The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been cancelled due to World War II, it was won by Uruguay, who had won the inaugural competition in 1930. They clinched the cup by beating the hosts Brazil 2–1 in the deciding match of the four-team final group; this was the only tournament not decided by a one-match final. It was the first tournament where the trophy was referred to as the Jules Rimet Cup, to mark the 25th anniversary of Jules Rimet's presidency of FIFA; because of World War II, the World Cup had not been staged since 1938. After the war, FIFA were keen to resurrect the competition as soon as possible, they began making plans for a World Cup tournament to take place. In the aftermath of the war, much of Europe lay in ruins; as a result, FIFA had some difficulties finding a country interested in hosting the event, since many governments believed that their scarce resources ought to be devoted to more urgent priorities than a sporting celebration.

The World Cup was at risk of not being held for sheer lack of interest from the international community, until Brazil presented a bid at the 1946 FIFA Congress, offering to host the event on condition that the tournament take place in 1950. Brazil and Germany had been the leading bidders to host the cancelled 1942 World Cup. Brazil's new bid was similar to the mooted 1942 bid and was accepted. Having secured a host nation, FIFA would still dedicate some time to persuading countries to send their national teams to compete. Italy was of particular interest as the long-standing defending champions, having won the two previous tournaments in 1934 and 1938; the Italians were persuaded to attend, but travelled by boat rather than by plane. Brazil and Italy qualified automatically. Of these, seven were allocated to Europe, six to the Americas, one to Asia. Both Germany and Japan were unable to participate; the Japan Football Association and the German Football Association were not readmitted to FIFA until September 1950, while the Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR in East Germany was not admitted to FIFA until 1952.

The French-occupied Saarland had been accepted by FIFA two weeks before the World Cup. Italy and other countries, involved in World War II as allies of Germany and Japan were able to participate in qualification. Italy qualified automatically as defending champions of 1938. Finland, despite being a co-belligerent of Nazi Germany from 1941-1944, was allowed to qualify but withdrew before qualification was complete, FIFA declared their matches as friendlies; the "Home" nations were invited to take part, having rejoined FIFA four years earlier, after 17 years of self-imposed exile. It was decided to use the 1949–50 British Home Championship as a qualifying group, with the top two teams qualifying. England finished first and Scotland second. A number of teams refused to participate in the qualifying tournament, including most nations behind the Iron Curtain, such as the Soviet Union, 1934 finalists Czechoslovakia, 1938 finalists Hungary. Yugoslavia was the only Eastern European nation to take part in the tournament.

Argentina and Peru in South America withdrew after the qualifying draw, in Argentina's case because of a dispute with the Brazilian Football Confederation. This meant that Chile, Bolivia and Uruguay qualified from South America by default. In Asia, the Philippines and Burma all withdrew, leaving India to qualify by default. In Europe, Austria withdrew. Belgium withdrew from the qualification tournament; these withdrawals meant that Switzerland and Turkey qualified without having to play their final round of matches. The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. However, only 13 teams would in the end participate in the World Cup after withdrawals by the rest. Before the qualification competition, George Graham, chairman of the Scottish Football Association, had said that Scotland would only travel to Brazil as winners of the Home Championship.. After Scotland ended up in second place behind England, the Scottish captain George Young, encouraged by England captain Billy Wright, pleaded with the SFA to change its mind and accept the place in Brazil.

Turkey withdrew, citing financial problems and the cost of travelling to South America. FIFA invited Portugal and France, eliminated in qualifying, to fill the gaps left by Scotland and Turkey. Portugal and Ireland refused, but France accepted and was entered into the draw; the draw, held in Rio on 22 May 1950, allocated the fifteen remaining teams into four groups: The teams' pre-tournament Elo rankings are shown in parenthesis. After the draw, the Indian football association AIFF decided against going to the World Cup, citing travel costs (although FIFA ha

Mudmen are a Canadian celtic rock band. They are best known for their singles "5 O'Clock", "Saturday", "Drink and Fight" as well as their covers of Spirit of the West's "Home for a Rest" and AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top"; the Mudmen formed in Alvinston/Petrolia in 1998. The original band members were vocalist Zoy Nicoles, guitarist Lonny Knapp, bassist Tommy Skilton, drummer Ryan McCaffrey and bagpipe-playing brothers Robby and Sandy Campbell who were the founding members, signed with the EMI label under the name The Campbell Brothers. In 2001 the Mudmen performed at the Snow Jam festival in Halifax; that year the band released a self-titled studio album. The band toured across Canada with Bif Naked, played at many festivals, including Edgefest. In 2004 Zoy Nicoles, Lonny Knapp, Tommy Skilton and Ryan McCaffrey were replaced with Steve Gore, Anthony Albanese, Mario Bozza and Jeremy Burton. A further album, Defending the Kingdom, was released in 2005. In 2008 Robby & Sandy Campbell were called in to help out in CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Anthem Challenge, in which they played the Bagpipes on Colin Oberst's "Canadian Gold", the winning anthem.

The Mudmen released further studio albums—The High Road, Another Day, Donegal Danny, "Where I Came From", "Train", "Old Plaid Shirt. The band's music has been featured in popular culture—their single "Lost", from their self-titled debut, was featured in a promotional video for the NBC television show The Black Donnellys, their single "Animal" was featured in the soundtracks of the video games Burnout 3: Takedown and MX vs. ATV Unleashed; the Campbell Brothers "founding members" appear on the Bob and Dougs 24 anniversary special and have music featured on Don Cherry's hockey videos 9,19,20. The Mudmen have recorded the music for the Edmonton Oilers TV show Oil Change 3; as of 2018 the Mudmen are continuing to perform together. The Brantford Blast are using the Mudmen's song "Go team Go" as their entrance theme; the band's name comes from the Campbell Brothers "founding members" occupation prior to forming the band. They were carrying bricks for bricklayers; the band's music is influenced by traditional Scottish music, as well as hard rock groups such as AC/DC.

Mudmen have opened for many well-known bands, including ZZ Top, Dropkick Murphys and Bowling for Soup, as well as fellow Canadians Nickelback, Sum 41 and The Guess Who. Mike Meacher - Vocals Dan Westenenk - Bass Guitar Jeremy Burton - Drums Robby Campbell - Bagpipes Sandy Campbell - Bagpipes Steve Gore - Vocals and Guitar Zois Nicoles - Lead Vocals Lonny Knapp - Guitar Tommy Skilton - Bass Guitar Ryan McCaffrey - Drums Mario Bozza - Bass Guitar Neil Doran - Guitar Mudmen Overrated Defending the Kingdom The High Road Another Day Donegal Danny Where I Came From On a Train Old Plaid Shirt Mudmen Official website Mudmen at MuchMusic Mudmen Official Facebook page

Kilkenny Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located in north-west Kilkenny in Ireland. The racing takes place on a Friday evenings at 6.30 pm. St James Park in Kilkenny is a large park that contains sports pitches to the south and a greyhound track to the north; the greyhound circuit can be found south of Parkview Drive off the Freshford Road. Race distances are 325, 550, 727, 750 & 1000 yards; the opening night was on 5 June 1946 and the first winner was Rebel Gunner. The following year the Kilkenny management wanted to introduce a major race to bring an identity to the track, they decided on a race over 525 yards and called it the McCalmont Cup; the first Winner in 1947 was a greyhound called Lady Maud who broke the track record in winning the event. The McCalmont Cup attracted Ireland’s biggest names each time it was held including the three times Irish Greyhound Derby champion Spanish Battleship who claimed the crown in both 1954 & 1955. Two years in 1957 a greyhound called Prairie Champion took the honours.

The circuit has been described as both a good galloping track and too tight, because of the odd shape of the track. In addition to the McCalmont Cup the track hosted two other popular events called the Hurst Cup and Great Whistler Cup. Jimmy Kinahan was the Racing Manager when the track opened back in 1946 and remained so until his death in 1978. One of the track bookmakers in the sixties and seventies was the well-known celebrity show jumper Tommy Wade who rode Dundrum. John O'Flynn became Racing and General Manager and stayed with the track for twenty years continuing the long service record of its management, he saw the Bord na gCon buy a minority stake in the track from the Agricultural Society who use the fields at St James Park for agriculture events such as bull sales and show jumping. In July 2007, the Bord na gCon put aside €8 million for a long awaited regeneration project, the agreement between the Bord na gCon and Agricultural Society would allow a new lease, demolition of the old structures and the building of a new grandstand.

However the project did not go ahead and following much deliberation towards the end of 2008 it was decided that the financial position of Kilkenny made it no longer viable to operate. After the meeting on 30 January 2009 the track closed its doors until further notice; however a group of local owners and supporters got together forming the Kilkenny Track Supporters Club and re-opened Kilkenny on 17 May 2009, they met with the IGB and agreed a funding policy and re-laid the entire track surface in addition to installing new rails and a new hare system. Despite the small nature of the track it is regarded as an important contributor to the local economy and is still supported by the same Kilkenny Track Supporters Club; the long running BEAM race nights have been a success for over 25 years. Tom Kinane arrived as General Manager and in recent years sponsorship was secured from Red Mills allowing the track to stage the Red Mills Unraced, Red Mills Juvenile and Langton Derby in addition to the prestigious McCalmont Cup.

McCalmont Cup Grand National Current Former Irish Greyhound Board