Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is a football club based in Manchester, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's, it became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894; the club's home ground is the City of Manchester Stadium in east Manchester, to which it moved in 2003, having played at Maine Road since 1923. Manchester City entered the Football League in 1899, won their first major honour with the FA Cup in 1904, it had its first major period of success in the late 1960s, winning the League, FA Cup and League Cup under the management of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. After losing the 1981 FA Cup Final, the club went through a period of decline, culminating in relegation to the third tier of English football. Having regained their Premier League status in the early 2000s, Manchester City was purchased in 2008 by Abu Dhabi United Group for £210 million and received considerable financial investment; the club won the Premier League in 2012, 2014 and, most in 2018 becoming the first Premier League team to attain 100 points in a single season.
Manchester City's revenue was the fifth highest of a football club in the world in the 2017–18 season at €527.7 million. In 2018, Forbes estimated. City gained their first honours by winning the Second Division in 1899, they went on to claim their first major honour on 23 April 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers 1–0 at Crystal Palace to win the FA Cup. In the seasons following the FA Cup triumph, the club was dogged by allegations of financial irregularities, culminating in the suspension of seventeen players in 1906, including captain Billy Meredith, who subsequently moved across town to Manchester United. A fire at Hyde Road destroyed the main stand in 1920, in 1923 the club moved to their new purpose-built stadium at Maine Road in Moss Side. In the 1930s, Manchester City reached two consecutive FA Cup finals, losing to Everton in 1933, before claiming the Cup by beating Portsmouth in 1934. During the 1934 cup run, Manchester City broke the record for the highest home attendance of any club in English football history, as 84,569 fans packed Maine Road for a sixth round FA Cup tie against Stoke City in 1934 – a record which still stands to this day.
The club won the First Division title for the first time in 1937, but were relegated the following season, despite scoring more goals than any other team in the division. Twenty years a City team inspired by a tactical system known as the Revie Plan reached consecutive FA Cup finals again, in 1955 and 1956; the 1956 final, in which Manchester City beat Birmingham City 3–1, is one of the most famous finals of all-time, is remembered for City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann continuing to play on after unknowingly breaking his neck. After being relegated to the Second Division in 1963, the future looked bleak with a record low home attendance of 8,015 against Swindon Town in January 1965. In the summer of 1965, the management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison was appointed. In the first season under Mercer, City won the Second Division title and made important signings in Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell. Two seasons in 1967–68, Manchester City claimed the League Championship for the second time, clinching the title on the final day of the season with a 4–3 win at Newcastle United and beating their close neighbours Manchester United into second place.
Further trophies followed: City won the FA Cup in 1969, before achieving European success by winning the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970, beating Górnik Zabrze 2–1 in Vienna. City won the League Cup that season, becoming the second English team to win a European trophy and a domestic trophy in the same season; the club continued to challenge for honours throughout the 1970s, finishing one point behind the league champions on two occasions and reaching the final of the 1974 League Cup. One of the matches from this period, most fondly remembered by supporters of Manchester City is the final match of the 1973–74 season against arch-rivals Manchester United, who needed to win to have any hope of avoiding relegation. Former United player Denis Law scored with a backheel to give City a 1–0 win at Old Trafford and confirm the relegation of their rivals; the final trophy of the club's most successful period was won in 1976, when Newcastle United were beaten 2–1 in the League Cup final. A long period of decline followed the success of the 1970s.
Malcolm Allison rejoined the club to become manager for the second time in 1979, but squandered large sums of money on unsuccessful signings, such as Steve Daley. A succession of managers followed – seven in the 1980s alone. Under John Bond, City reached the 1981 FA Cup final but lost in a replay to Tottenham Hotspur; the club were twice relegated from the top flight in the 1980s, but returned to the top flight again in 1989 and finished fifth in 1991 and 1992 under the management of Peter Reid. However, this was only a temporary respite, following Reid's departure Manchester City's fortunes continued to fade. City were co-founders of the Premier League upon its creation in 1992, but after finishing ninth in its first season they endured three seasons of struggle before being relegated in 1996. After two seasons in Division One, City fell to the lowest point in their history, becoming the second European trophy winners to be
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system, as of the 2018–19 season. Founded in 1899 as Riverside A. F. C; the club changed its name to Cardiff City in 1908 and entered the Southern Football League in 1910 before joining the English Football League in 1920. The club has spent 17 seasons in the top tier of English football since, the longest period being between 1921 and 1929; the team's most recent season in the top flight is the current 2018–19 Premier League season. The club is the only team from outside England to have won the FA Cup, doing so in 1927, they have reached three other cup finals in English competitions, the 1925 FA Cup Final against Sheffield United, the 2008 FA Cup Final against Portsmouth and the 2012 Football League Cup Final against Liverpool, suffering defeat on each occasion. They have won the Welsh Cup on 22 occasions, making them the second most successful team in the competition's history behind Wrexham.
With the exception of a short period this century, the team have played in home colours of blue and white since 1908, which gives them the nickname "The Bluebirds". The club's first permanent ground was Ninian Park opened in 1910. Cardiff have long-standing rivalries with nearby clubs Swansea City, known as the South Wales derby and Bristol City, known as the Severnside derby; the club's record appearance holder is Billy Hardy, who made 590 appearances in a 20-year playing spell with Cardiff, their record goalscorer is Len Davies with 179 goals. Following a meeting at the home of lithographic artist Bartley Wilson in Cardiff, the club was founded in 1899 as Riverside A. F. C. as a way of keeping players from the Riverside Cricket Club together and in shape during the winter months. In their first season, they played friendlies against local sides at their Sophia Gardens ground. In 1900 they joined the District League for their first competitive season; when King Edward VII granted Cardiff city status in 1905, the club put in a request to the South Wales and Monmouthshire Football Association to change their name to Cardiff City.
The request was turned down. To enhance their standing, the team arranged to join the South Wales Amateur League in 1907; the following year they were granted permission to change the name of the club to Cardiff City. Although growing in stature, the club was forced to turn down the opportunity to join the newly formed Second Division of the Southern Football League due to a lack of facilities at their Sophia Gardens ground. Over the next two years, Cardiff played friendlies against some of Britain's top professional sides, including Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Crystal Palace; the matches were played at grounds in Cardiff and nearby towns so as to gauge the level of public interest in the team. The club secured land to build their own stadium, Ninian Park, completed in 1910; the club turned professional the same year. They made their first signing the following year with the acquisition of Jack Evans from fellow Welsh side Cwmparc. With the new grounds in place, Cardiff joined the Southern Football League Second Division and appointed their first manager, Davy McDougall, who became player-manager.
They went on to finish in fourth place in their first year in the league. The board decided to replace McDougall with Fred Stewart, who had previous managerial experience with Stockport County, he set about adopting a more professional approach, signing several players with Football League experience, including brothers John and George Burton and Billy Hardy. Stewart led the team to promotion in his second season by winning the Second Division title, they remained in the First Division for the next decade, finished in the top four on two occasions. In 1920, the club submitted a successful application to join the Football League and were placed into the Second Division for the 1920–21 season. Stewart brought in several players with Football League experience, breaking the club's transfer record on two occasions to sign Jimmy Gill and Jimmy Blair from The Wednesday, they played their first match in the Football League on 28 August 1920, defeating Stockport County 5–2. The side finished the season in second place to win promotion to the First Division.
They finished behind Birmingham City on goal average, reached the semi-final of the FA Cup. In their third season in the top-tier, the team finished runners-up to Huddersfield Town because of a goal average difference of 0.024. Cardiff drew their final match; the following season was the first time Cardiff appeared at Wembley Stadium, having reached their first FA Cup final. The team lost 1–0 to Sheffield United following a goal from England international Fred Tunstall; the 1926–27 season, when they finished in 14th position, was Cardiff's worst performance in the top tier of English Football since winning promotion six seasons before. However, they reached their second FA Cup final in the space of two years. On St George's Day, 23 April 1927, at Wembley Stadium in London, Cardiff became the only non-English side to win the FA Cup by defeating Arsenal 1–0 in the final, he hurried a tame shot toward the goal. Captain Fred Keenor received the FA Cup trophy at the end of the match from King George V only seven years after Cardi
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English professional association football club in Portsmouth, which plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 5 April 1898 and home matches are played at Fratton Park in Milton, Portsmouth. Portsmouth have been the top tier Football League Champions of England twice consecutively in 1949 and 1950. Portsmouth have won the FA Cup twice in 1939 and 2008, the FA Charity Shield once in 1949 and the EFL Trophy once in 2019. Portsmouth have won the second tier division title once in 2002–03, the third tier division title three times in 1923–24, 1961–62, 1982–83 and the fourth tier division title once in 2016–17. In the early twentieth century, Portsmouth were champions of the Southern Football League in 1901–02 and 1919–20. Portsmouth were champions of the Western Football League in 1900–01, 1901–02 and 1902–03. These, their more recent wins, make Portsmouth southern England’s most successful club outside of London. Portsmouth have played in European competition for only one season in their history, the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, a result of winning the 2008 FA Cup Final.
In this period, the club had international footballers including England players Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, David James and Sol Campbell. Between 2003 and 2010 the club spent seven consecutive seasons in the Premier League; the club's fortunes declined in 2010–13 when the club entered administration twice and were relegated three times, reaching the fourth tier and their lowest point since the 1979–80 season. The club were saved from liquidation after being bought out by the fan-owned Pompey Supporters Trust; this made Portsmouth the largest fan-owned football club in England until 3 August 2017, when the PST sold it to The Tornante Company, an investment company owned by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. During the last few months of the PST's ownership, Portsmouth were promoted to EFL League One after winning the fourth tier EFL League Two divisional championship title on 6 May 2017 in the final league game of the 2016–17 season. Portsmouth became only the fifth English football club to win all four tiers of current English professional football.
In addition, Portsmouth are one of only two English football clubs to have been champions of five professional divisions including the former regional Football League Third Division South championship in the 1923–24 season. Wolverhampton Wanderers share this distinction, having won all four divisions, plus a Football League Third Division North title win, coincidentally in the same 1923–24 season as Portsmouth won the respective South division. 1883–1896 – Portsmouth A. F. C. – Amateur club formed by Portsmouth architect Arthur Cogswell. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle played as goalkeeper under the under the pseudonym, "A. C. Smith".?-1891-?? – Portsmouth Town F. C. – An amateur team who became Portsmouth's first professional club, but whose efforts failed and led to their disbandment. 1894–1899 – Royal Artillery F. C. – A popular amateur army team based at the United Services Recreation Ground complex at Burnaby Road, Portsmouth. Their supporters were the originators of the "Town Hall Chimes" and the team were nicknamed "Pompey" before the professional Portsmouth F.
C. were formed in 1898. A "professionalism" scandal in 1899 led to their "retirement" and a rise in interest of the new Portsmouth F. C.. Royal Artillery F. C. reformed for one more season in 1900–1901. The club was first founded on 5 April 1898 at 12 High Street, Old Portsmouth as "The Portsmouth Football and Athletic Company", with John Brickwood as chairman, The company directors were: John Brickwood Alfred H. Bone George Lewin Oliver John Peters Alderman John Edward Pink. William Wiggington A Blue Plaque on the wall of 12 High Street Portsmouth commemorates the founding on 5 April 1898. In 1899, work began on developing a plot of former agricultural land near Goldsmith Avenue, Portsmouth into a new football ground, bought in 1898 from the local Goldsmith farming family; the new football ground was to be named Fratton Park after the nearby and convenient Fratton railway station. Frank Brettell was announced as Portsmouth Football Club's first manager-secretary in February 1899, he had been secretary-player with the St Domingo Club in Liverpool and helped ‘create the organisation which became Everton’.
Brettell joined Portsmouth F. C. in May 1899 and his first Portsmouth signings were Irish goalkeeper Matt Reilly and Harry Turner both from the "retired" Royal Artillery F. C. Joining Portsmouth as a new director was Regimental Sergeant-Major Frederick Windrum, the treasurer-trainer from Royal Artillery. Brettell, with his valuable northern contacts signed Scottish footballer Tom Wilkie, the former Heart Of Midlothian and Liverpool player. Bob Blyth and Alex "Sandy" Brown were both signed from Preston North End. Edward Turner, Harold Clarke and Harold Stringfellow all came from Everton. Dan Cunliffe, Thomas "Tommy" Cleghorn and Robert "Bobby" Marshall were all signed from Liver
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the three major professional tournaments, the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland, as a constituent country of the United Kingdom, is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and therefore the national team does not compete in the Olympic Games; the majority of Scotland's home matches are played at Hampden Park. Scotland is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872. Scotland has a long-standing rivalry with England, whom they played annually from 1872 until 1989; the teams have met only seven times since most in June 2017. Scotland have qualified for the FIFA World Cup on eight occasions and the UEFA European Championship twice, but have never progressed beyond the first group stage of a finals tournament.
The last major tournament they qualified for was the 1998 World Cup. The team have achieved some noteworthy results, such as beating the 1966 FIFA World Cup winners England 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in 1967. Archie Gemmill scored what has been described as one of the greatest World Cup goals in a 3–2 win during the 1978 World Cup against the Netherlands, who reached the final of the tournament. In their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 2008, Scotland defeated 2006 World Cup runners-up France 1–0 in both fixtures. Scotland supporters are collectively known as the Tartan Army; the Scottish Football Association operates a roll of honour for every player who has made more than 50 appearances for Scotland. Kenny Dalglish holds the record for Scotland appearances, having played 102 times between 1971 and 1986. Dalglish scored shares the record for most goals scored with Denis Law. Scotland and England are the oldest national football teams in the world. Teams representing the two sides first competed at the Oval in five matches between 1870 and 1872.
The two countries contested the first official international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland, on 30 November 1872. The match ended in a goalless draw. All eleven players who represented Scotland that day played for Glasgow amateur club Queen's Park. Over the next forty years, Scotland played matches against the other three Home Nations—England and Ireland; the British Home Championship began in 1883. The encounters against England were fierce and a rivalry developed. Scotland lost just two of their first 43 international matches, it was not until a 2–0 home defeat by Ireland in 1903 that Scotland lost a match to a team other than England. This run of success meant that Scotland would have topped the Elo ratings, which were calculated in 1998, between 1876 and 1904. Scotland won the British Home Championship outright on 24 occasions, shared the title 17 times with at least one other team. A noteworthy victory for Scotland before the Second World War was the 5–1 victory over England in 1928, which led to that Scotland side being known as the "Wembley Wizards".
Scotland played their first match outside the British Isles in 1929. Scotland continued to contest regular friendly matches against European opposition and enjoyed wins against Germany and France before losing to the Austrian "Wunderteam" and Italy in 1931. Scotland, like the other Home Nations, did not enter the three FIFA World Cups held during the 1930s; this was because the four associations had been excluded from FIFA due to a disagreement regarding the status of amateur players. The four associations, including Scotland, returned to the FIFA fold after the Second World War. A match between a United Kingdom team and a "Rest of the World" team was played at Hampden Park in 1947 to celebrate this reconciliation; the readmission of the Scottish Football Association to FIFA meant that Scotland were now eligible to enter the 1950 FIFA World Cup. FIFA advised that places would be awarded to the top two teams in the 1950 British Home Championship, but the SFA announced that Scotland would only attend the finals if Scotland won the competition.
Scotland won their first two matches, but a 1–0 home defeat by England meant that the Scots finished as runners-up. This meant that the Scots had qualified by right for the World Cup, but had not met the demand of the SFA to win the Championship; the SFA stood by this proclamation, despite pleas to the contrary by the Scotland players, supported by England captain Billy Wright and the other England players. The SFA instead sent the Scots on a tour of North America; the same qualification rules were in place for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, with the 1954 British Home Championship acting as a qualifying group. Scotland again finished second, but this time the SFA allowed a team to participate in the Finals, held in Switzerland. To quote the SFA website, "The preparation was atrocious"; the SFA only sent 13 players to the finals though FIFA allowed 22-man squads. Despite this self-imposed hardship in terms of players, the SFA dignitaries travelled in numbers, accompanied by their wives. Scotland lost 1–0 against Austria in their first game in the finals, which prompted the team manager Andy Beattie to resign hours before the game against Uruguay.
Uruguay were reigning champions and had never before lost a game at the World Cup finals, they defeated Scotland 7–0. The 1958 FIFA World Cup finals saw Scotland draw their first game against Yugoslavia 1–1, but they lost to Paraguay and France and went out at the first stage. Matt Busby had been due to manage the team at the World Cup, but the severe injuries he suffered in the Munich air disaster
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Burnley, England. Founded on 18 May 1882, the team played only friendly matches until they entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1885–86; the club plays in the Premier League, the first tier of English football. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were one of the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888; the club's emblem is based with a Latin motto Pretiumque et Causa Laboris. Burnley have been champions of England twice, in 1920–21 and 1959–60, have won the FA Cup once, in 1914, have won the Community Shield twice, in 1960 and 1973; the Clarets reached the 1961 quarter-finals of the European Cup. They are one of only five teams to have won all top four professional divisions of English football, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Preston North End, Sheffield United and Portsmouth. In the 1920–21 campaign, Burnley were crowned champions of England for the first time when they won the First Division.
During that season the team embarked on a 30-match unbeaten run, which remained an English record until it was beaten by Nottingham Forest in the late 1970s. Burnley attained a second league championship in 1959–60 with a team consisting of youth academy graduates, winning the title with a last-day victory over Manchester City, after foundations were laid by pioneers Alan Brown, Bob Lord and Harry Potts. Just twenty years in 1979–80, Burnley were relegated to the Third Division — the first time in their history they had played in the third tier of English football. Five years the team competed in the Fourth Division for the first time following another relegation, on 9 May 1987 only a 2–1 home win against Orient saved Burnley from relegation to the Football Conference and a possible dissolution. Burnley won promotion in 1991–92 to the third tier and again in 1999–2000 to the second tier, before being promoted to the Premier League in 2008–09, 2013–14 and 2015–16. Burnley have played home games at Turf Moor since 17 February 1883, after the club had moved from their original premises at Calder Vale.
The club colours of claret and blue were adopted prior to the 1910–11 season in tribute to the dominant club of English football at the time, Aston Villa. Their current manager, Sean Dyche, was appointed on 30 October 2012. On 18 May 1882, Burnley Rovers Football Club decided to shift their allegiance from rugby union to football. Playing in various green or blue and white kits for their first few years, the club played their first competitive game in October 1882 against Astley Bridge in the Lancashire Challenge Cup, that game ending in an 8–0 defeat. In the early months of 1883 the club moved to Turf Moor and remain there, only their Lancashire rivals Preston North End having continuously occupied the same ground for longer. Burnley first appeared in the FA Cup in 1885–86, but were ignominiously beaten 11–0 when eligibility restrictions meant that their reserve side had to be fielded against Darwen Old Wanderers. A year on 13 October 1886, Turf Moor became the first ground to be visited by a member of the Royal Family.
When it was decided to found the Football League for the 1888–89 season, Burnley were among the twelve founders of that competition, one of the six clubs based in Lancashire. Burnley's William Tait became the first player to score a hat-trick in league football in only the second match of the inaugural season, when his three goals gave the Clarets an away win to Bolton Wanderers. Burnley, now known as'The Turfites','Moorites' or'Royalites' as a result of the name of their new ground and the royal connection finished 9th in the first season of the league, but only one place from bottom in 1889–90, following a 17-game winless streak at the start of the season; that season did, present Burnley with their first honours, winning the Lancashire Cup with a 2–0 final victory over local rivals Blackburn Rovers. Before Burnley won a trophy again, they were relegated to the Second Division for the first time in 1896–97, they responded to this by winning promotion the next season, losing only two of their 30 matches along the way before gaining promotion through a play-off series known as test matches.
Burnley and First Division club Stoke City both entered the last match, to be played between the two teams, needing a draw for promotion. A 0–0 draw ensued "The match without a shot at goal", the league withdrew the test match system in favour of automatic promotion and relegation; the league decided to expand the top division after the test match series of 1897–98 and the other two teams went into the top division for the following year, negating the effect of Burnley and Stoke City's reputed collusion. Burnley were relegated again in 1899–1900 and found themselves at the centre of a controversy when their goalkeeper, Jack Hillman attempted to bribe their opponents, Nottingham Forest, in the last match of the season, resulting in his suspension for the whole of the following season, it was the earliest recorded case of match fixing in football. During the first decade of the 20th century, Burnley continued to play in the Second Division finishing in bottom place in one season, although the indications of success just around the corner were evident.
Burnley changed their colours from green to the claret and sky blue of Aston Villa, the most successful club in England at the time, for the 1910–11 season, as manager John Haworth believed it might bring a change of fortune. The tides did indeed turn the following season, when only a loss in the last game of the season denied the club p
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1904, the club plays in the second tier of English football. In 2007–08, they achieved promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time in their history by winning the Championship play-off Final at Wembley Stadium, their highest league finish was in 2013–14, when they finished 16th in the table, a season in which they reached the final of the FA Cup. Hull City play home games at the KCOM Stadium, having moved there in 2002 after 56 seasons at Boothferry Park. Hull traditionally play in black and amber with a striped shirt design, hence their nickname, The Tigers. Hull City Association Football Club was founded in June 1904. C. and Hull Kingston Rovers. The club was unable to apply for membership of the Football League for the 1904–05 season and instead played only in friendlies, the first of, a 2–2 draw with Notts County on 1 September 1904 with 6,000 in attendance.
These early matches were played at the Boulevard, the home of Hull F. C; the club's first competitive football match was in the FA Cup preliminary round, drawing 3–3 with Stockton on 17 September, but they were eliminated after losing the replay 4–1 on 22 September. After disputes with landlords at the Boulevard, Hull City moved to Anlaby Road Cricket Ground. After having played 44 friendly fixtures the previous season, Hull City were admitted into the Football League Second Division for the 1905–06 season. Other teams competing in the league that season included the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, as well as Yorkshire rivals Barnsley, Bradford City and Leeds City. Hull finished the season in fifth place. Hull City and Grimsby Town were the only two professional teams which had official permission to play league football on Christmas Day because of the demands of the fish trade, but that tradition has now disappeared following the dramatic reduction of their trawler fleets in recent years.
The following season a new ground was built for Hull City across the road from the cricket ground. Still under the managership of Ambrose Langley, Hull continued to finish in the top half of the table, they came close to promotion in the 1909–10 season, recording what would be their highest finish until they matched it in 2008. Hull finished third, level on points with second placed Oldham Athletic, missing promotion on goal average by 0.29 of a goal. Hull finished in the top half of the table before the First World War, but after the war the team finished in the bottom half in seven seasons out of eleven, culminating in relegation to the Third Division North in 1930. Hull's greatest achievement in cup competitions until 2014 was in 1930, when they reached the FA Cup semi-finals; the cup run saw Hull knock out the eventual champions of the Third Divisions. They knocked out Manchester City, to meet Newcastle United in the quarter-finals; the first game at St James' Park finished as a 1–1 draw, but in the replay Hull beat Newcastle 1–0.
The semi-final match against Arsenal took place at Elland Road in Leeds, the game ended 2–2, was taken to a replay in Birmingham. Arsenal knocked Hull out at Villa Park, the game ending 1–0. After the Second World War, the club moved to Boothferry Park. In the 1948–49 season, managed by former England international Raich Carter, Hull won the Third Division North championship. "Yo-yoing" between the second and third tiers of English football, Hull City had promotion seasons from the Third to the Second Division again in 1959 and 1966, winning the Third Division in the latter season. Hull became the first team in the world to go out of a cup competition on penalties, beaten by Manchester United in the semi-final of the Watney Cup on 1 August 1970. By the early 1980s, Hull City were in the Fourth Division, financial collapse led to receivership. Don Robinson appointed Colin Appleton as the new manager. Both had held the equivalent roles with non-league Scarborough. Promotion to Division Three followed in 1983, with a young team featuring the likes of future England international Brian Marwood, future England manager Steve McClaren, centre-forward Billy Whitehurst, the prolific goal-scorer Les Mutrie.
When Hull City missed out on promotion by one goal the following season, Appleton left to manage Swansea City. Hull reached the Second Division in 1985 under player-manager Brian Horton, they remained there for the next six years before going down in 1991, by which time the club's manager was Terry Dolan. Hull finished 14th in the Third Division in the 1991–92 season, meaning that they would be competing in the new Second Division the following season. In their first season in the rebranded division, Hull narrowly avoided another relegation, but the board kept faith in Dolan and over the next two seasons they achieved mid-table finishes. Financial difficulties hampered City's progress, as key players such as Alan Fettis and Dean Windass had to be sold to fend off winding-up orders. In the 1995–96 season Hull were relegated to the Third Division. In 1997 the club was purchased by former tennis player David Lloyd, who sacked Dolan as manager and replaced him with Mark Hateley after Hull could only finish in 17th place in the table.
Hull's league form was deteriorating to the point that relegation to the Football Conference was looking a real possibility. Lloyd sold the club in November 1998 to a South Yorkshire-based consortium, but retained ownership of Boothferry Park
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is a professional football club in Bolton, Greater Manchester, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed as Christ Church Football Club in 1874, it adopted its current name in 1877 and was a founder member of the Football League in 1888. Bolton have spent more seasons than any other club in the top flight without winning the title, they finished third in the First Division in 1891–92, 1920–21 and 1924–25. Bolton won three FA Cups in the 1920s, a fourth in 1958; the club spent a season in the Fourth Division in 1987-88 before regaining top-flight status in 1995 and qualifying for the UEFA Cup twice, reaching the last 32 in 2005–06 and the last 16 in 2007–08. The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895. On 9 March 1946, 33 Bolton fans lost their lives in the Burnden Park disaster when a human crush occurred. In 1997, Bolton moved to the Reebok Stadium, renamed the Macron Stadium in 2014, now known as the University of Bolton Stadium.
The club was founded by the Reverend Joseph Farrall Wright, Perpetual curate of Christ Church Bolton, Thomas Ogden, the schoolmaster at the adjacent church school, in 1874 as Christ Church F. C, it was run from the church of the same name on Deane Road, Bolton, on the site where the Innovation factory of the University of Bolton now stands. The club left the location following a dispute with the vicar, changed its name to Bolton Wanderers in 1877; the name was chosen as the club had a lot of difficulty finding a permanent ground to play on, having used three venues in its first four years of existence. Bolton were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888. At the time Lancashire was one of the strongest footballing regions in the country, with 6 of the 12 founder clubs coming from within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire. Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton have spent more time in the top flight than out of it. In 1894 Bolton reached the final of the FA Cup for the first time, but lost 4–1 to Notts County at Goodison Park.
A decade they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904. The period before and after the First World War was Bolton's most consistent period of top-flight success as measured by league finishes, with the club finishing outside the top 8 of the First Division on only two occasions between 1911–12 and 1927–28. In this period Bolton equalled their record finish of third twice, in 1920–21 and 1924–25, on the latter occasion missing out on the title by just 3 points. On 28 April 1923, Bolton won their first major trophy in their third final, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first Wembley FA Cup final; the match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters. Bolton's centre-forward, David Jack scored the first goal at Wembley Stadium. Driven by long-term players Joe Smith in attack, Ted Vizard and Billy Butler on the wings, Jimmy Seddon in defence, they became the most successful cup side of the twenties, winning three times.
Their second victory of the decade came in 1926, beating Manchester City 1–0 in front of over 91,000 spectators, the third came in 1929 as Portsmouth were beaten 2–0 in front of nearly 93,000 fans. In 1928 the club faced financial difficulties and so was forced to sell David Jack to Arsenal to raise funds. Despite the pressure to sell, the agreed fee of £10,890 was a world record, more than double the previous most expensive transfer of a player. From 1935 to 1964, Bolton enjoyed an uninterrupted stay in the top flight – regarded by fans as a golden era – spearheaded in the 1950s by Nat Lofthouse; the years of the Second World War saw most of the Wanderers' playing staff see action on the front, a rare occurrence within elite football, as top sportsmen were assigned to physical training assignments, away from enemy fire. However, 15 Bolton professionals, led by their captain Harry Goslin, volunteered for active service in 1939, were enlisted in the 53rd Bolton Artillery regiment. By the end of the war, 32 of the 35 pre-war professionals saw action in the British forces.
The sole fatality was Goslin, who had by risen to the rank of Lieutenant and was killed by shrapnel on the Italian front shortly before Christmas 1943. 53rd Bolton Artillery took part in the Battle of Dunkirk and served in the campaigns of Egypt and Italy. Remarkably, a number of these soldiers managed to carry on playing the game in these theatres of war, taking on as'British XI' various scratch teams assembled by, among others, King Farouk of Egypt in Cairo and Polish forces in Baghdad. On 9 March 1946, the club's home was the scene of the Burnden Park disaster, which at the time was the worst tragedy in British football history. 33 Bolton Wanderers fans were crushed to death, another 400 injured, in an FA Cup quarter-final second leg tie between Bolton and Stoke City. There was an estimated 67,000-strong crowd crammed in for the game, though other estimates vary with a further 15,000 locked out as it became clear the stadium was full; the disaster led to Moelwyn Hughes's official report, which recommended more rigorous control of crowd sizes.
In 1953 Bolton played in one of the most famous FA Cup finals of all time – The Stanley Matthews Final of 1953. Bolton lost the game to Blackpool 4–3 after gaining a 3–1 lead. Blackpool were victorious thanks to the goals of Stan Mortensen. Bolton Wanderers have not won a major trophy since 1958, when two Lofthouse goals saw them overcome Manchester United in the FA Cup final in front of a 100,000 crowd at Wembley Stadium; the closes