PENALISED FOR CELEBRATING!

As a treat here are some penalty kicks that were used for Chris Kamara's advert on Sky. Was his scene for real or did the TV specialists "knock one up"? The other two are for real, one in Thailand and the other is German (I think).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OHhI-Viwbk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab3WF_e-J8M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fpydN6rejI

Consider the FA Laws on "kicks from the penalty mark".
Once the ball has been kicked "forward" it is in play.
If it hits the bar and spins in to the goal as above- then goal! OK.
If the keeper saves it, ball rebounds and the penalty taker scores (a la Rooney last night)-goal scored. OK.
OR if the keeper saves it and one of the attacking players (not the pen taker) taps it in....???
What if the ball hits the post or bar and the penalty taker then taps it in?
Or if one of his colleagues, following up taps it in?
What if the wind is so strong the ball is blown away from the goal and curves up in the air and back into the goal?????
la, la, la.!!!!
Here are the Laws from the FA....not sure they cover all the points

EMLEY NAIL THEIR COLOURS TO THE MAST

Emley Football Club (once AFC Emley) plays in the Northern Counties East League and is a few miles from me and if I happen to drive up our road for a hundred metres or so, I can see the Emley Mast, a TV transmitter that is a landmark seen from most of Yorkshire. Emley is a small mining village with a population of about 1800, it has a large annual show, the mast, a cricket club where I got a first over duck one summer and a football team that made history 20 years ago. Since the next round of the FA Cup is coming up it seemed appropriate to give the Peewits (the northern lapwing) a mention.

The football team reached the Third Round in the FA Cup passing by:
The First Qualifying Round was away at Workington Town (once a league team) with a 3-0 win.
In the Second QR at Durham City 5-0.
Then away at Belper 2-1 and
away again at Nuneaton Borough 3-2.
So the village club went into the velevt bag for the First Round Proper draw.
They met Morecambe away-1-1, home-3-3 (penalties 3-1)
Second Round Proper away at Lincoln City 2-2 (a replay at Huddersfield Town 3-3 and 4-3 on pens); this is on film,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF7Caq7jBoQ .

Eventually giving West Ham a scare at Upton Park. The Unibond club was drawn away six times with the only home tie other than replays.
Manager Ronnie Glavin, now 66 and living near Emley, played most of his career at Barnsley, along with Ian Banks, who gets a mention in the newsreel.

Emley bowed out when they met West Ham and John Hartson scored a late winner, making it 2-1. Frank Lampard Jnr scored the first goal after 4 minutes and it looked as though there was going to be a walk over. Paul David equalised after 56 minutes and Hartson saved the Hammers with an 82 minute winner. David Unsworth was in the West Ham side along with Rio Ferdinand, to name a few. 18,629 saw this game, refereed by Jeff Winter. Some Huddersfield Town supporters helped swell the attendance when their tie at Bournemouth was postponed. On film!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFr_zAkif3k

This is a full account of the club's cup run that season:
http://www.emleyafc.free-online.co.uk/History&Archives/199798/Facup97982.htm

and this is past blog on AFC Emley-just to keep you up to speed with the history of the Peewits.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/masterly-emley-and-bashed-bashley.html

TERRIERS AT GUNNERS

Huddersfield visit Arsenal tonight, another tough trial for the Terriers coming up against the Gunners. Their first meeting was October 11th 1913 in Division 2 when the THEN Woolwich Arsenal played Huddersfield away, beating them 1-2. There were a few more meetings in Division 2 pre-war, with Arsenal simplifying their name in 1914. After the war the two met only in Division One until 1972, obviously with a gap for the second war. The two clubs were separated from then until now, the first meeting in the Premier League. Overall there have been 33 wins for Arsenal, 16 for Huddersfield and 16 draws.

The link is Herbert Chapman, a Yorkshireman born in Kiveton, Rotherham, one of 11 children, into a mining family, whose playing career took him to Spurs in 1905-7. He began his managerial career at Northampton Town (1907-12) in the Southern League, then at Leeds City around 1912 over the war till 1918 where there were a few illegalities!  Do the research......

He worked in a munitions' factory during the war, taking on the role as manager at Huddersfield in 1921 until he moved to Arsenal in 1925, where there is a bust of the great man in the main entrance to the club. He stopped that in 1934 after having huge success in the league and the FA Cup with both clubs.

Chapman was an extraordinary manager who input a number of innovations to the game of football, including the WM formation. This link will lead on to other blogs where Herbert's life has been documented.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-napolean-of-north-london.html

He died in 1934, aged only 55 from pneumonia after watching Arsenal 3rd XI play at Guildford City.

SEAGULLS v EAGLES

If you motor down the M23 from Croydon, South London, you may drive to Brighton and Hove Albion FC. The two are some miles apart but the Albion, despite having rivalry along the coast and in nearby new town Crawley, regard Crystal Palace as their greatest rival. Palace is surrounded by clubs in London, but the M23 derby seems to have more meaning to them than any other Football league club.

The two teams first met in the Southern League until they both joined the Football League. At Brighton's ground in Division Three South the two teams came together on Christmas Day 1920. Palace won 2-0. They met again over the Christmas period on December 27th, with the Albion winning 3-2. The two clubs have met regularly since and in 1962 it was in Division Three.

In 1975-6 the two clubs met in the league vying for promotion to Division Two. This run of games created a rivalry between the two clubs when in the third game Peter Taylor of Brighton, who was Brian Clough's side kick until he chose to go out "on his own". Taylor bumped into the flambouyant Malcolm Allison from Palace. Both team missed out on promotion but notably the Brighton fans adopted the nickname Seagulls, from Dolphins, to counter act the Palace's chants of "Eagles".

Shortly after Terry Venables took over at Palace and Alan Mullery at Brighton. these two had played at Spurs together but there was bad blood.

There were smoke bombs thrown in the first league meeting in 1976 between the two and in FACup ties the two teams drew 2-2 at the Goldstone, then at Selhurst Park in the replay, they drew again 1-1. Due to bad weather the tie was finally settled at Stamford Bridge when Palace won 1-0. Having gone ahead Brighton had the chance to equalise when they were given a penalty. Brian Horton (remember him?) tucked the ball away but the referee had seen an encroachment by the Albion players. By all accounts the encroaching player had been "pushed" into the penalty area by an opposition member, so Horton was instructed to take the kick again, which he missed.

Mullery was furious and had to be escorted from the pitch after he confronted referee Ron Challis (later known as Challis of the Palace). He flicked two fingers at the crowd who inevitably were baiting him. He threw a few five pound notes into the Palace dressing accusing them of "buying" the referee and being a team not worth the "pawltry" few pounds he laid on the floor. Mullery I might add spoke at Charterhouse's  Christian Union meeting once. Some Christian?
Later in March the two teams met again in the League and Palace ran out 3-1 winners. Both teams however were promoted to the old Division Two at the end of the season.

In the 2012-3 season during the Championship play-off two leg semi-final, the two clubs met, with Palace winning 2-0 on aggregate and the Eagles went on to beat Watford in the final, thereby promoting to the Premier League. Before this tense play off at the Amex, human excrement was found smeared over the floor of the visitors' dressing room as a welcoming gesture. Disgusted by this, Albion manager Gus Poyet went ballistic and Ian Holloway just rubbed it in!
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/may/18/gus-poyet-fuming-excrement-crystal-palace
The two clubs have won 37 times each and drawn 24 in all meetings.
Tonight's result will tip the balance one way or the other.

RUTH FOR WALKING FOOTBALLERS

You may know that I am playing Walking Football, an activity that tests out some parts of my ageing body that many other sports do not reach. But the more we play, the more our bodies adjust, so even at a ripe age, I enjoy this curious activity that involves walking fast (remember Don Thompson Olympian?) for most of the match and trying out long lost football skills whenever the ball manages to get to "feet". Shooting at goal is a real problem with little momentum to help the swinging foot! Well, that's my excuse, so a toe poke is often the answer. Penistone Church WF Team has won a tournament held at the Etihad complex, so we must be quite good.

I was delighted to read about a "college" friend's daughter who will be working with the National Walking Football team. Ruth Tongue is an MSc qualified Nutritionist, a Pilates teacher with a background in Sport, exercise science and dance. She works with various groups, including oldies, advising them about good diets, nutrition and health....crucial for us old 'uns.

Ruth is working with the England Walking Football teams to help them on their path to the European Nations' Cup in 2019 and then the WF World Cup in 2020. I wonder if I might get short listed?
https://twitter.com/WalkingFootball/status/935146985857851392

Her Dad, Steve is a journalist, who writes about footy and whose book "The Turf Wars; A History of London Football", is a must for your Christmas stocking, especially if you are a London club fan.
ps the Old Carthusians get a mention! Maybe his next venture will be tracing the development of us Walking Footballers.

.

7-3 YIPPPPEEEE

It has been a cracking morning. Greeted by sleet and a freezing wind the Hepworth Juniors U14s travelled to Gildersome (sounds like a place in Lord of the Rings) neat Leeds for another Division 5 league game. Considering the lowly depth of the division, the standard of football was excellent and our team won through 7-3, largely comfortably. What a joy! The team is creeping up the division and unbeaten in four.

In an attempt to make the journey home go quickly I entertain my travel companions, adults and lads, with banter from great geographical phenomena and famous moments in footballing history. Today since we won 7-3, I thought I might go for the 1960 European Cup Final held at Hampden park between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt. The Spaniards were in their pomp and ran out 7-3 winners. I watched the game in black and white on the telly! Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento wonderful footballers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H_89ue5s20 the commentator is, of course, Kenneth Wolstenholme

BUT this afternoon Huddersfield Town host Manchester City and many of our club players will go to the match. The two clubs have met 76 times, not many in the Premier League! but in Division One/Two, the FA Cup and Fa League Cup. Huddersfield have won 22 and drawn 29 times. The latest game was in March 2017 in the FA Cup when City won 5-1, understandably after a 0-0 draw.

High scores were occasional in the history between the two clubs and the one that stood out was a 10-1 victory for the Manchester lot on 7th November 1987. One match NOT to remember? Here is the history and news reel of the game.
https://www.mancity.com/citytv/features/2016/november/manchester%20city%2010%20huddersfield%201%20highlights
Spot who is who in this historic clip!

The highest scores for City in the Cup are in 1890 with a 12-0 victory over Liverpool Stanley and in March 1895 in Division Two v Lincoln City 11-3.
For Town, they managed a 10-1 victory over Blackpool in Division One December 1930.

THE MIGHTY MAGYARS

Today, November 25th, is the anniversary of one of England's most embarrassing defeats at Wembley in 1953; the drubbing of the once "all conquering" national team by the Hungarians.
These two links to past blogs will explain what this is all about:-
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/the-galloping-major.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/rulers-of-world-once.html

KENNY ON FILM; LGBT LACES THIS WEEKEND

Today, Kenny Dalglish was the late morning news item, when he was interviewed about a new film to celebrate his career. Dalglish often comes over a gruff but this film puts him in very different light. The trailer will give you a taste of his character and of course his ability. It is a fitting tribute to a remarkable man.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/trailer-released-upcoming-kenny-dalglish-13743225

Not connected apart from by football, the LGBT fraternity are hoping to boost their support this weekend as various sports are encouraged to promote their LGBT members publicly. In 1991 Aslie Pitter advertised a "gay" football match in a magazine and he was overwhelmed by the numbers that turned up. He formed Stonewall FC, a team that joined the Middlesex (where else?) County Football League, enjoying success in the First and Premier Divisions. Playing at Barn Elms Recreation Ground, the club has had Gold medal success in various Gay Games, travelling to Sydney, Chicago, in fact all over to represent the nation. The club has also excelled in European competitions, enjoying success and the promotion of their cause.

KINGS WIN WITH LES

The FA Vase is the modern equivalent of the old FA Amateur Cup, a trophy played for since 1893. I shall not remind you that the Old Carthusians won the first final beating the Casuals 2-1 on the 7th April 1894 at the Athletic Ground, Richmond. 3,500 watched it. Nine teams in the two early rounds were Old Boys' sides, true amateurs.

The Amateur Cup was introduced when professionalism overtook the FA Cup and major teams paid money to their players to win silverware. The Amateurs (apparently) demanded no such rewards apart from pride.

The FA Vase draw has been made and the next round is being held on December 2nd. The draw is still regional and the winners in this 3rd round will earn £1125.
Holders are South Shields who beat Cleethorpes 4-0 at Wembley in May at the end of last season. In this year's FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round, South Shields met York City who won the FA Trophy on the same afternoon, beating Macclesfield Town 3-2 having been 2-0 up. South Shields are now out of all national cup competitions. In the meantime, local rivals, North Shields are still going strong, away at Newcastle Benfield in the Vase.

I have been alerted to a retired footballer who happens to live near my brother in Ampthill (or nearby). Les Gilson has written his "life story" and on many occasions he has made reference to his appearance for clubs in the amateur leagues. He has journeyed at the "top end" through Nottingham Forest and County, spent time with a minor side in Brentford after the war, Guildford City (a substantial southern league team in the post war period) and in 1956-7 at Hayes, he played against the mighty Bishop Auckland in the Amateur Cup semi-final at St James Park in front of a huge local crowd. Hayes lost 2-0 and the northerners won the final beating Wycombe Wanderers with a crowd of 90,000 at Wembley.


I suspect that he would regard his peak period being at Kingstonian FC, with whom he won through to the 1960 FA Amateur Cup Final at Wembley, playing before a crowd of 60,000 on April 23rd. He later played at Oldham before returning to the Ks.

Kingstonian (a team sited at Kingston-u-Thames) lost 2-1 to Hendon. En route to the final the Kings beat Histon from Cambridge, Letchworth Town, Ferryhill Athletic, Carshalton Athletic and Crook Town, who held the trophy. The cup was a regional affair until the latter stages.

ACTING AND SIMULATION

Yes, I did see Freddie Flintoff in Fat Friends, a musical following on from the successful TV series. The well known all rounder danced a bit, stood around keeping on script, ad libbing a bit and singing...yes singing about his pleasantly tubby girlfriend who was determined to lose a few pounds to fit into her favoured wedding dress. Well done Freddie!

I got to thinking about famous footballers who have been on stage (or in film). Sir Charles Aubrey Smith was born in July 1863, the year the Football Association was formed. He went to Charterhouse and then St John's College, Cambridge, where he played cricket for the university and then to Sussex CCC from 1882-92. He captained an England cricket tour to South Africa 1888-9 and then became a prolific Hollywood film star appearing in 76 films between 1911 and 1948. Some of his classics were "Prisoner of Zenda", Tarzan the Apeman" and The Lives of the Bengal Lancer. As a footballer he played left wing for the Old Carthusians, famously against Preston North End in the 1887 FA Cup Round 6 tie, a 1-2 defeat, the last genuine attempt by the true amateurs in what was becoming a professional world. Here he is with Cecil Maude....who?
Cantona and Lineker have been on stage recently, (for one reason and another- lager and crisps). I'm not going to go into all the others, but this link will take you to Pele, Ian Wright and few other stars.
http://www.dnaindia.com/fifa-world-cup-2014/report-9-footballers-turned-actors-from-david-beckham-to-vinnie-jones-2000341

UNLUCKY 13 FOR THE MARTYRS

I do have to admit that I have been in a team that got walloped 13-2 once. It was Collyer's GS U14 v Thomas Bennett School of Crawley U15s. Most of our team were U13s, quite good ones, and the teacher in charge of the U15s decided that he would put a number of us young ones into his side that was not very good. It was a Saturday morning at home, sunny Horsham, and the Crawley boys were huge and quite good. Crawley was a London overspill new town and the kids in the "comprehensive" were street wise. Not sure how we managed to score 2 but they definitely walked in 13.

Merthyr Town FC, known locally as the Martyrs, may be feeling the same today as they look back at the weekend where their team was thumped 13-1 by Chesham United. The Welsh lads were away from home, a six hour bus trip to Bucks and for the Evo-Stick Southern Premier League team, who were about half way in the division before this drubbing, it was a long way home.

The reason for the thumping was that the majority of the Merthyr 1st team walked out over payment issues, so the club officials dug their heels in and recruited the youth team, including 15 year old Ed Hewitson in goal. I'm not sure that playing an Under 16 at this level is legal but there you have it. Hewitson made a number of great saves and at the end of the game he was cheered off the field as Man of the Match.

Towards the end of the game the whole team ran to salute Jacob Flower who brought the gap down by scoring the one and only Merthyr goal with 7 minutes to go.

Merthyr Town FC was founded in 1909. The Welsh clubs then joined the Football League in 1920-1 with Cardiff runners up in Division 2 and Swansea 5th in Div 2, Merthyr 8th and Newport 15th. Cardiff then stormed up Division 1 in 1921-2 coming 4th. The rest joined the Third Division as the FL expanded; Wrexham in Div 3 North and Swansea, Merthyr and Newport in Div 3 South along with Aberdare Athletic. Aberdare came last in 1926-7 and disappeared from the Football League
Merthyr , having beaten Newport County in the 1987 Welsh Cup Final, then beat Atlanta in the European Cup Winners Cup First Round first leg at home 2-1, losing 0-2 away.

Town folded in 1934 being replaced by Merthyr Tydfil FC in 1945, which itself was liquidated in 2010 and reformed as Merthyr Town FC.

4000 SEAGULLS

It is a weekend of records, with the Monday night Premier League game between Brighton and Stoke, marking the Seagulls 4000th league game. Tottenham will reach that landmark a week tomorrow.
The two teams met at the Goldstone Ground first on 29th November 1958 when Albion lost 0-3. Overall the two clubs have shared 14 draws, Brighton have won 9 and lost 16 of the fixtures. Albion's latest League meeting v Stoke at home was in April 2006 when stoke won 5-1.

Notts County lead the list of FL appearances with 4,912 but bear in mind they were in the original Football League founded in 1888. Preston another founder member reach 4885 and Burnley 4840, Wolves 4825, Bury (not a founder member) 4778 and Derby 4778.
Bury joined the FL in 1894 winning the Second Division first time round, when they joined to make it 16 teams in the division. Their opponents that season were:
Notts C, Newton Heath (Manchester Utd), Leicester Fosse, Grimsby, Darwen, Burton Wanderers, Woolwich Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle, Burton Swifts, Rotherham Town, Lincoln, Walsall Town Swifts, Burslem Port Vale, Crewe.

The First Division was won by Sunderland. Small Heath came 12th; this team was Birmingham City in its infancy.

Everton have had most seasons in the "top flight" 114
Arsenal have had most (90) appearances consecutively since 1919 (no appearances in the war of course)
The following have completed only ONE season in the top flight:
Glossop, L. Orient, Northampton, Carlisle, Swindon and Barnsley

A GOOD DAY FOR CAMBRIDGE? WELL.....

It has been one of those great weekends. This morning our U14s, full of newly signed players, have won their third match on the trot, we think as an age group, Hepworth United Juniors have never done this!

Cumberworth were worthy opponents with one cheeky forward but our revitalised team cleaned in an entertaining game. I don't think we are  champion material but we should make our way up the division and avoid "relegation". ACTUALLY we cant go any lower in the league!

On Saturday I was lucky to watch Cambridge University AFC play two games against "old boys". These were friendly, but pride was at stake and no quarter was given. Results didn't matter but nevertheless it was preparation for the two teams to prepare for further competitive matches against other Universities and colleges, against whom the "toffs" do rather well.

The University play and train at various college grounds around the city, with the University cricket ground outfield at Fenners the perfect surface for the 1st team. Yesterday Clare College hosted the reunion matches.
The club also uses the famous University rugby ground at Grange Road is a less than perfect surface but does give the club a "clubhouse".
http://www.cuafc.org/about/

Coaching the students was a Cambridge United coach who had a terrific rapport with the young lads and his club clearly benefits by being able to use the college pitches for training and playing community matches. Being "Fenland", the pitches are flat!

So a good day for Cambridge? Well not entirely. Cambridge City play in the Evo-Stick South East League and grabbed a 2-1 win away at Hartley Wintney BUT United  got hammered by Luton Town 7-0.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41951662

Olly Lee scored a belter from his own half and Danny Hylton grabbed a hat trick. You have to see this:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_TsC1FTfe4

GOT,GOT,NEED!

Earlier this week, on ITV 4, a programme for anoraks, "Stuck on You" told the tale of Football Stickers, particularly those produced by Guiseppe Panini of Modena, Italy, who sold collectable football cards from his newsagent's shop and made a name for the city already famous with another local "industry", Ferrari.

When somebody came up with the idea of a sticky back, then all hell let loose and as the documentary tells, youngsters were full of "Got, got, need" in school playgrounds and sometimes in class under desks, neatly keeping the pictures tidy in their albums!

In 1970 the World Cup album hit the trade and then followed European Leagues and in 1978, in association with "Shoot" magazine, Panini began its action in the UK and sold millions.

Famous footballers such as Ryan Giggs have admitted their obsession to the collection and then "Smash Hits" and a "Royal Family" album became on offer so that even the Queen noted an error in one of the royal collectables.

By the 1980s, the Sun and the Mirror had engulfed this obsession and Panini was taken up by Murdoch upsetting his neighbour Maxwell. Inevitably Maxwell bought out Murdoch. The UK arm of the industry tried to go it alone with "Merlin Stickers" which irritated Maxwell so much that he bullied suppliers and wholesalers to ditch this rival. Stickers were dirty business.

Merlin survived somehow mainly thanks to the introduction of a new line of stickers in WWF-wrestling, quite apt considering this coming together.
The company managed to keep going to include curious subject matter such as the Desert Storm Invasion of Kuwait and other unusual collection subjects ideal for those chaps who were not into football.

A small UK company survived the clutches of a larger European parent and made the best of a hostile environment. Sound familiar?

I was too old for stickers but I still have a very worthwhile collection of "cigarette cards" and those larger ones found in bubble gum packs!

KIWIS OUT SOCCEROOS IN (DRAW)

The curses may have worked as the All Whites from New Zealand were dumped out of the World Cup, leaving their near neighbours (1100 miles) alone in the group pots! Australia, the Socceroos, beat Honduras easily and have made it. Not for the first time.
Way back at an international tournament in Vietnam, the Australian side played midst the Vietnam War. Harold Holt was Prime Minister and encouraged the "tour" hoping to boost morale, which it did. In November 1967 at the Vietnam National Day Soccer Tournament the matches were held in Saigon. "Uncle Joe" Vlastis was head coach and his team provided 8 of the Australian team that qualified for the  World Cup in Germany in 1974. The friendship the squad developed over this 1967 tournament counted for a lot.

The Socceroos played a match against their soldiers and lived with them. Their group included South Vietnam (1-0 win), New Zealand (5-3) and Singapore (5-1) with games played at the Cong Hoc Stadium.
In the other group were South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong.
The Aussies met Malaysia in the semi-final during which there was a brawl and the military police had to intervene to restore order. This led to a 1-0 win aet.
In the other semi South Korea came through and in the final Australia won 3-2.
This game nearly didn't take place because there was "no room" for the Australian soldiers in the ground. When the Aussies suggested that they might not contest the final, tickets arrived! After the victory the Aussies also played Indonesia and New Zealand winning all their games on tour.

KIWI CURSE AND A PERUVIAN AS A TREE

I don't think the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster Rovers' home has been cursed but today whilst having some fun at Walking Football, organised by the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA, somebody trod on my tracky bottoms left in a pile of clothes by the side the pitch and cracked my iphone screen. Do you have any idea of the procedures that are needed to get a new screen? The curse, where ever it has come from, also encouraged our Domestic Insurers to phone me up purely by coincidence and ask me about getting up to day on the Sky Insurance!

I was watching the news this morning as Peruvians were rubbing live snakes, smoke from some sort of pipe device, juices from plants and blood heavens knows where from, all over the New Zealand flag and photos of the national team, the All Whites. The teams are playing a World Cup qualifier today! Well let's hope the  Maoris have something up their sleeve. here is a news item with some disturbing scenes!!
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2017/11/peruvian-shamans-curse-the-all-whites.html
There are many stories of curses being made to interfere with football teams and this amusing clip will tell you about a few.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36BxBa-m3r4

As if the journey to decide the two qualifiers wasn't enough to make a strong man weep.

WHEN ENGLAND COMFORTABLY BEAT BRAZIL

The Brazilian national football team came into being in 1914 when a combined Rio and Sao Paulo XI played Exeter City in Fluminense' Stadium. (see below) The team made up from players from both cities apparently won 2-0, although others say the score was 3-3. Why Exeter? They went on tour to promote the game rather as the Corinthians did, hence the Corinthians FC.

Brazil then played against neighbours Argentina and Uruguay from 1916. The country is now ranked 2nd in FIFA and has ruled the world. England has played Brazil since 1956 winning 4 times, drawing 10 and losing 11.

The games between the two nations have been played a regular intervals and between 1958 and 1981 Brazil either won or drew matches. In 1984 England won 2-0 away and up to 1993 either won or drew in 5 matches. After that from 1995-2009 there were 8 games either won by Brazil or drawn and then next time the two came together was in 2013 with both friendlies won by England 2-1 at home  and then drawn 2-2 away.

The 1956 match at Wembley, a 4-2 victory for the home team, included two goals each scored by Tommy Taylor of Manchester United and Colin Grainger. There were two missed penalties also and the makings of a successful national team, preparing for the 1958 World Cup, which Brazil, of course, won. In this side was Reg Matthews of Coventry was the goalkeeper and he played in the Third Division South. John Ayteo, Ronnie Clayton and Johnny Haynes were each in the Second Division.

Roger Byrne (Man U), Billy Wright (Wolves), Jeff Hall (Birmingham City), Duncan Edwards (Man U) and Stanley Matthews (Blackpool) made up the rest. Needless to say the Munich air crash took a third of the team away.

Jeff Hall was a full back, whom I saw play at Portsmouth on 21st March 1959. Two days later he was diagnosed with polio and he went into hospital, where he died on April 4th. This sparked the national concern for vaccination against the disease, after his wife made an appeal on TV for immunisation with the available Salk vaccine to become standard.

Colin Grainger, a left winger, played for Wrexham, Sheffield United, Sunderland, Leeds, Port Vale and Doncaster covering 325 games and then Macclesfield in the Cheshire League.
After winning 7 caps, he retired to become a recording artist (pub singer) making a "hit", "This I know/Are You" in 1958. He was known as the Singing Winger.

So enjoy the Brazilians and

Check out the TV programme tonight on ITV about FOOTBALL STICKERS.

SAVOY BLUE RELIES ON ACE VENTURA

In 1958 the EEC came into being and Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup Finals in Sweden. Since the World Championships were first formed, Italy missed the debut trip to Uruguay probably because it was a bit too far to go to play calcio. Italian football soon established itself in 1934 as Champions and again in 1938. In 1982 they won again and in 2006. So their record is a bit special. They were runners-up in 1970 and 1994, came third in 1990 and 4th in 1978. I won't mention their record in UEFA but that is pretty good too. Oh yes there is also the Olympics-Gold 1936, Bronze 1928.

The Gli Azzurri, called so based on their Azzurro Savoia, "Savoy Blue" associated with the Royal family. originally the national tteam wore white shirts and shorts based on the colour of the player's club! The first official match was held in May 1910 against France and Italy won 6-2. 4,000 crowd threw full cigarette packets at the victorious team.

This latest campaign, managed by Gian Piero Ventura, involved defeating Albania twice 2-0 and1-0. Liechtenstein 5-0 and 4-0, Israel 1-0 and 3-1, but have been defeated by Spain 0-3 with a 1-1 and a poor 1-1 draw with Macedonia and 3-2 win. The Italians had to play off, to make up the UEFA representatives. Their opponents, Sweden, hold a 1st leg 0-1 lead with the last chance for the Azzurri being held tonight in the San Siro-it should be hot! The Italians complained about the rough play of the Swedes and gamesmanship. Gigi Buffon, the long serving Italian goalkeeper and captain may well be bowing out soon, following Pirlo!

In 2004 as the Euros were being decided, Italy accused Sweden and Denmark in contriving a 2-2 draw in qualifying to eliminate them. It became known as the "biscotti of 2004" where a "helpless" third party is shafted by two conspirators!

Ventura and Buffon face the press.

REMEMBER

It is Remembrance Sunday but not the 11th, nevertheless, games all over the country will have acknowledged the memory of our various wars and indeed, the Hepworth United Juniors, U14s went to Ossett, south Leeds, for another Division 5 league match, won by our lot 5-2. This makes two wins on the bounce and the injection of new players has made a difference. Our regular players have raised their game and we are hoping to climb up the table to a respectable place. We were 4-0 up down the slope with the wind in our sails and then survived the second half.

The nice touch was a proper live cornet player provided by the opposition to mark Remembrance Sunday. So this was classy and well observed.

The Guardian has another take on this memorable day;

https://www.theguardian.com/football/picture/2015/nov/10/david-squires-on-football-and-remembrance-day

The Independent explains why our top sportsmen may not always conform;

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/remembrance-day-moeen-ali-jonathan-liew-james-mcclean-poppies-royal-british-legion-a8028301.html

The Royal Engineers, who have a rich history in football, were the FA Cup winners once and runners up three more times, once in the first ever Cup Final in 1872. They also won the Amateur Cup in 1908. Dressed in full military kit, part of their training games involved gas marks, which had to be put on, on the whistle for the start of the game, and nobody could not touch the ball until the mask was fitted properly. The referee would then stop the match periodically and the masks had to be taken off and once again a player could not touch the ball until this was done properly. This was regarded as good training and dexterity.

Eddie Mason of the Dragoon Guards, who survived the bloodiest war in history, fighting at Marne, Ypres and Aisne, played his first match in 1919 for Hull City and was carried off after a few minutes and missed the whole season.

Here is a modern soldier's story.

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/877569/Bristol-Rovers-Tom-Broadbent-Remembrance-Day-EFL-Afghanistan

11th of the 11th or 11 v 11?

It is one of those days when I am torn between chatting about Armistice Day (as I type this at 11am-Big Ben's bongs are ringing out) or previewing my trip across the Pennines to Stalybridge Celtic, about half an hour away. They are playing Rushall Olympic from Walsall in the FA Trophy. Today, the 11th November, marks the anniversary of the first ever FA Cup Round in 1871, so let's go for the CUP.

There were no northern teams in this 1871/2 competition, save Queen's Park of Glasgow, who got FOUR BYES to the semi-final and then gave Wanderers a walk over after a 0-0 draw because they could not travel south again. The Wanderers then beat the Royal Engineers 1-0  in the final. In the 1872-3 competition the Cup holders Wanderers earned FIVE BYES to reach the final??!! and then beat Oxford University 2-0.

Back to the Trophy-Absque Labore Nihil-"nothing is without labour" is the motto of the Celtics, who have carried their name since 1906, when a team played friendlies at North End in the East of  the Manchester region. The Northern Premier club now plays at Bower Fold which can hold 6,500. The main club was started in 1909 by local Herbert Rhodes, a local businessman and philanthropist, who spent a lump of his fortune on developing the new ground. He played for the team and designed the playing strip that was based on his horse racing colours. Joining the Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League, they turned professional and played in the Lancashire Combination becoming champions first time round. By 1920-1 the Football League was expanded to include a Third Division and the following season this was increased to Third (North) and Third (South) which allowed the Celtics to become members of the FL. They finished 7th in their first campaign and 11th in 1922-3 before resigning due to lack of finances and expensive travelling costs. In the 1922 FA Cup the Celts played WBA forcing a replay and more recently they reached the Second Round against Carlisle and Chester.

Other teams in the FL Div 3 North at the time included Ashington, Durham City, Nelson who won the division around then, as well old favourites Barrow, Southport and Bradford PA.
Stalybridge joined the Cheshire County League, moved on to the North West Counties and upwards through the Conference to their present status.

Oh yes, today the Celtics beat Rushall 3-2 in an exciting cup tie at a very serviceable stadium.

FOOTBALL IS A SIMPLE GAME. 22 MEN KICK A BALL ABOUT FOR 90 MINUTES AND GERMANY WIN.

Tonight an England Select XI plays a German Select XI in a friendly at Wembley. By all accounts the Germans have as many issues with injuries as Gareth does! In the 1899-01 era there were five unofficial friendlies played, all ending in large defeats for the Germans.

The Germans played their first international as the DFB against Switzerland in April 1908 in Basel. In 1920 the Swiss were the first opposition for the post 1st World War German side and again in 1950 the Swiss were chosen to bring the Germans back into the footballing fraternity after World War 2. In 1990 the German side including the new East German Association also played the Swiss, once the "wall came down".

The official historic England results list shows the Germans winning 15 matches and England 13, with 3 draws, surprisingly only 31 games between the two.

The first official engagement was in 1930 with a 3-3 draw in Berlin and then we hosted them in 1935, winning 3-0. By 1938, national captain Eddie Hapgood and the heroic Stanley Matthews were amongst a reputedly strong English side to meet the Germans in Berlin again, a nation under Hitler's control. The players were "told" by an FA Official, Charles Wreford Brown (an Old Carthusian), to acknowledge the German leader by giving the salute before the match. 140,000 watched this episode as Nazi Germany showed off and England thumped them 6-3. This was belittling for Hitler and later on the same sports' field, his "super race" also were shown up at the Berlin Olympics by the black American athlete, Jesse Owens.

By 1938 Austria became part of Germany under the Anschluss (the annexing of Austria into Nazi Germany) and since the Austrians at the time were a major force in European football, the Germans benefited from this injection of talent. However it did not help in the 1938 World Cup, as the Germans lost on aggregate to Switzerland...there they are again!

England and Germany met again in 1954 but by this time they were called West Germany. England won 3-1 with Len Shackleton, Roy Bentley and Ronnie Allen scoring in front of 100,000 at Wembley.
Since then, there have been regular fixtures with World Cup ties in 1966, 1970, 1982, 1990, 2000 and recently games in 2016 and 2017.

BASTOCK HAS LONGEVITY

On a day when Alex Ferguson took over the reins at Manchester United, another long serving football man was glorified on radio and press for his longevity. Paul Bastock is a goalkeeper who on Saturday will turn out for his local club Wisbech Town, in the United Counties League (Premier) thereby beating Peter Shilton's record of 1249 appearances as a goalkeeper last weekend beating league rivals Sleaford Town. OK, Wisbech Town isn't at the top tier but this is surely an achievement that will tickle the "Guinness Book of Records"?

At 47 years old Paul is still the guardian of his first team goal and on Saturday his club will take on local rivals Thetford United, an East Anglian derby. Paul has appeared in the Football League, helping Boston United into the top tiers and playing there for two seasons. He has played alongside Gazza, when he had a spell at Boston (where he recorded 625 apps in all competitions) and Alan Shearer and Le Tissier in 1987 when they were at Southampton in the youth team, a team that won the FA Youth Cup.

He was at Coventry City as a youth when they stole the FA Cup from the Spurs in 1986, and on Saturday his team could well extend their unbeaten league this season run to 13 games and maybe reach higher up the table than the present 4th position. He began his professional career at Cambridge United in 1988.

I cannot spend my time listing all his 20 clubs, but he had two spells at Boston, four spells at St Albans (270+) and several appearance for the National Game XI (non-league selection).

DANNY AND JACKIE WERE BROTHERS

Danny Blanchflower was asked for by a couple of blog readers, so since Barnsley are in the ascendency, as are the Spurs and Northern Ireland, then it is appropriate to delve into his life.

Born in Belfast in 1926 he left school, despite being a bright lad, and worked at the local Gallaher Cigarette factory and joined the RAF, stationed in St Andrew's Scotland, where he signed up for the University College "Dundee XI" for some light relief. His mother played for a local ladies team, so football was in his blood.

In 1945 he returned home and signed for Glentoran until 1949, when he joined Barnsley for two years. He then moved to Aston Villa in 1951, where he played for three years before signing for Spurs after a £30,000 transfer. Danny played at Tottenham, from 1954-64 working under the great Arthur Rowe of "Push and Run" fame, a man I met when my school played Ardingly College in Sussex during the late 1960s. Rowe was employed as a coach to the school. Rowe retired in 1955 and under the new manager Jimmy Anderson, Blanchflower changed tactics on the pitch in the 1956 semi-final against Manchester City, which did not go down well, as Spurs lost to 0-1. His forthright and egotistical approach was not always popular with the hierarchy. Nevertheless, he was a leader and he took Spurs to the FA Cup again in 1962 and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1963 under Bill Nicholson.

Blanchflower was an intellectual footballer, wiry, not spectacular and was a clever supplier of passes to Cliff Jones, Bobby Smith and later Jimmy Greaves. During his ten years, Blanchflower won the FA Cup and the League in 1960-1, the first time in the 20th Century. During his career he played for Northern Ireland 56 times from 1949-62, including the appearance in the last 8 of the 1958 World Cup. He was voted Footballer of the Year in 1958 and 1961. Very briefly he went on loan to Toronto City with Stanley Matthews and Johnny Haynes. But this heralded his retirement from playing in 1964 at the age of 38. He had a spell with Yorkshire Television as a pundit, he worked for the Sunday Express and in February 1961, he refused Eammon Andrews' invitation, live on TV, to be the subject of "This is Your Life", which he said was an "invasion of privacy". In 2009 he was voted Spurs' best player in The Times.

Tactically astute, Blanchflower went into management with Northern Ireland (1976-79), Chelsea from 1978-9, he inevitably wrote his autobiography which stated that playing football was all about glory, style and flourish. He died in Cobham (near the Chelsea training ground) in December 1993 having suffered from Alzheimers, Parkinsons and finally pneumonia. A blue plaque marks his birthplace at 49 Grace Avenue, Belfast, his childhood home.

His brother Jackie was also a professional footballer playing in the 1957 FA Cup Final for Manchester United against Aston Villa. He took over in goal after Ray Wood, the United keeper was flattened by Peter McParland, who went on to score two goals that beat Matt Busby's side. Jackie then was injured in the Munich Air disaster in 1958 and eventually recovered but could not play football again, retiring at 24 years old, having played a 105 times for United and earning 12 caps for Northern Ireland. A career cut short.

PIRLO-THE WHITE PEARLY KING

Andrea Pirlo "speaks with his feet", "he is a genius", "to pass to Pirlo is like hiding the ball in the safe", "he is a metronome". Pirlo would control a game and if he was playing for a club side against an English team club or national, we knew that he was in control. A specialist at set pieces, it was often fatal to give away free kicks or corners and if he got the ball in midfield, the opposition would expect the worst...or actually the most brilliant!

Born in Flero, Brescia, 1979, Andrea played local youth football and quickly moved onto Brescia (47 apps/6 goals) aged 16, then was sold to Internationale (22/0) in 1998 for £1.8m, went to Reggina on loan (28/6), had 10 apps back at Brescia on loan and finally was sold to Milan for £16m in 2001. Big time.

He stayed for 10 years and then went to Juventus in 2011, playing 119 times with 16 goals. He played over 500 times in Italy winning Serie A and Champions League titles several times. By 2015 he moved on to New York City FC in the MLS, joining Frank Lampard, David Villa and Patrick Vieira, playing over 60 times. He came off the bench this weekend against Columbus Crew, for a few minutes to announce his retirement.

An intelligent footballer who controlled games, he has written an autobiography called " I think, therefore I play." Part is dedicated to Milan's defeat by Liverpool in Istanbul in 2005. YOU MUST WATCH...

http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&pg=video&pn=1&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&searchfor=Pirlo&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt

When the Old Carthusians played NYC FC, as they arrived in England for a pre-season tour, Pirlo was absent! But Marcos Senna did grace the school pitch.

BOREHAM WOOD BEAT CUP FINAL PAST WINNER

This link will take you to a nice little film that shows the past TEN FA Cup Winners who performed in the First Round Proper at the weekend.
I suppose you could try to name them before we get going
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41833267

OR look at this:
http://www.thefa.com/competitions/thefacup/results

From that ten, 8 went into the draw to join 32 others for the Second Round proper:
Tonight 7pm BT or BBC 2.
http://www.thefa.com/news/2017/nov/03/emirates-fa-cup-second-round-proper-draw-details-031117
Second Round to be played 1-4th December weekend.

Boreham Wood go through having beaten one of the FA Cup winners on Saturday.
Founded in 1948 when Boreham Rovers and Royal Retournez merged, the club settled at Meadow Park which now is home to a DESSO (astro) pitch and a huge Education Sports' Programme (PASE) that accommodates over 500 students (see video below).

The club now plays in the National League having started in the Mid-Herts league and working its way through the Parthenon, Spartan, Athenian and Isthmian. In 2012-3 the club lost to Brentford in the FA Cup First Round, then Carlisle 0-1 after a home draw a year later and their new stand was opened in 2014 by an Arsenal XI and Arsene.
http://www.borehamwoodfootballclub.co.uk/  have a look at this.........
Next home league game v Hartlepool United!!

DIS-GUISELEY? HAPPY LIONS

Today Hepworth United Junior Under 14s won their first game of the season 4-2, beating Park Avenue  U14s, yes of Bradford, in west Yorkshire. We have lost the past 4 games, comfortably. Guiseley AFC, also of West Yorkshire, got a good result also, in the FA Cup, drawing 0-0 with Accrington today.

The Round 1 Proper of the FA Cup will be completed today except for the one attractive tie of Chorley v Fleetwood. Don't know why the game is played on a Monday, TV?
Already a few non-league clubs have made their fans extremely happy; one or two clubs have fallen off the perch.

So yesterday AFC Fylde, Boreham Wood*, Maidstone United*, Oxford City*, Slough, Gateshead and Hereford have won through; those * beating League clubs.
TODAY.
Boreham Wood beat Blackpool 2-1, Maidstone United won 4-2 away at Cheltenham and Oxford City away at Colchester 0-1. Sutton will not repeat their fine run from last year, they lost to Cambridge Utd, Truro (oooaarrrr) capitulated at Charlton, Coventry beat Maidenhead 3-1, Exeter 3-1 v Heybridge Swifts, Swindon beat Dartford 5-1 away, Leatherhead and Billericay drew 1-1 and both go into tomorrow's draw. Wycombe beat Solihull Moors 2-0 and Woking drew at home 1-1 with Bury.
Have a look at the Billericay blog from August:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/fa-cup-soon-players-doing-rounds.html

So most exciting? Woking and/or Guiseley? Haven't they done well? What about Guiseley then? Yes, the West Yorkshire club was founded in 1909 and worked its way through the various Yorkshire leagues, winning the Wharfedale League in 1912-13 and now sits comfortably in the National League, playing at Nethermoor Park.

The club won the FA Vase in 1990-1 on its journey up the pyramid. They were losing finalists to Wimborne Town in 1992-3 and have made the FA Cup 1st Round seven times since 1991-2, including this year. In 1993-4 they reached the FA Trophy semis. The Lions are certainly roaring and will be looking forward to the "balls in the bag" tomorrow. Already they have £3,000 to look forward to if they can win the replay.

Next week it is back to mundane stuff at home to Bromley in the league, a team that lost to Rochdale 4-0 in the cup.

ON THE SPOT

Penalty kicks to decide drawn FA Cup ties were introduced in 1991-2, prior to that matches just kept on being replayed.

I have just got back from watching local side Hepworth United in their local cup tie against High Green Villa. There was a sensible 1.30 ko just in case the game had to go into extra time and so on, as the Autumn light slipped away.

Nice game, Hepworth were better but couldn't convert territory into goals and after extra time the score was 2-2. So into penalties! after the first 5 each, the teams were even (not everyone scored I might add); after 10 kicks each they were inseparable and so on into further sudden death, with some poor soul taking and missing his second penalty. Goalies took penalties too and eventually this cup tie resulted in a win for the visitors in the dark.

I remember a "House Cup Final" at Charterhouse (remember how children are assigned to "houses" to help with administration and sense of being?) in December 1992 when the two teams of U18s fought out 22 penalties with a final score of 9-10 and headlights illuminating the goal.

In more competitive matches, 29 penalties settled the Hampshire Senior County 2nd Round tie in 2013 when Brockenhurst won 15-14 against Andover Town, when they missed the 30th penalty. This beat the previous record in a Johnstone's Paint Trophy 1st Round tie in September 2011, which Leyton Orient lost to Dagenham and Redbridge when their 28th penalty was saved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxKMTYrqV0g  not many English examples.......

THE FIRST FA CUP GOAL

I am not entirely convinced by this, but despite the lack of social media and satellite communications, Upton Park FC's West Ham pitch was reported to be the place where the first ever FA Cup goal was scored on November 11th in 1871. This was a First Round tie in the first ever round of the newly formed competition. The goal was scored by Jarvis Kendrick of Clapham Rovers, whose team beat the home side 3-0. In the next round the Rovers were beaten by The Wanderers, the eventual Cup winners.

These two links will explain a bit about Upton park and their legacy, not only in the FA Cup but also in football in and around West Ham and even having some influence in the Channel Islands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iP9aQfOJvA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R83MGlahxz0

Having been founded in 1866, the Upton Park club disbanded in 1887, despite having won the London Senior Cup in 1883. The club was reformed in 1891 joining the Southern Alliance League.

In 1884 after their drawn FA Cup tie with Preston North End 1-1, in what was the last 16 of the cup, Upton Park complained about the professionalism of the Preston players, who apparently were being paid to play. Preston were disqualified and thrown out of the competition. Upton Park went through by default to the last 8 of the competition, where they lost to Blackburn Rovers (also pros??) the eventual cup winners.

Upton Park FC still plays and they were privileged to be invited to play the final match ever at the Boleyn Ground, sometimes known as Upton Park, against the Royal Engineers, another historic non-league club. UPFC won 3-2, in what was a friendly run out.

In 1900 the club was invited by the Olympic FA to represent England in the Paris Olympics. They beat USFSA XI 4-0, representing France, the hosts in a "demonstration" sport. The IOC retrospectively awarded the club a medal to mark the occasion.

Regular tours by the club to Guernsey proved so popular that the two Channel Islands teams, Guernsey and Jersey, play for the annual Upton Trophy.

Three famous players to be club members were; Charles Alcock who became FA President, and FA Cup Final referees, Alfred Stair and Segar Bastard (presumably he had to put up with a fair bit of abuse!).

FA Cup ties start tonight!!

BALE OUT; KANE IN

Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid have only met 5 times and these of course have been in European competition.
In March 1985 Spurs lost to Real 0-1 in the UEFA Cup 4th Round 1st leg at home (40,000) and in the return two weeks later there was a 0-0 draw (95,000).
Team: Clemence, Hughton, Miller, Roberts, Thomas, Perryman, Galvin, Hazard, Hoddle,Crooks, Falco. Subs: Ally Dick, Gareth Brooke. (Stevens and Chiedozie played in the first leg)

In April 2011 Real beat Tottenham 4-0 in the Champions League and 8 days later the two teams played out a 0-1 defeat for Spurs at White Hart Lane.

Both teams should qualify after tonight's match with Borussia Dortmund and Apoel Nicosia in 3rd and 4th.

Real are smarting from their 2-1 defeat by Girona in the Spanish League at the weekend, so there should be a reaction. Real are unbeaten against Spurs in European competition and are unbeaten in their last 30 Champions League games, winning 22 and drawing 8 ties. Their last defeat was in October 2012 v Borussia Dortmund. They have failed to score only once in the club's last 53 ties and that was in October 2015 drawing with PSG 0-0.

Spurs have won their last two Champions League games! and have never won at home against a Spanish club in European competition (drawn 2 and lost 3).
I do remember Spurs winning the European Cup Winners Cup against Athletico Madrid, the Mattress Men, in  May 1963 in Rotterdam......here it proof. (you must watch this for the penalty, no sending off? and the Spurs' third goal, Greaves in the 6 yard box, Terry Dyson's strike...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONrBO_-FXnA
Spurs team: Brown, Baker, Henry, Blanchflower, Norman, Marchi, Jones, White, Smith, Greaves, Dyson.

Ronaldo has scored in each of his previous Champions league games v Spurs and he and Harry Kane lead the CL score total with 5 each. Harry may be back! Gareth Bale will not be on the pitch-shame!

The match is to be reffed by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir and his team;
Bahaltin Duran, Tarik Ongun and Mustafa Eyisoy, a commentator's nightmare.

BLOGGING ABOUT A BLOGS AND BLOG AWARDS

David Bauckham, (yes I know, I have said this before but this is his real name), writes a brilliant blog for anyone who is interested in the game, especially non-league and beneath! I hope most of you recognise the importance of football at the base of the "pyramid", David does!

Most of his observations and research is south of Watford but have a look at what detail  he finds about clubs. Maybe there is a northern blog equivalent that I haven't found out about yet?
Why not have a look at this link to his blog "site"?
https://dbauckham.exposure.co/

and if you are keen, vote for him on my recommendation.
http://fsf.org.uk/latest-news/view/fsf-awards-2017-shortlists-announced

and then, why not have a look at this one?
http://fsf.org.uk/latest-news/view/fsf-awards-2017-shortlists-announced

Still glowing from Wembley, Spurs and Alli......what fun.