BOSMAN RULING ENDS UP BADLY

October 30th 2020  was  Jean-Marc Bosman' birth day, he is 56. He was an unremarkable midfielder from Belgian, who entered into a dispute with his club over a contractual technicality. 

Overall Bosman played at Standard de Liege making 86 apps and scored 3 goals: then RFC de Liege 3 apps: Olympique St Quentin 12 apps, Olympique Charleroi 2...103 total apps and 4 goals, between 1983-95.  For Belgium he won at U21 20 caps.

In 1988, he made headline news over his transfer.

Several years later, the outcome of this legal "spat" was to change football contracts for ever. Pre-Bosman, in some parts of Europe, clubs could prevent a player from joining another club, in another country, even if their contract had expired.

Bosman was signed by RFC Liege, in Belgium's First Division, on a two year contract when his old contract expired in 1990. On his contract's expiry, a prospective new deal with Liege would have reduced his wages by 60%. But an offer of signing on for French club, Dunkerque, was a potential solution, however they were only prepared to offer half the £250,000 price Liege were demanding and Liege refused to let him go. He was no longer a first team player, so his wages went down and his case went to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and he sued for "restraint of trade".

The case was that by retaining his registration and demanding a transfer fee, even after his contract had expired, Liege were in breach of European Union Law, which was supposed to safeguard the free movement of workers between member states. 

In the UK, Transfer Tribunals had been in place since 1981 to resolve such issues. The Bosman ruling meant that players could move to a new club at the end of their contract without their old club receiving a fee. Players can now agree a "pre-contract" with another club for a free transfer, if the players' contract with their existing club had six months or less remaining.

In December 1995, the court agreed and ruled in Bosman's favour, making players even more powerful than before. England stars Steve McManaman and Sol Campbell chose to see out their contracts in order to negotiate lucrative moves away from their clubs where they had been, nurtured, developed and idolised over many years. McManama became Britain's first high profile Bosman departure when he left Liverpool to go to Real Madrid. He became the highest paid player in Europe at the time from 1999until 2001.

This also quashed the UEFA regulation limiting the number of foreign players that could appear in European competition for one club and attracted top players offering attractive wages to "out of contract players". Smaller clubs, who used to benefit from winning large transfer fees for their rising talent, lost out because bigger clubs could wait until contracts expired and they would pick up "rising stars" for nothing.

Clubs could not block moves or demand a fee if the player had run out his contract and wanted to leave. 

I am conscious that this may be read by one or two ex-lawyers who will know and understand much more of this than I. So here's a link that might make everything more clear! It's a cartoon.......which I sort of get....

https://the18.com/soccer-videos/rule-changed-football-forever 

Bosman ended up bankrupt, his marriage failed, he made bad investments and was imprisoned following an assault on his wife and daughter, he sold his "second" house and Porsche Carrera, he became depressed, did community servce, his lifestyle led to acoholism, unemployment and a reliance on handouts from FIFPro....an organisation that helps fallen footballers.

GRIMSBY TOWN AND LINCOLN CITY

 A few years ago Burnley were in less exotic company, playing Grimsby Town at Blundell Park in Division One. On the 29th October 2002, Grimsby won 6-5 and 8 different players scored goals in this match.

The score went (with Grimsby first) as follows:
1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 5-4, 6-4, 6-5 Final whistle! I have tried to find a Lincoln City match played on this date but I gave up wading through a century and more fixtures on the 11 v 11 website. Why Lincoln City? It's for a friend.

Lincoln City, formed in 1884 (see below) celebrated their first game by beating locals Sleaford 9-1, on October 4th. In 1886-7 they won the Lincolnshire Senior Cup, a competition they have won 38 times, most recently in 2013-14. They were founder members of the Midland League in 1889-90, when the club was originally known as Lincoln Rovers. 

They played an FA Cup Round One tie on November 1st 1884 away at Hull City, winning 1-5. The Imps then ventured on to a Second Round tie, when they got a bye; in Rd 3 they lost to Grimsby 1-0 away on January 3rd 1885. 

By Round Four, the Grimsby Town team met the Old Carthusians (old boys of Charterhouse School in Godalming) who at the time, were one of the successful amateur teams playing better football than many of the emrging professional clubs.

Prior to meeting Grimsby, the OCs had been through Rd 1 v Acton away (1-7), in Rd 2 home to Marlow (5-3), then another bye in Rd 3. They then met Grimsby in Rd 4 winning 3-0, then went away to Chatham in Rd 5, winning 0-3, Church (from Shropshire) in Rd 6, an away win 0-3, meeting their match in the Semi-finals against the professionals of Blackburn Rovers, who beat them 5-1 on a neutral ground. 

Rovers beat Queen's Park of Glasgow in the March 29th FA Cup final, 2-0 at The Oval (14,000 watched). The Scottish FA eventually banned their teams from playing in the English Cup.

Lincoln's best performance in the FA Cup was a quarter-final berth in 2016-17 and a Trophy Semi-final in 2016-17 too. 

A DAY OUT IN CLUMBER PARK

Earlier this morning I was getting ready to go to Clumber Park to meet some friends; a day out and a bit of a walk, socially distanced of course? Well, the first thing to do is to look up the local football club at/near our proposed venue and then I might just get some inspiration for this blog. Lord knows, I need it. 

Worksop Town FC was one possibility, Shiresbrook FC another and Clumber Park FC???? I think not, though there is a quaint thatched cricket pavilion in the grounds, "a nail on" for any historic estate and house. No football pitch in the grounds, maybe footy might have been a bit rough for the past owners and their friends.

But have a look here: http://www.kivetonparkfc.com/history/past-players/. 

This link takes you to a very thorough club history  http://www.kivetonparkfc.com/history/ and the link will take you to other parts of the club. It is the oldest club in the borough of Rotherham, founded in 1881. The club website is excellent-I am sure some tecky expert will find faults but wouldn't it be nice to be able to have this at our club?  2. Herbert Chapman. His name appears in the links. Chapman was one of the great football managers of ALL time and he had his origins at Kiveton. 

These links will take you to previous mentions of the Kiveton FC, which now plays at the local Wales High School in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Div One.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/4740453200358393547

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/5158330804430139662

There are plans to develop this site at the Wales High School. Crowd Funding in process.

"DAVID HAS TO BEAT GOLIATH BY VARIOUS METHODS"; ONCE IN A WHILE

Liverpool meet FC Midtjylland, an innovative club, playing in the Danish Super Liga. They are Danish champions (have been for 3 years) and meet Liverpool, tonight, in the UEFA Champions League. The club, the club founded in 1918  is located between towns of Herning Fremad (pop:50,000) and Ikast FS (founded in 1935) on the mid-western part of Jutland. The club was formed through the merger of the two settlements' clubs, previously intense rivals, in 1999, only 21 years ago. The financial investment came from "locals", Johnny Rune, a wood supply industrialist and Steen Hessel, a Mercedes Benz dealer. The club is nicknamed "The Wolves". 

Once merged and with funds put into a new stadium, the club quickly rose to become Danish Champions (three times recently) and are now heading for greater things.

 The majority shareholder is Matthew Benham, who has owned the Danish Club since 2014. His approach to the club will bring "Moneyball" to mind (if you know what that means?).

Oxford educated and a life long Brentford fan, Benham also took over the majority share of the West London club where he very quickly brought success, but not quite enough yet to lift the unfashionable club into the top flight. He is convinced that this will be possible, so he sacked the seemingly successful Head Coach, Mark Warburton, and modelled his club on "the continental structure” with a Head Coach and a Sporting Director, both working towards maximising the efficiency of their players. Brentford's present Head Coach is Dane, Thomas Frank, once of Bronby FC and of course Midtjylland.

Midtjylland chairman is Rasmus Ankersen, once a youth player, was club coach in 2014 and Chairman at 37 years old. He is also an author, consultant and a director at Brentford FC. Important link.

There is a mathematical approach (hence the "Moneyball" likeness) to the way the club is run, ideas formulated by Benham in his career as a hedge fund operator and professional gambler. The numbers do not lie. He invested £6.2 million in 2014 in the club. His system's analysis company is "Smartodds", a huge database on all of Europe's footballers.

The club now has an excellent scouting system covering a 100 Danish junior clubs and this provides new blood for its thriving academy. There is a partnership with the Nigerian club, FC Ebedei and the club has links with various South American clubs and mid ranking European clubs.  It has also become the first Danish club to sell the naming rites of the stadium, the MCH Arena, to a national company.

Both Brentford and Mitjylland now answer to mathematical models, which accurately account for the success and a failure of players and team movements. Key Performance Indicators, long used in business, are monitored for every player and team plays. Dangerous Situations are recorded, for example, the success rate in the danger zone, that area between the six yard box and the D on the penalty area. 77% of goals in the Premier league come from there. The FA might call this Zone 14. Analysis allows players to understand where and how they will gain most success.

Set pieces for the Danes have a scoring rate of 0.88, second in Europe, whereas Arsenal can only manage 0.57 success rate. The "Throw In" coach, Thomas Gronnemark, was particularly important and was signed by Liverpool's Klopp in 2018. There is a "ball striking coach" and a coach who specialises in "set plays".

Texts and key messages are sent to the club's players, keeping them all updated of what needs to be achieved. There is a reliance on statistical models that exploit inefficiencies and errors of home players and their opposition, of course!

Finally, the scientific approach in the club, also encompasses medical inputs such as meditation, sleep science, neurology and urology. These inputs are no longer regarded as "gobbledy gook" and form the foundation of the club's DNA.

Small clubs have to gain an advantage some how, when their odds of winning are unfavourable, minute preparation helps, especially when there is not much to lose for the underdog! Small clubs will not beat a big club every time but they might once in a while with an attention to detail.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54651454

CITY BREAKS

 

 The plaque above is displayed at the Freemasons' Tavern, Long Acre, Covent Garden, London, to commemorate the founding of the Football Association in 1863. Below is the programme centre fold for a celebratory match between England and the "Rest of Europe" in 1938 (do the maths), at a time when the England FA deemed their association far too important to share "their game" with the rest of the world, in the competition known as The World Cup. The FA didn't join the FIFA World Cup tournament until 1950, so beating this select team including, four Italians, who were World Cup winners, was regarded as a big victory and sort of justified the FA's arrogance.

On 26th October 1955, the London clubs selected a representative team to play Frankfurt in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The Inter-Cities Cup was arranged for European cities that held international "Trade Fairs". One city per country was invited to play. This was not a UEFA or FIFA event and London "City" was England's first representative....losing to Barcelona City 8-2 on agg. This competition (eventually known as the Inter Cities Fairs Cup) was held between1955-1971, when it was "rebranded". 

Previously on June 4th 1955 Basel v London 0-5 win

London v Frankfurt on 26th October 1955 London won 3-2 at Wembley

London v Basel 4th May 1956 at White Hart Lane win 1-0

Frankfurt v London 27th March 1957 lost 0-1

SEMI-FINAL On 16th September 1957 Lausanne Sports beat London 2-1 and on October 23rd London won 2-0, winning through to the final on aggregate.

FINAL 1st Leg London 2-2 FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on March 5th 1958.

2nd Leg Barcelona win 6-0 on May 1st 1958.

1958-60 Birmingham City v Barca 1-4

1960-61 Birmingham City v Rome 2-4

1966-67 Leeds Utd v Dinamo Zagreb 0-2

1967-68 Leeds Utd v Ferencvaros 1-0

1968-69 Newcastle Utd v Ujpest Dozsa 6-2

1969-70 Arsenal v Anderlecht 4-3

1970-71 Leeds Utd v Juventus 3-3 win on away goals

When this competition "died a death", UEFA arranged a "first winners of the trophy v the last winners" final tie.

Barcelona v Leeds on September 22nd 1971 ended 2-1 to the Spaniards at the Camp Nou.

September 22nd 1971, the start of the 1971-2 season. brought together the "top clubs in Europe"  when the UEFA Cup replaced the tried and tested Inter Cities Fairs Cup. 

A London XI played Sheffield on 31st March 1866 to help establish the new "laws" of the game, in Battersea Park.

There were meetings of the London FA v Glasgow FA in the 1880s and a match against the Corinthians in 1904 losing 2-4 to the "amateurs".

Then there was also a match against Birmingham FA on October 3rd 1910 and one in Paris on December 18th 1910.

ENGLAND v PORTUGAL OCTOBER 25th

 25th October 1961, England played Portugal at Wembley, in a World Cup Qualifier, European Group 6. John Connelly (below) and Ray Pointer (below-below), both of Burnley, scored after 5 minutes and then 9 mins, to grab an early lead in the match and that's how it stayed. 

Burnley FC was a bit of a surprisingly successful member of the First Division in the late 1950/early 60s, winning the First Division (top then) in 1959-60.  I saw them play Spurs at WHL in 1960 when the teams played out a 4-4 draw. Both Connelly and Pointer were in that side and they were cast iron England internationals in October 1961. England won this match against Portugal 2-0 and once qualified they were not called on to play another World Cup Qualifier for 11 years. They hosted the 1966 tournament and were "holders" when they went to Mexico in 1970.

The England team then was: Ron Springett (Sheff Wed), Jimmy Armfield (Blackpool), Ray Wilson (huddersfield), Peter Swan (Sheff Wed), Ron Flowers (Wolves), Bobby Charlton (Man U), Ray Pointer, John Connelly, Bryan Douglas (Blackburn Rovers), Johnny Haynes (capt) (Fulham) and Bobby Robson (WBA). No Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Man C.....etc etc

England and Portugal first met on an England tour in May (25th) 1947, ending in a 10-0 defeat for the Portuguese side. The latest fixture was in June 2016, in a friendly, when England won 1-0 with an 86th minute goal by Chris Smalling. A struggle for England therefore. Roy Hodgson was in charge. 

The two sides have played 23 international and England has won 10, Drawn 8 (2 lost on penalties) and lost in open play 5 times. 

In 1955 there was a  first1-3 defeat, away, in a friendly-manager Walter Winterbottom..                                                                                      

In 1986 FIFA World Cup Group F; 0-1 in Monterrey under manager Bobby Robson.

In the 2000 UEFA Championships 2-3 in Eindhoven: Manager Kevin Keegan.                                  

Then in 2004 in the UEFA Championships (Q-F) in Lisbon after a 2-2 aet draw. Pens were 5-6. This was under the managership of Sven and after Sol Campbell's "winner" was wiped out following a foul by Terry on the way to goal.                                                                                                                     

On July 1st 2006, in the FIFA World Cup in Gelsenkirschen, England lost on pens again after a 0-0 draw and then a 1-3 pens loss. Sven in charge again.

THE HAT TRICK; IN MANY WAYS

I don't need to tell you about Pele, known as Edson Arantes do Nascimento. Born 23/10/1940 he will be regarded as the greatest footballer. He played for his Brazilian club in Minais Gerais, Santos, then the New York Cosmos and of course for Brazil. Below Pele v Sweden! (1958 World Cup Final)

Pele also scored 92 hat tricks = 276 goals in FIFA and CONMEBOL matches. In the World Cup of 1958 Semi-final he scored a 25 minute hat trick against France, winning 5-2, to help his team reach the Final, which they won.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4An8m4P-UIw

This will tell you about the first and fastest hat tricks; from HH Stephenson ( a cricketer in 1858) the name coming from the "hat" that was passed round the "crowd" to raise a reward for the successful bowler who took three consecutive wickets to Sadio Mane, who probably didn't need a collection,  (below) the fastest hat trick for Southampton v Aston Villa at 2'56" 

and more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-t9eOEjW4E

BTW Pele also married three times! scoring on all occasions...

ENGLAND v THE REST OF THE WORLD

October 23rd 1963, I was younger then! 2.45 kick off? England played The Rest of the World! I watched this on black and white TV. It was the FA's Centenary, founded in 1863; what better way to celebrate than bringing a team from far flung countries, to the home of the FA, to give England a "nice" game of football? England won 2-1, with goals from Terry Paine 66 mins (Southampton) and Jimmy Greaves 89 mins (Chelsea) tense conclusion; 100,000 watched the game. Denis Law scored the ROW goal in 83rd minute. Match "staged?" Bobby Davidson refereed.

The starting England team to play The Rest of the World in 1963 was:

Banks, Armfield, Wilson, Milne, Norman, Moore, Paine, Eastham , R.Smith, Greaves, R. Charlton.

NAME THEIR CLUBS.

Starting ROW XI: Yashin, Santos, Pophular, Schnellinger, Gento, Masopust, Pluskal, di Stefano, Eusebio, Kopa, Law. (subs: Puskas, Baxter, Soskic, Eizaguirre, Seeler)

This was the beginning of Alf Ramsey's managerial reign. His first match was a 2-5 defeat to France in Paris and then there was a defeat to Scotland at Wembley 1-2. Then a draw with Brazil 1-1 at Wembley. in England then England beat Czechoslovakia 4-2 in Bratislava, East Germany 2-1 in Leipzig, Switzerland 8-1 in Basle, Wales 4-0 in Cardiff, and after the FIFA game, Northern Ireland 8-3 in Wembley, by November 1963. The next international was another defeat by Scotland 0-1 at Hampden Park. 

There had been a previous England FA celebration match against the "FIFA XI"; ten years earlier (21st October 1953), England met the FIFA XI at Wembley with 96,000 watching a 4-4 draw...staged? Goals were scored like this:

FIFA goal 5mins: England Mortensen 7: FIFA 14: FIFA 36: Eng 42: Eng 48: FIFA 63: Eng 89 penalty! 

The England team: Merrick (Birmingham City); Billy Wright capt (Wolves); Billy Eckersley (Blackburn R); Alf Ramsey (Tottenham H); Dereck Ufton (Charlton); Jimmy Dickinson (Portsmouth); Nat Lofthouse (Bolton W); Stanley Matthews (Blackpool); Stanley Mortensen (Blackpool); Jimmy Mullen (Wolves)*; Albert Quixall (Sheffield Wed). 

I shall not bother naming the FIFA team...I haven't heard of any of them!

Mullen made a name for himself by being the first England international substitution, when he took over from Jackie Milburn after 10 minutes in Brussels v Belgium, on May 18th 1950. Mullen scored in a 4-1 victory, after England was 0-1 down at half time. This was England's last game before they went to the fated 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Team below:

 

 

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Some may know that Blackpool was my favourite team. I couldn't have lived further away from the seasiders, but Stanley Matthews played for them and he was my favourite player. I did meet him on several occasions when I was a big boy, but when it was really important, I only had pictures of him on my bedroom wall from Football Monthly next to Helen Shapiro and the Billy Fury! I mention Helen especially, because she featured on radio this morning singing "Walking Back to Happiness". Nice frock.

In season 1966-7, The Tangerines best result came when they beat Newcastle Utd on October 22nd (1966) 6-0 at Broomfield Road. (in the shadow of the Blackpool Tower). It was their only home victory and they landed bottom in Division One (the top one in those days). 

Their record was Home P21 W1 D5 L15 F18 A36 = 7 points

the Away record reads   P21 W 5 D4 L12 F23 A40  = 14 points          Total 21 pts and position 22nd out of 22. Their last game was on May 22nd when they beat Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield. They were relegated to Division 2.

Blackpool added to their poor record when they lost to Birmingham City 2-3 in the FA Cup Rd 3 BUT in the Football League Cup they went through Rd 1 beating Manchester United at home 5-1, then met Chelsea drawing 1-1 at home and winning away 3-1, then Fulham at home 4-2 and bowing out to West Ham at home 1-3 on December 7th. (imagine the West Ham team in 1966).

Mario Balotelli and some mates, on October 22nd 2011, on the eve of the City v United derby, let off fireworks in his home flat, causing £400,000 worth of damage. He then celebrated by scoring twice in a 6-1 Premier League game for City at Old Trafford.

On the same date in 1972, Gordon Banks, travelling home after a day at his club, Stoke City, had a car accident and lost an eye; end of career!

LEAGUE REGULARS.

I FOOLISHLY MENTIONED A FEW DAYS BACK THAT THERE HAD BEEN A NUMBER OF CLUBS (35) THAT HAVE BEEN IN ALL FOOTBALL DIVISIONS; PL + EFL. Of course this stirred up the Hornets nest (yes Watford included), One person took the trouble to join in the game, Here are my findings bearing in mind that the top flight of English football has been shuffled a round a bit since 1888.  Do add/take away if you find a flaw!

A list of all football clubs that have appeared in ALL the old Football League (Divisions One -Four) levels and/or the newish hierarchy including the FA Premier League through to the Football League etc. Their achievements may include being part of the following top FOUR "divisions/leagues" in English Football (it is possible to have been in five tiers):

Barnsley, Bournemouth, Blackpool, Bolton W, Bradford City, Bradford PA, Brentford, Brighton, Bristol City, Burnley, Bury, Cardiff C, Carlisle, Coventry, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Grimsby, Huddersfield, Hull C, Leyton O, Luton, Millwall, Northampton, Preston NE, Reading, Sheffield Utd, Swansea, Watford, AFC Wimbledon(Wimbledon), Notts County, Oldham A, Oxford Utd, Portsmouth, Swindon,Wigan A, Wolves,   

1888-92 Football League: First Champions, Preston NE.                                                                  

1892-1920 First Division and Second Division: First Champions,Sunderland.                               

1920-1 First Division, Second and Third for one season: Champions Burnley.

1921-58 Football League (First winners Liverpool), Second and Third North and Third South Division.  

1958-92 Football League First (First Winners Wolves), Second, Third and Fourth Division.                                                             

1992-2004 Premier League (winners Manchester Utd), First Division (first champions Newcastle Utd), Second Division, Third Division .                                                                                                                

2004-Present Premier League, Championship (First Championship winners, Sunderland), League One, League Two. 

The next question is: which clubs have played in 5 divisions of the "Football League" Div 1,2,3N,3S,4 or maybe all 6 including PL?

SWAN FEST AND FOXES

There have been a few issues over goalkeepers recently, even in the Premier League. It's a thankless task and there were always Scottish goalkeepers who were notorious for letting in easy goals. In the Aberdeen v Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League on October 20th 1999, at Fir Park, Aberdeen had come to the match having lost all 7 of their previous games.They had scored one goal. Just over 5,000 were not expecting a goal fest. Andy Goram and Jim Leighton, no doubt helped the entertainment. Here's some of their better career moments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjOxwY1Wt3I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELfmVJlqmcA

In the match, goals scored were:                                                                                                   

Aberdeen 3 mins, then A8, Motherwell 19, A25, A39, M44, A59, M65, A68, M71, M79.

Final score: Aberdeen 6 v Motherwell 5.

Motherwell's Johnny Spencer scored hat trick after 19,65,71 mins

Aberdeen's Robbie Winters scored a hat trick after 8,25 and 59 mins

On the same day in 1928 at Filbert Street, Leicester City won their First Division match 10-0 against Portmouth. Arthur Chandler scored his 5th goal just as five swans flew over Filbert Street. Soon a sixth swan, lagging behind, flew over the groung, Chandler looked up, the crowd chanted "we want six" and Chandler duly provided. Chandler played at QPR (78 apps/16 goals), Leicester (393/259 a huge return from 1923-35) and Notts County (10/6). He achieved these milestones:                                            

Most goals scored in a top flight season: 34  Scoring most goals for the club in top flight 203        

Most hat tricks or more 17 including 6 v Pompey 

He never scored a penalty-BUT had two saved!          

Oldest goalscorer at Leicester: 39 years 34 days until Kevin Phillips scored against Bournemouth at the Vitality in Feb 2014 aged 40 years and 191 days.   

In the return fixture at Fratton Park on April 10th 1929, Pompey got their own back in front of a crowd of over 21,000 watching for swans (more liklely seagulls on the Hampshire coast), by thumping the Foxes 1-0!

GARRINCHA-THE LITTLE BROWN BIRD-THE WREN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPiTbopt7MU 

Above, you will find some of the skills of Garrincha, the famous Brazilian winger from the 1960s . From Pau Grande (which means "big log"! in South-east Brazil) Garrincha, despite his physical disabilities, became known as "the Little Bird". He had a deformed spine, his right leg was bent backwards, his left leg six inches shorter than the right and curved inwards. Not a good start.

Born in poverty on 28th October 1933, he later worked in a local factory and at 19 was taken into the Botafogo Club after nutmegging the famous Nilton Santos, during a trial. Garrincha was a boy in a man's body (5' 6") and somehow he managed to play over 600 games and score 250 goals, as well as having many assists. In his short career of nine years, he won two World Cups, the first along with Pele in 1958, who was only 17 at the time. Mel Hopkins, a Welsh full back, who had to mark Garrincha in the 1958 quarter-final tie, which Wales lost 0-1, described the difficulty of trying to mark him, not knowing which way his legs were going! Actually, the Little Bird had many tricks and was very flexible!

The second World Cup win was in 1962, when Pele was not fit to play. Garrincha also won the Golden Ball and Golden Boot in the tournament, as well a his gold medal. The Brazilians' eventual defeat,  1-3 by the Hungarians, in the England 1966 World Cup, was Garrincha's first defeat in a Brazilian shirt and it was his last game. he was capped 50 times. Garrincha and Pele had scored against Bulgaria in their first group tie but they then lost the next two matches to Hungary and Portugal, and were out.

After Botofago, he was signed on with the famed Corinthians Club but after that he was not committed to any club for long.

Married twice, he had 8 daughters but some say he had fathered 14 others with various partners. Quoted as a charismatic character with a unique talent, he was a social icon but actually he was viewed by others as an uncouth idiot and a peasant. There was certainly no support for him. Alcohol got him, he killed his mother in a car crash, while drunk and under the influence of alcohol, he ran over his father in error. Inevitably,  cirrhosis killed him in 1983, at 49 years old, but despte his failings he was loved and he had a "state" funeral in a "full to capacity" Maracana Stadium. Unfortunately, his coffin was too big for the dug grave which caused a bit of a hold up; he now lies in a scruffy cemetery on the edge of Rio de Janeiro.

 
The football stadium in the capital of Brazil, Brasilia, is named after Garrincha.

UP THE AVENUE-BY THE CEMETERY

I had been to the Goldstone Ground, to see Brighton and Hove Albion's home league match in Division Four in 1964 against Bradford PA. The score was 0-1 to the northerners and it was not a very impressive match. Mind you at 13 years old, who was I to judge?

Today I was at the BPAFC Stadium, the club's present home, a 4G surface with nice stands and so on. We played on the grass pitches next door. Our U18s won comfortably on a dodgey pitch. The ground is opposite a huge cemetery, where many Bradfordians will have been laid to rest.

Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC, in the National League North and play at the Horsfall Athletics' Stadium, with a capacity crowd of 3500. This is a club that was formed in 1907 and "re-instated" after leaving the football league in 1984. It had been through hard times, financially.

Bradford PA used to play at the Horton Park Avenue stadium, hence the name to help distinguish it from rivals Bradford City FC. The club played in the Football league from 1908 until 1970, when it dropped out of the FL, going into liquidation in 1974. The club was re-vitalised in 1987 and has worked its way up to the National League.

BPA is one of 35 clubs that has played in all four top tiers of English Football. It would test you to name the other 34.

BPA rose from the ashes in the 13th tier (Pyramid level) of Division Three of the West Riding County Amateur League and seemingly has never looked back.

The club originally formed in 1863 (the year the FA was founded) as Bradford Football Club, BUT playing rugby. In 1907 the club took part in the "Great Betrayal" by leaving the Northern Union rugby game (basically rugby league) in favour of Association Football.  Originally the club had to join the Southern League because there was no alternative and the club took Fulham's place, as they had "dropped out". Bradford FC's closest club then was 130 miles away in Northampton. In 1907 the club became known as Bradford Park Avenue. They joined the Football League Second Division in 1908 and was promoted to the top division in 1914.

The club dropped out of the Football League in 1970 and was replaced by Cambridge United. The club had huge debts (£57,000+) and went into liquidation, reforming as a Sunday league side immediately.

In 1988 the club rejoined Saturday football (13th Tier) in the West Riding Counties Association League and then moved to the Central Midlands League. The club by then was owned by the supporters, a Community Benefit Society.

In 1995, winning the North West Counties League, the club joined the Vanarama National League North and moved to the Horsfall Stadium (above). 

Here's more BPAFC from a previous blog...there may be some repetition:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/7102318624520830124

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Wednesday October 17th 1990 was my son's (single figure) birthday (I shall not give away his present age). On the day he scored 3 tries in a 9-a-side rugby tournament at his school, in the morning and then we watched England beat Poland 2-0 in a European Championship Qualifier; Lineker and Beardsley scored at Wembley and 77,000 watched this victory.

England Team + subs: Woods, Dixon, Pearce, Parker, M.Wright, Walker, Platt, Gascoigne, Barnes, Lineker, Bull, Waddle and Beardsley. 

Saturday 17th October 2020, my son's birthday. I went to watch Hepworth United lose a Sheffield and Hallamshire Premier Division Division league match, 6-3 away at North Gawber Colliery, a club steeped in mining tradition but no longer working of course. They are second in the division; we have played six and won 3 and lost 3, so far, mid table. It was a vigorous game, terrible language, plenty of goals, I met three ground hoppers.....they chose this match to hop to! Amusing to talk to.

Then back to celebrate the day with my chums on Zoom and then the lad's birthday party.

Other birthdays today were:Graeme Le Saux (1968), Dwight Gayle (1989), Johnny Haynes (1934), Jim Smith (1940), Frank Blunstone (1934), Syde Puddefoot (1894) and other celebrities include Greg Wallace (1964), Cameron Mackintosh (1946), Peter Stingfellow (1940), Harry Carpenter (1925) and Shaun Edwards (1966). Happy birthday.

Syde Puddefoot (below) was born in Limehouse, London in 1894 and died on 2nd October 1972. He played for West Ham, first in 1919-20 scoring 21 goals and overall (180apps 105 goals) in two spells.

In 1922 he was sold to Falkirk in Scotland for a World Record Fee of £5,000, making (113 apps 4 goals), Blackburn Rovers (250 apps 79 goals) winning the FA Cup in 1928. 

He then managed at Fenerbache in Turkey, Galatasary and in 1934 he later managed at the exotic Nothampton Town. 

He played in three Victory Internationals for England, scoring in each game; overall he made 5 international apps and scored 4 goals.  

During the war he worked for the Blackpool Police force and later in  the Civil Service in  Pensions.

He also played cricket for Essex featuring in eight games in 1922-3...he bowled 198 balls and took 1 wicket and scored 101 runs.

THE FIFA WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONS' CUP

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/9204962708134681992?hl=en-GB 

Hook on to this link and read about the FIFA World Club Champions; Cup, updated from 2015.

RED CARD

"Disappointed" will be the feeling of many of us hardened England supporters, who remember those moments when our national team did not come up with the goods for one reason or another. 

We start watching the international game with high hopes that the England team will give us something to cheer, but last night, Gareth's boys left us wanting and poor old Harry and debutant Reece James saw the red card presented by the "hapless" referee, Jesus Gil Martinez of Spain. I suspect the actual sendings off were justified but it was stuff prior that led to the dismissals. It's not the first time in ther international history of the England team, that first played international football in 1872. It took 96 years, on June 5th  1968, for the embarrassment of the first sending off to taint the England team's history. Imagine the various ex-FA committee members "spinning" in their graves.

It was poor old Alan Mullery who had the walk of shame, against Yugoslavia, in a European Championship semi-finals match, in Florence, Italy, a tie we lost 0-1. It was England's 424th international match. 

You will not be surprised to know that the referee that day was a Mr Ortiz De Mendibil of Spain who made the decision. Manager Alf Ramsey told Mullery as he walked off the pitch;" I don't think anybody, if they were any sort of man, could have stood for much more of what you have had to put up with, If you hadn't done it, I would have." Ramsey paid Mullery's "£50 fine".

Four days earlier in Hannover, England, the World Champions, had lost to West Germany, 0-1, in a friendly. Three days later in Rome, England beat the USSR 2-0 (Hurst and Charlton R) in the third place play-off.

Since then England has lost the following players through sendings off: Alan Mullery (1973) v Yugo, Trevor Cherry (1977) v Arg, Ray Wilkins (1986) v Morocco, David Beckham (1998) v Arg, Paul Ince (1998) v Sweden, Paul Scholes (1999) v Swe, David Batty (1999) v Pol, Alan Smith v Macedonia (2002) , David Beckham again v Austria (2005), Wayne Rooney v Port (2006), Rob Green v Ukr (2009), Wayne Rooney v Montenegro (2011), Steven Gerrard v Ukraine (2012), Raheem Sterling v Ecuador (2014), Kyle Walker v Iceland (2020) and Harry Macquire and Reece James (2020) v Denmark.

https://thefootballfaithful.com/every-player-sent-off-competitive-england-game/

The long lonely walk.

HIP HIP HOORAY HOOPOE

No I'm not struggling for items to write about, more like today has given me more than ONE moment of inspiration. When I heard about Tony Rickson's book  "Gooaal!: The Joy of Football Celebrations. The Joy of Football", I thought. this needs promoting, a book that will cheer us all up and remember Christmas is not a million days of Covid away.  

https://www.goliath.com/sports/the-12-best-soccer-goal-celebrations-of-all-time/

If you don't want to spend £10, you can get one for a cheeky £6 from Amazon. Try the easy quiz first:

Which celebrations did the following footballers perform on pitch?

Easy eh? Peter Crouch!   Wayne Rooney   Paul Gascoigne   Jurgen Klinsman   Jamie Vardy    Raheem Sterling    Alex Morgan    Bebeto    Jimmy Bullard    Craig Bellamy    Robbie Fowler......  

Just think of the fun you would have at Christmas with a family quiz involving  200 or so more obscure celebrations.

And now for the Hoopoe: there has been a rare sighting of an unusual bird, probably blown off course on its northern hemisphere migration to the Mediterranean and Southern Asia. I saw one on a golf course in Portugal a few summer holidays ago, but this week, this mistle thrush sized bird has been seen at Collingham Cricket Club in West Yorkshire and was chirping this familiar song...https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/hoopoe/

No Dickie Bird was nowhere to be seen and Carl Hooper (yes the cricketer) was absent too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQroo7aqPYc  

Regarded as the national bird of Israel, the bird is distinctive and is the logo for the University of Johannesburg. It is sold in Morocco for medical and herbal benefits, is sacred in Egypt and is regarded as the "King of Birds" in Aristophanes' "The Birds". It is featured in the BBC Children's TV series "In the Night Garden". 

THE RAILWAYMEN AND A WALK AROUND THE YEW TREE

https://stokegabrielchurch.co.uk/history/  You will feel much better on this dull and rainy day, if you read all about the Yew Tree at Stoke Gabriel Church, a village in South Devon near Paignton. We'll come back to the Yew tree; some of the local footballers might have followed the instructions on the tree which says: "Walk ye backward about me, Seven times round for all to see, Stumble not, then for certain, ONE true wish will come to thee..." BELOW:THE YEW TREE

The link above tells you much about Fred Hagender's book and his explanation of the local history.

Apparently if you measure the girth of this Yew tree (5.65m in 2016), it is possible to estimate the age of the tree....yes, it is somewhere between 1000 and 2000 years old.....HELPFUL. The tree survives in the church grave yard, planter there purposely, keeping it away from creatures that might browse it, The yew is not good for animals, it is poisonous! Yew trees, of course, are/were valuable to the King's soldiers because the wood makes terrific BOWS for firing arrows. Like the oak (planted for ship building in Henry VIII's time) you will find yews planted all over the land in preparation for war!

Nearby is the River Dart estuary (a river RIA, a drowned river valley, common in South-west England, where a gently sinking coastline and relatively rising sea level, has filled valleys with sea water since the ice age ended. The village of Stoke Gabriel, with a population of around 1200, hosts crab fishing, as well as bow making (and a few other things) and it is the birth place of George Jackson Churchward, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway (1902-22). The village is also the inspiration for the fictional village of Thornford Regis, familiar to readers of  Benison's crime novels such as "Twelve Drummers Drumming, Eleven Pipers Piping".

More importantly is Stoke Gabriel FC, founded in 1905 and nicknamed "The Railwaymen". The club was a founder member of the Devon County League and joined the South-west Peninsular League in 2007, now in the National League 10th Tier. The reason for the club's inclusion here is that it has made the news for its record of 10 out of 10 defeats, so far, scoring 2 goals and conceding 122; the greatest a 1-18 defeat on September 30th. Their best effort so far is a 0-3 defeat at Ivybridge Town.

Last season The Railwaymen were 16th/20 in their div before the lockdown, but players have moved along with the "manager" and some committee, leaving the club stranded on the proverbial sand banks.* The present team is made up from local youngsters (U18s mainly) and have to play against hardened "peninsular" men. Josh Organ is the 17 year old goalkeeper, who has a flexible back, and  who recently saved a penalty and has been MOM three times. There are 28 game left; next Axminster away on 14/10...may the Railwaymen not get beaten on the carpet.

Above the "Speedwell Kia" stadium.

* My brother may spot the reference to the falling sea level; we were stranded in a hired row boat in the Kingsbridge Ria, many years ago....we went up ria as the tide went down ria....sandbanked. We walked ashore up to our "nether regions" with thick west country sludge.

COCA COLA WORLD RANKINGS

On September 17th 2020, Belgium's national football team was ranked 1st in FIFA'S World Rankings. They sneaked into the top rankings in 2015, fell out of the top three until 2018, where they have remained TOP, as they were ranked yesterday, when England beat them.

France, Brazil have been 2nd and 3rd over the past two years. England at the moment are ranked 4th, Portugal 5th, Spain 7th, Italy 12th and Germany 14th, but it's all flexible as this ELO formula reveals:

P (place now) = P before + I (W + We)        I = a coefficient based on game type   W = Result of game 

We = Expected result based on another formula using difference between the ranks of the two sides playing (dr):      We = 1/ (10-dr/600 +1)...get my drift?

ELO comes from calculations created by Arpad Elo, a Hungarian/American Physics Professor. Don't ask!

The "team of the year" is based on their annual results and therefore is the top nation in the rankings:

2019 1. Belgium (they have been in first place 4 times: all since 2015) 2. France (one first place and 7 second; 3 third) 3. Brazil (1st = 12; 2nd = 4; 3rd = 4)   ALL RANKINGS SINCE 1993.

England: no appearances in top three ever.

BUT England Ladies do appear in the higher rankins (6th) behind 1. US 2. Germany 3. France 4. Neths 5. Sweden........the formula has no relationship to the Men's ranking formula? The USA and Germany are the only two countries holding top spot  since the start of the world rankings in 2003.            Belgium = 17th at the moment.

DIRECT FROM A CORNER

https://www.htafc.com/news/2020/october/on-this-day-first-ever-goal-scored-directly-from-a-corner/ 

Today, the 11th October, is the 96th anniversary of the first goal scored directly from a corner in a "full time" soccer match. It was Billy Smith of Huddersfield Town, who achieved the feat and his story is told via the links, above and below. 

Billy made over 500 apps for the Terriers and scored 126 goals (including one directly from a corner!). Here's a couple on this topic I did earlier:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/1938810002172237303

http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/direct-from-corner.html

SCORING ON FIRST TIME OUT

https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/where-are-they-now-the-11-players-to-score-on-england-debuts-since-2000/ 

Some of this may not be completely up to date!

Kieran Richardson-Fulham: Scored 2 goals on debut v USA May 2005: 8 caps 2 goals.

Sean Wright Phillips-Man City, Chelsea: v Ukraine 2004-10: 36 caps 6 goals.

Alan Shearer-Newcastle: v France 1992: 63 caps 30 goals.

Steven Caulker-Swansea City: v Sweden 2012: 1 cap 1 goal.

Andros Townsend -QPR: v Montenegro 2013: 13 caps 3 goals.

Harry Kane-Tottenham H:  v Lithuania 4-1 2015: 30 caps 19 goals.

Ricky Lambert-Southampton: v Scotland 2013: 11 caps 3 goals- scored with first touch

Marcus Rashford MBE-Manchester Utd: scored debut goals in Europa League game, England Under 21s, Premier League, Senior International, League Cup, Champions League and he cecame the youngest to achieve a debut goal for England v Australia 27th May 2016. 

The previous youngest was Tommy Lawton (at 5'11"), just past his 19th birthday, who on October 22nd 1938 played centre-forward v Wales at Ninian Pk. He scored a penalty, Stanley Matthews scored the other and England lost 2-4! Lawton took the number 9 shirt from Dixie Dean and scored in his next 5 internationals v Rest of Europe, Norway, Ireland, Scotland and Italy. Lawton played 420 times for a variety of clubs: Burnley 25/16: Everton 98/74: Chelsea 53/35: Notts C 166/103: Brentford 50/17: Arsenal 38/1. Overall he made 420 apps/246 goals.

For England he played 23 peace time games: 90 goals and 23 war time games: scoring 24. In management he looked after Brentford, Kettering and Notts County between 1953-64.

OTHER FIRST TIMERS include:                                                  

Callum Wilson-Bournemouth: v USA 3-0 h  2018: 4 caps 1 goal: the first Bournemouth player to score for England.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin-Everton: 4-0 v Wales h: 2020: 1 cap goal.

David Nugent-Preston:3-0 v Andorra  2007:1 sub 1 goal.

Darius Vassell-Aston Villa: 2002: 1-1 v Netherlands: 16 apps 6 goals.

Francis Jeffers-Everton: 2003: loss 1-3 v Australia . (Same game as Wayne Rooney debuted.) 

Lawton's  retirement turned out to be an unhappy one with various illnesses, relationship and debt issues haunting him. His clubs helped him with testimonials and he appeared in TV programmes, famously in "What's My Line" with Thora Hird and Diana Dors and in a film when he played the cameo role in "The Great Game". He published four books about his life. He died at 77 years old

GUNNERSAURUS FIRED

In a week that Arsenal's Gunnersaurus club mascot has been disgarded, made redundant and thrown on to the scrap heap at the Emirates, actually, it is of course, Jerry Quy, the man inside the suit (yes, please understand children, it's not a real "Gunnersaurus") who has been booted out after 26 years playing the part, entertaining the supporters. 

The Prince of Generousity, Mesut Ozil, has made the news; a grand opportunity for him to grab some positive press. The 7 foot tall reptile (dinosaur?) and its inner person are no more, but Ozil may have taken one more step towards being a "saint". 

No, he is not volunterring for a transfer to the Hampshire coast, though some Arsenal fans may think that would be a good thing. 

No, he is not voluteering to adopt the personna, which would keep him busy on match days since he barely plays! 

With Ozil's considerable stipend, Gunnersaurus may not need the Government's furlough to put food on his plate. 

Ozil, of course, being his club's highest earner, £350,000 per week salary, can just about afford to help out his mascot mate. Some unkind people believe that Ozil has other motives than his generousity. 

Gunnersaurus, who has been present at the Arsenal for 26 years, shared high fives with an embarrassed Wenger on the manager's last showing, is now just a costume hanging up in an Emirates' cupboard somewhere. Perhaps Quy has plans to become a children's party entertainer, so has he sneaked the custume home? 

55 other Arsenal FC staff  members have been let go during these hard times and Peter Lovell's "invention", when he was an 11 year old fan, in 1994, is just another member of the  "hospitality" industry on the scrapheap. It's all sad and a long haul from this bunch of "mascots" who came together at the Doncaster Race Course to raise money for the Prostate Charity.......The Football Mascot Stakes! Here is a photo of the runners and riders, in the ring, at the start and one young lad in the Crystal Palace Eagle suit dipping his beak at the tape. If you want to hire the Eagle, let me know!

 

OCTOBER 7th ENGLAND (yesterday)

Twenty years ago (7th October 2000) England played Germany in the last fixture at the "Old Wembley" and lost 0-1. Dietmar Hamann scored from a free kick on a skidding surface, out witting David Seaman and shocking the English supporters in the crowd of over 76,000. 

Kevin Keegan had been the "inspirational" choice as manager of the England FA in a period when the FA left their traditional offices at Lancaster Gate after 72 years, moving to Soho Square. The old Wembley (built 1923) was to be knocked down and rebuilt; the end of an era. It seemed a good idea at the time to have Keegan in the hot seat, but quickly, Keegan was submerged and he emotionally resigned.

Emile Heskey had played for England at Under 16, 18 and 21s and he partnered Alan Shearer up front against Argentina on February 23rd 2000-result? 0-0. After a warm up run of games against Brazil 1-1, Ukraine 2-0, and Malta away 2-1, England took on the best in the European Championships (First Round) in June, coming 3rd in a group including winners Portugal (who beat us 2-3) in Eindhoven, runners up Romania (lost 2-3) and beating GERMANY (1-0 Shearer), both in Charleroi. So it wasn't that bad, was it? 

In 2000, England played 11 won 3 drew 4 lost 4 and didn't qualify for the Euro Finals.

The first time England played an international on October 7th was in 1950 against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, Belfast, with Eddie Baily of Spurs (below) scoring 2 and J Lee and Billy Wright making it 4-1.

The first official England international was played on November 30th 1872 v Scotland but later internationals were also played "towards the end of the season"; i.e. February to March through to the First World War.                    

In the post war period, games were spread through the season; in March with post season tours in late April/May and then individual home nations games meeting in October/November.

The majority of Autumn England internationals were played a little later in October but here are a couple more "October 7ths".                                                                                                                                        

In 2006: v FYR Macedonia at Old Trafford 0-0 in the UEFA Euro Champs Qualifying.                          A month earlier they had beaten FYRM 1-0 in the away tie with a goal from Crouch.

and in 2011: in Podgorica v Montenegro a 2-2 in front of 12,000. UEFA Qualifying. Young and Bent scored. Rooney was sent off after a second yellow and retaliation (remember it?)...a coming together with Dzudovic.

PITCHING IN AT MARLOW FC

I hope you know your Football Pyramid and the hierarchy of leagues throughout the country. Here is news of the latest and very important sponsorship, particularly at the time on uncertainty. 

If you happen to read the Non-League Paper, at the back of this information footballing weekly newspapaer is the list of teams results and divisions playing under the National League Banner. An addition to the League titles is "Pitching In". The company is a new sposnor for the whole of the National Non -League "higher tier" competition,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Xc3_qJE-TzM&feature=youtu.be 

Trident Leagues: Isthmian,Southern and Northern Leagues, Steps 3 & 4 in the National League System.

Read the link below to find out who this is!

https://www.isthmian.co.uk/introducing-pitching-in-the-new-sponsor-of-the-ist-63351

The Pitching In Sponsors have a well known ambassador in Stuart Pearce, once of Wealdstone FC.

 “I am delighted to be taking up the role of ambassador for Pitching In, as I’m passionate about the importance of investing in grassroots sports and in developing young talent. I started out playing for Wealdstone FC before joining Coventry City so I understand how important funding is to the non-league game. Grassroots football is facing huge challenges at the moment and many clubs are struggling to stay afloat. GVC’s Pitching In investment will help make a big difference to hundreds of clubs and thousands of players across the country.”

https://gvc-plc.com/corporate-responsibility/pitching-in/

Just in case you are an Aldershot FC fan or just interested in technologhy, have a look at this:

https://findbiometrics.com/aldershot-town-fc-outfits-players-yotis-digital-ids-100206/

LOVELLS' PICK AND MIX

The 1945-6 FA Cup competition was in its 65th season following the war. The previous final had been on April 29th 1939 at Wembley with a crowd of 99,370. The last final for 7 years. Portsmouth beat Wolves 4-1.

The country was weary of its sacrifice during the war and football did much to raise spirits. Absenteeism on match days was common place and employers plumped for staggered work hours. 

League football began for the 1946-7 season, but prior to that, in 1945-6 and for the first time, the Cup was played over two legs for each tie between the First Round and the Sixth, home and away of course. This led to an increase in crowds and therefore, money for the football club coffers and I suppose for the FA as well.

There had been 4 Qualifying Rounds previously including ties between: Pressed Steels and Morris Motors, Banstead Mental Hospital v Metropolitan Police and Aylesbury Utd v Osberton Radiators.  Locals in Yorskhire might be interested in a tie between Yorkshire Amateur and Lincoln City which 1-0 and then 1-5, City winning on agg.

One club to follow would be Lovells Athletic FC, from a factory making sweets in Newport, Monmouthshire. They played Bournemouth in the 1st Rd Proper winning 8-7 on aggregate.

On October 6th 1945, the Second Round Proper took place: 43 clubs from the Third Divisions North and South along with 25 Non-League clubs. In the end 25 winners went on to the First Round Proper.

In this round, Lovells beat Bath City 7-3 over two ties (2nd Rd Proper) and in January 1946 Lovells played Wolves in the 3rd Rd and their bubble burst with a 3-12 defeat. This is NOT the team bus.

                                                                  

Big scores (rather like our present state in football) were evident in this round on aggregate scores: Leeds 6 Middlesbrough 11, Man City 8 Barrow 4, Accrington Stanley 3 Man Utd 7 and Birmingham 0-1 Portsmouth!

Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City, a sixth round second leg tie, on March 9th 1946 at Burden Park (BWFC) saw at least 65,000 fans cram into the ground to see Stanley Matthews on Stoke's right wing and the rest of the famous post war footballers. Bolton had won the first leg away 0-2 but the huge crowd caused chaos, with collapsed fences, a brick wall collapsed inside the ground, 33 fans were crushed and over 500 injured. One way and another the ties were completed with Stoke at home losing 0-2 and the game at Bolton drawn 0-0. Amazing that the thing was completed! Bolton lost in the semi.

In the final, Derby County beat Charlton Athletic 4-1 at Wembley on April 27th.

JACK LESLIE; Black Lives Matter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsb4BvRkvI 

The  Black Lives Matter campaign is being fully supported by footballers, even though professional football has not quite got going probably this season. I am not sure that it is being promoted fully in Non-League Football, if it needs a "poke" then Truro City FC might get started.

On Talksport, our black footballers, past and present, are being included in most of the station's programmes and Clyde Best (1968-76) got a mention this week, a player who turned up against the Cambridge University team when he was new to West Ham, just a teenager. He was big, quick, strong and talented, clearly on "trial" and Ron Greenwood was keeping an eye on him. I noticed him as he flew past me on the Fenners pitch. I think they beat us 3-1.

Alongside Clyde and many other black footballers, is mentioned Jack Leslie, an English footballer, whose father was Jamaican and his mother English. Jack was born in Canning Town in 1901 and he played over 250 times for Barking Town, an inside left. He helped Barking win the Essex Senior Cup Final in 1920 and the London League title in 1921. 

He joined Plymouth Argyle in 1921, scoring his first goal against Gillingham in a 2-0 win and he stayed at Home Park through to 1935, partnering Sammy Black, a Scottish (white) winger. As a pairing they contributed 319 goals in 327 appearances at Home Park, achieving the Third Division Douth title in 1929-30.  In 401 apps he scored 137 times. Jack was "known throughout England for his skill and complexion" quoted The Plymouth Herald.

Leslie was called up for an England cap in 1925, when his manager relayed the news of the selection. Shortly after the promotion was withdrawn and he was never invited again. It was not until 1978 that Viv Anderson next was asked to play for England, the coulntry's first "Black cap".

Leslie retired in December 1934, after a 3-1 victory over Fulham. He returned to London and Ron Greenwood at West Ham Utd, recognised his achievements and value, inviting him to work behind the scenes in the famous West Ham "boot room" with Moore, Hurst, Peters, Brooking and Clyde Best.

Jack ran a pub in Truro, turned out a bit for the local City team and died in November 1988.

In 2020, a Jack Leslie campaign at HOme Park, Plymouth Argyle FC, raised a £100,000 by July 2020 and a statue was erected, along with his name given to the club boardroom in the newly developed Mayflower Stand. There is a scheme to rename the Sir John Hawkins ( a naval commander) Square in the city centre, to the Jack Leslie Square.