IN THE NEED OF MORE POLISH

Well, after a fabulous day with old friends at Kedleston Hall, the seat of the Curzon family in Derbyshire. 

Places and facilities named after the Curzon family name include the current house which was commissioned in 1759 by Nathanial Curzon and Curzon Street in Mayfair, which is believed to have been named after the third Viscount Howe, Mr George Howe and later transferred to another member of the family whose last name was Curzon. Curzon Avenue is a street in England’s North West expanse, specifically Northwich, in the Weaver Vale constituency. In the football,  Curzon Ashton FC is a soccer club situated in Ashton-Under-Lyne, which traces its history to the family’s name owing to a few members of the family who participated in football. The club plays in the National League North.

Arriving in the safety of my home, I had to endure another classic footballing encounter wth the Polish international side, in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. One way or another, England managed a win 2-1 at home and put to bed some of the bad memories that I have as a lad, especially when England were humiliated by the Polish team in 1973. Their goalie had a blinder and so did Brian Clough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi9vZCo215w 

The two countries have met 20 times in official internationals, England have won 12 times and drawn 7. Goals for 32-Against 12. The first on January 5th 1966, a friendly and a drawn game 1-1. In July of the same year England won away 0-1, a warm up before the World Cup, hosted in England, of course. 

The two countries have met 14 times in the World Cup, England winning 9, drawing 4 and one defeat. The World Cup defeat was on June 6th 1973, a 0-2 loss at Wembley. (see above)

BOBBY STUART-FAST FULL BACK

On the 30th March 1935, in a First Division League game at Molineux, between Wolves and Middlesbrough, the visiting left back, Bobby Stuart, who played 247 games for Middlesbrough, scored his 5th own goal of the season but in 247 games during his career, he almost balanced those out by scoring two at the right end! 

Born in Middlesbrough 9th October 1913, he firstly worked in a garage and played for his local side South Bank FC and then Middlesbrough (1931-47) for 250+ apps and managed 2 (TWO) goals...he was a defender. He won 3 England Schoolboy caps and signed for Middlesbrough at 15, became a professional at 17 and made his debut at Highbury v Arsenal at 19 years old. In 1938 he faced the legendry Stanley Matthews who was playing for Stoke City, then he joined the RAF during the war, afterwards went back to Boro', until he signed for Plymouth Argyle (diagonally opposite geographically) in 1947. He enjoyed a game of snooker (28th April 1939). 

Credited with being one of the fastest players in the league, his genes were passed on to his grand daughter, Louise Collins (Stuart), who ran 200m for GB in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

His last commitment to a football club was with Whitby Town. He died on October 9th (the same date as his birth) in 1987.

SOUTH BANK FC founded in 1868, was playing in the Northern Leagues but a series of disasters, club house arson and so on caused the club to dissolve in 1999. 

The Old Carthusians (Old boys of Charterhouse) played South Bank FC in the FA Amateur Cup 1895 Semi-final, firstly at Headingly in a drawn game 1-1 and then in the replay at Derby winning 3-2. The "posh" amateurs, who were holders of the Amateur Cup, went on to beat Middlesbrough (then an amateur club) in the Final 2-1 at Headingly. (Middlesbrough had beaten the King's Own Lancashire regiment in their semi-final).

To reach the final, South Bank beat Stockton in a rearranged First Rd tie 1-3 following an abandoned game which Stockton were winning 3-0. Their next fixture v Cliftonville, was a walk over (their oppo. probably not prepared to travel), then Reading at home 5-2 in Rd 3 and then into the semi-finals v OCs.

LOTS TO CELEBRATE ON THE 29TH

29th March 2017: I'm sure I have ridiculed Cristiano Ronaldo before, but why not? You will know that this bust is actually on the shoulders of a statue commemorating his success, sited on his home island of Madeira, actually at the national Airport, just to make sure that all visitors know it's him and his island! Good looking or what? 

Billy Meredith on this day in 1924,  played his final game for Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final v Newcastle Utd at 49 years and 245 days of age. He was the oldest player ever to play for Manchester City and the oldest to play in the Cup. he is still the oldest to play for Man Utd and at 45 years old the oldest to play for Wales. Spot the difference with CR.

29th March 2000
Wales played their first match at the magnificent Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, attracting a then record Wales home crowd of 65,614. Nathan Blake became the first Welshman to score in the stadium – sadly an own goal! – and although Ryan Giggs scored for Wales visitors Finland spoiled the party with a 2-1 victory.

On the 29th March 2008 Derby County’s 2-2 draw with Fulham guaranteed that The Rams a Premier League club, was relegated, the earliest in any season that a club had suffered Premier League relegation. It was a dismal season for Derby with a 1-0 victory over Newcastle on September 17th, being their only League victory in 38 attempts.  The season record was: P38 W1 D8 L29 Goals F20 A89 Pts 11.

Loughborough Town FC 1889.

In 1899-1900, by the end of the season, Loughborough had a team in the Second Division which managed only 1 win in the season. They managed 6 draws and totalled 8 pts. They scored 18 goals for and had 100 against. They joined the FL Second Division in 1895-6 (12th/16): 13th in 1896-7, 1897-8 last, 1898-9 17th then 1899-1900 last, after which  they left the FL! Their history since has been varied but the club still exists, albeit in a different ending...Dynamo! The club plays in the  Northern Premier Div 1 SE at The Nanpantan Ground (the name means an "enclosure of land" in Saxon times).

NORMAN WISDOM, THE KING OF ALBANIA AND CB FRY

Today, our brave international boys take on the "mysterious" Albanian football team, first formed in October 1946 v neighbours Yugoslavia in Tirana (2-3) (post 2WW) now ranked surprisingly 66th in FIFA. The "Eagles" have been as high as 22nd and as low as 124th. I'm looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet this afternoon, no stress, a comfy win, our boys taking their "world of football" into a distant, eastern nation, showing them how to play the game, England invented.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/4914542619705852028?hl=en-GB 

Albania gets a few mentions in previous blogs and this one includes the mysterious East European country and the famous C.B.Fry. Don't know who he is???? Shame on you...have a read and be enlightened!

Today, March 28th 2001, the 3-1 thumping of that well known footballing power, Albania, sent a vibration through the European fraternity, as the "Manchester United" squad  provided 7 England players, to take part in the World Cup qualifier.
Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Andy Cole and used subs Teddy Sheringham and Wes Brown. Scholes, Cole and Owen scored.
This equalled Arsenal's provision of  "SEVEN international caps in one England game from one club". 
Arsenal had "lent" 7 of their 1934 squad to England in a friendly international against Italy at Highbury. (Moss, Male, Hapgood, Copping, Bowden, Drake, Bastin).
Eric Brook missed a penalty and therefore a hat trick! England won 3-2.
A game that was notorious for its violence. Worth a read!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Highbury

MALCOLM AND BAILEY

So, who is a Malcolm who features at the top end of English football?? On the 16th April 1975, Malcolm MacDonald led the England "line" and scored all 5 in a 5-0 victory over the giants of Cyprus in a European Championship Qualifier at Wembley, in front of 68,000. Supermac played for his country between 1972-75, 14 times and scored 6 goals...as you know already, 5 in one game against hapless opposition, his first goal after 90 seconds. Supermac was the first England international to score 5 in one game since Willie Hall in 1938. Can you find another Malcolm international footballer for England----btw I was named by my Dad's work colleague, a Scot, who told my dad to call me Malcolm!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KOYSdtGYMQ

Malcolm Macdonald was part of Don Revie's reign, which began in 30th October 1974, with a 3-0 win over Czechoslovakia, another qualifer at Wembley. Macdonald scored one and Colin Bell 2. Over 80,000 attended at Wembley. 

Their next qualifier was a 0-0 draw at Wembley against Portugal at home in November 1975..no Supermac! Then on March 12th England beat West Germany 2-0 in a friendly at home, 100,000 watched as Macdonald scored and Bell got the other. Next came the Cyprus match in April, with a return 1-0 win in Limassol, the England goal scored by Kevin Keegan. Macdonald did not score. In 9 full appearances and 5 subs, he scored 6 for his country. He did not survive the Revie reign which ended in Uruguay on September 7th 1977. Revie used 4 captains in his managership which was short lived.

Bearing in mind the sad and untimely death of Frank Worthington, this era presented England managers with a good number of "Mavericks". Supermac would be one.

Now for the Bailey bit! Surprisingly, for such a regular sort of surname, there are only 5 recorded Baileys, with this spelling. 

There was an Eddie Baily selected between 1950-2, with 9 starts and 5 goals. No E, Not counted!

The other Baileys were: Gary 1978-87... a GK with only 2 starts for England (1985)-loads for Man U (294 apps), 

Horace Bailey in 1908 made 5 apps/0 goals, was a goalkeeper who also represented Great Britain in the London 1908 Olympics and also in the 1912 Olympics. He played club football for Birmingham and Leicester Fosse.

Mike Bailey 1964 2 apps, 1958-1977 in the Football League for Charlton and Wolves. I saw him play at Wembley in an international 18th November 1964 v Wales.

Norman Cole Bailey 1878-87: 19 starts for England, 15 as captain scored 2 goals. he was at Westminster School and played for the famous amateur football clubs: Old Westminsters, Corinthian, Swifts, The Wanderers, Clapham Rovers; was an FA Cup winner 1880, Runner Up 1879 with Clapham R.  Vice-President FA 1887-90. A man with a moustache statement.

CENTURIES AND CAPS

 

March 25th 1980. I know this isn't an exact anniversary but since another swashbuckling cricketer (in the mould of Ian Botham), Ben Stokes, has scored 99 in 52 balls to lead England, in a partnership with Jonny Bairstow (124 off 112 balls), to a one day international win in Pune, India, I thought this appropriate. 

It was Bairstow's 11th one day century and only three England players has achieved this record (do you know who?). England won with 6.3 overs and 6 wickets left in their 50 overs, chasing 336.

Lord Botham, very much in the same style as Stokes, and best known as a cricketer, made his footballing debut for Scunthorpe Utd, coming on as a sub. in a Division 4 league match at Bournemouth.  He made his full debut 2 years later, in a 2-7 home defeat by Wigan Ath. Botham played for Yeovil Town (1978-80) 17 apps and for Scunny (1980-5) 11 league matches and a cup tie. His "benefit match" was quite rightly!!! arranged by the club against Manchester Utd.

On the subject of Manchester United, on March 26th 2008, David Beckham won his 100th England cap in a 1-0 friendly defeat in France. He was the fifth England centurion (at the time). Other centurions are: Billy Wright (105), Bobby Moore (108), Ashley Cole (107), Bobby Charlton (106), Frank Lampard (106), Steven Gerrad (114), David Beckham (115), Wayne Rooney (120) and Peter Shilton (125). 

Ahmed Hassan, of Egypt, holds the world record of 184 caps.
The current "active" international is Bader Al Mutawa (181 caps) for Kuwait. 

Sergio Ramos of Spain is also active with 179 caps. His first cap was won on 26th March 2005 and his latest on 25th March 2021.

Amongst the Ladies, Kristine Lilly (USA) has won 354 caps and 7 other US players have totalled more than 231 caps in the global top 10. The rest include a Canadian (Christian Sinclair 296 caps) and Chinese international, Pu Wei.

Fara Williams, (Reading) has won most England caps (170) between 2001-2018.

SAN MARINO

San Marino, is more famous for its "named" Grand Prix F1 circuit, which actually takes place at Imola, not in San Marino. In football, the country is FIFA ranked 211^th (out of 211), worse than The Bahamas, Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands.  The nation's first international was against Canada in 1986 with a 0-1 defeat. Their biggest win was a 1-0 thumping of Leichenstein in 2004 and the heaviest defeat 0-13 v Germany in 2006.

In November 1994, Davide Gualtieri scored the fastest goal in World Cup history, after Stuart Pearce under hit a back pass after 8.3 seconds of a qualifier played in Bologna, watched by just over 2,700. The goal scorer dined out on that for the rest of his career and at 49, he is a computer salesman, who speaks no English and has his wife translate for him when he is interviewed; every time his country draws England in a competition.

Gualtieri continued to play for the San Marino national team until 2000, when he retired due to injury. In 2020, he appeared on the TV series, "Harry's (Redknapp) heroes-you are having a laugh", assembling a Sanmarinese team to play against a team of 90s England players once more. So far the two countries have met five times with scores at 6-0 World Cup, 1-7 WC, 5-0 WC, 0-8 WC, 5-0 European Champs,  0-6 EC 5/9/2015

When England thumped San Marino 1-7 in a World Cup qualifier away in 1993 the team was:

Seaman, Dixon Pallister Walker Pearce Ripley Ince Platt Sinton Wright Ferdinand. Not exactly convincing is it?

The first unofficial international San Marino played was in 1986 v a Canadian Olympic side and the first official international was against Switzerland in 1990, they didn't win 0-4.

They have played 174 times, won 1 drawn 6 and lost the rest obviously. Goals For 24 Against 730. The one win was against Liechenstein in a friendly.

On Nov11th 2020 they lost to Latvia at home 0-3 in a friendly and have drawn with Gibraltar 0-0 in the UEFA Nations League D.

San Marino recently with an international pending, had twins playing in goal and at centre back-their understanding is not as good as it should be, perhaps. One of their players could not play because of a staffing problem in his bar, so he pulled out!

With a population of only 31,000 you would think he could find a temporary barman? Great badge!

BRORA RANGERS THROUGH THE HEARTS

 

Martin MacLean celebrates his winning goal for Brora Rangers at Dudgeon Park, securing a victory for his club against Scottish Premier League opponents, Hearts of Midlothian. The Scottish Cup 2nd Round has got underway with a shock. In the First Rd, on Jan 11th, Brora beat Camelon Juniors 1-2.

Brora FC, founded in 1879, was formed in a village in Sutherland county (50 miles north of Inverness) and plays in the Highland League (actually they are present Champions). They only had a handful of training sessions before their cup tie, but won 2-1. Brora went ahead 1-0 after 12 minutes, and got their winning goal in the 75 minute, following Hearts equaliser on 70 minutes. THIS WAS HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN'S FIRST DEFEAT TO A NON-LEAGUE CLUB IN THE CUP FOR 121 YEARS!

In the 3rd Round Brora meet Stranraer FC. Their next fixtures in the Breedon Highland League are v Huntly (a place I have drunk beer in) on April 3rd, Buckie Thistle on the 17th and ......wait for it.............Clachnacuddin FC on the 24th. Could you be a results' reader on the local news bulletin?

The Ladies/Girls section will compete in the new Women's Highland League that runs from March to October and there is a thriving junior boys section too. Do have a look at the video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QokvZGN0QhY it gets going after 90 seconds.

The club joined the Scottish FA in 1933 and the Highland FL in 1962. They have been successful in their own league titles etc in the past 10 seasons or so. The video will tell you more.

By the way Brora (pop: 2,000) is Nordic meaning "settlement with river and a bridge", a perfect crossing point. It has a variety of local raw materials and its coal mine (when it was functioning) was the most northerly in the UK. As a result of this fuel, the town was the first to have electricity in Scotland, boosting its woollen industry. The local white sandstone (from the mid-late Jurassic geological period) was used to build London Bridge and Liverpool Cathedral. The town also supports the Clynelish Distillery (1819).

THE WORKING MAN'S GEORGE BEST

Today, I am editing a past blog, using it as a base to remind you "followers" about one of the footballing "Mavericks", Frank Worthington, especially today, because he has passed away and gone to that great penalty area in the sky! Frank was a local lad (to West Yorkshire) and he was loved by those spectators who wanted to be entertained for their entrance fee. Frank wouldn't let them down.

In 1972 (on this day 16th Feb)) Frank was due to transfer from Huddersfield Town to Liverpool, a big move.

Signing for Liverpool, does Shankly look a little apprehensive? Frank graced a host of clubs throughout his career but even that path may have taken a different turn when he moved from Huddersfield Town to Liverpool for £150,000 in summer 1972. The traditional signing pictures were taken with Liverpool manager Bill Shankly and his then right-hand man Bob Paisley, only for Worthington to fail the medical on the grounds of "high blood pressure." See below.....
Frank failed the first Medical having shown symptoms of "high blood pressure"  apparently "due to excessive sexual activity" the report read! Bill Shankly reluctantly sent Frank away for a week to sort this out and the place of recuperation chosen by Bill was Majorca; not a good idea Shanks! When Frank returned he failed the test again and the move to Liverpool was called off, unsurprisingly!

Frank saved his reputation when he signed on for Leicester City (1972-75: 210/72) and his career took him to over 11 clubs and only 8 appearances for England. (Maverick!)

Here is a "Worthington" blog from the past! I had been to watch some junior football at SHELF FC which inspired me to include Frank!!
https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/maverick-on-shelf_20.html

Frank at Huddersfield Town (1988-72)

    

The Play Boy at Leicester City  

Honestly-it's what the well dressed footballer was wearing. at the time. Frank was associated with a mixture of  25 clubs, with appearances totalling (828), scoring 260 goals. Between 1966-1992: at "one end" he was capped by England (8 times, scoring 2) and played mostly with Huddersfield (171 apps /41goals) and Leicester (210/72), then at the "other end" had fleeting appearances with clubs like  Galway Utd, Weymouth, Chorley and Cemaes Bay (1 app) in North Wales.

JIMMY SETTLE AND THE CENSUS (Celebrating the 2021 Census)

The first international match played anywhere was between England and Scotland on November 30th 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow. An exciting novelty for the crowd of 3,000 ended drabbly 0-0. Matches between the two countries continued annually until 1878, with March being the chosen month. The next country to join in international football was Wales in January 1879. In 1882 Ireland hosted England at Bloomfield, Belfast and so the "Home" International tournament was sorted. Matches were played mainly in February, March (the end of the season) but by 1888, the leagues lasted a bit longer, so England played Ireland in April, winning 5-1. 

In 1902, England played Ireland on March 22nd at the Balmoral Show Grounds, Belfast winning 1-0 with a goal from Jimmy Settle. Who he? Born on 5/9/75, he played for England through to 1903 scoring 6 goals in as many games.

Jimmy, according to the 1881 Census, he was born at 103, Wellington Street, Millom, Cumberland and was the youngest of four children. 

He played initially for Bolton Wanderers 1894, Bury 1896 and eventually, Everton, moving there in 1899, for a fee of £400. He was a fast-paced right sided forward He helped his new club win the FA Cup in 1906, beating Newcastle Utd 1-0 at the Crystal Palace, 75,609 saw this. It was Newcastle's second defeat in consecutive finals.

His mother was widowed and by 1901 Jimmy worked in a Bleach Works, in Halliwell, he married, had two children and employed a servant in his house at Walton on the Hill, Liverpool, opposite Goodison Park.

Settle was the Football League's leading goalscorer for the 1901–02 season with 18 goals, the lowest of the highest totals achieved in the English top-flight to date. In 1908 Settle was sold to Stockport County, before he retired from football in 1909. His goals' tally in 339 matches was 118.

Settle represented England 6 times between 1899 and 1903, playing in the Home Championship, scoring 6 times, including a hat trick against Ireland in February 1899. Settle scored England's only goal in the match against Scotland in April 1902, which was expunged from the records and replayed as a result of the Ibrox Disaster which occurred during the game. Settle's goal in this match is not included in his international record.

Alongside Settle, in the Everton team, were Jack Sharp and Harry Makepeace, two of only 12 footballers who played both football and cricket for England. Between them they scored nearly 80 hundreds. Makepeace won the FA Cup winners' medal (1906), four County League Championship cricket medals and played for his country at both sports. 

Settle left Everton in 1908 (237 apps 84 goals), finishing his career at Stockport County. By 1911, he (wait for it!!!) ran the Dog and Partridge Pub at Moor Lane, Bolton, he had 4 children (one of whom died early) and Jimmy died at Chorley New Rd, Horwich in 1954.  Ref: The Census.

HOT SHOT, LASHER, PETER LORIMER

Do you remember Gorgeous Gus in the Victor comic? He was a bit special....

Every time he shot he burst the net. If the goalie tried to save it...well!! Remember I wrote about the man who invented the goal net? He would have had to use nets of steel to keep Lorimer's strikes inside the goal! Not really.... but Lorimer was known for his powerful shot. He will also be remembered for his spell at Leeds United (1962-79) (618 apps 219 goals), amongst the legendary Don Revie squad. I think he was less controversial than some of the chaps! His shot was recored at a 100 mph! Well it would wouldn't it.

Peter Lorimer is another footballer from "that era", who has passed away recently. Born in 1946, he was 74 years old. He made his debut for Leeds in September 1969 at 15 years and 289 days old, the club's youngest debut maker. He had played and scored for Scottish Schoolboys in a win over England in May 1962. Leeds grabbed him and he played at Elland Road from 1962-79  and had a return period in 1983-6 (80/22).

His professional career began in 1962 through to 1986 when he retired from playing in Israel at Hapoel Haifa (see nice badge). He played for the full Scots team winning 29 caps scoring 4 (1969-75).

After Leeds he was on the books at Cape Town City, Toronto Blizzard, York City (1979-80), Vancouver Whitecaps, University College Dublin!! and at Leeds again, then Whitby Town FC (another non-league ground I have been to). After this, he was a Leeds Utd FC Ambassador and he also helped publish the Leeds United match day programme.

In retirement, of course, he ran The Commercial Inn Pub in Holbeck, Leeds, had a spell at Radio Leeds and wrote for the Yorkshire Evening Post.

HONOURS: Football League title 1968-9, 1973-4              FA Cup win 1971-2, RUp 1969-70, 1972-3

Football League Cup win 1967-8            Charity Shield 1969 RUp 1974

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup winner 1967-8, 1970-1 RUp 1966-7           European Cup RUp 1974-5

European Cup Winners Cup winner 1972-3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrTYT2UIW-w

MACDOUGALL- 4 SHORT OF A BAKER'S DOZEN

 

No, it's not the Monty Python silly walk, it's Ted Macdougall showing his skills in his West Ham shirt. Born in Inverness, he played for Liverpool in 1966, under Shankly, York FC (84apps/34goals), AFC Bournemouth (1969-72) 146/103goals, Man Utd 1972-3, West Ham (one season), dribs and drabs at Norwich, Southampton, Weymouth, AFC Bournemouth again 1978-80 86/42apps, Blackpool, Salisbury, Poole, AFC Totton, Gosport, Totton again, Andover (1983-4) 

Totaling 535 apps scoring 256 goals in the FLeague, 34th in the professional list. 

He played 7 times for Scotland with 3 goals. He later coached at Portsmouth and in USA for the Atlanta Silverbacks and went to Vancouver dealing in land sales, retired in Canada, still alive at 74.

(Arthur Rowley playing mainly for Leicester City and Shrewsbury Town with 619apps/434goals at a ratio of 0.7 between 1946-65 is top). (Dixie Dean's 379 goals' ratio in his career is runner up 0.87)(Jimmy Greaves 357, rates 0.69 and comes 3rd).

On 20th November 1971, in the FA Cup 1st Rd, AFCB beat Margate 11-0  and Ted scored 9 (yes, a Baker's dozen = 13 (one extra loaf baked in case of a disaster in the oven)

(this is a record for the Proper Rounds of the FA Cup, although in Qualifying Rounds Chris Marron of South Shields and Paul Jackson of Stocksbridge Park Steels (my local higher tier club) have scored 10 in one tie.

Ted retired from playing in 1984 playing four games with Andover and notching 3 goals and ran TM Sports Shop in, Boscombe and Poole Then ran the Mill Arms in  Dunbridge, Hampshire, and ended in Vancouver in land sales. The stand at Bournemouth's Dean Court-now Vitality, was named after Ted-a south coast hero. You must see this..................only a few seconds!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnRyfkt696Q

JOHN ALEXANDER BRODIE AND OTHERS

Well, Chisnall didn't go down too badly, did it? With over 2,300 editions of this blog, over the past few years, I sometimes get over excited when I find a subject that is more interesting than usual. Not that they aren't all fascinating, however occasionally I have to dig deep to get a subject matter that tickles my fancy. So today I have found a little cracker.......since it's an FA Cup round weekend, there is no better subject than the oldest cup competition in football history. This blog is about the the 21st cup final and the last to be held at the Kennington Oval.

On the 18th March 1892, The Oval "Sports' Ground"....yes the cricket pitch and surrounds was use it for soccer in the winter, and by March for the FA Cup Final, a venue used since 1872. 

Around 2,500 eager spectators crowded into the "stadium" to watch West Bromwich Albion beat Aston Villa 3-0, with goals from Geddes, Nicholls and Reynolds. What made this final so unusual? There were goal nets! It's hard to ponder why these hadn't been in place earlier, it seems so obvious, but it was the invention of  John Alexander Brodie, who later became the Chief Engineer of the Mersey Tunnel, to develop something to drape over the goal posts, to stop the ball from travelling miles beyond the pitch and to confirm that a goal had been scored! 

Brodie, in photo, also inspired the Liverpool ring road, electric trams, the East Lancs Road (a motorway) and notably pre-fabricated housing to speed up house building using concrete slabs as displayed at Cheap Cottages Exhibition in the new town of Letchworth Garden City. Needless to say, there was a demand as the national population expanded. He gained many other recognitions world wide later in his career, mainly in India, helping to plan New Delhi.

The FA Authorities, including the famous Charles Alcock, were becoming concerned about the size of crowds being attracted to this now, annual event. 

In  their cup run, Albion had first beaten the amateur, Old Boys of Westminster School, a school whose pitch is still sited in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. My school, Charterhouse, first played Westminster School in an annual fixture, first played in 1862. Games were played either at the Westminster School pitch or at the original Charterhouse School site near Spitalfields......this is reputedly the oldest school fixture?

Albion then denied the professionals from Blackburn Rovers, a hat trick of cup final victories beating them in the next round, then Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, reaching their fourth final in seven seasons. Billy Bassett scored two for Albion and John Reynolds (in photo), a late third from 30 yards. This was the last final held at The Oval; the referee was JC Clegg.

FA Cup Final programmes were becoming "adventurous" with music hall advertising!

CHISNALL AND MATCH OF THE DAY

 

Phil Chisnall has died at the age of 78. His name may not ring too many bells, but he played for Manchester United as an "inside forward" and was the last footballer to be transfered from Man U to Liverpool.

He was signed by United after the Munich air crash (1958) and made his professional debut in 1961 v Man City at Maine Road. He scored in a 2-0 win.

Can you name all of these other Manchester United players? Chisnall is front right. 

He is back left 1967-8.

Joining Liverpool, in 1964, when they were League Champions, his first outing was in the Charity Shield v West Ham, as a sub. 

He became the "first person to touch the ball" on the first "Match of the Day programme playing Arsenal.

The first regular football programme on television, it first showed on 22 August 1964, at the start of the 1964-65 season. The identity of the match, Liverpool v Arsenal, was kept secret until 4.00pm, that afternoon, by agreement with the Football League, who feared crowds would stay at home to watch it.

Chisnall's career faded via Southend United in 1967 and then Stockport County.

He worked with three of the great managers; Busby, Shankly and Ramsey, when he made a few England appearances.

There were 8 players prior to him. who crossed the "divide" and none directly since.

THEY MOVED BETWEEN THE TWO...

Transfers to United from Liverpool
1912 Tom Chorlton
1920 Tom Miller
1929 Tommy Reid
1938 Ted Savage
1938 Allenby Chilton

Transfers from United to Liverpool
1913 John Sheldon
1921 Fred Hopkin
1954 Tommy McNulty
1964 Phil Chisnall

Chisnall's career ended and he then inevitably, ran a couple of Betting Shops and unusally, a malt loaf bakery. He died in on March 4th 2021.

THE VALEITES AND ONE ROPE

 

On this day in history, Port Vale missed out on European glory at Wembley. Seems an unlikely, but on March 17th 1996, Port Vale played a European final at Wembley. It was the Anglo-Italian Cup. En route,Vale drew 2–2 with Cesena, beat Ancona 2–0, and drew 0–0 with Genoa, before beating Perugia 5–3. Facing Ipswich Town in the English semi-final, they progressed with a 4–2 win. They then had to beat West Bromwich Albion in a two-legged affair to reach the main final. They beat the "Baggies" 3–1 to become the last English team in the competition, facing Genoa again, this time to decide the tournament's winner. 

Vale were beaten 5-2 by Genoa and the scoreline didn’t reflect the superiority of the Serie B side. Just 12,683 turned up at Wembley for what was the last match ever played in the competition.The Anglo-Italian Cup is a defunct European competition which was played intermittently from 1970 to 1996. It was founded following the initial two-team Anglo-Italian Cup in 1969. The Anglo-Italian Cup was played as an annual tournament from 1970 to 1973. The first final was abandoned early due to violence, with Swindon Town declared the winners. During its time the tournament had a reputation for violence between fans, but it returned as a semi-professional tournament from 1976 before it was abolished again in 1986.

In 1992, the Anglo-Italian Cup was re-established as a professional cup for second tier clubs – it replaced the English Full Members' Cup, with the Italian opposition from Serie B teams. This version of the Cup ran for four seasons, until 1996, before being discontinued due to fixture congestion. 

From 1967, a place in the Inter-Cities' Cup was awarded to the English Football League Cup winners, but that season's winners, Queens Park Rangers could not take up their place because at that time, UEFA did not allow third-tier teams to compete in the Fairs' Cup. 

The 1995-6 season was Port Vale's 84th in the English Football League and it is hard to believe, but it was the club's second successive season in the First Division. Vale's excellent mid-season form raised hopes of a promotion campaign, but they faded away at the final stages, finishing 12th. In the FA Cup, Vale achieved a celebrated upset by knocking out the cup holders from the Premier League, EVERTON with a 2–1 win at Vale Park. Over 19,000 watched. They were then eliminated at the Fifth Round, after taking Leeds United to a replay. 

Port Vale are now in League Two, with a nice badge that tells of their founding in 1876, making it one of the oldest clubs in the Football League. It is named after its Geographical location, as a port on the Trent and Mersey canal. The club holds a record for a record number of seasons, not playing in the top flight of English football. The badge consists of two Wedgewood pots representing the local pottery industry, a agricultural scythe from Tunstall and the Stafford knot representing the Borough of Burslem. The knot has three loops which in some stories tells of the way that three local convicted criminals were hung at the same time, using the specially arranged "knot" when the hangman discovered that he only had one rope!! Less gruesome is the explanation that it represents three local settlements joined together (in harmony?)

FIRST BLOG AND AN ANNIVERSARY

https://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2015/03/butter-wouldnt-melt.html 

The blog above was written on March 16th 2015, 6 years ago. 

My first blog was written on the 22nd of March 2014, encouraged and "set up" by an old uni friend, who worked successfully in media. This first offering wasn't a proper blog, just a statement that I was off to watch Everton and Swansea City in a Football League match, as part of my celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Football League, matches first played in 1888. The journey took me eventually to all of the 12 original members. Of course the Football League, First Division, became the Premier League in 1992.

On Saturday March 16th 2002 saw a unique abandonment of the First Division fixture between Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion, which became known as the 'Battle of Bramall Lane'. 

9 minutes in to a league match, Sheffield United's keeper Simon Tracey was sent off for handling the ball outside the penalty area, United manager Neil Warnock using his first substitution by replacing an outfield player with the sub goalkeeper. 

Warnock later used his second and third subs and amazingly one of those, George Santos, was sent off in the 65th minute for a foul on Andy Johnson while the other sub, Patrick Suffo, received his marching orders in the skirmish that followed the Santos sending off. 

That left United with 8 players and no substitutions left. So when Michael Brown had to leave the pitch with an injury in the 80th minute and Robert Ullathorne followed him a couple of minutes later for the same reason it left Sheffield United with just 6 players. The minimum number a team must have is 7 players, so ref Eddie Wolstenholme, had no option but to abandon the game in the 82nd minute with visitors WBA leading 3-0. Letter of the law!

West Brom's manager, Gary Megson, said after the match..
'There will be no replay. If we are called back to Bramall Lane we shall kick-off and then walk off the pitch. I've been in professional football for a long time, I've never ever witnessed anything as disgraceful as that. There is no place for that in any game of football, let alone professional football.'

Megson also accused Warnock of faking the injuries to end the game, but an investigation cleared the Blades' manager of that accusation, although United were fined £10,000 and yet the result was allowed to stand.

THE EDINBURGH DERBY

The Edinburgh Derby was first played on March 14th 1896, 125years ago, bringing the two oldest clubs in the city, together for the Scottish FA Cup Final. This was the only time the derby has been played outside Glasgow, at New Logie Green, Edinburgh, the home of the then St Bernard's FC. The attendance was 16,500. Hearts won 3-1, scoring a penalty after 3 minutes from the start. 

The Derby has traditionally been played at New Year, since 1 January and 2 January are Bank Holidays in Scotland. The New Year derby match has sometimes not taken place in recent years, due to a shutdown in early January being introduced to the schedule. Of the 94 Edinburgh derbies played at New Year, Hibs hold a slight lead of 32 to 30 wins by Hearts. Hangovers not to blame.

During the 1940 New Year's Day match, Easter Road was covered with a thick fog that would normally cause a football match to be abandoned. Due to the match being played during the Second World War, and it being broadcast widely by the BBC for the entertainment of soldiers stationed overseas, the War Office ordered play to go ahead to avoid alerting the Luftwaffe  to the bad weather conditions. The commentator, Bob Kingsley, could not see the pitch either and had to improvise. Using a series of runners to tell him if there were any goals scored, he created his own version of the match. This was later described in The Scotsman as "Fawltey Towers  ahead of itself" and adapted into a BBC Radio Four play by Scottish playwright, Andrew Dallmayer.

Heart of Midlothian FC was founded in 1874 and the name was influenced by Walter Scott's novel "The Heart of Midlothian".

Hibernian FC was founded in 1875 by the Irish community in the city, the name coming from the Roman for Ireland. The club entered the Scottish League in 1893 and the first Edinburgh "Derby" was on Christmas Day 1875 . Hearts won 1-0. 

Other Edinburgh clubs include, Leith Athletic, Edinburgh City and Meadowbank Thistle. Minor clubs include Civil Service Strollers and The Spartans, both of whom play in the Lowland League.

NORTH LONDON DERBY: IT'S ALMOST WAR

It is the North London Derby today. Arsenal founded in 1886 at the Woolwich Armoury, the club became the first club from the south to join the Football League in 1893. When The Gunners (nickname choice obvious) moved North of the River in 1913, inevitably it created a rivalry between Arsenal and the already established Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsenal's homes have been in Plumstead 1886, The Sportsman Ground 1887, The Manor Ground 1888, The Invicta Ground 1890, The Manor Ground 1893 and the move to Highbury 1913 (4 miles from White Hart Lane) brought about the serious rivalry. Eventually, Arsenal move to The Emirates in 2006.

Tottenham's ground was first at the Tottenham Marshes, when the club were founded in 1882, then Northumberland Park 1888 and White Hart Lane in 1899.

The first official meeting between the two, was on November 9th 1896, when Woolwich Arsenal won 2-1 in the United League. The return match was played on February 25th 1897 in a draw 2-2.
The next game was on Christmas Day 1897 at The Manor Ground with Spurs winning 2-3 in the United League.The first League Div 1 game was on 4th December 1909-programme below.

The rivalry escalated in 1919 when, after World War 1, the First Division was to be expanded by two teams, and the League held a meeting of the clubs to decide the two clubs by means of a vote. 19th-placed Chelsea, who would otherwise have been relegated, were allowed to stay and thus they took the first spot. The second spot could have been awarded to 20th-placed Tottenham, or Barnsley, who had finished third in the Second Division. But Arsenal (along with four other clubs) also bid for the place, despite their only finishing sixth in Division Two, although an error in the calculation of goal average meant Arsenal had actually finished fifth, an error which was corrected by the Football League in 1980.

After an endorsement by League president and chairman of  Liverpool John McKenna. on account of their longer membership of the League, Arsenal won the vote by eighteen votes, and were thus elected to the First Division. Spurs' won eight votes (Barnsley got five, Wolves four, Nottingham Forest three, Birmingham two and Hull City one) 

The decision infuriated Tottenham and their supporters. It has been frequently alleged that Arsenal chairman, Sir Henry Norris, used underhand dealings in order to bring this about, although nothing has been proven. Booo!

Tottenham themselves had been elected to join the Football League Second Division eleven years prior after finishing 7th in the 1907-8 Southern League, but it involved entirely separate leagues that did not have automatic right to move between them. Tottenham were initially unsuccessful in their attempt to join the Football League, and only narrowly won election to the Second Division after Stoke City resigned from the league for financial reasons.

Despite the setback, Tottenham were soon promoted back into the top flight after taking the 1919-20 Second Division title, and the derby was once again regularly contested. 

The first fully competitive derby match after Arsenal's 1913 move to north London was a First Division match that finished 2–1 to Tottenham, on 15 January 1921 at White Hart Lane. The early matches between the two were noted for their bitterness - a particularly vicious match in September 1922 led to both clubs being censured by the FA and threatened with being forced to play behind closed doors.

Tottenham played in the Second Division between the periods of 1928 and 1933, as well as 1935 to 1950, which naturally led to a drop in the number of matches between the two clubs in this period and a cooling of passions. In 1935 Arsenal registered its highest ever win over Spurs in a 6-0 rout away at White Hart Lane. This 6-0 result remains the biggest win by any team wherein the derby. 

Relations between the two clubs improved somewhat after WW2, after Tottenham allowed Arsenal to play their home matches at White Hart Lane while Highbury was requisitioned as an ARP station and subsequently bombed. The two sides met in the FA Cup for the first time in the 1948-9, when Arsenal won a third round tie 3–0.

They first met in the Premier League on Dec 12 1992: 1-0 to Spurs.

First class match record between the two clubs is: Arsenal 82 wins and 54 Draws. Tottenham have won 66. The latest a 2-0 win for Spurs at home (6/12/20).

PAPA JOHNS EFL FINALS/Two years' worth.

It is that weekend again! The Papa Johns (Pizza) Trophy Final(s) are being played at the home of football, Wembley. Once known as the Associate Members Cup since its founding in 1984. later it has been the Football League Trophy and the English Football League Trophy since 2016, when the FL was reorganised. Bristol City have won it most times (3)!! Not sure if that's good news or bad? and been runners up twice.

The games are not televised, there won't be a crowd and we hope that the Wembley experience is a good one for the teams. It is the 37th year of the competition that attracts English Football League clubs from Leagues One and Two and 16 Premier League Academy teams.

Last year's final (2019/20), never played due to the Covid thing, has brought together the Southern winners, Portsmouth (defending champions from two years back!) and Salford City from the Northern Section.

Portsmouth (South) had won through against: In their R1 group; Oxford United, Norwich City U21, Crawley. Then met Northampton Town in Rd2, Walsall in R3, Scunthorpe in the QF and Exeter in the Semi.       

Salford City (North) beat in their group, Aston Villa U21, Tranmere Rovers and would have played Bury who had to withdraw when the club went into liquidation and withdrew from the Football League. They then beat Wolves U21, Port Vale, Accrington Stanley in the Quarters and Newport County in the Semi.

This season's final (2020/21) one way and another has filtered out Sunderland and Tranmere Rovers, who also meet at Wembley tomorrow.The competitions have been running since September, with a group section and then knock out rounds from the Quarter-final.

Sunderland have beaten Lincoln City in the semis, MK Dons in the Q-F, Port Vale in R3 and played Oldham in Rd 2 and at the beginning in their group Fleetwood Town, Carlisle and Aston Villa U21s.

Tranmere's qualifying group included Port Vale, Wigan and Liverpool U21s. They then played Manchester City U21, Leicester City U21 in Round 2, Peterborough in the Quarter-final and Oxford United in the S-Final.

Kick off 3pm.  

               POMPEY WINNERS 2018-19

With The 2019/20 final being played the day before the 2020/21 final, Portsmouth have the honour of holding the Papa trophy, won at Wembley, for the shortest time (ie one day) and the longest....YES...the FA CUP, won in 1939 and held until 1946, for the longest period due to the Second World War! Thanks to John Coombes for reminding me of this Pompey fact!

COME AWA' THE HEATHER

On March 13th 1996, a resident from Dunblane, called Thomas Hamilton, entered the gymnasium of the local Primary school and shot dead 16 pupils and then himself. In the school at the time were the Murray brothers of tennis fame as well as a full compliment of teachers and students. The gymnasium has been demolished and replaced by a memorial garden. 

Dunblane is a sleepy commuter town, near Stirling in central Scotland, with a population of around 10,000. Close by was another primary school, a co-ed boarding school supporting children from the Armed Forces  and a co-ed High School with 800 pupils. They were the lucky ones.

The gymnasium at the primary school, where the murders took place, has been demolished and replaced by a memorial garden. 

The local football club was founded in 1896 and flourished as the biggest club in Perthshire for a feww years. The First World War saw the demise of the club and then professionalism in the game restricted the development of the club causing it to fold.

Dunblane FC was re-formed in 2000 and has over 300 members, supporting an amateur club including juniors up to 18 years old, an adult team of over 35 years old and a flourishing girls' section. The Heather, the club's nickname, is known as Scotland's largest community club.

The club is known as "The Heather" because of the bright red shirts they wear. and their old ground at Duckburn Park nows supports a Marks and Spencers Store,