TRENT BRIDGE (Football)

What come around goes around so I thought today I shall write about Trent Bridge. There's a wonderful game of cricket between Pakistan and the West Indies going on there; I fear it could end early as the WIndies and blowing the Pakistanis out of the game. Still, there 8 more games to go (each of the ten nations play all the others so it may not be all over yet-there is a semi-final and a final too). I have ventured towards Trent Bridge before:

https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2017/07/three-stadia-under-blanket.html
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/county-counting-costs.html

Sadly as I write, Notts County are on their way to the National League, having come second to bottom in League Two above Yeovil Town, having played 46, won 9 and lost 23 they scored 48 goals and conceded 84.
Here are the three Nottingham stadia and the River.

EUROPEAN CUP SINCE 1955-6

With the European Cup Final (Final tie of the winners of Europe's national leagues competing against each other) nearly on our screens, I refer to Liverpool FC, a team that has distinguished itself over the years since the European Cup was first played for since season 1955-56.
The English Football League did not enter their candidate for the European Cup until in 1954-5. Chelsea, as winners of the First Division in 1954-5 were not allowed to enter. They were drawn against Swedish Champions Djurgarden, but had to withdraw.
Manchester United were the first to join in 1955-6.

Tottenham Hotspur have nearly been to the final; I remember their semi-final defeat by Benfica back in the 60s.
In 1968 Manchester United beat Benfica 4-1 at Wembley..George Best and Bobby Charlton in their pomp.
1975 Leeds United lost 2-0 Bayern Munich in Paris
1977 Liverpool beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 in Rome.
1978 Liverpool beat Brugge 1-0 at Wembley.

Nottingham Forest had a spell at the end of the 1970s, beginning of 1980s during the Clough era and on this day in 1979 Forest met Sweden's, Malmo FF in Munich and they won 1-0.
The next year (1980) they beat Hamburg in Madrid and won 1-0.

This started a bit of an English invasion with......
1981: Liverpool beating Real Madrid 1-0 in Paris.
1982: Aston Villa in Rotterdam beating Bayern Munich 1-0.
1984: Liverpool beat Roma on Pens 4-1 after 1-1 in Rome.
1985: Liverpool lost to Juventus 0-1 in Brussels.

It all went quiet until:
1999: when Man U beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in Barcelona and then,
2005: Liverpool met Milan and after 3-3 they won on penalties in Istanbul, Remember?
2006: Arsenal lost to Barcelona 2-1 in Saint-Denis, France.
2007: Liverpool lost to Milan in Athens.
2008: Manchester United beat Chelsea 6-5 on pens after 1-1 in Moscow.
2009: Man U lost to Barcelona 2-0 in Rome.
2011: Man U lost to Barcelona 3-1 at Wembley.
2012: Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in Munich 1-1 on pens 4-3.
2018: Liverpool lost 1-3 to Real Madrid in Kiev.

National success:
Spain Winners 18 Runners Up 11
Italy 12/16  Eng 12/8  Germany 7/10  Netherlands 6/2  Portugal 4/5  France 1/5.
Winners and runners-up  once each: Romania/Scotland/Yugoslavia once each.
Runners up: Belgium, Greece and Sweden.

THE AZERBAIJAN AND TOFIQ PARTY CITY

This is TOFIQ BAHRAMOV
born in 1925, died 26th March 1993.  He was a Soviet club footballer playing for Neftchi Baku and he became a referee after suffering a leg injury. He learned his trade in the local and national leagues and eventually sat on the FIFA Panel in 1964, making his mark at the 1966 World Cup, when he was an assistant referee at the World Cup Final at Wembley which, of course, England won.

In 1966 he ran the line in an opening qualification match and in the Final claimed that for the crucial goal (England's third) the ball had "bounced back" from the NET rather than the bar and that the ball therefore had crossed the line! We believe him and of course so does Roger Hunt who should have tucked the "rebound" away having done his usual sneaking into the goal area looking for a tap in.
A Sky Sports Monday Night investigation on January 4th 2016 revealed that the ball did cross the line......hmmmm!

In 1970 Tofiq lined in 3 World Cup matches including a semi-final and in 1972 he took charge of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup Final when Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves met!! COYS
On retiring from refereeing he became General Secretary of the Football Federation of Azerbaijan.

In Germany he has set a legacy in football which manifests itself as a crowd chant of  "Wembley-Tor" whenever there is a dodgy goal awarded or not!

Tonight the Qarabag FK club's 31,000 seater Stadium in Baku is the venue for the Europa League Final between Arsenal and Chelsea. It is the National Stadium of Azerbaijan, named after the officiating hero. There is a statue erected to his memory. It was built after the War by German prisoners of war by 1951 and named the Joseph Stalin Stadium. In 1993 the named was changed for "political reasons" to the Vladimir Lenin and most recently, in 1993, it was named after their most famous referee, Tofiq. Here's Geoff celebrating the life of his favourite official.

So it is good to see two English teams in the Final, with one or two English players and coaching staff on board!

Baku, means "wind pounded city" and therefore is known as the "City of the Winds", is in the Caucasus Range, near the Caspian Sea, sited at 28 feet below sea level. the "lowest" lying capital city and the largest populated city lying below sea level in the world. Two distinct winds are common in over Baku; the cold, rough Khazri and the mild, gentle Gilavar.

Reports this week have told us that it is a beautiful and well appointed city, clearly proud to be hosting this final and it is going to be used in Euro 2020 as well as other celebrations such as Eurovision Song contest. It has recently been voted the 8th out of the 10 best Party Cities in the World.

SPURS OVERLOAD

27th May 1982 was the last match of the season for Tottenham Hotspur.

Their first official match in the 1981-2 season was the FA Charity Shield at Wembley against Aston Villa, a game drawn 2-2.
The last match of the season for Spurs was the FA Cup Final replay against QPR which was won 1-0 after a 1-1 draw.
On their way to the Final Spurs met:
Arsenal 1-0, Leeds 1-0, Villa 1-0, Chelsea 2-3, Leicester 2-0 at Villa Park.

In the final:
Hoddle scored after 110 minutes in the first game and Fenwick equalised in the 115th minute
The replay was a dull affair with Hoddle scoring a 6th minute penalty.

Tottenham ended up 4th in the First Division during which they met Liverpool twice, of course, drawing at home 2-2 in May 3rd and losing at Anfield 1-3 on May 15.

They were Runners-up in the Football League Cup, losing to Liverpool 1-3 at Wembley on March 13 and they reached the semi-final of the European Cup Winner's Cup.

In the European competition they beat Ajax 6-1 on aggregate, won 2-1 v Dundalk, 3-2 against Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 and finally losing to Barcelona 1-2.

Overall they played 66 games, 4 at Wembley (bit like now!).

They played 19 games during the final 2 months of the season.

The League record was: Played 42 W 20 D 11 L 11 Goals For 67 A 48

In the First Division that season were Notts County, Coventry and Ipswich, along with the usual suspects.

Here is Spurs record that season:
https://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/LeagueTables/Season1981-82/ClubResults/1981-82.Tottenham.html
and here's one done earlier
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2019/05/currie-gives-hoddle-runs.html

CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY OFF FINAL-ups and downs

The Football League Division 2 existed from 1892-1992.
This division became the Football League Division 1 in 1992 through to 2004.
Then it was named the English Football League Championship, just below the Premier League which became independent,

The EFL Championship Play-Off has happened today at Wembley, a procedure played since the 2004-5 season.
The three promoted teams are moving from the wealthiest non-top flight football division in the world.
It is the SEVENTH richest division in Europe. The winners earn £60m from TV rites directly and the loser keeps the "gate receipts" from the Play-off Final. There is more to come for the promoted side obviously!
Two teams have already been promoted from the season's success and one more plays through "Play-off" system.

WINNERS AND LOSERS
2005 Sunderland and Wigan were promoted: West Ham were the first club to progress through the Play Off Final. They eventually went down from the Premier League and progressed back to the Premier League again in 2012 through the Play-off system.
2006 Reading and Sunderland promoted automatically. Watford were Play-off winners.
2007 Sunderland and Birmingham City with Derby winning Play-off.
2008 WBA and Stoke went up with Hull winners, who were relegated and did it again in 2016 and they have been runners up once.
2009 Wolves and Birmingham were promoted. Burnley were Play-off winners, they have been Championship Champions in 2016 also and have had a runners up place in 2014.
2010 Newcastle Utd and WBA promoted with Blackpool who went up through Play-off Final.
2011 QPR and Norwich promoted with Swansea City after Play-off.
2012 Reading and Southampton promoted, West Ham from Play-off.
2013 Cardiff City and Hull promoted-Crystal Palace winners of Play-off.
2014 Leicester City and  Burnley promoted and QPR through Play-off.
2015 Bournemouth, Watford  and Norwich City from Play-off
2016 Burnley and Middlesbrough;  Hull City Play-off
2017 Newcastle, Brighton HA directly with  Huddersfield Town in Play-off; The Terriers were relegated 2019
2018 Wolves and Cardiff automatically with Fulham from Play-off, only to be relegated 2019.
2019 Norwich and Sheffield Utd; Aston Villa won Play-off having been beaten by Fulham last year.

Only the Second Division of the German Bundesliga has greater spectator numbers that our EFL Championship.
Barnsley has spent more seasons and played more games (over 3000) in the SECOND level of the English League system, more than any other club in the world.
On 3rd January 2011 the Tykes notched up their 1000th win at that level.
Derby County and Nottingham Forest have the longest "tenure" in the Championship, being present since since 2007-8...and so it continues!
Spare a thought for Derby County,

CELTIC TREBLE TREBLE

Celtic won a Scottish FA Domestic Treble again yesterday, the third time in three years!  This is not surprising news from north of the border, looking at who The Bhoys have to play against.
Need evidence?...watch the first 8 seconds of  yesterday's game between Celtic and Hearts! Celtic have won the Scottish Football League Cup, the Scottish FA Premiership League and Scottish FA Cup each season over the past three consecutive seasons.

Way back in August 2018, at the start of this season, Celtic beat Heart of Midlothian 2-1 at Tynecastle in the league to get the season going and on May 25th 2019, the two met with a similar result in the Scottish FA Cup Final at Hampden Park.

Celtic is the first club in Europe to secure a "Treble-Treble". It is also the first time that Celtic have won the Scottish Cup in three successive years. Rangers have done that twice and Aberdeen once in modern football.
In past years Queen's Park and Vale of Leven have done the hat trick, back in a day. In 1909 the Celtic v Rangers final was abandoned following a riot, after a 2-2 and 1-1 replay, so cup was awarded.

Queen's Park were the successful club early in early Scottish football history. The last time they won the cup was 1893 with 10 wins overall. Their last final was in 1900 and they have been runners up twice.
Rangers have won 33 cups and been runners up 18 times.

Over the "Treble Treble", Celtic played 141 games, won 112 , drawn 20 and scored 339 goals conceding only 82.
Sadly the celebratory bus parade in the city today was cancelled due to the Police having safety concerns.

In the 2016-17 season, the hoops had no defeats in domestic games, winning 47 games and drawing 4.

In 1966-7 Celtic won the Scottish Football League, the Scottish FA Cup and the European Cup (now known as the Champions League). They did this again in 1968-9 and in 2000-1.
They have done the Double 12 times.
They hold the World Record for 14 consecutive Football League Cup Final appearances between 1964-78.
In 1966-7 the club scored a World record number of goals scored in a season, 196.

Celtic holds the UK record for the longest unbeaten run by a professional league club 69 (60 wins 9 draws) in 582 days between May 5 2016 and December 17th 2017.
They have won the Cup 39 times and been runners up 18 times in 133 finals.

The club's roots were set in November 1887 and Celtic's first game was against neighbours, Glasgow Rangers (founded 1872). It was the club's first fixture and this took place as a friendly in May 1888. Celtic won 5-2. No hoops at the start! They started wearing hoops in 1903, see below.

IS STATUE GEORGE?

Its nice to see a football celebrity being celebrated, maybe by a statue?
Above is Ted Bates, who was a hero manager at Southampton for the 1955-73 years. It's not a great likeness to be honest, Ted was "bigger" than that, but recognisable by an accurate face.
You all know about the Ronaldo celebration at Madeira Airport. Dodgy eye!

And below, yes it's Maradona..serves him right.


Could be worse, look at Mo Salah's pitiful memorial below.

Here's a proper statue of George Hardwick at Middlesbrough, check out those boots I mentioned last time! Look up George he deserves some research, even its only through Wikipaedia. (bless)

So now to George Best, whose 73rd birthday is celebrated this week with the erection of this statue at Windsor Park.
Pat Jennings looks a bit miffed as does George's sister as the statue is unveiled.. Some say it looks like Lionel Ritchie, others Pat Jennings (which is why Pat is looking startled) and some say Kevin Keegan!

MIGHTY MAGYARS

England's heaviest defeat occurred on 23rd May 1954 in Budapest when they lost to the Mighty Magyars, Hungary, 1-7. The tourists had just lost to Yugoslavia 0-1 in Belgrade, a week earlier.

These friendlies were arranged as confidence boosting warm ups before the 1954 World Cup Finals in Switzerland. The FA planners were clearly short of a few brain cells choosing to take on the fabulous Hungarians that included the very able Ferenc Puskas, the Galloping Major, probably the best player in the World at the time. The Hungarians did lose to West Germany in the Final 3-2, although Puskas had scored in the final minutes, a disputed goal disallowed for off side. The match was held at the famous Wankdorf Stadium, in Berne, on July 4th.

Previously on 25th November 1953, at Wembley, the English suffered a humiliating 3-6 defeat to the Hungarians. 100,000 fans saw this one sided affair, England's team included Alf Ramsey, the 1966 manager, Stanley Matthews (very famous), Stan Mortenson who had scored a Cup Final hat trick in May at Wembley for Blackpool and George Robb of Spurs, earning his first and only cap, who later became the the Football Coach at Ardingly College, a school team I played against as an schoolboy and coached against as a teacher! Very nice man....George (not me necessarily)

The Hungarians left nothing to chance, for when they played at Wembley, in November, they trained on a pitch neat Lake Balaton in central Hungary, using a fog making machine to simulate the London weather. They also wore newly designed boots that were very supple, cut below the ankle bone, with no toe caps or solid soles. The English players found this footware amusing when the teams walked out from the tunnel at Wembley, but had no idea what was going to happen over the next 90 minutes.
Syd Owen, the Luton centre-half said "It was like playing against men from outer space"
The double hammering was the first time an international side had beaten England by 6 and more goals in two games.

CURRIE GIVES HODDLE THE RUNS?

The TITLE above suggests that QPR's Tony Currie was going to give the eloquent Glen Hoddle, the run around in the FA Cup Final! Read on.

May is Cup Final month, we all know that. On May 22nd 1982 Tottenham beat Second Division QPR in the Final, but without the Argentinian pair, Ricky Villa, who preferred not to play due to the Falklands crisis and and Ossie Ardiles, who had earlier arranged to join the Argentinian 1982 World Cup squad.
Managers at Wembley were Spurs' Keith Burkinshaw and Rangers' Terry Venables.

The clubs drew 1-1 at the first attempt at Wembley with a goal scored by Hoddle in the 110th minute (aet) countered by QPR's Terry Fenwick 115th minute goal.
Spurs crept in with a 1-0 win in the replay on the 27th, also at Wembley.

This was only the third FA Cup Final replay in the 20th Century and of course Spurs "retained" the cup having won it in 1981.
The Spurs, by now, had won the cup 7 times, equalling the record set by Aston Villa 25 years earlier and remained unbeaten in Cup Finals.
QPR missed out on promotion to Division One too and the FA had to wait another ten years to have a club in the final from outside the top division...who was that?

Actually in the replay, Currie tackle Graham Roberts "badly" and gave away a penalty from which Hoddle scored in the sixth minute....it was the winner.

It was Spurs Centenary Year, so things couldn't have turned about better! By this point in history they had won the FA Cup, the Football League Cup, The League Championship and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

On their way to the Final QPR drew with Middlesbrough 1-1 at home in the 3rd Round and then won away 2-3. Spurs beat North London rivals Arsenal 1-0.

In Round 4 QPR thumped Blackpool 5-1 at home, while Spurs were challenged with a 1-0 home win over Leeds Utd.

Round 5 saw QPR beat Grimsby Town 3-1 at home and Spurs had another tough one away v Aston Villa winning 1-0.

In Round 6 QPR beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at home and Spurs went away to Chelsea winning 2-3

The semi-finals were on neutral ground with Spurs winning at Villa Park against Leicester City 2-0 and QPR beat WBA 1-0 at Highbury.

Here's 5 minutes worth with Motty holding the mike.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-pty-pty_extension&hsimp=yhs-pty_extension&hspart=pty&p=fa+cup+final+1982#id=1&vid=fbe26fe8194dfecc6af17c2dbf93bfdf&action=click

AND SMITH MUST SCORE!

By May 21st 1983, Brighton and Hove Albion had survived in the top flight for four seasons, just but were relegated. On this Saturday the Seagulls played in the FA Cup Final at Wembley against Manchester United and had the chance to become the first club in history to win the cup and be relegated.
Seconds before the end of extra time, Gorgon Smith of Brighton had the chance to score a winner when the Radio commentator, Peter Jones, said "And Smith must score....and he hasn't scored....and Bailey has saved it."

The game ended 2-2 and it went to replay and Albion clearly exhausted by their first Final attempt were hammered 4-0, at Wembley, five days later.
They were so taken by the whole occasion that they named their Fanzine:"And Smith Must Score".

During the league season Albion beat United 1-0 at home in November and in March drew 0-0 away. In the cup they met Newcastle and won 1-0 at home after a 1-1 draw away, in Round 3. They then beat Manchester City 4-0 at home, Liverpool away 2-1, Norwich in Round 6 1-0 at home and in the semi-final, Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at Highbury. You know this is not a bad record!

Albion did win the FA Charity Shield in 1910, a pre-season game, which raised money for charity. Albion as Southern League Champions played Aston Villa as Football League Champions and sneaked 1-0 victory. They have not won any major honours apart from Sussex Senior Cup Final, when they featured in the Final, usually held at their ground, in the old days the Goldstone!

ODDS AND ENDS

In 1996, a firm of  Isle of Wight undertakers, William Hall of Newchurch, were offering coffins in the colours of the deceased favourite football teams. Punters were dying to take advantage of the offer.

In 1997, former Walsall captain Peter Hart announced that he was returning to the town, as the vicar of the local St Mary's Church.

The Rev Keith Sinclair, was annoyed at the staging of a league match between nearby Aston Villa and Chelsea, on a Sunday morning in March 1999,  suggesting that it would affect attendance at his Sunday service. So he had the church bells  rung all through the televised game.

Luton Town's first game at Kenilworth Road in 1905 was known as "The Green Game. The Hatters met Plymouth Argyle who played in green, the referee's surname was Green and the match was sponsored by a local brewer named Green.

Forfar Athletic's ground is the furthest "league" ground away from a railway station in Britain, both Arbroath and Dundee's stations are 14 miles away. Forfar's ground is known as Station Park. Once known as Angus FC, the original club dispersed and their reserves reformed as the Loons, Forfar Athletic.

SAINTS DOWN THE DELL

May 19th 2001 was the last competitive game played by Southampton in the Football League at the dear old Dell. Did you go there? I had an occasion to watch the Saints against Liverpool at the Dell, a tight ground, where a capacity 15,252 people enjoyed the match, an important time in history.

The Saints had played there for 103 years, having originally shared with Hampshire County Cricket at the County Ground. It was Arsenal who joined in the celebration. The Gunners twice took the lead with Hassan Kachloul, a Moroccan international, equalising. Matt Le Tissier, a 32 year old, came on as sub to score the winner in the 89th minute.

A week later Brighton and Hove Albion came to The Dell to play a friendly, a result that didn't matter much, but it made history because the first team to play at Dell was Brighton United on September 3rd 1898.

Brighton United was founded in 1898 and played in the Southern League. Their first league match was at Southampton's (It was actually Southampton St Mary's club at that time) new stadium, The Dell, losing 4-1.

Roddy McLeod, a Scot, who had previously played for West Bromwich Albion and Leicester Fosse scored United's one goal.  McLeod was in the WBA winning FA Cup Final team in 1892 and the WBA FA Cup Final losing team in 1895.

There were nine other Scots in the Brighton ranks. It looked as though the club had a few £££s to spare and were signing on a number of professionals, mainly from north of the border. The Scots were migrating past the "rich" Lancashire clubs and finding contracts in the south.
Bill Hendry, a full back, was another Scot, who had been at West Bromwich also and Stoke City, Preston NE and Sheffield United.
Maurice Perry, a Welsh international, had come from Liverpool FC and held two Football League Championship medals from the early 20th century.
Paddy Farrell was an Irish international and had been round the clubs.

Brighton definitely over stretched themselves however, despite a reasonable start in the League coming 10th out of 13th. In the next season they had to resign from the league in March 1900 with four games left. Their record was "expunged".  Brighton and Hove Albion reformed in 1901, joining the Southern League and joined the new Division Three of the Football League, when it expanded, in 1920.

THE PEOPLE'S CUP

Waiting for the FA Cup Final. The BBC coverage is just as good as those in college days when we would be up nice and early on the Saturday morning, breakfast and rushing our corn flakes and full kit to get into the student Common Room, bagging front seats. Only to find some nutters who had been there all night, surrounded by cans of cheap lager. Hey ho.

 This morning from my comfy sofa, the BBC has spent time on a tour of the St George's Park, the amazing centre for our nation's football at all levels and part of the TV coverage has been on the People's Cup. This is where the various teams from all the categories ended up playing their final games.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/fa-peoples-cup

Over 4000 teams played at over 240 venues have held qualifying competitions for teams hoping to play in the finals and bag a few tickets for the Cup Final at Wembley. I imagine the lucky lads and lasses will be allowed to parade on the pitch before hand.
Matches began in February whittling down all those competitors to finalists for 15 categories. These include;
Disability Youth, Men's University, Women's University, Youth Disability, Men's College Futsal (you know the "Brazilian indoor game", Mixed Walking Football, Adult Male Disability, Adult Female, to name a few.

ITS A MAY DAY NOW

Tomorrow's FA Cup Final is being held on May 18th. We have become accustomed to May being Cup Final month. However the length of the Football season is now longer and there are other distractions such as the League Cup and European football which has added more games. They all have to be fitted in! In the early days of the FA Cup, from 1872, finals were played as early as March 11th in 1876, when The Wanderers drew with the Old Etonians 1-1 and then met again on the 18th with the Wanderers winning 3-0.

In 1880, Clapham Rovers met Oxford University on April 10th at the Oval and won 1-0. The next year the Old Carthusians beat the Old Etonians 3-0 on April 9th.

Finals went back to March for a few years until 1895 when Aston Villa beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 on April 20th. Five months later the Villa lost the cup when it was stolen from a local jewellers' shop where it had been on show. April was the popular month for the final.

In 1937 when Sunderland beat Preston North End 3-1 at Wembley they played on May 1st with a crowd of over 93,000. Cup Final dates were creeping towards the end of April and by 1952 it was May 3rd when the Cup Final was won by Newcastle United who beat Arsenal 1-0, with a goal scored by George Robledo, whose brother Ted also played, both Chilean internationals.
Winston Churchill watched the game and presented the trophy to , United's captainJoe Harvey, the first Prime Minister to do so.
This victory was the first time that a club won the cup on successive years (1951 they beat Stanley Matthew's Blackpool 2-0). The final was then played within the first week of May until 1963 when Manchester United beat Leicester City on May 25th. In 1964 the final was played on May 2nd-West Ham beat Preston 3-2. In 1969 Manchester City beat Leicester City 1-0 on April 26th. In 1970 Chelsea beat Leeds United 2-1 in a replay on April 29th, after a 2-2 on April 11th. It has been a May event since.

I watched the 1984 Final in Christchurch, New Zealand when Everton beat Watford 2-0. It was ON May 19th and I watched it at 1.30 am. Elton was very much on show. Watford had climbed from Division 4 to the First Division in 5 seasons under Elton and Graham Taylor's control.  Six weeks later Elton was back at Wembley, playing a concert.
Tomorrow he is playing  at another concert  in front of thousands in Copenhagen and will miss the big game. His two sons will lead the team out.
The last time Watford beat City was 1989 1-0 in Division 2. The first time they played each other was in September 1982 in League Division 1 when City won 1-0. Watford got they own back 2-0 in the return fixture on January 3rd. City have registered 17 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses since they first met.

ONE THIRD OF A THOUSAND MILES (and return)

I saw my first professional football match at Fratton Park in 1958. Jimmy Dickinson was the super star and captain and I hoped to see Stanley Matthews when Blackpool came to visit, but he never played south of London! Shame on him. He was very much my hero.

So tonight Pompey host Sunderland in the League One play-off, the Black Cats are 1-0 up and tonight's game will probably bring as much tension as all our recent play-off games. Fratton Park will be rocking and I know Sunderland will use their attendance quota. It is 333 miles between the two towns.

Portsmouth joined the Football League in 1920 and Sunderland AFC was formed in 1879 as the Sunderland and District Teachers! and has played Football League since 1890.

Sunderland and Portsmouth first met on 27th August 1927 in Division One at Roker Park, playing out a 3-3 draw. The return game was just as exciting ending 3-5 to Sunderland at Fratton Park.

Pompey had been promoted in 1927 with Middlesbrough and they survived relegation coming 20/22 that season. Middlesbrough were relegated along with Tottenham!

Pompey came 20/22 the following season and Middlesbrough won Division 2 with Spurs hanging around 10th. Portsmouth survived Division One pressure eventually winning the title in 1948-9, again in 1949-50. In 1958-9 they were bottom again and relegated to Division 3 in 1960-1. Pompey won the Division Three title in 1961-2.
Overall Portsmouth have won 34 ties, Sunderland 38 and 34 have been drawn. Amongst these have only been 5 FA Cup, League Cup or FA Trophy games. Everything else has been League games.

The last time Sunderland beat Portsmouth was in 2008. The two have nine times since then and Pompey have managed a draw or a win.

THE CRAZY GANG-FA CUP FINAL

It was of course YESTERDAY that The Crazy Gang beat the Culture Club as described by the brilliant John Motson when he commentated on the 1988 FA Cup Final at Wembley. I was here with my son, Matthew and we were at the end opposite the Royal Box where the first goal was scored! I have the match programme...now signed by goal scorer, Lawrie Sanchez, who happened to be coaching at my school, Charterhouse, shortly after the big game.

David Beasant became the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in an FA Cup Final and he managed to keep out John Aldridge's spot kick.
It was remarkable occasion considering that the Wombles had been Non-League only 11 years before.
Another record is that Wimbledon FC became the SECOND club to have won both the FA Cup and the FA Amateur Cup. The other club...who else but the Old Carthusians FC, old boys of Charterhouse School now in Godalming. The OCs won the FA Cup in 1881 and the FA Amateur Cup when it was first played for in 1894, beating The Causals, 2-1 at the Athletic Ground, Richmond on April 7th. (The Casuals soon merged with anothe bunch of amateurs called the Corinthians, to make  the Corinthian-Casuals, the most famous of amateurs.)
BT Sport have recently documented "The Crazy Gang", a film about the rise and fall of Wimbledon FC....Sanchez, Beasant, Bobby Gould, "Harry" Bassett and Vinny Jones, all feature, in a very well put together film.
Worth a look!

HAIRSTYLES, SHIRT SWOPPING, AND FINALE

My roving reporter Chris made a comment about a footballer he saw on television recently who called upon the "trainer" to come on to administer treatment for an injury and noticed that the player spent more time adjusting his hair while the magic sponge was being put to use. I thought some photos of nice haircuts would entertain you......
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=footballers+terrible+haircuts+photos&fr=yhs-pty-pty_extension&hspart=pty&hsimp=yhs-pty_extension&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FSPzf1fQIs5o%2Fhqdefault.jpg#id=17&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FKLwPOIRBtn8%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg&action=click
Goodness knows what "Wor" Jackie Milburn would have thought about it all. That forehead was for heading not quiffs!


ON this day in 1931 England played the French for the 7th time, this time in Paris and having won the previous 6 by decent margins, they expected a bit of an easy run out. Not so, for the French turned out winners 5-2 and so excited were they that they asked the English players if they might have their shirts as a momento. The English FA graciously agreed and the tradition of shirt swopping began!

Prior to that defeat the English had won 1-4, 1-3, 2-3, 0-6, 1-5, 1-4 between the first ever international in 1923 (on tour) up to 1929. There was no game in 1930 and after the embarrassing defeat in 1931, they had another year off with matters resuming as normal in 1933 with a 4-1 win to England at White Hart Lane.

In 2017 on this day was the last league match for Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane which ended with a 2-1 win against Manchester United. Since 1899, it was Spurs' 14th consecutive league win and the 1993rd and final League match at the ground.

FROM IRONSIDES TO EXILES

AFC Newport County, once the Ironsides and now the Exiles, will be in the League 2 Play Off on May 25th at Wembley taking on Tranmere Rovers or Forest Green Rovers. FGR have a 1-0 deficit to make up tonight at their home ground, New Lawn, The "vegan" football club, sponsored by Dale Vince and Ecotricity, cannot hope to  put some "meat on the bone" but  can make Tranmere go away from Eco Park, with a loser's cabbage.

County "left Mansfield Town behind" in their wake, following their L2 Play-Off semi-final when goalkeeper Joe Day made the important save, as his team won a penalty shoot-out 5-3, following the two legged semi-final that ended 1-1. Michael Flynn's side scored 5 penalties out of 5 while The Stags could only convert 3.

This gave County a 12th win in succession, something they have not achieved since 1938. That season the club won the Division 3 South; behind them were Crystal Palace, Brighton and Watford.

You will know that Newport went out of business and the football league in 1988, so this video from the BBC documents the clubs history from that time. IT IS WORTH 8 MINUTES of your time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/47378514

Joining the Hellenic League and having to play at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, the club rose through the pyramid, eventually returning home, playing at Rodney Parade, a Welsh rugby union stadium from 2012.
Remember that this season County's progress in the FA Cup won many hearts; they progressed from Round 3 beating Leicester City 2-1 in January 2019, then beat Middlesbrough 2-0, after a 1-1 draw and then finally losing to Manchester City (of all people) 1-4. It was a memorable run.

Newport County joined the Southern League in 1912 and became founder members of the new Football League Division 3 in 1920.

BUSY WEEKEND FOR WEMBLEY GROUNDSMEN.

 On a weekend when Wembley is beginning to host the end of season play offs and other "final" games, I go back 12 years to May 12th 2007, when Stevenage Borough's captain, Ronnie Henry, climbed the 107 steps to the Royal Box, to receive the FA Trophy when his team beat Kidderminster Harriers 3-2. Just over 53,000 turned up to see the spectacle. This was the first match to be played at the "New Wembley".

The previous Royal Box had only 39 steps to ascend.
Seven days later Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in front of 89,826 crowd to win the FA Cup.

Yesterday the Class of '92 saw their well paid team, Salford City, beat AFC Fylde at Wembley, in the National League play off, to secure a place in the Football League next season. It has taken just 4 promotions in 5 years to fulfill their target of reaching the Football League. This is the first time that David Beckham and his fellow United investors have seen their team progress through the "top flight" of Non-League Football at the first time of asking.

Today at less special venues, the National League North play-off was between Chorley and Spennymoor Town ending with two goals at 103 minutes and 105 minutes to end 1-1. It went to penalties and Chorley won 4-3.
The South final was contested by Woking and Welling United, the southerners winning 1-0.
Chorley and Woking go UP!

The Northern Premier League Premier Division saw South Shields lose to Warrington Town 1-2.

On Saturday 18th May is the FA Cup Final at Wembley and the following day, The FA Vase Final is being fought out on Sunday 19th by Chertsey Town and Cray Valley PM (Paper Mills) at 12.15 with this year's FA Trophy following on between AFC Fylde and Leyton Orient 4.15pm ko. Definitely a Non-League Day.

Elsewhere in the Professional Development League finale, Leeds Utd U23 beat Birmingham U23 0, not at the National Stadium!.

FYLDE v SALFORD DERBY II

AFC Fylde will appear at Wembley today in the play off final from the top of the National League, the next step for the winners will be the Football League. The losers stay where they are and must
hope for another successful season in 2019-20.

Fylde came 5th in the Division, 8 points behind Champions Leyton Orient and Salford were 3rd.
Fylde from the Lancashire Plain have benefited from a sugar-daddy owner, David Haythornthwaite,  whose investments have created a new stadium opened in 2016 at Mill Farm Sports and valuable players. Manager, Dave Challinor, had the target of Football League presence by 2022. They had that stitched into the sleeves of their shirts. Challinor played at Tranmere R, Stockport Cty and Bury, before managing at Colwyn Bay.

Fylde are also strutting their stuff at Wembley, a week later, in the FA Trophy Final, when they take on Leyton Orient, who are NL Champions and looking for a Double..

Fylde has been to Wembley before but in their former guise as Kirkham and Wesham when they won the FA Vase in 2008. That was 11 years ago! The Coasters had made progress from the merger of two smaller Lancashire clubs Kirkham and Wesham in 1988. The club changed its name to AFC Fylde in 2008 following their Vase win and now in the Football League 5th Tier, have risen from the West Lancashire League Premier in 1999/2000, through the NW Counties 2008-9, the Northern Premier 2011-12 and into the National League North in 2016/17. The present manager Dave Challinor took over from Kelham O'Hanlon, who over saw Fylde's promotion from 2009 until 2011.

Here is more of the club's history.
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/coasters-v-ammies-local-north-west-derby.html

Salford City FC of course are the project of the "Class of '92" whose investment has been televised and now sees the Greater Manchester club on the brink of the "big time". Local business Peter Limm  holds 40% shares of the club and each of the '92 have 10%, including David Beckham, of course. Karen Baird in Chairperson and Graham Alexander, manager.

The club was founded in 1940, moving to play at Moor Lane since 1978. The Ammies started in the Cheshire County League, joined the Lancashire Combination, through to the NW Counties League 2007-8, and the Northern Premier League North 2014-15, the Northern Premier League 2015-16 and the National League North 2017-18.

Both sides have come from Step 9, from where they have four promotions each.
Without marksman, Adam Rooney, injured taking a penalty in the semi-final win against Hampshire club, Eastleigh, Salford still hope to give their famous "board" something positive rewarding their financial input.
Manager Graham Alexander has been in charge since 2018, taking over from those two sweary rogues running the club in the TV Documentary. Alexander has played 40 times for Scotland and his career included Scunthorpe, Luton, PNE, Burnley and Fleetwood-833 apps.

Its 0-1 to Salford at the moment! (half time)

THE KEEPER

It was a good excuse. I didn't write a blog yesterday because I had a full day, in the land of great goalkeepers; Ron Springett, Alan Hodgkinson. It was Bert Trautmann that got me to a local cinema to watch "The Keeper", a lowish budget film about the German goalkeeper who stirred up the England football world in the 1950s.

Born in October 1923 in Bremen, Germany he "had no choice" but the join the Nazi war effort, so he found himself in the Lutwaffe, a paratrooper, who was awarded the Iron Cross.
During the war he attempted to save the life of a very young Jewish boy who was playing with a football. The boy was shot by a heartless German soldier and this haunted Bert for the rest of his life.
He was captured by an English troop and escaped several times from the Soviets, the French resistance
This didn't go down too well with the folks in Ashton in Makerfield, Lancashire where he was imprisoned and spent much of his time working on a farm in Milnthorpe and helped with bomb disposal in Huyton, not wanting to be repatriated after the war.

He was released from captivity and allowed to play for the local football club St Helens Town FC, in the Lancashire County Combination, whom he helped stave off relegation and enjoy success over a couple of seasons. Many locals demonstrated about having a German, a Nazi, playing for the local team, but the local farm owner and his lovely daughter and Bert's ability in goal eventually won the opposition over. Local club member Eric Westwood, a Normandy veteran, made the point that there was going to be "no war in this (City's) dressing room".

In October 1949 he was scouted and signed by Manchester City, beginning a longish career, appearing in all but 5 of the next 250 matches City played. He first wore Adidas football boots in England, introduced into the country by Adolf Dassler. Trautmann replaced the legendary Frank Swift at City.

In 1956 he was voted Footballer of the Year following on from his performance in the FA Cup Final, when diving at the feet of Birmingham City's Peter Murphy, with 17 minutes to go, he broke a vertebrae in his neck. Despite considerable pain he played on, won his medal and three days later he was hospitalised. He played at City until 1964, completing 545 appearances.

After City he went to Wellington Town in 1964 until 1967, then was  responsible for a German Football development scheme until 1983 and then managed football teams in Burma, Tanzania, Liberia and Pakistan. He was awarded the OBE in 2004 and elected to the English Hall of Fame in 2005.

During his marriage to Margaret Friar (1950-72), their young son was killed by a car, as he was chasing a football in to the street. This unsettled their marriage and caused a break down. Trautmann had two more marriages after that. He established the Trautmann Foundation which helped foster courage and sportsmanship.
He died in Valencia in July 2013. The film is out now.
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2019/04/bert-trautmann.html

END OF SEASON, END OF LINE

Wading through the Non-League Paper @ £1.50 a stunning weekly publication, I saw the following club records expunged from the various Step Leagues:
Step 3: Evostick Northern Premier-North Ferriby United due to debts of £7,645,25!
Step 4: Bostick Isthmian League South East-Thamesmead Town FC in October 2018 due to lack of funds.

Step 5: EBAC Northern League Div 1-Blyth (not the famous Spartans)
Step 6: Cherry Red Records Combined Counties Div 1-AC London
Step 6: Macron Southern Combination Div 1- St Francis Rangers
Step 6: Uhlsport Hellenic League Div 1 East -Bicester Town and
            Div 1 West Carterton and North Leigh Utd
Step 7: Abacus Lighting Central Midlands League North -Tideswell United and
            South- AFC Kilburn
          : Balcan Lightning Lincs League-Spalding Utd Dev
          : Bedfordshire League Premier-Rehnold Utd, Shambrook
          : Carlsberg South-west Peninsular Div 1- Appledore
          : Cherry Red Middlesex League Premier- FC Assyria, Tottenham Hale Rangers
          : Chromasport Peterborough Premier-Warboys Town
          : Corsham Print Wiltshire Premier-Westbury United Res.
          : Manchester League Premier-AFC Monton
          : I counted a further 8 Step 7 clubs including Godalming and Farncombe Athletic who have withdrawn from the Surrey Elite Intermediate League.


******In the Scottish Breedon Highland League, the one below the top tiers, Fort William came bottom played 34, Won 0, Drawn 2, Lost 32 For 21 Against 245
With -7 points having been docked 9 pts!
Two clubs had their records expunged in the Scottish and Welsh Leagues.

and what about Bolton Wanderers?
The good news is that North FerribyUnited is to rise like the phoenix in the Northern Counties East League under the new name of North Ferriby FC.

       

BILLY MEREDITH

Surrounded by thrown toilet rolls, this Spurs corner taker couldn't help his team get to 4th place in the Premier League on 7th March 2006. Playing West Ham, a dodgy meal of lasagne from the night before dogged the Spurs who under-performed. Arsenal got their passport into European Champions' League.

On the 7th May 1921 at Old Trafford, Manchester United met Derby County in a First Division League match, which United won 3-0. 10,000 watched the game.
At the end of the season United ended 13th out of 22 and Derby were relegated. This game was the last one played for United, by Billy Meredith, a Welsh footballing legend who appeared in two United championship sides (1907-8, 1910-11) and an FA Cup win 1909. He was the oldest player to pull on a United shirt at 46 years 281 days.

Meredith was an important part of footballing history, who with colleague Charlie Roberts, formed the "Players' Union" in 1907.
He played for Chirk (north Wales) at the start of his career, Northwich Victoria, then signed for City in 1894-1906 (339 apps 129 goals). He joined United in 1906-21 (303/35) and then went back to City 1921-4 28 games. He played 48 times for Wales (11 goals).

The first match between United (then known as Newton Heath) and County was on 31st December 1892. The first match between Manchester United (once the club changed its name) and Derby County was in 1906.

At Edgeley Park, Stockport County's home ground, there was a ban on matches being hosted there after crowd trouble, so County played their home game against Leicester City at Old Trafford after the First Division game. 13 supporters paid to get in and joined several thousands who stayed on from the watching the big game.

COUNTY COUNTED OUT

More unsporting behaviour this weekend, I am afraid...well having watched several vital league games this weekend, it is not surprising, that players try all sorts of wheezes, considering the rewards of success.

At Home Park, Plymouth Argyle  (ended 21st in div) took on Scunthorpe United (23rd) on Saturday. Scunny were 0-2 down, they fought back to 2-2 by the incident described below with 30 minutes to go.
Scunthorpe's chairman, Peter Swann, apologised for his club's unsporting behaviour.  Argyle's goalkeeper, Matt Macey, an Arsenal loanee, got injured and  tried to throw the ball out of play to get treatment. It was intercepted by Scunny's Josh Morris, who chipped the ball (brilliantly) into the empty net.Argyle scored a third to make it 3-2.

Both teams were relegated anyway after Southend United surprisingly beat Sunderland who were heading for the play-offs.

AFC Wimbledon (20th survived) also won at Bradford City (bottom at 24th).

Argyle's Twitter feed described the incident as the "Most unsporting goal in Home Park history". For teams that are desperate, at which ever end of the division they are, any thing goes, apparently.

Is there a system in football for punishing unsporting behaviour?

On the other hand, who gave Sol Campbell a chance of lasting any time as manager at Macclesfield? Under duress when he arrived, they were 4 points adrift and bottom of the Division Two table only a month ago. The club has no training ground, using pitches at the independent school, The Grange at Northwich. The club is also subject to a winding up order and has money problems. Sol oversaw 7 wins and 10 draws in 25 games since November and ensured the Silkmen's survival from the drop into the National League.

Elliott Durrell scores Town's equaliser against Cambridge United to ensure survival.
Notts County and Yeovil Town go down, leaving the Football League since its foundation in 1888. As of 2017-8 they have played most league games, 4894. They were a First Division side (that is Level 1 at that time) in 1991-2.

KIT COUNTS

Equality in sport is a big issue and it is more important now that there is worldwide coverage of sports through news and marketing. When Dick Kerr's Ladies were playing to raise money for the war effort, around the time of the First World War, their kit was modest and reasonably practical. Actually it was quite advanced and daring. Not all sports' kits were so suitable

Religious beliefs have an influence on sports' dress too! Many teenage girls drop out of sports because as they go through puberty they are inevitably more conscious about their bodies; The "Women in Sport" organisation found that 76% of school girls are self-conscious about their appearance and body, don't like getting sweaty and "don't like themselves in sports' kit". High numbers stop playing as a result.
Fashion always sets trends in sportswear. Advertising is crucial. Safety vital.

So the impact of of wearing the wrong kit goes beyond body confidence. Last year, Australian company Ida Sports crowdfunded its mission to design a football boot especially for women, of whom a majority were wearing small male or childrens' boots. There were no obvious options beyond footwear designed for "a footballer", so there is no particular boot designed to suit the female foot which is physiologically different from male. In 2016 Adidas revealed the first female boot. This year Nike has unveiled bespoke kits for 14 national  teams playing in the 2019 FIFA World Cup, the first time women have had specifically designed kits and not derivatives of men's kit.

Research has shown that women wearing inappropriate kit may be up to six times more likely suffer anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the knee more than men playing the same sports. There must be a link, especially with footwear.

It is not just the footwear that needs to be designed to suit the female form, there are stories of cycling saddles that appear to be designed for the male form. Saddle shape and position are designed by men for men; they don't suit the female "crutch".

Serena Williams feels more comfortable playing tennis in a "cat suit", rather than the traditional pleated skirt and collared shirt, which is fair enough, although she makes a fashion statement by choosing a Black Panther-style cat suit, usually not white, very much against what Wimbledon expects! Sponsorship holds the sway on that commitment.
At the French Open her choice of kit was banned, however she claimed that her 21st Century suit compressed blood clots. a complication experienced by her, after the birth of her child. This year the rules are going to be relaxed and more suitable dress allowed at tennis tournaments.

At the London Olympics (2012!) the Badminton World Federation tried to make skirts or dresses mandatory for female competitors "to ensure attractive presentation". The BWF eventually back tracked.

Netball players prefer to wear a Mizuno all-in-one suit rather than the traditional netball dress, which is still the norm in big international tournaments and just are not practical and revealing.

Female athletes, such as GB's Stoke born, Jazmin Sawyer, a Commonwealth and European medalist, perform in crop tops and "pants" which whilst practical, reveal much about their bodies and can be as she says "a distraction". Social media may respond one way or another about her appearance and stadia big screens reveal all to the world to the athlete running round the track.

So there you are....a strange series of thoughts stimulated as ever by something out of the press. I'm going to watch "The Keeper" this week the life story of Bert Trautman who played post war through into the 60's. I know he wore a woolly goalkeeper's jumper, woollen socks, and his gloves were probably made of cotton. Much has changed.

OFI MEETS ADIL NABI

Not the best location for writing this although Heraklion Airport departures lounge saw me and my footballing companion, Jerry, rubbing shoulders with OFI of Heraklion, the local football club. The lads, in their understated black and white trackies were off to Athens to play a "Super League" match for a club founded in 1925, against Atromitos tomorrow (5th in the division) at 5pm in the 5th month....what could possibly go wrong? 5-5 draw? I know you will look for the result.

Atromitos lie 4th (if only they were 5th) n the division, the top one in Greece, and OFI are 13th out of 16th, sitting on the edge of the relegation zone. OFI need a win.

Omilos Filathlon Herakleiou was founded in 1925 primarily as a sports' club where athletes especially enjoyed running around. The club developed football and after many challenges such as the 2nd World War, and including finding themselves in the National 3rd Division, won promotion to the top division in Greek Football last season. They have won the Greek Cup once in 1987, have won the Balkan Cup and played in UEFA competitions seven times, so they are no slouches.
OFI in 1954
The Balkans Cup was fairly prestigious being played amongst clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia since the early 1960s. It was made defunct in 1994 as other distractions came about such as the Europa League. In 1989-90 due to the Romanian revolution, the competition was suspended!

On the club roll is Englishman Adil Nabi, a WBA academy player, who has signed on for the season. He is a Pakistani muslim who played in the Indian Super League for Delhi Dynamos in 2015 and has turned out for Peterborough Utd, Nuneaton Town, Dundee and on January 20th this year scored two in a 3-0 win against Panetoliko. Adil is allowed a special Halal diet!

FAIR PLAY FROM AN ARGENTINIAN

This week Aston Villa's Jonathan Kodjia was badly injured having been fouled, after 72 minutes in a match between his side and Leeds United, a crucial game at the head of the Championship. Leeds players were asked by Villa to put the ball out of play, but they didn't stop the game to allow Kodjia to be treated by the medical staff and subsequently scored. Leeds' Klich scored during this part of the game, possibly earning his side crucial promotion points.
After some mayhem and various yellow and red cards, Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa instructed his players to let Villa score a goal which they did and the result ended 1-1.
Bielsa, an Argentinian, said after the game:
"English football is known around the world for its noble features".
 Leeds' next play off match might be against Derby, whose manager Frank Lampard accused Leeds of "spying" on his training sessions earlier on in the season.

Paulo Di Canio is often best known for his bad behaviour on and off the pitch, for example, pushing hapless referee Paul Alcock so that he fell to the ground during a "coming together" over an incident on the pitch OR performing the Nazi salute on the pitch when playing for Lazio OR smashing up his office at Swindon Town when he was sacked as manager.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbyhp&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbyhp&hspart=adk&p=pAULO+dI+cANIO+PUSHES+OVER+REFEREE#id=1&vid=2bd31b6a5216b053bc56cc28459a8ae5&action=click

BUT in 2000 when West Ham were playing Everton during injury time Di Canio's opposing goalkeeper Paul Garrard went down injured and when Trevor Sinclair sent over an inch perfect cross to Paulo, he caught the ball instead of scoring and ensured that West Ham did not take advantage of the goalkeeper's injury. The score remained 0-0, his team lost 2 points and D Canio got a FIFA Fair Play Award at the end of the season.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/5-most-vivid-moments-of-fair-play-in-football-history/5

When the Corinthian Casuals were blazing a trail as the founders of organised, amateur football in the 19th Century, they would never accept that any of their team would give away a penalty or indeed benefit from one. So important was their belief of fair play that they would purposely miss a penalty if one was given to them and they would instruct their goalkeeper to leave the goal empty if a penalty was awarded against them. They were usually so far ahead of most teams they met that this would not make much difference to the score, but they were real gents!

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbyhp&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbyhp&hspart=adk&p=moments+of+fair+pay+of+football#id=3&vid=51b11b53f359459ba2061a78d91afe59&action=click

EUROPEAN CUP FINAL 1962

The 1962 European Cup Final was played on May 5th, at the Olympisch Stadion Smsterdam between Benfica and Real Madrid. The competition was in its 7th season and Real Madrid had won the first 5 finals.
1956, '57, '58, '59, '60.

Benfica had broken the run by beating Barcelona in the final 3-2 in 1961.
To get to the final the Spaniards had beaten Hungarian side Vasas 5-1 on aggregate,
Danes Boldklubben 1913 12-0, Juventus 3-1 after a 1-1 draw and Standard Liege 6-0 in the semi-final.
Benfica had a bye, then beaten Austria Vienna 6-2, Nuremburg 7-3 and Tottenham 4-3 in the semis. I have the home programme, but didn't go to the game.



In the final the score went:
RM- Puskas  17th, 23rd minutes: 2-0
The Galloping Magyar, Puskas, yes he did look like this later......
Ben- Aguas   25 mins, Cavern 34 mins :2-2
RM- Puskas  38 mins: 3-2
Ben- Coluna  51 mins: 3-3
Ben- Eusebio 65 mins: 4-3
Ben- Eusebio 68 mins: 5-3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MondTrac_PQ
It was Eusebio's first European Cup Final appearance.

Real Madrid went on to bag 4 more European Cup/Champions League titles. 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and two UEFA Cup in 1985, 1986. + a few other things with FIFA and Super Cups.

Benfica lost to Barcelona in the European Cup 1961 Final 3-2
1962 beat Real Madrid 5-3
1963 lost to Milan 1-2
1965 lost to Milan 0-1
1968 lost to Man U 1-4
1988 drew with PSV 0-0 and won on pens. 6-5
1990 lost to Milan 0-1