BIG CITY, NICE CATHEDRAL

I was drawn to a Lock Stock Welsh Alliance League match because the smallest city in the UK was on the roster. St Asaph City, lying 8th in the First and highest Division, were thumped 6-1 away at Barmouth Dyffryn (14th in the division), for whom Shane Jones grabbed 5 goals, sprinkled over the 90 minutes of play.
Imagine being a pundit on Welsh TV or Radio having to pronounce the result of the Cookson Challenge Cup Final between Llangenfi FC and Penrhyndeudraeth FC, thankfully a 1-0 win to the first team I named who are 3rd in the division and their opponents were 9th.
Penrhyndendraeth means a peninsular with two beaches. It is near Porthmadog and has a population of just over 2,000 and "falling".
Llangenfi is twice the size and located on Anglesey boasting Wayne Hennessey, yes that goalkeeper, as a favourite son! Try as I might I couldn't find a translation!

But I am straying from St Asaph, a town which has a Cathedral, hence its city status. 
The club is located in Denbighshire (North Wales) having a population of about 5,000, so is huge in comparison, The club couldn't compete with their Barmouth opposition, however.
It's a long way to travel, so maybe the coach journey got the better of them. They also run a Youth team.

St Asaph is the smallest city in Wales with Bangor a close second. In the UK, Wells and the City of London pip it into third place. Ian Rush has "close links" with the City as does Neil Taylor of Aston Villa.

1908

 Just occasionally I struggle for a topic and today was one. But thanks to Bob Weighton who on 29th March 1908 was born in Yorkshire and he is our oldest person at 110 years old. There have been older, no longer with us and of course the World can provide many others too.
A Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment reached 122 years, American Sarah Knauss 119 and our oldest woman is Bessie Camm at 113. The oldest people seem to come from Japan, Italy, USA, Puerto Rico and Spain. Anything to do with diet?

In 1908, Wolverhampton Wanderers won the FA Cup beating Newcastle United 3-1 at the Crystal Palace. Wolves, a middle of the road Second Division side, beat the most successful side of the  Edwardian era. The TYKES were league champions in 1905, 07 and 09. They had also lost in two Cup finals in 1905 and 1906. The Newcastle side had most of the play and Wolves scored twice in five minutes just before half time.

The First Division was won by Manchester United with Newcastle coming 4th, 10 points behind. Wolves were 9th in Division Two.
Clubs in the First Division included Wednesday, Bury, Bristol City, Woolwich Arsenal and Notts County. Much has changed. There were only TWO divisions and Glossop NE, Clapton Orient, Leicester Fosse, Gainsborough, Leeds City made up part of the second tier.

England played internationals against Ireland, Wales and Scotland as usual winning 3-1, 7-1 and drawing 1-1.
They also beat Austria 6-1 and 11-1. Hungary 7-0 and Bohemia 4-0 on tour.

Bob Crompton of Blackburn Rovers capped 41 times for England, was probably the first professional footballer to drive his own car to training in 1908!

7 UP

28th March 2001, England played Albania in a World Cup qualifier and included 5 Manchester United players in the starting line up: Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Andy Cole.
Two subs came on later; Wes Brown and Teddy Sheringham.
Paul Scholes, Michael Owen and Andy Cole scored in a 3-1.
Rest of England team: Seaman, Ashley Cole, Butt, Ferdinand, Campbell, McManaman, Heskey
18,000 was the crowd. 
England won the return 2-0 at St James Park.
This was the qualifying tournament including Germany 1 v England 5 in Munich
The previous international when 7 Arsenal players featured was in 1934, a friendly versus Italy. This was on November 14th at Highbury and England won 3-2.
Frank Moss (gk), George Male, Eddie Hapgood, Wilf Copping, Ray Bowden, Ted Drake and Cliff Bastin were the magnificent 7.
Brook 2 (he also missed a penalty) and Drake scored the goals.

Male was a late replacement for the injured Tom Cooper and Drake, second choice after Fred Tilson and then George Hunt had to withdraw. Arsenal also provided the "trainer", Tom Whittaker and later the club provided 6 players against Wales and Austria in 1936.

Stanley Matthews made his second appearance, Male made a debut, as did Drake.
Britton, Barker and Bowden also were winning their second caps.
OLD HANDS!!
Brook was winning his 10th cap and Bastin his 9th.
Copping was earning his 7th, Moss his 4th, Hapgood 9th.

Over 56,000 watched this spectacle.

TERRY'S CHOCOLATE ORANGE

Been to York today and visited the family home of the Terry Family, famed for their industry in chocolate and various other sweets. Have you ever had a Terry's Chocolate Orange? Like all industries at that time, the company provided for their workers and in some cases there were industrial "villages" or "towns" built around the factory, giving the workers places to live. Saltaire would be a classic example, where homes, schools, religion and social were all catered for, keeping the workers "onside".

The Terry's Family of York, were similar in lots of ways, with the males of the family keen on sport having been sent off to "Public School" to learn how to become gentlemen. Rugby, soccer, cricket, golf, tennis and more became part of the young men's education. Bringing that back to their family home meant that their knowledge was passed on to the workers who also had sport provided. Football was very much part of the plan and Terry's had a men and a ladies team playing at the company sports' field at Vine Street, York where were floodlights and showers. There is also a "Rowntree Park" sited in the Vine Street area of the city. Training took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and matches were played in the local York and District league, Division 3.

The girls' team played for Charity and raised £3000 in their time. Here they are in 1930.

FILEY

I'm overlooking Filey Bay on a short trip north with my mentor. I have already been to Castle Howard where I found loads of statues and beautifully trimmed hedges, but no footy pitch. I then had a snack at Bempton Cliffs, you know the RSPB spot famous for being the only nesting site for gannets on mainland England. We were fortunate to meet a fascinating RSPB volunteer guide called Alex Dawson who will appear on your screens this evening on "The Blue Planet". Keep an eye out, he will be talking about egg theft!

Filey does have a football team, although I have not managed to find out much about the club that was founded in July 1893 and presently plays in the Scarborough and District Football League.
Two teams met, the Filey Town Tradesmen and the Filey Red Stars, also known as the fishermen. They merged to form Filey United, which is now Filey Town FC. The club lies half way in the S&DFL Division One.

Parallel to this club is FC Filey, a Junior club that has it roots in five-a-side football for kids way back in 1996. Since then with some amazing organisation and fund raising the club has gained its Football Charter Standard and has its own club house, fields and a dozen junior teams, boys and girls playing in the Scarborough and District Junior ans East Yorkshire Junior Leagues which they joined in 2008/9. So maybe the future is bright, since there will be many young fish in the sea.

I could have gone on about Montenegro and our boys wonderful 1-5 win away BUT Filey seemed much more of a draw.....

KEITH SCORES FOR KEITH

Keith scores for Keith.
Over the weekend Keith FC, The Maroons, were playing in a Highland Football League match and beat Fort William 11-0, with their star striker (surname Keith) notching 5.
 
 Fort William have also suffered a League game 12-1 loss against Turriff United, Keith on the other hand have drawn 4-4 with Lossiemouth, lost to Fraserburgh 3-1, beaten Huntly 0-2 and Nairn 1-2.
Nice names....well what about Inverurie Loco Works FC, Clachnacuddin FC, Brora Rangers, who all play in the Breedon Highland Football League, a league founded in 1893.

Keith play at Kynoch Park in Banffshire, given to the club by local dignitary, Sir John Kynoch in 1922. Another famous "old boy" is Colin Hendry of Scottish international fame.
Their first pitch was at Seafield Park, playing in the Huntly and District League. If you are really fascinated by all this twaddle, have a look at a eastern Scotland map and educate yourself to where these teams are located.

Celtic is a more well known club but they had not travelled as far north as Keith at all in their history until they met the Maroons in the Scottish Cup 2nd Round in 1928. Celtic won 6-1.

APRIL 3rd

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/the-stadium/

It's been a long time since my first knowledge of White Hart Lane and many hurdles have been leaped. I saw myself at the ground, on what was "Match of the Day", when television was in black and white in the 1960s. I had been lifted over the wall around the pitch and plonked on the red gras path, in front of Letter "O" which was painted on the white surrounding wall for half time results.

White Hart Lane was  also the scene for my retirement party, when I left my teaching job at Charterhouse, an employment that lasted 44 years. My good friend and colleague Bob Noble sorted out a party at the ground, using the hospitality lounge behind what would have been the right hand goal as you walked onto the pitch from the dressing rooms.

David Howells, a Spurs' legend, helped with the arrangements, which involved the pitch and we played a Present School v Old Carthusians match on May 22nd 2013, when the pitch was no longer needed and was ready for repair and rejuvenation.

So I have a bit of history with WHL and have seen a good number of games there.

Today one of two test matches was played at the New £1billion Stadium, with Tottenham U18s taking on Southampton U18s. J'Neil Bennett scored Spurs' first goal at the new stadium, mimicking Tom Pratt's goal at White Hart Lane in 1899 v Notts County. It has taken at least 4 years to get to this "almost finished" point, which includes 17,500 seats in the South Stand, the largest single tiered stand in the UK, reaching up to 34 metres high. The Premier League has "signed off" the stadium which will hold 62,062.

The next test match is a Legends game and then.......

The first official PL match will be against Crystal Palace on April 3rd.

FOURTH OLDEST GROUND?

I drove to Worksop today, down the M1, A57 and then amongst a huge crowd of over 1,000 at the Sandy Lane Stadium, watched a Toolstation Premier League match between the "Tigers" and Penistone Church.
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/tigers-beat-church.html

The blog above tells much about Worksop Town FC and to add to the club's alumini, there is Graham Taylor, who was born in Worksop and Peter Swan played for the club...who he? Well have a read of Sheffield Wedneday's 1950-60's history and England's too, if you need enlightening.

As I have mentioned before, Worksop Town's 1910 minutes' book refers to the forming of a football team "50 years ago", that is circa 1861 and the playing of a game between "15 Locals and 15 Church lads", may well mark the first football played in the area. This could make Worksop Town the 4th oldest in England (in the World?).

Herbert Chapman (who he?-well shame on you) played there in 1900-1 and more recently Ronnie Glavin (yes, that Barnsley old boy) turned out for the Tigers too.

To cut a long story short then, this league match was very much top of the table stuff.
Penistone were second with 61 points from 30 games and Worksop top with 69 from 31. So a win today would make the last weeks of the league campaign either very interesting or maybe a done deal! There are still 7 or so games to go however. Things could change later.

The last time the two met was on November 24th and in the final seconds of the game, there was an almighty punch up at the Memorial Ground, Penistone, which Worksop snatched from a penalty scored  in overtime. 4 players, two from each side were sent off in that hectic period.

I had been to Sandy Lane before because Handsworth Parramore groundshare with the Tigers since PCFC have been there earlier in the season to play a league match.

JUST NOT CRICKET

Yes, this is Bramall Lane when it was being converted into a full time football ground and car park for Sheffield United FC.
This is Bramall Lane in its pomp! It staged an FA Cup semi-final on March 28th 1889 between Preston and WBA with nearly 22,700 in the crowd. Preston won 1-0 and went on to win the Final against Wolves 3-0 which was held at the biggest cricket ground of all...The Oval!
The money raised from the semi-final venture was a princely £600, so this persuaded the cricket club to continue with football at their ground, thus raising money for their coffers. As time went on it was clear that the two could not mix and the introduction of football at Bramall Lane was clearly very successful. So much so that Yorkshire CC played their final game at Bramall Lane in 1973, drawing with Leicestershire and the cricket club was "evicted", leaving the Blades in full control of the ground.
A new South Stand was built enclosing the football pitch on four sides, cutting the cricket field considerably.

339 county cricket matches were held at Bramall Lane and it is the only current Football League stadium to host a Test Match. England lost to Australia in July 1902. The state of the local light conditions became an issue with the smoke pollution coming out of the local factory chimneys, so eventually first class cricket died.
Perhaps we should have played the Aussies at football?

Some other football grounds that hosted cricket included at Northampton Town from 1897 through to 1994.The football pitch was used as a cricket spectator area and car park in the summer, hence the poor playing surface. The last football match played at the County Ground was a defeat 0-1 by Mansfield Town on October 11th in Division 3.
FOUR days later the Cobblers drew 1-1 with Barnet at their next stadium, Sixfields, which has hosted and Independent Schools' FA Cup Final.

Darlington shared games at Feethams and AC Milan hosted cricket at their early ground when the English migrants set up a Sports' Club there in 1899.

SOCA WARRIORS

This is the Trinidad and Tobago Pro-League badge that plays under the control of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. There are 10 clubs in the league that contest the nation's major league, that includes teams known as "Joe Public", Defence Force, Arima Fire and West Connection who are present champions.  The league was formed in 1990. There are now Women's leagues and Juniors too, football is thriving.

Football was introduced officially to the Islands by Scot, Thomas Boyd in 1927, who migrated to the country and asked relatives to send balls, bladders and pumps to help him get football started. Cricket was the dominant past time of course, but soccer soon became popular.
With a population of 1.3 million the "Soca Warriors" were the smallest country to try to qualify for the World Cup.

Their first international was on 21st July 1905 against British Guyana, which the Warriors won 4-1.

The nation first tried to qualify for the 1966 World Cup but failed to win enough points, losing their group of three to Costa Rice and Surinam.
They did beat Surinam 4-1 at home in the opening tie but then got thumped 6-1 in the return leg on March 14th 1965.

In the 1970 WC qualifiers, Trinidad were bottom of their CONCACAF group despite winning one against Haiti and snagging a draw with Guatemala. They were bottom of their group in the end.

For the 1974 qualification, on December 4th 1973, Haiti visited Trinidad's national stadium and beat T&T 2-1, thwarting the country's next attempt to qualify, this time, for the 1974 World Cup. T&T had 5 goals disallowed! Having played in a first group of three (v Surinam and Antigua), the Warriors had to meet Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Netherland Antilles and Honduras in a larger group. The first round was played on November 29 1973 and the last on December 18th 1973!
5 internationals were played in that short period. Trinidad came second.



1978 saw them again not qualify for the finals in the CONCACAF group, losing the play off to Surinam.

The 1982 qualification was not so testing with a small group of 3, including Haiti and the Antilles. Trinidad came 2nd! despite beating Haiti once and did not qualify!

In 1985-6 the qualification was not so exciting as the Warriors lost all four of their ties against Canada and Guatemala, Canada romping to the top of the group unbeaten.

The USA put pay to their qualification for the 1990 World Cup by winning 1-0 in the vital qualifying match at Port of Spain. This was the first time the USA had qualified since 1950, remember they embarrassed England.

For the 1994 finals The Warriors lost to Jamaica in the early qualifying as early as 1992.

In 1998, the Finals were held in Holland and they never got there, eventually coming bottom of their CONCACAF group, despite beating the Dominican Republic 12-1 and 8-0 in earlier rounds.

For the Japan finals in 2002 they came bottom of their CONCACAF group and never made the finals.

In 2006, T&T managed to get over the early hurdles, finding themselves in Group B containing England, Sweden and Paraguay. Shaka Hislop and Dwight Yorke were the better known players in their squad.
Holding England to 0-0 for 83 minutes was their first triumph, but they fell to late goals (83rd minute and in over time) from Crouch and Gerrard, losing 2-0. Then they drew with Sweden. They lost their final game against Paraguay 0-2 and came bottom of the group with 1 point.
Classically the Warriors team was supported by travelling Scots who were in "town", partly because there were 6 players in their squad who were signed on for Scottish teams including Jason Scotland who played for St Johnstone!

Manager Leo Beenhakker was awarded the Chaconia Medal, a top national award for his "success". Players were awarded financial rewards although there was some dispute over sums of money given to the squad.
By the way England won their group with two wins and a draw.

2010 T&T came bottom of the CONCACAF group ! But did beat Honduras.

2014 came bottom of their CONCACAF qualifying group: P10 Won 2 Lost 8

It is surprising that today, Wales (ranked FIFA 19th) took the whole of the match to get a 1-0 win again these lads in last night's friendly. T&T are presently ranked 93 in FIFA and have been as high as 25th!

HARRY'S FULL ENGLISH

I enjoyed Harry's Heroes, although the football seemed a bit staged; do you think the German "Historic" side were instructed to lose the game 4-2? Having dominated the game early on, they looked fitter than Harry's mob and appeared to surrender in the second half.

The point of the exercise was to gather a few local heroes from the 1990s, to get them fit using as many gimmicks as possible and then play their German equivalents in a match at Leyton Orient FC.

We had two major story lines; Razor Ruddock (50 years old) with a lardy body, who could barely move and who split shorts doing a "stretch" and Paul Merson (50) who admitted in the film that he was struggling to lose his old habits; a touching moment.

The point being made often was that the professionals had very bad habits when they were at the top of their game.

There were others of course, some of whom were barely mentioned and indeed I'm still not sure what the complete England squad was. Steve Howey floated past at times.......and another bloke-can't remember who it was...

Before the real test they played an U14 boys' side and the Crystal Palace Ladies, both officially inappropriate if you read the FA rulings carefully!

The Germans wearing their away strip of green were fitter. Harry's side carried a few injuries and several heroes very much out of shape-even if their wives were in very good shape! Here's a young Harry.

There were 13 involved (see photo) with John Barnes, who recently applied to coach the Rwandan International side squad very much a passenger and assistant coach to Harry, the 72 year old former England manager and TV multi-star; everyone's favourite uncle.
David Seaman at 55 was good value and laughed a lot and fished too.  He's ice skating now!
Defenders were definitely Ruddock, whose last TV appearance was probably "I'm a Celebrity" and Mark Wright (55) who helps with Foster Care Associates.
Robert Lee at 55, a defender? but I couldn't see another one? played for Wycombe Wanderers past his 40th birthday, making him one of the oldest FLeague players to achieve this.
Mark Chamberline at 57, didn't last long-injured, although he is presently coaching at Portsmouth, so should be fit.
Matt Le Tissier, a youngster at 50 was good value and Lee Sharpe (47) last played for Garforth Town having been at Grimdavik in Iceland prior. (I'm going to Penistone Church FC dinner in April and Lee is the main attraction).
Robbie Fowler (43), Paul Merson (50), Chris Waddle (58) and Ray Parlour (46), the "Romford Pele" had a few games at Wembley in his old age....that is Wembley FC in an FA Cup run.

The lads combined to form a midfield and strike force, somehow. Give it to Fowler!
If you looked carefully, the manager imported a couple of "ringers" who did not get a mention on the day. Steve Howey....??

STAGS v IMPS

It was Mansfield Town (The Stags managed by David Flitcroft) v Lincoln City (The Imps) last night in League Two and the Stags got the home fans in the crowd of over 7,000 excited with an early headed goal after 4 minutes.
The Imps, managed by the Cowly brothers, if you remember their famous cup run in 2017, equalised with a penalty in 75 minutes. Lincoln top the table and Mansfield are 3rd, 10 points behind! The famed cup run by the Imps was the first time that a non-league side had reached the quarter-final round since 1914 when QPR managed the feat. I saw Lincoln beat Burnley 1-0 at home that day.

Here's one I did earlier about MTFC.
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/field-mill-mansfield.html

The first match Mansfield played was against the Sherwood Foresters on September 4th 1897, very much a friendly.
The photo above shows the Mansfield Weslyans part of the early days of the club in 1903 (pictured). Their shirts were light blue and chocolate stripes. At this time they played in the Mansfield and District Amateur  losing their first ever official game 0-1 to Mansfield Corinthians. Their next game was a 0-13 drubbing by Shirebrook Swifts. The Stags have not lost so heavily since.
In 1906 the word "Amateur" was lost from the League title and as The Stags continued to play in the league they had to drop the "Weslyans" name who did not want to be associated with a professional outfit. The Notts FA also got grumpy about the move from amateur to pro and insisted that the club played in their Senior County Cup.
That season two club officials were forced to resign from the club for signing a new player on the Sabbath, a heinous crime on the day of rest!
In 1910 they changed their name to Mansfield Town. They also changed their colours to red and white and then the First World War started. They had very few successes from then.

They won the 3rd Division in 1976-7 and the 4th Division in 1974-5. They were runners-up in the FA Trophy 2010-1 and won the Football League Trophy in 1986-7. More recently Mansfield Town was relegated out of the Football League in 2007-8 after 77 years, joining the Conference, eventually getting promotion back in 2012-3 with the Conference League Title.

AIR MILES FOR FULHAM AWAY FROM THE COTTAGE

March 18th 2010 saw Fulham entertain Juventus at Craven Cottage for the second leg of the Europa League round of 16. In Turin previously they had been well beaten 3-1. Seventh in the Premier League at this time, Fulham were not having a bad season, so they thought they might have a chance of getting back against the cagey Italians.

Well David Trezeguet scored within 2 minutes making the difference 1-4, but Bobby Zamora snatched an equaliser (on the night) 5 minutes later making it 2-4 agg. Fabio Cannavaro was sent off after 26 minutes for a professional foul on Zoltan Gera, who made it 2-1 just before half time.
HALF TIME AND BREATHE
Just after half time Gera scored a penalty-3-1 to Fulham and 4-4 aggregate.
Clint Dempsey snatched a 4th after 82 minutes (4-1) and another Juve player was sent off before curtains!

ON JULY 30th The Cottagers waded their way past FK Vetra Lithuania (6-0) in the 1st Qualifying Round, home and away (2 ties)

Then Amkar Perm Russia (3-2) in two games 2nd QRs.

They then qualified for group matches against CSKA Sofia Bulgaria (2 times won 2-1 agg), Basle Switz (2 times won 4-2 agg) and Roma Italy (2 times lost 2-3).
Coming runners up in the group to Roma

Moving on they played Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) twice (3-2 agg) and Juve (Italy) twice (5-4 agg).

Up came the Quarter-final v Wolfsburg  (Germany)twice (3-1agg)
Then Hamburg (Germany) in the Semi-final two times (2-1 agg).
They met their match in the Final v Athletico Madrid (Spain) a one off and lost 1-2 in Hamburg! May 12th!having played three Premier League games on the 2nd, 5th and 9th.

Fulham reached the FA Cup 6th Round playing Spurs twice (0-0 at home and lost 1-3 away).
In the 5th Round they entertained Notts County winning 4-0 (do you why they are known as Notts County and not Nottingham County??)
4th Rd Accrington Stanley away 3-1
3rd Rd Swindon Town home 1-0.

In the League Cup they lost 1-2 away in their first round tie against Manchester City.

In the Premier League they played 38 games coming 12th with 46 points.
at home won 11, drew 3 and lost 5 Scoring F27 A 15
away they W1  D7  L11 F12 A31

I count 64 games.......

VILLAGERS' STORY

The news that North Ferriby United was wound up this weekend came as a shock to many, but it was clear that things have not gone well financially recently. They have around £7645 debt!owed to pitch company Chappelow Sports Turf Ltd unpaid since Feb 2017.
There is a "rescue" package being put together in an attempt to resurrect the defunct Step 5 club. The Villagers presently sit at the bottom of the Bostick Northern Premier League with 10 points from 33 games, 19 points adrift.

Where is it? The name gives us a clue, it sits on the northern bank of the Humber Estuary:

Out on a limb, it would be tough to gather a crowd of any substance but the team had reached some high points especially in the 1980s through to winning the FA Trophy in 2015.
The club was liquidated on March 15th due to unpaid debts and the club has been expelled from the Northern Premier League. Notices of cancelled games have been posted on the club website. They join a handful of British clubs who have suffered a similar fate; Rangers, Gretna and Maidstone United to name a few!

The Villagers' progress started in 1934 with its foundation, playing in the East Riding Church League winning the division title in 1938. After the war they moved through the leagues reaching the  Yorkshire League Division 2 in 1969 and winning the East Riding County Cup. The club joined the Northern Counties East League in 1982, reached the Premier in 1985-6 and reached the FA Vase Final losing to Whitby Town.

In 2000-1 they were in the Unibond League and in their 70th year were Division One champions. In 2004-5 won the Northern League Div 1, 2012-13 won the National Premier League, 2013-4 they were in the Conference North and played in the FA Trophy Final v Wrexham at Wembley in 2014-5 winning on penalties 5-4 after a thrilling 3-3 draw. After this pinnacle, relegations came quickly and the Villagers demise!

COLOUR CLASH

In the 1882 FA Cup Final, Blackburn Rovers were playing the Old Etonians. I KNOW you know the Rovers' colours (remember a light navy blue and white; BUT not sure if you know the OEs colours).
I do because my school lads were pitched against Eton footballers once a year and we would have around 16-20 fixtures from U14 through to 1st XI (U18) turning out on a Saturday in October. It was a big occasion, sometimes with royalty on show.

The Old Etonians would not get to an FA Cup Final these days but in 1882 they met the "blue and white" professionals of Blackburn Rovers, whilst they were very much the "light blue and white harlequin shirts". In those days the referee would toss a coin when there was a colour clash.Who ever lost would wear waistcoats or pullovers as kit changes! I'm not sure the Rovers professionals would stretch to waistcoast??!! The match was played at the Oval and 6,500 turned up to see the spectacle. It was the first final invaded by outsiders (those not on the "amateur scene of the south") and professionals. The posh chaps held their own and Lord Kinnaird was able to lift the trophy after his team won 1-0. Kinnaird celebrated the win by doing a handstand...here he is up the right way.

As I write I hear that the Old Etonians (very much present day representatives as old boys from the Berkshire school) have won their way to their Old Boys cup final, the Arthur Dunn Cup. This will be against the Old Carthusians, whom if you don't know, then you haven't been a regular reader of this blog.

The goalkeeper was often a problem because the goalie would wear the same colour as the rest of the team. This changed in 1909.
In 1890 once the official Football League had been established, the committee decided that all teams travelling should bring with them a change of kit. In the 1920s the FA decided that visiting teams must have a change of shirts and socks. Mind you in those days, local rules were often slightly different. Some leagues would state that the home teams should change in the event of a clash. Shorts were often "ignored" which seems unreasonable.

Don't forget the referee who might indeed clash. Millwall who played in royal blue provided grey alpaca blazars for officials who arrived with a clashing royal blue blazar!

In the 1978 FIFA World Cup Hungary (red) met France (blue) in a group game and the television companies complained that viewers watching in black and white would struggle to tell who was who!

Don't forget goalkeepers, who often would clash with the opposition and even the QPR mascot was dispatched from the pitch side for confusing the linesmen and ref in a game against PNE in February 2005.

Norwich City players complained in March 2005 that Bolton mascot, Lofty the Lion, looked like a Bolton player. Mind you in a top class stadium any one can clash with anyone-unless they decide to invade the pitch!!

NEW BRIGHTON

On the 15th March 1947 New Brighton's manager, Neil McBain, a centre half, was in charge of his side's Division 3 North fixture against Hartlepool. With no subs available (in those days) he saw his goalkeeper get injured and had to take his place. Nothing unusual about that apart from the fact that he was 51 years and 120 days old, a league "age" record to this day.

New Brighton FC was originally known as the New Brighton Tower FC and that club existed from 1896 until 1901. It played at the purpose built Tower Athletic Ground, sited in the shadow of the Blackpool Tower, built to hold 80,000 people. The point was to add a "winter" attraction to the Blackpool sea front to encourage all year round finances.

The first fixture was against Gainsborough Trinity in front of a 2,000 crowd that saw NBTFC win 3-2. On January 14th 1899 Manchester City visited and won 1-0 in front of 10,000 spectators.
The last match played at the ground was a victory over Woolwich Arsenal 1-0 on April 24th 1901 (2,000 crowd).
As you will realise, it never quite worked with some signed on "wage earners" playing in front of only 1,000 people, the club quickly lost money. It disbanded in 1901 and was replaced by Doncaster Rovers FC.

New Brighton FC, situated in South Liverpool, played in the Lancashire Combination from 1921, then joined the Football League when it expanded in 1923-4 coming 18th in their first season. In 1924-5 the team came 3rd, their best position but they were never out of "double figures" in the division through the pre-War and post-War periods. In 1950-1, the club came 24th and bottom of the division and were not re-elected to the league for the new season. The club played at Rake Lane and were known as The Rakers.

In their time their best place in the FA Cup was reaching the 4th Round proper where they lost to Notts County away 0-2. On their way to this defeat, in the 1st Round they were drawn at home and beat Barnet, then another win over Darlington at home and then remarkably at home win to Sheffield Wednesday.

In 1983 the club disbanded and reformed to play in the Birkenhead and Wirral League, then was promoted to the West Cheshire League, eventually folding in 2012. The ground became a housing estate.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW

From Cheltenham to Champions League! With the final 8 draw up tomorrow, Brexit in the news and four clubs from England in the Quarter-finals, it is worth looking at who's who in Europe and its major cup tournament. This year's winners will get 19m Euros, Runners up 15m.

WINNERS SINCE 1956:-
Real Madrid 13 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998 ,2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018) Milan 7 (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990,1994, 2003, 2007)
Barcelona 5 (1992, 2006, 2009,2011,2015)
Bayern 5 (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013)
Liverpool 5 (1977, 1978,1981, 1984, 2005)
Ajax 4 (1971, 1972, 1973, 1995)
Inter 3 (1964, 1965, 2008)
Manchester Utd 3 (1968, 1999, 2008)
Benfica (1961, 1962)
Juventjus 2 (1985, 1996)
Nottingham Forest 2 (1979, 1980)
Porto 2 (1987, 2004)
Aston Villa 1 (1982), Celtic 1 (1967), Chelsea 1 (2012), Dortmund 1 (1997), Steaua Bucharest 1 (1986), Feyenoord 1970),  Hamburg 1 (1983), PSV 1 (1998), Marseilles 1 (1993), Red Star Belgrade 1 (1991).

The Q-Final draw takes place tomorrow at Atletico's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium:
Into the pot go:
Ajax, Barcelona, Porto, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur. FOUR English clubs are in the draw.
Not for ten years has this happened:- Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea in 2008-9.
In 2011 we had 3 English representatives, in 2013 none and 2016 none representatives.

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE ROBINS

Watching Altior reach the heights of 18 first class race track wins at Cheltenham. reminded me that there is a very respectable Football League team in the town, presently playing at Whaddon Road in League Two.

The club started playing as early as 1849 when it was recorded that the club used three officials to control their matches. This was a very early attempt to keep the game under watchful "eyes".
In 1887 Albert Close White, a local school master, decided to introduce football to the town and his players met at the East Gloucester Cricket Club, probably using the game as a fitness exercise for the local cricketers.
In 1932, playing in the Birmingham Combination, the club wore a red shirt and soon became known as the "Robins".
In 1933-4 they met Football League club Blackpool in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, playing at home at the local athletic ground and attracting a 10,000 crowd to witness a 1-3 defeat.
Prior to this they had beaten Carlisle United 2-1 away in Rd 2,
Barnet 5-1 in Rd 1,
Calne and Harris 10-1 in the 4th Qualifying Round.
Before this in the QR3 they had lost 1-2 to Llanelli at home but their Welsh opposition was disqualified.
Merthyr Town were their QR2 opponents, Cheltenham won 4-2 away and
in QR 1 they beat Street 4-0.
After 50 years in the Southern League, Cheltenham Town won the FA Trophy in 1997-8 and the 1999 Conference Premier. It is 20 years since the Robins joined the Football League.
Steve Cotterill's team clinched the Conference title having been to AFC Barrow on the weekend of the 6th March 1999. The team travelled overnight and stayed at a hotel in Grange-Over-Sands. Having just been to Grange, I have a feeling a I know where they stayed! Apparently it was full of OAPs! and the local pub full of local Amateur Dramatic players! Much sleep???

1-0 down at half the Robins managed somehow to force a 1-1 draw despite having a man sent off
not that game but.....
They eventually were promoted to the Football League, reaching League 1 after winning the FLTwo in 2001-2. They got to the Third Round proper of the FA Cup in 2003, losing 4-0 away at Sheffield United. They had previously beaten Oldham Athletic and Yeovil Town on their way.
They were National League winners in 2015-16 and they have been in League Two since then, presently 17th/24.
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCTFCofficial

HARRISON AND CARR

On February 13th one of the great youth coaches died. He was Eric Harrison, the man who created the Class of '92, the basis of the Manchester United side that was taken into European success bv Alex Ferguson.
Eric was 81 years old and he spent 27 years at United, mainly as the Youth team coach and player developer.
His playing history was modest having been born in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, he played at Halifax Town. In the late 60s and early 70s he turned out at Barrow FC and was described as a hard and strong defender. It was noticeable that he didn't mollycoddle his young footballers, making sure that they experienced tough as well as skill moments when they were with him.

He showed his resilience having played more than 500 games in the 3rd and 4th Divisions and on one Saturday was married in the morning and played in a Halifax v Shrewsbury league match in the afternoon.

He once described a newly appointed Hartlepool United manager as someone who slaughtered you when you played badly and made you feel ten feet tall when you played well. Eric preferred to make players feel ten feet tall all the time! The manager was Brian Clough. Harrison sometime described his job as 90% arm round and 10% kick up the back side! He worked at Southport and Scarborough before taking the Everton Youth team to the FA Youth Cup Final in 1977. He then went to Man U with Ron Atkinson.

I saw him coach at Old Trafford once, working with young United players. He had a magic touch.

Having worked alongside Mark Hughes on the Welsh international bench, he was awarded the MBE in 2018 but couldn't travel to receive his award due to his dementia. When he was ill, Beckham, Giggs and Scholes made the effort to visit him bringing him a homemade carrot cake and a bottle of whiskey!

Still very much alive, another highly successful youth coach is on the move! Tony Carr, born in Bow, East London, is published as a youth football coach and his massive influence has been developing young players at West Ham United for 36 years, remaining the common factor when managers have come and gone. He helped Bobby Moore, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard through their early careers, coaching for 40 years at the same club. Michael Carrick, Jermain Defoe and Joe Cole are a few more of his legacy. The 2010 World Cup squad included those mentioned above as well as Glen Johnson and John Terry...all his! There are many more.

At 68, he is 3 years younger than Roy Hodgson and now is limited to working occasionally with young coaches in the Premier League. Carr left West Ham in 2016 after 43 years, having been "eased aside" to an "ambassadorial role" in 2014. His treatment was thought to be disrespectful and he now only attends Hammers' matches when friends have tickets! Considering his "finds" have earned over £80 million in transfers, it seems a poor way to show gratitude, although he has had a "testimonial".
Carr was awarded his MBE in 2010, so somebody loves him.

THE AMATEUR FOOTBALL ALLIANCE

On April 13th at the Bank of England Ground, the Old Carthusians FC appear in their fifth cup final, having taken on West Wickham FC from the Southern Amateur League on penalties after a 0-0 drawn semi-final. They meet the Old Meadonians who beat the Old Hamptonians (old boys of Hampton School, Surrey) 3-1. The Meadonians were originally old boys of the local Chiswick County Grammar School, now the Community School. The club's teams play on the Meadows on the banks of the River Thames (hence the club name), the first team competing in the Amateur Football Combination.

The Amateur Football Alliance formed in 1907, when true amateur clubs drifted away from the "modernising" Football Association, as professionalism gradually took hold of soccer in England. Many of these amateur clubs looked to form their own fixtures and eventually their own leagues, very different from the Football League which grew rapidly after its formation in 1888.
BELOW:The "little" GO Smith character, an Old Carthusian, England centre-forward and Corinthian is splitting from the bulky professional.

Once known as the Amateur Football Defence Foundation, clubs from old boys' societies, the services and various independent clubs gradually merged. They needed a governing body.
Originally some better known club members were Ipswich Town, Barnet, Cambridge City, the Casuals and the Corinthians. A few clubs that belong to the Foundation have appeared in the original FA Cup tournaments; the Old Etonians, Old Carthusians and Clapham Rovers. They have all won the FA Cup, albeit in its early stages, before the professionals took charge. It was around 1884 that these amateurs faded from the FA Cup scene and took refuge in the Amateur Cup and other competitions such as the AFA Cup.

The AFA is not regionalised, so clubs from any part of the country may come under its "banner". However the AFA is largely based on clubs in the London area and south-east, such as  The Civil Service,  Norseman and Icarus from Aylesbury. Further afield is Wake Green from Birmingham and whilst Nottsborough FC draws mainly on alumni from Nottingham and Loughborough Universities, the club  is London based and acts as a social hub for uni graduates.

2019 marks the cup's 100th year and the Old Carthusians (the Alumni from Charterhouse School in Godalming) played in the first final, losing to The Casuals 3-1 at Queen's Club, Kensington. Over 2,000 watched the game played between, at the time, two of the great amateur clubs in the country. The Casuals of course merged with The Corinthians, creating probably the world's finest amateur football club in history.

The Old Carthusians later lost to Oxford in the 1911-12 Final 2-1, played at Ipswich and after a huge gap, more recently appeared in the 2010-11 Final, when the OCs were beaten by old rivals, the Old Boys of Shrewsbury School (Old Salopians) 3-2 at Winchmore Hill. In 2016-17 once again the OCs were beaten by Polytechnic 4-1 at Northaw.
Many clubs play as an "open club" meaning that anyone can join  in. The OCs remain "closed" and only old boys who have attended the school play. It is a remarkable achievement that the club competes favourably at this level of non-pyramid amateur football and it is a reflection on the quality of soccer played at the school.

HAMMERS AND COTTAGERS

February 10th 1975, Southern League, Wimbledon FC, played top team Leeds United in the 4th Round of the FA Cup and held them to a draw 0-0 at Elland Road. They then hired Selhurst Park for the replay and lost 0-1 to a deflected goal.
In their First Round tie the Wombles had beaten Bath City 1-0 at home, then took on Kettering Town in the 2nd and won 2-0 at home. In the Third Round they beat Burnley away 1-0.

As the cup carried on, Leeds beat Derby in the 5th Round, then took four games to lose to Ipswich Town in the 6th.

The eventual cup finalists were West Ham and Fulham.
Fulham had a "Grand National" run to Wembley taking 3 ties to beat Hull, 4 to beat Nottingham Forest, 1 to beat Everton and 1 to beat Carlisle United.

West Ham had fewer obstacles beating Southampton, they took two games to get by Sunderland, 1 to beat QPR, 1 to beat Arsenal and then they met West Ham in the semi-final.

Both semi-finals included a drawn first tie.
Fulham eventually got rid of Birmingham City (1-1 and 1-0) and West Ham beat Ipswich (0-0 and 1-2).

West Ham then met Fulham in the Cup Final winning 2-0.
This is a nice link:
http://theyflysohigh.co.uk/1975-fa-cup-final/4547039275
and a short Film
https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-iba-1&hsimp=yhs-1&hspart=iba&p=1975+FA+Cup+Final#id=1&vid=3c6a9f99544a109acdf156b1bcbc2655&action=click

John Lacy of Fulham played for London University Football Club against Cambridge University (and others) in the early 1970s and then signed for the Cottagers.

A DAY ON THE FURNESS PENINSULAR-ROLL OUT THE BARROW

It has been quite a day in the far North-west of England! I graced Grange-over-Sands with my presence. I could have visited Kendal Town FC or Ambleside had I not been drawn to an intriguing match at AFC Barrow (in Furness) and Aldershot Town FC (in Hampshire). A Non-League fixture with home team Barrow in 14th place and visitors, the Shots grovelling in 22nd place out of 24, clearly in the drop zone! The coach driver (I knew him from days if old when Farnham Coaches used to ship our kids around the south of England!) told me that the journey for the spectators had been around 6 hours with stops. Dedication!

I don't expect for one minute that any Old Carthusians are reading this, but if you are and you happened to do the formidable Lakes Field Trip at an annual Easter, then you might have done time in Vickers' (now BAE) shipyard; an industrial visit all important to A Level geographers. Note the submarine!

So North meets South and in this encounter at the Holker Street stadium, overlooked by Cumbrian mountains and windmills, Aldershot lost a tough battle 2-1. There were well constructed goals, with AFC Barrow taking the lead after 22 minutes, the visitors replied after 59 and then at the death Barrow snatched the winner by an own goal (deflection) in 90 + 7 minutes. We could see it coming.

1500 or so watched the game including a coach load of Hampshire boys, a few of whom let their club down by some unruly behaviour. It was a good experience and I spent most of the game amongst the visitors and next to the Aldershot captain's dad, a charming man. Aldershot are in the danger zone and Barrow unlikely to reach play off status.

What a good experience! Tea at £1 a mug, entry too expensive for a "concession" and £3 to transfer to the seated area which I decline.Both teams of course have been in the Football League and are unlikely to regain their status; shame but there it is.

Today Blackpool FC rose from the ashed of the Oyston family to be run by their own supporters at last. Their "seaside" derby v Southend Utd ended 2-2, so I guess the Tangerines were happy with that.
I liked Barrow and in the town was this statue...a footballer (not Rugby League). It is of course Emlyn Hughes, a tribute to that lovely man. Born in Barrow, he starred for Liverpool and England as you know. he died at 57 years old. Far too young!

Mentioning Old Carthusians...if you are vaguely interested in the genuine amateur footballer, then this band of Old Boys have made their way into the AFA (do you know who this association is?) Cup Final once again beating the favourites on penalties. Look it up!

MOORE AND MORE FOR FULHAM

Today in 1974, I was into my last term at University, completing a PGCE year, before entering the big world of teaching. England had won a World Cup in 1966, got blown out in 1970 and were trying to qualify in 1974.

The nation's hero from that era, Bobby Moore, on that day, was being fobbed off by West Ham to join Fulham with a few old friends. Alec Stock and Alan Mullery contrived to get Moore along to Craven Cottage along with George Best and Rodney Marsh. All a bit of a show biz eleven! It didn't last for long.

Fulham and Moore, ironically, met in the 1975 FA Cup Final at Wembley, which saw Alan Taylor bag a pair in a Hammers 2-0 win. It was Moore's last win at Wembley.

It took 7 games for Fulham to dispose of Hull City, they then met Nottingham Forest; in the 5th Round it was Everton and then Carlisle Utd, and SEMI-finally  Everton in the semi-final.

It was a remarkable run which no doubt had a lot to do with their "signed on " professionals.
In the end the Fulham team was:
Mellor, Cutbush, Fraser, Muller, Lacy (a London Uni graduate I played against), Moore, Mitchell, Connor, Slough, Barrett, Busby Sub: Lloyd. AN ALL ENGLISH TEAM REACHING THE FINAL, and all their wins ended away from home.
Ref: Pat Partridge
 

COCKS v FOXES

March 7th 1959 saw Spurs beat Leicester City 6-0 in a First Division League match.
Previously, after results were not going well, Bill Nicholson dropped Danny Blanchflower, only to restore him against the Foxes. Blanchflower, a half back, scored and Terry Medwin got 4 as the Spurs cruised to a 6-0 win.
David Dunmore got the other. Dunmore (now 85 years old) from Whitehaven, Cumbria, played 75 games and scored 23 goals  from 1953-9. He was bought from York City for £10,500.
The first time the two teams met was on January 10th 1914 in the FA Cup when the two drew 5-5. Spurs later progressed, 2-0 five days later.
On the 10th February 2019 Spurs won 3-1 in the Premier League. The also met in the 1961 FA Cup Final, Spurs winning 2-0 to get the "Double".

Eventually Tottenham came 18th out of 22 in the First Division that season. Tottenham's goal record for the season was For 85 and Against 95. Spurs beat Everton 10-4, Nicholson's first game as manager, then Chelsea 4-0 in September, Luton 3-0 and in the final game of the season WBA 5-0, Bobby Smith scoring 4. They drew also with Portsmouth 4-4 at home having drawn 1-1 earlier.

Champions Wolves scored 110 with 49 against, runners-up Manchester United 103/66, 3rd were Arsenal 88/68.

Leicester in 19th place scored 67 and conceded 98.
In 20th place was Manchester City (who were 5th in 1957-8) conceding 95,
in 21st was Aston Villa who let in 87 and root was Portsmouth letting in 112.
There were plenty of goals about. I remember watching a game or two at Fratton Park that season, Birmingham, 1-1 draw sticks in my mind.

WHO ARE YA?

On March 6th 1962, Accrington Stanley resigned from the Football League with debts around £60,000, a lot in those days! They had no money to pay electric bills, gas, water, telephone, let alone pay players. Several days later the club's directors changed their mind but by then the Football League decided it was too late, so their 33 matches in the League were declared void. The Lancashire town, Accrington, then was 44 years without a Football League club.
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/accrington-stanley-who-are-they.html

There was a team from Accrington in the Football League at the League's founding in 1888. Five years later the club folded and a new one was formed based on Stanley Road at the local Working Man's Club and known as Stanley Villa. Eventually the two merged to form Accrington Stanley.

The club eventually played in the Lancashire Combination and joined the Football League Third Division North in 1921, coming 5th in the division,, staying there until 1962 when they left the Fourth Division with no record.
That season the following clubs were in the same division as the Accies:
York City, Wrexham, Aldershot, Workington, Barrow, Darlington, Southport, Exeter, Chesterfield, Chester, Bradford PA, Hartlepool, Halifax....to name a few!

For four years, the Accies played in the Lancashire Combination and made its home at the Bold Street WMC, moving to the Crown Ground in 1970.
The sale of local lad Brett Ormerod to Southampton and a "sell on clause" financed the club's revival winning the Northern Premier League in 2003 and they were promoted to the Football League after winning the Conference in 2005-6. The club is presently in League One having been promoted in 2017-18 from League Two.
 The motto reads "Industry and Prudence Conquer". Well mainly!
https://accringtonstanley.co.uk/club-info/history/

CHARITY BEGINS WITH THE CORINTHIANS

Having been to the Independent Schools' FA U18 Cup Final last night at MK Dons, many would assume that the finalists were made from posh, privileged kids who wore tails and stiff collars in class. Well Eton College didn't get to the final, and if you read last night's blog there's more to tell.
Far from posh kids and if you read the Daily Telegraph Sports' section today you would get a decent reflection of what Independent Schools football is all about. The Independent Schools FA is the modern version of what were once known as the "Public Schools" and many famous footballers played under that social banner from the invention of Association Football, the original laws being fixed in 1863, hence the FA.

On the 5th March 1904 the Sheriff of London's Charity Shield was played, the fore runner of the  FA Charity Shield and later the Community Shield. Sir Thomas Dewar gave the first "Shield" for the match played between the "top" amateur team in the country and the "top" professional side, with proceeds from the match going to local hospitals and charities.

In 1904, the Corinthians were undoubtedly the top "gentlemen" club and professional Bury FC were the FA Cup winners, having won the Final in 1903, beating Derby 6-0. Bury had also been FA Cup winners in 1900 beating Southampton 4-0. Derby had been in three finals and three semi-finals by then (they also got to the semis in 1904 too) always finishing second best.

The Shield match was played at the Queen's Club, which was the Corinthians' home ground and is now of course is a tennis venue. After 10 minutes Bury were 2-0 up and then the Corinthians cut a "wonderful dash", quickly recovering as Bury were 4-2 down at half time. By the end the Corinthians won 10-3.

In 1908, the AFA, who were keen to support the Amateur ethics of the game, split from the FA which favoured professionalism. By then the Shield was competed for the best team in the Football League and the best in the Southern League. In 1907 it was Newcastle United who won the Shield and in 1908 The Charity Shield was established fought out by the Southern League Champions and the FA Cup Winners. That eventually changed into The Football League Champions v The FA Cup Winners.

ISFA + ESFA

I want to alert you to the following two Schools' websites. The first is the Independent Schools FA (ISFA) website whose annual finale, their U18 National Cup Final is being played out at MK Dons this evening. The two schools involved are Millfield School from Somerset and Royal Russell School from Croydon.

I am driving south to enjoy the hospitality of ISFA, an organisation I was a committee member for a number of years from its "infancy". David Elleray is the present chairman and the association does much good work for all ages and both genders from independent school!
MK Dons very kindly host the ISFA Finals and have done for a number of years now. Have a look at the website and make sure you include the other age group finals, impressive representative sides and "Alumni" including Frank Lampard and others still fulfilling their dreams of playing in the top flight.
https://www.isfa.org.uk/index.php/competitions/boodles-isfa-cup


Another website to enjoy is the nation wide English Schools' FA (ESFA), by far a bigger organisation than ISFA, and enjoyed by the independent schools as well. Repton School from Derbyshire and Hampton School from Surrey are both semi-finalists in the ESFA U18 Schools Cup.
ESFA has produced many professional footballers, who have served their time at school, played for ESFA at various age groups and made their way in the world of Association Football.
https://schoolsfootball.org/

Don't forget that each County and local district schools have their own associations, so you may find something that serves your home area.

MERSEYSIDE DERBY

Everton FC were founded in 1878 and from 1884 played their home matches at Anfield, which was owned by club chairman John Houlding. Several board members of Everton were members of the Liberal party,  who were associated with the National Temperance Foundation, whilst Houlding was a Conservative Party member and a brewer whose business interests were diametrically opposed to the temperance movement. Politics and disputes over money meant that Houlding was increasingly at odds with other members of the Everton board. Friction arose between the retention of an autocratic ownership structure versus the creation of a more democratic one which closely mapped the sociopolitical divide. The result was that the Everton directors vacated Anfield in 1892 and purchased a new ground at Goodison Park, on the other side of Stanley Park. Houlding responded by creating a new club, Liverpool FC to use Anfield.

The professional football clubs of the 1890s attracted much interest among the public, both on and off the field. The 1867 Reform Act had given what would become football-attending masses the opportunity to vote in the local and national elections. Everton and Liverpool attendances would reach around 10–15,000 in a local authority ward with a population of 23,000. Local politicians saw involvement in the two football clubs as an opportunity to gain media exposure to the local electorate. Irish roots and religion are also sometimes considered as theories for the split on the grounds that Houlding was a prominent Orange Order member, while Everton's new chairman George Mahon was a rival Liberal Home Rule-advocating MP. 

Orangemen are strongly Unionist, whereas someone favouring home rule for Ireland was in favour of some degree of separation of the whole island of Ireland from the UK. The city of Liverpool has more Irish blood than any other city in the UK, with the possible exception of Glasgow, and division between Protestant and Catholic groups in Ireland closely matched the division between Unionism and Republicanism in Liverpool. However, at the time of the split, James Clement Baxter was the only Catholic among the Everton committee members whereas the rest were Protestants.

There are a number of reasons for the "friendly derby" name. Firstly, both of the clubs' home grounds are situated in the north of the city and are very close to each other (just under a mile) with only Stanley Park separating them. From 1902 to 1932, the two clubs even shared the same match day programme. Today there are no evident geographical, political, social, or religious divides as there are in other derbies, although a sectarian divide did exist within the city for many years. It is unclear how, if at all, this influenced the support bases of the two clubs and research conducted in 2013 indicated that it was more likely to have been a political allegiance that influenced support. During the 1950s and 1960s, Everton became known as the Catholic club mainly as a result of successful Irish players.This in turn caused Liverpool to be thought of as Protestant club, especially as they did not sign an Irish Catholic player until Ronnie Whelan in 1979. However, this divide was never seen as a basis for supporting a certain side, as is the case with teams such as Celtic and Rangers. In truth, both teams have strong support from all denominations. Most importantly, the actual clubs themselves did not act to strengthen sectarian divides, and both stem from Methodist origins.

A 0-0 draw today ended the 284th Merseyside Derby, held at Goodison Park. 

The first match between the two was held at Goodison Park ended with the Toffees winning 3-0. 44,000 watched and since then all matches have been played either in Premier League since 1992 or in the First Division. They have never played each other in any other division except during the war (The Lancashire Section League 27/11/1915-20/12/1919) and the West  Region War League between 2/12/1939 and the 29/12/1945.

There have been FA Cup 24 games, Football League Cup 4, FA Community Shield 3, Football League Super Cup 2.

There have been various Cup Ties the most recent the FA Cup Third Round on January 5th 2018 won by Liverpool 2-1. 
Ian Rush is the top "derby" scorer  25 goals    Neville Southall top appearances 41 in goal.
In 1984 the Football League Cup Final was played with mixed seating at Wembley and was known as the Friendly Final. Given supporters of both teams mainly live within sight of each other  (the grounds are certainly very close), it is known as the Friendly Derby.

Competition	Played	Liverpool wins	Draws	Everton wins	Liverpool goals	Everton goals
Football League First Division	146	54	44	48	203	181
Premier League	59	25	24	10	83	53
FA Cup	25	12	6	7	40	28
Football League/EFL Cup	4	2	1	1	2	1
FA Charity/Community Shield	3	1	1	1	2	2
Football League Super Cup	2	2	0	0	7	2
Total	239	96	76	67	337	267

This derby is responsible for many records across all derby matches, largely due to it being contested on so many occasions:

• The longest unbeaten derby run in all competitions is held by Liverpool, with Everton failing to find victory in 23 consecutive games between 2011 and 2020. This streak is also the longest such run that Liverpool have had against any opponent in club history.
• The longest unbeaten derby run in home matches is held by Liverpool, with Everton failing to win in the league (plus two cup games) for 22 games between 2000 and 2020.
• The longest unbeaten derby run in away matches is held by Everton, with a 16-match run at Anfield between 1899 and 1920, which included ten victories.
• The longest unbroken winning run at home belongs to Liverpool, with five wins between the 1932–33 and 1936–37 seasons.
• The longest unbroken winning run away from home belongs to Everton, who won seven consecutive games at Anfield between the 1908–09 and 1914–15 seasons.
• Recent games have been marred by sendings off, and the fixture has seen 23 red cards in the Premier League, the highest tally for any fixture (though the 20th of these was subsequently rescinded by the FA). Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and former Everton captain Phil Neville both saw red twice in derby games.

The following are records just for the Merseyside derby itself:

• The record home victory in a league match is 6–0, recorded by Liverpool at Anfield in the 1935–36 season.
• The record away victory in a league match is 5–0, recorded by both Everton at Anfield in the 1914–15 season, and by Liverpool at Goodison Park in the 1982–83 season.
• The highest-scoring match had 11 goals, when Liverpool won 7–4 at Anfield in the 1932–33 season.
• Neville Southall of Everton holds the record for most derby appearances, with 41 across all competitions.
• Ian Rush of Liverpool holds the mark for the most derby goals with 25, overtaking Dixie Dean of Everton's long-standing record when he scored a brace in Liverpool's 3–2 win over Everton in the second all-Merseyside FA Cup Final in 1989.
• Willian C Cuff of Everton holds the record for the most wins as a manager, with 16 wins over Liverpool from 1901 to 1918.
• Tom Wilson of Liverpool holds the record for the most losses as a manager, with 21 defeats to Everton from 1896 to 1915.
• Record attendance: 78,599 at Goodison Park, 18 September 1948 (First Division)
  
• Lowest attendance: 18,000 at Anfield, 19 January 1901 (First Division) (* does not include matches played behind closd doors due to the Covid)
• Played for all three: David Hickson, John Heydon and Frank Mitchell are the only three players to have played for Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere Rovers the three main Merseyside clubs still in existence. New Brighton FC was a football league members from 1923 to 1951; Bill Lacey and Neil MacBain played for all three of Everton, Liverpool and New Brighton. John Whitehead played for Liverpool, Everton and also for Bootle in their one year as a league team (1892–93), before they were replaced in Division 2 by local rivals Liverpool FC.