SIR TOM, THE PRESTON PLUMBER

It is the end of the season and some ageing players might announce their retirement towards the end of April, especially if they are not involved in any excitements such as Cup Finals or World Cups.
On the 30th April, Tom Finney, the Preston plumber, retired from football after the home match against Luton Town at Deepdale which the Lilywhites won 2-0.

Finney down the "wing" at Stamford Bridge, immortalised in a wonderful statue outside Deepdale.
Born in April 1922, Finney joined Preston as an amateur in 1938 and he turned professional in 1941 despite serving in the 8th Army (with my dad!). I don't think they crossed paths.
Finney was able to play down both wings and also as a centre-forward, winning 76 caps for England scoring 30 goals. He made 433 appearances for Preston and scored 193 league goals and 26 in the Cup. He led Preston to the 1954 FA Cup Final, losing to West Bromwich Albion 3-2 in a game he declared was his worst performance ever.
Having hung up his boots, he probably spent a bit of time repairing leaking pipes although he was persuaded to play for Distillery against Eusebio's Benfica in the European Cup three years later.
Finney gathered few rewards from football, apart from a War Time Cup medal beating Arsenal 2-1 in 1941 and a 1951 Second Division championship.
Prince Roberta Lanza di Trabbia, the President of Palermo, saw Finney play and offered him untold riches to sign for the club. The Preston board declined and he so stayed with his £14 per week wage, £2 win and £1 draw bonus and the rewards of his plumbing business. He soon retired and Preston quickly fell into decline. They could have used their new riches to buy themselves out of trouble.
Finney was voted Football League's player of the year twice.
He was knighted in 1998 and died on February 14th 2014 .
Bill Shankly that "he would have been great in any team, match or in any age, even wearing an overcoat".

BUSY PERIOD?

On the 20th April 1912 Barnsley FC played in the FA Cup Final against West Bromwich Albion at the Crystal Palace and drew 0-0. The replay took place 4 days later (24th) at Bramall Lane, which Barnsley won 1-0.

In between the two "finals" the Tykes played Everton in a League match losing 0-3 away on the 22nd.

After the Final replay, on the 25th (the next day), they played Blackburn Rovers and lost 1-4. On the 26th they met Bradford City in the league drawing 0-0, then Sheffield Wednesday on the 27th, losing 1-5 and finally Manchester United on the 29th, a 0-0 draw.

(prior to all this they had four goes at Bradford City in the FA Cup Round 6, with three 0-0's, eventually winning 3-2 dated March 9th,13th,18th 21st)

Prior to the Finals they also played semi-finals on March 30th, at Stamford Bridge 0-0 and then replayed on the 3rd April at Meadow Lane, Nottingham, against Swindon Town winning 1-0. They had league games on April 5th, 8th, 9th and 13th!

According to all this they played on:
March 9, 13, 18, 21, 30th and
April 3, 5, 8, 9, 13, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29th.

On April 28th 1973, Bobby Charlton played his last league game for Manchester United, a 0-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge. His 6 league goals in the 1972-3 season contributed little to United's position, which ended just above the relegation zone in the First Division. On the same day, brother Jackie played his last game for Leeds United at the Dell against Southampton.

SEVILLE FUTBOL CLUB AND BAETIS.

I am in Seville, on a city break. I have tried quite hard to find a match to watch but the international week has just finished and well there are no games. I did fly in over the stadium.

I wrote about the History of Seville FC a year ago. It is the oldest sporting club in Spain solely devoted to football and this is it;
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com.es/2017/05/they-make-great-marmalade.html

Vic Buckingham also gets on the roster when he spent some time with the club during his wonderful career as a coach.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com.es/2016/01/push-and-run-totally-great-football.html

There is a host of lower league clubs in the region and the closest La Liga one is Real Betis Balompie. Founded in 1907 they won the Segunda Division in 2014-15 and now play in La Liga. They have won the "League title" in 1934 and the Cope del Rey 1977, 2005. Here is an early team photo.

Betis comes from the Roman "Baetis" the name the invaders gave the river running through the city of Seville, now known as the Guadalquivir.
Balompie is the literal translation for "football". Students from the Polytechnic Academy were playing a form of football in 1905.
The club wears green and white stripes to honour Paddy O'Connell, their Irish manager, who led them to the League championship in 1934.

THE GRAF ZEPPELIN

Having seen Arsenal make a "bog" of their cup tie last night and seeing as now I live within a crowd's cheer of Huddersfield Town and considering that both clubs were lucky enough to be manged by the legend Herbert Chapman, it seemed appropriate to write about the two clubs who on April 26th (yesterday) 1930 played each other in the FA Cup Final, a match interrupted briefly by the Graf Zeppelin.

Chapman had set Town on a remarkable winning streak between 1921-5, when they might have been consider the best in the land.
Chapman was then lured to Highbury (1925-34) where his bust sat in the players entrance for years and is now on show in the Emirates. Heaven knows what Chapman would say about Gunners' matters today.

93,000 were in Wembley when just after half time the German airship hovered 200 feet above the pitch dipping its nose to King George VI, casting a shadow over the famous turf. Captain Lehmann, the pilot, noted that the crowd stared upwards, went quiet and the game was stopped. Town fans jeered, convinced that their team was being distracted and indeed they were, as they lost 2-0.

Town had been Division One (top) Champions for three years (1924, 1925, 1926) runners up twice (1927, 1928) and FA Cup winners once (1922) and runners up four times (1920, 1922, 1930) (and later in 1938, his legacy?). He also managed Northampton Town and Leeds City.

In 1934 having been to watch a game in Yorkshire, where next opponents Sheffield Wednesday were playing, he went back to Kiveton Park, his a home town and first club in 1896. He then travelled to Guildford City FC to watch his 3rd team play. He was suffering from pneumonia, the travelling didn't help much and died at home in Hendon on January 6th 1934.

MATTRESS MEN v THE GUNNERS

Tomorrow is "Football Kit Friday"; it is the first I have heard of this year's fund raiser which raises money for the Bobby Moore Fund.

Bit late for action I guess-can we get our U14s turning up in their favourite kits this evening and will they pay the price for doing so?

Since the Arsenal are taking on Atletico Madrid this evening, I have raked up a blog from 2014 which explains the Mattress Men's kit:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-mattress-makers-of-madrid.html  Here's one of the top shirts-Atletico Madrid AWAY!


On March 18th of this year the National Football Museum in Manchester hosted "The Fabric of Football", a "pop up event" showing the "Greatest Football Shirts of all time".


Considering the history behind the mattress men's kit, these articles below might just get your taste buds going about other football kits and further exhibitions.
http://www.jacket-required.com/Details/Date-Time-Location  gives you details of a summer exhibition
https://www.soccerbible.com/news/2018/03/fabric-of-football-curated-by-classic-football-shirts-at-the-national-football-museum/

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jul/26/football-kit-evolution-more-than-a-shirt

HOLY TRINITY AND THE SPIREITES

 Gainsborough Trinity, a team that had never been promoted nor relegated in their existence, since 1873, made the news this week when they were beaten 3-2 by AFC Telford having been 2-0 up, in a vital National League North match. Vital points lost, meant that Trinity were finally relegated to the Northern Premier League. Previously their movement between leagues and divisions had been due to official "rearrangements"!

The club is one of the "River Trent" clubs and has played at Northolme, a cricket ground originally, since 1884. With a town population of only 22,000, Gainsborough is one of the smallest populated Football League clubs.
Its name comes from a local church, Holy Trinity, whose vicar, the Reverend George Hodgkinson, started the team Trinity Recreationists, another attempt to keep to local males out of the pubs?

They were founder members of the Midland League in 1889 and elected to the Football League in 1896, to Division 2, which was four years old. In 1905 they finished at their highest league position 6th and bottom (20th) in 1912 when they were not re-elected.
Trinity applied to rejoin the FLeague three times, especially in 1921 when Division Three North and South were started, but to no avail and they tried again in 1975-6.
The club was a founder member of the Northern Premier League in 1968, played in the Conference North from 2003 and reached a Play-off final in 2012.

As a part time club, with small resources, playing in a league where some clubs are "full time", Trinity struggles. It is a club with some famous names behind it, such as Neil Warnock (who began here as manager), Leighton James, Brian Little and now Lee Sinnott in charge. Their largest crowd was in 1998 when Newton Heath (Manchester United) turned up to help celebrate Trinity's 125th anniversary.


On the other hand, Chesterfield FC, the Spireites, were relegated this week and here is some sympathy to calm the furrowed brow and something to look forward to.
 If you are a fan this video will be worth sticking in the "scrapbook".
https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/chesterfield-fc/video-where-did-it-go-wrong-on-the-pitch-for-chesterfield-1-9131979

ROY IS BACK

I read today that Jim White, that very entertaining sports' writer for the DTelegraph, is a fan of Roy Race. So am I and I guess there will be a few vintage readers who are too. Remember Blackie Gray, Tubby Morton? Stars of Melchester Rovers, who first made it into our "comics" and annuals in 1954, when "The Tiger" was first published. I was not old enough to be there when Roy made his debut but I do have the 1958 annual, a Christmas present. I have others!


Every week a story would capture my imagination with the typical English centre-forward ploughing his way through league and cup matches-just like Harry Kane; a true English "rose".
Every game had a "back story"; sorry to use that phrase but I thought I would get up to date with "news speak". You know what I mean.

Roy won 9 league titles, 8 FA Cup wins, 3 European titles and he was kidnapped 4 times. There was a messy divorce, a shooting and having to play in the midfield with Steve Norman and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet, drafted into the club to attract back kids to the stadium. His son, Roy Jnr, was made captain. Roy Snr lost his legs in a plane crash!
Roy became manager and owner of his beloved Rovers. The family's last annual...probably my sons!

Roy's last appearance was in the "Match of the Day" magazine in 2001.
Publisher, "Rebellion" has seen the market for a new set of graphic books and Rob Williams is writing a new 21st Century version of Roy.
This involves Melchester Rovers being down on its luck and across town, rivals, Tynecastle have a massive investment from an emirate; new stadium and the works. It's time to take the Tardis back to my childhood.

GET TO THE RIGHT GROUND AND IN GOOD TIME

You have to be of a certain age to watch Pointless and at children's t.v. time, I would be surprised to hear of anyone under retirement age tuning in to Richard Osman and that Armstrong chap. My reader from Bucks, once a scholar in Derbyshire, pointed out that on Pointless there was a question on FA Cup final venues. There was WS, MS, OT and GP. (Know them?)
The pointless answer was RG and a clue was the first ground outside London to host the final in 1886.

To Chris' surprise it was the Racecourse Ground. Chris sent me that fact and I immediately thought Wrexham, but to his delight it was once the Derby County Football Club. Surely not, The Rams played at the Baseball Ground. Well not so at that time, although my "Official Illustrated History of the FA Cup" attributed to the late Bryon Butler, tells me it was played at the Baseball Ground! Wrong! Confused?

The 1886 final took place at the Oval, on April 3rd (0-0) and then Blackburn Rovers and WBA had to retire to a Midland venue on April 10th to help with attendance. 15,000 watch the first match and 12,000 saw Rovers beat Albion 2-0. So that didn't work. (WBA beat the Old Carthusians 1-0 on their way to final in the 5th round).

Apparently the Rovers, who were hot favourites and stacked full of "professionals", had watched the Boat Race during the chilly morning of the final, rushed their lunch and travelled to The Oval with barely enough time to change! The referee, Francis Marindin promised that the occasion deserved a special trophy and indeed, once Rovers wrapped up the tie, a celebratory shield was produced. Poor photo sorry.

This was the Rovers' third victory in succession, previously done by The Wanderers between 1876-8 but not since. In those three years Rovers played 22 ties, scored 87 goals, conceded 10 and were taken to a replay in the third final.

To sort out the Racecourse issue, this was the Derbyshire CCC ground between 1848 and 1939. Derby County FC played there between 1884-95 and of course the Cup Final graced its turf in 1886.
Two international matches were also played there in 1895 v Ireland when England won 9-0 and in 1911 again against Ireland on February 11th when England won 2-1.
By the way the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham has hosted many Welsh international matches!

MORE FACT:
When the Blackburn fans invaded London in 1884, the Pall Mall Gazette reported that "London witnessed an incursion of Northern barbarians, hot blooded Lancastrians, sharp tongued, rough and ready, of uncouth garb and speech. A tribe of Soudanese Arabs let loose inthe Strand would not excite more amusement and curiosity. Strange oaths fell upon Southern ears. Rovers met Queens' Park (Scotland) in this final and despite the Scots amazing skills, beat them 2-1.

Rovers, winners 1884. FA Cup is the little one.

THANK YOU RICHARD WILSON

This blog remembers Richard Wilson, who was the Chairman of the Arthur Dunn Cup committee and who passed away in February. He was an Old Malvernian, who played in four Dunn finals and later refereed in the Arthurian League and Cup. He was a class act.

The Arthurian League does not feature in the Non-League Paper, it is not on the pyramid. Teams playing in the Arthurian League, a competition named after a pioneer in amateur football, Old Etonian, Arthur Dunn, are from schools all known as "Public" Schools. The only way that a member of the "public" could spend their education in a school, such as Charterhouse, would be through a scholarship scheme or a win on the Lottery.

I am not going to get into a blurb on posh and state schools, so let us just call the Public Schools, the Independent Schools. Many ISFA schools play "soccer". Remember it was the Public Schools that "invented the game".

On Saturday, the Arthurian League had its end of term bonanza at the Merchant Taylors' School near Watford. This was a brilliant host, where three Arthurian finals were decided, adding to the nine other competitions organised by the Arthurian committee each season.

On show on Saturday were old boys' teams from schools mainly known as rugby playing schools; St John's Leatherhead, Rugby, playing in the "minor" finals and in the major Arthur Dunn Cup Final was Tonbridge School.  Another rugby playing school to earn a trophy in 2017-18 is Harrow who won the League Division 5 South title!

The Old Tonbridge team has had a meteoric rise to the Premier Division of the Arthurian League and has already won the Arthur Dunn Cup in 2012 and 2016. The OTs were an even match for the Old Carthusians, who are old hands at winning either Cups or Leagues since the inception of the Arthur Dunn Cup in 1903. Since then, with the usual break for war!, the OCs have been in 34 Dunn finals and have now won it 28 times.
The game on Saturday went to extra time after the Tonbridgians sprung two quick goals within five minutes from the kick off. The Carthusians might have weakened, but they are a mature team with huge spirit. They got off the bus! got back to 2-1, then gave away a penalty when their goalkeeper, Rob Procter, had little choice but to foul on the edge of his area, having been exposed once again by a Tonbridgian counter attack.

At 3-1 down in the second half, many teams would have cracked but the old hands coped with the deficit, clawing the game back to 3-3 and after extra time, penalties loomed. Procter made up for the earlier penalty and saved one with his hand and backside (at least it looked like that from the sideline) and the huge Dunn Cup made its way back to Charterhouse, 4-3 on pens.

OCFC Captain, Jamie Cameron, has broken a Cup record winning the final for the eighth time since 2008.

In 1903 the OCs shared the cup with the Old Salopians (old boys of Shrewsbury School). The final ended 2-2 and both teams decided to have only ten minutes of extra time, to enable them all to go to the "celebratory dinner" at the Cafe Royal, rather than muck about playing out extra time. In the replay the teams draw 2-2 again; cup shared. The Carthusian team included nine Blues and three internationals and two "unofficial" internationals.


The Carthusians have won the cup this century in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011,2013, 2014, 2015, 2017.

BARTON ON SEA? HE JOINS THE COD ARMY!

As Arsene, a legend, retires, we wish the best of luck to Andy Pilley, Fleetwood Town FC's Chairman, who has just taken on board his  "friend" Joey Barton. Ironically, Fleetwood play at the Highbury Stadium.
I mentioned yesterday that Arsene was a bit Marmite, so where do we place Joey in the "spreads list"?  and does Rooney's Law apply in Football..not this type of Football.

Oliver Brown in the Telegraph pulls no punches and could well have stuck Joey in a jar of piccalli and marmalade, as he writes "Fleetwood are plumbing the depths making Barton Boss". I quote a few lines below.

Joey has reinvented himself as an "homme serieux". He has no coaching experience. Barton has carved a niche as a pre-eminent public intellectual purely from his talents as a walking "Wikiquote"!

His maiden press conference at Marseille was conducted in a French accent, hammier than Gordon Kaye's in "Allo, Allo".

In 2004 he stubbed a cigarette out in a young player's eye. He acquired 6 red cards in the Premier League in 269 games.

He was shown to be a compulsive gambler who had bet on 1260 matches over ten years. His 18 month long suspension has been reduced to 6 on appeal and so he can continue his career,

He spent 74 days in Strangeways in 2008 for punching a man 20 times. As a radio pundit he abused his position and launched a vicious diatribe against David Unsworth.

I am sure there are redeeming features, which Joe has to bring out soon, as he takes on a job that might be like handing over "your prize porcelain collection to a rutting stag".

"By their works shall you know them", AC Grayling from Matthew's Gospel.
The Sun rates him......

 https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/6096732/fleetwood-joey-barton-pep-guardiola-mauricio-pochettino-jurgen-klopp/

THE ARSENE WENGER STADIUM OR A STATUE?

Should the Emirates be renamed the Arsene Wenger Stadium? Arsene has been one of the great managers in footballing history. He has had a huge influence on English football, like his predecessor at Arsenal, the great Herbert Chapman, who revolutionised the game in the 1930s.

Wenger read Economics and Management Studies at the University of Strasbourg, spent three weeks at the Language School in Cambridge and went to the Centre de Resources of Sport, Strasbourg. He introduced diet (no red meat), nutrition (pasta and no alcohol), vitamin injections, creatine supplements, high altitude preparation in Austria, varied playing positions, isometrics, statistics and video studies with strategy and allowed his back room staff to have their inputs. This was revolutionary in the mid 1990s and when I did my UEFA A, the Football Association had introduced new parts to the syllabus which undoubtedly had been influenced by Wenger.

Then there was the introduction of "foreign" players such as Emmanuel Petite from Monaco and the "rest" who made Arsenal one of the great post war teams.
He also got on the right side of his leaders like Tony Adams, no easy achievement and encouraged them to learn how to play in varied positions on the pitch. We think he also changed players' "habits" but let's not get to convinced about that. Before he went into management he had been offered a role as Technical director at the English FA.

With a modest youth career in Duttleheim and Mutzig from 1963-73, he also played only 67 times at the higher level until 1981. His managerial  career may have been inspired by his father who managed the local village side. Arsene went to Nancy, AS Monaco, the J League Nagoya Grampus Eight and arrived at Highbury in 1996 after George Graham and Bruce Rioch's reigns.

Was Wenger "marmite"? There were plenty of of ups and downs; he has done the right thing. Hopefully the Europa League may give him a proper send off and Huddersfield will be his last Premier league outing! Who managed Town? Herbert Chapman manager of Huddersfield and Arsenal!

CHARLTON DEBUT AND MORE

Bobby Charlton made his debut for England on April 19th 1958, a few months after the Munich Air Disaster. He scored one at Hampden Park in a 4-0 victory for the English, the first of 49 goals he scored for his country. 127,874 watched the Scottish defeat as you may now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOwwG1Fi2v4

On May 7th a friendly against Portugal ended in a 2-1 win with Charlton scoring twice. A short tour of Yugoslavia (0-5 defeat) and USSR (1-1 draw) followed-Derek Kevan scored the English goal. Between May and October 1958, England played seven matches and did not win once.

1958 was a World Cup year, held in Sweden. In qualifying, England met USSR again (2-2), Brazil (0-0)and Austria (2-2) and ended up in a play off to qualify losing to the USSR 0-1! Brazil topped the group and went on to win the Cup.
Charlton did not feature in any World Cup games.

In October and November England continued to play internationals against Northern Ireland 3-3 (Charlton scored 2), USSR AGAIN, won 5-0 (Charlton pen) and Wales 2-2. With 106 international caps, Bobby scored 49 goals for his country.

THE ODD BREAK

April 18th in 1995 saw British Steel, sponsors of Middlesbrough FC, break their contract and withdraw their money, after the club's new stadium was built with German steel.

Two years earlier The Gunners' goalscoring hero, Steve Morrow, fell from Tony Adams' shoulders and broke his arm celebrating Arsenal's Football League (Coca Cola) Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday. He missed the medal ceremony and but was allowed to collect his medal later before Arsenal played Sheffield Wednesday (yes same lot) in the FA Cup final, a game that ended in a draw and a replay.
YOU MUST WATCH THE YOU TUBE THING BELOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=27&v=ZHbSCF1eu0o
On April 18th 1987, Ray Clemence broke Pat Jennings' appearance recorded when he turned out in his 1099th game against Charlton which Tottenham won 1-0, scored by Clive Allen, with a shut out for Clemence in front of 27,000. Ray went on to complete 1118 matches.

SCOTILLYS BEAT 10 MEN ENGLAND

It was on April 14th 1951, when I was just a few days old, two great "heavyweights" came face to face.

A few days before this event, I was born on the night of a British heavy weight boxing championship at Earls Court, broadcast on the wireless, This was between Freddie Mills and Don Cockell, who won by a technical knock out in the 6th round; my dad told me! Not mum. She was having another wrestling match.

On the football pitch, England lost to the Scots who then won the British Home Championship. It was their 68th meeting. Here is the video. Look out for silky shorts, dodgy goalkeeping (from the English as well as the Scots) and some fruity styles midst the huge crowd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkzp--eML04

Played at Wembley there were 98,000 watching and England fielded:
Williams, Ramsey, Eckersley, Johnston (goal), Frogatt, Wright (capt), Matthews, Mannion, Mortensen, Hassall (goal), Finney (goal). They were down to 10 men with no subs; so some excuse?

The Scots were: Cowan, Evans, Liddell(goal), Steel, Johnstone (goal), Cox, Redpath, Reilly(goal), Waddell, Woodburn, Young(capt).
There were 2 Billys, 2 Bobbys, 3 Willys, 1 Jimmy, 1 Sammy, 1 Laurie and a George.
So far there have been 48 wins for England 25 draws and 41 wins for the Scots.

STRUGGLING FOR A TOPIC?

Never, so have a look at these two horrors:
http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/manchester-united/41497/manchester-united-and-its-bizarre-movie-promotions-are-back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFnymJDZAS8

WOLVES KNOCKING AT THE PREMIER DOOR

A few of my friends may not agree, but well done Wolverhampton Wanderers, congratulations on your promotion back to the top tier-the Premier League. All that happened today with a win for them over Midlands rivals Birmingham City and one or two other results going their way.

Wolves were founded in 1877 as St Luke's FC in Blakenhall where the local cricket and football clubs merged and the original club colours were red and white stripes. In 1889 the club settled at Molineux, now one of the classic stadia, on 2nd September against Aston Villa. I went there when I was pursuing the 12 clubs that founded the Football League, which you know began in 1888.
The club was relegated from the First Division in 1905-6, conceding 99 goals and earning only 8 wins and 7 draws. In 1922-3 they sunk to the Third Division North (relatively newly formed) and were promoted back immediately. promotion occurred in 1931-2, by 1937-8 they came second in the Division One behind Arsenal and the next season second to Everton. This period was encouraged by Major Frank Buckley, their innovative manager, who introduced all kinds of new training methods including the injection of monkey gland "sauce" into his players which apparently enhanced performance.

The club has been in the highest tier for 63 seasons since their fist appearance in the F.L. including 4 seasons in the Premier League and now they are back in the top flight, the first since their last run in 2009-12

Wolves were top club when I was a youngster and getting interested in footy, winning First Division league titles in 1953-4, 1957-8 and 1958-9. The Wolves won the FA Cup in 1960 too, beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0, who look as they might get promotion as well this time.

Wolves also were cup winners in 1893 (see below), 1908 and 1949.

Post War, there was an investment in floodlighting (one of the first clubs to do so) which led to some wonderful "friendly" fixtures during European nights, with the club being the first English club to agree to play in European competitions. The FA was not very keen on this "new venture". Wolves held the Football League Cup in 1974 and 1980.

ALL THE FOURS

 On this day in 1984, I was lounging around in New Zealand. I remember watching the FA Cup Final in a neighbour's house at some ridiculous time in the day. Everton and Watford with Elton John in full regalia played out a steady final tie with the Toffees winning 2-0.

Everton had beaten Southampton at Highbury 1-0 in their semi-final to get to Wembley and Plymouth Argyle had lost to the Watford Hornets 0-1 in front of 20,000 fans at Villa Park.
This was the only appearance for the "Pilgrims" in an FA Cup semi-final, so it was quite an occasion for their Devon fans.

En route to Villa Park, Argyle had beaten Southend 2-0 in the First Round after a 0-0 in November. They then beat Barking from the Non-League 2-1 in December. In January they beat Newport County 1-0 after a 2-2, then they met Darlington later in the month 2-1 and in February it was West Bromwich Albion whom they beat 1-0.

Everton had the following successes; 3rd Round at Stoke 2-0, 4th v Gillingham 0-0 then 3-0, Shrewsbury 3-0 in the 5th and Notts County 2-1 in the 6th.

Argyle have been in semi-final in the League Cup in 1964-5 and 1973-4...all the fours. Home stadium Home Park is the 37th largest stadium in the Football League.

JOHN CAMERON

Who is he? 

John Cameron was born in Glasgow on April 13th 1872. He played football for Ayr Parkhouse (see below)* and then was taken in by Queen's Park. He became one of the Scottish immigrants to invade the North-west of England when he joined Everton and played 42 games for the Toffees before moving south to Spurs.

He played 111 times for Tottenham and scored 43 goals as well as playing for Scotland.

In 1899 he was made player-manager at Tottenham taking the Spurs to a Southern League title in 1900 (remember Spurs were not a Football League at this time) and the famous FA Cup win over Sheffield United in 1901.

As a non F.L. Club this was a first, having held the fully established "Blades" to a 2-2 draw, his team winning 3-1 in the replay.

Cameron scored the winner when Spurs met Sunderland in the earlier Cup round and this made Spurs the first club from a lower division to come from behind and beat top flight opposition. In the final he scored the opening goal in their 3-1 victory. Spurs were well under Cameron's mangership by now and they went on to be runners in the Southern League in 1902 and 1904. 

In 1902 he led Spurs to victory over the Corinthians in the Sheriff of London's Shield a cup competition run for charity, one of the prestigious tournaments at the time. Spurs won 5-2, some feat in those days. He resigned from his Spurs' post in March 1907.

By now he had become secretary of the Association Footballers' Union, a fore-runner of the PFA. He then went to Germany to coach at Dresden SC but was caught up in the First World War when he was imprisoned at Ruhleben Camp. He organised football in the camp and with Steve bloomer, John Breerley also of Spurs and a few other pros, he sorted out a Rest of the World v England match to raise morale. This was held on May 2nd 1915. 

After the war Cameron found himself back in Scotland acting as player manager at Ayr United before he went into journalism in 1919.

*Ayr Parkhouse was formed in 1886 and took its name from the Parkhouse farmhouse where the club's players trained. William Frew, a centre-forward for Parkhouse, was actually the son of the farmer who owned it. They initially played their home games at Ballantine Drive, before moving to the Ayr Racecourse ground, now known as the Old Racecourse, turning professional in 1905. They were admitted to membership of the SFL in 1897. 

Ayr Parkhouse's ambitions were beginning to outgrow their local successes and the club's early "amateurness" that fuelled hostility to membership of the professional, Scottish Football League, was waning. In 1901, they unsuccessfully applied for membership, but, after finishing second in the Scottish Amateur Football League, they managed to get elected to full league status in 1903, just ahead of St Johnstone. Their initial season in the League was a disaster. They finished bottom of Division Two and therefore had to reapply for membership, but they declined to do so. Aberdeen were elected instead.

After two seasons out of the League, playing instead in the Scottish Football Combination, Ayr Parkhouse were accepted back into the Second Division. This was in 1906. The club performed without much distinction in the following four seasons. At the end of the 1909-10 season. Ayr and Ayr Parkhouse merged to form Ayr United.

He died in Glasgow on April 20th 1935.

CORINTHIANS

On April 12th 1939, the Corinthian Football Club played its last game again the Royal Navy and mRoyal Marines at Chatham, winning 1-0. The famous "true" amateurs merged with their fledgling club, the Casuals to form the Corinthian-Casuals FC, a club that still plays today in the "Pyramid".

The C-Cs arebreputedly true amateurs and hold the laws of the game in high sesteem. Behaviour is more important that victory.

COBBLERS

Street FC in the shadow of Glastonbury Tor and nestled in the traditional shoe manufacturing county of Somerset is known as the Cobblers and they now play at the Tannery, a home since 1967. The Cobblers play in the Toolstation Western League Premier and hold top spot in the division, so promotion seems inevitable. With 23 consecutive league wins and standing 15 points ahead of rivals Melksham the club is chasing bigger fish such as Red Star Belgrade and Celtic with 23 and 25 consecutive wins in their history. Benfica are top in this list with 29 consecutives during 1971-73.

Founded in 1880, The Cobblers have had two momentous moments in their history; in 1938-9 reaching the First Round proper of the FACup losing to Ipswich Town 0-7. In 1947-8 they reached the Second Round proper after beating a successful Yeovil Town 2-1 but then meeting a strong Cheltenham Town who won 0-5.

BILLY BASSETT-A PLAYER OF ALL SORTS

 Billy Bassett, William Isiah Bassett, was one of 6 children born to a Midland coal mining family on 27th January 1869. Frail he did not think he would be tough enough to play professional football. His early playing period was  with West Bromwich Strollers (1884-5) and then Old Church FC for a year, He then signed for West Bromwich Albion in 1886 staying with them until 1899 having played 261 games, scoring 61 goals from the wing.
He played 16 times for England between 1888-1896 scoring 8 goals.
His league debut was against Stoke at Victoria Park on the 8th September 1887. During his time with the Baggies he won two FA Cup medals in 1888 beating the very professional Preston NE  2-1 (team below-Bassett in middle of front) and then in 1892 he played in the first Cup Final to use nets. En route to the Preston final WBA beat the Old Carthusians in Round Six.

He was a runner up in 1887, losing to Aston Villa.
After his playing career he became a director of the club and chairman saving it in 1905 from bankruptcy, rescuing the club by fund raising. In 1910 he paid the players "summer wages" out of his own pocket.
He helped develop the FA and the Football League, and in his 29 years as Chairman he admits he never signed a Scot!
In 1998 he was listed as one the FL 100 legends and in 2004 voted as one of WBA's greatest players.

On 24th April 1894 he became the first WBA player ever to be sent off when he was dismissed for "unparliamentary language" in a friendly against Millwall.

IMPS JUMPING UP AND DOWN

In 1957-8 season Lincoln City, The Imps, were sitting at the bottom of Division Two (then the second tier) with six matches left. They had joined the second tier from Division Three North in 1951-2.

They were 5 points adrift (with only 2 points for a win). They had lost their last nine matches and it was 18 matches since they had won a game.
What ever happened, the little IMP got his boys playing and they won their last six matches to avoid the drop.

They ended up third from bottom, Notts County were one point below them with a worse "goal average" as it was in those days. Doncaster were bottom 4 points lower. Here is their season:
http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/LeagueTables/Season1957-58/ClubResults/1957-58.LincolnCity.html

They eventually sunk in 1960-1, seven points below Portsmouth who also were relegated to Division Three.  In 1961-2 Portsmouth bounced back winning the division while Lincoln slumped to 22nd out of 24th, being relegated to Division 4, where in 1962-3 they were 22nd/24th again! and at that time were re-elected to the Four Division.
From then on, the Imps were bouncing along the bottom for several seasons.

Today at Wembley they have won the Checkatrade Trophy beating Shrewsbury Town 1-0
https://www.redimps.co.uk/

BYE BYE PROFESSIONALS

Big day tomorrow. As it is Cup Final time, I'm watching a game tonight when Hepworth Utd seniors take on Golcar-who? what? Well its Yorkshire. Tomorrow I shall be heading south, if you excuse the phrase, to watch the Old Carthusians take on the Old Hamptonians in the London Old Boys' Senior final at the Old Paulinians ground somewhere in north London.

The OCs are currently champions of the Arthurian League, a truly amateur league for casual old boys' football from the what were known as the public schools. The OHs founded in 1905 and old boys of Hampton GS (once a state Grammar School) now one of the top soccer playing independent schools in Surrey, are presently top of their league, The Amateur Football Combination.
The Amateur Football Combination has affiliated to it the London FA, Middlesex FA and the Amateur Football Association (AFA).

In 1907 the Amateur clubs objected to the instruction by the Football Association that they must allow professionals to play for their clubs should the matter arise. The true amateurs said not on your nelly and formed their own County FA with no geographical boundary. It was originally known as the Amateur Football "Defense" Foundation which soon became the Amateur Football Association. This is still nation wide.
 The "Parting of the Ways". The amateur player who looks like the famed Old Carthusian and England centre-forward G.O.Smith is waving bye-bye to the monster of professionalism. In 1914 the FA eventually allowed the AFA to maintain its independence.

The LOB Competitions includes a Senior competition, nine other cup competitions at various levels.

The AF Combination formed in 2002 when two leagues merged (Old Boys' league founded in 1907 and the Southern Olympian League 1911).
By 2006 three more leagues joined up-the London Financial League (clubs formed by the financial businesses in the city), the London Banks League and the London Insurance League. These were first formed in 1908. This makes the AFC huge with around 15 divisions played for by over 100 clubs and over 350 teams. So it is a big deal, though not on the "pyramid".

HE BELIED THE PERCEPTION OF THE GORMLESS, GUM-CHEWING FOOTBALLER

On the 4th April 2018, Ray Wilkins' death, at 61 years old, was fully covered on radio and tv and many moments were published in his obituaries in various papers, here are a few:
Suited as he was to the Italian "game" he was accused of slowing the game down and passing sideways too much, a manner that earned him a nickname of "the crab".
Tommy Docherty announced that "he can't run, he can't tackle and he can't head the ball". The only time he goes forward is for the coin toss.
He became a cult figure when he featured in "Tango" orange drink. "The big fella run in from the left and he gives him a good slappin," "Super taste sensation, smashing drink. Lovely".
Due to his penchant for flamboyant and colourful and sometimes effeminate outfits his father ironically named him "Butch".
He also was often photographed for teeny-bopper magazines along with good looking team mate Gary Stanley-they were known as Starsky and Butch.
In 1974 when made captain at Chelsea at 18 years old the responsibility was too much and led to a dependency on Valium, which he took before games to help him sleep.
As a practical joker and with considerable intelligence, his favourite trick was to nail Bryan Robson's boots to the changing room floor.
When he was at Rangers, his manager, Graham Souness was player manager and a bit of a hot head. When he came on as a sub with ten minutes ago,  Wilkins arranged for the team not to pass to Souness. Souness went off on one when he got the team into the changing room at the end of the game.
Wilkins was appointed MBE in 1993.
His spell in Italy allowed him to learn to speak Italian which helped him much later during his pundit career.
As he got older, balder and fatter, he was mercilessly teased about his resemblance to Uncle Fester in The Addams Family tv series.
Actually he was on steroids for 30 years, hoping to treat his colitis.
He developed alcoholism, blamed on the illness. He had a troubled final few years, including time in the Priory. Bless him.

RIP RAY

It was sad news to hear today of Raymond (Butch) Colin Wilkins' death and Talksport especially have done him proud with a day's worth of tributes from the multitude who have worked with Ray after he stopped playing and managing/coaching.

Without doubt he has been a friendly, thoughtful, charming and honest person throughout his life and his knowledge of football has been passed on to anyone who has come in contact with him. This includes the lads on the streets; Ray was in touch with the public.

he began his footballing career playing for the famous "Senrab" club at Wanstead Flats and if you don't know about Senrab then have a look at this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/3580385.stm

Ray was born in Hillingdon in September 1956, a birth date that gave him the chance to be ahead of his year. After Senrab he played for  Chelsea  (179 apps-30 goals) making his debut at 17 years old, against Norwich in 1973 till 1979. He went on to Manchester United 1979-84 (160-7), Milan, PSG, Rangers 1987-9, QPR 1989-94 (155-8), Crystal Palace, QPR again 1994-6, Wycombe Wanderers, Hibernian 1996-7, Millwall, Leyton Orient totalling 695 appearances and 49 goals. FA Cup winner with United in 1983 (remember his goal against Brighton during the 2-2 draw)
http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?searchfor=Brighton+v+Manchester+United+FA+Cup+final+2-2&id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt&ts=1522860239367
and Scottish League and Cup winner with Rangers in 1989.

He played for England 84 times with 3 goals! He did captain the side 10 times and went to the 1982 and '86 World Cups. On June 6th 1986 he became the 4th player to be sent off whilst playing for England in a dull 0-0 draw with Morocco in Monterey. He was the first player to be sent off in an England World Cup match, for throwing the ball at the ref! As a result he missed the next matches in the tournament in which England reached the quarter-finals losing to Argentina and Maradonna 1-2.

Next came management and mainly "assistant management" (he was probably too nice) with QPR, Fulham, Chelsea, Watford, Millwall, England U21s, Fulham again, Jordan and Aston Villa with Tim Sherwood.
Recently he has been a prominent member of SKY Sports Football presentations.
His dad was a footballer, so were his brothers. In 2014 he suffered with ulcerative colitis and had a cardiac arrest this week from which he never recovered. My sympathy goes to his wife Jackie and his children and grandchildren.

THE POWER OF KIT

Never doubt the power of fashion in sport!
https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/effect-kit-colours-footballing-success
I was asked yesterday why certain clubs and countries chose the kit their wore/wear; here is a detailed history of that topic. It is fascinating, if you have time to read it.
http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Articles/History.htm

The Italian national team wore that dazzling blue (azzurri) as favoured by the House of Savoy (Azzuro Savoia), which unified the country in 1861.

Many countries wear kits fitting the national colours of their country, eg Australian green and gold. Holland wear the orange of the Royal House. England like to wear red shirts to remind them of the 1966 World Cup win.

Winchester College, schoolboys who wore kits in inter-house matches as football was being invented. They had colours to distinguish the Scholars (blue) from the Commoners (red) and they still wear those colours when they play inter-school matches.

Post War kits reflected the austerity of the time with cloth colours that were available. Clyde in Scotland wore khaki which must have chaffed!
In 1975 Leeds United, in their pomp, changed from blue and yellow to all white, mimicking Real Madrid.

In 1996 Manchester United wore grey that was a marketing ploy to suit the casual wear with Levis! Sir Alex soon got rid of the grey after an embarrassing defeat, claiming that his players couldn't see each other! Mind you the opposition shouldn't be able to see them either!
 York City 1970s!! This is taken from the following website that has a history for all clubs! I love this.....
http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English_Football_League/index.html

OLD COLOURS

I am watching Sutton United and Bromley on the Gander Green astro in the National League. The Us are not doing very well. So I would write about that had they won but decided instead to educate you with some historic information. In 1891 the Football League announced that only one club could wear a particular style of kit.  So Sunderland had red and white stripes, Stoke City didn't!
Here is a list of the earliest recorded colours of Victorian Era football clubs:-
Arsenal-Garibaldi red, a maroon
Aston Villa-scarlet and royal blue hoops
Blackburn Rovers-white with a Maltese Cross on the left breast
Derby County-amber and chocolate halves with blue sleeves until 1890s
Fulham-red and white halves
Leicester City-black with blue diagonal stripe
Liverpool-blue and white halves as shown below until 1894

Manchester City-black with Maltese Cross on left breast
The cross based on the Knights of Malta and associated with "courage"
Manchester Utd-green and gold halves until name change from Newton Heath in 1902 and red and white was adopted.
Here is the United kit worn in 1909!
Newcastle Utd-red which was chosen to avoid the kit colour of the two clubs United formed from (Newcastle West End and East End) in 1892.
Notts County-orange and black, then chocolate and blue and then black and white stripes a kit copied by Juventus.
Sheffield Wednesday-royal blue and white hoops as worn in 1871
Stoke City-crimson and blue hoops, then black and blue hoops, then red and white stripes in 1883.
Sunderland-navy blue until 1884, then red and white halves, then red and white stripes in 1887.
Tottenham Hotspur-navy blue with red H on red shield on left breast
WBA-white with purple diagonal sash amongst many other combos!
West Ham Utd-Harrovian Blue-Chairman Arnold Hill was an old Boy!
Wolves-blue and white stripes
It makes you wonder when they change colours?!

SPURS AT THE BRIDGE

Spurs have not won against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge since February 10th 1990.
28,130 turned up to see the following two teams compete:-
Chelsea:
D Beasant, S Clarke, E Johnsen, G Roberts!!, Clive Wilson, Dorigo, John Bunstead (who scored), P Nicholas, K Dixon, K McAllister. Kevin Wilson.
Spurs:
Thorsvedt, Hughton, Sedgley, Van den Hauwe, Polston, Mabbutt, Gascoigne, Howells (scored), Nayim, Lineker (scored), Walsh, Moran and Moncur.
http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?searchfor=chelsea+v+Tottenham+Hotspur+1989-90&id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt&ts=1522591823646
Overall the two teams have played Division One or Premier league games except for a short period between 1928-1930 in Division 2 when four matches were played.
There have also been 20 FA Cup and League Cup ties.
In total Chelsea have won 68, Spurs 51, with 40 drawn.
The first ever game was on 18th December 1909, in Div 1 and Chelsea won 2-1. 50,000 watched.
The first Premier League game was at White Hart Lane on December 5th 1992. Chelsea won 2-1.
Chelsea met Spurs at home in the FA Cup on 22nd April 2017 winning 4-2
The latest PL game was at WHL with Chelsea winning 2-1 on August 20th 2017.