DON'T BET ON KNOCKER

July 31st 2009 was the day that English Football lost the great Bobby Robson, a brilliantly modest coach and gentleman. I have mentioned Sir Bobby on many occasions such is his influence on our nation's game.
Here is one from May 2018:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2018/05/more-than-manager.html

On the other hand, not being a pillar of the game was Enoch "Knocker" West.
Born in 1886 at Hucknall Torkard in Nottinghamshire, West first played for Sheffield United and in 1905 was transfered to Nottingham Forest for £5. During the 1905 season, Knocker scored almost a 100 goals for Forest and eventually in 1910, he was transfered to Manchester United, where he, a "bull of a centre forward"(a force of nature), helped the club win a First Division League Medal in 1911, as United pipped the holders, Aston Villa, by one point.
The team celebrated their success with a day at Chester races, where, by all accounts, Knocker had a good time and a laid a few bets!

That season Nottingham Forest were relegated.

When the league closed due to the War in 1915, he had played in 334 matches and scored 168.

During the last period of league competition before the war, The FA had investigated a match between Liverpool and Manchester United, implying that there had been some "match fixing" by players going on;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_British_football_betting_scandal
and Knocker had been implicated and found guilty.

He was banned for life and despite going to the High Court in 1917, he was not reprieved and that was curtains for Knocker; he had to take the "rap".
By 1945 the ban was lifted and Knocker could play again-he was well over 60. He died in 1965 aged 79.

PAINT GETS STUCK IN THE PALATE (BAGGIES CHOKED)

It would be a brave club to open the doors to a stranger, especially when Tony Pulis is your manager. But all credit to West Bromwich Albion who  joined in a venture called "Artist in Residence", a documentary that allows a portrait painter, Tai-Shan Schierenberg, into a Premier League football club.
Tai who already has work hanging in the National Gallery, as well as having painted the Queen and Stephen Hawking, spent time at the beginning of last season and followed the club through to the final brush stroke of the season.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-birmingham-44987121/artist-captures-west-bromwich-albion-s-turbulent-season
It was shown yesterday evening as "The Football Club" at 10.05pm in Channel 4.

Using this topic as a stimulant, it helped him understand the game more and he was able to develop an better impression and more accurate observation of the professional game and its business.

Mark Swain, Director of Communications at the club, was keen to encourage this to show that the club continues its "proud history of innovation" and was pleased to see the programme "shine a light" on the working of one of the oldest clubs in the country.

The programme showed Tai spending time with Tony Pulis and his squad in Austria pre-season, at Pulis' home on the south coast, with three first team players back at the Hawthorns and with a father and young footballing son from the Baggies supporters mass! His final subject was Darren Moore from April 2nd 2018, who steered the club through their last battling weeks in the PL following Pulis' dismissal and a brief showing by Alan Pardew.

Tai got painting. This all happened as WBA were slowly going down the pan!! and were eventually relegated on the final kick of the season.

OUT OF THE ASHES COMES SOME GOOD

On 28th July 1985, the England 1966 World Cup winning squad, without heroic manager Alf Ramsey, who was unable to attend, gathered at Elland Road to play (West) Germany in a replay of the World Cup Final 1966. The occasion held two days before the 19th anniversary of that victory, was to raise money for the Bradford City fire disaster fund, a fire that claimed 56 lives and injured 265 souls, at Valley Parade when Bradford City played Lincoln City  on May 11th 1985.
https://englandmemories.com/2015/07/28/the-1966-world-cup-final-1985-style/

Prior to the game was a club celebration, when the home team was presented with the Third Division title trophy, a time that should have been a happy and fitting end to their season.

The game had got under way when an horrific fire started around 3.40 pm, probably ignited by cigarette ends that had dropped through floor boards, on to litter under the main wooden stand. The fire took hold rapidly and chaos ensued.

As you can see the fire was horrific.
It didn't take long for the football authorities to arrange fund raising to help those who suffered initially and then continued to raise money for associated charities.

The full England 1966 starting 11 made themselves available and Terry Cherry, born in Huddersfield and on City's books, was on the subs' bench.

The Germans, led by Franz Beckenbauer, also supported the occasion with an impressive attendance.

The score ended 6-4 to England with Geoff Hurst remarkably (again) scoring a hat trick, Alan Ball 2 and Martin Peters one.

On 12th December 1986 another commemorative match between Bradford City and an England XI was played in front of a 15,000 crowd which Bradford won 2-1, also raising money for the fund.

Bradford City continues to support the burns unit at the city's Royal Infirmary. The crowds rendering of "You'll Never Walk Alone" from "Carousel" reached No.1 in the charts and itself raised money for the charity. It was remade 30 years later with a host of celebrities in a special choir.

25 years after the event, the University of Bradford had established a major skin research unit and a plastic surgery and burns unit, (the Bradford Sling, a specialised burns devise that applies healing pressure to needed areas of skin, was developed from the various treatments, showing that some good has come out of the ashes of the Bradford Stand.

TOOLSTATION-JUST THE JOB

It has been a day of "four seasons" today; well three. Cool and sunny early doors, hot and pouring rain later, windy and leaves falling off struggling trees later-no snow yet.

Penistone Church FC (chosen from the Toolstation Northern Counties East League) played Buckland Athletic chosen from the Toolstation Western League) in the Toolstation Charity Cup (bit like the FA Charity Shield). The place was full of blazered and stripey ties gents with their ladies and a few "ground hoppers". It were right grand.

£700 was raised on the day, including the officials fees, raffle, entrance etc which will go to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Penistone won 1-0 scoring just before half time having had the wind as an advantage. Both sides acquitted themselves well and Buckland from Newton Abbott, had a long journey home by coach after. It was a valuable pre-season warm up.

PCFC was founded in 1906, Buckland in 1977. Both clubs have made good progress through the Steps recently, Buckland having made remarkable strides starting as junior club, then becoming a seniors also club ten years later. They moved through Devon County League until 2007-8 when they were promoted to the South West Peninsula and now the Toolstation.

Penistone are comfortably set in their Premier League, coming 7th out of 22 last season and were League Cup winners in 2016-17. They looked in good fettle for the coming season having beaten Stocksbridge PS (Vardy's "alma mater") 2-0 midweek in the Purdie Cup, a local challenge.

Toolstation, centred at Bridgewater, Somerset, run over 300 stores nation wide  and sponsor the WFL, NCEFL, Northampton Saints and the RNLI Flood Rescue team.

KAISER-THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER NEVER TO PLAY FOOTBALL

Sort of in to films this week following on from "The Damned United" and yesterday I got wind of a new film which was shown at the Trebica Film Festival in April 2018. It is called "Kaiser-the greatest footballer never to play football". Here is the trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcGaz0KdDwk

Carlos Henrique Raposo, soon to be known as Carlos Kaiser, was born in April 1963 and became a "farce footballer". He never actually played for any length of time in a match, hiding his ability by phony injuries, frequent club changes and other ruses......he did this for 26 years.
His roll of clubs included from 1979: Puebla in Mexico, Botafogo, Flamengo, Gazalea Ajaccio, Bangu, Vasco da Gama, Fluminese, El Paso Sixshooters, America RJ and Guarany Futebol Clube!

He was nicknamed Kaiser because he apparently looked line Franz Beckenbauer; but did anyone liken his footballer to the German's? he started his youth career at Botafoga up to 1973 and then spent four years at Flamengo. He was "spotted" by Puebla where he began his career of "not playing".

He befriended star footballers who though he was genuine, had a dentist who diagnosed tooth issues, feigned injury (no MRI scans in those days), used a "toy phone" to pretend he was having conversations with agents and had journalist pals who were prepared to write "fake news" about him.
At Bangu where the coach was getting fed up with just watching Kaiser train and insisted that he play in a match they were losing 2-0. Kaiser when warming up, started a fight with some supporters, whom he claimed had been insulting him-he was "sent off". He worked out the labour laws in Brazil and managed to get contracts that lasted longer than they should have; so convincing was he that he became a pundit on Brazil's MOTD!

Journalist Rob Smyth has written the book.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/apr/26/the-forgotten-story-of-carlos-kaiser-footballs-greatest-conman

At 53, he now trains female body builders and has a film made about him.
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/confessions-carlos-kaiser-soccers-biggest-conman

http://entertainment.ie/cinema/news/Heres-the-trailer-for-Kaiser-a-fascinating-documentary-about-footballs-greatest-conman/406958.htm

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=Carlos+Kaiser+YouTube&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt

WEST GERMANY ROUGH IT UP?

July 25th 1966, West Germany, as it was then known, beat the Soviet Union, as it was then, in the World Cup semi-final at Goodison Park in front of about 43,000. Remember the ground had to lose some of the standing areas behind each goal, as advised by FIFA to keep a distance between the crowd and goal, thereby cutting down the attendance.
This was a tough tackling game and Sabo, the Soviet half back was injured in the early minutes in an attempt to maim Beckenbauer. He eventually had to leave the pitch at half time.
The Soviet winger Chislenko was sent off just before half time, following "an incident", when he was penalised for kicking Held.  There were no subs so the Soviets were down to 9 men. This clip, shows Yashin at his best BUT NO NASTIES!
http://int.search.mywebsearch.com/search/video.jhtml?id=XNxdm019YYgb&n=77edc526&ptb=308DCB58-2A13-42C4-993A-77A59B6C34C6&ptnrS=XNxdm019YYgb&qs=&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt&enc=2&searchfor=DlgMoZXixDmtTn3244CpQ_k1r_JZMFejj5E-ekLZ8k4V3sC3U4vjNG9e9DPOg86NPkE3qQDbmSXOJWwLZnh4Y-Ky-ef4WS0XOjfiHR7sn17-5cse_IL9MmJWecSc8zcJr8jNdHoNEXQyP9Z0ymXpE-kBIiRjDEerrFnSfIrdLENOH7Bi18A9TW8gyJX-Z76Q3qLDQgLnMN5jjj94txV0oO_gxCaN0qciV3DQMobTvBpKy3T0mV76_7T5M5cfUKb4sfocqpuUX8AtLNGMpvSeNrPKKr37Ujh6hah0kL5V1Je8JAHLctXwISJ7-C4yh77cqEmgWAsNFaAcHk-YYZLFJw&ts=1532528817439

In the quarter-finals, two days earlier, against Uruguay, at Hillsborough, the Germans were holding on to a 0-0 draw, in an even game, until the South Americans lost their cool when their penalty claim was turned down and this sparked a campaign of "taking no prisoners". Two of their team were sent off in the early stage of the second half. Captain Troche retaliated to a foul by Emmerich, and kicked the German in the stomach. Centre-forward Silva fouled Haller who rolled around the pitch like Neymar, convincing the ref (Jim Finney of England!!) who sent Silva off. Down to 9 men the Uruguayans lost 4-0.

In Group matches the Germans first beat Switzerland 5-0, who had left out two key players for not keeping a curfew!

Argentina came next and this was a bruising affair at Villa Park and it was Jorge Albrecht who had his marching orders following a high tackle on Weber. He had previously been cautioned for rugby tackling Haller. The game ended 0-0 and the Argentinians went on to qualify to play England in the Quarter-final in a controversial game previously mentioned recently.

West Germany beat Spain 2-1, a game the Spanish had to win to carry on to the q-finals. Seeler scored the winner and he therefore had scored in three consecutive World Cups, a distinction only held by Pele at that time.

In the final.........la,la,la

PAUL MADELEY

Sometime ago I blogged about football films and last night I decided to watch "The Damned United" again (first seen on the big screen in 2009), having recorded it recently. There have been a number of terrific footy films and documentaries recently shown on the History Channel, in conjunction with the World Cup.

Here is my past blog:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/kicking-off.html

In The Damned United Michael Sheen played a brilliant Brian Clough. Timothy Spall was the loyal Peter Taylor, Stephen Graham was Billy Bremner...a suitably squat and red headed "Scot", who really didn't look as though he could kick a ball, but it sort of worked. Chris Moore played Paul Madeley, the wonderfully versatile, Leeds United player who played for England too. It was the "quiet man's" opinion that persuaded the Leeds Utd board to ease Clough from Elland Road.

I hope for coincidences daily that might spark a suitable subject for this blog and sure enough this morning I heard of the tragic death of Paul Madeley. I probably would have done more on "Damned" and Clough, but today Paul deserves a memorial.

Born in Beeston Leeds in 1944, started at Farsely Celtic and then played for Leeds in 727 (this varies from report to report) games between 1963-80 scoring 25 times. Paul earned 24 international caps, which could have been more but he declined the invite to join the squad in Mexico, deciding he wanted to recover from a busy season with his beloved Leeds. He also declined the England captaincy in 1975.

Don Revie described him as a "Rolls Royce", a class act whereas the Leeds crowds sung about the "Eleven Pauls"; he could play in any outfield position....and he did.

In his first season he played in the Second Division with Leeds but as a one club man he won two First Division titles (1969,1974) was runners-up five times, the FA Cup in 1972, the League Cup 1968, when he scored against Arsenal wearing the number 9 shirt. He also won two Inter-City Fairs Cups and was runners up in the European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup once each.

Jimmy Armfield as Leeds manager was negotiating a contract with Madeley, who just signed a blank piece of paper and said "fill it with what ever you like. I want to play for Leeds!"

After football, he ran a family DIY business in the city which he sold in 1987 for £27m. then suffered a benign brain tumour in 1992 from which he recovered, then had a mild heart attack in 2002 and then Parkinsons in 2004. He was 73.

GOING HOME

23rd July 1966, Sir Alf Ramsey prevents his players swapping shirts with the Argentinians, following England's World Cup quarter-final victory (1-0), calling them animals. The behaviour on the pitch by the Argentinian team and especially their captain Antonio Rattin was unacceptable; their antics in the corridors of Wembley after the match had to be seen to be believed; kicking, spitting and attempting to break down the door to the English dressing room.

Ken Aston, who was the FIFA referee assessor, watched the German ref Rudolph Krietlein struggle to impress his decisions on the game; mainly on the Argentinians. It was then that Aston, on his way home, realised that Krietlein, with poor language skills on both sides, needed some visual signs to make himself understood. Driving home, at a traffic lights, Aston saw the red, yellow and green colours. That was that- red cards and yellow cards were instigated. Hockey of course uses green also-that would be a good addition for the "first offence".

On my way home today I saw this across the old railway bridge at Penistone:
John Stones is a local lad.

Before I got home, I was at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and saw this "exhibit" by Giuseppe Penone. It reminded of a footballing moment:-


based on this moment at Stamford Bridge in 1954; photo by Tony Worrall-Sports photograph of the year 1954!
The sculpture is by Peter Hodgkinson, unveiled at Deepdale in July 2004.

HARRY MAGUIRE:A STANDARD-BEARER

Harry Maguire is a very good footballer because he also played rugby and hockey and ran cross country in his formative years. The disciplines of a multitude of sports improved his stamina, bravery, agility and vision; to name a few attributes.
Some claim that youngsters must specialise from an early age to get to the top and that every minute spent playing other sports could have been detrimental to his development of his footballing skills. Not everyone agrees.
Intense use of the same muscles and "parts of the brain" can cause debilitating injuries and lead to "burn out". There is only so much strain a youngster's body can endure and the brain and heart might lose interest with the relentless nature of practice and play in one sport.
A UK study covering 1,000 athletes found that those who played a variety of sports up to the age of 15 were advantaged over those who specialised.
After the age of 18, elite athletes choose their "major" and can then "catch up" on the training in their eventually chosen major sport; studies show that national team players have had less organised practice in their youth and specialised later.
Raphael Nadal played more football than tennis up to the age of 12. Djokovic names skiing as the reason why he is so flexible. Federer played badminton, football and basketball, all of which helped his hand-eye coordination.
Ibrahimovich was into taekwondo and won a black belt at 17, hence his agility in jumping and timing. There are many others!

Some claim that 10,000 hours of practice will turn you into an elite athlete. Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters may be cases in point......but how many youngsters tried that and failed becoming bored and physically and mentally damaged.
Sports' scientists state that the later a child specialises the more likely he is to succeed in their chosen sport.

Here is a three stage model from Jean Cote, a Canadian sports' scientist;

• try many sports up to the age of 12 (maybe variable depending on maturity)-it makes youngsters intuitive and independent thinkers.
• focus on a few sports until 15 years old
• specialise from 16.
• Academies like results and will try to specialise to achieve success.
• 
  

ALWAYS IN THE HUNT, MBE

It's his 80 birthday today.
Here is Roger Hunt, earlier, along with artist Paul Trevillion outside the National Museum of Football, Manchester, where Roger was inducted into into the National Football Walk of Fame. He played in every game during England's World Cup campaign in 1966, where his three goals (2 against France and one against Mexico) in the Group stage, set the country up for the rest of tournament.

Hunt made his England debut in 1962 under Walter Winterbottom and kept his place when Winterbottom "retired".

Winterbottom's successor was Alf Ramsey, whose ideal team involved runners and Hunt would "run his socks off" for his manager. Hunt won 32 caps, replacing Jimmy Greaves who was injured, between 1962-9 scoring 18 goals and only playing in one defeat. He scored on debut in April 1962 against Austria in a 3-1 win at Wembley.

Born in Glazebury Lancashire, Hunt played for Stockton Heath, Bury and Devizes Town before joining Liverpool.

"Sir" Roger of the Kop, as he is known,  made his debut for Liverpool in 1959 v Scunthorpe in Div 2, under manager, Phil Taylor, when Shankly took over the club, revitalised it, lifting his team from Division 2. Hunt then was top scorer for the club for the next 8 years. Liverpool gained promotion to Division One in 1962 when Hunt scored 41 goals in 42 matches. Liverpool then won First Division League titles in 1964, 1966 and an FA Cup win in 1965 scoring against Leeds.
He is credited with being the first goalscorer to feature on Match of the Day v Arsenal, in a 3-2 win on 22nd August 1964

After 492 games he scored 286 goals (most ever until overtaken by Ian Rush), finishing his career at Bolton (76 apps 24 goals). His testimonial at Anfield involved the 1965 FA Cup team and England's World winners. 50,000 turned up. Hunt was awarded the MBE in 2000 and was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in 2006. He has donated his World Cup medal, FA Cup medal and 1964 League medal.

One wonders why he never tapped the ball in when Geoff Hurst's "disputed goal" bounced down from the cross bar in the World Cup Final. Obviously Roger knew the ball was IN. Here he is!

https://vimeo.com/151903603
In 1972 Hunt retired joining the family haulage company and sat on the "Pools' Panel".

PORT VALE-WHERE IS IT?

Today in 1965, Stanley Matthews was appointed General manager of port Vale FC, joining manager Jackie Mudie, a Scottish colleague from their days at Blackpool. They both won FA Cup medals in the 1953 Cup Final.

Founded in 1876 the Valiants were an amateur side, named after the club's meeting place, Port Vale House, a suburb of Stoke on Trent. The suburb in Stoke was a port serving the Trent-Mersey canals.
In 1884 the club moved to Burslem and added that to front of their club name, playing in the Midland League.
In 1892 they were founder members of the Football League, but had a few financial moments, leaving the league in 1896 and in 1898 rejoined the Division Two.
Times were tough and they collapsed again in 1907 and played Central League games under the more straight forward name, Port Vale. They rejoined the Football League after the First World War, replacing Leeds City who had been thrown out of the league after financial irregularities. Port Vale took over Leeds' remaining fixtures and finished 13th in the division.

In 1950 the club moved to the present Vale Park, remembering that this is a league club playing without a geographical place name. Any others?
https://www.quora.com/Is-Arsenal-the-only-club-not-named-after-the-city-state-they-are-based-in

Freddie Steele's "Iron Curtain" team won the Third Division North title in 1953-4 and reached the FA Cup semi-final, a very successful season.

In 1965-8, Potters' hero Stanley Matthews took over as General manager after he decided finally to retire from playing. Since then Vale have been up and down, managed by Gordon Lee, John McGrath, John Rudge, Micky Adams to name a few, but do you know Bruno Ribeiro? He had a stab at bringing fame  and fortune to the Valiants, in season 2016-17, unfortunately signing 19 new players didn't work and by December 2016, Bruno "retired" with Michael Brown standing in. He couldn't save Vale from relegation and they ended up in League Two. The club has appointed 16 managers this century!! Dean Glover three times!!

John Rudge and Neil Aspin are at the helm this season. Roy Sproson was manager between 1974-7; he holds the record for most appearances for the club-842 between 1950-1972. It didn't work much!

SIR STANLEY ROUS

http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/happy-birthday-havelange.html is a previous Blog.

On this day in 1986, Sir Stanley Rous died at the ripe old age of 91. An amateur player in his youth, he took up refereeing in 1927 after breaking a wrist. His first international match was between Belgium and the Netherlands that year, one of 34 appearances. He was in charge of the 1934 FA Cup Final at Wembley between Manchester City and Portsmouth which City won 2-1.

He later developed the diagonal system for linesmen (or assistant referees as they like to be known) and rewrote the Laws in 1938. After the 2nd WW, he helped the "Home" nations join FIFA and was knighted for his services to Football and Sport in general, particularly the London Olympics in 1949. He took a stand on behalf of the South African Football Association during the anti-apartheid period, but was thwarted by popular votes in FIFA.

He became secretary of the FA, a member of UEFA and President of FIFA in 1961. His reign lasted through to 1974, included the hosting of the World Cup in England in 1966 and he also saw the development of Global TV coverage of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

The short lived Rous Cup was played for in England briefly in the ashes of the British Home Championship. The Rous Cup involved teams from England, Scotland and one on tour from South America; the Rous Stand at Watford was soon changed to remember Graham Taylor and Stanley gets a mention as a character in the song by Half man half biscuit, "Albert Hammond Bootleg". You may hear his name after about 54 seconds!
http://halfmanhalfbiscuit.uk/back-in-the-dhss/albert-hammond-bootleg/

Born in 1895 in Mutford, Eccles, Suffolk, he trained as a teacher and then served in WW1. After he went to St Luke's Teacher Training College, Exeter and taught at Watford Boys Grammar School.

THE EUROPA LEAGUE AND LIECHTENSTEIN

I would try to explain the qualification for the Europa league but it is far to complicated! Look at the film instead.
https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2562512.html?iv=true
This contains ten splendid goals from last season's Europa League matches.

This season's competition include Arsenal and Chelsea and then some favourites; Leverkusen, VILLAREAL (see yesterday), Anderlecht, Lazio, AC Milan, Real Betis, Marseille, Sporting and in total there are 48 clubs from the continent. In total there will be 213 clubs taking part in the competition.

One of those clubs will come from the Liechtenstein FA established only in 1934. There is a national team and a national cup but there are only 7 clubs with one reserve team, making 8.

This is not enough to justify a national league so they play in the Swiss League with FC Vaduz (capacity 7600) playing in the top division. Cup winners are guaranteed a place in the Europa League.
Other clubs are FC Balzers 2000, Esden/Maurer 2,000, Ruggell 500, Schaan 1500, Triesen 2100, Triesenberg 800 + Vaduz reserves.
(need a map?)

Women's football started in 1998 and a handful of clubs play in Switzerland. There are a few domestic clubs in the home league but there is not an international team. There is one qualified female referee in the country.
The first winner of the rebranded EL was Atletico Madrid who beat Fulham 2-1 in 2010.

WHERE IS VILLARREAL?

On the journey home we decided to drive through Sheffield, having been on the motorway for a few hours. Passing Hillsborough "we" noticed a pre-season friendly coming up against Villareal Club de Futbol SAD. We then had a very short guessing game, where is Villarreal? I suggested that the "real" might be a Spanish word (you know Real (Royal) Madrid), so we eventually got to Spain.

Well, I was nearly right. I said south-west Spain but of course there isn't really a south-west because Portugal gets in the way! It is in fact in Castellon Province, the south-east, in the Valencian Community and is known as the "Royal Village" after its foundation by King James I of Aragon. It has a population of nearly 52,000, half of whom could be sat in the Estadio de le Ceramica.

Founded in  March 1923 the club made the National Division in 1956 and the Top Division (La Liga) in 1998, meeting Real Madrid, the European champions, at the Bernabeu in the first match. The first home game was against Celta Vigo;
Their nickname is El Submari Groguet" or El Submarino Amarillo....yes the Yellow Submarine due to the team colours and their "low" profile.

Local rivals are CD Castellon and Valencia.
They won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2003 and 2004, La Liga runners-up 2007-8.

Here's a previous mention of the submariners!
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2016/12/never-mind-cowboys-where-arethe-indians.html

NEXT LOT GARETH

England would have struggled to compete with France and Croatia this afternoon in the Final of the World Cup. But maybe things are changing as our Youth teams have recorded success in recent history and on this day in July 2017, the U19s were crowned champions of Europe after beating Portugal in Georgia 2-1. Second half goals by Aston Villa's Easah Sulliman and Manchester City's Lucas Nmecha overtook  Portugal's lead  caused by Dujon Sterling's own goal. Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham was in the squad and he is presently close to being a full international. Check out who "has made it".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40619862

A month earlier the U20s won the World Championship in South Korea, beating Venezuela 2-1, the first major football victory since 1966. The team that played that day accounted for 12 Football League games in total! Have a look at the team list and see how many have been given the nod! Lookman, Onomah, Solanke ring bells?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/england/40244854

ps England won the Toulon Tournament also.

WOOSNAM v CHAPLIN

I think you would need to be a bit of an historian (or an anorak) to appreciate today's blog because it harks back to this day in 1965 when Max Woosnam died at the age of 72, born in 1893. He was born in Liverpool in 1892.

Max was a student at Winchester College and then Cambridge University where as a multi sportsman, he was a multi Blue at tennis, real tennis, football and cricket. He played for and captained England amateurs footballers three times in 1922. No big deal? well actually no, but the did also play for the Corinthians (including the famous tour of Brazil just before the First WW broke out) and Chelsea as an amateur before the First World War and afterwards he signed for Manchester City and appeared 96 times for them at centre-half as an amateur up to 1925, winning the Football League championship (in those days the top division) in 1920-1. There is an alley near the old Maine Road known as Max Woosnam Walk.

In tennis he partnered R.Lycett and won the Wimbledon grand slam doubles in 1921, having won Gold and Silver in the 1920 Olympics in both doubles. (he had to refuse the captaincy of the Soccer team because he was already playing tennis!) He completed a 147 break in snooker, made a century at Lords, and captained the British Davis Cup team.

A heavy smoker he eventually died of respiratory failure in 1965 but not before he beat Charlie Chaplin, having been invited to his home in California, at table tennis, Woosnam playing with a butter knife. They didn't get on!!

Mick Collins wrote his biography "All Round Genius"

13 JULY

On July 13th 1930 the first World Cup matches were played with France playing Mexico (and winning 4-1) at a humble stadium, Pocitos in Montevideo, used by the Club Penarol. 1,000 watched the game.

This was the dream of Henri Delaunay (secretary of the French FA, who gave up refereeing after swallowing his whistle and being hit in the face by the ball, breaking two teeth) and Jules Rimet (another member of the French FA), both of whom were on the FIFA committee.

The competition was alive at last and France appropriately kicked it off.
Henri.
July 13th of course is the eve of Bastille Day. What could go wrong?
Jules.

Alex Thepot the goalkeeper was kicked in the mouth and had to leave the field. Inside left (actually in those days a Number 10) Lucien Laurent of France scored the first ever World Cup goal after 19 minutes.
French captain on the day, Alex Villaplane, was to meet an unpleasant death in 1944 when he was executed by firing squad for collaborating with the Germans (in the war).

Isn't it usual for the host country to kick off the tournament? Well this is Uruguay and the stadium in Montevideo, The Estadio Centenario, built to celebrate 100 years of independence from Brazil, was not ready.

Mexicans Manuel and Felipe Rosas were the first brothers to play in the World Cup.

The USA beat Belgium 3-0 at the same time. the games kicked off at the same time. In the USA side were six players from Scotland (mainly), some of whom had sen better days. The French were quick to nickname them the "Shot-putters"but they surprised their critics with a comfortable win against a moderate Belgian team. They then beat Paraguay 3-0 and lost to Argentina 6-1 in the semi-finals which 80,000 watched at the Centenary Stadium.

Pedro Ces of Uruguay was the first player to score a goal in both the Olympic tournament and the World Cup, having scored in Paris in 1924.

In this year, only three players played league football outside their home country.

12

On July 12th 1966 in Group 2 of the World Cup, West Germany beat Switzerland 5-0 at Hillsborough in front of 36,000. Two of the Swiss team were dropped from the side having broken a "curfew", staying out in the night life of the Steel City!
Brazil beat Bulgaria 2-0 despite Pele being kick from pillar to post by the opposition defender Zhechev. Pele got his own back by scoring the first goal of the tournament from a swerving free kick and he thus became the first man to score a goal in three consecutive WC Finals. Pele did not play in the next match following his injuries-Brazil retired early.

July 12th 1974 was when Bill Shankly retired from his managership at Liverpool, announcing that he was finding the job too much pressure. Ray Kennedy was signed by Liverpool from Arsenal for £180,000 and might have helped Shanks relax a bit?

2018: Trippier wore the 12 shirt yesterday for England and scored a wonderful goal.
It was the 12th goal goal scored for England in this World Cup.
It was Trippier's 12th cap,
and the first goal scored by a number 12 at this World Cup and
the first goal ever scored by a number 12 for England in any World Cup and 12 goals were scored by Tottenham players at the World Cup.

THE VATRENI=BLAZERS-NOT WAISTCOATS

Croatia v Switzerland 1940
The Vatreni (Blazers) of Croatia. Previously Croat players were affiliated to Yugoslavia.
The first official match for the national team was against Switzerland in 1940 with a 4-0 victory. As modern Croatia, their first game was against the USA in October 1990 when they appeared in their new chequer board shirts and won 2-1. They are ranked 20th in FIFA.
The Sahovnica (chequer board) team played the following opponents to qualify for Russia;
Kosovo, Turkey, Finland, Ukraine and Greece.
In Russia they have beaten Nigeria, Argentina, Iceland in the group P3 W3 F7 A1, then Denmark (1-1 pens 3-2) and Russia (2-2 Pens 4-3) on their way to the semi-final.

England meet Croatia in Rijeka next on the 12th October in the UEFA Nations League.

There is a 1800MW (=120 mill fridge doors being opened) electric surge expected by the "national grid" this evening. So don't switch on the television and open the fridge door at the same time please.

4th July 1990: England lose in S-F to West Germany; end up in 4th place (lose to Italy)
1990?? England Female Prime Minister....issues over European Union policy.
Heatwave and fires in the Peak District.
Royal birth-Eugenie
April Earthquake in Bishop's Castle, Shropshire in Britain (this year epicentre East Riding)
Rolling Stones on tour
India are main cricket tourists
(Joe Root to make a triple 100 (Graham Gooch (note two Os) at Lords next month??)

BATTERSEA PARK

I was at a "do" in Battersea Park on Sunday; you know, drinks on arrival, a couple of speeches, delicious wine and then a delicious meal under a smallish marquee. Old friends and colleagues with family of the hosts, including a number of useful footballers from the old school, who told of news of their lives since playing school football. They reminded me that the Old Carthusians "trained" in preparation for their Arthurian League matches in Battersea Park.
I used to travel weekly from Godalming to London during the season to run a session for anyone who turned up. usually there was a practical number waiting for me especially before a "big" game and on one occasion one lad turned up during bad weather. We went to the pub.

Battersea Park has held a number of historic football matches in its time. It is after all a " green lung" for London and a 200 acre facility designed to give Londoners a rural space since 1858. It is made from reclaimed marshland on the banks of the Thames and also used for market gardening providing food for the city.

On January 9th 1864 the new "Laws" of Association Football were "trialed" in Battersea Park between a team formed by the FA president Arthur Pember, a journalist, the man with a moustache!!! Arthur formed a club called No Names of Kilburn, (the No Names is a reference to his work in investment where clients were known as "Names"). NN Kilburn played together until the 1870s.

His team of well known footballers of the era played against Ebenezer Cobb Morley's XI (below), the secretary of the FA, who also brought prominent footballers of the day to play for him.

Later, The Wanderers, a club formed mainly by old boys of Forest School in Snaresbrook, E17, who had won the FA Cup in 1872 played the oldest club in the World, Sheffield FC in an exhibition game, once again showing off the new rules.

Ironically, The Wanderers hockey club play on the Battersea astro pitch these days.

ALAN GILZEAN

Bombarded by World Cup news, it was with some sadness that midst all the hype from Russia, rescues in Thailand and resignations by Brexit politicians, I heard about the death of Alan Gilzean at 79 years old.

Gilzean, who I always thought looked a bit like a vicar, was part of Spurs' 1960s team, post Double! The Spurs were described then as a "swaggering" side with Jimmy Greaves, who was added to the famous Spurs squad alongside Gilzean whose elegant style of play complimented Greaves' fox in the box.

Alan was warned off transfering to Italy (Torino) by Denis Law, who found his exchange tough. Gilzean was with Spurs during the 1967 FA Cup win, the League Cup wins of 1971 and 1973 and the UEFA Cup Final in 1972 v Wolves in an all England Final. In 1973-4 he was also with Spurs when they lost to Feyenoord in another UEFA Cup Final played in Rotterdam.

In his Scottish youth he played for Coupar Angus Juniors and Dundee Violet Youth from 1957 and in 1959 went on loan south of the border, to Aldershot Town FC.

He eventually signed for Dundee, he scored 169 goals in 190 appearances and won 22 caps for Scotland with 12 goals. He helped Dundee win the Scottish League in 1961-2 and his team reached the European Cup semi-final the following season. Dundee then played Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final in 1964 losing 3-1.

Gilzean then scored 93 goals for Spurs in 343 games between 1964-74 and was on Highlands Park in South Africa briefly before "managing" Stevenage Borough in 1975 for a season.

In 2009 he was elected to the Scottish Hall of Fame. Ian Gilzean, his son, played professional football, mainly in Ireland and Scotland, playing in UEFA Champions League at his highest point.

Alan Gilzean died from a brain tumour.

PICK OF THE BUNCH

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=Jordan+Pickford&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt

It had to be Jordan Pickford, England's man of the match today. I pointed him out yesterday for his antics against Colombia and now for me, he has kept England in the World Cup.

You can see these antics (above) at your leisure but at 2-0 up against the Swedes, a goal against us could have caused a crumble. In the past that might have happened, maybe not so these days under Gareth.

Jordan has been one of those rags to riches footballers, a number of whom are in the England squad. Ali, Harry Kane and Vardy of course come to mind.

Pickford was born in March 1994 in Washington, Northumberland. He spent his early days in the Sunderland Academy, played in their reserves and a bit for the 1st team. He went out on loan to Darlington from 2011, Alfreton Town, Burton Albion, Carlisle Utd, Bradford City (33 apps) and Preston NE (24 apps). In 2017, at last, he signed for Everton FC for £25m and has played 38 games for them. Somebody in their scouting network needs a pat on the back OR maybe why wasn't he discovered earlier and cheaper?

International caps came along, with the national U16s through to the U21s, at every age group. He became the most expensive British goalkeeper of all time with his transfer to Everton and the third most expensive in history behind Buffon (Parma-Juve) and Ederson (Benfica-Man City). He became an England full cap in World Cup qualifying for 2018.
As a youngster. Good lad, safe hands, nice chap.

Th, Th, THIRTEEN; LUCKY FOR SOME

Waiting for the big game of the day (July 7th), as the papers compare the two nations; their culture, failings and strengths. I have been lucky enough to visit Sweden annually with school football teams to take part in the GOTHIA CUP in Gothenburg. This is one of the great Youth Tournaments, with hundreds of teams ranging from "elite" professionals through to local club U9s, boys and girls taking part from all over the world.
If you run a team, have a look at this tournament; it is definitely worth taking part. So I know all about the Swedes!!  The land of the midnight sun, roll mops, very expensive beers, food, accommodation etc etc

Read "The Almost Nearly Perfect People" by Michael Booth, the truth about the Nordic Miracle. This will not celebrate Pickford's antics but it will give you a very nice lesson on what it is like to live in Scandinavia.

But now,  let's celebrate Jordan Pickford's great save against Colombia. I wonder if their players recognise the importance of this event in the game and do not continue to whinge on about their bad luck.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/world-cup-2018/6693042/england-jordan-pickford-save-of-tournament/

Meanwhile back in England, Wimbledon is on and outside a private house near Centre Court, there is a big screen TV

A great friend of mine who arranged our visits to Gothenburg, Jim Hackett, is having a day out at Sandown Race Course in Corals Guest Suite; he says there is a big screen BUT Jim there are races at 3.20 and 3.55!!

Just getting excited about the omen of the song "It's coming home" which has 13 letters in the title.
All the quarter-final teams had either 6 or 7 letters in their name.
The games are being played on either July 6th or 7th.
It is England's first WC quarter-final for 12 years (so by adding one, you get 13).

SWEDES v TURNIPS?

This is a first. I am lounging in the boot of my trusty Kadjar, waiting in line for the Irish Ferries voyage to Holyhead from Dublin. I have spent several days drooling over charming local football clubs in the Republic of Ireland and also glimpsing at many Gaelic Football Grounds, seemingly one in every small town, sometimes even in a village.

I gave you the story of Gaelic Football briefly yesterday and mentioned Michael Cussack; a very influential man. So this afternoon, since the ferry does not leave till nearly 9pm and it is barely 6pm now, I have managed to pass a bit of time typing this lot so far!

England play Sweden soon and we would all like to think that this is going to be a relatively easy path to the semis, think again. Sweden joined the World Cup in 1934, long before  the England FA decided to go to the party. The finals were hosted by Italy and Uruguay the holders did not fancy a long trip to Europe. This is the only time that the holders have not tried to defend the trophy. Mind you not many European countries contested the 1930 tournament, so tit for tat and na na nya na.

There was some "pre-qualification" for the first time and this included hosts Italy making a gesture by playing Greece which the the Azurri won; not sure what would have happened if Italy had lost and Mussolini did not have the chance to show off his Fascism. Another "qualification" was between the USA and Mexico, sort of representing the Americas, the match played in Rome. Mexico lost and were fed up having travelled all that way across the Atlantic. In the end there were 16 countries making this a straight forward knock out. On May 27th all last 16 matches were played at the same time and by the end Brazil, Argentina and the USA were packing their bags. The other quarter-final teams came from Europe. Italy unsurpringly beat Czechoslovakia in the final 2-1.
Egypt turned up, the first African country to get that far. They played the great Hungarians and lost 4-2 having been 0-2 down and then getting back to 2-2. They next played 56 years later, coincidentally when Italy were hosts again. Egypt then qualified again in 2018 in Russia, when Italy failed to get through to the finals.

Sweden of course hosted the finals in 1958, following on from Switzerland and you know they played each recently in the latest finals. Sweden went on to reach the final losing to Brazil and Pele, 5-2. An extraordinary achievement.
All four home nations qualified, the first and only time this had happened, The British teams were considered strong so were allocated their own Draw Pot for seeding purposes and England eventually lost to debutants Russia. In a group game England drew 0-0 with Brazil, their first goaless draw in 109 World Cup matches. The excuse was that their squad had been affected by the Munich air disaster that took Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards out of contention and Bobby Charlton sadly was not fit to play.
Wales and Northern Ireland beat Hungary and the Czechs respectively, having a reasonable tournament. Another United player involved in the air crash was Harry Gregg who had a very influential tournament in goal for the Irish.

Just Fontaine of France scored 13 goals and holds the record for most goals scored in the finals. Watch this!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ibbmjIqLss

KILMURRY IBRICKANE

Dating back to 1875, a game known as "rough and tumble" was played between Kilmurry and local villages. Kilmurry is in the Province of Munster, County Clare.

In 1884 Michael Cussack established the Gaelic Athletic Association in a local hotel and quickly clubs joined, so by 1887 the game was "codified".

By the 1890s Kilmurry was playing matches against local militia and villages and was beginning to to be a force in the association. All this of course was Gaelic Football, played by their local rules and something that has been spread around the world; as seen closely in Aussie Rules and not so obviously these days in rugby (or of course soccer).

In 1994 at what is now the Pairc Naomh Mhuire (no translations allowed), an 11 acre site, in Kilrush Road, Quilty, was purchased and became the home of the Kilmurry Ibrickane GAA. Since then it has been one of the top Gaelic Football Clubs in County Clare and occasionally beyond. The club has been Munster Champions twice in their history and Western County Clare champions also. Local lad, Marty Morrissey would probably not mean much to you, but he is the John Motson of Gaelic Football, an ex player, coach and commentator on behalf of RTE, the Eire TV station.

He was named "County Clare" person of the year in 2014 and is well known for some amusing asides in his delivery-one in 2012 at the Olympics Ladies beach volleyball, which might not be repeated here, but did bring much mirth!

I deliver this blog on behalf of the Kilmurry folk, whom I met at their ground this morning as I was on my way to the Cliffs of Moher, a World wide known coastal attraction. If you haven't been, put it on your bucket list. Like the cliffs, the Footy club is well established and attracts all ages. Like my local soccer club at Hepworth, the Kilmurry club serves the community and runs with a small band of volunteers. Long may is reign.

If you don't know much about Gaelic Football have a look at this link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_football

LOS CAFETEROS

If you need a cup of coffee after that penalty shoot-out, then there is a chance that the coffee has come from Colombia.; if not go buy some just to help their economy. I have been watching the game in a very smart b&b near Macroom in Ireland and fighting off a Spanish teenager who is over here for an exchange experience wanting to chat English and two little girls who were trying to play snooker in the bar area. I was put through the wringer by them, but in the end Gareth's boys prevailed. So they should.

Colombia's team lies 16th in FIFA's list, a national federation founded in 1924, joining FIFA in 1936. They stated that the football team should be a "sign of national pride, nationalism and passion". Well they certainly showed that enthusiasm surrounding the referee at every opportunity and finally failing at the last minute. All credit to them for giving it a go..but it wasn't enough; the ref was poor.

Los Cafeteros, as they are known, fly home to South America and will wait another year or so to qualify for the next World Stage event.

We remember Rene Higuita, El Loco, their crazy goalkeeper 
who performed the famous scorpion kick in 1995 at Wembley in a friendly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-flTPSSvCw

and Andres Escobar who lost his life to an assassination for scoring an own goal in a crucial match in a 1994 WCup match against the USA, when he deflected a shot from John Harkes, making it a 1-2 defeat.
After a night out, Escobar was cornered in a car park on July 1st and shot six times by a killer who shouted out "Gol!" after every shot...mimicking the TV commentator who was reporting the match. Humberto Munzo was found guilty of the murder. He was a hit man for a drug cartel whose top man had lost a lot of money gambled on the game.
Needless to say, Escobar's family set up a trust to raise money to help poor young Colombians enjoy football.
Two days later Alan Hansen commentated in a match that an Argentina defender in  match against Romania "needed shooting"...the BBC apologised.

And let's not forget Carlos Valderrama, the county's most capped player; 111 caps-11 goals.

GREAT GRANNY WEBSTER

"OK"........yes the Magazine paid for the rights to the Beckham wedding which took place on July 4th 1999 (sorry a few days too early). David married Posh Spice Victoria Adams at Luttrellstown Castle, Dublin, administered by the Bishop of Cork. Gary Neville was the Best Man and it cost upwards of £1/2m and "OK" probably paid for most of that!
A 15th Century pile it has been own originally by the  Luttrell family (who also had a hand in the Surrey based Painshill Park as well as other land) and lastly by the Guinness family who bought the estate in 1927 for the family and especially his daughter, Aileen, as a wedding present!
She married a cousin, Brinsley Plunket and then entertained on a huge scale including hunt balls and society events. Her niece, Lady Caroline Blackwood, wrote a book based on her experiences there and called the book "Great Granny Webster",. (you don't know how much of a coincidence this is to my family-Mrs B's Granny was indeed a great Granny Webster).

I got excited by this because I am in Dublin at the moment hoping to watch Cork City v Portsmouth in a pre-season friendly...some hope.

Needless to say the Castle is now a Steel and MacKenzie style golf course of some standing, including an Alpine style clubhouse.
Any readers played there?

BBC ALBA AND THE "THIRD" PROGRAMME

Here are the 1904 Glasgow Cup Winners.
If you happen to get onto those odd channels on TV that you really have no reason to watch you might come across BBC Alba (first shown in 27th Jan 2017). With commentary in Gaelic and English subtitles, I watched the history of Third Lanark FC, the now defunct Scottish League club; the film 50 years on from the club's demise.
Here's a clip
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=gdtGyf58TWtvutPCUp8kXY5RirhTAV1Fu53mE5mJhi-zLSuW4hZcp4NNzGgXYqH0f1dBofcDivoyTs0akOMmEXKWqR9bHlo4ti_xEsJPtbc69kpONBGDghsOrkegAWTU5cHfiBNUuj63OVdb72ittJTon1xDX39AuAkdAuw5K6fSpSkyRxnIUalzLzyQ1C2sgfCgHHeVVGa1EpCKTxiCvlmoDFfO6NyRWMuHIxySbIH4R2dnhz7FaxmwZGgPypnTnpUUicw3F9SPrH6P08dn6Efybc7VgehS6x6vFbtryXFId_VgfWyKGbvP0mZvHT6REjte5TphcfeB4SXMa-RMkg&si=CJeTnrb1k7ECFZMctAodh14dkA&ss=sub&st=sb&tpr=sbt
In its prime the club was known as the Thirds, Redcoats, Warriors and sometimes "The Hi Hi" after the crowd chant made when there was a high volley in "av'it" fashion during a game.

Third Lanark Athletic Club was founded in 1872, inspired by the first Scotland v England international match, as the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers and they joined the Scottish Football League in 1890. The "Thirds" were successful in the early 20th C with League wins 1903-4, Cup 1889 and 1905 and the Glasgow Cup in 1903/04/09/63.

So stable was the club that it toured and ventured into Buenos Aires (played against an Argentina National XI on June 24th 1923) and Montevideo. The photo shows the two teams in Zona Norta before the friendly.

I think a number of "us" will remember Third Lanark being read out during the football results on a Saturday afternoon!
The club went out of business on June 26th 1967, after a number of financial issues created partly by poor crowds...in 1960-1 555,489 people watched the Thirds during the season (after their last match they scored enough goals against Hibernians to reach 100 goals for the season) and they qualified to play in the European competition-The Anglo-Franco-Scottish Friendship Cup. In 1963 TL won the Glasgow Senior Cup beating Celtic 2-1 at Hampden Park, this was their final major trophy and after that there was a gradual decline to the Second Division in 1965-6 and on 28th April 1967 the attendance was 581 v Dumbarton in a 1-5 defeat.

A few years later, in 1966-7, only a tenth of that crowd number turned out as the club lost its popularity and there was also financial mismanagement! It folded.
The club reformed in 1996 joining the Greater Glasgow Amateur League.

Notable managers include George Young a famous Scottish international captain (54 caps), Bobby Evans who played for Celtic and Scotland (48 caps) and Bob Shankly-yes, brother of Bill born like his famous brother in the small Scottish village of Glenbuck and who barely played in higher level football. (did you know he once played for Tunbridge wells FC?)