LEFKADA AND SPYROS

I thought I might venture into some European football. So conveniently, here is one to get me/us going.

Local boy made good.....Spyros Marangos (born 20 February 1967) is a Greek football coach and former player.

He played for....Panionios F.C. the oldest Greek football club from 14 September 1890; founded 134 years ago (as Orpheus Smyrni).The team currently competes in the second division of Greek football, known as Super League Greece 2. They play their home games in Nea Smyrni Stadium (an Athens suburb) with a capacity of 11,700 seats. It is a municipality in the South of the city. It has 72,853 inhabitants and was named after the former Greek city Smyrna, whence many refugees arrived and settled in the Nea Smyrni area following the 1922 catastrophe of Asia Minor and the Burning of Smyrna which left big parts of the city's christian population massacred by Turkish mobs and military, during the Greco-Turkish war.

He also played for Panathinaikos, PAOK, Omonia and APOEL, and made 26 appearances for the Greece national football team, participating at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He later became a coach.

Personal information
Full name	Spyridon Marangos
Date of birth	20 February 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth	Lefkada, Greece
Position	Midfield
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1989	Panionios	66	(1)
1989–1996	Panathinaikos	199	(17)
1996–1998	PAOK	51	(9)
1998–1999	Omonia	31	(5)
1999–2000	PAOK	25	(1)
2000–2002	APOEL	44	(4)
Total		416	(37)
International career
1989–1995	Greece	26	(0)
Managerial career
2004–2005	Proodeftiki
2006–2007	Koropi
2016–2019	Panetolikos
2016–2019	Panathinaikos (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Teams managed

12/2016 - 06/2019

Panathinaikos

Ass. Manager

Club career as a player

07/2000 - 06/2002		APOEL Nikosia		Midfielder
07/1999 - 06/2000		PAOK Saloniki		Midfielder
07/1998 - 06/1999		Omonia Nikosia		Midfielder
01/1997 - 06/1998		PAOK Saloniki		Midfielder
01/1990 - 12/1996		Panathinaikos		Midfielder
07/1986 - 12/1989		Panionios GSS		Midfielder
» Overall club matches

Club matches

league
Champions League				19	2	17	2	6	0	0	0	» Ch. League-Matches
Champions League Qual.				3	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	» CL QF-Matches
Europa League				14	4	11	3	2	0	0	0	» EL-Matches
Europa League Qual.				5	3	5	0	3	1	0	1	» EL QF-Matches
Cup Winners Cup				8	0	8	0	3	0	0	0	» CWC-Matches
Super League				68	10	62	6	15	5	0	1	» Super League-Matches
∑				117	19	105	12	30	6	0	2	» Overall club matches

Note: the number of club matches may be incomplete.

Internationals

league
World Cup				2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	» World Cup-Matches
WC Qualifiers Europe				5	0	3	2	1	1	0	0	» WCQ Europe-Matches
Friendlies				15	0	9	6	6	0	0	0	» Friendlies-Matches
EURO Qualifiers				3	0	2	1	2	0	0	0	» EURO Qualif.-Matches
∑				25	0	15	10	9	1	0	0	» Overall international matches

SCICLI IN SICILY

This is a revival blog from "some" years ago. Thought I would give it another airing

Having shopped for 8 in Conad Super dooper market somewhere near Scicli (yes spelt right), a charming town on the Sicilian coastline, I was diverted by the other male members of our travel club to Adriano's, a small cafe, ironmongers, bar in the town centre. It made sense, we had been to the local port for fish, the ladies had had enough journeying and all decided to go back to the villa for coffee and it was midday. By the time we got to Adriano's, a convective storm was brewing and I opened the bar's newspaper, La Sicilia, dated Martedi 27 Settembre 2016. Sport. The headlines read "Totti-Spalletti, Ilary scatenata contro il technical <Picolo up on bravo a parole>". 

Spalletti is the Roma manager, Ilary Blasi, Totti's wife and the sentiment was sharing her husband's 40th birthday with the rest of the country but also lamblasting the Roma manager for treating her husband with a small man's mentality last February, when he dropped her husband from the team. This past weekend, Totti scored his 250th first class goal for his club in their 1-3 defeat by Torino. 

Francesco was born in September 1976 and has stuck with one club Roma for 763 games, scoring 306 goals. He has played 58 times for the Azzuri contributing only 9 goals surprisingly and he retired from the national side in 2007, much against the wishes of many close to him.

Totti holds endless awards and records, becoming the youngest club captain in Serie A ever, he has won 11 Oscar Del calcio presented by the IFA and was named by Pele in the FIFA top 100 players ever. 

Goal celebrations enlighten the public to his childrens' birth when he either shoved the match ball up his shirt after netting and pull it out whilst lying on his back or by sucking his thumb.

There is much else he has achieved particularly appearing on TV shows, especially Italia 1's hit Le Lene, raising money for charity and generally being an all round nice guy. He and Ilary are known as the Italia Beckhams. His manager may not think the same.

JACK PORTER-KEEPER and Fred.

Arsenal, tonight, with David Raya not fit to face Bolton, hand a debut to 16-year-old Jack Porter in the Caraboa Cup, 

Raya was filmed limping, leaving The Etihad Stadium on Sunday, after Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City and has not been passed fit for Wednesday’s third-round clash. Porter is the next in line to replace Raya as both Arsenal’s No2 and No3 goalkeepers - Neto and Tommy Setford- are unavailable. 

Neto, who joined on loan from Bournemouth on transfer deadline day, is cup-tied and Setford is out with a hip injury. It means Porter makes his debut at the age of just 16, and Mikel Arteta is confident the teenager will be prepared.

He said: “We have to wait and see what the situation is going to be. But that’s why we train with four, sometimes five goalkeepers - we want them all around. They have to be prepared and these things happen. Whoever plays, for sure he will be prepared.”

Arsenal have several teenage goalkeepers they could have called upon, including Alexei Rojas, Brian Okonkwo and Lucas Nygaard. Porter, however, has been giving the nod, having been acting as Arsenal’s No3 goalkeeper in the absence of Setford. The 16-year-old travelled to Atalanta and Manchester City last week and helped Neto and Raya warm up ahead of the games.

Porter only signed scholarship terms with Arsenal in the summer and he cannot sign a professional contract until he turns 17 in July next year. He is highly thought of by Arsenal, though, and played for their Under-18s before becoming a scholar. He has represented England at youth level. Arsenal’s academy staff describe Porter as a confident goalkeeper, on and off the pitch. He is liked, due to his ability on the ball and the way he helps the defence play out from the back. 

Fred Beardsley was one of the 'founding fathers' of what we know today as Arsenal Football Club. A keen goalkeeper, Beardsley grew up in Nottingham, playing for Forest and working at a local government munitions factory. But he was sacked by his employer for taking time off without permission and moved to London to work at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. Beardsley, together with colleagues like David Danskin and Jack Humble, formed a works' team called Dial Square. FRED was between the posts for their first-ever game against Eastern Wanderers on December 11, 1886. Beardsley continued to guest for Forest in some matches and his enduring connections with his home city benefited Arsenal too. On one trip back to the East Midlands in 1886, Beardsley used his contacts to obtain a ball and some Forest kits. He took the donations back to London for his new club, now called Royal Arsenal. They adopted the kit and the tradition of red shirts and white shorts at Arsenal was born. Beardsley played for Royal Arsenal up until the 1890/91 season, when he was replaced in goal by Edmund Bee. He had played 67 times in regional competitions and twice in the FA Cup, including Arsenal's first-ever tie in that competition. After his retirement from playing in 1891, Beardsley was elected to the post of vice-chairman. He served on Woolwich Arsenal's board of directors for the next two decades, and also worked for the CLUB as a "scout". His association with the club ended in 1910.

A HOLY TRINITY?

Tommy Trinder (below with Alan Mullery), some may remember him? knew about show business and as Chairman of  "the then", Second Division, Fulham FC, he thought that he might entertain the Craven Cottage crowd by signing a few super stars. In August 1976, during one of the hottest and driest Summers in the UK. Tommy signed the legendry, but sometimes troublesome, George Best and the equally extraordinary, Rodney Marsh. No, the sun had not melted Tommy's brain or bank account. Best walked out of Manchester United in 1974 and Marsh did the same, from Man City, a year later. They both ended up in the USA, Best playing for the Los Angeles Aztecs and Marsh at Tampa Bay Rowdies. BUT Trinder got them as a pair, signing for Fulham during the North American Soccer League "off-season.

The signature performance by these two came on this day in 1976, with Best hitting a post from 30 yards, Marsh scoring twice, a curling shot which you should see on the video, below. THE ABIDING memory will be Best accidentally tackling Marsh and the Rodney deliberately re-tackling team mate, Best.  This was truly a Maverick phenomenom.

Another short film, this one from September 25th 1976

1976/77 - Fulham v Hereford (Division 2 - 25.9.76)  or/and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZyAcNJ7Lg  , Brian Moore, George Best's girlfriend and the "strengthened" Fulham side, which at the time was an attraction.

As the season went on, Best began to "tackle" himself, becoming one of the first players to "earn" the newly introduced RED CARD during a Football League match against Southampton. Best was then fined £75 or making an abscene gesture towards the referee at Chelsea. In February he drove his car into a lamp post in front of the Harrods store at 4 in the morning after spending the evening out at "dinner" and then following it up with a venture at Tramps, the well known disco/club. Best claimed that he wasn't "breath tested" and claimed that it would have been "negative" any way. 

Fulham ended the season escaping relegation and Best and Marsh (shown below with Bobby Moore) went back to the States in the Summer. In 1977/8, Best came back to England at the start of the new season and lasted ONE game before a payment dispute caused an issue with the Cottagers, with his "showbusiness having turned into a soap opera". 

GEORGE GRAHAM

On this day in 1998, George Graham made an unlikely career move, when he took on the manger's role at Tottenham Hotspur. He had been successful at North London rivals, Arsenal, but was sacked for taking a "bung". Two years as Leeds manager helped his rehabilitation but nobody expected him to take the job across North London at Spurs!

On 16 September 1967, Graham married model Marie Zia at Marylebone Register Office; his close friend Terry Venables acted as his best man and the two players took to the field the same afternoon for opposing teams in a North London Derby; the groom's team won 4–0. The couple had two children. The marriage ended in 1988!!

He married Susan Schmidt on 13 December 1998 in Marlow, Bucks, and live in Hampstead, London.

Graham revealed in 2009 that he suffers from arthritis. "I love my golf but because of my arthritis, I've not played much in the last two years, if any. When I was a player, I had a lot of time on my hands, so I got down to an eight handicap. But when I was manager, I went back to 12. I've just taken up tennis and have to say I'm not very good."

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1961–1964	Aston Villa	8	(2)
1964–1966	Chelsea	72	(35)
1966–1972	Arsenal	227	(60)
1972–1974	Manchester United	43	(2)
1974–1976	Portsmouth	61	(5)
1976–1977	Crystal Palace	44	(2)
1978	California Surf	17	(0)
Total		472	(106)
International career
1964–1965	Scotland U23	2	(0)
1971–1973	Scotland	12	(3)
Managerial career
1982–1986	Millwall
1986–1995	Arsenal
1996–1998	Leeds United
1998–2001	Tottenham Hotspur
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

After Spurs, Graham never returned to management. He was a pundit on Sky TV for several years, in particular their Premplus channel. He also commentated on the 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 FA Cup Finals featuring Arsenal.

Managerial Career: 

Millwall from Dec '82-May '86: 201 games 45% WIN

Arsenal from May '86-Feb '95: 460 games 49% WIN

Leeds from Sept '96-Oct '98: 95 games 39% WIN

Spurs from Oct '98-Mar '01: 108 games 37% WIN

Scottish Football Hall of Fame 2015