1863 (when the FA was formed) in Hunstanton, he was ordained in 1887 and ran a mission on the Doncaster Road, Barnsley. At theological college he learned that sport was a good way of teaching morale values in what was known as "muscular Christianity". he joined the local rugby club but objected to them playing matches on Good Friday, so he did his own thing and formed the church football team. Barnsley FC emerged from his good work and joined the Football League in 1898.

In 1883 he moved to Islington to carry on his good work and formed a boxing club and became the Prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral in 1926 but had heart problems and he died in 1928. He was buried in the Islington Cemetery in Finchley and that is where you can find his restored headstone and grave, lovingly cared for by Barnsley Suppoprters' Trust!

Tiverton on the left has a bit of scrap!

ITS PETES PATISSERIE THIS SEASON

Almost exhausted after the thrills of last week's FA Cup, the real football season begins. Leagues all over the country are looking to confirm that their pre-season training, friendly matches and new signings are going to bring about success.

I would be watching Hepworth United as they enter a new phase in their history, leaving their reserves to play in the Huddersfield and District League whilst the first team moves on up the pyramid to Step 7 (level 11) and into the Sheffield and Hallamshire County senior League. BUT I am off to Oakwell to watch Derby County in the first league game.

The League founded only in 1983 has 4 divisions and 52 teams. Hepworth join the Division 2 (North) and will take on South Kirby Colliery FC tomorrow, the other team that is located just outside the South Yorkshire boundary. Other opposition includes Stocksbridge Park Steels FC Development FC and Dodworth Miners Welfare. A number of clubs have colliery origins, which makes sense since this is the South Yorkshire coalfield.

The winners of the Premier Division in this league (two promotions for Hepworth) will have the opportunity to play in Northern Counties East League (Step 6), meeting AFC Penistone, the reserve side of Penistone Church FC.

The S&Hallamshire is made up from the Hatchard (originally founded as the Sheffield Alliance in 1892) and Sheffield Association (1877) leagues. The Hatchard was disbanded in 1923 and then reformed after the war whilst the "Association" was renamed Sheffield and Hallamshire in 1960. They combined in 1983.

Both leagues have had "teams" from major league local clubs competing in them, for eample Barnsley St Peters (1890-95), the original Barnsley FC club.  There is also Doncaster Rovers (1894-5), Chesterfield Town (1891-5) and Sheffield FC. Later in 1897 reserve sides from Sheffield Utd and Wednesday, Barnsley and Rotherham Town joined in.

If you look closely at the league badge, you can see that the sponsor is Pete's Patisserie, if you haven't gathered that already. Let's hope Hepworth get a decent slice of the cake.

NO BRITAIN?

Four years ago it was a privilege to visit old Trafford and then Wembley to watch some Olympic football. Suarez and Uruguay beat UAE 1-2 and then Team GB had a gentle draw with Senegal. It seemed like family fun as far as GB was concerned;  the result didn't seem to matter. We were lucky to see as the final at The Wembley "Club" (touch of hospitality) watching Mexico beat Brazil.

Some sources record an Olympic Football Tournament in 1896 with a team from Athens playing Smyrna from the Ottoman Empire! Sensible sources do record matches in 1900 and 1904 although FIFA did not recognise the competition. GB "won" 1900 (actually represented by Upton Park FC from West Ham), 1908 and 1912 Golds.

After the 1st World War (1920) the tournament took off and saw the "rise of the Uruguayans", one of the major forces in World Football for the next two decades. East European countries seemed to dominate for several decades with Argentina twice and Mexico in the last three tournaments.

Women were invited to play in 1996 with the USA champions three times out of four. Norway won in Sydney.

This year some of the best goals in this year's Men's competition so far are recorded here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOlq5yZzCH0

If you haven't shown a lot of interest in the Olympic football, shame on you. It has however carried on without you and the reigning champions, Brazil, have not exactly hit the spot, much to the annoyance of their fans.

Qualification has been going on since 2014 with tournaments held in 6 continents. In the Men, Brazil are hosts so they play along with 15 others. The Women include Brazil and 11 others.

Here is an update on what has gone on so far.
Brazil with two disappointing draws have won their Group A with Denmark second. (others were S Africa and Iraq)
Group B won by Nigeria, second Colombia and then came Japan and Sweden.
Group C won by Republic of Korea, the Germany and the rest were Mexico!! and Fiji. Not quite sure how the qualification happened but Fiji have conceded 23 goals in three games and scored once.
Group D won by Portugal, second Honduras, followed by Argentina and Algeria.

Saturday's Quarter-Finals are
Portugal v Germany, Nigeria v Denmark, Korea Rep v Honduras, Brazil v Colombia

The Women line up thus: USA v Sweden, Australia v Brazil, Canada v France, Germany v China.

GB Team 1908 including Vivien Woodard of Tottenham and others from Oxford University, Clapton FC, Woking and Leicester Fosse.

MILLERS DO NOT FLOURISH

As coincidences go I have been blessed by the score line of the EPL Cup tie between Rotherham and Morecambe. 4-5 grabbed the eye and gave me a few things to think about. If you search the blog I have mentioned the Millers about twenty times since I started this affair. The South Yorkshire club has a lot of links in football. Jamie Vardy comes to mind and he gets a mention. I was visiting his "alma mater" last night watching Hepworth United 1st team play a pre-season friendly  against the Stocksbridge Park Steels reserves. It was an entertaining game and the Steels had a Jamie Vardy look-a-like on the roster.
Vardy of course had a spell at Rotherham:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/a-splint-tag-and-lash-on-leg.html

Vardy has moved on and so must I.

Last night in the English Football League Cup, Round One, the Millers, playing at home (at the Aesseal New York Stadium) lost to the Shrimps 4-5 after extra time. It looks as though they threw the tie away. It was quietly 0-1 at half time. Opposition player Jack Dunn, on loan from Liverpool, scored a hat trick and the Millers were 3-2 up with a few minutes of normal time left. Then a penalty. So 3-3 became 3-4, 3-5 and then 4-5 on 120 minutes. 3,800 turned up to witness what seemed to be a thriller.

The club roots go back to Thornhill FC, later United, were playing in the 1870s eventually in the Sheffield and Hallamshire League. In 1905 there were two teams, Thornhill Utd and Rotherham County playing in the Midlands League. Two clubs was not a good idea so they merged and joined the Football League Second Division after the First World War, 1919-20. In 1922-3 they were relegated to the newly formed Third Division North. In 1924-5 they were bottom of the division but survived in the league and were reformed as Rotherham United in May 1925.

Rotherham has had 36 managers since 1924 when Billy Heald was in charge. Reg Freeman lasted 523 games between 1934-52. Very few managers have lasted more than a few years, some only a few months.

But look at the list of famous past managers, bearing in mind that Alan Stubbs is presently in the hot seat, since June;-
Tommy Docherty (1967-8), Ian Porterfield (79-81), Emlyn Hughes (81-83), Norman Hunter (85-87), John McGovern/Archie Gemmill (94-96), Mick Harford (05-05), Mark Robins (07-07), legend Ronnie Moore (09-11), Neil Redfearn (15-16), Neil Warnock (16-16). Despite all this talent and experience, the Millers have not FLOURished.

Rotherham did come Runners Up in the initial League Cup Final in 1960, when in the first leg at home, they beat Aston Villa 2-0. The second leg had to be played the following season due to Villa's congested fixture card. Good move by them- they won 3-0.

SYDNEY PUDDEFOOT-BALLER

So Pogba has returned to his "spiritual home" and quickly embraces the club's laundry staff and promises that they can do his kit for free. At £85.8 million his is the world record breaking transfer with another £4.25m available if he stays in contract for 5 years. There is also the agent's commission and Pogba's salary at £10m a season. The full amount will eventually be declared when Juventus, as a publicly traded company, will have to release their accounts.

United got £238,000 when they let Pogba go to Italy in 2012. Fair play to him and to Juve.
United hope to recoup the fees in commercial sales and further gatherings of success, as the team conquers Europe. Hmmm.

Excellent news is that Barnsley are going to benefit £7.5 million from another large sale today, that of John Stones moving from Everton to Manchester City.

It is a far cry from February 1922 when local born Sydney Puddefoot moved from West Ham to Falkirk for a world record fee of £5,000. The forward's sale almost caused a riot in East London but the club claimed it was the player's "doing". The club stated that Puddefoot will benefit from branching out in "commercial circles in Falkirk" which will be "assured of a nice little competency" when his football days are over.

Having played for the Hammers 158 times between 1912-22, scoring 102 goals, Puddefoot did not want to go despite having his brother, Len, move with him and getting a one off payment of £390, when weekly wages were £8. West Ham were pushing for promotion to Division One however Falkirk matched manager Syd King's valuation, to his surprise and Puddefoot had to go.

The money was raised by the Falkirk supporters (actually £6,000) who wanted the Bairns to reach the state of success gained in 1913 when they won the Scottish Cup.  Falkirk had done well in the league after the war and came 4th in 1923-4, but then slipped away as Puddefoot left. He scored 45 goals in three seasons but did not enjoy Scotland, claiming that the Scots would not pass to him.

He moved to Blackburn Rovers in 1925 for £4,000, helping them win the FA Cup in 1928 with an assist. Remarkably this Final was the first where BOTH SIDES SCORED since 1910.
Rovers, narrowly missing relegation, beat Huddersfield who were in their pomp with Alex Jackson, one of Scotland's "Wembley Wizards", in the forward line and the club already league champions (1924, 1925 and 1926) and Runners Up in 1927 and 1928.

Sydney appeared twice for England against Northern Ireland and Scotland in the 1925-6 season.

His playing record was in 1933 scored 146 goals in 375 games.

He then went back to West Ham for a year moving into management, remarkably in Turkey with Fenerbahce until 1933, Galatasaray until 1936 and Northampton Town until the outbreak of war.

He then scouted for Southend and no doubt got involved with county cricket having played for Essex briefly in 1922-3. He died in 1972 aged 72.

Puddefoot scores one of five West Ham goals in an 8-1 win over Chesterfield in 1914.

TYLER KEEPS HIS HEAD

Listened to Martin Tyler this afternoon as I was driving home from a stately home near York called Beningbrough Hall. Two moments amongst the paintings on loan from the National Portrait Gallery amused me, where portraits included the gentleman who named Earl Grey tea and another who brought the sandwich into the world.

We never stop learning.

Anyway Martin was born in Chester and went to the local Guildford Royal Grammar School and UEA. He was being interviewed on Talksport around 3.30pm and he is excited about beginning another season of commentary for Sky, at the ripe old age of 70.

I thought, well I was talking to him only last Sunday at the Lashings Cricket match. We both agreed we were too old to face up to Tino Best or chase a four hit by Gordon Greenidge and therefore swapped stories about football. Martin also acts as an advisor to the Independent Schools' FA. He is an extremely modest and knowledgeable man.

Martin maintains a strong coaching link with Hampton and Richmond Borough. His first involvement with what are now National League clubs would have been in the 1960s and he has played a decent standard, from Walton and Hersham FC and Kingstonian, even gracing the school pitch at Charterhouse on behalf of the "Commentators' XI" against a school XI!
See blog-http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/pundits-clash.html

But it is with commentary that he is best known and here are some of his greatest moments. Click on the link and you will get the "selection" eventually.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/32414/10263768/lsiten-the-best-of-martin-tylers-commentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h80pi0zY4f8  with pictures!
Starting in the 1960s, he did some ghost publishing and writing, including a Football Book with Martin Cavendish and in the press supporting Jimmy Hill's column in the Times. He got his TV break with the Big Match on LWT 1968. By December 1974 he was working on Southern TV making his debut at the Dell when Sheffield Wednesday visited.

He then got more regular work with Yorkshire TV (1978 World Cup), Granada (1982 WC) along with Ian St John and worked with Brian Moore in the 1980s as live Football League took off and he "got" the 1986 World Cup. This led him into the BritishSatelliteBroadcasting, a company merging eventually with Sky, commentating on the first ever Sky broadcast in May 1988, a friendly between Manchester United and AC Milan at Old Trafford.

In 2003 he was named Commentator of the Decade and he has had a number of contracts with Fox, NBC, ESPN, Screensport, Octagon and IMG, including a variety of venues and sports-baseball, netball and cricket. Add to this being the commentator for the "Goal" movie and the FIFA Video Game series 2008.

GARY'S SCARECROW FESTIVAL, AND OF FOOTBALL

Yesterday, I watched Penistone Church FC lose comfortably in the Extra Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup, beaten by Cheadle Town 1-3. So Church can relax from the dreams of earning themselves much needed money for every cup round win. Cheadle can march on with £1500 in their coffers. There are 184 ties played over this weekend in the Cup.

Hinckley AFC from Leicestershire playing in the village of Heather, brought forward their cup tie against Heanor Town following an important clash on the Saturday with their annual scarecrow festival. They played on Friday at 7.45pm. Here's Gary Lineker, one of the exhibits. They drew 1-1. Ascot United also brought forward their tie with Milton United as the local racecourse, quite a famous one, was running the Shergar Cup classic and 30,000 spectators were expected in the Berkshire area. Ascot cruised home by a length 2-0.
Down the road a piece, Cheddar enjoyed their first entry to the great cup after 125 years and get a second stab drawing with Bodmin Town 2-2.

Kirby Muxloe, another Leicestershire village got through without playing as Bardon Hill withdrew from the competition, bit sad and Crawley Down Gatwick thumped Hailsham Town away, 7-5, but it got close after the airport side were 5-1 up at half time.Y

Yaxley beat Huntington Town 12-0 and Peterborough Sports notched up 8 to none against Gorleston.

Highest scores in the FA Cup include the famous 26-0 1st Round beating by the Invincibles, Preston NE, over Hyde in October 1887. Nottingham Forest, also in the 1st Round, scored the highest away win over Clapton in January 1891, 0-14.
Dulwich hamlet have been involved in two largest aggregate scores; an 8-7 win over St Albans City in November 1922 and a 7-7 draw with Wealdstone in November 1927, both 4th Qualifying rounds.

In Finals, the Bolton loss to Blackpool in 1953 remains the highest aggregate score, 3-4, along with Blackburn Rovers 6-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in 1890. Bury scored the most goals in a final win beating Derby 6-0 in 1903. Bit of an anti-climax for the Rams fans.

LEEKS AND COBBLERS

OK, I admit it I was so besotted by BBC lady newsreaders, that I did get my knickers in a twist and mixed up Anna Ford and Fiona Bruce in the Youdan trophy blog. Needless it was pointed out to me by one of my regulars, so I looked them both up on "Images" and actually if you choose the correct "age" they are remarkably attractive. You choose. So moving on!

Mr Hardstaff, who does point out these things to me, mentioned a
buddy of his from way back who had a second cousin who played international football for Wales. Given that Pele cannot make the Rio Olympics due to ill health, I thought it only appropriate to mention his wonderful "debut" appearance at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, when he cut his teeth so to speak. Unfortunately Chris' chum, Richard Leek, told us that this second cousin chap was picked for the Welsh squad in 1958 but never got a game. Close!

This relation was Kenneth Leek, a memorable name for a Welsh man, who was born in Ynysybwl in 1935. At the ripe age of 17, after playing rugby at school, he signed on for Northampton Town (1952-8) where as an inside forward he scored 27 goals in 71 games.  1958 was when he nearly met Pele.
Ken's international career ran between 1960-5 with 13 caps and 5 goals. Two of these came in the final minutes against Scotland in a British Home International Championship(1965) resulting in a 3-2 victory.

Ken moved on to Leicester and had a game/goal ratio of 93/34 and despite this return, he was left out of Leicester's FA Cup Final team against the Spurs in 1961, who beat the Foxes and did the Double, 3-1. On the strength of this lack of selection he left for Newcastle United in 1961 (13/6), went to Montreal for a short spell, hooked up with Birmingham City back (104/49) and returned briefly to the Cobblers 1964-5 (16/4). He helped the Brum win the Football League Cup against Villa.

His contribution helped the Cobblers reach the First Division as Second Division runners up in 1964-5, a very unexpected addition to the big boys league. The Town came straight back down the next season and then fell through the bottom of the Second Division the following season! Bit of a shock.

Next was 99 games at Bradford City with 25 goals and slowly retired from ther main leagues as player/coach at Rhyl, Merthyr Town and Ton Pentre. Overall he scored nearly 150 goals in almost 400 games.

Ken's grandson, Karl Darlow, is a goalkeeper who is presently at Nottingham Forest.

CHARLIE WILLIAMS MBE

Scouring through the Barnsley Chronicle as one does on a Friday, I came across the name Charlie Williams, whom some of you will remember. Charlie's name crops on TV from time to time because he was a performer, a comedian who told tales in his thick Barnsley accent. He lived at Royston, a short trip from Oakwell, which is where I go occasionally for a sports' massage. Charlie was a centre half of the old school who played for Doncaster Rovers and always played within the spirit of the game.

On October 28th 1957, he played at Belle Vue (the old Donny ground) in a Division Two game against Barnsley before 19,000 supporters. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. The Barnsley team that day included Duncan Sharp, sadly no longer with us, who lived at the top of our Carlecotes village in the "Hall". Duncan made a bit of money from football and owned a business or two, so he invested wisely when he retired and therefore was able to become "lord of our manor". Duncan was a very modest man and I was lucky enough to meet him on his constitutional walks which he took daily. Duncan had been a bright scholar who studied the Classics and might have done something else rather that kick a pig's bladder about a field! He enjoyed talking about playing against Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney.

After playing 171 times between 1948 and 1957 for Donny and scoring 1 (ONE) goal against Barnsley at Oakwell, in a 1-1 draw on March 24th 1956, Charlie moved on. He went to Skegness Town and although the bracing sea air will have invigorated him, he eventually retired and began a career as a stand up comedian appearing in working men's clubs. His famous catchphrase, "Me old flower", caught on and in 1999 was awarded the MBE for his charity work. he died in 2006 aged 78.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHInGjkcxFc

YOUDAN, YOU READ, YOU MARVEL, YOU SURE?

I apologise if you have already got your passports and ferry tickets to go to Guernsey for their historic cup tie (see yesterday's blog); it not being played this "round" ie this weekend, they have been drawn in the First Qualifying Round which appears on the 20th August. So calm down.

More importantly over the past few days, in my neck of the woods, we have been lucky to "host" the Youdan Cup, a major competition for youth teams from clubs stretching a far and wide as Seattle Sounders, FC Basel, Rosenburg, Celtic, Everton and several clubs closer to home such as Sheffield United and Wednesday. Group games are taking place as I type and then finals are played at Sheffield's two major university sports' parks, Hallam and Sheffield.

The tournament is the invention of You-Are-The-Ref (.com) headed by Jock Waugh and Keith Hackett who are providing and independent authority and education platform for match officials. This proves to be an excellent opportunity for young officials to cut their teeth in some fairly serious matches, as well as providing marketing and advertising.


The tournament made its debut in 2015 and this year's draw was held at the National Football Museum in Manchester; the teams picked out by John Hartson and Colin Appleton.

This tournament revitalises the very famous Youdan Trophy, the history of which can be learned on this video from the website;
http://youdantrophy.com/history/

Glyn Youdan is a descendent of Tommy Youdan, once a labourer, then an entrepreneur who ran a huge theatre in the city and became a philanthropist, giving his money to many causes, including helping Sheffield recover from a major flood, making a 4 ton cake to parade through the city and of course buying and organising the Youdan trophy originally played for by 12 Sheffield teams and won first in 1867 by Hallam FC. The first competitive trophy. (The FA Cup is only a youthful 1872).

The website "History" section (above) gives you all you need to know about Youdan, the trophy, the importance of Sheffield to the history of football and of course the tournament.

Below is Anna Ford (sorry but I can't resist it) telling the chaps about the value of the Youdan Trophy...£100,000 at least) on the Antiques Road Show. It's not as clear as we would like to think.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/11771968/Battle-over-footballs-oldest-cup-heads-for-the-High-Court.html

Other references to Sheffield have been noted in past blogs.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/hallam-enjoys-fiona-bruce.html  and
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/fionas-cup-runneth-over.html