Don Revie's team, Leeds United, during the 1960s and 1970s, scrapped their way to just about every football trophy on offer, but the one exception was the European Cup. Don would have loved to win that! He never came closer to meeting his wish BUT on this day in 1975, when Leeds, under the care of Jimmy Armfield, lost a most controversial European Cup Final to Bayern Munich, at the Parc des Princes in Paris with over 48,000 in attendance.
The referee, France's Michel Kitabdjian, turned down two good penalty appeals (we would say that wouldn't we) and disallowed a Peter Lorimer goal for a dubious offside call (and this!). Two late goals by Bayern, won the game for the Germans, but their manager, the impressive, Franz Beckenbauer, admitted, "In the end, we were winners, but we were very, very lucky!"
Nottingham Forest went one better lifting the Trophy on May 30th 1979. The win represented a third successive victory for an English side in the European Cup, after Liverpool's victories in 1977 and 1978.
Brian Clough managed to retain the crown the following season, on May 28th 1980 and on this day, John Robertson scored the only goal over Hamburg SV, containing Kevin Keegan, at The Bernabeu, Madrid.
You will know that Celtic won it in 1967 and started it all off!
Man U 1968, 1999 and 2008
Liverpool won the Trophy in 1977, 78, 81, 84. 05 and 2019
Forest in 1979 and 80,
Aston Villa in 1982
Chelsea 2012 and 2021 and Man City 2023....Impressive eh?
May 27th 1992: all the clubs in the First Division resigned from the Football League, en masse and the FA Premier League was formed. The move made no difference whatsoever to the competition or the rules, but it did mean the top flight could now negotiate its own broadcast and sponsorship rites, independently from the Football League.
Michael Owen made his name on this day in 1998, when he scored his first England goal in the King Hassan II Cup (a "friendly" tournament) against Morocco, in Casablanca, held two weeks before the major tournament. 80,000 watched the game and England won 1-0. Team: Flowers, Anderton, Le Saux, Southgate, Keown, Campbell, McManaman, Gascoigne, Dublin, Wright, Owen, Ince and Ferdinand (sub).
*For win on penalties 2 points were awarded; for loss on penalties 1 point.
England's next matches were a friendly on September 9th away against Spain (0-1) and then World Cup Qualifiers both at Wembley: Oct 14 v Norway 1-1, Nov 18 v Turkey 4-0.
Archie Gray, son of Andy Gray, played for Leeds United today and I am listening to him on Talksport as he describes his team's progress to the Play Off Final. He is a central midfielder/right back who was born in Durham and joined Leeds United at Under 9 level. He progressed through the club's academy while he was at St John Fisher School in Harrogate. He is one of four brothers and the grandson of Frank Gray; his uncle is Eddie Gray, all of whom played for Leeds and Scotland. Brother Harry is also in the Leeds United Academy.
Archie was allowed to miss school classes to train with the club, following the request of Leeds' manager, Marcelo Bielsa. On December 18th 2021, aged 15, he was named on the club's bench for a Premier League game against Arsenal. If he had been brought on, he would have broken Peter Lorimer's club record as youngest club player, set in 1962. He made the bench a further five times that season, but was not used. During ther season he was picked for England U15.
He signed a two year deal scholarship for the club in September 2022. In 2022 he played 44 times, with no goals.
On August the 6th, 2023 he made his senior club debut in the opening game of the 2023-4 season in the EFL Championship against Cardiff City at Elland Road. In April 2024 he was named EFL Championship Young Player of the Season.
Gray has represented England from U16, U17, U20 v Italy 16th November 2023 (lost 0-3) and Under 21 level and remains eligible to play for Scotland. He scored on his debut for England U21 on March 22 2024 in the U21 Championship Qualification against Azerbaijan U21, a 5-1 victory in Baku.
Well.....if you watched the game...make your own judgement!
In the single most lucrative match in World football – worth at least £140 million and more than £300 million if relegation is avoided in season one – this was a triumph for Southampton’s admirable Russell Martin.
The continental reign of Helenio Herrera and his Internationale team began in the first round of the 1963/4 European Cup (as the major competition was called back then) when they "shut up shop" against Everton at Goodison Park for a goaless draw. They then took the Merseysiders back to the San Siro and scored a single home goal from Jair. Four seasons later it was comprehensively ended by one. Inter's win over Everton had been Europe's first exposure to Herrera's CATENACCIO-the famous "sliding bolt" system, using a sweeper, relentless man for man marking with an occasional break away upfield, on the counter attack led by the powerful genius os Sandro Mazzola.
Herrera had attempted to play an attacking game in Europe in his place as Barcelona manager, but he had been "picked off" in the 1960 European Cup semi-finals by Real Madrid. With Inter, he esas taking no chances and the tactic worked. After beating Everton, Inter went into the Final, where his plan "stifled" an ageing Real Madrid and picked them off to win 3-1. They retained their cup the year after an even more tedious display, grinding out a 1-0 victory in the final against Benfica.
Inter lost a tight 1966 semi-final to Read Madrid, but were back in the final a year later. They faced Celtic!! whose philosophy was exactly opposite to Herrera's stifling "catennacio". Celtic manager Jock Stein said before the game "I will tell him how Celtic will win but it will not help him in any manner, shape or form; we are going to attack as we have never attacked before" and that is what happened! Early on, Inter's Mazzola took advantage of his team's early attacks by converting a penalty after just 6 minutes. Their natutral instinct was to sit back and defend which suited Celtic, whose players were all born within 30 miles of Parkhead!! Celtic had 39 attempts at goal in the next 84 minutes as Inter offered only 2! After an hour Tommy Gemmell (below) hit a 25 yard screamer with two players offside, then with seven minutes left, Steve Chalmers hammerd home the final nail into the "Catenaccio's Coffin"!!
Born this day in 1856, Andrew Watson became the first black international footballer, first captain of Scotland, first black captain of Queen's Park and Corinthians, and one of the most influential footballers in football history.
Andrew Watson (24 May 1856 – 8 March 1921) was a Scottish footballer who is widely considered to be the first black person to play association football at international level. He played three matches for Scotland between 1881 and 1882. He was previously commonly thought to be the first black player, as he was the first black professional footballer to play in the Football League, but Watson's career predated him by over a decade. There is evidence that Watson was paid professionally when at Bootle in 1887, two years prior to Wharton becoming a professional with Rotherham Town; however, the Merseyside club did not play in the Football Club at the time Watson played there.
Watson was the son of a wealthy Scottish sugar planter Peter Miller Watson (1805–1869) (the son of James Watson, of Crantit, Orkney, Scotland) and a local BritishGuianese woman named Hannah Rose. He came to Britain with his father, and his older sister Annetta, and they inherited a substantial amount when their father died in London in 1869.
He was educated at Heath Grammas School in Halifax, West Yorkshire and then from 1871 at King's College School in Wimbledon, where records show he excelled at sports including football. He later studied natural philosophy, mathematics and engineering at the University of Glasgow when he was 19, where his love of football blossomed. He played in the full back position, on either the right or the left flank.[
Watson left Glasgow University after one year and in 1877 became a partner in Watson, Miller, and Baird, a wholesale warehouse business in Glasgow. In November 1877 he married Jessie Nimmo Armour (1860–1882), the daughter of John Armour, a cabinet-maker.Their son Rupert Andrew was born in 1878, and a daughter Agnes Maude in 1880.Watson moved to London with his family in the summer of 1882 for work reasons. His wife died in the autumn of 1882 and their two children returned to Glasgow to live with their grandparents.
He returned to Glasgow and married for a second time, to Eliza Kate Tyler (1861–1949) in February 1887. She was the daughter of Joseph Tyler, East India merchant. Later that year he moved to Liverpool, where he worked on ships and sat exams to qualify as a marine engineer. Watson and Eliza had two children, a son Henry Tyler in 1888 and a daughter Phyllis Kate in 1891.
Through his father he was related to William Gladstone, who served four terms as British Prime Minister, during the late 19th century, and likely also related to the 21st-century English poet Laik AhlNasir through his mother,
Club career
After first playing for Maxwell in 1876, Watson signed for local side Parkgrove, where he was additionally their match secretary, making him the first black administrator in football.At Parkgrove he played alongside another black player, Robert Walker.
Andrew Watson, back row, third from right with the Glasgow select team in 1880
On 14 February 1880, Watson was selected to represent Glasgow against Sheffield at Bramall Lane, an annual fixture played between 1874 and 1960; Glasgow won 1–0. He was also selected for a tour to Canada in the summer of 1880 which was cancelled after the death of William Dick, secretary of the Scottish Football Association.
In April 1880, Watson also signed for Queen's Park – then Britain's most successful football team – and became their secretary in November 1881. He led the team to two consecutive Scottish Cup wins in 1881 and 1882, thus becoming the first black player to win a major competition.
Watson's entry in the Scottish Football Association Annual of 1880–81 reads as follows: Watson, Andrew: One of the very best backs we have; since joining Queen's Park has made rapid strides to the front as a player; has great speed and tackles splendidly; powerful and sure kick; well worthy of a place in any representative team.
In 1882, Watson moved to London and became the first black player to play in the English Cup when he turned out for Swifts In 1883, he was the first foreign player to be invited to join the leading amateur club in England, the Corinthians. His time there included an 8–1 victory against Blackburn Rovers, who were at that time the English Cup holders. He also played for other amateur English clubs, including Pilgrims, Brentwood and London Caledonians. As one of the group of the age known as the 'Scotch Professors' he helped introduce a more sophisticated and effective passing game into England where individualistic dribbling had previously been used, Watson was described by the founder of the Scottish Football Museum in a 2021 report as "the most influential black footballer of all time. There is nobody that comes close".
The colour of his skin was of no significance to his peers, and there is no specific historical record of racism on the part of the Scottish Football Association, although in an 1885 profile, mention was made of him "On more than one occasion being subjected to vulgar insults by splenetic, ill-tempered players".
One match report is more interested in Watson's unusual brown boots rather than the customary black boots of that time. As written in the minutes, before one match where Watson was injured and unable to play, an SFA vice-president said if Watson had been fit he would have happily drugged a fellow Scottish international to give Watson his place.He played his last match for Queen's Park in 1886.
Paul McDonald, writing for the BBC, noted: "Payments to players had been made legal in England in 1885 and professional footballers were paid decent salaries for that time. Ironically this attracted many Scottish players southwards to ply their trade in England, whereas in Scotland the game remained, in theory anyway, an amateur game until 1893."
Professionalism
In 1886 and 1887, the English Lancashire, club Bootle advertised for players in Scotland, as the Scotch Professors innovation of the modern passing game took hold in England.Several Scottish players were enticed to relocate by the offer:- Tom Veitch (Dumbarton), Campbell (Moffat), Frank Woods (Moffat), Robert Anderson (Dumbarton), Billy Hastings (Airdrieonians) among others. It was later found by a SFA committee investigating a Scottish player, Robert Calderwood, who returned north - he obtained a new job in Cowlairs, offering 30 shillings per week, and subsequently turned out for the company club. - that he received a wage of 26 shillings per week from Bootle F.C. The SFA found Calderwood guilty of professionalism and he was banned for two years, but they found that Cowlairs F.C. played the player unknowingly and they were merely ordered to replay a match against Third Lanark.
Watson also signed for Merseyside club Bootle in 1887. Bootle offered wages and signing fees to a number of players, and research by Tony Onslow outlined in The Forgotten Rivals. A History of Bootle Football Club indicates that Watson was paid professionally. This means that Watson's professional career would predate the professional career of Arthur Wharton, who was previously considered to be the first black footballer to play professionally.
Onslow writes that Watson was Bootle's star signing and that the club pulled off the biggest coup in Merseyside by signing the Scotland international player. It is not known exactly how much Watson was paid by the Merseyside club, but as their star signing he would have doubtless commanded more than the 26 shillings per week offered to Calderwood, who was similarly a Scotland international player.
When Bootle was drawn with a Smethwick side Great Bridge Unity FC, the Midlands club received a telegram from a 'Smith of Oakfield' who stated that Bootle's Watson and another Scottish player Robert Anderson were being paid – and as such should be ineligible for their tie. Watson and others were in the Bootle side that beat Unity 2–1; and so, directly after the match, Unity lodged a complaint with the F.A. The F.A. announced that they would let Bootle proceed to the next round, but they would instead launch an investigation into the club.
Onslow writes:
Bootle Football Club now faced a local FA committee on charge of paying a certain number of their players. Dr. Morley of Blackburn, President of the northern branch, chaired the meeting that took place at the Crompton Hotel in Liverpool. Also present was Morton P Betts, from the London executive and all the prominent members of the Liverpool and District F.A. committee. Former Bootle players [Robert] Izatt and [John] Weir were called to give evidence before the commitee adjourned and referred the matter to London.
Both Robert Izatt and John Wier were Scottish players (formerly from Third Lanark) also signed by Bootle. Weir was a Scotland international, having just been capped that year. Much to the annoyance of Bootle, both players moved on from the club shortly after signing and moved on to Everton, who at the time were Bootle's main rivals in Merseyside.
The club was found guilty by the FA but the punishment was lenient – they had that same season closed Anfield for a month when Everton similarly paid players – and Bootle escaped with a mere caution. The new Everton players John Weir and Robert Izatt - alongside Everton's other Scotch Professors of Dick, Watson, Goudie, Cassidy, and Murray - were all deemed as professional players and had their registrations suspended.
The payment of Watson, Anderson, Calderwood and others at the club also explains the investigations of the local Bootle newspaper into the club's finances. Around the start of the 1887–88 season, The Bootle Times was asking questions into the club's finances, trying to work out who was getting what. It also, in passing, takes a dig at Bootle F.C.'s reliance on Scottish players by its phrasing of 'own local club, if indeed we may call it that', hinting that the newspaper suspected the payments made to the club's Scottish players were indeed where the club's financial surplus went. The payments to Scotch Professors around Merseyside would have been common knowledge.
Watson retired to London in around 1910 and died of pneumonia at 88 Forest Road, Kew, in 1921. He is buried in Richmond Cemetary.
23 May 1937 - Glory Comes To The Girondins-DO YOU KNOW WHERE BORDEAUX IS? apologies, but reference is original!
On 23 May 1937, Bordeaux won their first national title. They have gone on to become one of France's most successful clubs, with a silverware collection that includes six top flight titles and three French Cups.
Founded in 1881 as Gironde Omnisports, the club originally included a variety of sports including gymnastics, shooting, swimming, rowing, and boxing. They added football in 1910, but dropped the sport after a year. They picked it back up for good in 1919.
Their first national title came under president Olivier Lhose-Clos, whose tenure began in 1934. In 1937, Bordeaux advanced to the French Amateur Final against FC Scionzier. Played at the Stade de Colombes in Paris as a prelude to an international match between France and Ireland, Bordeaux won 2-1.
They followed that trophy with their first Coupe de France title in 1940, then won the league in 1950. They enjoyed their most successful period in the 1980s, winning three league titles (1984, 1985, 1987) and two more French Cups (1986, 1987). Bordeaux won their most recent trophy in 2009 with their sixth league title.
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in The Gironde-South France. The team currently plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of French Football.
Bordeaux was founded on 1 October 1881 as a multi-sports club and is one of the most successful clubs in France. The club has won six Ligue 1 titles, the last in 2009. Bordeaux have also won four Coupe de France titles, Coupe de la Lique titles, and three Trophee de Champions titles as well. In international competitions Bordeaux reached the UEFA Cupfinal in 1996 and the Latin Cup Final in 1950. Bordeaux's home ground has been the MatmutAtlantique.
The club took its name Girondins from the demonym for people from the region, and was founded on 1 October 1881 as a gymnastics and shooting club. The club later added sports such as rowing, equestrian and swimming, among others. It was not until 1910 when football was officially introduced to the club following strong urging from several members within the club, most notably club president Raymond Brard, though it was only available on a trial basis. The experiment with football lasted only a year before returning almost a decade later in 1919. The club contested its first official match in 1920 defeating Section Burdigalienne 12–0.
Bordeaux achieved professional status in football on 2 July 1936, partly due to the club's merger with fellow Bordelais outfit Girondins Guyenne Sport, which resulted in the club that exists today. Bordeaux's rise to professionalism came about alongside the French Football Federation's plea to increase professionalism in the nation, which prior to 1932, had been non-existent. The club joined the second division and made its debut appearance during the 1937–38 season. The club's first manager was Spaniard Benito Diaz, who brought fellow Spanish players Santiago Urtizberea and Jaime Mancisidor to the team with the latter serving as captian. Bordeaux played its first official match on 23 May 1937 defeating Rhone-Alpes based FC Scionzer 2–1 at the Stade de Colombes. The club's first ever league match was contested on 22 August losing away to Toulose 3–2. Bordeaux recorded its first league win against Nimes. Unfortunately for the club, the team finished 6th in the Southern region of the division. Bordeaux's disappointing finish inserted the club into the relegation playoff portion of the league where the team finished a respectable 3rd. A year later, Bordeaux moved into a new home, the StadeChaban-Delmas which had previously been known as, simply Parc Lescure, which was built specifically for the 19038 World Cup and, following the competition's completion, was designated to Bordeaux. The club had formerly played its home matches at the Stade Galin, which today is used as a training ground. Success and stability.....
Trophy of the centenary tournament of Girondins de Bordeaux
On 15 October 1940, Bordeaux merged with local club AS Port. which the club was now known, ran to the 1941 Final of the Coupe de France, the club 's first major honour. The match, played in occupied France at the Stade Municipal in Saint-Ouen, Following the liberation of France, Bordeaux returned to league play and earned promotion to the First Fivision following its 2nd-place finish during the 1948–49 season. Bordeaux captured its first-ever league championship, in just the club's first season in the first division, winning by six points over second place Lille. The league success led to Bordeaux being selected to participate in the second edition of the Laton Cup. In the competition, Bordeaux reached the final drawing 3–3 with Portuguese outfit Benfica. The draw forced a second match with Benfica claiming victory following an extra time goal after over two hours and 25 minutes of play.
Bordeaux maintained its title-winning aspirations finishing runners-up to Nice two seasons after winning its first title. The club also performed well in cup competitions reaching the Coupe de France final in 1951 and 1955. In 1952, Bordeaux suffered defeat to the team it finished runner-up to the same year, Nice, following a thrilling match in which eight goals were scored with five of them coming in the first 40 minutes. Bordeaux drew the match at 3–3 following a 55th-minute goal from Henri Baillot, but Nice countered minutes later with two goals in a span of four minutes to go up 5–3, which was the final result. In 1955, Bordeaux were trounced 5–2 by Lille who went up 4–0 within 35 minutes. The resulting struggles in the cup competitions led to struggles domestically with the club suffering relegation in the 1955–56 season. The club returned to the first division for the 1959–60 season, but failed to make an impact falling back to Division 2 after finishing last in the standings with 21 points.
Bordeaux returned to its former selves in the 1960s under new manager and former player Salvador Artigas. Under the helm of Artigas, Bordeaux returned to the first division and finished in a respectable fourth place for the 1962–63 season. The following season, Bordeaux returned to the Coupe de France final where the club faced off against Lyon. Bordeaux, once again, were defeated 2–0 courtesy of two goals from the ArgentineNestor Combin. The club's runner-up finish resulted in the team qualifying for the 1964–65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The appearance was brief with the club losing 4–3 on aggregate to German club Borussia Dortmund. Four seasons later, Bordeaux again reached the final of the Coupe de France, the club's seventh appearance overall. The team faced Saint-Étienne and, again failed to match the achievement reached in 1941 losing 2–1. The following season, Bordeaux earned another appearance in the final, but again, failed to win the trophy losing 2–0 to Marseille. The team suffered an extreme decline during the 1970s, despite the arrival of Alain Giresse. The club played under seven different managers during the decade and consistently finished at the bottom half of the table. In 1979, the club was sold to the influential and ambitious real estate mogulClaude Bez, who positioned himself as president of the club. In the summer of 1983, Girondins de Bordeaux organised a centenary tournament; Bordeaux won a 2–0 victory over Barcelona in the semi-finals of this tournament, and in the final, the club was defeated by VfB Stuttgart. Return to prominence in the 1980s
Bordeaux's home kit of their victorious 1984–85 Division 1 seasonAlain Giresse, influential Bordeaux player in the '70s and '80s and the club's all-time top scorer.
Under the helm of Claude Bez, who injected millions into the club, Bordeaux flourished winning three league championships, two Coupe de France titles, and also performed well in European competitions, most notably reaching the European Cup semi-final in 1985. During Bez's run presiding over the team, he recruited several French internationals such as Bernard Lacombe, Jean Tigana, René Girard, Jean-Christophe Thouvenel, and Thierry Tusseau. Bez also brought in established manager Aimé Jacquet. Led by 1970s mainstays Giresse and Gernot Rohr, Bordeaux captured its first league championship since 1950 in the 1983–84 season finishing equal on points with Monaco, however, due to having a better goal difference, Bordeaux were declared champions. The next season, Bordeaux again won the league claiming the title by four points over second place Nantes. In Europe, Bordeaux played in the 1984–85 European Cup and reached the semi-finals, defeating Spanish club Athletic Bilbao, Romanian club Dinamo București, and Soviet outfit Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk before losing to Italian club Juventus. In the Coupe de France, Bordeaux finally achieved cup glory defeating Marseille 2–1 in the 1986 edition of the final with Tigana and Giresse recording both goals. The Coupe de France trophy was the club's first since 1941 after eight agonising attempts in finals. The following year the club responded by winning the trophy again; in a re-match with Marseille, Bordeaux won its second consecutive cup courtesy of goals from Philippe Fargeon and Zlatko Vujović. Bordeaux then capped off the 1986–87 Division 1 season by winning its fourth league title and achieving the double as well.
In 1989, Bordeaux ended the decade with a consecutive runners-up medal in their 1989 Ligue 1 campaign. Rising from the ashes in the 1990s Due to administrative problems, the club was relegated just two years thereafter. In 1992, however, Les Girondins won that year's Division 2 title, thus being elevated to the top tier of French football. In the emergence of young and exciting players such as playmaker Zinedine Zidane, striker Christophe Dugarry and left back Bixente Lizarazu, the club ascended even higher to win the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1995. With this talented trio, the club defeated FC Rotor Volgograd (the 1995 King's Cup Winner), Real Betis, Milan and Slavia Prague in the second, third, quarter- and semi-finals respectively to reach the UEFA Cup final of 1996. Bordeaux witnessed even further glory only three years later, winning their fifth title in that of the 1999 Ligue 1 with winger Sylvain Wiltord winning the Golden Boot of that season with 22 goals Into the 2000s During the 1999–2000 season, the club played in the new UEFA Champions League for the first time. In two seasons time Bordeaux won another piece of silverware, beating Lorient 3–0 in the 2002 Coupe de la Ligue final. Le club au scapulaire then two seasons later defeated Club Brugge 4–1 on aggregate in the fourth round to reach the 2004 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, where the club fell to eventual winnersValencia. Bordeaux got to another final in 2007 where there were eventually victorious in winning the Coupe de la Ligue of that year. Bordeaux then achieved further honours in winning the Ligue 1 and Coupe de la Ligue titles of the 2008–09 French footballing season thus achieving the first ever double in the club's history.In 2013, Bordeaux won the Coupe de France defeating Evian 3–2 in the final.In the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season, Bordeaux finished 7th in the table. In 2015, Bordeaux appointed Willy Sagnol but in 2016 Sagnol was terminated after only winning one match in the first eight games of the season and was replaced by Ulrich Rame. On 27 May 2016, Rame was replaced by Jocelyn Gourvennec.On 20 January 2018, Gourvennec was fired and was replaced by Gus Poyet. Poyet guided Bordeaux to a 6th-placed finish at the end of the season.
In July 2018, General American Capital Partners's CEO Joseph DaGrosa pursued the purchase of the French professional football team for €70 million after 19 years of M6's ownership. On 18 August 2018, Poyet was suspended by Bordeaux after labelling the situation as "embarrassing" when Gaëtan Laborde was sold to Montpellier without his knowledge or consent. On 5 September 2018, Ricardo Gomes was appointed as "General Manager" — he did not possess the necessary coaching badges to be officially appointed the first-team coach.
2020s, financial crisis and relegation On 23 April 2021, citing decreased revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic and loss of income when Mediapro, TV rights holder, went bankrupt and missed payments last year, the club was placed in administration when American owners King Street stated they would no longer support the club financially. On 22 June 2021, Bordeaux announced that Gérard López acquired the club. In the 2021–22 Ligue 1, Bordeaux finished last in the league table and were relegated to the Ligue 2, for the first time since the 1990–91 season, when they were administratively relegated due to financial difficulties. On 14 June 2022, the DNCG administratively relegated Bordeaux to the Championnat National due to financial issues. The club confirmed it would appeal the decision, citing it as 'brutal'. On 27 July 2022, Bordeaux won its appeal and was officially reinstated in Ligue 2 for the 2022–23 season.
Bordeaux has two main rivalries, firstly the Derby de laGaronnewith Toulouse FC, so named because Bordeaux and Toulouseare the two major clubs that play in cities in south-western France, both of which are on the River Garonne. The consistency and competitiveness of the rivalry developed following Toulouse's return to Ligue 1 after being administratively relegated to the Championnat National in 2001. Les Girondins also contest the Derby di Atlantique,with their other main rival FC Nantes, with the name stemming from the two cities' proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. The history of this rivalry also transcends to over 50 years and 90 derby games played between the two clubs altogether. Bordeaux also held a 44-year-old record against another big rival, Marseille. From October 1977 to January 2022, Marseille did not win away at Bordeaux's home ground.
Since July 2020, the equipment manufacturer of the Girondins de Bordeaux is Adidas. The club's main sponsors are the restaurant chain Bistro Regent, the online betting company Betclic and the car dealership SEAT Cupra.
In May 1968, students and the working class in France took to the street. Strikes and other forms of protests spread through France. The events didn’t leave Football untouched, on 30 May 1968 a charity match was played between Nantes and Rennes in sympathy with the protests.
1968 in a nutshell: In the 1960s French students got more and more agitated by the way they were treated. The regime at Universities was very paternalistic and strict. A good example is Nanterre, a dreary complex in a poor Parisian suburb, as a solution to a growing number of students. Here students weren’t allowed to express political views, meet with members of the opposite sex at their rooms, or even change their furniture. Students simply asked for more freedom to live their life as they saw best. On the night of 10 and 11 May 1968 it all came to a climax. University buildings were occupied, barricades built in the streets. The authorities spoke of a small group of leftist radicals and had no intention whatsoever to hear their complaints.
On May 13 however, a march attracted over 800,000 people. Students walked hand in hand with sympathizing teachers, workers with leftist politicians. The working class in France also had every reason to be upset. The growing welfare and prosperity went by them. In May 1968 strikes spread like wildfire. A Renault factory in Cléon was brought to a standstill. Soon the strikers went to Flins to end up at Boulogne-Billancourt, where the largest of the Renault factories was situated. In Lyon workers jokingly changed the name of the firm Berliet into Liberté.
What started with 200 strikers on May 14 ended with 2 million on May 22.
The French Football Federation Occupied A lot of other professions were influenced by the provocative atmosphere: doctors, artists, clerics among others, and footballers as well. One action stands out. On 22 May 1968 at eight in the morning amateur footballers and two professional players, André Mérelle and Michel Oriot from second-tier Red Star Football Club, and the journalists François Thébaud, Francis Le Goulven, Maurice Ragonneau and Jean Norval from the critical Miroir du football occupied the building of the French Football Federation (FFF) on the Avenue d’Iéna 60. From the balcony two banners were hanged with the texts: ‘Le football aux footballeurs!’ and ‘La Fédération, propriété des 600.000 footballeurs.’
Occupation of the headquarters of the French Football Federation, May 22, 1968
All staff were sent home, except for Pierre Delaunay, general secretary, and George Boulogne, national instructor, who were ‘taken hostage’ till the afternoon. The peaceful occupation ended on May 27. To reinforce their actions the protesters wrote a manifest where they summed up their demands. They were fed up with the FFF abusing its power by – what they sought – enriching themselves and a few elite clubs. The wages of professional players were low and contracts miserable. Membership contributions instead should be used to improve football facilities on every level. A plan to introduce a b-license was a thorn in their side as well.
A challenge for the establishment Logically, many established football leaders didn’t show any sympathy at all. Understandably, for one demand of the protesters was the resignation of the top of the FFF and the entire staff of the national football team. For Boulogne, his football vision contradicted with that of the activists. To Louis Dugauguez, manager of the national team, however, the occupation should’ve been a reason for reforms. At least the FFF should hear the viewpoints of the protesters. Just Fontaine and the communist millionaire Jean-Baptiste Doumeng (until 1967 chairman of Toulouse FC) were in favour of a total reorganization of French football.
The reaction of the FFF was one of complete disapproval. The FFF downplayed the importance of the actions late May 1968 immediately.
The National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) were unhappy with the actions but agreed with many arguments. Due to pressure from the UNFP, media and many footballing greats, the FFF had to give in. The same year the plans for a b-license were withdrawn. The following years the FFF created more and more possibilities for participation on a national and local level.
Charity MatchThe occupation of the headquarter of the FFF is an example of revolutionary behaviour by footballers, among them two professional players. Still, other professional players weren’t unmoved by the unrest in France, au contraire.On 30 May 1968, a friendly charity match was held between Nantes and Stade Rennes in Stade Marcel Saupin. The match attracted 13,000 visitors.It’s not strange that Nantes was the décor of this match. One of the first occupations of a university and a factory were in the city of Nantes. By the end of May the city was immersed in anarchy and revolution. Students, workers and farmers had overthrown the municipal government and for a short period took matters into their own hands.
Nantes defender and French international till 1967, Robert Budzynski explained that due to the strikes, which had public life in a grip, the game against Nîmes that day was postponed. A reason for Budzynski and probably other players of Nantes and Stade Rennes to hold the friendly match was to show their support to the strikers and also the UNFP, which demanded more recognition and a say in decision-making by the FFF. The revenues went to the families of strikers. It shows the May 1968 protests didn’t leave footballers untouched.
21 May 2003 - Mourinho's Stepping Stone: On 21 May 2003, Porto won the UEFA Cup, beating Celtic 3-2 in extra time at Seville's Estadio Olímpico. It was the first European honor for Porto manager José Mourinho, who built on the success by winning the Champions League the next season. Under normal circumstances, Celtic would have been heavy favourites.
At the time of the match, Porto had already secured the Portuguese Liga title with two matches to spare and were completely focused on the Final. Celtic, meanwhile, were tied on points with SPL leader Rangers, but behind on goal differential with one match left. In addition, the day's hot weather forced the teams to play at a slower pace, which also favored Porto. Porto's midfield general Deco orchestrated a first-half attack that put his side ahead in the 45th minute as midfielder Dmitri Alenichev's shot was parried by Celtic keep Robert Douglas into the path of Porto's Brazilin forward, Derlei, who drove it home. The lead did not last long, however, as Henrik Larsson - that year's top SPL scorer - equalized with a 47th-minute header. It was his tenth goal of the tournament and his 200th goal for Celtic.Two more quick goals followed, with Alenichev putting Porto ahead once more in the 54th minute, then Larsson finding another equalizer in the 57th minute. The teams were stalemated at 2-2 through the end of regulation, forcing the match into extra time and triggering the silver goal rule.
The Final was the first match played under the silver goal rule, which meant that a lead for either side after the first half of extra time would end the match. As it turned out, though, neither team scored in the first period, so they played the full allotment of time. In the 115th minute, Derlei again pounced on a Douglas block to score the goal and seal the win. It was Porto's first European trophy in 16 years, but they would not have to wait as long for the next one, as they beat AS Monaco in the next season's Champions League Final. Celtic, meanwhile, went on to lose the SPL title race to Rangers despite winning their last match 4-0, as Rangers won theirs 6-1.
