MOB FOOTBALL PLAYED IN BOURTON REPORTED IN BRITTANY

Reading the local newspaper, "Ouest France", today, whilst overlooking the expanse sandy beach of Val Andre (West France), before scoffing a baguette coated in local honey, I found on the back page this "L'Image" (below) of an ancient ritual played out in the town of Bourton-on-the Water, Gloucestershire. Translate the headline!

During the summer, a game of medieval football is played with goal posts set up in the River Windrush. These days, two teams play with a standard football and a referee who attempts to keep order. Crowds line the banks of the river and the aim is to score as many goals as possible (while getting everyone else soaking wet).The original game would not have had goals but something like a tree/bush/door? on the river banks to aim for and an inflated pig's bladder in place of the not yet invented, inflated, leather-coated ball. Somtimes, the mob gamesters would travel across miles of local landscape, up hill and down dale to reach their "goal"; a church door or a memorial pillar. Mob football is an ancient game, played by the Romans, Greeks, anybody! and it is believed to be the ancestor for all codes of modern football, well it would be, wouldn't it? 

The sport was usually contested between two neighbouring towns, with as many participants as can be, on each side. These archaic forms of football would be played on "ceremonial days", involving an unlimited number of players on opposing teams, who would clash in a heaving scrum of people struggling to drag an inflated pig's bladder by any means possible to markers (goals?) at each end of a town or indeed in the next settlement. The village of Bourton, has its own non-league football club, Bourton Rovers, founded in 1894, who play at the Rissington Road ground in the west of England, Hellenic League. 

There is also a model village in Bourton, a 1:9 replica of the village and includes a model of the model village itself. (get that?) It was built by local craftsmen in the 1930s, and opened in 1937. The model village was awarded Grade 2 listed  status in 2013 in recognition of its uniquely precise details and the genuine building materials and methods used, which replicate those used in the construction of the life-size village. There is of course a "standard" model railway to go with it. There is the Cotswold Motor Museum (home of  Brum- a children's TV series), a Birdland Park, which unsurprisingly, has a collection of birds, including parrots, penquins and passerine (perching) birds and a large pond full of salmon which can be fed by the public. There are bird of prey displays and a penguin feeding demonstration. Don't miss the The Dragonfly Maze, the monthly farmers' market and by the way, the Oasis' music video, "I'm out of time" was recorded in the town, and shows Liam Gallagher walking in the countryside of the local area, in the model village and around the town. The long distance footpath, "The Heart of England Way" will lead you to other footballing venues in the vibrant English Midlands. Staycation????During, last year's Bank Holiday (2020), as social distancing was well into the lives of the Gloucestershire folk, something had to give. Instead of the customary 11am ko, two teams from the local club, kicked off (splashed off?) at 7am, avoiding a big crowd and perhaps the local "Bobby" wouldn't have risen by then to issue "fines". There was a hint of fancy dress and actually not too many lads/lassies were out at that time in the morning. Bank Holiday hangover? A collection was held to raise money for the club. As a tourist attraction, starting at a sensible time, when the sun was well up, approximately 10,000 spectators would have turned up to see a bunch a locals wade through the "Water" and try to score in what were "modern goals", which rather spoilt the authenticity. But at least the occasion took place, midst the unprecedented Covid thing. Quite proud to use that word.....unprecedented.....done it again! I guess the local businesses will have lost out on a tourist cash, but there is always the next year. Below is a previous blog dealing with "mob football"

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/2283954334996156101

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=MaMEHdyKXR4   video dated 2014

CUP TIES GALORE

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/2876807414976528491 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/7101597026920056893

On 31st August 2002, a local South Yorkshire club, from the Unibond Division 1 (as was then), Stocksbridge Park Steels, (Jamie Vardy's original team) made the national headlines when they beat Oldham Town, in an FA Cup Preliminary tie, 17-1.  Paul Jackson scored 10 goals to equal an FA Cup record.  The previous record had been set by Chris Marron of South Shields who beat Radcliffe Welfare 13-0 in a 1947 Round One  FA Cup tie.

In a "proper" round, that is Round One of the FA Cup, centre forward Ted MacDougall, still holds a record of 9 goals when Bournemouth beat Margate 11-0 in 1971. His team however, ground to a halt in their march to Wembley, meeting Walsall in Round Three, losing 0-1. Had they won, they would have drawn Everton at Goodison Park. MacDougall made his way around the world from 1966, on Liverpool's books but no official games, then playing for York City (84apps/34goals), AFC Bournemouth (146/103) and (52/16) twice, Man Utd, West Ham, Norwich (112/51), Southampton (86/42), Weymouth, The Jewish Guild, Detroit Export, Blackpool, Salisbury, Poole, AFC Totton, Gosport, Florest Athletic, St George Budapest, AFC Totton, Andover through to 1984....officially making 536 apps scoring 256 goals. He also won 7 Scottish caps in 1975 scoring 3 goals.

Way back in 1887-8, Preston North End beat minnows Hyde United 26-0, the highest victory in the FA Cup, and Jimmy Rose netted 8 in a first round swamping.

Between 1877 and 1887, Henry "Harry" Cursham of Notts County scored 48 FA Cup goals, including 7 hat tricks, a record that stands today.

In 1922 Billy Minter scored 7 goals for St Albans City FC in the Fourth Qualifying Round, but ended up on the losing side when Dulwich Hamlet managed 8 as a team. Final score 7-8!

In 1953 Stan Mortenson scored a hat trick in the FA Cup Final, when his team, Blackpool beat Bolton Wanderers 4-3, in what was known as the Matthews' Final.

In late January 1961, Dennis Law (below) scored all 6 of Manchester City's goals against Luton Town in the Fourth round only for the game to be abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch, with City 6-2 up. Law scored again in the rearranged tie but Luton won 3-1!

Alex Dawson of Man Utd is the last player to score a hat trick in the Cup semi-final. United won 5-3, beating Fulham in a replay.

This season's FA Cup has begun and Handsworth Parramore scored highly against Stocksbridge PS in a 5-2 Preliminary Rd win. They meet Coventry United at home next. 

Flackwell Heath (Bucks) notched 6-0 against Tuffley Rovers (Gloucester) and meet Weston Super Mare away, both matches to be played on the 4th Sept. Ground below. Kevin Keen, remember him? comes from Flackwell Heath. (father Mike Keen was a professional goalkeeper).

Mulbarton Wanderers (and Belles), from the Eastern Counties League Premier, play their 4th FA Cup tie of the season, in the First Qualifying Rd at home, also on September 4th, against Welwyn Garden City. They were runners up in the 2020-1 Norfolk Senior Cup, (losing to Gorleston), a cup first played for in 1881-2. The final is played at Carrow Road. 

LES COSTAMORICANS

Any self respecting geographer/geologist will know about the Amorican Peninsular. Its in north west France, sort of hooked up to South-west England, with some geological similarities.

Here I am, three days without a blog, near Guingamp FC (13th in Ligue 2), watching the local team play Ajaccio, (8th) from Corsica in an entertaining 1-1 draw. My immediate interest is in local Guingamp. Here is their potted history, a club known as Les Costamoricans:

1912: Foundation of the club.1922: First match @ Stade de Montbareil. 1976 an amateur club: First promotion to Division 3 as a professional club. 1977: First promotion to Div 2: 1984: Adoption of professional status. 1990: First match @ Stade de Roudourou which holds around 19,000. 1994: Second promotion to Ligue 2 1995: First promotion to Ligue 1 1996: Winner of the Intertoto Cup and first appearance in Europe. 1997: Runner-up Coupe de France. 2000: Second promotion to Ligue 1. 2004: Relegation from Ligue 1. 2009: Winner of the Cope de France (best local rivals Rennes 2-1) and second appearance in Europe. 2010: Relegation from Ligue 2. 2011: Promotion to Ligue 2. 2013: Promotion to Ligue 1. 2014: Winner of the Coupe de France and third appearance in the UEFA Europa Ligue. 2019: Runner up in the Coupe de la Ligue. 2019: Relegated to Ligue 2, where I found them.

The club plays in the highest of French Leagues related to the towns population (a commune of 7,000)! 

Players from the past include Didier Drogba (226 apps for Chelsea and 100 goals), Florent Malouda and their former president is Noel Le Graet. French Football Federation President. Laurent Koscielny also played from 2010-19 255 apps 44 goals.

Squad players come from: Brazil, Guadelope, Haiti, Comoros Islands, Senegal, Mali, Cameroon and Malagasy...+ 20/28 from France. Here we are:

NUMBERED SHIRTS

 August 25th was a day that  football took a large step towards numeric organisation. 

In 1928 when Sheffield Wednesday beat Arsenal 3-2 on the opening day of the new season, the crowd saw the two teams run out on to the pitch with numbers on their backs. The players were numbered 1-22. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Swansea Town (as the club was then called) did the same. Chelsea won 4-0, wearing black numbers on a white patch. All clubs were told to stop doing this with immediate effect by the FA and League but Herbert Chapman, the great manager of that era, was not happy with this "waste", so he had his reserves wear the numbered kit.

Chelsea then toured South America introducing the numbered kit to their opponents who nicknamed Chelsea as "Los Numerados".

Numbering gradually crept into the game and in the 1933 FA Cup Final Everton players wore 1-11 and Manchester City 12-22. (note there were no subs), presumably to avoid confusion. 

Everton (see below) were not confused for they won 3-0. 

The players lined up in a 5 forwards-3 halves-2 backs + 1 goalie! formation. Starting from the goalie, the numbers were given out serially: Goalkeeper (number one), Right full back (number two), Left full back (number three) were solid defenders who operated behind the HALVES.... Right HALF or defensive midfielder (number four), Centre Half... defensive central midfielder (number five), Left Half or defensive midfielder (number 6). 

Then forwards included a Right winger (number seven), Inside forward on right (number eight), Centre forward (number nine), Inside forward on left (number ten), Left winger (number eleven). There were no subs of course in the early days.

A week later (6th May) Everton, the "Toffees" wore the same kit in the league game v Wolves, but it was not until 1939 that the League Management Committee eventually voted in the official wearing of numbers. 

The war then got in the way so by 1946/7 numbers were used for the first time by all clubs (although the "cost" of providing new numbered kits was a problem and spoilt the colours apparently!).

England's first venture into numbered shirts on the 17 April 1937 in a loss to Scotland at Hampden Park Glasgow.

FIFA did not insist on numbers on World Cup shirts until 1954.

Retiring shirt numbers became a bit of a trend but inevitably a club could end up with "no sensible numbers" to use. However Maradona's shirt for Napoli number 10 was hung up for good, as was Baggio's 10 at Brescia, Maldini's 3 at AC Milan and for Chelsea (to complete the circle) Zola's 25. Understandable.

Some shirt numbers given to modern day players have been totally inappropriate especially when legends such as Pele, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Moore and Johnny White (yes the 1960's Spurs player) might have had their numbers welded onto their backs. Can you number them?

Oops, not him. Doh!!!

Of course, now the numbering system for a club's squad system is decided by commerce, clubs, players and various other individuals.

ANSWER? 10. 7. 6. 8.

CARABAO CUP

The English League Cup is a knockout competition for all 92 clubs in the Premier League and Football League — the top four levels of the Pyramid. The Cup is sponsored by Carabao, a Thai energy drink company. In the past, it’s been known as the Carling Cup, the Milk Cup and many other names. It is 61 years old. Current Champions Manchester City who have won it 8 times and recently 4 times in succession (beating Spurs last time 1-0) along with Liverpool also 8 times winners.

The 2021-22 EFL Cup will be played for the 62nd time. After a year of COVID adjustments, the Cup is back to the normal schedule.Manchester City are the four-time defending champions; they defeated Tottenham Hotspur, 1-0, in the 2021 final at Wembley, played as a single tie since 1967.

The winner of the competition qualifies for the play-off round of the next season’s Europa Conference League (if they fail to have already qualified for the Champions League or The Europa League.

First Round: August 10-11, 2021 All 48 clubs from EFL League One and League Two are joined by 22 clubs from the EFL Championship, for a total of 35 games. The two clubs who finished 18th and 19th in the Premier League last season, West Bromwich Albion and Fulham, sit this one out.

Second Round: August 24-25, 2021 The 35 winners from the First Round are joined by the last two clubs from the Championship and the 13 Premier League clubs not involved in European competition. That’s 50 clubs and 25 games.

Third Round: September 21-22, 2021 All 25 winners from 2nd Round + 7 Premier League clubs playing in Europe: Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester, West Ham and Spurs.

Fourth Round (of 16): October 26-27, 2021 16 winners from Rd 3.

Quarterfinals: December 21-22, 2021 8 from 4th Rd.

Semi-finals: January 4-5 and 11-12, 2022 two legs at each ground.

2022 League Cup Final Feb 27th at Wembley.

So far 14 out of 34 First Round ties went to penalties; Crawley lost 9-10 on pens to Gillingham after 2-2; Hull lost 7-8 to Wigan after 1-1; Derby won 5-3 v Salford after 3-3; Forest Green won 6-5 Bristol City after 2-2; Bolton won 5-4 v Barnsley after 0-0; Leyton Orient lost 3-5 to QPR after 1-1, Burton v Oxford Utd lost 2-4 after 1-1; Stevenage beat Luton 3-0 after 2-2 and Oldham beat Tranmere 4-3 after 2-2.

Tonight and Tomorrow there are 25 more 2nd Round ties: Pick of the bunch? Barrow v Aston Villa, Oldham v Accrington, Brentford v Forest Green, Morecambe v Preston NE, Stevenage Borough v Wycombe Wanderers, Wigan Ath v Bolton W.

TIGERS RISE ABOVE THE FLOOD

 

"Ever forward" says Gloucester City AFC's badge of honour. The badge speaks for itself, with a strong reference to the City's maritime activity. I fancied Gloucester City as my subject today, because the club returns to its own ground, Meadow Park, (now New Meadow Park), having been "playing away" for its home games since the July 22nd 2007 floods when the River Severn and Gloucester Docks caused the local water table to rise above the club's goalposts; the whole stadium became unusable, not helped by contamination and since then the club has had issues with flood damage insurance, planning, raising the pitch 4' and bringing the stadium back into safe use. Due to previous flooding incidents, the club had been unable to obtain insurance so was now faced with a large clean-up bill. The club started a fund to pay for this appealing to fans for donations. Meadow Park had been in ruin, but the Tigers have earned their stripes..

The club has been ground sharing for all that time at local clubs such as Nailsworth, Cirencester Town, Forest Green Rovers, Cheltenham Town, and Evesham. Inevitably, issues with financing are foremost, as is a "case of identity". It has been a 13 and a half years' wait to return home, only to be irritated when there was light at the end of the tunnel, by COVID-19! Fittingly, on July 24th they played Bath City in a pre-season friendly and drew 3-3. Their first National League North game was at Southport, a 2-2 draw and their most recent game was at home to York City (another floodable city) winning 4-0.

Founded in March 1883, just as Gloucester FC, the club adopted the appendage "City" in 1902. The club was then briefly known as Gloucester YMCA in the period 1910-25. You will know that there is considerable competition for support in the city from Rugby, so the club does well to maintain its place.

P.s. Prorsum Semper means "always/ever forward".

After 13 years in exile, City returned to Gloucester in time for the 2020–21 season.  Unfortunately, due to the COVID the restart of the season was thrown into doubt. Due to the National League obtaining 'Elite' status in order to complete the playoffs for the season previous, there was now an issue, as was the case with all 'Elite' sport, that spectators were not allowed to attend matches and clubs needed this revenue stream in order to survive. After a financial package was agreed with the government, the season was able to start.

The first competitive game at New Meadow Park was on 6 October 2020 as City hosted Kettering Town, behind closed doors, in a league game with City running away 3-1 winners and the honour of first competitive goal at the new stadium going to Alex Whittle. The return of league football was welcomed both at the stadium and in the city, where business was boosted.

City flew out of the blocks at the start of the 2020–21 season recording 7 wins and 2 draws in their opening 9 league matches. 

The National League campaign ground to a halt in February 2021, with City sitting top of the league. Following a vote amongst clubs, it was announced that step two of non-League football will cease with immediate effect after a vote of 24–19 in favour of ending the current campaign as the financial implications of the coronavirus pandemic continue to take their toll at the levels of the football pyramid below the EFL.

The club has roamed around the South-west since 1883:

1883–1895	Buddings Field near the city centre
1895–1896	Avenue Road Ground
1896–1897	Co-operative Field
1897–1898	Buddings Field (2nd)
1898–1902	Avenue Road Ground (2nd)
1902–1913	Buddings Field (3rd)
1913–1925	Llanthony Ground
1925–1926	Avenue Road Ground (3rd)
1926–1927	Buddings Field (4th)
1927–1933	Sutgrove Park
1933–1936	Bon Marche Ground
1936–1964	The Ground at Longlevens
1964–1986	Horton Road Stadium
1986–2007	Meadow Park, Hempsted
2007–2008	The New Lawn,Nailsworth Forest GR
2008–2010	The Corinium, Cirencester
2010–2017	Whaddow Road Cheltenham
2017–2020	Jubilee Stadium, Evesham
2020–present	New Meadow Park, Gloucester

This season's club squad includes 11 English, an Australian, an Italian, a Frenchman, 2 Welsh, 2 from Eire, 1 from Northerm Ireland.

SAINTS v DEVILS

I would like to announce that I have been to watch Southampton FC (The Saints) play in a football league game, played at The Dell, but a while ago. It was against Manchester United (The Red Devils), so I was keen to watch the recent Premier League match between the two clubs this afternoon. It was at Southampton's "newish stadium, St Mary's, so I thought why not look the fixture up and find a few fascinating facts. https://www.southamptonfc.com/saints-history/history/st-marys-fc

Their first meeting was in 1897 on February 13th; 8,000 in the crowd watched an FA Cup tie, Rd 2 which resulted in a 1-1 draw at Southampton, St Mary's, their original name and then 4 days later at Newton Heath (United's original name) when Newton Heath won the replay, 3-1.  Newton Heath lost the next round (last 8) to Derby 2-0.

Previously, in Round One of the Cup, Southampton St Mary's had beaten Heanor Town (Derbyshire), after a 1-1 draw, 0-1. Before that in the Qualfying Rd 5 v Swindon Town they had a win 8-2 at home, before that in QRd 4 v Reading away a 1-4 wn, in Qualifying R3 at COWES, Isle of Wight won 0-6 (PLEASE NOTE BLOG CONTINUITY HERE!!) although not by time!

Their next meeting in March 1923, was with by now, Manchester United, a league match in Football League Division 2 at Old Trafford,  won by the Saints 1-2. In 1938 there was a League 2 match resulting in a 3-3 draw, and remarkably, they did not meet again until 40 years later on 27th April 1963, in Manchester in an FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park, United winning 1-0 in front of over 63,000 crowd. 

The first League Division One meeting was on 19th November 1966 at Southampton resulting in 1-2. In 1974/5 season they were both in LD2 and on 26th Oct United won 1-0 at home and on April 5th 1975 United won again, 0-1 away.

Their first meeting in the Premier League was on 24th August 1992 at The Dell, United winning 0-1. 

Today they drew 1-1 at St Mary's.

The largest score between the two occurred in February 1921 when United won at home 9-0 Southampton's largest win was a 6-3 on 26th October 1996 at home 6-3, one of those Beckham moments.

In all fixtures, Southampton has won 28, lost 67 and drawn 35. On 26th October 1996 Southampton beat United 6-3, at home, which caused a bit of a stir!

Manchester United met Southampton in the FA Cup Final at Wembley on May 1st 1976. United had finished 3rd in the First Division that season, and were strong favourites, while unfancied Southampton had finished 6th in the Second Division. In one of the biggest shocks in the history of the final; Southampton won 1–0 through an 83rd-minute goal from LOCAL LAD, Bobby Stokes, below scoring, (who died on May 30th 1950). It was the first time Southampton won a major trophy. Ref? Clive Thomas.

AFGHAN FOOTBALL DEFIES THE ODDS

The Afghan Premier League (APL), also known as Rahmani Foundation Afghan Premier League, as a sponsorship deal, is a professional men's soccer league run by the AFF. It is the country's primary competition for the sport. The League commenced in September 2012 and is currently contested by eight teams. Seasons usually runs from September, followed by final series involving two highest-placed teams in each group. National champions gains qualification into the Asian FC continental competition. Most games are played at the AFF Stadium in Kabul.

Since the league's first season, a total of three clubs have been crowned Afghan Premier League champions. Shaheen Asmayee have the record of 5 premier league titles, the most a team has won. The team is also the current champions, winning 1–0 in the 2020 Afghan Premier League final against Simorgh Alborz FC.

The League was established in 2012 with the first season running through September and October of that year. 8 teams were concurrently established in 2012 to become the inaugural competitors. Before 2012, the league in Afghanistan was broken down into 7 groups that covered the country.

Players for the league were selected with the help of a reality television talent show called Maidan e sabz ("The Green Pitch"), helmed by Mokhtar Lashkari, star of Tolo TV, Afghanistan's equivalent of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The concept came from the AFF and the Afghanistan-based Moby Group, which owns a number of TV channels and radio stations and is the largest media group in the country. MOBY Group channels will broadcast matches. Players were voted onto teams by a jury and by the television audience. The 34 provinces were grouped into eight larger zones. Eight teams of 18 players, one from every region, were formed.

The Afghan High Peace Council has praised the creation and development of the League as an, "opportunity to bring peace and stability" to Afghanistan. The process has given opportunities to minorities such as the Hazara who were treated as an underclass. Many players and supporters have undergone considerable trauma for which the League serves as a form of therapy. Along with the Shpageeza Cricket League, which started in 2013, Afghan Premier League football is one of the few big sporting competitions in Afghanistan, offering precious relief from the violence of every day life.

The first football games to be played in Afghanistan were played between 4 school teams back in 1923, these four teams were Maktab Habibiyeh, Maktab Esteghlal, Tafrih Team and Mohajer Team.

The first domestic club league was established in 1946 with the foundation of the Kabul City League (not existing now) comprising 12 clubs. Other regional or city leagues existed in the seventies in Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-e Sharif.

The first Afghan football club was Mahmoudiyeh FC, which was founded in 1934. The team traveled to India three years later and took part in 18 games of which 8 were won, 9 lost and 1 tied. Ariana Kabul FC was established in 1941 and became the second Afghan football club. In the same year the National team (Ariana Kabul F.C.) was formed when it played the Iran national team in a 0–0 draw for first international game.

Afghanistan did not play a competitive international match from 1984 until 2002, when it competed at the Asian Games. The results were 10–0 to Iran, 11–0 against Qatar and 11–0 to Lebanon. The nation recorded its first victory in almost 20 years in March 2003 when they beat Kyrgyzstan 2–1 in an Asian Cup qualifying match.Their results in the 8-nation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup were also respectable – losing to Sri Lanka and Pakistan 1-0 and India 4–0.

In 2007, the international womens team was created.

On 20 August 2013, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan in a friendly football match that was held in Kabul. The following month, during the  Afghanistan beat six-times South Asian tournament-champion, India and received its first international football trophy. Afghans celebrated their victory all across the country.

Shaheen Asmayee FC have won a record 5 Afghan Premier League titles (2013,14,16,17 and 2020  They are the only team to have reached the Afghan Premier League final in eight consecutive seasons (2013–2020). The PL clubs are mainly based in Herat, Kabul, Khost, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Kunduz, Ghazni and Mazar. There are two other "regional divisions" covering the country

Presently the Women's Kabul League does not exist.

BRAIN DAMAGE ABIDES BY NO LAW OR HIS TEAM MATES

Denis Law, now 81, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, to George Law, a fisherman, and his wife, Robina; Denis was the youngest of seven children, four boys and three girls. The Law family were not well off and lived in a council tenement flat at Printfield Terrace in Aberdeen. He went barefoot until he was 12 years old and wore handed-down shoes throughout his adolescence; his first pair of football boots came as a second-hand birthday present from a neighbour, which he received as a teenager.

He supported Aberdeen and watched them when he had enough money to do so, watching local non-league teams when he did not. His obsession with football led to him turning down a place at Aberdeen Grammar School because he would have had to play rugby there. Instead, he attended Powis Academy in Aberdeen. Despite having a serious squint, he showed great promise once he was moved from full back to inside-left, and was selected for Scotland Schoolboys.

In 1974, a year when I was finishing university, it was Denis Law who was in the dog house after a career pinnacle at Manchester United. One time favourite of the Stretford End, Law produced "the unkindest cut of all" , as he sentenced his former team mates to life in the Second Division at Old Trafford, on Saturday April 27th.
Playing with United's greatest rivals, Manchester City, Law cheekily backheeled a pass from Francis Lee past Alex Stepney, with 8 minutes remaining. City won 1-0 and condemned United to the next division down.
A pitch invasion was sparked but quickly cleared. Soon, however, David Smith, the referee, had to abandon the game, and with fewer than 8 minutes left, the game was done and dusted. Two hundred fans were ejected from the stadium. 33 were arrested during an afternoon United would want to forget.
City came 14th in Division One (top one then) and Unijted were second from bottom, relegated with Sotuhampton (20/22) and Norwich, bottom.

The Football League was not persuaded to declare the match void and allowed the result to stand. Could United have equalised in those remaining few minutes? Blame the crowd.

Once a young professional with Huddersfield Town, under Bill Shankley, Law was up for sale in March 1960 and City grabbed the opportunity, buying him for a British record of £55,000. 15 months later Torino made an offer that City couldn't refuse, as Law went to Italy for £100,000 worth of Lira! 12 months later Law was back in Manchester, this time at United.

With Bobby Charlton and George Best alongside Law, Matt Busby had a trio of exciting players to call on. Law was, however, ageing and suffering with injuries so although he did his stuff he was not a regular and indeed, he missed United's European Cup Final triumph. He went back to City in 1973. 

Law had a contract with Manchester City for the 1974–75 season, but new manager Tony Book told him that he would only be playing reserve team football if he stayed at the club. He did not want to end his career in this way, so he retired from professional football in the summer of 1974. Law played two games for Manchester City in the season 1974–75, in the pre-season Texcao Cup tournament, scoring the last goal of his career in the game away at Sheffield United on 6 August 1974. His last professional game was the 2–1 victory against at Maine Road v Oldham on 10 August 1974. He formally retired on 26 August 1974.

In his final league game it was Law who had decided where United would go in 1974.
Law declared that he never wanted to play in this "last game" and was depressed for a week after the result.
In 1974-5, United won the Second Division by 3 points from Aston Villa and came 3rd in the top division the following season.

If you read any of recent press, you will find articles about Denis Law and his struggle with Alzheimer's and Vascular dementia. Six of his team mates from the 1968 European Cup winning squad, suffer from the same disease, as do many footballers around the country (world). Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, Tony Dunne, Bill Foulkes and David Herd have all been diagnosed with the same illness.

GOALKEEPERS NOT SAFE

Football on the 19th August 1975 saw at the second League match of the season, Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney become so animated, that when shouting at his own defenders, he dislocated his jaw and had to be taken to hospital!  

Another goalkeeper, who found a television set to be more than a match, was David James, who once pulled a muscle in his back when reaching for a television remote control. James also missed a match at Liverpool suffering from a RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) injury to his thumb which he blamed on his excessive computer-game habit.

On the same day in 1982, Newcastle United signed 31-year-old Kevin Keegan from Southampton for £100,000 and for a reported £5000 a week wages. in 1995, after watching Manchester United lose their opening-day Premier League fixture 3-1 at Aston Villa Match of the Day commentator Alan Hansen was critical of United and famously said ‘you’ll never win anything with kids’. The  United team included David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville who went on to bring their team success in a League and Cup double that season.

While at Southampton goalkeeper Dave Beasant missed 8 weeks of a season after a confrontation with a bottle of salad cream. He knocked it over and attempted to control the falling bottle with his foot but only succeeded in rupturing his ankle ligaments.

Goalkeeper Chic Brodie, made over 400 Football League appearances but is probably the player best remembered for the things that went wrong in his life. In 1972 the Sun described him as 'a walking mishap, a one-man casualty station, a multiple accident statistic' and after another mishap the newspaper headline was 'Unlucky Chic, The One-Man Natural Disaster'. Playing for Brentford against Millwall in November 1965 a hand grenade was thrown into his penalty area which he inspected and threw it into the net (it was later found to be a fake). In August 1970, again playing for Brentford, he brought a match at Lincoln to a halt when an acrobatic save brought down the goalposts. He was the Margate goalkeeper on the receiving end of a 11-0 FA Cup defeat by Bournemouth in November 1971 (Ted MacDougall scored nine of them). After he retired he became a taxi driver and once had a collision with a Jaguar...driven by Geoff Hurst! But perhaps he is best remembered for the injury he received when playing for Brentford at Colchester in November 1970. A dog ran onto the pitch and collided with Brodie, breaking his kneecap. He said 'the dog may have been small - but it just happened to be solid.' Although it is perhaps seen as a comical injury it did effectively end his Football League career and I certainly said 'ouch' when I first saw it........https://twitter.com/ftbllrswanimals/status/1063418232365858819 Brodie v Dog

In a League 1 match at Glanford Park on 17th January 2015, Scunthorpe United had the misfortune of losing two goalkeepers with broken arms in their 2-0 defeat against Bristol City. First choice goalkeeper Sam Slocombe and substitute keeper Jamie Severn both suffered their injuries in the first half leaving outfielder Andy Boyce to take over between the posts.

In the days before substitutes injured players were often expected to stay on the pitch and do their duty. In one instance, on Saturday 16th February 1952 at Villa Park, Stoke goalkeeper, Dennis Herod, suffered a first half injury in a First Division match. He was patched up and sent out for the second half and asked 'to make a nuisance of himself' on the left wing. He did - and scored the winning goal in Stoke's 3-2 victory over Aston Villa. His injury - a broken arm!

http://www.goalkeepersaredifferent.com/keepers/quirky-injuries.html

ISLE OF WIGHT FA

I'm presently on the IOW and have just been past Cowes Sports FC, a very neat and tidy ground on the island Islands Team games 2011-photo left:

The Isle of Wight football team represents the island at the biannual Island games which it won in 1995 and 2011. The Isle of Wight is affiliated to the divisional FA of The Hampshire Football Association, the governing body for football in England. The Isle of Wight is not a member of FIFA or UEFA, it plays under the auspices of the Football Association. The Isle of Wight plays separately at their "own", St George's Park which has a capacity of 3,200 and has 200 seats. 

Their first international was against Aland Islands of Norway in June 24th 1991-a 1-0 win. their biggest win was 20-0 v Sark in 2003 and heaviest defeat v Anglesey in 1991, 1-5 and the Isle of Man, May 2004 1-5. Other opposition includes Froya, Hitra, Saare and Ynys Mon....guess where from? Others include Greenland (P5W3D1) and Gibraltar (P4W2L2)both of whom have provided fair opposition.

The 2021 Squad has been made up from 6 Cowes Sports FC, 2 Brading Town, 6 Newport Town (IOW) and 1 Winchester City.

There are two male divisions in the IOW League both with 14 teams from local settlements. There are two more "Combination divisions" as yet not scheduled. There are two well attended ladies' divisons and two Youth divisions.

 Cowes Sports FC (The Yachtsmen) play in the Wessex Premier League (level 9) and East Cowes Victoria Athletic (The Vics)and Newport IOW (The Ports) play in Division  One (L10) and all can play in the FA Vase competition.

A SWARM OF BEES

The 17th August 1991 was when Barnet FC began life in the Football League, becoming the fifth club to win automatic promotion to the League after finishing champions of the GM Vauxhall Conference champions in 1990/1. Their first official league match on August 17th 1991 resulted in a 1-7 defeat at the home ground, Underhill, losing to Crewe Alexandra. Three days later they drew 5-5 with Brentford in the League Cup, also played at Underhill. Not long after that, they beat Lincoln City 6-0 away in Division Four, eventually finishing 7th in the table.

Based in Edgeware, Barnet now competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the EFL. The club was founded in Chipping Barnet, in Hertfordshire, in 1888. They played their home matches at the Underhill Stadium from 1907 until 2013, when they moved to the new Hive Stadium in Edgeware, which is named, based on the club's nickname of "The Bees". The club has training facilities there, the club's womens' team, the London Bees, who compete in the FA Womens' Championship, use the ground, as do The London Broncos rugby league club and Tottenham Hotspurs' women play there too.

Barnet became founder members of the North London League in 1892 and had success at a local level before ceasing to exist in 1902. Two other clubs, Barnet Avenue and Alston Works, merged and entered the Athenian League as Barnet and Alston in 1912, becoming simply Barnet F.C. seven years later. Barnet spent 53 years in the Athenian League, winning seven league titles and one FA Amateur Cup title, before turning semi-professional as they entered the Southern League in 1965. Crowned Division One champions in 1965–66, they went on to win the Southern League Cup in 1972 and the Division One South title in 1976–77. Barnet became founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979 and initially struggled, though finished as runners-up after the league was renamed the Conference in 1986–87.

Barnet were first promoted to the Football League in 1991, after manager, the entertaining Barry Fry, led them to the Conference title in 1990–91. Promoted out of the Third Division in 1992–93, they spent just one season in the third tier before being relegated. They were relegated back to the Conference in 2001, but returned to the Football League four years later after winning the 2004–05 Conference National title. They then spent the next eight seasons in League Two before being relegated to the Conference once again in 2013. In 2015, they returned to the Football League for a third time, after winning the 2014–15 Conference Premier title. However they survived for just three seasons in League Two before suffering another relegation in 2018.

The club's current crest was designed in the 1950s and contains the green hill of High Barnet and the red rose, white rose and crossed swords representing the 1471 Battle of Barnet, a pivotal battle in the Wars of the Roses. The badge was designed by Sidney Robert Price who was the chairman of the club at the time. 

The club's nickname of "The Bees", reflected in their amber and black shirts, is likely to have come from the location of apiaries close to the Underhill Ground in the early years of the 20th century. Coincidentally, this nickname is similar to those of two of Barnet's neighbours, Watford ("The Hornets") and Brentford (also "The Bees"). Maybe the bees have swarmed.

DER BOMBER DIES

Gerd Müller, the Bayern Munich and former West Germany soccer forward known as “Der Bomber” for his scoring prowess, has died. He was 75. The Bavarian club announced his death on Sunday, with club president Herbert Hainer saying it was “a sad, dark day for FC Bayern and all its fans.” Müller scored 566 goals for Bayern between 1964 and 1979, helping the team to four German titles, four German Cup wins and three European Cup victories in that time. He still holds the record for the most goals scored in the Bundesliga with 365 goals, scored in 427 league games.  

Müller was named European Player of the Year in 1970. After a successful season at Bayern Munich, he scored ten goals at the 1970 World Cup finals for West Germany where he received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer. In 1972, he won the UEFA European Championship and was the top goalscorer, scoring two goals in the final. He also scored 65 goals in 74 all his European apps. 

Two years later, he scored four goals in the 1974 World Cup including the winning goal in the final. There were 68 goals in 62 games for his country. Müller held the all time World Cup scoring record with 14 goals for 32 years. In 1999, Müller was ranked ninth in the European player of the Century election held by the IFFHS, and he was voted 13th in the IFFHS' World Player of the Century election. In 2004, Pele named Müller in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

Müller's goals, scored in a variety of ways, helped earn Bayern promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965 and usher in a period of greatness at the club that laid the foundation for its success today. “Gerd Müller was the greatest striker there’s ever been, and a fine person and character of world football,” Hainer said in a statement posted on the club’s website. “We’re all united in deep mourning with his wife Uschi as well as his family.” 

Former West Germany forward Rudi Völler said it was “a sad day for soccer. Gerd’s performances will stay unforgettable.” Tributes came from outside Germany, too. “The best striker in history,” Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola. Former England forward Gary Lineker said he “loved watching him as a child and learnt so much from doing so. The greatest penalty box goal scorer I’ve ever seen.” Bayern announced in October 2015 that Müller had Alzheimer’s disease for “a long time” and that he had been cared for professionally with the support of his family since the beginning of February that year. 

Müller made 607 competitive appearances for Bayern. He was the league’s top scorer on seven occasions. He was able to score goals as important to Bayern’s ascent to becoming Germany’s powerhouse as former teammates Franz Beckenbauer and Uli Hoeneß. Definitely worth watching this video for a series of his goals but also to see terrible marking, some clever "fox in the box" and comedy goals......you have to be there to score....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywa9yD8AzVk

David Winner in "Brilliant Orange" wrote:

"Müller was short, squat, awkward-looking and not notably fast; he never fitted the conventional idea of a great footballer, but he had lethal acceleration over short distances, a remarkable aerial game, and uncanny goalscoring instincts. His short legs gave him a low center of gravity, so he could turn quickly and with perfect balance in spaces and at speeds that would cause other players to fall over. He also had a knack of scoring in unlikely situations."

THE CLARET AND BLUE

 

The story of West Ham’s kits begins in 1895, when the club was founded, as Thames Ironworks FC, a works' team for Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co, based in the East End of London.

Thames Ironworks F.C. was founded by Dave Thomas and Arnold Hills in 1895 as the works team of the "Works", which was located in Limmo Peninsular in East London. Taylor was a foreman with the company and a local football referee. Thanks to Ironworks owner Arnold Hills' financial backing, he was able to announce on 29th June 1895 the following in the company's weekly journal:

"Mr. Taylor, who is working in the shipbuilding department, has undertaken to get up a football club for next winter and I learn that quiots and bowls will also be added to the attractions." – Thames Iron Works Gazette

Thames Ironworks’ first played in an all navy kit, before a Union jack badge was introduced to the kit the following year. The first distinct change came in 1897, when the East London club opted for a classic shade of blue, accompanied by white shorts and red socks.

In 1900, Thames Ironworks FC disbanded and relaunched as West Ham United, sporting a light blue shirt, with white shorts and a claret strip along the sides.

The original colours of the team were dark blue, due to Thames Ironworks chairman Arnold Hills being a former student of Oxford University. However the team used a variety of kits including the claret and sky blue house colours of Thames Ironworks, as well as sky blue or white kit.

The Irons permanently adopted claret and blue for home colours in the summer of 1899. Thames Ironworks right-half Charlie Dove received the Aston Villa kit from his father William Dove, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being involved with the coaching at Thames Ironworks. Bill Dove had been at a fair in Birmingham, close to Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa and was challenged to a race against four Villa players, who wagered money that one of them would win. Aston Villa were the first to wear claret and sky blue. Bill Dove defeated them and, when they were unable to pay the bet, one of the Villa players who was responsible for washing the team's kit offered a complete team's 'football kits' to Dove in payment. The Aston Villa player subsequently reported to his club that the kit was 'missing'. This however, is often disputed. 

The predecessors of Thames Ironworks, Old Castle Swifts FC, played in pale blue shirts, white shorts and claret socks as early as 1892, around the same time Aston Villa played in said same colours. Below the club in 1896.

Thames Ironworks, and later West Ham United, retained the claret yoke/blue sleeves design, but also continued to use their previously favoured colours for their away kits. Indeed, in recent years the club has committed to a dark blue-white-sky blue rotation for the away colours.

Burnley FC simply adopted the colours from the then League Champions, Aston Villa in 1910.