A PENSIONER AND A LION

30th September 1961 Tommy Docherty took over the manager's job at Chelsea FC from the legendary Ted Drake, who had been part and parcel of the club from the 1930s.
Ted, in his playing career, won two League titles and an FA Cup with Arsenal, being top scorer twice, once with 42 goals in a season, a goal in the 1936 FA Cup win and seven in one game v Aston Villa.

The FA Cup win in 1936 was over second division Sheffield United and it was Arsenal's sixth league or cup victory in seven years from 1930-38 (and an FA Cup Final defeat in 1932).

The 1936 Cup Final involved a dispute between the newsreel companies and Wembley led to a ban on any film cameramen inside the stadium. Aerial photos were taken but not by flying over the pitch. The only film of the final was an "unofficial one"!

The Chelsea badge when Drake took over in 1952 was a "cartoon" character of a Chelsea pensioner; old soldiers who lived at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The team was known therefore as the "pensioners" and it was up to Drake to change the image. So he did. He changed the nickname to "The Blues" (inspirational) and the badge included a "Rampant Lion". He also modernised the club and took them to their First Division title in 1954-5.
The Lion came from the arms of Earl Cadogan, Viscount Chelsea, the club's president and landowner.

The Chelsea badge has changed four times in history with the latest being the Lion Rampant (meaning rearing up) Regardant (that is looking over his shoulder).

Other clubs including lions are Millwall, Dundee United, Middlesbrough Aston Villa, Accrington Stanley, Cowdenbeath, Crewe Alexandra, Raith Rovers, Livingston, Queen's Park, Sunderland. Any others?
Geoff Hurst and Bobby Gould brought a Chelsea XI to Charterhouse during their reign (1979-81) and played a nice match against our "School XI" which included masters, boys and Old Carthusians. Note the balls and roses.

WOMBLES AT THE WANDLE

The old Plough Lane was a challenging place to play. I played there in what was known as the London Floodlight League, a mid-week competition that would pit clubs in the London area with floodlights and from a variety leagues, into relatively serious combat. It was a good excuse for managers to play reserves or have a look at members of the club's youth team.

The Plough Lane pitch was originally described as "swampland" and was drained and made playable in September 1912. Around 500 spectators could safely get into the ground at that time and the first match played there was against local rivals Carshalton Athletic. It resulted in a draw.

Wimbledon FC played there until May 1991 and then went into a groundshare with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The old ground went for sale to Safeway in 2001 and then was sold for housing development, creating 570 flats with blocks named after Wimbledon's "heroes"; Batsford, Bassett, Cork, Lawrie, Reed and Stannard. (no Vinnie?) The whole complex was named Reynolds Gate after a past player, Eddie Reynolds.

AFC Wimbledon, a reincarnation in 2002, has been playing in Kingston-u-Thames at Kingsmeadow, ground sharing with Kingstonian FC and Chelsea Ladies. I shall not pursue the club's history to Milton Keynes etc, so you can look that up if you need to. It really is worth researching as the club made 6 promotions in 13 seasons from "county" standard to their present perch in League One.

The new Plough Lane has been under construction since 2018, aiming for an 11,000 capacity as the "Wombles" return to their "spiritual home", rebuilding on the site of the famous Greyhound Stadium, virtually next door. Granted permission in 2015 to get on with the project, Merton Council and Galliard homes accepted a joint bid with a community focus in what is known as a "Call for sites" scheme.

There will be space for 602 residences, shops and various community schemes, such as a fitness centre and squash courts. Inevitably there have been delays but the target is 2019-20 and with a fair wind AFC Wimbledon as the club is now called will be playing 200 yards from their old ground on the banks of the River Wandle. Smart eh?

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/sport/wimbledon-stadium-plough-lane-images-14034398
Here is a series of classic Crazy Gang images and a short video about the development of the club....warning there may be an odd photo that might upset you!
In the corner of their "museum" will hopefully still be a plaque marking the anniversary match played between Wimbledon FC and A Charterhouse XI. The celebration was to mark the fact that Wimbledon became only the second club to win both the FA Amateur Cup (1963) and the FA Cup (1988). The only other club to achieve that is the Old Carthusians (Amateur 1894 and 1897) and (FA Cup 1881).

GAINING AN ADVANTAGE

Maradona? Don't like him because, well for obvious reasons, "Hand of God" and all that cheating thing. But football is all about gaining a minor advantage when you can. That's what often he did. If he had been found out when that goal went in against England, what would be the punishment? No goal and a booking? Was it worth the risk? Of course.

Here is the little man warming up for Napoli, something that is very important to footballers of any age.....how well do you match this when you prepare to gain an advantage over your opposition? Or to stand out in your own team, or to make your parents pleased? or to impress a scout who might be standing on your touch line?!!
Remember he sets some bad examples....laces undone, uses his left foot most of the time (but then if your good enough on one foot what the heck?! Is he linking with other players in his team-not for these few minutes...the others seem to be doing their own thing too. Is he playing to the crowd (and the music)?The attached script describes a lot. 
http://boxtoboxfootball.uk/breaking-greatest-warm-time-courtesy-diego-maradona/
Remember, it's a short life as a footballer!

TERRY MEDWIN

It was Terence Cameron Medwin's birthday yesterday, he was born in 1932. Another oldie you might say, but Terry Medwin was very much part of the Tottenham team that did the Double in 1960-1 (although not selected for the final) and won the FA Cup again in 1962 beating Burnley 3-1. He was a free running winger who shared the flanks with Cliff Jones, another Welshman.

Medwin made his debut in 1951-2 for Swansea having joined the club in 1949. By the time he left for Spurs for a fee of £25,000 in 1956 he had played 148 games and scored 60 goals.

At Spurs he played until 1963 when he broke his leg and that was that. At Tottenham he appeared 197 times and scored 65 goals in the club's most successful period.
https://www.swanseacity.com/news/swans-and-dragons-terry-medwin
During that time Terry played for Wales, again until 1963, being part of the Welsh squad that made it to the 1958 World Cup quarter-finals in Sweden. he was the last Welsh footballer to score a goal in a major tournament finals until Gareth Bale did so in the UEFA Euro 2016.

After Spurs he managed Cheshunt and helped coach at Fulham and then assisted John Toshack at Swansea, completing "the circle".

THE HOT CHESTNUT MAN

Well thanks to Craig who has nudged me into answering the question about the identification of Johnny Morris, who is not the hot chestnut man.....!! The footballer (and others) got a mention in my blog "Autumn Changes" which told a sorry tale of England losing to the ROI 0-2.

Craig will be too young to know what that's all about. Johnny Morris was named in the England team that lost to the Republic of Ireland on September 21st 1949, the first defeat for England in an international at home. I was sort of making the point that I didn't know some of the players picked, which might explain the defeat?
This is the hot chestnut man who told stories on BBC childrens' TV. He also hosted a Zoo programme.

Well, perhaps I should know about Johnny? Born near Manchester, he made his debut for United in 1946 and went on to Derby County and Leicester City in his career. Turning professional in 1941, he had been at Bolton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic, Wrexham and Everton as a "casual" during the war. He played in the 1948 FA Cup Final beating Stanley Matthews' Blackpool 4-2 and earned three caps, including the infamous defeat by the ROI, his debut. He lasted two more games for England.

Another unknown, Bert Mozley played for Derby County and appeared 297 times for the Rams between 1945-55, scoring 2 goals. He was a full back. Born on the 23rd September 1923, he is still alive and migrated to Canada.

Jess Pye (below) was a coal miner who signed for Notts County, but before he played a game, he was transferred to Wolves under the legendry Frank Buckley, the first football manager to become known for his use of statistics and strategy. On 31st August 1946 he scored a hat trick on his debut against Arsenal, not a bad return!
Stan Cullis took the Wolves to the 1949 FA Cup Final, which Wolves won 3-1 with Pye scoring two against Leicester City. In his down time, Pye went to Wisbech Town, coached and managed and then took a hotel in Blackpool in 1968. Pye played in the fateful ROI international, his one and only cap.

The final "unknown" (actually it shouldn't have been) was John Aston Senior, who started with Manchester United in 1946 and played 284 times scoring  30 goals. He won 17 England caps and also played in the 1948 Cup Final.

His son John Aston Jnr played for United between 1965-72 and was the star in United's European Cup victory over Benfica at Wembley in 1968. John Junior's son, Mark, played for the Independent Schools' FA and later taught in Manchester and helped coach in the Independent Schools' FA squad.  WATCH THIS SERIES OF CLIPS FROM THE 1968 FINAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtthI8WAX14

ITS ALL IN THE BADGE

If all else fails turn to the wonderful book "The Beautiful Badge" and have a search for an appropriate club badge to write about. I was going to do Chas and Dave, but rather than invade your musical bubble, why not look choose your own!
Instead,  here are some copies of the Huddersfield Town AFC badge, now based on the Town coat of arms.
This is the latest version...spot the dog.

Early doors, the club debated much over the shirt colour (and therefore the badge). Salmon pink was muted, all white and then thankfully blue and white. The Town badge is based on the Town Corporation Coat of arms and was first introduced in 1920. The Yorkshire Rose appears and so does Castle Hill a tower overlooking the town.


In 1969 "Skippy", a Yorkshire Terrier, was chosen as a club mascot, a pet that represents fighting spirit and aggression. The nickname of the club became "TheTerriers".
Present manager, David Wagner, likes the image. The dog belonged to local fan Colin Fisher, who owned a sweet shop on Honley bridge, a settlement between me and Town. I pass the "bridge" on my way to the ground. The dog may be found in the club shop and appears on many photographs. It also sits on on a ball at the top of the badge. Needless to say there are two terrier mascots, dog and bitch!

Juvat Impigros Deus: God helps the diligent (industrious)
In 2000 the badge went circular and modern but soon returned to the coat of arms style and the club name was reduced to Huddersfield Town, removing "AFC".
Here's a little more info...including a RED terrier.
https://thefootballcrestindex.com/blogs/premier-league-clubs/huddersfield-town-afc

££££s UP FOR THE CUP

While I was watching a splendid League Two match between Cambridge United and Mansfield Town, a former colleague, an organist was watching a local non-league match in deepest Suffolk and whilst wind surfing is his "major", I think he may have found another diversion. Best of luck Blatchers!
What he might have considered was finding an FA Cup Second Qualifying Round tie. The draw is made regionally at this early stage, so while ex-league club Workington Town travelled to Knaresborough Town and won 4-1, St Neots Town were beating Romulus 4-3 (Midland League cup from Castle Vale, Birmingham) Pro Certo Habeo- I am sure!

The losers benefited by having a good time and adding around £12,000 to their coffers for winning three previous ties. The winners march on to the Third Qualifying Round with a similar victory pot plus £9,000.

The Extra Preliminary Round had 184 starters winners earning £2250 and even the losers get £750...thanks to Emirates.

The Prelim Round totalled 160 teams, the 1st Qualifying Rd 116 teams and the second qualifying round 80. It's almost First Round proper time! £36,000 and 40 clubs trying to make money.

I have just mentioned an old Football League club, Workington Town and have found the following ex-League clubs who were hoping for some success in the cup filling of their coffers:
Boston United left FL 2007 lost to Peterborough Sports.
Chester 2009 beat the City of Liverpool.
Darlington lost 0-1 to Bradford Park Avenue 1970.
Southport 1978 beat Farsley Celtic 3-0.
Hereford 2012 (renamed) drew 0-0 with Truro City.
Kidderminster Harriers 2015 beat Atherstone Town 5-0.
On the south coast Torquay Utd 2014 whipped Lymington Town 7-0.
South Shields lost 1-2 to Stockport County 2011.
York City 2016 beat Ashton Athletic 5-0.

Do you know any others?

Us v Them

The Us v The Stags today while I am in the city, some college pals are going to see a League Two match between Cambridge United and Mansfield Town. A Cambridge football team existed in 1909 and became Abbey United in 1912 named after the local district. They turned professional as late as 1949 and then was named Cambridge United in 1951.
Playing in the Eastern Counties League and then the Southern League, United joined the Football League in 1970 replacing the doomed Bradford Park Avenue. They quickly won promotion to Division Three but then went straight back down again. In 2005 they slipped into the Conference and spent nine seasons there getting back to the FL in 2014. In their 39 seasons in the FL they have played in the Championship (as it is now) for 8 seasons, League 1, 9 times and League 2, 22.
The best period for them came when the Us played in the FA Cup Quarter-finals twice and the Football league Cup quarters between 1978-84 and 1991-3.
Their highest league position was 5th in the "Championship" in 1991-2 when they failed to win promotion to the newly formed Premier League. John Beck with his "direct" form of play was largely responsible for this success.

In 1930-1 the club played matches at Parker's Piece, on the edge of the city, historically where the Cambridge Rules of Football were first devised and tried out by students and the like. These contributed to the official FA Laws eventually.
Wilf Mannion (you know him surely) is the only Us player to be inducted in the Football Hall of Fame.Ron Atkinson took charge of the team between 1974-8 and the present Head Coach is Joe Dunne, an Irishman with one ROI U21 cap, who has, let us say, been round the block in East Anglia!

AUTUMN CHANGES

September 21st 1949 saw England lose 0-2 to the Republic of Ireland at Goodison Park. England's first defeat at home to an international team. There are a few names in the XI who do not ring a bell...Mozley, Aston, Morris, Pye? Anyone know them? Over 51,000 saw this.
On the Ireland theme, in 1983, Northern Ireland's famous goalkeeper Pat Jennings became the first of his country to reach 100 caps when he played against Austria in a European Qualifier in Belfast. Jennings played 119 in total, 591 games for clubs including Shamrock Rovers and Newry Town as a Youth, then with Watford, Tottenham twice, Arsenal and Everton. He scored for Spurs in the 1967 FA Charity Shield direct from a punt over Alex Stepney of Manchester United. The game ended 3-3. Look for the goal...not very clear, but Bobby Charlton's shots are worth a few moments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZaqnDMX5As
He won the Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1973 and the Professional Football Association award in 1976.

In 1985 on this day Charlton Athletic beat Stoke 2-0 in front of 8,858 people, the last match to be held at their famous Valley, a move forced by financial issues. The club went on a share scheme for a while. in December 1992 the club moved back to The Valley, beating Portmouth 1-0 in the first game. Since then there has been development catering for a crowd of around 27,000.
The Addicks were founded in 1905, playing in the Southern League initially and first played at The Valley in September 1919 until 1923 moving to the Catford Mount Stadium. They club returned in 1924 and in 1938 over 75,000 watched theM play an FA Cup tie v Aston Villa.

CAPTAIN BLADE

Having received a social message from a sister in law and husband in Australia, I was drawn towards the attached photo that showed an Australian pirate in full flow. The pirate is the bloke at the back!

This had to be too much of a coincidence to ignore because I was at Bramall Lane last night watching The Blades play Birmingham City. It was a 0-0 draw, slightly exciting, why wouldn't it be? with Billy Sharp brought on by Chris Wilder, albeit too late in the game to make a difference and ex-Independent School footballer Ollie Norwood starting in the home side spraying passes like a quarter-back. 
Billy is a legend of course and Ollie, well he played for St Bede's School, Hailsham against Charterhouse, back in a day and was a star in the ISFA U18 XI.

So where am I going with this, well Captain Blade, the Blades' mascot, was on show, causing havoc around the pitch. If you haven't noticed, the link is "Pirates". 

Captain Blades' home turf was in terrific condition by the way. So Bramall Lane:
-hosted Yorkshire CCC between 1855 (first match v Sussex in August)
-on 29th December 1862 Sheffield FC played Hallam FC, both clubs very important in the history of the game,
-in March 1867 the Youdan Cup, the oldest competitive cup tie was played here between Hallam and Norfolk,
-on 2nd December 1872, the Sheffield FA match v the London FA was played (hoping to settle Association Laws for good since both FAs played to different rules early on),

-1893, and Wednesday CC soon to become a football club,

-the first official floodlit match 1878, 
-their city rivals Sheffield Wednesday in their early days, 
-Sheffield FC's early games,
-an English Cricket test match v Australia in 1902 
-an FA Cup Final replay in 1912 
-several Cup semi-finals. I could go on.

To cap all this, I am going to watch Cambridge United play Mansfield Town on Saturday and the Stags' Field Mill stadium (yes in Mansfield) is the only stadium older than Bramall Lane to host professional football. It also is known to be the site of the first competitive floodlit game in 1878.

Bramall Lane was built on behalf of the Bramall family in Sheffield whose family were File and Graver manufacturers locally, Sheffield of course being important in the steel industry.

THE BEAUTIFUL BADGE

I am not going to be able to spend a lot of time on this one....I'm off to the Peak District today; might visit Tideswell FC but more importantly I am going to Sheffield United this evening to see the Blades take on Birmingham City in the EFL. The plan is to show three Kiwis, English football in a big stadium, so this happened to be the best available and hopefully will live up to expectations.

Somewhere in this book, (Pitch Publishing) there will almost certainly be an explanation and history of the two club badges that will be worn on the shirts tonight.

I am not going to say much more because I am just about to drive into the National Park, but suffice it to say this book, "The Beautiful Badge" is a little cracker, great coffee table book, superb history and eccentricities.

Any football enthusiast would be fascinated to know that the latest AFC Bournemouth badge is based on a male model! Well, Dickie Dowsett (I have always been good with my head) whose career spanned Spurs, Southend, Palace and then Bournemouth as commercial manager. The back header was a famous goal that he scored and as you can see the whole thing has been modernised, probably by the "commercial department" to help make the club more attractive to the punters! The long hair was "artistic licence" and helped spice up the old badge that was based on the town coat of arms. The gold represents the Cherries recent success....great story reaching the P.L. and the red and black stripes as part of the club colours, introduced by ex Manager John Bond in the '70s styled on AC Milan.
(remember Juventus styled their shirts on Notts County FC).

THE GREATEST FOOTBALLER-WITH THE EXCEPTION OF GEORGE BEST

Bobby Robson described Kevin Beattie as the greatest footballer with the exception of George Best. Beattie died on September 16th.
Beattie was born in Carlisle on December 18th 1953, Kevin Beattie was one of nine children, all of whom had a difficult childhood. With a drunken father, his family struggled to put food on the table and schooling was often missed sometimes because he had no shoes. A teacher bought him a pair of boots and at 15 he went to a trial at Liverpool but nobody met him at the station, so he went home. Shankly admitted later that it was a big miss!

Bobby Robson made Beattie welcome and he signed on at Portman Road making his debut against Manchester United, whom Ipswich beat in 1972. he was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year in 1973-4.
I have to admit I was with Cambridge University AFC when we played against Beattie and a strong Ipswich XI, having a "run out" at Fenners on the outfield, a magnificent surface against us students.
Beattie's career was pitted with injuries, one of them in 1977 during the run in to what should have been the club's First Division title, when he set fire to himself by a garden bonfire, missing six vital games at the end of the season.
Knee injuries prevented him from playing for England, having been picked by Alf Ramsey in 1974, although he was capped nine times. In 1981 he broke an arm in the FA Cup Semi-Final against Manchester City and subsequently missed a UEFA Cup Final. He had by then played nearly 300 games for Ipswich but never played again for them. He was 27 by then.
Beattie tried to revive his career at Colchester, Middlesbrough, Harwich and Parkeston, Barnet and Clacton and in Scandinavia but his best known appearance in kit during this period was playing the body double for Michael Caine in "Escape to Victory".
His father was a goalkeeper and who chose to remain as a coalman rather than sign forms because he would earn more money. he played in a local pub side with a 14 year old Kevin.
Beattie later became dependent on alcohol, foolishly becoming a publican. He developed pancreatitis whilst he cared for his wife Maggie, who lived with m.s. and under the stress Beattie failed in a suicide attempt.
He became a radio pundit, but ran into trouble with the tax inspectors and wrote a book called "The Greatest footballer England Never Had". Robson and those successful Ipswich players would agree with that.

KNATTSPYRNUFELAG

Bill Shankly took over in charge at Liverpool in 1959 and eventually took the team into the European Cup in 1964-5, having won the First Division the previous season. They played Knattspyrnufelag Rekjavikur 11-1 in the Preliminary round. The club is simply Rekjavik FC and the oldest club in Iceland-founded 16th February 1899. This was the first time an Icelandic team qualified for the European Cup competition.

Here is the team playing in the first official league game in 1912, when finally enough clubs joined in to make a competition!!
Knattspyrnu means "ball kicking". Felag means club and the team wears black and white in honour of Newcastle united....their nearest proper club????

Today in 1974, Liverpool beat Norwegians Stromsgodset IF 11-0 in the First Round of the European Cup Winners Cup. Nine different members of the team scored (Thompson 2, Boersma 2, Callaghan, Cormack, Heighway, Hughes, Kennedy, Lindsay, Smith).
They beat the Norwegians 1-0 away a week later.
Check out this link to the fastest man on the planet-once.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11396306/usain-bolt-plays-for-norwegian-team-stromsgodset-in-friendly-vs-norway-u19
It was Bob Paisley's first venture as manager but in the next round, the bubble burst v Ferencvaros from Hungary losing on the away goals rule.
http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/Articles/DidYouKnow02.htm
On the same day in 2007, Derby beat Newcastle Utd in the Premier League 1-0 at Pride Park This was the Rams' only league win of the season, and of course they were relegated by March with only 11 points won.
http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/LeagueTables/Season2007-08/ClubResults/2007-08.DerbyCounty.html

WOLVES AT THE DOOR?

Did you know that on the 16th September 1937 the first live TV broadcast was made of a football match; Arsenal v Arsenal reserves. The rest is history as detailed by this link....go on, have a look and pass the news on.
http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/Articles/DidYouKnow21.htm

It's no coincidence that today Wolves played Burnley in the Premier League and these two clubs have had darker days in the Championship but were very much part of the Football League foundation in 1888, being two of the first 12 clubs to join in.
In 2003, I visited all 12 grounds to watch matches, now mostly in lower divisions. Name them?

The 16th September 1959 saw Wolves start a season during which they scored 106 goals in the Football League, during a remarkable period of success. The game they played saw a 9-0 defeat of Fulham at Molineux. A week earlier they had lost to Fulham 1-3 at Craven Cottage.

Prior to this season, they scored 103 goals to win the First Division in 1957-8, in 1958-9 they won the division again with 110 goals.

In 1959-60 they were runners up to unfashionable Burnley, who won the First Division by one point. Local Butcher, Bob Lord's club only scored 85 goals conceding 61.

In 1960-1 Tottenham won the Double and scored 115 goals while Wolves came 3rd scoring 103, Burnley came 4th scoring 102.
There were plenty of goals about! (well not for second placed Sheffield Wednesday who were 8 points behind Spurs and scored only 78 conceding 47)

In that era from 1952-3, Wolves came 3rd in 1953-4; 1st in 1954-5; 2nd in 1955-6; 3rd in 1956-7 they slumped to 6th.

They won the First Division in 1957-8 and 1958-9, came second in 1959-60 and third in 1960-1. They won the FA Cup in 1960 beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0. In 1961-2....the bubble burst when they slipped to 18th! (Ipswich won the Division that year).

STRANGE DAYS IN "EUROPE"

Today I notice that Sutton United and Boreham Wood are back on "terra firma" (see last week's blog)-that is they are no longer playing cup football in Scotland, but are back to the humdrum English National League. In Scotland Sutton's cup opponents Airdrie lost to East Fife 2-1 and Boreham Wood's opponents Dunfermline drew 0-0 with Alloa Athletic. Mind you Boreham Wood were hosting a northern club today drawing with Barrow in Furness! Sutton went south to Havant and Waterlooville, winning 2-1
I was interested to see that on this day Derby County were playing foreign opposition, being  knocked out of the 1975/6 Uefa Cup by the great Real Madrid.
The following season, their next Uefa tie was against Finn Harps from Ireland and the Rams, having not won in their previous 8 league games, beat the Harps 12-0. The half time score was 9-0 and goals were scored by Kevin Hector 5-0, Charlie George 3, Leighton James 3 and Bruce Rioch.
In their second tie Derby won 4-1, no doubt with a weakened team! The image below is a "newspaper" style programme, a new idea by the Derby commercial department!! Not popular apparently.


Sadly The Rams met their match in the next round losing to AEK Athens 2-5 on aggregate.
 In 1982 Swansea City beat Sliema Wanderers from Malta, in the European Cup Winners Cup, 12-0, with eight different scorers, the biggest victory by a Welsh team in Europe. The away fixture resulted in a 5-0 win so 17 overall.
On the other hand, in 1990 Swansea lost 0-8 to Liverpool in the FA Cup and in 1991 having only lost to AS Monaco 1-2 at home in the European Cup Winners Cup, the aggregate ended 1-12 with a 1-10 thumping in France.
Swansea Town was founded in 1912 and joined the Football League in 1921. The club changed its name in 1969 when Swansea gained "city" status.

" THE HORSE" BRINGING STABILITY IN BRUM

Geoff Horsfield is a bit of a hero in South Yorkshire, a Barnsley lad who is laying a foundation outside of football.
His father and grandfather were coalminers and Geoff was determined not to follow, so when he left school he learned how to lay bricks!
Born in November 1973, Geoff has played 477 league matches and scored 140 goals for a number of clubs.

A player described as "not skillful but determined" his positive point was when the opposition are tiring, they don't want a "horse" running at them! He was a powerful centre forward.

His clubs listed in time order are; Athersley Recreation (local Sunday League), Worsborough Bridge WM, Scarborough in 1992, Halifax Town (twice), Guiseley, Witton Albion, Fulham (where he link up with Saha), Birmingham around 2003, WBA (promotion year), Sheffield United, Leeds, Leicester City, Scunthorpe, Lincoln, Port Vale (caretaker manager also), Alvechurch, finishing in May 2013.
In 2008 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, from which he recovered.

Recently he is investing in the Geoff Horsfield Foundation, building houses in the Erdington District of Birmingham, designed for the homeless and those with addictions. It is Birmingham City FC's official charity. Some of the club's players have been in local sheltered accommodation serving food.

Tonight, two of his old clubs, Birmingham City (League Cup final) and West Bromwich Albion ("the great escape" in 2005) meet in the Championship and Geoff is holding a bucket collection and he has asked fans of both clubs to bring spare toileteries with them to help stock up the houses that he is building. He has also set up food and clothes banks in the city and centres for people to meet and chat.
https://www.bcfc.com/news/articles/2018/geoff-horsfield-foundation-is-blues-new-charity-partner/

THE BEAUTIFUL BADGE

Martyn Routledge and Elspeth Wills have worked together to produce this wonderful book, explaining to us mortals the meaning of the football club badge since the 1860s. (Pitch Publishing)
Recently I was given a great book, by a fellow coach, relating to "International Football Kits", an exploration of the kit designs of the major national teams. The explanation of how kits were styled reveals much about the history of the nations.
The England kit is "explained" from 1966 through to 2018, including the Umbro Indigo blue "away kit" used in the Euro '96 semi-final v Germany.

But the badge book is great and Martyn Routledge has produced intricate details of the history of club badges; he wrote his university dissertation on this subject!!! Good choice.

What do you know about Peterhead FC and the Viz Comic?
Which TV celebrity designed the Aldershot FC badge?
And whose GBP10 doodle became an opposition's badge?

Do you know what has contributed to your home club's badge?
Which clubs have "town" crests in their design? Copyright???!!
Elspeth is an historical researcher.
https://twitter.com/beautifulbadge?lang=en This is worth a look!
Here is the Manchester United team being led out for the 1909 FA Cup Final and their Lancashire badge. They beat Bristol City 1-0 at the Crystal Palace on April 26th.

FAROES-FAIR ENOUGH

On this day in 1990, the Faroe Islands thumped Austria 1-0 in a Euro Qualifier. The Faroese boys were at home, but actually playing in Sweden because they have no grass pitches that far north, only astros! UEFA wouldn't like astro would they?
One great result in the qualifiers was a 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland at Windsor Park however they lost the next 5 ties. In all Euro qualifiers the "National Team" have played 70 games, won 7 drawn 7 conceded 184, scored 34. World Cup qualifiers are similarly one sided! as we would expect.

So to play fair, the Faroes FA travelled as instructed and won.
With a population of around 46,000 and nicknamed "Landslioio"-you guessed it-"the National team". It was a building company salesman, Torkil Nielsen who scored the goal.
Founded as a national team played friendly matches from 1930 against Iceland, Shetland, Orkney, Greenland and Denmark U21s. On the 8th August 1988 they played their first official match against Iceland and won 1-0. At the same time they joined FIFA. On 1990 they joined UEFA and are the smallest nation in the Association.
Their biggest wins have been with a three goal difference against San Marino 3-0 in 1995, Gilbraltar away in 2014, 4-1 and v Liechtenstein a 3-0 win in Marbella in March 2018.
I have written about the "Island Games" before and the Faroes fair well in this tournament. In 1989 and 1991 they won the whole thing unbeaten.
Frooi Benjaminsen is their most capped player with 95 and managers have included Allan Simonsen of Borussia Monchen and Barcelona, Henrik Larsen, Brian Kerr (Ireland) and Lars Olsen.
The present round of matches in the UEFA Nations League D ("minnows") are:
v Malta 3-1 win and Kosovo (loss 0-2) and Azerbaijan are waiting in the wings.

The country's first club was formed in 1892 known as Tvoroyrar Boltfelag; there are now 10 teams in their league known as the Vodafonedeildin......spot the sponsor and below, the islands.
There they are....

THE LITTLE TIN IDOL

The FA Cup was first played for in 1872 and the trophy was made by Martin, Hall and Co. It was 18" high, held a "quart" and stolen on September 11th 1895, in Birmingham.

Aston Villa were fined £25 by the FA for their lack of security after the club "lent" the cup to their shoe shop owner to put on show. It was never recovered.

In the early days the cup was presented at a reception, indeed the first winners, the Wanderers, received the trophy four weeks later at a dinner held at the Pall Mall restaurant, Charing Cross. Whereas in 1882 the presentation ceremony was first held immediately after the game.

The FA Cup, known as "The little Tin Idol", worth £20 was stolen from William Shillcock's Boot and Shoe shop 73 Newtown Row, in Birmingham, where it was on display after Aston Villa's Cup Final win on April 20th at the Crystal Palace. Villa beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0. Shillcock was a friend of William McGregor, the founder of the Football League (first competed for in 1888).
 
A hole on a lean to roof (18" x 12") and a set of size 5 footprints was all that was left by who ever carried out the robbery. A £10 reward bore no affect and it was assumed the cup would have been melted down to make silver coins.

The second cup was used until 1910, when it was presented to Lord Kinnaird, the FA's long serving president. He died in 1923 (same year as the move to Wembley Stadium) and the cup was eventually auctioned in 2005 for £420,000. This was bought by David Gold who placed the cup in the National Football Museum in 2006.

The reason for the change in 1910 was Manchester United's fault. The club were not happy with the trophy that they won in 1909, so they had their own made! (apparently other copies were made in Manchester too). The FA noticed that they did not hold copyright to the original trophy and so had a new cup made by Fattorini and Sons, an Italian migrant family living in Harrogate and owning a factory in Bradford. Needless to say Bradford City won the first final in 1911 and carried away the 24 inch high cup.

A smaller replica of this cup was played for in the North Wales Coast FA Cup competition.

The tradition of tying ribbons to the cup handles was first started in 1901...yep, when Spurs won it from the lowly Southern League. The wife of the club's director brought navy and white ribbons with her to the final!

The Fattorini trophy served until 1991. The old cup was battered by use and replaced but the FA provided a heavier version in 2014 made by Thomas Lyte and weighing in at 14 pounds.

STREANESHALCH FC

Derek Hampton scores for Whitby Town v Halifax Town 3-2 in a famous FA Cup victory in 1983-4 in the First Round Proper, having been 0-2 down.

Yes, it was off to the seaside the yesterday, hence no Sunday report! I was basking at Sandsend which is self-explanatory, where the lovely sandy beach north of the headland at Whitby, meets another headland, Sandsend Ness. The sand is "trapped" between to the cliffed "bookends" and hence a delightful flat beach. It is excellent for playing beach games and for building sand castles, modelled maybe on the Abbey at Whitby, famed for Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1897 and Streaneshalch! WHO?
You know Streanes was a monk, not well documented but linked to the Abbey and "halch" of course means headland.

Whitby Town FC sits in town at the Turnbull Ground in Upgang Lane. It is a pleasant little stadium, geared up for nearly 4,000 spectators which the "Seasiders" might attract to their Evo-Stick Northern League Premier matches. (presently lying 7th at this stage of the season)
Streaneshalch FC was founded in October 1880 and joined the Northern League in 1893. The club seems to have been named in their first match as Whitby Church Temperance v Scarborough on January 8th 1881-won 2-0.

In 1882 Whitby FC as it was known then was competing with the "Rugby" code and played Association in the North Riding of Yorkshire League, where John Nicholson proved to be a prominent player.
A first recorded FA Cup tie was played in 1889 when they lost to their arch enemies at Scarborough. Whitby complained that the pitch was not legal, as well as disputing a goal. At the railway station a riot occurred and one of their players were attacked by Scarborough supporters and Albert Drabble was wounded and later died in hospital.

After World War One, Whitby Whitehall Swifts and Whitby Town FC merged and eventually became Whitby United in 1926. They were then renamed "Town" in 1949. Probably their best moments have been in the FA Cup as shown above, in 1964-5 they lost to Hendon FC in the FA Amateur Cup 1-3 at Wembley, and the FA Trophy 1/4 finals in 1983/4 and 1998/9.
Motto:  We have been and we are!

ENGLAND v SPAIN

It would have been half term when I was at home as a 9 year old watching England play Spain in a friendly international at Wembley. I remember the 4-2 victory which seemed to be relatively easy, considering that England had lost conclusively 0-3 in Madrid in May. 80,000 witnessed the win as Jimmy Greaves, Bryan Douglas and Bobby Smith (2) scored our goals. Greaves scored 9 goals in England internationals out of 27 in 1960. Here's Bobby.....

The team also included; Springett, Armfield, McNeil, Robson (Bobby), Swan, Flowers, Haynes (capt) and Charlton (Bobby). Here's another Bobby...

Surprisingly the two sides have only met 25 times with England winning 3 and drawing 3 since the first meeting in May 1929 (Spain won 4-3).
In 1931 England won 7-1 and then a gap before 1950 in a World Cup group game which England lost 1-0, a tournament in which England had lost to the USA amateurs.

There were then several matches involving the two nations with England winning 7 times through to 1980. Most recently England and Spain drew 2-2 in a friendly on the 15th November 2016. Lallana after 9 mins from the pen spot and Vardy after 48 scored at perfect times only for England to throw the win away in the 88 and 90 minutes.
The starting XI was Hart, Clyne, Stones, Cahill, Dier, Rose, Henderson, Lingard, Lallana, Sterling and Vardy.

Tonight in the UEFA Nations League the two meet at Wembley.

STILL ROOM DESPITE MUSHROOM AT BUNGAY

The Nations League is almost capturing our imagination, especially after watching Ryan Giggs' Wales beat Ireland last night, in what can only be described as a sumptuous display, winning 4-1. Granted much of the show business was in the first half but the Welsh played brilliantly and the first half is worth a view if you can get the opportunity. I would pay to watch it!

I probably would not have paid the entrance fee to see Scotland force a draw with the Faroe Islands on the 7th of September 2002, in a Euro Qualifier. Mind you they were 0-2 down and made the game fairly exciting I suppose.

The Non-League Day held on 6th September 2014 was worth the effort, making the lower tiers available to the public. Some clubs made the most of other special dates, February 14th for example, when Petersfield Town in Hampshire, pushed the boat out with tickets for two selling for the price of one, assuming you were in a relationship. This included a glass of bubbly. Not sure how that was enforced?
 In 2013 on the 6th September, in the Anglian Combination League, Bungay Town, in Suffolk, increased their attendance by 70% when they paid spectators 5p to watch their match.

In 2014 on the equivalent weekend they gave each spectator a punnet of mushrooms as they entered the ground, please note that they are in the heart of market gardening country in East Anglia and the attendance was up. Actually, whilst Bungay is in Suffolk, they play in Norfolk!

WELL, QUEEN'S PARK PLAYED IN THE 1872 ENGLISH FA CUP!

I wonder if the committee at Sutton United and Boreham Wood were prepared for the invitation to take part in this season's IRN-BRU Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup.  This is the first time that teams from the National League (Fifth Tier) have been invited.

The tournament, aimed at clubs under the Scottish Premier, was founded in 1990 and so far, Falkirk have won the title most times (4) and the present holders are Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who beat Dumbarton 1-0, in last season's final. The invites stretches into the Scottish Highland and Lowland Leagues.

So Sutton and Boreham Wood from the English National League? Sutton have to travel 800+ miles in a round trip to meet League One, Airdrieonians from North Lanarkshire, once known as Airdrie United.

whilst Boreham Wood are hosting Dunfermline Athletic (420 miles away) from the Scottish Championship. (nice badge)


What about being drawn against the Bohemians, Limerick, Crusaders, Coleraine, Sligo Rovers, The New Saints and Connah's Quay Nomads? yes Irish and Welsh League clubs are also included in this multi-nation cup.

Colts' teams from some of the higher tier Scottish League clubs and U20s from the Premier League lot have been invited to join in the competition, as 58 teams of various "ranks" hope to make progress towards the final on March 24th 2019.

Wonderful named clubs such as BSC Glasgow (Broomhill Sports Club) met East Stirlingshire and lost 0-1, whilst Fraserburgh drew 2-2 with Inverurie Loco Works, losing on Penalties (5-4) played in the Preliminary Round with the potential reward, a fixture against Rangers and Celtic U21s.
Well actually they won't because Rangers' youngsters lost to Falkirk 1-2 in the First Round in August (Falkirk will host Connah's Quay next). Celtic lost to Annan Athletic 4-0! So they will soldier on to play at Arbroath.

NICE GARDENS-HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPURS!

Happy Birthday Tottenham Hotspur. 136 years old, "born" on September 5th 1882 by a bunch of schoolboys, led by Bobby Buckle, a local lad (bottom row second left), all of whom played for the Hotspur Cricket Club. John Ripsher, a Bible reader at the local All Hallows Church (top row second right), became president and treasurer. In April 1884 the club changed it name to Tottenham Hotspur FC, to avoid a postal clash with the original Hotspur club up the road.
 Oldest photo from 1885, The Spurs' Squad.
Today HRH The Earl of Wessex, Patron of the London Gardens Society visited the Tottenham training complex at Hotspur Way, a 77 acre facility opened in 2012 midst the London Greenbelt. It won the LGS Award in 2017 and enters the annual Enfield in Bloom show! Spurs Club Chairman, David Levy, Executive Director, Donna-Maria Cullen and Head of Playing Surfaces and Estates, Darren Baldwin were part of the welcoming party.
There is a unique kitchen garden that provided organic foods for the various club restaurants, there is a Future Environment Centre and Nature Reserve on site too. The original Myddelton Farm buildings have been sensitively converted and there have been various architectural awards for construction, sustainability and "women in construction". The 15 outdoor grass pitches, several artificial pitches and a full size covered area are supplied by renewable energy sources amounting to 10% needs.
https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/the-club/hotspur-way/

SUGAR DADDIES-A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW

In the Telegraph today, Jim White, as usual, comes up with a very nice story about the fickleness of football when he tells us that Billericay Town FC is up for sale. I won't go into huge amounts of details but will include the "link"-it is a good read.


I was unfortunate enough to be involved with a similar "sugar daddy syndrome" as teenager playing for my local "non-league" club, Horsham Town. There were a number of coincidences with Jim's article. (hope you can read this-if not, use technology!)

My school sited in Horsham, was Collyer's Grammar School (now Richard Collyer's College). It was funded in 1532 by a wealthy local businessman, Richard Collyer, who was a member of the Mercers' Company, merchants who traded in London. The Mercers'  Company are still trustees of the school.

I played for Horsham FC's Youth team and we had a pretty good cohort, a few likely lads joined the adult teams. This period spanned my time between sixth form and university.

With the club looking fairly comfortable in the old Athenian League, it came as a surprise to me that one night at training we were told that a local businessman was to invest in the club. We were excited and sure enough, suddenly we had new kit, we actually had an overnight stay in a hotel on the Friday before a match at Harwich and Parkstone (we lost) and various other extras made the Hornets a busy club.
Some time later that season, when Horsham had not gained promotion, we were told that the investor had pulled out and the club was in debt. Reason? said investor had laid on all sorts of activities in the club house, stag nights, comedy evenings, you know that sort of stuff that puts money over the bar. The investor paid our "semi-pros" and bought extras with that money, but failed to pay the brewery and other vital bills! Result, Hornets "bankrupt" and it took years to recover.

The club had to start again and eventually gained some financial "balance", especially with a windfall of two FA Cup ties (2nd Rd Proper) against Swansea City, drawing the first match and losing 2-6 in the first FA Cup match to be played at the new Liberty Stadium. One way and another this didn't "save" the club, whose committee chose to raise money from the excellent location that was Queen Street, by selling it.
https://stadium.horsham-fc.co.uk/our-story/
They sold off their historic ground (first used in1904) in 2008, entering into ground sharing with various Sussex neighbours, which doesn't earn a great income. Horsham Town FC ticks over but who knows what might have happened if a slightly different path had been chosen all that time ago! The club had two previous FA Cup windfalls; in 1947/8, First Round proper away at Tommy Lawton's Notts County losing 1-9 and in 1966/67 at home to Don Roger's Swindon Town losing 0-3 in front of over 7,000. My geography teacher, Brian Hardcastle, a Yorkshireman from the West Riding, was in the Horsham squad.
Prior to the Swindon game, Horsham beat Hastings United 2-1 at Queen Street, with Bobby Smith (yes ex-Spurs) failing to inspire the seaside town!

So the story is...... beware of "sugar daddies", they may carry a bitter pill.