LEON, KOPA AND JUST

This is my first test of the potential of Brexit on my life. In the very busy market of Erquy my financial advisor and I, purchased an historic postcard from the local historic postcard stall. I could have gone for a rural scene from Brittany's past but Bill asked the stall owner politely if he did "football" and our stall holder found a handful of postcards from the French footballing past.
I chose a likely looking photograph of a gentleman in a French international jersey, dribbling a heavy paneled ball with his 1960s leathery boots, secured by wide white (possibly yellow) laces that looped around the back of the boot, through a loop near the achilles and wound underneath the instep, tied in a formidable double bow on the instep. No wonder he had strong legs, carrying that stuff around for 90 minutes. He was Leon Glovacki. Here is the postcard:

The financial point I wanted to make a paragraph ago, was that this collector's item cost 8 Euros OR £7.24 for a bloody postcard!! Not even signed. It's almost £1 = Euro 1. Come on Boris.....

Leon was born in 1928 in Libercourt, France, to Polish immigrants. He began his career with a local company team but was soon scouted for Douai in 1947, moving on to Troyes and then Stade Reims for 186 appearances.

Leon had his greatest success with Reims, including two European Champions League Finals, the first in 1956 playing with the mercurial Raymond Kopa, another Frenchman. Reims lost to Real Madrid 4-3 in that final and then lost again to them in the 1959 Final 2-0 when Kopa was on the other side.

Kopa played for Reims between 1951-6 making 179 apps for 54 goals and again in 1959-68, playing 287 times and scoring 42 goals. A creator rather than a finisher. In between he was obviously going to play for Real Madrid.

Real Madrid had a hold on the Trophy for its first five years and have won it 13 times.

Leon also played with Just Fontaine, another brilliant Frenchman, who made his mark with Reims in the 1950-60s, playing 131 times and scoring 122 goals. Fontaine was another French international.

Leon went on to AS Monaco, St Etienne and played for his country between 1953-5, 11 times scoring 3 goals. He also featured in the 1954 World Cup Finals.
He then managed at Dijon, Avignon and Annecy between 1962-69. Leon died in Geneva in 2009.
In the search for historic and interesting detail, who cares?! Bill lent me 3 Euros.
Raymond Kopa.

DERBY BRETAGNE; NICE BADGES

The Derby Bretagne is referred to as any football match played between the football teams based in Brittany. This stretches from the Top Division French Ligue 1 where Rennes' (founded in 1901) players ply their trade, to the Championnat de France Amateur 4th Division, the present home of Quimper Kerfeunteun from Finestere, a club founded in 1905.




FC Lorient club,in Div 2, is known as the Merluccidaes-after the silver hake fish (see badge) a beast which gives much employment and nutrition to the locals who fish the Atlantic coastline. The club was founded in 1926.

Some would argue that Rennes v Nantes also Div 1, is the true Bretagne Derby, these rivals being the top two clubs in the region. Rennes display all the true Celtic symbols of their roots; you will know that there is a geological and historic connection between the Celtic lands of Britain and France-the link is obvious....isn't it? Keep reading. Their most recent meeting was in January with Rennes snatching it 1-0 in their Ligue 1 clash.

Nantes,also Ligue 1 and in the region is known as the true capital of Brittany. The club known as the Canaries and was only founded in 1943. Rennes much older, founded in 1901.


Vannes, in Ligue 2, is imaginatively nicknamed the Black and Whites whereas Stade Brest (L1) is nicknamed "Our Winds", reference of course to the coastal proximity to the Atlantic forces.

Stade Brestois, Ligue 1, is known as "Our Winds" was only formed in 1903, originally as Amorican Brest.
Guingamp 1912 are the "Coastamoricains" referencing their existence on the Amoricain geological plateau (massif) of the Cotes d'Amor, in north-west France!! Heavy stuff eh? This links up with the granite of South-west England, Cornwall and Devon. And then there is St Malo, the Diables Noirs formed in 1901 and playing in Championship National 2.

SHAKERS....BREAKFAST FOOTBALL??

Bury FC 1892
It has been a emotional few days at Bury FC and Bolton FC, as their futures in the English Football League are seriously under threat. Bolton Wanderers FC joined the EFL at its founding in 1888 and came 5th in the first season, whilst Bury FC was founded in 1885 joining Division Two (the only other division at the time) in 1894 won the Second Division at first try, by 9 points, promoting to the First Division. The Shakers held their own until 1911-12 when they came root by 12 points behind a struggling Preston. They were both relegated; Preston fought back to win promotion to the First Division the following season, Bury didn't, but War got in the way and they had to wait until 1923-4 before they won promotion again to Division One. In 1928-9 they were relegated again. In 1956-7 they dived down to the Third Division North, were placed in the new "national" Third Division when it was formed in 1959-60 and won it in 1960-1. In 1966-7 they were relegated again, and came straight back up to Div 2 the next season, only to go down immediately to Div 3 in 1968-9 and down again to Div 4 in 1970-1. Up again in 1973-4 and down again in 1979-80. It goes on, UP and DOWN...that's may be why they kept the nickname. And now truly DOWN??? but nothing to do with playing ability.

New to football is the Breakfast League! Yes, I bet there are lads all over the country who enjoy a bit of footsssy first thing. David Johnson-Rayner at Aylestone Park FC in Leicestershire, has made early morning exercise a little more formal by organising an morning football league for local teams who contain players who have been on a "night shift". Not sure how you police that, but I guess its open to anyone (not working at that time) and the idea is to catch the late night workers at the end of their shift, to get them exercising and to help their sleep pattern after a restorative post match breakfast. Good idea??

There will be facilities available at that time of day at Ayleston FC and local spots, where the hire fee might be cheaper at the earlier start.
It's not full blown football at the moment, but indoor, more like 5-7-a-side, Wednesday mornings, starting in October, 20 minute matches, two matches a day working over 10 weeks.

David has 8 teams registered at the moment playing in the league, an initiative allowing players to get good healthy exercise, a day's sleep and recovery before they get shipped back into the work place later in the day. Mental Health benefits have to be taken into consideration too.

He hopes to roll this out nationally once he declares the Aylestone League experiment a success.

http://aylestoneparkfc.org.uk/v2/home.php
Worth a look at this if you like to see Gary Lineker, a patron, say a few words on  a club video.

A REFEREE SPECTACLE

Overwhelmed by Ben's record breaking innings, it was Jack Leach who won the hearts of the ladies today in the press. The Old Carthusian Friars CC had a Leach type spin bowler and lower order batsman. Any OC or related cricketer reading this will know who I mean. Cracking lad, would get the glass cleaner out when he steamed up and would bat resolutely holding his end up. So, what a result and what a spectacle!

Of course it would be a Barnsley footballer who was the first player to wear contact lenses, Edward Bannister, would often be seen scrabbling about on the ground when one popped out. On a dark day when Bannister had a lens problem, he tackled the ref and it took Bannister's team mates to save him from being sent off.

Nobby Stiles of course was a short passer, who liked his colleagues to play nearby so he could see them! That also explains some of the diabolical tackles he committed, especially on Eusebio, in the 1966 World Cup semi-final. Good lad!

Alan Peacock of Middlesbrough had problems with the red and green parts of the colour spectrum having issues when playing Plymouth Argyle. A few professionals turned out in spectacles in the 1900s including Alex Raisbeck of Liverpool and the amateur goalie on Preston and Manchester City. They played at their own risk....what about the others?

Pat Partridge the referee was in charge of a game when a Stoke player lost a contact lens. He dropped his tossing coin on the pitch to mark the spot and sure enough after the game the groundsman found both!

Edgar Davids who suffered from glaucoma, played for Holland against Belgium in September 1999 and top clubs such as Milan, Juventus and Crystal Palace in 2012, and had "special safe glasses" made once FIFA agreed that new technology made spectacles safe. With 7% of men likely to have colour blindness, it is not surprising that referees have to have a colour blindness test before they are let loose. Needless to say refs and linesman have blind spots or just miss stuff. Thank heavens for VAR.....hmmm.

Before VAR, when Partick Thistle played Dundee Utd in February 1993 Paddy Connolly of United shot and his shot entered the goal, hit the stanchion and the ball rebounded to a Patrick defender picked up the ball and threw it to his goalkeeper. The Dundee players celebrated, but the Thistle goalie booted the ball downfield and the referee waved "play on". He missed the goal and the handball! Referee, Leslie Mottram, a Scot, reffed in the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals and 1996 UEFA Tournament in England, ending up in Japan..

OH, ME OF LITTLE FAITH!

Well I got that wrong yesterday! And full credit to Stokes and Leach who have made history. Phew!
So comebacks?

I could tell you again about England losing to West Germany in the quarter-final of the 1970 World Cup....starring Alf Ramsey, Bobby Charlton and Gerd (The Bomber) Muller. But I don't want to have that sinking feeling like I did yesterday afternoon when Jack Leach wandered out to bat with Stokes!

What about the 1954 World Cup; The Miracle of Bern when Hungary and Puskas over ran West Germany (yes again) to go 2-0 up, only to throw the game away in the final 6 minutes losing 3-2 after a Welsh linesman denied Puskas another goal for offside with 4 minutes left-disputed.

There's Bayern Munich and Man Utd in the Champions League bonanza 1999 or Liverpool and Barcelona in Istanbul 2005, The Reds losing 0-3 to win 4-3 or best of all (to some)..........

21st December 1957, Charlton Athletic 1-5 down to Huddersfield Town with 27 mins left and down to 10 men, winning 7-6. Johnny Summers scored 5.

In 2012 in the League Cup, Reading threw away a 4-1 lead at half time to concede to 4-2 with 5 minutes left, 4-4 after 89 mins and into extra time, then 5-4 up, THEN 5-5 with 4 mins to go lose 5-7 to Arsenal.

But surely, nothing can beat this Motherwell v Hibernian classic on May 5th 2010. You must watch this....last goal?!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQvQEFczWis

DON'T LEAVE BEFORE THE END

I wouldn't be surprised is England lost their test match this afternoon to Australia on a hat trick. Our brave English boys seem capable of doing anything unusual to lose this game and Ashes. The hat-trick may be related to the "collection" made after a bowler took three wickets. In football, the hat trick may be considered to be three goals by an individual player during the game; or 3 consecutive goals is an even greater achievement; the best hat trick is a left foot, right foot and header (maybe off the chest, collar bone etc so long as VAR doesn't come into use.

Gareth Bale scored a hat trick (3 goals) in a Europa League game  in October 2014 when Spurs beat Greek's Asteras Tripolis 5-1. He then went in goal after Lloris was injured and fluffed a shot to let the Greeks in for their goal!

Southport's Billy Holms got married in the morning on 30th October 1954. He then scored a hat trick for Southport FC in an afternoon 4-1 defeat of Carlisle in Division 3 North. He was scoring all day.

On February 11th 1922 at Bury FC, Bill Poyntz became the first Leeds United player to be sent off in a League match. The following week he was married on the Monday morning, scored a hat trick in the afternoon in a 3-0 defeat of Leicester City in the Second Division, completing an eventful few days.

In November 1946 Liverpool's Jack Balmer, below,  scored three hat tricks in the First Division on three consecutive Saturdays. On the 9th: 3 v Portsmouth at Anfield; 16th 4 v Derby at home; 23rd  3 v Arsenal at Anfield.


The quickest Football League hat trick was scored by Bournemouth's youngster, James Hayter started the game as a sub. On Tuesday 24th February 2004 in a 6-0 defeat of Wrexham in Division 2 at Dean Court, he was brought on and scored in the final 6 minutes. He bagged 3 goals in just over 2 minutes. His parents and brother left the game early to catch a ferry back to their home on the Isle of Wight,  before he came on and missed it.

COLLIERY v ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

http://www.thefa.com/news/2016/nov/02/history-of-the-fa-cup
It is FA Cup weekend with the Preliminary Round taking place over the weekend. There has already been an Extra Preliminary Rd. Local side Penistone Church FC was beaten by Skelmersdale FC during the week in a replay with PCFC having earned a 1-1 draw away from home. They didn't make much of home advantage and were thumped 2-5 ending their campaign. Skem have made no further progress losing to City of Liverpool FC today 2-1.

Another local club to me, Stocksbridge Park Steels FC (Jamie Vardy's old club) lost to Irlam from over the Pennines 2-3. Stars of TV in the last round, Broadbridge Heath FC, one of those "small clubs" in West Sussex, that must have had serious investment, beat Hasting United 6-1, away.

Bear in mind that Bobby Smith (yes the Spurs and England CF from the 1960s), once played for Hastings United in the FA Cup against Horsham Town FC (I was a young schoolboy at this time and went to the game) in the 1966-7 season. I watch this "hero" lollop around the Queen Street pitch, not helping much in a defeat. In the next round Horsham met Swindon Town at home with Don Rogers (remember him?) and eventually caved in. But a brave effort in front of a record crowd, they lost 0-3.

A curiosity in this year's next round could have been a tie between Loughborough Dynamo FC v Loughborough University FC. Dynamo drew 2-2 with Shearwood Colliery, so still have a hand on the cup, but the students lost 1-4 to Maltby Main FC, another colliery team (by name).

Which brings me on to Pontefract Collieries FC, the Colls, a club founded only in 1958, (NOW Level 8, Northern Premier League Div 1 North-west).
They entertained Hebburn Town FC from the north-east, Tyne and Wear, (NOW Level 9 in the Northern League which was founded in 1882-the second oldest league).
The Pontefract ground is in the shadow of some cooling towers, a busy "coal delivering" railway line with huge numbers of trucks per train, the Town Castle and the Liquorice Bush pub-see below-next to the Luxury Gentleman's Grooming shop. Pontefract Cakes......we didn't find a shop selling them.

Hebburn are known as the "Reyrolles" from the original company team based on an electrical engineering firm.

I went to the game with Steve Beckwith, a local dedicated junior football coach, who just needed to watch some adult football at the National League standard to give him ideas.
Despite the difference in rank, the game ended 1-1 and with 11 v 11 on the pitch, remarkable....a forgiving ref!)

Nice badge, young club.....remind you of any other club??
And that was an FA Cup tie....replay in the midweek! I am not going.

KICKS FROM THE PENALTY MARK

Not being totally convinced by Pogba's recent antics at the penalty mark, I have little sympathy for him, the lad who should have taken it or the manager of their side. All that should have been decided in the dressing room before the game and if it was then Pogba needs fining or made to run a long cross-country. So boo to him. Here's one pen he succeeded in!
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrCwGGsF2BdS1EA5gsPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=pogba+penalty+kick&type=ckyolo-tg082019%3A%3AcG9nYmEgcGVuYWx0eSBraWNr%3A%3AcG9nYmEgcGVuYWx0eSBraWNr%3A%3At&hspart=pty&hsimp=yhs-pty_extension&param1=20190206&param2=59a55b3e-4583-462f-a572-add7d7bd1d00&param3=template_%7EGB%7Eappfocus1&param4=d-ccc2-lp0-dsf_template--bb8%7EChrome%7Epogba+penalty+kick%7E6618CE2CC373E957E627A33B5BFCB3D0&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-pty-pty_extension#id=53&vid=4c8c0f82c524da5a921aef87edaba00f&action=view

The penalty kick in Association Football was accredited to William McCrum (some references say McGann) who played for Milford Everton, later known as Armagh City FC. He was a goalkeeper who persuaded the Irish FA to propose a law concerning penalties to the International FA Board (IFAB).

The idea of penalising players inside the area was originally turned down because recognising a serious infringement of the laws within 12 yards of the goal admitted "ungentlemanly conduct", which just didn't happen because every footballer was a gentleman.
Indeed the Corinthians would stand aside if an infringement of that kind occurred in one of their games, they didn't believe such misconduct would be possible. So they would let the penalty be taken into an empty goal or purposely miss one given to them!

The penalty spot appeared in 1902, previously the kick could be taken anywhere along a parallel line 12 yards from the goal line.
The D was introduced in 1937 on the introduced 18 yard line, to keep all players 10 yards from the pen spot which by this time was central-still 12 yards away.

In 1891 Notts County were beating Stoke 1-0 in the final throes of an FA Quarter-final Cup tie. Hendry of Notts County fisted the ball away with his goalkeeper beaten. The maximum punishment was an indirect free-kick and Stoke failed to take advantage of a kick inside the penalty area (probably even closer!). County won and reached the Cup Final. Laws had to change!

Goalkeepers of course are allowed to take penalties and the appropriately named Ernie Scattergood  of Derby County, scored three out of three in 1913-14 and then took them for Bradford Park Avenue in 1921-2 until South Shields keeper Willis Walker saved one.
Which South of England footballer (not a gk) won 8 England caps and converted 47 out of 48 pens? Le Le La La!
and here's the pk history in Scotland.
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-first-penalty-kick-in-scotland.html
This is Willie Foulke, a huge man and goalie, who wore a red shirt when playing for Bradford Park Avenue against Accrington Stanley in 1905-6. Stanley of course wear red.
Because of the clash a local turned up with a white sheet for him to wrap around his massive body. Foulke never had to dive during the match and therefore "kept a clean sheet". Foulke's team won 1-0 .

ANNIVERSARY OF MOTD

It is the anniversary of the first Match of the Day: apologies for the lengthy link...I know there is a shorter version but, well more is better!
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrEZ67I_V5d50QADwcPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=first+match+of+the+day+1964&fr=yhs-pty-pty_extension&hspart=pty&hsimp=yhs-pty_extension#id=1&vid=084bd881d393ec5fd8b8f7f398b2bcb5&action=view

IT IS THE LONGEST RUNNING FOOTBALL PROGRAMME IN THE WORLD!
First shown on 22nd August 1964...Liverpool v Arsenal, but you know that already.
Prior to Match of the Day, it was Wimbledon tennis that used that name in June 1964 on BBC 2.

20,000 viewers watched the first showings of football's MOTD and of course there was concern that this would take attendances away from real matches. So the BBC had the agreement not to announce the matches to be televised until late in the day.

Colour television came in on BBC2 in November 1968 with Chelsea v Manchester City and on BBC1 in November 1969 when Liverpool played West Ham.

Barry Stoller wrote the theme tune and likened it to "entering the ancient games arena in Rome".

The Premier League has sold the rites to the games to the BBC for £211.5 million over three seasons; clearly not enough to help out Bury FC and Bolton Wanderers.

A HIGHLY ELEVATED CLUB

Wearhead Utd FC was regarded as having the highest altitude of any official football club in the country, at 1107 feet above sea level. Some argue that there might be even higher points on the pitch due to its undulation! Some argue their club may be higher above sea level.
Wearhead Utd is 111 years old, being founded in 1918, after the war and despite the rarefied Durham atmosphere and tiny population of around 200, the club maintained a presence in the Crook and District League Division 2 (once the Wearside League) until recently.

Like other elevated rural clubs, such as Alston in Cumbria  and Tow Law in County Durham, these clubs just  survive on a declining population in regions where jobs are scarce in once busy activities such as lead mining and agriculture.

50 years ago Wearhead had five shops, a pub, a chippy, cinema, haulage company, garage, bank and a railway station. No more! Rural depopulation The pitch and various countryside appear below; BUT not the clubhouse!


In 2001, foot and mouth got to grips with the local area which slowed life down a  bit. Bob Murray, local man and chairman at Sunderland Football Club, 70 miles down stream on the River Wear,  managed to blag a game against local Wearhead rivals, Stanhope FC at the Stadium of Light. 900 turned up and helped raise some money for both teams. The result was a creditable draw 2-2.

Trying to find recent news of this Durham club, I have found Wearhead United FC which moved from the Crook and District Saturday League to the Wear Valley Sunday League in 2018, hoping to maintain numbers and keep playing at its highest point! Midst teams from Shildon, Bishop Auckland and Spennymore, Wearhead play in Division 2 and have already gathered 3 points from 2 games this season. Howay the lads.
https://groundhoppers.blog/2017/11/25/wearhead-united-elevated-status-lowly-position/

Not fair competition, this is Switzerland!

TRACTORS BOYS

You must have a look at this:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-devon-49314716/kingsbridge-tractor-football-in-a-league-of-its-own
Yes I know this should be about Ipswich Town FC, but if  you happen to have a few hundred pounds to buy this big ball, which is made from high quality plastic (very bouncy), and also have a tractor or two, then you can do what the farmers of the Devon Tractor Football Club of South Hams can do!
BTW, The ball can be loaned out to neighbouring football tractor "clubs", so don't worry about the outlay, you could earn it back in hire fees.

Today, a report from Talksport revealed an initiative shown by a group of lads from Devon, who have played a Tractor Football match, raising money for local charities.

So, get your farming mates together, make sure you have different coloured tractors, well a couple of red ones and a few blues (greys??) so you can have a game tearing up and down a field somewhere, hoping not to ruin good farming land!

A bit like polo, the goals are wide, at the end of a long field. Heaven knows if there is a possibility of a sliding tackle....

It's not new because the game is popular in Canada and Poland, so the game looks to be spreading in Britain.and here is a film of a match in Offaly, Ireland at the National Ploughing Championships.  All Ireland Hurling referee, Brian Gavin is on the microphone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q34uLSJGc4s
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-devon-49314716/kingsbridge-tractor-football-in-a-league-of-its-own

Yes, TalkSport banter encouraged a few classics, like "at No. 10 is Messi Ferguson; the game will be played at Plough Lane; of course the Tractor Boys will be the opposition! It could get worse.....

ST PEPPER AND THE ONE CAP WONDER

In 1872 England met Scotland in the first international on record and since then over 1200 caps have been won, around 8 or 9 a year.

With Ashley Cole retiring from football after winning 107 England caps, we should celebrate those who won one cap; in the England list, I counted 357 one cap wonders, including Albert Stubbins.

Mind you, that depends on which "source" you use.

Albert  was born in the USA and ended up living in Wallsend, attending Carville School in 1929. He started his footballing career at Newcastle United playing 231 times and scoring 188 goals from centre-forward.
This stimulated a move after the war to home town Liverpool for a record £12,500 in 1946 and he helped his new team to the League Championship in 1946-7. He retired in 1953 appearing 178 times for Liverpool, scoring 83 goals.
As a Liverpool celebrity he appears n the cover of St Pepper's...you can spot him.....

The reason I choose Albert is because he is a ONE CAP wonder and he played for England against Wales on October 20th 1945 at the Hawthorns, a game England lost 0-1. ***
He died in 2002 aged 82. Spot him on the cover!

*** Note that when England played Wales in 1943, a war time international, Stan Mortenson made his international debut playing for Wales against England. Picked as a reserve for England, he was sitting on the England bench in his RAF uniform. Wales lost their winger Ivor Powell to injury and Stan stepped up to help out as the Welsh had no 12th man-it was the war!

Here are a few more ONE CAP WONDERS: Neil Ruddock, Steve Guppy, Ryan Shawcross, David Unsworth, Jimmy Case, Chopper Harris, Frazer Campbell, Michael Ricketts, Billy Bonds, Steven Caulker, David Nugent.
Chris Kirkland's dad laid a bet when Chris was 11 that he would be an international; worth £10,000.

HANDLING ERRORS OR NOT?

Handling the ball earned the Spurs a point yesterday and under the watchful eye of VAR and thousands of Spurs' supporters, yes it was the correct decision. Handling is defined as playing the ball with the hand or arm up to the shoulder. Where does the shoulder begin or end?

The ball is handled it if is intentionally played with the hand, lower arm, upper arm, but not the collarbone or shoulder bone...that's clearer then!
The crucial decision yesterday afternoon allowed Spurs to earn a point off Manchester City and quite right too. The referee, Michael Oliver, was absolutely spot on. I have been a Spurs' supporter since 1960. In stoppage time, a de Bruyne corner inadvertently brushed the arm of City player Aymeric Laporte which allowed it to fall to Jesus who put the ball in the net.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSxwP1Dqr84
Hope you can see what the officials saw!

Until 1866, FA rules permitted "a fair catch" when players could control the ball with the hand as some of you may have seen in hockey. The ball could not be knocked on, or caught or thrown.
In 1877, the Sheffield and London laws were combined and outfield players were not allowed to handle the ball at all.

In 1881 the referee was empowered to award a "penalty goal" if there was willful handling of the ball to stop it passing through into the goal. This law lasted only one year, because at this time referees (usually two of them, one in each half) surprisingly too far from play to judge goal line events!
In 1887 the goalkeeper could handle the ball in defense of his own goal but in his own half.
From 1891 handling in the penalty area resulted in a penalty kick.

It was not until 1912 that the goalkeeper was restricted to handling the ball in his own penalty area. prior to that, Law 8 said that the goalkeeper could handle the ball in his own half, but could not carry it. Theoretically, the goalie could run the ball to the half way line bouncing or throwing up the ball and take a shot at goal! Carrying was defined as more than two steps when holding the ball, until 1931 when it became 4 steps. (on snowy pitches in the past, touching the ball to the ground was considered adequate). In 1983 the goalie was not allowed to catch the ball, roll it along the ground and pick it up again....he had to kick hit once released!

Up to 1903, free kicks outside the penalty areas for hand ball were indirect, not so now of course.

From 1897 handling had to be "intentional" to be penalised with a free kick. Alan Shearer's header from a corner for Newcastle against Aston Villa in April 2005 hit the back of Jlloyd Samuel's arm when he had turned his back. The referee played on and the MOTD pundits claimed "penalty".

Goals may be scored legitimately by the hand, of course. A goalkeeper's throw direct into the opponent's goal, or into his own goal!!! A referee allowing advantage after a handball and the play ends with a score. Goalie fails to save the opponent's shot but tips it into the net.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vF4N1rdDrE   here are some blunders.

HAIR!

The continuity of my blogs, continues with these photos of (who?) sporting his mullet of different shapes and sizes. Yes, you youngsters, people really did walk around and even play football with haircuts like these and they weren't ladies. So, let's leave yesterday's Ms Frappart behind. For those of you have not read yesterday's very informative blog, continuity is not something to worry about.
And goalkeeper Phil Parkes was prepared to sport this trimmed "Beatle" and the "burns". Can you name any goalkeepers who wore a mullet?
and from Shoot magazine, a few decent barnets! Can you name these shortish back and sides?

and Happy Birthday, for the 13th August, Alan Shearer, with a proper haircut before it fell out.

https://talksport.com/football/200681/top-10-football-mullets-141003117124/
Cheers Chris; his swerve was wider than his hair width.
say no more.....name this chap with the mutton chops.