HNYEAR

It's New Years Eve and I'm back in Lewes FC territory. Time for reflection, so what ever happened to?

Gary Bailey? Once of Man U he is now doing the South African equivalent of MOTD.

Clyde Best...once played against him when he turned up at Cambridge Uni for a match on behalf of West Ham. He is in the US and runs his own dry cleaning business in Oregon.

Roger Hunt runs his own haulage company.

Jim Cumbes is a chief executive at Lancashire CC....once a goalie and county cricketer.

Tony Galvin who played for the Spurs vets at Charterhouse against the staff and Old boys, is a college lecturer in the Midlands.

David Harvey ex-Leeds goalie runs a farmstead on Orkney.

Albert Quixall of Sheffield Wed and Man U ( see previous) is a scrap metal dealer.

Mike Summerbee runs his own bespoke shirt making business and speaks after dinner.

John Uzzell of Plymouth A and Torquay is a postman in Devon.

I could go on but if you want more get this little beauty......

KANE AND A HAT TRICK

If you have been to the same school as David Beckham, then you might have a football pedigree? Harry Kane went to Golden Balls' school, the Chingford Foundation School in Essex. Kane played with Ridgeway Rovers and then Arsenal as a junior from 2001, trialled at Watford in 2004 and then Spurs found him in 2004-09, when he went "senior". Unsure about him he was loaned out to Millwall, Norwich and Leicester until he made his mark with the Spurs. In 2010 he made his debut for England U17s and was a full international in 2015.

He was the first Premier league player to score 6 hat tricks in a calendar year. His treble strikes include 3 against Burnley and 3 against Southampton and is looking for a third in succession, a feat not done since Jack Balmer of Liverpool (photo below), who scored hat tricks against Portsmouth, Derby and Arsenal in succession during November 1946, helping Liverpool to the First Division Championship. Balmer was an Evertonian and was expected to succeed Dixie Dean, but ended up signing for the rivals who had a better pay offer for him! Note how Dean gets involved in the Kane story.

I might add that Scot, Billy Liddell (of Liddellpool!!!!) was a major goal scorer in the Liverpool side. He played 492 league games and was later a youth worker, accountant, lay preacher and a JP before he retired. Harry? Up to you!

Kane scored 39 goals in 36 games in 2017. This beat Messi and Ronaldo's score tally, a record and 27 in 38 in 2015.
Scoring at the present rate, which is 1.07 games per goal, he is destined to score 500 goals by the age of 31! For England and Tottenham he has notched 56 goals in 52 games.
Premier League scorers who nearly match Harry's strike rate are:
Alan Shearer 36 in 42 in 1995 and 30 in 37 in 1994.
Robin van Persie 35 in 36 2011.
Thierry Henry 34 in 39 2004.
Les Ferdinand 30 in 34 1995. 
Didier Drogba almost did this at Chelsea but have scored two successive hat tricks he failed to get the third in a 6-0 defeat against Wigan in 2010.

THE NOMADS

 Sebastian Abreu (left, a younger version), a 6'4" forward, holds the world record for playing for the most professional clubs, having recently joined his 26th. Grabbing 400 goals in total (exactly??), one of which Abreu scored with a "Panenka" penalty in a shoot out against Ghana in the 2010 World Cup, beating Ghana to gain a place in the semi-finals.
Recently signed for Audax Italiano in the Chilean top division, he is known as El Loco and he beat the record previously held by German goalkeeper, Lutz Pfannenstiel. Abreu will have to go some to equal Lutz's record of playing football on six continents and within all FIFA delegations.

At 41 years old Abreu reckons he has a few more years to go. An international for 15 years, over 70 matches, he has also played in two World Cups and 3 Copas. Abreu is only 5 goals short of Hector Scarone's 79 year international old record.

As well as appearing in South and Central American countries, he has also played in Israel, Greece, Spain and nearly signed for Trabszonspor Turkey.
He netted 11 times in a Chilean B division match v Puerto Montt this season.

John Burridge played for 29 clubs from 1969-97, Marcus Bent 14 clubs overall, one in Malaysia!

Players who have made most individual appearances include: Peter Shilton 1374, Rogerio Ceni 1234 (Brazil), Ray Clemence 1104, Pat Jennings 1088 all goalkeepers. Others with a 1000+ apps include Roberto Carlos, Tony Ford (for Grimsby mainly!) and Alan Ball. There are others but I just wanted Tony and Alan to get a mention.
Here are a few more to chew over.
https://www.thesportster.com/soccer/top-15-nomadic-footballers/

THE AMPS

Been south again and this time spent a few hours in Bedfordshire. Ampthill was the location where there is a very smart FC who now play in the Spartan South Midlands League, Division One. I am tempted to go into the Spartan League history (founded 1907 until it merged in 1977) having grazed the classics with the Isthmian, but might just chat about the Amps, as they are known. Actually you will benefit from knowing that the founder clubs were Dulwich Hamlet, Leytonstone, Nunhead, Shepherd's Bush and West Norwood. Like the Isthmian the league grew as teams came forth!

Founded in 1881, the Amps latest record show that they were members of the Spartan Midlands League Division One in 1951. What happened prior to that heavens knows? They went onto the United Counties League in the 1960s, back to the South Midlands League in the 1990s and this merged with the Spartan League in 1997. Their best performance in the FA Vase was an exciting effort by reaching the quarter-finals in 2013-14 and in that period they won the Beds Senior Trophy twice. Their best FA Cup run was the 1st qualifying round in the 1980s, so not very impressive but then we are looking at a "small club". Are we? They have 18 under 18 youth teams going down to U8s and 2 adult male sides, but not ladies?? Not so small eh?

This weekend the senior 1st XI meet local rivals Bedford in the league and after the New Year it's Southall in the League Cup.

Fred Jardine is the club's most famous player, who was born in Edinburgh and played for the nearest "serious" club Luton Town 243 between 1961-71, scoring a handful of goals and then he went to the Devon coast to Torquay United, for a season. He came to Ampthill and joined the Amps as his battery wore down.

CHRISTMAS AT THE ISTHMUS

OK, back to normal? Boxing Day holds many memories for me and my footballing career but I am modest as you know, so I am not going to go on about Boxing Day matches that I played in, that I can remember! Mind you I can't remember much these days, so suffice it to say I need a nudge.
I got two yesterday. My old college friend Bill Rogers lives in Ripe, East Sussex, and we visited, shared food and wine with him and his family and then we scuttled off to the Dripping Pan (sometimes known as the Rookery) at 3pm to see the Rooks play, that is Lewes FC. It was where I cut my teeth in senior football having been encouraged to join the club (35 miles away from my home) by my PE teacher Ray Smith. I only had a Vespa 150cc as transport so a 70 mile round trip for training and matches three times a week sometimes took its toll on Lewes' expense budget!

Lewes, founded in 1885, were hosting an East Sussex derby in the Bostick Isthmian (as it was once known) Division South. It was played at the Dripping Pan and there is much to say about Lewes FC but I have been there before in this blog, so look it up. Safe it to say, Lewes is up front in social diversity, real ale (Harveys in the bar), advertising and equality.

My long standing friend Pat Francis lives in sight of the ground but he was at Bournemouth scouting for the Seagulls, so a reunion was not on. Several "life members" were in the side I played for and I had hoped to "bump" into one or two, but we old folk all look the same now, so we are not easily recognised.

The game was fun, Lewes won, probably deservedly, and they are top of the division. Hastings, a DHSS sponsored south coast resort, brought with them some drunk scallywags who were spoiling for a fight and their crowd chanting and drum banging were not really in keeping with the 800 or so middle class establishmentees surrounding the Pan-the ground named from the original use of the site as a salt pan using tidal water and much earth moving around the priory motte and bailey.

The Isthmian League, as it was known before sponsorship, got its name from the Isthmian games, associated with the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece. The games were held before and after the ancient Olympic games as a sort of trial. The league was formed in 1905 to help encourage amateurism as clubs began to fall into the professional Southern League and alike.
The Corinthians FC (also Greek origins!!), Civil Service, Clapton, Ealing Association, Ilford and the London Caledonians were founder Isthmian members in March 1905, the motto, "Honor Suficit", which you should be able to work out...there were no cups or medals to be won.

By 1922 the league grew to 14 teams and by 1970 it took professional clubs, if they wanted and in 1973 there were two divisions of 16 teams, and a third added in 1977. By 1985 teams could get promoted to the Football Conference from the Isthmian.
 check out the "hospitality chalets" top right.
Lewes won the newly formed second division (third tier) in 2001-2, the Division One South in 2003-4 (second tier).
 A couple of arty posters adorning the ground.

BOXING DAY PARCEL OF FUN

I took the day off yesterday and today only have time for just a quickie. I was sent this photograph from Costa Rica by a friend and his missus, on an environmental holiday. He has found a local pitch and a mascot, a sent it to me for publication. I think the sloth is at right angles,
My Leicester reader, rather less exotic, also found these clips below and thought they might entertain our readers. So maybe I shall be at the Dripping Pan this afternoon, maybe not.....

http://www.fsf.org.uk/blog/view/and-finally-non-league-madness-padiham-widness-west-counties

http://www.fsf.org.uk/blog/view/and-finally-apologies-daniel-flinta-own-goal-danish-superligahttp://www.fsf.org.uk/blog/view/and-finally-brazilian-football-halfway-line-own-goal

CHRISTMAS DAY TIES

Christmas day was a rare public holiday and so people made the most of it, sometimes by playing football. One classic Christmas Day match was held at Flanders when German and British troops held a truce and played that famous friendly in No Man's Land. It has been blogged before along with some other famed Christmas Day encounters:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/christmas-day-football-light-relief-for.html

Some league games were "paired up" on Christmas Day and Boxing day so that travelling distances were equalled. In 1908 Manchester City hosted and beat Chelsea 2-1 and then lost away at Chelsea 2-1. Bristol City did the same against Bradford City with a 1-0 score.

In 1909 James Main of Hibernian died from a ruptured bowel following a tackle in the game at Partick Thistle.

Dick, Kerr Ladies from the same named munitions factory played their first match on Christmas Day 1917 in an attempt to lighten spirits and raise money for charity during the Great War. They played at the local factory, Coulthards and tens of thousands turned up raising £488 for a local hospital.

Matches on religious days were not usual and during the festive season (and Sunday of course) the FA stated that players were given the choice about playing.

The Highbury ground was built on land once owned by St John 's College of Divinity. As a result, up to 1925, no Arsenal players played on religious days due to their beliefs, as stated by the "lease". Arsenal subsequently bought the land and on Christmas Day 1925 at 11.15am they played their first Christmas Day match against Notts County, winning 3-0 with the famous Charles Buchan on the score sheet. 33,500 watched.

The last full set of Christmas Day fixtures was in 1971 in Scotland.

Of course, there are many other moments involving the game and Christmas. Here are some:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/african-ferry-horror-boat-carrying-9518244

WOMBLING THROUGH THE PYRAMID

AFC Wimbledon, founded in May 2002 and nicknamed The Dons, has been in the news recently. This is mainly through the club's reported acquisition of a new ground and also over the rites that the offshoot club, MK Dons, has in using the word "Dons" as part of their club name.

This afternoon, having lost track of what day of the week it was, I was disturbed to hear that it was Saturday and that the AFC Wimbledon crowd was cheering on their team in a EFL Division One match against Bradford City, a few hundred yards away. I could have gone?
City lie 4th in the table and Wimbledon second from bottom, so the eventual 2-1 victory for The Dons came as a great Christmas present to their loyal fans.

The two clubs have met previously seven times, once in the cup and the rest in the league; Wimbledon winning three times and the Bantams 4. Games between the two only began in 2011, so there is not much of a history.

On Boxing Day the Wombles take on Pompey at Fratton Park in what can only be known as the A3 derby. Portsmouth today were beaten 0-2 by high flying Shrewsbury.

AFC Wimbledon has recently gained planning permission to develop a new stadium at the Wimbledon greyhound stadium. This is close to the club's original home ground at Plough Lane, Wimbledon's ground from 1912 till 1991. I had played their a few times in what was the London Floodlight League, a midweek competition for clubs in the South London region that had lights; not many did in those days.

The other issue arose when Wimbledon hosted MK Dons at Kingsmeadow in September in the league. Wimbledon refused to include the opponents name on the programme and only referred to their opponents as MK on their scoreboard. The Wimbledon club believes that named "Dons" belongs to their history.

Bad blood has existed between the two since 2002 when MK Dons was formed by the original Wimbledon owners, as they moved to Milton Keynes to establish a new club. AFC Wimbledon reformed with locals and supporters from the lowest rung of the Pyramid in the Combined Counties League, playing teams such as Godalming Town. They then remarkably rose through the Isthmian (Div One and Premier), Conference (South and Premier) and then the Football League. And as they say, that is history.

NEARLY A 1000

Mark Wilson won't be on the lips of most football fans, but he is about to reach 1000 games in competitive football, mainly Non-league of course though he has graced the turf against Lampard and Ferdinand.

Mark played his 997th game for Wosborough bridge against AFC Emley on Wednesday with a 3-1 win and it will be his 1000th soon. They desperately need those 3 points as they are in the relegation zone of the Toolstation Northern Counties East, Div 1. Founded in 1923, the Briggers have previous players Mick McCarthy and Geoff Horsfield in their history.

The 46 year old Wilson, from Dodworth, basically a settlement at Junction 37 on the M1 near Barnsley, has had a 30 year career in Non-League football.

Wosborough Bridge is about as lowly as he has turned out although he still plays in the Bradford Sunday League for Wombwell Main (that's a colliery team). The Briggers play in the division below Penistone Church at the moment.
Along with various other games, such as Vets (over 35 years) he already totals 1000, but they don't count he says.

Starting as an apprentice at Rotherham and briefly for Huddersfield, he went to Frickley Athletic which comes into his c.v. as does Bradford Park Avenue, where he insisted on wearing a Ronald Regan mask on the bus and "mucking about".

His career went on to Emley where he played in that famous FA Cup tie against West Ham (see previous blog), then Ossett Town and Albion (bit like turning out for both Sheffields), Harrogate Town, where he was sacked for setting fire to the team bus on the way home with a lighter and deodorant can.

Buxton took him on, then Glapwell, Grantham, Worksop, Stocksbridge Park Steels and finally Retford.

1000 up over Christmas no doubt.
Here is Wilson giving Hammers Tim Breaker, some hammer in the cup tie.

ALBERT WEARS THE CUP

Tracey took our Pilates class this morning-Hazel has the 'flu. The conversation with my near neighbour (a mature lady) went into what else Tracey teaches and she is known for dance. I then said that i thought  dance was excellent for sports and that I had recently seen the Ajax Youth squad indulging in "line dancing" as part of their fitness, flexibility lah di dah.

I then said that I remember seeing a photograph in the Charles Buchan Football Annual of Albert Quixall being put through his paces by a ballet teacher. I usually see the mist draw over peoples' eye when I chat football but this lady said "Oh yes, he was hero at Wednesday!!" We immediately bonded and then discussed Quixall's career and that of David Hirst too (bit later in history). She knew her stuff.

Albert Quixall was the Golden Boy of his generation, born in Sheffield, signed by Wednesday as am amateur in 1948, professional in 1950 and debut at 17 in 1951. He played 241 times for the Owls, scoring 63 goals from inside-forward.

After the Manchester United Munich air crash, Matt Busby signed Quixall as part of his Busby Babes campaign which took the stricken club to runners up in Division One (the top div in those days). Albert played 184 times for the Red Devils scoring 58 goals and took away an FA Cup medal in 1963. He soon was out of favour as United grew so he moved on to Oldham in 1964, then Stockport, Altrincham and finally Radcliffe Borough. Overall he played 5 times for the full England side and a few U23 and B internationals. Basically he almost made it!
Well he is 84 and still going. he made over 450 appearances in all.
Quixall wears the FA Cup...who else can you name?

ROBINS FACE THE RED DEVILS

Bristol City, The Robins, play Manchester United in the Carabao Cup tonight; so who says that this competition is not worth its while. They have knocked out Watford, Stoke and Palace on their way to the quarter-final.

City have been most successful in the Football League Trophy, winning it in 1986, 2003 and 2015, the most successful club in history. It's worth money and kudos.

The club is the second club to win both the Third Tier Division and the FL trophy in the same season. Can you name the other?

Founded in 1894 as Bristol South End the club turned professional in 1897, joining the Southern League, as it was formed in those days. In 1901 the Robins joined the Football League along with Woolwich Arsenal and Luton Town. By 1907 the club had developed enough to come runners up in Division One (the top tier), second to Newcastle United.
In 1909 they lost the FA Cup 0-1 to Manchester United, played at the Crystal Palace. It was United's first victory in the Cup and they had won the First Division in 1908, clearly on the way up. City had been inundated by injuries and contributed to a poor final.

In 1911 the Bristol club was relegated, eventually returning to the top division in 1976 (second to Sunderland) and relegated in 1980. In 1981 they suffered three relegations and were finally promoted to the FL Championship in 2006-7. In 2008 they missed out on promotion in the Championship Play Off losing to Hull City at Wembley.

Today Lee Johnson (below-a little camp?), who played 199 times for the club, manages his team to the top end of the Championship again and he hopes to follow his father, Gary's success with the club. He cut his manager's teeth at Oldham and then Barnsley before moving on to Ashton Gate.
Worth looking at the players not available to City tonight!

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-city-team-news-injuries-924619

BARNSLEY'S BILLIONAIRE

There are plenty of Chinese in Barnsley, a lot of Indians and one of the best Bangladeshi restaurants in the region. So it is no surprise that the latest news to come out of Oakwell is the imminent take over of the club by a billionaire Chinese consortium from French club Nice and owned by Chien Lee. In their first year of investment, the French League club finished 4th in the top division and qualified for the Champions League

Lee made his fortune through the hotel company Plateno Group and the investment company NewCity Capital. Lee includes US Film financier Paul Conway, along with his business partner, Grace Hung, Gauthier Ganage, Neerav Parekh and US Baseball legend Billy Beane of "Moneyball" fame.

Previous owner for 13 years, Patrick Cryne, who has kept the club invested over some exciting years is reported to be suffering from cancer and he has stepped down explaining his situation by writing to the supporters.
The group has spoken to Brentford FC and Middlesbrough in the recent past about investment.

I noted this take over earlier in the season:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/tykes-takeover.html

Barnsley, presently 20th in the Championship and on a lengthy winless run, need some investment for sure! Especially at Christmas. Manager Paul Heckingbottom has signed many young players from lower leagues and into Scotland in an attempt to inject some energy into the club. Don't expect lashings of money, but hopefully some considered "regeneration".

It is great listening to TalkSport and Darren Gough describing the sites of Barnsley....he paints a pretty picture!

THE YOUTHS HAVE IT; SOMETIMES TOO MUCH?

It took a 16 year old Heart's footballer to dent Celtic's remarkable 69 (steady) game unbeaten run. Harry Cochrane (below) is the first Scottish FA performance school graduate to start a Ladbrokes' Premiership match and he scored in the 26th minute to score his first goal for the Edinburgh club. He was not allowed to take the MOTM prize, a champagne bottle!

OK it is Scottish football, but for a 16 year old to make his mark is a bit special.

17 year old Phil Foden, born in Stockport and now with one PL game under his belt, against Spurs at the weekend! has been placed on the big stage by his performances for England's Youth teams including those recent World Cup victories, named Best Player in the FIFA WC in September.

He is also the youngest English player (17 years 192 days) to start a Champions League game at Shakhtar Donetsk last week. he has been at Manchester City since he was 8 and signed forms at 14 in July 2016.

Last night he was voted the BBC Young Sports' Personality of the Year.

These young men are the lucky ones, so far. Have a look at the BT Sport 1 film "No hunger in Paradise"**. Michael Calvin's film reveals (as if we didn't know already) the failings of our footballing conveyor belt; where young players get hopes up when they are just in single figures and spat out as teenagers. My junior club has a couple of U14s who have flirted with the local professional club but have been released. The clubs are a law unto themselves, but in some countries, Switzerland (FIFA Rank 8) was named. Here the national FA tells their domestic clubs how to prepare their players with the reward of top-down funding. Can't imagine that happening in our national Premier League?!

Arsene Wenger, always coming up with bright ideas, suggests that youth players should be paid the same. so they choose clubs for sporting reasons and not the money. Earning too much money too early has negative effects on these young men.

Many young players have fallen by the wayside; West Ham U21 captain Kieran Bywater has ended playing college soccer in the US, Ryan Inniss, once captain of England U16s, is on an assault charge and Zak Brunt at 5 with Sheffield United, 6 Manchester United, Derby at 14 and now Matlock Town. If a club wants to sign him they will have to pay Derby for developing him.

There are 1.5 million young players in England, 180 make it to PL pros.
Many of those lads will have no GCSEs to include on their c.v.
** To be shown again Sunday January 7th 6.30pm BT Sport1.

MALTESE MAKE THE DUTCH CROSS

34 years ago (17th December), the Netherlands were looking forward to playing in the 1984 Euro Finals in France. In their qualifying tie they were to meet Malta, very much the whipping boys in the group, who had shifted a loads of goals, including 6 against the Netherlands earlier in the group and 8 against the Republic of Ireland. Frank Rijkaard scored in the final minutes of their match against Malta to win 5-0. Was it enough?

Spain was running neck and neck with the Dutch and their final game was against the Maltese on the 21st. If they won (likely) they would have equal points with the Dutch but the win would have to be by 11 clear goals to go through on goal difference.

Malta had never let in more than 9 goals in their international career and they had only lost 2-3 to Spain in the earlier game, at their home ground, Ta'Qali, in May. In fact the Maltese had been 2-1 up just after half time.

The Spanish met the Maltese in Seville and within minutes Spaniard Juan Senor, missed a penalty. Spain then went one up, only for Michael Degiorgio to net for Malta after 24 minutes. The Spanish then ran riot and were 12-1 up at the end of the game, celebrated with a pitch invasion.

The Dutch thought they had done enough but were thwarted at the death. Scores against Iceland 1-1 away, only beating Malta 6-0 away and 5-0 at home and losing in Spain 1-0  left them a mountain to climb. 

The Spanish went through to the finals in France and rode their luck, beating West Germany with a last minute header in the quarter-final. In the semis, it was penalties 5-4 after Maceda drew his team level against Denmark.
In the final, keeper Arkonada fumbled Platini's free kick and his team got their come 'uppance. The hosts scored a second, to win 2-0 in the final minutes.

JESS GETS A GOLDEN POST BOX; DOOLEY GETS A ROAD

This is how blogs work. I get reminded by Facebook that I was lucky enough to share a lunch with Bob Noble (a Charterhouse legend) and some young athlete who was giving out prizes. It was a few years ago now, but today when Facebook reminded of this event, the postman brought me a book by Michael Glover called "111 Places in Sheffield that you shouldn't miss". Excellent photographs and information. I bought it for our holiday let next door, but it is so interesting that I might well keep it!
Funnily enough there are 111 locations in the Sheffield area to read about, the photographs by Richard Anderson are superb.

Place 23 is about Derek Dooley Way, a city inner ring road which remembers a Sheffield Wednesday and United legend. He was a member at both clubs as a player, manager and chairman. Dooley, a bull of a centre forward, suffered a terrible injury at Preston at 23 years old, got gangrene and had to lose his leg. His career continued off the pitch.

Place 50 tells of the Bramall Lane Museum built in the Sheffield United ground's redevelopment in 2015. There are records of the famous Khaki FA Cup Final in 1915, when despite winning the Cup beating Chelsea, there were no celebrations much during the game or after, due to war worries.

Place 36 is a Golden Post Box outside the Sheffield Water Works building in the city, which celebrates local girl, Jessica Ennis-Hill's great efforts at the 2012 Olympics. Her other great reward was to share lunch with Bob and me.
Other Sheffield sporting heroes include Seb Coe, Roger Taylor, Gordon Banks and Joe Root.

Place 76 records the famous football ground of Sandygate, home to Hallam FC founded in 1860, three years after the first ever club Sheffield FC, who described the first "Rules". Here is a previous blog....
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/oldest-club-plays-by-rules.html
There have been MANY blogs with snippets of the City's contribution to Association Football.

THE LANDLORD IS QUEEN'S PARK

Today the news was that Scotland's international team may have to re-think its "home" as the Scottish FA may not be able to pay the "rent" for their home venue of Hampden Park in Mount Florida, Glasgow. The lease for the stadium ends in 2020 when the FA may have to reconsider the annual rent they have to pay for "hiring" the ground from amateur club Queen's Park.

The Scottish amateur league club has played at Hampden Park, named after Englishman, John Hampden, who fought the Scots in the Civil War, since 1873. It hosted the first SFA Cup Final in 1874 and the first Hampden staged the first Scotland v England international in 1878 which 15,000 saw. 

With the news that a railway development was going to run through the ground, the Queen's Park club moved to a new Hampden Park in October 1884 at Cathkin Park, which later became the home to Third Lanark FC. Scotland entertained England first there in March that year. Third Lanark went out of business in 1967 and Cathkin Park is now a public park.

The third Hampden was built at Mount Florida for Queen's Park in 1899 with the famous grandstand designer, Archibald Leitch, making his characteristic mark on the stadium, along with modern developments in terraces and crowd control, as a result of the Ibrox fire disaster in 1902.

It has been used for internationals since 1903, when it was regarded as the biggest in the world, surpassed by the Maracana in 1950. The England match was first held there in 1906.

Outside the main stadium is Lesser Hampden, a facility used for training and less important matches since the 1920s.

All Scottish clubs' rateable values have been reassessed by Holyrood, with some businesses experiencing rises of 300%. The Hampden Park rateable value will rise to £1.25 million from April 1st, a price the SFA may not be able to afford. The assessment is calculated based on capacity, attendances and businesses run inside the stadium. Not all clubs have been assessed equally. So the answer is to take international matches and the like out into the "sticks".

The Euro 2020 group games and a last 16 tie may be the swansong for the famous venue.

I have written about Hampden before:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/three-hampdens.html

This is taken from the Hampden Park website and this is a pictorial history of the stadium:
http://www.hampdenpark.co.uk/the-hampden-experience/history-timeline.html
and this is the history:http://www.hampdenpark.co.uk/the-hampden-experience/hampden-history.html

IN THE LONG RUN

On the 13th December this year, Celtic beat Hamilton Academical 3-1, extending the Hoops' unbeaten run to 55 games. In 1915 to 1917 Willey Maley's Celtic team won 62 on the trot including two wins in a day beating Raith Rovers and Motherwell.

This is chicken feed compared to the formidable Steau Bucharest, who between 1986-9 were unbeaten in 104 matches winning the Champions' League, being also runners up and getting to a CL semi-final between 1985-9.

Lincoln Football Club had a 88 match long run of success in GIBRALTAR, being the first "Rock" club to play in Europe. They lost in the early rounds to Faroe Islands', Torshavn 2-5 in July 2017. The Imps lasted 1959 days in their league without a defeat, though they did lose two Rock Cup ties in that period. They were Gibraltan champions over 14 years from 2002.

The Moldovan team, FK Sheriff from Tiraspol, were national champions for 10 years from 2001 with no losses in the 2006-7 season, amounting to 63 matches. Sheriff unsurprisingly were founded in 1997 by a former policeman, Victor Gusan, who worked for Sheriff Security Corporation the club's main sponsor. In 2013-14 they played Spurs in the European league group K and lost both games, coming 3rd. they are doing quite well in this year's competition. Make them your favourite Moldovan side, but first of all you have to find Moldova.

In a more serious league (it's all relative of course), Serie A's AC Milan were 58 games unbeaten under Fabio Capello from 1991-3. They won three league titles and a Champions' League in 1993-4. Where did it all go wrong Fabio?

Real Madrid had gone 40 games unbeaten this season but eventually lost to Sevilla 1-2 on Sunday, beating Barcelona's 39 from 2015-16. Mind you they have just won into the final of the FIFA Club Championship beating Al Jazira with Ronaldo and Bale chipping into the 2-1 victory from 0-1 down. They meet Gremio on Saturday....see yesterday's blog.

TIN MINERS AND DEFLATED BALLS

The World Cup is on....yep, the World Club Championship is underway in and sponsored by the UAE. Beginning on the 6th it concludes on the 16th December. 7 teams play in 2 venues.

Clubs involved represent most Continents (no Antarctica)!!!! so no British clubs involved as Real Madrid hold UEFA hopes having beaten Juventus in last season's Champions League.

From Africa is Wydad Athletic Club of Casablanca, Morocco who defeated rivals Egyptian, Al Alihy 2-1 in their continental cup. John Toshack managed Wydad between June 2014-Sept 2016.

From Asia are the AFC Champions, Urawa Red Diamonds from the Japanese J League who beat Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia 2-1.

The CONCACAF (Central and North America FA) representatives are Pachuca from Mexico. This club, founded in the early 20th Century by British miners was successfully run from 1917 by Alfred Crowle and others, a tin miner from St Blazey, Cornwall. His son then became the technical director to the Mexican national team and Pachuca was the first team to develop in the country, winning the newly formed league between 1917-20 and in 1935 he ran the national team.

Oceania Champs are Auckland from NZ victors over Wellington, unsurprisingly no body from the islands.

Finally in South America the Copa Libertadores (CONMEBOL) winners are Gremio 3-1 winners over Argentinians Lanus.

The competition started on 6th December with Al Jazira edging out Auckland 1-0. On the 9th Second Round Al Jazira kept going beating Urawa 1-0 and CF Pachuca also won 1-0 over Wydad aet.

On the 12th, 5th Place went to Urawa with a 3-2 victory over Wydad.
Semi-Finals included Gremio FBPA of Porto Alegre, Brazil beating Pachuca 1-0 aet. with the goal scored by Everton!

Gremio was founded by English and German migrants in 1903 and their main rivals are Internacionale. Candido Dias was watching an exhibition match in Porto Alegre when the ball burst! Fortunately he had a ball, lent it to the players and then chatted to locals about starting their own club.
The rivalry between the Gremio and Inter is known as Gre-nal, for obvious reasons. Scolari was their coach in 1995.

On the 13th (today) Al Jazira host Real Madrid in a semi-final.

3rd place match is on the 16th between as yet unknown against Pachuca @ 18.00 and this is followed by the Final at the Zayed Sports' Stadium Abu Dhabi 21.30 with Gremio already there.

NOISY CHANGING ROOMS? HAVE A PINTA...

It would be unfair to assume that all footballers lack dignity, are selfish and on occasions are moronic. The bust up in the Manchester United changing rooms and tunnel recently exposed the frailties of our soccer role models...yes, the players that youngsters all over the world mimic. There are loads of examples of bad behaviour on the www!! Try....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2310364/Infamous-tunnel-bust-ups-including-Patrick-Vieira-Roy-Keane.html

Social media will tell the full Old Trafford story unofficially, as it is unlikely that the vital moments will be shown on the official City fly-on-the-wall documentary aimed at commissioned Oasis-sound tracked film.

Footballers have often been related to the milk industry; who can forget Ian Rush and Accrington Stanley's advert. Jose seems to be hooked into the history of dairy mishaps.

Dressing room bust ups are many and this clip will tell you about another of them on film:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2292376-10-infamous-manager-player-bust-ups

The Ferguson and Beckham flying boot showdown beats a milk carton but my favourite confrontation is the Roy Keane-Mick McCarthy event in June 2002 at the Japan World Cup, which must rate as one of the best scripts.

and what is going on here?

DEEP SNOW, DEEP FAITH

I had a chat with a retired colleague who lives at Mumbles in South Wales. He is a very keen rugby fan, he played at the Swansea club in his day, he is a singer and just one of those Welshman you wouldn't mind sharing a few beers with.

Wales is the theme today, as reported, the heaviest snow was falling in Sennybridge, a place I bet Kingsley has heard of, but not me...and me, a geographer!

When there is some unusual weather around, places like Sennybridge get notoriety.


So I looked the village up and sadly, although there is still weather, there is no longer a football club playing in the Mid-Wales league (South). It folded a season or so ago. Out migration?? Rugby?? Bad weather??

Here we are in Defynnog, Powys (none the wiser?...it's north of Swansea) and at the Sennybridge pavilion, on the bank of the River Senni, (did try to find out what senni means-only translation was "top of head") a pleasant enough looking building, sadly no longer supporting a football team. North of the village is SENTA, the centre of training for the British army. Why couldn't they boost the club?

Nice looking pitch, sadly not ready for play (not since 2011).

Today, I happened to read about the Luton Town manager, Nathan Jones, who comes from the BlaenRhondda, a small mining village in South Wales.
Starting his playing career at Merthyr Tydfil in 1991, he has done the rounds (including Brighton) and is now managing Luton who are scoring at will in the Sky Bet League Two. Nathan is a man of God and very proud of it; "it was God's will to bring me here...". He carries his faith strongly (much of it in tattoos) and wants to build a fast, attacking team, strong enough for promotion. He seems to be having an effect and wants to end up at Barcelona! God moves in mysterious ways.

ST MARKS v NEWTON HEATH

There have been 174 meetings of Manchester United and Manchester City in all competitions and United have won 72 (61 in the league), City 50 (44 in league).
The first derby was in November 1881 when St Mark's of West Gorton lost to Newton Heath LYR 0-3. Matches at "City" were played at Hyde Road in the early days, a ground sited between Maine Road and the Etihad. United played at Bank Street in the east of the city, prior to the move to Old Trafford, located in Salford, to the west of the city.

The latest meeting is today, of course, with their last on 27th April 2017 resulting in a 0-0. Ryan Giggs has played in most derbies (36) and Wayne Rooney has scored most goals 11, with Joe Hayes (who scored in the 1956 FA Cup Final, which City won 3-1 over Birmingham City and played over 330 games for City) and Francis Lee pitching in with 10 each on behalf of City.

The largest victories have been 1-6 for City away in 1926 and in 2011, with United winning 5-0 in 1994. City also had a 0-5 away in 1955. In April 1941 United won a War League match 7-1 at Maine Road.

There have been 18 cup ties which United have won 11 and City 6, the first in 1891 Between Newton Heath and Ardwick 5-1.

The first floodlit match was at Belle Vue in February 1889 in aid of the Hyde Mining disaster. Newton heath won 3-2 in front of a 10,000 crowd.
The first "highest level game was in December 1906 when City won 3-0 and gate receipts were £1,000. At this time the city players were subject of a financial scandal concerning financial irregularities. 17 players were banned or suspended and when the suspension was lifted four city players switched teams. One was Bill Meredith who helped United win the 1908 League title. Another was Sandy Turnbull who also moved and in the following season became the first player to be sent off in the Manchester derby.

The rivalry is not entirely unpleasant with supporters sometimes watching the other team if theirs is "away". In September 1947, the largest attendance for the derby, 78,000, turned up to watch United play against City as the home team at Maine Road following the damage done to Old Trafford during the war.

DOWN AT THE VALLEY

Charlton Athletic host Portsmouth FC today in Division One, the first time in the Third Tier (Division 3) since April 1981 when Portsmouth won 2-1. The two teams last came together at the Valley 25 years ago on 5th December 1992. They last met at the famous stadium in front of 8,307 and the Addicks won 1-0. Present v Past!
This link takes you to the CAFC website and their anniversary page:
http://cact.org.uk/news/charlton-greats-to-return-to-the-valley-for-anniversary-game How many oldies do you remember?

Founded in 1905 and playing at the Siemens Meadow by the River Thames, for two years, a new team was formed by a collection of local SE7 youth clubs. After the !st WW the club cleared a chalk quarry and was named the Valley. They stayed there until 1923 linking up with Catford Southend FC at their Mount Stadium. This did not work out and the Addicks moved back to the Valley.

The club moved to the Valley in 1919 and turned pro in 1920, joining the Football League in 1921.

The first time CAFC and PFC met was in December 1922 when Charlton hosted Pompey who won 1-2 in Division Three South. There was a cup tie in 1929 and a Division 1 game in 1936, The next time they met was in 1959 in Div 2, then 1980 in Div 3 and occasionally though to 2003 when they met in the Premier League 8 times until 2007.

There have been other odd games in the Full Members and Anglo-Italian Cups adding up to 112 games with Charlton winning 33 and Pompey 42. At Charlton there have been 19 home wins and 16 away wins.

Charlton had to leave The Valley in 1985 after the Bradford City fire highlighted the issues of old stadia and various dangers associated with wooden stands. They ground shared at Selhurst Park and Upton Park until 1992 while renovation took place. Probably their most exciting match would have been the 1997-8 Play off when Charlton and Sunderland played out a 4-4 draw aet and scored 7-6 penalties to reach the Premier League.

Recently under the ownership of the Belgian family, Duchatelet, the club has been far from stable. CARD is a fan based group Campaign Against Roland Duchatelet! demonstrations have been numerous.

BALLON "B'ORE"

Ballon d'Or was first awarded in 1956 following the idea of Gabriel Hanot and voted for by Sports' journalists. It was presented by France Football through to 2009.
Between 2010 and 2015 the award merged with the FIFA Footballer of the Year. This finished in 2016 and the Ballon d'Or is back and is global.

It was once just European players, then in 1995 it was awarded to any player playing in Europe (so a Brazilian playing for a European club could win it) and since 2007 it has become global. Any old footballer could be the winner!

Stanley Matthews was the first ever winner in 1956, probably after his "pomp". Billy Wright and Duncan Edwards came 2nd and 3rd in 1957.
Johnny Haynes was 3rd in 1961, Jimmy Greaves 3rd in 1963.
Bobby Charlton came 1st in 1966, 2nd in 1967 and '68, when George Best won it.
Bobby Moore was second in 1970, Best 3rd in 1971, Kevin Keegan 2nd in 1977 and he won it in 1978, and 11979.
Lineker was second in 1986, Shearer 3rd in 1996, Beckham 2nd in 1999 and Michael Owen 1st in 2001.
Frank Lampard was 2nd and Steven Gerrard 3rd in 2005. OUR LAST...
NONE SINCE 2005 in top three.

Top men are Messi 11, Ronaldo 10, Platini 5, Cruyff 4. Calm down!
NOTE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WON...Pele, Zico. Henry, Buffon, Muller.

THE MASKS OF ZORRO

When Shakhtar Donetsk beat Manchester City yesterday 2-1, it heralded the end of City's unbeaten run and also gave Shakhtar a chance of qualifying for the next round as well as giving manager Paulo Fonseca the opportunity to get his kit on! Yep, it was the ZORRO outfit that he promised to wear if his team got through the qualifying league.

Well, it amused the press and gave the cameras something to home in on. It is not the first time that fancy dress has been the subject of a football report and since it is near the festive season, many footballers will be turning to fancy dress to brighten their Christmas Party, assuming they are allowed one.

Pick out your favourite Spurs amongst this lot.

An enterprising company has come up with a seasonal football shirt which might amuse some of the  fans on Boxing Day, though I'm not sure these would be appropriate for the rest of the season. Nice in Arsenal colours. They do a Chelsea Blue too.

So back to masks. Name a player who has worn a protective mask  during a game....Fabregas, Terry, Mabbutt, Maldini, Czech, Aquilani (who?), Guiterrez...Gazza (on purpose-it was not a gag).

and finally, what was whipped out from his socks after he scored a goal, YES a spiderman mask...why?
BUT it has been done before by Aubameyang and Reus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJVi4hbUsI0

Here is Neymar having mask problems...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPF9erXTbu4

GUESS WHO?

LOCAL DERBIES IN THE CUP

FA Cup Factfile has revealed that the following FA Cup rivals have met each other the most number of times in FA Cup history!
Lowestoft Town v Great Yarmouth Town: 21 times
Cambridge City v King's Lynn: 20
Chippenham Town v Trowbridge Town: 20
Barry v Llanelli: 18

Liverpool v Everton: 23 times but Liverpool have never beaten Everton in an FA Cup tie at Anfield-mind you they have only played at Anfield in the cup 5 times in history and there have been a couple of draws.
One reason of course is that the early rounds of the competition are regionalised, but not so Liverpool and Everton.

Their first Cup meeting was in 1902 in Round 1 with a 1-1 and a 2-0 win for the reds in the replay. There have been six semi-final meets (including two replayed) and two finals.
The two clubs have met in all competitions 227 times and over 50 of these were during War in unofficial tournaments.

Their last cup meeting was in the 2012 semi-final won by Liverpool 2-1. Other semis were played in 1906 (Everton won), 1950 (Liverpool won) 1971 (Liverpool won), 1977 (Liverpool won).
FA Cup Finals include 1989 (L 3-2), 1986 (L 3-1),

They have not met outside of League Division One (of old) or the Premier League in all League games. Other matches include Charity Shield, League Cup and other silly ones like the Screen Sports Super Cup!

• 

KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON

The question of shirts came up today and I was amused to read that Djibril Diawara in September 2001 was playing for Bolton against Arsenal in a league game. The Bolton kitman, Russell Byrne-Fraser, sent the wicker basket ahead but had not included Djibril's shirt. He searched out a Bolton fan at Arsenal Tube station, Lee Houghton, before the game and swapped a training top for Lee's bespoke team shirt.
Sam Allardyce was slightly amused as they had to use the Arsenal Club shop's ironing equipment to "print" on the correct name and number.

Tracey Hunt, a baker from Salisbury, answered an SOS on the Bournemouth supporters' coach from the club coach in 1999 and donated her shirt for their game against Notts County. Kit man, Bernie Morton, packed two of Steve Fletcher's shirts and did not pack Carl Fletcher's. An easy mistake to make. The Cherries lost 1-5. Tracey was excited.

The Dundee kit man forgot Gavin Rae's shirt for their match away against Hearts. A young lady from the Dundee crowd willingly lent her shirt to Gav, which went down well with the opposition, who quite liked his perfume. I wonder if she had a few layers on to cover her modesty?

And finally Alan Kimble of Wimbledon had to borrow a fan's shirt for his game against Derby in 1997. It had no name or number ironed on, but this did not stop Uriah Rennie from booking Kimble and then the ref abandoned the game due to a floodlight failure after 57 minutes.

Here is a another link to things concerning shirts!
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/nov/22/what-individuals-have-sponsored-a-professional-clubs-shirt
and this is about shirt swapping.....
http://www.fifa.com/news/y=2009/m=1/news=swapping-shirts-and-anecdotes-1008476.html

MINNOWS? HANGING ON

My first proper contact with Woking FC was playing in an Inter-county schools' match against Surrey towards the end of the "last century". We, Sussex, held our own and the Woking pitch I remember was flat, surrounded by small covered stands and the floodlights were a novelty for us youngsters. It was some years later that Woking FC "meant something to me" as a few of my neighbours and colleagues in Surrey were fans. It was their nearest "proper" club.

The Cards play at the same stadium that saw such excitement back in the 90s, though it has been upgraded considerably. Their appearance at Wembley in the FA Amateur Cup Final in April 1958 will be regarded as a highlight in their timeline. 71,000 people watched the game against Ilford which Woking won 3-0. The early rounds of the cup are regionalised, so you could argue that had Woking been drawn against a tough northern side, the likes of Crook Town or Bishop Auckland, maybe their progress would have been halted.  As it was Woking beat Aveley, Hendon, Hayes and Finchley before beating Barnet at Craven Cottage. All these were tough sides no doubt.

This weekend Woking nudged FA Cup fans, reminding them of their FA Cup run in 1991, guided by the legendry manager Geoff Chapple and as Gibraltan national, Tim Buzaglo, made himself a cult hero with a hat trick against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns in a 3rd Round tie. Woking won 4-2, an extraordinary result away from home. The Cards joined the competition in the Fourth Qualifying Round, beating Bath City, Kidderminster Harriers, Merthyr Tydfil on their way to stardom.


There was another scare for the big boys in the 1996-7 Cup, when Woking took Coventry City to a replay in Round 3 after a draw at Highfield Road, losing at Kingfield 1-2. Woking had beaten Cambridge United, Millwall at the Den after a drawn first tie, en route. 
In 1908 Woking played Bolton Wanderers in the Cup having played through five qualifying rounds. They lost 0-5 and so impressed were the professionals with Woking's efforts that they played them in a pre-season friendly which helped keep the Surrey side solvent.

This season Woking have beaten Bury 3-0 away in the Cup and just played Peterborough United holding the Posh 1-1. Their 34 year old Australian manager, Anthony Limbrick has employed all kinds of "modern methods" to get his Conference team to an impressive level, after last season's dice with relegation from the top tier.

AFC Fylde (National League) drew with Wigan,  Slough* play Rochdale tonight and Hereford FC* drew with Fleetwood (*both Southern League Premier); these three remain the other non-league clubs in tonight's draw.

A NEW BEGINNING

I saw Gateshead in the last round of the FA Cup and today in their Emirates FA Cup Second Round, they got pushed back into place by free scoring Luton who popped in 5 goals to win the tie by 5 goals!

Left is the entrance walk to the 1959 Cup Final:

Luton Town v Nottingham Forest....won by the Forest 2-1.

Funnily enough, today I was sitting next to a young lad from Luton at the FA Grass Roots Conference at St George's Park, who had little to say about the "Hatters", probably because he was absorbed by his Grass Roots club.but it led me to wonder how much he knew about his local club.

Luton Town were cup losers in 1959. Roy Dwight of Forest had scored the opening goal but then suffered a broken leg, reducing his team to 10 men. Roy was an uncle of Elton John. There were no subs in those days so Forest bravely hung on and won 2-1.

Luton FC have had their ups and downs, but today, they are top of their division (Two) and have scored 48 goals in 20 matches, conceding 18. It is all looking good for the lads.

The FA conference went on all day and by the time I got back to Hepworth United's ground, our new club house was opened (ribbon cut) and quickly was in use, following a league game played in by our Ladies team, the first in the shadow of the new building. The Ladies won and left the place in reasonable nick, though the invited guests, smart in "bib and tucker" made a bit of mess afterwards. There were a few tables to wipe and floors to sweep,  but @hey-ho. It is the beginning of an new era for HUFC. Let's see how things get on!!

This is an early photo of the clubhouse, but believe me it is splendid!!

LIQUORICE, COAL AND THE DUKES

Pontefract once had a colliery and so did Worksop. Pontefract is reputed to have had more pubs per square mile than any other town in Britain, no doubt to "slake" the miner's thirst and, of course, it is the centre of the national liquorice industry. Pontefract cakes have to be eaten by everyone at least once in their lives. Haribo now owns the business and a Liquorice Festival still takes place in the town. Even Sir John Betjeman has written a poem about the  "Liquorice Fields". The Liquorice plant no longer grows in the area, though a local farmer has announced that he would re-introduce it.

Worksop, also a mining town of some note, but is also suffering from the decline in the industry. The town has a long history and is known as the "Gateway to the Dukeries", look up the Dukeries, you may learn something.

Ok, then, let's get back to football. Rather than visit Bradford City for an FA Cup match, or FC United v Harrogate, it was the attraction of the FA Vase that took me to La, La Liquorice land.

The "Colls" were founded as early as the 1890s and was probably originally a garrison team. After the 1st World War, the club was known as Pontefract Borough, then United as it merged with local sides and by the 1950s Pontefract Collieries were formed playing in the Yorkshire League.

A fire in the stand, the miners' strike, the closure of the colliery and the loss of an electricity supply (why?) has not daunted the club which plays in the Toolstation Northern Counties East Premier-the same as Worksop and Penistone Church.

Worksop Town was founded in 1861 and acquired land through the generosity of the Duke of Newcastle. Local born Jack Brown played for England in goal against Wales (3-3) on February 12  1927, then against Scotland (2-1) in April 1927 at Hampden Park, and went on tour to Belgium (9-1), Luxembourg (5-2) and France (6-0), just one season. While he played against Wales, his captain was J.Bower, an Old Carthusian and amateur, made captain midst the professionals to keep order!

The club nearly folded when they opted to play an FA Cup replay in 1921 against Spurs, choosing to return to White Hart Lane for the replay, after the first tie ended 0-0. The larger crowd at Spurs brought money to the club but they got hammered 9-0 and many of their loyal supporters, fed up because the game should have been brought back to Worksop, where there would have had a "home" advantage! As a result the locals decided to stay away from the following club's games, not helping with the financial stress.

Well, the Colls won easily in this Third Round Proper and go through to the next round of the Buildbase FA Vase. I had a wonderful afternoon driving along the M62 and enjoying the hospitality of another Non-League ground. Today Pontefract earned £1125 to add to their other prize money. Now its the last 16 draw to look forward to. Worksop got £375. probably will pay for the coach?