GEORGE ROBLEDO AND TED

You may wonder what the link is between this Chilean Futbol club Colo Colo in Santiago and England's World Cup story; it's dead easy-John Stones.

Thurlstone born Stones scored two goals for England against Panama in the recent World Cup and thus he became the first Barnsley (1946-9:105 apps-45 goals) man to achieve a double for England. He also became the second former Red to achieve this feat following the great George Robledo who scored two against the USA for Chile in 1950. What? Who?
Jorge Robledo Oliver was born to a Chilean father and English mother, who emigrated to England (Wath on Dearne) in 1932 when he was five years old.
Young George worked in the mines when he was old enough and played part time for Huddersfield Town and then Barnsley after the war. Newcastle signed him in 1949 for £26,500, no mean fee at that time. When ever George moved he had to include his brother Ted in the deal, Ted never quite made it. George stayed at Newcastle from 1949-53 (146apps-82).
Here's Ted who turned out 31 times for Newcastle.

Remember the disaster that England had against the USA in 1950. Chile beat the USA 5-2, England lost 0-1 to the amateurs. England had beaten Chile 2-0 in their first pool match. In the Chilean team was their only full time professional, George Robledo, who at the time was on Newcastle United's books.

Robledo had become the first non British registered player to top score in the Football League and the first South American to play in an FA Cup final, in 1951 v Blackpool which Newcastle won. Both Ted and George enjoyed the honour of being the first pair of foreigners (brothers too) to play in an FA Cup Final.
George  later helped the Magpies beat Arsenal in 1952, scoring a goal.

Later he went on to Colo Colo with Ted (1953-58 153-84) and then to the Club Deportivo O'Higgins Futbol in Rancagua until 1960, when he retired.

George played 31 times for Chile scoring 8 goals.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/scoring-on-debut-sounds-like-good-date.html
He died in Chile aged 62.
Ted went in to the oil tanker business after football and died mysteriously at sea at the age of 42.

COUNTIES COUNT; PLACES UP FOR GRABS

England Internationals in history since 1872 have been born in the
North 806 and South 367 although the divide is debatable of course.
In the following counties:
Greater London and City 189, West Midlands 93, Greater Manchester 92, Lancashire 81, South Yorks 75, Merseyside 71, Tyne and Wear 63, Durham 46....I could list Surrey at 14, West Sussex at 4 etc.....
None from the Isle of Wight or Rutland.

38 come from outside England including Wilfred Zaha (Ivory Coast), Owen Hargreaves (Canada), Tony Dorigo (Australia) and Terry Butcher (Singapore) to name a few.
Matt Le Tissier and Graeme Le Saux come from the Channel Islands.

John Bain born in Scotland played for England in 1877, Rob Jones of Liverpool from Wrexham and Fred Green in 1876 both wore the England shirt despite being born in Wales.

The present squad includes captain Harry Kane born in London, AND

SEVEN YORKSHIREMEN-they are:-
Danny Rose from Doncaster, Fabian Delph from Bradford, John Stones from Thurlstone, near ME and Barnsley, Jamie Vardy-Sheffield with Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker and Gary Cahill (Dronfield).

Jordan Henderson is from Sunderland.
Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica.

The rest are:- Jesse Lingard from Warrington, Barmidele Jermaine Alli-Milton Keynes, Eric Dier-Cheltenham, Jack Butland (Bristol), Jordan Pickup (Washington NE), Nick Pope (Soham), Ashley Young (Stevenage), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Lewisham), Marcus Rashford (Wythenshaw), Danny Welbeck (Manchester), Phil Jones (Preston), Kieran Trippier (Bury).

Here are wo cracking links!! Well I think so....
http://englandstats.com/
http://englandfootballonline.com/

FIELD MILL, MANSFIELD

This is Mansfield Town's Ground, the One Call Stadium, confidently regarded as the oldest professional football ground in the World. Prior to 1861 it was used for cricket as early as 1850 and Field Mill was the site of a huge cotton doubling mill, sited in the East Midlands, along with many other mills as described in novels of that time.

The oldest football ground in the World is regarded as Sandygate at Hallam FC, Sheffield and Bramall Lane was used for football from 1862.

Field Mill was the home of Greenhalgh and Sons mill industry, the owner of which rented the land from the Duke of Portland. Harold Greenhalgh, born in Mansfield, played professional football for the Notts Club, (now County) and played as a "back" in England's first international v Scotland in 1872.

In 1894, Greenhalgh's club joined with Mansfield Town (not the present club) and was used exclusively as a football ground. After the First World War, Mansfield Town FC, made it their home ground and gradually developed the stadium, erecting the first stand in 1922.
The Stags (also known as the Yellows) play in League Two and came 8th in last season's order.

NO DEAL AT ICELAND

 Yes, this was the day in 2016 that the Icelanders overcame us on the pitch and on the terraces in the European UEFA Championships last 16.
Joe Hart threw one into the net and England lost 2-1. Rooney had scored in the 4th minute from the penalty spot but he failed to win a header at a long throw making his contribution to the game even and his mates failed to stay with runners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po1ml_HhLxQ

With 67% of the play, 18 shots with 5 on target, this compared to Iceland's 8 shots and 5 on target. Roy Hodgson resigned immediately after the game and in the post match press meeting he started with the phrase "I don't know what I am doing here".

In only three matches between the two countries Iceland have won one, drawn one in 1982 and lost 6-1 in an "international" tournament in 2004. This team was the "golden generation" with Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, Owen, Scholes and Beckham and co.

Iceland is the smallest nation by population to reach the WC Finals. Population??

KSi stands for Knattspyrnusamband Islands. Founded in 1912 their first international game was against the Faroe Islands in 1930.

ERNIE HUNT AND THE DONKEY KICK

Away from the World Cup, former Wolves, Everton and Coventry forward Roger Patrick "Ernie" Hunt has died at the age of 75. Ernie was most famous for his "donkey kick" free-kick which led to a change in the laws. He was known as Ernie to avoid confusion with Roger, a slightly more successful forward!
http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?enc=0&id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&pg=video&pn=1&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&searchfor=Ernie+Hunt+footballer&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt
His volley against Everton was the first goal to be shown in colour on TV's Match of the Day in 1970  and it became BBC's goal of the season. Willie Carr flicked the ball up with his heels and after that such invention was not allowed, arguing that the ball had not "rolled" a circumference (27 inches).

He played for Swindon Town (200+ apps 82 goals), Wolves (74 apps 32 goals), Everton, Coventry (146 apps, 45 goals), Doncaster, Bristol City and LA Wolves in the USA. he also managed a few U23 international caps for England. Last recorded at Atherstone Town and Ledbury Town.

He ended up running and pub and doing some window cleaning. This snippet is worth reading....
http://www.wolvesheroes.com/2009/03/28/the-mad-mad-world-of-ernie-hunt/

KANE AT THE FEAST WITH BOTH TROTTERS IN THE TROUGH

I am writing about yesterday's World Cup stuff, a celebration. Having been on "steward duty" at the Hepworth Feast all day; a celebration of the village's battle against the "Plague".
Bit like Eyam in Derbyshire and the plague came from London of course. The source of problems? Not so for England's footy team whose leader is from London, the very impressive Harry Kane-goalscorer.

The good news is that England scored 6 yesterday and our Harry netted three (five goals from five shots so far in the tournament). Harry is the third English player to score a hat trick at the finals-the others you should know from previous blogs.  Harry has scored in seven out of 8 England appearances from June 2017-2018, the first time since Jimmy Greaves between October 1960-May 1961.

At 2.5 goals per game, Harry holds the second best goal ratio after Ernest Wilimowski, a German, who scored four goals in his only FIFA World Cup appearance. He score 554 goals in his first class career, the 12th most prolific scorer in history.

Kane is the first player to score five goals or more in his first two World Cup games since Frenchman, Just Fontaine in 1958, who went on to score 13 goals in the tournament. 21 appearances fro his country and 30 goals.
248 apps in club football 227 goals.

Messi has five WC goals in four WCs (17 appearances) where as Kane has 5 in two appearances.

HALF A DOZEN AGAINST ONE

Phew, what a day! Our clubhouse was rocking this afternoon, once England had got over the first nervy minutes of the game and eventually gone into a lead, that meant all was well. Panama an obstacle?
No, so we went on to win 6-1, and with fewer "yellow cards" than Belgium, we are in front of them in the group. What next? A last 16 tie against, with Belgium to overcome? We have never scored as many goals in a World Cup finals tie.

Remember that international football began in November 1872. There have a been eleven 6-1 results for England since internationals began, the first in March 1872 was when we lost to Scotland at home, in London in the first of the "official" fixtures.

Prior to that England and Scotland had met in "unofficial" internationals on March 5th 1870...a boring 1-1 draw at the Kennington Oval. This is where it all began. Here are the chaps in those early games. Love the warm up, top left!


There were a number of 6-1s in the 19th Century, mostly against Ireland as they were known then;1886, 1889, 1891 and 1993.
Then a 6-1 win appeared in June 1908 away to Austria, one of the FA's pilgrimages taking the wonderful world of football into Europe. There was another beating for Ireland in February 1912 away and then at home against Belgium in March 1923. The first meeting between these two was in May 1921 away, 0-2 to England.

England has won 15 lost 2 and drawn 4 in all head to heads.We have met once this "century", winning at home 1-0 in a friendly. Don't forget the last World Cup win on June 27th 1990 1-0 in Bologna...Platt after 199 minutes.
On June 29th 1966 England won 6-1 away in Norway, then June 5th 2004 at home to Iceland and most recently the beating of Panama.

So whilst 6-1 is not a record victory for the English, it has been a frequent visitor, though 5 have been against the Irish.

LOS CANALEROS AND MILLWALL

Well, you may guess what this is all about.
Panama tomorrow, so if England want to impress they will have to emulate the achievements of some of the "better" matches played over the past few days. Does any nation look outstanding? Mexico look energetic, Belgium exciting with great individuals, Portugal and Spain shared a cracking draw and tonight it is the turn of the Germans to make amends. What a pity if they fail.....and Argentina too.

England's latest opposition, emerging from the Central Americas (CONCACAF), have battled their way through to the finals for the first time. It was 1978 when Panama first tried through qualifying. For 2018 they played 16, won 6 and drew 5. Opposition were:
Famous for "hats"  (Geoffrey Boycott style), they originate from Ecuador and are made of toquilla straw, given the name because they were shipped from the Isthmus of Panama for sale abroad. Crossing the isthmus in the famed canal.

The canal is 50 miles long and took 33 years to build and accounts for a huge amount of money into the nation's economy. It allows vessels to travel from the Pacific and Atlantic, avoiding the treacherous Cape Horn. My daughter finished her "gap year" on the canal, Worldly trip from southern South America through the continent and finally hitching a ride on a boat sailing through the canal, working her ticket.

Roman Torres (below) scored an 88th winner against Costa Rica, taking a place in Russia rather than the USA. Juan Carlos Verela, the president of the nation declared a national holiday.

A key figure at the Panama FA is ex-Millwall resident Gary Stempel, born of a British mother and Panamanian father moving to London when he was 5. He moved back from England in 1996 with his family, working with Panama Viejo and has experienced youth football and youth gangs, taking the Panama U20s to the World Youth Cup and the seniors in the 2009 Central American Nations Cup.

Manager Hernan Darion Gomez, The Baton, a Colombian international, is the only manager to have led three different countries to a World cup Finals; Colombia 1998, Ecuador 2002 and Panama 2018.

FRANKLY BEEN CHEATED

22nd June-1986 The Mexico World Cup was when Diego Maradona cheated us out of a victory when the infamous "hand of god" beat Peter Shilton and off we went home after a quarter-final. I can only remember Frank Lampard's goal in South Africa causing me as much upset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ccNkksrfls

Gary Lineker replied against the Argentines but it was not enough- we lost 1-2 in front of 114,580 in Mexico City.

Team and subs: Shilton, Stevens M, Sansom, Hoddle, Butcher, Fenwick, Hodge, Reid, Waddle, Beardsley, Lineker, Steven, Barnes.
Morocco (0-0) came top of the group with 4 points, we came second above Poland (whom we beat 3-0) and Portugal (drew 0-1).
Shame about the defeat last night Diego!! Weep your tears,,,,,,,

On this day in 1982 Scotland drew with USSR 2-2 in Malaga at the WC in Spain. Scotland lost out on goal difference having played New Zealand and Brazil. Two players were chosen to take drug tests and therefore had to consume liquids first, having been dehydrated during the game.
Nottm Forest's John Robertson, no shrinking violet, drunk his chosen alcohol as did his Russian partner. Robertson drunk him under the table and the poor lad was seen leaving the medical room swaying and singing white Christmas!
Here's David Narey's goal against the Brazilians to put his team 1-0 up. That stirred up the hornets' nest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_qAyKtoUs4

LONGEST DAY; GREATEST GOALS

On June 21st 1970, longest day in the UK, Brazil won a convincing World Cup Final 4-1 against Italy in a brilliantly played final. The final played in the Azteca, Mexico saw Mario Zagallo, a World Cup winner in 1958 and 1962 became the first ex-player to manage a World Cup winning team.

Yes, he does look a bit like Sven!

Pele became the first player to win three finals as his team were "given" the Jules Rimet Trophy to keep.

Italy's Roberto Boninsegna became the first goal scorer to be substituted in a World Cup Final. Watch for Brazil's 4th goal...a gem!
Apolohies for long link!
http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?enc=2&id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&pg=video&pn=1&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&searchfor=KdjocEIqhB_s5TXKhusVT4Ox0UWKsKL1vk-XMuKE_9zWWHl7bHMAkBsaKIGZOK37GgbrY9PftqQo2chckAVoZ51kACDIMNMBfe7O-q8mYUY8BbGHy9pzh71jCYiJA3SzA63KyqFF7Om_wiJfc17oy_T5AecEC8GMYWfb2iF0bVDpbQdEgfAkS_Hd7O0ovYZciUecdtXnl1n9p01FGpO3whKvqT5EW8uRnk68yBfEjowoiZDlMDqfzYzHzH7UY87Nh6A17Vo_taREHKRbe_zE1DfFXws1eejmvX6Ggmjuzmns2TK2PEQ1kWL53SR1r62fBAw2fEZMREofvF8YszNx4Q&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt

On June 16th 2002, England lost a quarter-final tie to Brazil in Shizuoka, Japan, having gone one ahead through Michael Owen.
http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?searchfor=bL36ZZwZ3cNlniUg7MD0ca-id2pk2PDi8zhV69RW5Et30NBdCR7o46zSV23X7P_Rj6RW_0TtEWZ8E_LEbZrsXt8bNqKD5OU8_avFvirNXz5YwGDPVOnPbI--Ukf7Cuoe74OGidC1CDJcP1xm1KURIL3Q9yh-I9IcZJSClqfW4ECKhRX1LQKp4vlL9JbYSlP-74dhJPTuaEp3mX4M0cMgeAoncOX4jXTPZC08x4jOi-zZAluuwJ_9KybMQsdyAekTpbviIZ3uJ57dtE_cKg7euU69EWk6Ipb3OzfduYN4dcYVetVT1Oh1pItIb1CNVmPELFwfNF6Cp4UD5LTqfvKLHg&id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt&enc=2&ts=1529591649626
They then conceded goals to 10 man Brazil, with Rivaldo and then Ronaldinho, who put a 40 yard free-kick over David Seaman's head. Ronaldinho was then sent off and England couldn't get their own back with more than 30 minutes left. This was England's 50th World Cup finals match, which seemed to sum up all that had gone before us, apart from in 1966.

SCORING ON DEBUT-SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD DATE!

I spent about half an hour typing my "Blog" yesterday afternoon and added a wonderful photo of the very famous Wilf Mannion, only to find out that the "ipad" did not fancy all that stuff and it presented me with a finished item of a few lines and bit of the photo. So I scrapped it and went off to umpire an U13 cricket match!
If my "mentor" is reading this he may be able to explain what happened...I erased the whole thing and had a rest. So this is a tad out of date compared to occasions in Russia; but it is VERY INTERESTING.

Harry Kane has been lauded by the press and historians over his position as 15th in England's international history to score on his World Cup debut. Four English caps have indeed scored two goals on their debuts; nobody has done the hat trick.

Wilf Mannion of Middlesbrough was the first to achieve a goal on his World Cup debut and this was against Chile on June 25th 1950 in Rio de Janeiro when England won 2-0.

Stan Mortensen of Blackpool was also a debut scorer that day. This was the ill fated tournament that saw England eventually humiliated by the amateurs from USA, losing 0-1!
Playing for Chile was George Robledo, who also played for Newcastle United in the Football League. England had beaten Chile but then also lost to Spain 0-1 and were eliminated at the Group stage. Uruguay won the whole thing.

Other debut scorers include:
1954 Switzerland-Nat Lofthouse (2), Ivor Broadis (2) both against Belgium and Dennis Wilshaw of Wolves....we lost to Uruguay in the 1/4 final.
1958 Sweden-Derek Kevan of WBA v USSR (known as the Soviet Union), played at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg.
After three games, England and the Soviets had absolutely equal statistics p3 w0 d3 l0 f4 a4. There was a play off on June 17th at the Ullevi, which the Sovs won 1-0!
1962 Chile-Ron Flowers of Wolves, a wing half, scored a penalty against Hungary in Group 4, a tie we lost 1-2. We then beat Argentina and drew with Bulgaria, losing to Brazil in the 1/4 final.
1966-Sir Geoff Hurst v Argentina at Wembley 1/4 final-remember the goal?
http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?enc=0&id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&pg=video&pn=1&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&searchfor=Geoff+Hurst+v+Argentina+1966&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt
1970-Alan Clarke penalty v Czechoslovakia in Mexico. Bobby Charlton equalled that day, Bill Wright's number of England caps with 105.
1982-Paul Mariner v France in Bilbao (3-1 win) Remember Robson scored after 27 seconds (also his debut) and again after 66 mins. Mariner popped up with the third, his fifth successive goal in an England shirt.
1998-Paul Scholes and Alan Shearer v Tunisia; Group stage 2-0 Marseille
2014-Daniel Sturridge v Italy, wearing a number 9 shirt scored and became only the second no.9 to score in a World Cup since 1966.  Shearer in 1998 was the other.
England physio Gary Lewin celebrated so much that he dislocated his ankle and had to be stretchered off.

Not too much of an issue as England had a support staff of 72 including a turf specialist. Is this why our coaching courses are so expensive?

LES AIGLES DE CARTHAGE

I shall be at the Hepworth United clubhouse this evening, hoping that the new clubhouse and the surrounding club members might make my World Cup experience better than my past ones; I do cherish watching the 1966 campaign despite the shaky start! That was some summer for a 15 years old. England did meet the Eagles of Tunisia in the 1998 WC winning 2-0.

So Tunisia, FIFA now ranking 21st ....highest 12! England 12th at the moment.
The country did not develop a national side until around 1928, when a considerable influence from France got players playing. The national association was affiliated to the French FA as white colonials living in the urban areas developed clubs. Italians, Spaniards, Jews and Maltese arriving at the North African ports helped form clubs such as Esperance and Club Africain.

The present national manager, Nabil Maaloul was the manager of Esperance before taking on the  national side having had success in the Tunisian league. His first stint as manager ended after a defeat by the Cape Verde Islands on the way to 2014 World Cup. The result was eventually overturned because the opposition had an ineligible player-Maaloul-did not change his mind. Last year the Tunisian FA made a plea to him to return, which he did and with success. He is 28th "best/worst"?? paid manager out of the 32 WC clubs.

Gaining Independence in 1956 the Tunisian Football Federation was founded and joined FIFA in 1957. In 1960 they played in the Olympics, the nations first official international match.

They have recently draw with Portugal 2-2, Turkey 2-2 and lost to Spain 1-0. There are two "stars" Wahbi Khazri on loan at Sunderland and Yohan Benalouane also on the fringe at Leicester.

To qualify for the finals they played two leg ties in Africa and beat on aggregate, Guinea (6-1), Libya (1-0), Congo DR (4-1) and Mauritania (4-2)
Let's hope the bugs don't bite......

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/18/bugs-strife-swarms-cause-chaos-in-volgograd

KICK OFF AT THE SAME TIME

June 16th 1982 saw Bryan Robson stun England's World Cup opposition France with a 27 seconds goal and then proceeded to reach the next phase unbeaten the first time achieved 100% record in the "first round".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WbxYCe4AWw 

In phase two,  we couldn't score and didn't concede against West Germany and Spain, but went out before the semi-finals, remaining unbeaten.

Algeria on the other hand played their first round matches and beat West Germany 2-1 having gone ahead after 53 minutes and then took the lead again after Rummenigge equalised. Belloumi had the honour of scoring with 20 minutes to go and the Algerians held out.

Algeria then lost to Austria in the next game, beat Chile 3-2 and all was looking good for the next phase. West Germany played Austria in the final game, after Algeria had finished their group matches. A 1-0 win for the Germans would let them through at Algeria's expense. Low and behold that's what happened and Algeria went home, knocked out on goal difference.

I mentioned Matthias Sindelar before and he was the Austrian born player who refused to play for Germany after the Nazi annexation of Austria. Goodness know what he would have thought about this chicanery.

Needless to say, FIFA learned from this that it was not a good idea to have group matches kicking off at different times, so this was changed.

Fastest goal in WC Finals history from the kick off.......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK1aDApXGOQ

PLATT'S THAT

June 16th 1990, Cagliari, England 0-0 v Holland-another World Cup campaign that ended in sadness and that semi-final defeat by West Germany by penalties 4-3.

It was full of moments, especially Paul Gascoigne who was yellow carded which meant he would miss the final if England qualified  (remember Gary looking into the camera on TV) and of course Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle making a mess of their penalties.

, but all was not lostEngland picked up the "Fair Play" Award! So jolly good show chaps.
AND
Gary Lineker pooed himself against the ROI
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/lineker-needed-izal-roll.html

The final was terrible with the Germans beating the Argies 1-0 in the Stadio Olimpico, Rome.

Pedro Monzon became the first player to receive a red card in a Final and then Gustavo Dezotti was sent off and the only goal scored was a penalty in the 85th minute. This was a final contested by the same two teams who had met in the previous tournament's final, another first.
5 goals were shared in a more exciting match.
Franz Beckenbauer was the first man to coach and captain a World Cup winning side, and in the 14th WC Final, Argentina became the first country to score no goals in a final. Since then 5 out of 6 finals have featured one side which has failed to hit the net and in 1994 the final ended 0-0.

During the 1990 competition the game goal average was 2.2 the lowest scoring. (England's tally was 1-1, 0-0, 1-0, 1-0, 3-2, 1-1, 1-2) SO
FIFA decided to brighten up the game and to stop goalkeepers from picking up the back pass...) and 3 points were awarded for a win in WC tournaments.

Debutants were Costa Rica, ROI and UAE. Peter Shilton made his 120th appearance for England against Holland-a record
Here is David Platt's last minute of Extra Time winner against Belgium:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBuR-I4AT-o.
I saw this after the event. I was dining out and we had the game on video, so we sat through the whole event right up to Platt's winner.

THREE KISSES AT LEAST

June 15th 1982, the World Cup Finals were held in Spain and Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in a group game, the first double figure win-defeat in a World Cup Finals. Laszlo Kiss became the first substitute to score a hat trick in the finals. El Salvador only conceded three more goals in their group against Argentina 2-0 and Belgium 1-0.

England had beaten France 3-1, Czechoslovakia 2-0 and Kuwait 1-0 in their group matches.
Team: Shilton, Mills, Sansom, Thompson, Butcher, Wilkins, Robson, Francis, Mariner, Woodcock, Rix with Keegan and Brooking as used subs.
Squad players included Hoddle, Coppell, Foster, Neal.

It all looked good with Trevor Francis, Peter Mariner and Bryan Robson scoring our goals.
In the second set of matches of four groups of 3, (not straight to last 16) we drew with West Germany 0-0 and Spain 0-0 which left us out of the competition, only the group winner went on to the semi-final.

Northern Ireland had a field day drawing with Honduras (1-1) and Yugoslavia (0-0) and then winning their group by beating Spain 1-0 in a memorable match. Having drawn with Austria 2-2, they couldn't beat France in the group of 3, who went on to the semi.

In the semis Poland lost to Italy, West Germany beat France after 3-3 on pens and Poland came third in the play-off.

More fortunate were Italy who went on to beat West Germany in the final 3-1, their third victory. Dino Zoff in the Italian goal at 40 years old became the oldest player to win a WC medal.

Scotland had beaten New Zealand in their group match 5-2 but couldn't go on, losing to Brazil 4-1 and drawing with the Soviet Union 2-2.

POTS AND RANKINGS

Here are the FIFA World Cup Groups and their country rankings:
Group A: Russia 70, Saudi Arabia 67, Egypt 45, Uruguay 4
Group B: Morocco 41, Iran 37, Portugal 4, Spain 10
Group C: France 7, Australia 36, Peru 11, Denmark 19
Group D: Argentina 5, Iceland 22, Croatia 20, Nigeria 48
Group E: Costa Rica 23, Serbia 34, Brazil 2, Switzerland 6
Group F: Germany 1, Mexico 15, Sweden 24, South Korea 57
Group G: Belgium 3, Panama 55, Tunisia 21, England 12=
Group H: Colombia 16, Japan 61, Poland 8, Senegal 27

How?
For the first time 209 FIFA nations entered the qualifying process. Russia did not have to, as hosts. Allocation in the finals was based on "Confederation" groups i.e. UEFA or CONCACAF-you know!

Once qualification had happened the Finals draw was held at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg.
32 nations went into the pots and 20 had taken part in the 2014 finals.
Iceland and Panama qualified for the first time; Iceland being the smallest by population.
Egypt, Morocco and Peru have not qualified for long periods. It is the first time that three Scandinavian countries and four Arab nations have reached this final stage.

Italy for the first tine since 1958 have not made it, nor have the Netherlands, for the first time since 2002. Four reigning continental champions have not reached the finals: USA, Chile, Cameroon and New Zealand.

The Pots were:
P1: Russia hosts, Germany 1, Brazil 2, Portugal 3, Argentina 4, Belgium 5 Poland 6, France 7
P2 : Spain 8, Peru 10, Switzerland 11, England 12=, Colombia 13, Mexico 16, Uruguay 17, Croatia 18.
P3: Denmark 19, Iceland 21, Costa Rica 22, Sweden 25, Tunisia 28, Egypt 30, Senegal 32, Iran 34.
P4: Serbia 38, Nigeria 41, Australia 43, Japan 44, Morocco 48, Panama 49, South Korea 62, Saudia Arabia 63 (lowest ranked by FIFA to play in these finals). Which is why the Russians are having a field day? (3-0 up)

THERESA MAY BUT SHOULDN'T

Theresa May or may not...she is joining in the Mexican Wave during a "friendly" match on this day in 2017 between France and England. The Stade de France was the venue and her host the president Emmanuel Macron, who despite May's embarrassing general election results and Brexit seemed unruffled.She got her timing wrong and so did her football team who lost 3-2.

In 1956 Real Madrid beat French champions Stade de Rheims 4-3, in the first ever final of the European Cup, as it was known in those days. The game was held at the Parc des Princes, Paris. England had an influence in the game however, with TV show's "It's a knockout" adjudicator, Arthur Ellis as referee. Ellis was from  Halifax and became quite a celebrity in his refereeing and adjudicating career.

Real Madrid went on to win the first 5 finals.

1938 WORLD CUP COVERS 12 NATIONS

TWELVE Teams that have won or been runners-up in the 20 World Cups since 1930, including when hosts*:
WINNERS
Brazil 5*, Italy 4*, Germany 4*, Argentina 2*, Uruguay 2*, France 1*, Spain 1, England 1*
Runners up:
Argentina 3, Germany 4, Netherlands 3, Czechoslovakia 2, Hungary 2, Sweden 1*, Brazil 2*, Italy 2, France 1.

The decision to hold the final in Europe for the second year running caused Uruguay and Argentina to travel. Uruguay were the holders and they refused to sail. The Spanish didn't turn up either as a result of their Civil War.
On this day (12th June) in 1938, the third tournament, in a brutal match, Brazil met Czechoslovakia in Bordeaux with 3 dismissed and 2 broken bones for the Czechs. The game ended 1-1 aet and this was the last time a game went to replay in the Finals. Brazil won 2-1 two days later in the Parc Lescure in Bordeaux.


France as hosts and Italy as holders did not have to qualify. The title holders idea was stopped in 2002.
14 places were available and only 3 non European teams took part (Dutch East Indies, Brazil and Cuba).

Austria qualified but due to the Anschluss (when Austria merged with Germany) some of the Austrian players joined German team, but not Matthias Sindelar, the Austrian star player. A unified Germany did not play again until 1994.

Hungary beat the Dutch East Indies 6-0 in their one game (the round of 16). Germany was beaten by Switzerland after a draw. Italy beat Hungary  4-2and Brazil came 3rd over Sweden.
Cuba lost 8-0 to Sweden in the quarter-final (the round of 8).
 A ball from the tournament.

LINEKER NEEDED AN IZAL ROLL

Anyone remember, hear of, know where these are?: Kyle Walker-Peters, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Kieran Dowell, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sheyi Ojo, Freddie Woodman, Jonjoe Kenny, Jake Clarke-Salter, Ademola Lookman Josh Onomah, Lewis Cook, Fikayo Tomori, Paul Simpson

They were in England's 2017 (June 11th) World Cup winning team (U20) who beat Venezuela in Suwon, South Korea. With our U21s just winning the Toulon for the third year in succession the future must be bright.

On this day in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, Alan Clarke scored a penalty against Czecholovakia to give England another 3 points in the Group having already beaten Romania 1-0 with Geoff Hurst's goal. We were beaten 1-0 by Brazil who were unbeaten in the group. This was "Sniffer's" debut, his wife's birthday, his wedding anniversary and the anniversary of his transfer from Fulham to Leicester City. On a promise? need we remind you what happened later? Well Banks was unfit.....

In 1990 England drew with the Republic of Ireland 1-1 in Cagliari, with a Lineker goal. Both teams qualified with England amassing 4 points with another draw against Netherlands and a win against Egypt. Of course we later lost to the Germans on penalties in the semi-final. and lost third place to Italy. Here is Gary having one of his dirtier moments against the ROI:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t_8pfbCH-4

ENGLAND v THE US of A

June 9th 1993 England played the USA at the Foxboro Stadium, Boston resulting in a 2-0 win to the "Yanks" who beat the "Planks" according to the Sun paper. Paul Ince was captain and 37,000+ watched the spectacle.
Team: Woods, Dixon, Dorigo, Batty, Pallister, Palmer, Ince, Clough, L. Ferdinand, Wright, Barnes, Sharpe, subs Walker, Wright I.

The 1950 defeat by the USA in the Brazil World Cup was a more severe embarrassment. On June 29th England came 2nd with only 2 points from 3 games against the USA, Spain (who won the group) and Chile! England's goal difference was 2-2, enough to beat the other two. Played inn Belo Horizonte, a mere 10,000 watched the debacle. England failed to qualify. See previous reports
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4ESTvxyqsI

On June 8th 1953 England played the USA at the Yankee Stadium, new York, when floodlights were used and it was the first game under lights played by the English international team. England won 6-3 with goals from Tom Finney 2 (see yesterday), Nat Lofthouse 2, Ivor Broadis and Ron Froggatt.


Recognise this young man? It's Ryan Wilson (his dad's name) who played for England schoolboys against Germany Schoolboys on June 10th 1989. he played for the schoolboys and Wales U18s in 1989. He was not eligible to play for England adults however since his birth was in Wales for whom he played 64 times from 1991-2007.

IN THE BANKS

Well, Will Frost's musical "intrusion" and the ditty of "Scouting for Girls" mentioned in my footballing blog yesterday brought one of my largest hits! TOTP!! Thank you readers. This happens most days and will give you anecdotes to break the ice at any party, so keep reading.

Will Will and his followers continue to follow me, as I meander topically through past World Cup moments?

On June 7th 1970 in Guadalajara, Mexico, our greatest goalkeeper, Gordon Banks, pulled off that great save from Pele, who typically congratulated Banks as he flipped Pele's header over the bar. I watched it as it happened-remarkable football. England put up a great show and lost 0-1 in front of 70,950 fans. England team:
Banks, Wright T, Cooper, Mullery, Labone, Moore, Lee F, (sub; Astle missed a sitter?) Ball, Charlton R (sub Bell), Hurst, Peters.

Below-it's a long link but only a few minutes and worth watching. The Brazilian goal, Pele's final pass, Banks' save and Jeff's sitter!
http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?enc=2&id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&pg=video&pn=1&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&searchfor=NJo1OsRT74IoVhu50KDi0JkM5iYBKfRcBGEOeumA2w1rYRQEJwoSob6rbGOIuNXEDb8789XVsvzo4JyMbvAbJcZVRaWUnmd1awtmsaKSm0ZHrpivoYheyIBYjEo4RYymmF7hO_xemhcKqSwPt68dJiZ1h3Bu3t7TguFo50TEc-lhVmJ7dwzdZhl_KQhqaDvMyVp7RiBwFTKvYNjSpn_HBFBjduNyfJs4e-wGIyRoRLKfXpJBMO2JWKeoUmijhqkmI5ncahybeEZF7LzZznsPpbvR9PUxwj7RFus3nTPyBLNq2oj1DwJF-asuV2owG1r_2NQ2xrPSJcL6w74mSO4RuA&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FjkJ_HoxL4

In 1961 on this day Tom Finney, the Preston plumber, was awarded his OBE for services to football at PNE and England.

ENGLAND'S UNOFFICIAL WORLD CUP SONG-LIKE AN OLD GIRLFRIEND

Will Frost is an Old Carthusian, an old boy of Charterhouse School which boasts Vaughan Williams and Genesis as two its more famous musical Alumni. There are many others. Will probably wasn't in their league in the world of music but then they weren't very good footballers!! Now Will can claim to be a co-writer of an unofficial England World Cup song!!

Living in West Sussex, his neighbour in the village was Roy Stride, the lead singer of the band "Scouting for Girls" and a co-writer for various other musical groups. Needless to say Will and Roy met on the side of their son's football match, where better; both boys were called Freddie and the dads bonded over touchline bacon rolls and coffee. Will and Roy also play 5 a-side when they are not earning a crust; their footy group includes an Belgian Olympic Eventer, a hairdresser, airplane pilots and a doctor-some of these vital friends at their age. Oh, by the way Graham Le Saux turns out occasionally.

In the post game pub, Will suggested that the England Football Team is like a girlfriend who has let you down, however you can't help but get excited the next time an occasion brings you together, just in case.....Based on Will's observation (and I have to say I know what he means), Roy wrote a song for the World Cup, "England I Still Believe".

Will chipped in with ideas and eventually they have shared rites to the writing credit. Will may make his fortune....as if he needs it!

http://www.itv.com/news/2018-06-06/scouting-for-girls-to-release-fun-cheeky-world-cup-single/ (dont ask me about this not being found!)
For just the song: WHICH WORKS!!
https://player.believe.fr/v2/3615932523540

JUNE 7th 2002 AND MORE

June 7th 2002-Japan/Korea World Cup England met Argentina in the Group F, winning 1-0 at Sapporo, the goal, a Beckham penalty.
team: Seaman, Mills, Cole A, Butt, Campbell, Ferdinand, Beckham, Scholes, Heskey (Sheringham), Owen (Bridge), Hargreaves, (Sinclair)

Having weathered tough qualifiers against at home Germany (0-1), Finland a (0-0), Finland at Anfield  (2-1), Albania a (3-1), Greece a (2-0), Germany (5-1!!! remember that), Albania (2-0) St James Park, Greece (2-2) at Old Trafford's where David Beckham saw England into Group F.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0GESlaVNdE

Matches in the finals were  played in Saitama v Sweden (1-1)  and Nigeria in Osaka (0-0) results that put England in second place behind the Swedes. England then beat Denmark (3-0) in Niigata, losing to Brazil 1-2 in Shizuoka, the loan goal coming from Michael Owen. We should have won that game, with Ronaldinho sent off for violent conduct after 51 minutes, stamping on Danny Mills.

Remember the 5-1 drubbing of the enemy in Munich on September 1st?? Owen scored 3, Gerrard and Heskey. I do...I was invited to a drinks' party at Tim Young's house in Farnham and listened to the game on the radio driving over and then missed the thing live; being polite as possible news filtered through from his children's TV room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUHTT2VnKao

MORE TIES OF WOE

Sadly, I am a day behind but I got distracted by a Girls'Tournament at our club last evening, so I am snatching at anniversaries.

On June 5th 1968 with Alf Ramsey as manager, Alan Mullery was sent off against Yugoslavia in the semi-final of the European Nations' Cup in Florence. He became the first England player to be sent off in a full international. 60,000 watched this failure having beaten Spain in the quarter-final 3-1 over two legs.
Team v Yugoslavia; Banks, Newton K, Wilson, Mullery, Labone, Moore, Ball, Peters, Charlton R, Hunt, Hunter.
Here is a little explanation of his behaviour;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/17899534

In the 3rd place match v USSR England won 2-0 with Charlton and Hunt scoring.

In 1999, on the same date, Paul Scholes was cautioned twice for tackles during the first 51 minutes of the game and he was sent off. This was against Sweden in an European 2000 qualifier at the old Wembley. Scholes was the first English international player to be sent off at the old Wembley.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7kqfVjzIZ8
On June 6th 1986 England played Morocco in a World Cup group tie in Mexico. This was the first meeting of England and an African country in the World Cup finals. Ray Wilkins was sent off and was the first England player to suffer in a World Cup finals tie. The score ended 0-0. Wilkins threw the ball at the Paraguayan referee, Gabriel Gonzalez, his second offence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa2EplzQ7xA
Morocco won the group (the first time an African country had got through the Group stages), England came second, having lost to Portugal 0-1 and beaten Poland 3-0 (Lineker 3).
In the Second round England beat Paraguay 3-0 (Lineker 2, Beardsley) and lost to Argentina and Maradona in the quarter-final in Mexico City.

ENGLAND HIT THE DUCKS

 On June 4th 1988, England rolled out at Aylesbury United in a warm up for the European Championships in Germany. The home team were Southern League champions and they scored a DUCK. England unsurprisingly scored 7, but at least our chaps got a chance to hit the net.
In Germany they lost to the Republic of Ireland 0-1, lost to Holland 1-3 (Shilton's 100th cap)and also to the USSR 1-3, landing on their "duck's arse" and went home to roost earlier than they had expected.
The teams were picked from this squad (note a Waddle in the pond); Shilton, M.Stevens, Sansom, Webb, Hoddle, Wright, Adams, Robson, Waddle, Beardsley, Lineker, J Barnes, Hateley, Steven, Woods, Watson, McMahon.
The rest of the year (Sept-Dec) included a home win against Denmark 1-0, a home draw with Sweden 0-0 in a World Cup qualifier and a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia (away).
Brian Marwood, Peter Davenport?? and Kevin Hector made the cut in the Autumn games. Pity the manager, Bobby Robson-such a nice man who has a film/documentary telling us the truth about Bobby.

STEVE BRUCE-CRIME WRITER

Yes, Steve Bruce is an author, who has a hidden depth of literary aspiration, plotting "murder most foul"!
In 1999 he started to write his first of three novels that were football centric called "Striker", "Sweeper" and "Defender".

Seamus O'Reilly, an expert on Bruce's writing, has reviewed these little read, but much sought after novels. Bruce describes his books as a  "laughing stock" but they have achieved prices of £300 or so, whereas O'Reilly found a copy with a Shetland Island Library stamp in it, selling for £12. Bargin.
At a 127 pages long, this "football-noir" has been reviewed and Bruce's books have been the subject of podcasts in "The Guardian" and "The Irish Times". Striker presently on E-Bay at £72 (given 4*).


Clubs such as Leddesfield Town, where Steve Barnes in the manager, and Mulcaster are obviously meant to be Huddersfield Town and Manchester United and Bruce manages to get a dig in to his lack of selection for England when his hero, Steve Barnes, is asked by secret agents to "help his country", Barnes (quite rightly) refuses! Bruce writing that "my country never wanted me".
On another occasion Barnes takes out a bad guy with a slide tackle and on another occasion a sniper shoots a football from under Barnes' foot as he stands in the technical area.

Currently "unavailable".
Some reviews mention that the books are "satisfying", whereas others say that there is cringe worthy use of English!!
Looking for comparison, nothing bears comparison!

THE ROYAL SEAN DYCHE

The Royal Dyche, overwhelmed by the "Royal" wedding, Sean Dyche has deserved this accolade and generous gift by a pub near Turf Moor, Burnley. The "Princess Royal" Pub is named after the successful Burnley manager. Landlady of 5 years, Justine Lorriman, has set the tone but I am not sure how long the free drinks for Sean, will go on for! Last November the aim was for the Clarets to be guided into Europe (well the Europa League) having been promoted to the Premier League in 2015-16.

The draw for the Europa "League" is on June 19th in Nyon so the Burnley boys will be torn between getting excited about their new venture or watching their mates in the World Cup.
To prepare the club for the new season's challenge, Sean and his boys are going to Ireland to play Cork City on July 13th, for a pre-season...free Guiness? It is the club's first opportunity to play in European competition for over 50 years (since 1966-7) and to celebrate, local drinkers are treated to pie and peas and live music. Pre-season includes a game against Preston NE, Macclesfield and Montpellier. The new season begins on August 11th.

THE GHOST OF N17

I wrote about John White, aka The Ghost of White Hart Lane, who starred for Spurs in their 1960s assault on the English Football League and FA Cup. A book written by his son, Rob, who never knew his father since he was killed when Rob was a baby and he is now a professional photographer and Julie Welch, an acclaimed authoress.

http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2017/07/lightning-strikes-ghost.html
With the Headingley Test match delayed due to rain and some atmospheric instability, my mind turned to thunderstorms and lightning. White was killed by lightning on a golf course, so it seemed appropriate to remind you of his existence and sad death.

This link will take you to the advert for the film "The GhostN17";
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y0Gum2YQqeU
In this film there is a short frame of two rings "fused" together, they were John White's finger rings fused by the lightning, as he sat under a tree on his local golf course. It was a huge shock to all supporters of football.

ERIC, DIEGO, MACS AND THAMES

June 1st 2009 was the UK Premier of the Eric Cantona movie "Looking for Eric" shown at the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays, Manchester. Eric played himself and the most memorable line was "I am not a man-I am Cantona".

Two years earlier, John Terry played an unusual role at the rebuilt Wembley, when he scored England's only goal against Brazil in front of nearly 89,000. It looked like a victory at one point but Diego equalised in "added" time.

A friend told me he was visiting Krakow next Friday and funnily enough on June 1st 1958, Scotland played their first ever international match against Poland in Warsaw. So almost a perfect coincidence, but at least 8 of the 11 Poles had a "k" in their name and no Scot was called "Mc" or "Mac"!! The Macs won 2-1. A bloke with a "k" in his name scored the Poles' goal.

In 1931 Mansfield Town were elected to the Third Division South, replacing Newport County, who were not re-elected. County got back in the following year when Thames FC were bottom of the division and did not offer themselves for re-election to the Football League. Thames were in the FL only for two seasons.
They played at the West Ham Stadium, Regent's Lane E6 and a crowd of 469 on 6th December 1930 saw them beat Luton 1-0 in front of the League's lowest attendance for a Saturday afternoon. Here is a part of a Thames' programme......