1.
Wales national football team
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The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales, the body for football in Wales. During their history, Wales have qualified for two international tournaments. They reached the quarter-finals of the 1958 FIFA World Cup and they reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 after beating Belgium in the quarter-final match on 1 July 2016. This was, therefore, the first time that Wales had reached the semi-final of a major tournament, Wales also progressed through UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying to the quarter-final, which was played on a home and away leg basis but they did not feature in the finals tournament. At all levels including the teams the Welsh national team draws players primarily from clubs in the English football league system. The main professional Welsh clubs play in the English leagues, with some full-time and part-time professional clubs playing in the Welsh football league system. Wales played its first competitive match on 25 March 1876 against Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland took the spoils winning 2–0. Wales first match against England came in 1879 – a 2–1 defeat at the Kennington Oval, London and in 1882 Wales faced Ireland for the first time, the associations of the four Home Nations met in Manchester on 6 December 1882 to set down a set of worldwide rules. This meeting saw the establishment of the International Football Association Board to approve changes to the rules, the 1883–84 season saw the formation of the British Home Championship, a tournament which was played annually between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, until 1983–84. Wales were champions on 12 occasions, winning seven times whilst sharing the title five times. As a result, Wales did not enter the first three World Cups, in 1932 Wales played host to the Republic of Ireland, the first time they played against a side from outside the four home nations. A year later, Wales played a match outside the United Kingdom for the first time when they travelled to Paris to take on France in a match which was drawn 1–1. The top two teams were to qualify for the finals in Brazil, but Wales finished bottom of the group. The 1950s were an age for Welsh football with stars such as Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones, Alf Sherwood, Jack Kelsey, Trevor Ford, Ronnie Burgess, Terry Medwin. Wales made its only World Cup finals tournament appearance in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, however, their path to qualification was unusual. In the Asian/African qualifying zone Egypt and Sudan had refused to play against Israel following the Suez crisis, as a result, FIFA proclaimed Israel winners of their respective group. However, FIFA did not want a team to qualify for the World Cup finals without actually playing a match and so lots were drawn of all the second placed teams in UEFA
2.
Camberley
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Camberley /ˈkæmbərliː/ is a town in Surrey, England,31 miles southwest of Central London, between the M3 and M4 motorways. It is the town in the borough of Surrey Heath. Camberleys suburbs include Crawley Hill, Yorktown, Diamond Ridge, Heatherside, before the 19th century, the area now occupied by Camberley was referred to as Bagshot or Frimley Heath. An Iron Age fort known as Caesars Camp was situated to the north of this area alongside the Roman Road The Devils Highway. The Intenarium Curiosum, published in 1724, describes a collection of Roman pottery around the area, in the Middle Ages, the area was part of Windsor Forest. In the 17th century, the area along the road through Bagshot Heath was known as a haunt of highwaymen, such as William Davies - also known as the Golden Farmer –. The land remained undeveloped and uncultivated due to a sandy topsoil making it unsuitable for farming. Horrid and frightful to look on, not only good for little, a brick tower was built on top of The Knoll in the 1770s, by John Norris of Blackwater. It may have used for communications but there is no firm evidence. The remains are now known as The Obelisk, the town as it now stands has its roots in the building of The Royal Military College, which later became the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in 1812. A settlement known as New Town grew in the area around the college which in 1831 was renamed Yorktown, after Prince Frederick, Duke of York, at this time, the population was 702. In 1848, the first parish church of St. Michael, Yorktown was built by Henry Woodyer, in an area part of Frimley. Later, the Staff College was established to the east of the Academy, the surrounding area became known as Cambridge Town, but was renamed Camberley in January 1877 to avoid confusion by the General Post Office with Cambridge in Cambridgeshire. The renaming of Camberley was mentioned in the 1963 film adaptation of William Goldings Lord of the Flies, hugh Edwards, the child actor who played Piggy, attended Camberley Primary School which was demolished to make way for the town centre redevelopment. During the 19th century, Camberley grew in size, by the end of the century the population had reached 8,400. Since then, the town has absorbed the settlement of Yorktown. The Southern Scott Scramble, the first known motorcycle scrambling event, the event, won by A. B. Sparks, attracted a crowd in the thousands and is considered to be the first instance of what later developed in the sport of motocross. During the Second World War, the Old Dean common was used as a camp of the Free French Forces
3.
Midfielder
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A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their teams defenders and forwards, some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being mobile and efficient in passing, they are commonly referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box. The number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the teams formation, most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing teams attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match, central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided roughly equally between attack and defence. When the opposing team has the ball, a midfielder may drop back to protect the goal or move forward. The 4–3–3 and 4–5–1 formations each use three central midfielders, the 4−4−2 formation may use two central midfielders, and in the 4–2–3–1 formation one of the two deeper midfielders may be a central midfielder. The term box-to-box midfielder refers to central midfielders who have abilities and are skilled at both defending and attacking. These players can track back to their own box to make tackles and block shots. A good box-to-box midfielder needs good passing, vision, control, stamina, tackling and marking in defence, left and right midfielders have a role balanced between attack and defence, similar to that of central midfielders, but they are positioned closer to the touchlines of the pitch. They may be asked to cross the ball into the penalty area to make scoring chances for their teammates. Common modern formations that include left and right midfielders are the 4−4−2, the 4−4−1−1, the 4–2–3–1, a notable example of a right midfielder is David Beckham. Defensive midfielders are players who focus on protecting their teams goal. These players may defend a zone in front of their teams defence, defensive midfielders may also move to the full-back or centre-back positions if those players move forward to join in an attack. Sergio Busquets described his attitude, The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someones position, great. A good defensive midfielder needs good positional awareness, anticipation of play, marking, tackling, interceptions, passing and great stamina. A holding or deep-lying midfielder stays close to their teams defence, a player in this role will try to protect their goal by disrupting the opponents attacking moves and stopping long shots on the goal. The holding midfielder may also have responsibilities when their team has the ball and this player will make mostly short and simple passes to more attacking members of their team but may try some more difficult passes depending on the teams strategy
4.
A.F.C. Bournemouth
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AFC Bournemouth /ˈbɔːrnməθ/ is a professional association football club based in Bournemouth, Dorset, that plays in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1890 as Boscombe St. Johns Institute F. C. the club was reformed in 1899 as Boscombe F. C and they changed to Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic F. C. in 1923, before settling on their current name in 1972. Nicknamed The Cherries, since 1910 Bournemouth have played their games at Dean Court. Their home colours are red and black striped shirts, with black shorts, AFC Bournemouth have won the second and third tiers of English football, and were twice runners up of the fourth tier. They have also won the Football League Trophy, and the Football League Third Division South Cup, currently managed by Eddie Howe, the 2015–16 season was AFC Bournemouths first ever in Englands top division. Although the exact date of the foundation is not known. The club was known as Boscombe F. C. The first president was Mr. J. C, in their first season, 1899–1900, Boscombe F. C. competed in the Bournemouth and District Junior League. They also played in the Hants Junior Cup, during the first two seasons, they played on a football pitch in Castlemain Avenue, Pokesdown. From their third season, the played on a pitch in Kings Park. In the 1905–06 season, Boscombe F. C. graduated to senior amateur football, in 1910, the club was granted a long lease upon some wasteland next to Kings Park as the clubs football ground by President J. E. Cooper-Dean. With their own ground, named Dean Court after the benefactor, also in 1910, the club signed their first professional football player B. Around about this time, the club obtained their nickname The Cherries, for the first time, during the 1913–14 season, the club competed in the FA Cup. The clubs progress, however, was halted in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I, in 1920, the Third Division was formed and Boscombe were promoted to the Southern League, finding moderate success. To make the more representative of the district, the name was changed to Bournemouth. During the same year, the club was elected to the Football League to fill the left by Stalybridge Celtics resignation. The first league match was at Swindon Town on 25 August 1923, the first league game at Dean Court was also against Swindon, where Bournemouth gained their first league point after a 0–0 draw. Initially, Bournemouth struggled in the Football League but eventually established themselves as a Third Division club, Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic Football Club remain on the records as the longest continuous members of the Third Division
5.
West Ham United F.C.
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West Ham United Football Club is a professional football club based in Stratford, East London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, in 2016 the club re-located to the London Stadium. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United and they moved to the Boleyn Ground in 1904, which remained their home ground for more than a century. The team initially competed in the Southern League and Western League before joining the Football League in 1919 and they were promoted to the top flight in 1923, when they also losing finalists in the first FA Cup Final held at Wembley. In 1940, the won the inaugural Football League War Cup. West Ham have been winners of the FA Cup three times, in 1964,1975, and 1980, and have also been runners-up twice, in 1923, and 2006. The club have reached two major European finals, winning the European Cup Winners Cup in 1965 and finishing runners up in the competition in 1976. West Ham also won the Intertoto Cup in 1999 and they are one of eight clubs never to have fallen below the second tier of English football, spending 59 of 91 league seasons in the top flight, up to and including the 2016–17 season. The clubs highest league position to date came in 1985–86 when they achieved third place in the then First Division, three West Ham players were members of the 1966 World Cup final-winning England team, captain Bobby Moore and goalscorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. The club, Thames Ironworks were the first ever winners of the West Ham Charity Cup in 1895 contested by clubs in the West Ham locality and they turned professional in 1898 upon entering the Southern League Second Division, and were promoted to the First Division at the first attempt. The following year they came second from bottom, but had established themselves as a fully fledged competitive team and they comfortably fended off the challenge of local rivals Fulham in a relegation play-off, 5–1 in late April 1900 and retained their First Division status. In 1899, they acquired their now-traditional home kit combination of claret shirts and sky blue sleeves in a wager involving Aston Villa players, because of the original works team roots and links, they are still known as the Irons or the Hammers amongst fans and the media. West Ham Utd joined the Western League for the 1901 season while continuing to play in the Southern Division 1. In 1907, West Ham were crowned the Western League Division 1B Champions, the reborn club continued to play their games at the Memorial Grounds in Plaistow but moved to a pitch in the Upton Park area in the guise of the Boleyn Ground stadium in 1904. The Cup Final match itself ended 2–0 to Bolton, the team enjoyed mixed success in Division 1 but retained their status for ten years and reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1933. In 1932, the club was relegated to Division Two and long term custodian Syd King was sacked after serving the club in the role of manager for 32 years, following relegation, King had mental health problems. He appeared drunk at a meeting and soon after committed suicide. The club spent most of the next 30 years in division, first under Paynter
6.
Watford F.C.
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Watford Football Club is a professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, that plays in the Premier League, the highest level in the English football league system. Founded in 1881 as Watford Rovers, the club entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, after finishing the 1914–15 season as Southern League champions under the management of Harry Kent, Watford joined the Football League in 1920. The club played at grounds in its early history, before moving to a permanent location at Vicarage Road in 1922. Watford spent most of the half century in the lower divisions of The Football League, changing colours. England manager Graham Taylors tenure at the club saw Watford scale new heights, between Taylors appointment in 1977 and departure in 1987, Watford rose from the Fourth Division to the First Division. The team finished second in the First Division in the 1982–83 season, competed in the UEFA Cup in 1983–84, the club experienced a further one season stint in the top division of English football during the 2006–07 season, under Aidy Boothroyds management. After eight years, Watford are again competing in the Premier League 2015–16 season, Watford is currently owned by the Pozzo family, which also owns Udinese Calcio in Italy and previously Granada CF in Spain. Watford Rovers was formed in 1881 by Henry Groverand, who went on to play for the club as a full-back, Rovers, originally composed entirely of amateur players, held home games at several locations in the town of Watford. The team first competed in the FA Cup in the 1886–87 season, the team became the football section of West Hertfordshire Sports Club in 1890, and consequently moved to a ground on Cassio Road. Renamed as West Hertfordshire in 1893, Rovers joined the Southern Football League in 1896, West Hertfordshire merged with local rivals Watford St. Marys in 1898, the merged team was named Watford Football Club. Following relegation to the Southern League Second Division in 1903, Watford appointed its first manager – former England international and he led Watford to promotion, and kept the team in the division until his departure in 1910. Despite financial constraints, Watford won the Southern League title in the 1914–15 season under his successor, there was a re-election system in place which meant the bottom two teams in each of the two divisions had to apply for re-election to the league. Watford finished outside the top six positions in every season between 1922 and 1934. The Football League was suspended in 1939 due to the Second World War, Football resumed in 1946, with Watford still in the Third Division South. Ron Burgess replaced McBain during that season, and in the following campaign Burgess presided over Watfords first Football League promotion and this team included Fourth Division top scorer Cliff Holton, who scored a club record 42 league goals in the season. Holton was sold to Northampton the following year after another 34 goals, eighteen-year-old Northern Irish goalkeeper Pat Jennings also featured under McGarry, and made his international debut despite being a Third Division player. Furphys rebuilding came to fruition in 1969 with the signing of Barry Endean, Watford secured the Third Division title in April, at home to Plymouth Argyle. A year later Watford reached the FA Cup semi-final for the first time, defeating First Division teams Stoke City, hampered by a lack of funds, however, Furphy eventually joined Blackburn Rovers, to be succeeded by George Kirby
7.
Crystal Palace F.C.
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Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional football club based in South Norwood, London, that plays in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was founded in 1905 at the famous Crystal Palace Exhibition building by the owners of the FA Cup Final stadium which was situated inside the historic Palace grounds. The club played their games at the Cup Final venue until 1915, but then the First World War forced them to move out and play at Herne Hill Velodrome. In 1924, the moved to their current home at Selhurst Park. Palace have been FA Cup finalists twice, in 1990 and 2016, the club were denied a place in Europe at the end of that season due to the partial UEFA ban on English clubs caused by the Heysel Stadium disaster. Palace were one of the founding members of the Premier League. The club were winners of the Full Members Cup in 1991 when they beat Everton in the Wembley final, Palace have been second tier champions twice and hold the record for the most play-off wins for promotion to the top flight, winning the final four times. In 1973, the changed its original nickname from The Glaziers to The Eagles. The club had played in claret and blue colours. Palace have rivalries with Brighton & Hove Albion, with whom they contest the M23 derby, in 1895, the Football Association had found a new permanent home for the FA Cup Final at the site of the famous Crystal Palace Exhibition building. There had been an amateur Crystal Palace team as early as 1861, the owners of the venue wanted a professional club to play there and tap into the vast crowd potential of the area. Crystal Palace Football Club, originally nicknamed The Glaziers, was formed on 10 September 1905 under the guidance of Aston Villa assistant secretary Edmund Goodman, the club applied to enter the Football League alongside Chelsea and Southampton, but was the only unsuccessful team of the three. The club instead found itself in the Southern League Second Division for the 1905–06 season, the club was successful in its inaugural season and was promoted to the First Division, crowned as champions. Palace remained in the Southern League up until 1914, their one highlight the 1907 shock First Round victory over Newcastle United in the FA Cup. The outbreak of the First World War led to the Admiralty requisitioning the Crystal Palace, Three years later the club moved again to the Nest due to the folding of Croydon Common F. C. The club joined the Football League Third Division in the 1920–21 season, finishing as champions, during this period, Palace also won the London Challenge Cup three times in 1913,1914, and 1921. Palace moved to the purpose-built stadium Selhurst Park in 1924, the ground the club plays at today, the opening fixture at Selhurst Park was against Sheffield Wednesday, Palace losing 0–1 in front of a crowd of 25,000. Finishing in twenty-first position, the club was relegated to the Third Division South, before the Second World War Palace made good efforts at promotion, never finishing outside the top half of the table and finishing second on three occasions
8.
Nottingham Forest F.C.
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Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottinghamshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of English football. The club, often referred to as Forest, have played matches at the City Ground since 1898. Founded in 1865, Forest were founder members of the Football Alliance in 1889, since then, they have mostly competed in the top two League tiers, bar five seasons in the third tier. Forest won the FA Cup in 1898 and 1959, Forest were founded in 1865 as Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy Club by a group of shinty players shortly after their neighbours Notts County, in 1862. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889, and won the competition in 1892, in their early years Forest were a multi-sports club, as well as their roots in bandy and shinty, the baseball club Forest deployed were British champions in 1899. Forests charitable approach to the sport helped teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, in 1886, Forest donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves – the North London team still wear red. Forest also donated shirts to Everton and helped secure a site to play on for Brighton, Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County 3–1 at Crystal Palace. However, for much of the first half of the 20th century the club spent life in the Second Division and had to seek re-election in 1914 after finishing bottom. In 1949 the club were relegated to the Third Division, but were promoted back two years later as champions having scored a record 110 goals in the 1950–51 season. They therefore became the first team to defeat the Wembley hoodoo, by this time Forest had replaced Notts County as the biggest club in Nottingham and went on to become runners-up in the First Division and FA Cup semi-finalists in 1967. However, after a successful period for the club, Forest were relegated from the First Division in 1972. Clough became the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest, cloughs first game in charge was the third round FA Cup replay against Tottenham Hotspur, a 1–0 victory thanks to a goal by Scottish centre-forward Neil Martin. Nottingham Forest became one of the few teams to win the First Division Championship a year after winning promotion from the Second Division and they also won the European Super Cup and two League Cups. The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 but were knocked out by Anderlecht in controversial but uncertain circumstances. The case was dismissed and Anderlecht was acquitted from all charges Nottingham Forests next major trophies came in 1989 when they won the Football League Cup. Cloughs side retained the League Cup in 1990 when they beat Oldham Athletic 1–0, in Forests team that day was young Irish midfielder Roy Keane, who had joined the club the previous summer. In the summer of 1991, Brian Clough broke Forests transfer record fee by signing the top scorer, Millwall striker Teddy Sheringham
9.
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
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Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. They have played in League Two, the tier of the English football league system. They are one of two teams in Devon currently competing in the Football League, the other being Exeter City – Argyles local rivals, since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the clubs 42nd in the tier of English football. The team set the record for most championships won in the tier, having finished first in the Third Division South twice, the Third Division once. The club takes its nickname, The Pilgrims, from an English religious group that left Plymouth for the New World in 1620, the club crest features the Mayflower, the ship that carried the pilgrims to Massachusetts. The club have played in dark green and white throughout their history, with a few exceptions in the late 1960s. The city of Plymouth is the largest in England never to have hosted top-flight football and they are the most southerly and westerly League club in England. Home Park is the 37th biggest stadium in England, the original ground of the professional club at Home Park was destroyed by German bombers during the Blitz on Plymouth in World War II. Having been rebuilt after the war, Home Park was largely demolished as part of a process of renovation. The new Devonport End was opened for the 2001 Boxing Day fixture with Torquay United, the other end, the Barn Park End, opened on the same day. The Lyndhurst stand reopened on 26 January 2002 for the game against Oxford United, plans are currently under discussion regarding the completion of the refurbishment of the ground with the replacement of the Mayflower stand. The ground is situated in Central Park, very near to the area of Peverell. Towards the end of the 2005–06 Championship season, the decided to buy the stadium for £2.7 million from Plymouth City Council. This purchase was concluded in December 2006, in December 2009 it was announced that the stadium was to be one of 12 chosen to host matches during the World Cup 2018, should Englands bid be successful. The then Argyle chairman Paul Stapleton stated that work on a new South Stand at Home Park would start in 2010, however, England failed to be chosen for the 2018 tournament, and Plymouth Argyle entered administration in March 2011. After selling the back to the council on 14 October 2011 for £1.6 million. The club was taken over by local business owner James Brent, who submitted fresh plans to build a new Mayflower Grandstand with a 5,000 seating capacity
10.
Barnet F.C.
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Barnet Football Club /ˈbɑːrnɪt/ is an English professional football club based in Edgware, north-west London. The club currently participates in League Two, the tier of English football. The club was founded in Chipping Barnet, then part of Hertfordshire and they played their home matches at Underhill Stadium from 1907 until 2013, when they moved to the new Hive Stadium in Edgware. Barnet were first promoted to the Football League in 1991, after winning the 1990–91 Football Conference under manager Barry Fry, in 1993 they reached the Football League Second Division, then the third tier of English football, but were relegated after one season. They were relegated back to the Conference in 2001, but returned to the Football League four years later winning the 2004–05 Conference National. They then spent the eight seasons in League Two before being relegated to the Conference once again in 2013. In 2015, they returned to the Football League once more, the club also competes in the Middlesex Senior Cup. Before moving to the Hive, they competed in the Herts Senior Cup, for a complete list of seasons, see List of Barnet F. C. seasons Barnet FC were formed in 1888, having formerly been known as New Barnet FC and Woodville FC. The clubs origins are from ex-scholars of Cowley College and Lyonsdown Collegiate School and they were known as The Hillmen and played in New Barnet before moving to Ravenscroft Park in Queens Road in 1889. Initially they played friendly games before becoming members of the North London League in 1892–93. They went on to have success in the North Middlesex League Division II, Division I, promoted to the London League Division II, Barnet became champions in 1897–98 and spent the following seasons in London League Division I before ceasing to exist in the 1901–02 season. Two local clubs, Barnet Avenue FC and Alston Works AFC continued to attract support, Avenue played their home games initially at Hadley Green before moving to Queens Road. Alston Works AFC, later Barnet Alston FC, were formed in 1901, formed from workers at Alston Works, a dental manufacturers, they were known as The Dentals. Their club strip of amber and black is the basis of the current Barnet team strip, in 1907 they moved to the clubs current ground at Underhill, Barnet Lane. Their first match was a 1–0 win over Crystal Palace on 14 September 1907, after merging with the Avenue team in 1912 they spearheaded the new Athenian League as Barnet and Alston FC. After the First World War in 1919 they became the third instance of Barnet FC, for over 50 years Barnet FC competed in the Athenian League. Inaugural members in 1912–13 they were league champions no fewer than seven times between 1919–65 before turning professional in 1965, during the 1920s Barnet consolidated their amateur status in the Athenian League under team secretary Tom Goss. The 1930–31 season saw Barnet gain their first Athenian League Championship to be repeated again the following season, in the two seasons after World War II, Barnet won the FA Amateur Cup, the Athenian League Championship twice, and the London Senior Cup
11.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
12.
Manager (association football)
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In association football, a manager is an occupation of head coach in the United Kingdom responsible for running a football club or a national team. Outside of the British Isles and across most of Europe, a title of coach or coach is predominant. The manager of a club is responsible to the club chairman. The managers responsibilities in a football club usually include the following, Selecting the team of players for matches. Planning the strategy, and instructing the players on the pitch, motivating players before and during a match. Delegating duties to the first team coach and the coaching and medical staff, scouting for young but talented players for eventual training in the youth academy or the reserves, and encouraging their development and improvement. Buying and selling players in the market, including loans. Facing the media in pre-match and post-match interviews, some of the above responsibilities are shared with the director of football or sporting director, and are at times delegated to an assistant manager or club coach. Additionally, depending on the club, some minor responsibilities include, Marketing the club, most especially for ticket admission, sponsorship, growing turnover and keeping the club profitable. These responsibilities are more common among managers of small clubs, for this reason, in many cases, national football team managers are selected from current club team managers and also in many cases, they select the players of their clubs. The title of manager is almost exclusively used in British football, in the majority of countries where professional football is played, the person responsible for the direction of a team is awarded the position of coach or trainer. For instance, despite the general equivalence in responsibilities, Bobby Robson was referred to as the manager of England, for example, a typical European football manager would have the final say on in-game decisions, and off-the-field and roster management decisions. In American sports, these duties would be handled separately by the coach and general manager
13.
English Football League
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The English Football League is a league competition featuring professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in world football and it was the top-level football league in England from its foundation in the 19th century until 1992, when the top 22 clubs split away to form the Premier League. The league has 72 clubs evenly divided into three divisions, which are known as the Championship, League One and League Two, with 24 clubs in each division, the Football League has been associated with a title sponsor between 1983 and 2016. As this sponsor changed over the years the league too has been known by various names, the English Football League is also the name of the governing body of the league competition, and this body also organises two knock-out cup competitions, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy. The operations centre of the Football League is in Preston, while its commercial office is in London, the commercial office was formerly based in Lytham St Annes, after its original spell in Preston. The Football League consists of 70 professional association football clubs in England and 2 in Wales and it runs the oldest professional football league competition in the world. It also organises two knockout cup competitions, the Football League Cup and Football League Trophy, the Football League was founded in 1888 by then Aston Villa director William McGregor, originally with 12 member clubs. Steady growth and the addition of more divisions meant that by 1950 the League had 92 clubs, the Football League therefore no longer includes the top 20 clubs who belong to this group, although promotion and relegation between the Football League and the Premier League continues. In total,136 teams have played in the Football League up to 2013, the Football Leagues 72 member clubs are grouped into three divisions, the Football League Championship, Football League One, and Football League Two. Each division has 24 clubs, and in any season a club plays each of the others in the same division twice, once at their home stadium. This makes for a total of 46 games played each season, clubs gain three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat. At the end of the season, clubs at the top of their division may win promotion to the higher division. At the top end of the competition, three Championship clubs win promotion from the Football League to the Premier League, with the bottom three Premier League clubs taking their places, reserve teams of Football League clubs usually play in the Central League or the Football Combination. Since the 2004–05 season, penalties have existed for clubs entering financial administration during the season and it is also required that a club exiting administration agree a Creditors Voluntary Agreement, and pay in full any other footballing creditors. Failure to do either of these result in a second. The other main situation in which is a club may lose points is by fielding an improperly registered or otherwise ineligible player. If a club is found to have done this, then any points earned from any match that player participated in will be deducted, the EFL organises two knock-out cup competitions, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy. The EFL Cup was established in 1960 and is open to all EFL and Premier League clubs, the EFL Trophy is for clubs belonging to EFL League One and EFL League Two
14.
Captain (association football)
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The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband. The only official responsibility of a captain specified by the Laws of the Game is to participate in the toss prior to kick-off. Contrary to what is said, captains have no special authority under the Laws to challenge a decision by the referee. However, referees may talk to the captain of a side about the general behaviour when necessary. At an award-giving ceremony after a fixture like a cup competition final, any trophy won by a team will be received by the captain who will also be the first one to hoist it. The captain also generally leads the teams out of the room at the start of the match. The captain generally provides a point for the team, if morale is low. Captains may join the manager in deciding the first team for a certain game, in youth or recreational football, the captain often takes on duties, that would, at a higher level, be delegated to the manager. A club captain is usually appointed for a season, if he is unavailable or not selected for a particular game, then the club vice-captain will be appointed to perform a similar role. The match captain is the first player to lift a trophy should the team win one, a good example of this was in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final when match captain Peter Schmeichel lifted the trophy for Manchester United as club captain Roy Keane was suspended. In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, match captain Frank Lampard jointly lifted the trophy for Chelsea with club captain John Terry, a club may appoint two distinct roles, a club captain to represent the players in a public relations role, and correspondent on the pitch. After Neville retired in 2011, regular starter Nemanja Vidić was named as club captain, são Paulos Rogério Ceni is the player who has worn the captains armband the most times. A vice-captain is a player that is expected to captain the side when the captain is not included in the starting eleven, or if, during a game. Examples include Manuel Neuer succeeding Philipp Lahm at Bayern Munich, Marcelo attaining from Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid C. F, gary Cahill being the understudy of John Terry at Chelsea FC and Lionel Messi taking over from Andrés Iniesta at FC Barcelona. Similarly, some clubs also name a 3rd captain to take the role of captain when both the captain and vice-captain are unavailable, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Germany had three captains. Michael Ballack had skippered the team since 2004, including the successful qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Lahm ended up becoming the permanent captain of Germany, as Ballack was never called up for the national team
15.
Lincoln City F.C.
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Lincoln City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club participates in the National League, the tier of English football. The club plays at the 10, 312-capacity Sincil Bank, and are nicknamed the Imps after the legend of the Lincoln Imp and they have also been known as the Red Imps. Traditionally they play in red and white striped shirts with shorts and red. Their most recent championship win was the Football Conference, in the 1987–88 season. This season saw the set a all-time record attendance for a Conference match, attracting 9,432 spectators in a 2–0 win against Wycombe Wanderers, on 2 May 1988. The game also decided the championship, as beforehand Lincoln had not occupied the top spot at any point in the season, the clubs highest-ever position is fifth in the Second Division in 1901–02. They have not been higher than the third tier since 1960–61 and their best performance in the League Cup came in 1967–68, when they reached the fourth round before losing 0–3 at home to Derby County in a replay. Lincoln have reached the play-offs of the Third Division/League Two in five seasons, from 2002–03 to 2006–07, losing in the final twice. This failure to succeed in five consecutive play-off competitions is also a record, having formed officially as an amateur association in 1884 after the disbanding of Lincoln Rovers, football in the city of Lincoln had been prominent since the 1860s. George Hallam set two records for the club that day and he scored the first ever goal for the club, and also the first ever hat-trick. Their first competitive game at home ended in an emphatic manner, beating Boston Excelsior 11–0. It was at time, before the club gained entry into the Football League and professional status. They won it for the first time in the 1886–87 season with a 2–0 replay victory over neighbours Grimsby Town F. C. after the match had finished 2–2. Lincoln soon helped to form what was then the Second Division in 1892–93 season and their first game in the Football League was a 4–2 away defeat to Sheffield United on 3 September 1892. Their first home game was also against Sheffield United, this time, however, the first game at Sincil Bank in 1895, after moving from the John OGaunts Ground due to Dawbers death, was a 0–0 friendly draw with local rivals, Gainsborough Trinity. The first competitive fixture at the ground was against Arsenal, the game ended 1–1, in January 1907 The Imps knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup after a replay. Managed by David Calderhead, two goals salvaged a home draw in the first leg
16.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
17.
Premier League
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The Premier League is an English professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League, Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, others during weekday evenings. It is colloquially known as the Premiership and outside the UK it is referred to as the English Premier League. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB, the league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion, the Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000, most stadium occupancies are near capacity. The Premier League ranks third in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. While 47 clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, only six have won the title, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, the current champions are Leicester City, who won the title in 2015–16. Despite significant European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 80s marked a low point for English football, the 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league, ten clubs threatened to leave and form a super league, but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadiums improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the influx of money into the sport. At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the games top-flight clubs, the argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe. The managing director of London Weekend Television, Greg Dyke, met with the representatives of the big five clubs in England in 1990. The meeting was to pave the way for an away from The Football League. The FA did not enjoy a relationship with the Football League at the time
18.
Liverpool F.C.
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Liverpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, the club has won 5 European Cups,3 UEFA Cups,3 UEFA Super Cups,18 League titles,7 FA Cups, a record 8 League Cups, and 15 FA Community Shields. The club was founded in 1892 and joined the Football League the following year, the club has played at Anfield since its formation. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably the North West Derby against Manchester United, the clubs supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The second was the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 Liverpool supporters died in a crush against perimeter fencing, the team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home strip in 1964 which has been used ever since. The clubs anthem is Youll Never Walk Alone, Liverpool F. C. was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houlding, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892, the team won the Lancashire League in its début season, and joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 1893–94 season. After finishing in first place the club was promoted to the First Division, Liverpool reached its first FA Cup Final in 1914, losing 1–0 to Burnley. Liverpool suffered its second Cup Final defeat in 1950, playing against Arsenal, the club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953–54 season. Soon after Liverpool lost 2–1 to non-league Worcester City in the 1958–59 FA Cup, the club was promoted back into the First Division in 1962 and won it in 1964, for the first time in 17 years. In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup, in 1966, the club won the First Division but lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners Cup final. Liverpool won both the League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, and the FA Cup again a year later, Shankly retired soon afterwards and was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley. In 1976, Paisleys second season as manager, the club won another League, the following season, the club retained the League title and won the European Cup for the first time, but it lost in the 1977 FA Cup Final. Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 and regained the First Division title in 1979, Paisley retired in 1983 and was replaced by his assistant, Joe Fagan. Liverpool won the League, League Cup and European Cup in Fagans first season, Liverpool reached the European Cup final again in 1985, against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium. Before kick-off, Liverpool fans breached a fence separated the two groups of supporters, and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a wall to collapse, killing 39 fans. The incident became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster, the match was played in spite of protests by both managers, and Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus
19.
FA Cup Final
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The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended club championship event in the world. The latest FA Cup Final was the final of the 2015–16 competition, early FA Cup Finals were held mainly in London at venues including Kennington Oval between 1874 and 1892 and Crystal Palace between 1895 and 1914. In the period from 1923 until 2000, the final was held at Wembley Stadium, from 2001–2005, the final was moved to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, due to the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium. The Millennium Stadium was used again in 2006 due to delays in opening the new Wembley Stadium. Until 1993, if the final could not be decided in a match, the match would be replayed. In 1993, the Football Association then decided that all future finals would be decided on the day, only two FA Cup Finals have been decided by a penalty shootout, those of 2005 and 2006. Also note that the Football League War Cup is not considered part of the official FA Cup competition, stan Mortensens hat-trick for Blackpool in 1953 remains the only hat trick ever scored at Wembley in the competitions final. Evertons Louis Saha scored a goal after 27.9 seconds in the 2009 FA Cup Final and it is currently the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history. Burys 6–0 victory over Derby County in the 1903 FA Cup Final is the largest winning margin, with his goal in the 2012 Final, Chelseas Didier Drogba became the first man to score a goal in four different Finals. The FA Cup Final is one of ten events reserved for live broadcast on UK terrestrial television under the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events
20.
Hayden Mullins
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Hayden Ian Mullins is an English former professional footballer who played primarily as a defensive midfielder, but he also played as a sweeper and at right-back. Mullins began his career with Division 1 side Crystal Palace in 1996 and he quickly established himself in the first team, and made 257 senior appearances for Palace in five seasons. In October 2003, he switched to First Division side West Ham United, initially on a short-term loan and he remained at the club for five-and-a-half years, making 213 appearances, before joining Premier League side Portsmouth in January 2009. He made 129 appearances for Portsmouth, but the financial difficulties meant that he joined Championship side Reading on loan in March 2012. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Mullins left Portsmouth, after two years, during which he also spent time on loan at Notts County, Birmingham confirmed he would be released when his contract expired at the end of the 2013–14 season. Mullins made three appearances for the England under-21 squad in 1999, Mullins was born in Reading, Berkshire. He joined Crystal Palace as a trainee in August 1996, and made his debut in July 1998, at the age of 19. Head coach Terry Venables gave him his debut in a 3–3 draw against Bolton Wanderers in August 1998. He immediately established himself in the first team, made 45 league and cup appearances in the 1998–99 season, was named Player of The Year, Mullins later acknowledged his debt to Venables, saying, I learnt a lot from him. He took a lot of time with us on the training pitch and he taught us a lot about shape and formation, hes very detailed in that respect. Hes very good man on man, he made me feel totally comfortable he didnt pressure me into it at all. Mullins made 49 league and cup appearances in season and a further 51 appearances in the 2000–01 season as Palace reached the semi-final of the League Cup. Smith said of him in January 2001, Hes a really good footballer which means I can play him in any position, I like my young players to play in different positions. This season hes played full-back, midfield and sweeper, got to work on his defending, but hes got pace, he has good vision and he wants to play football. Mullins made a total of 47 appearances in league and cup in the 2001–02 season as Palace made an unsuccessful push for the Division One play-off places. He was made captain in the 2002–03 season by manager Trevor Francis and he made 52 league and cup appearances as Palace reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup and recorded a memorable 2–0 win over Liverpool in an FA Cup fourth round replay at Anfield. He was named Player of The Year for a time in 2003. An offer of £600,000 from Birmingham City in January 2003 was rejected as derisory, with one year remaining on his existing contract, Mullins turned down the offer of a new contract in May
21.
Peter Taylor (footballer, born 1953)
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Peter John Taylor is an English retired footballer who is currently assistant coach of New Zealand. He also had two spells as coach of the England under-21 team and took charge of the England national team for one game against Italy where he made David Beckham captain. He recently managed England under-20 team in 2013, outside of England, Taylor was the head coach of the Bahrain national football team. Taylor enjoyed a successful playing career as a winger and he began his youth career with Canvey Island, and had trials at Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace before signing as a junior with Southend United in 1971. Palace were relegated to the tier at the end of that season but Taylor was named Player of the Year. However Palaces season tailed off after the semi-final and they did not achieve promotion to the second tier. At the end of the season Allison resigned and was replaced by Terry Venables and on 30 September 1976 Taylor was allowed to depart for top flight Tottenham Hotspur, Taylor had a mixed career at Spurs, suffering relegation in 1977 but the club was promoted in 1978. Taylor did not make another England appearance and in 1980 moved on to Leyton Orient having made 123 appearances for Tottenham scoring 31 times, Taylor played 56 times for Orient scoring 11 times in three seasons and had a brief loan spell at Oldham Athletic. In 1983–84 Taylor made eight appearances for Exeter City before moving into football with firstly Maidstone United. Taylor made his England debut as a substitute versus Wales and scored the goal in the 80th minute of that game. He scored his international goal against the same opponents in the next match that he played. Taylor was the last English footballer to score two goals in his first two games before Rickie Lambert repeated the feat in 2013. After his playing career ended, Taylor embarked on a career as a coach, Taylor became player manager at non-league club Dartford. In his four seasons there, club attendances rose from 400 to around 1000, he won the Southern Cup twice, taylors first managerial role in the Football League was at Southend United. He spent two years between 1993 and 1995 as manager, but quit at the end of the 1994–95 season after failing to get them beyond the middle of the Division One table. He agreed and signed a contract at Dover in May 1996 but was to leave the club only two months later after being asked by then England boss Glenn Hoddle to manage the England under-21 side. His record was 15 played,11 won, three drawn and one defeat, in this time, England finished ninth in 1998 European Championship and qualified for the 2000 finals comfortably, winning every match without conceding a goal. But with three matches to play, Taylor was replaced in a manner by Howard Wilkinson, who won the next two matches
22.
Neil Warnock
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Neil Warnock is an English football manager, currently managing Welsh side Cardiff City. His managerial career has lasted thirty-five years and he is also an established television and radio pundit working for several media outlets and a retired professional footballer. He played as a winger for Chesterfield, Rotherham United, Hartlepool United, Scunthorpe United, Aldershot, Barnsley, York City and Crewe Alexandra and he retired in 1979 at just 30 to move into coaching. His first managerial job was with non-League Gainsborough Trinity, Burton Albion, after a brief spell at Torquay United, he moved to Huddersfield Town, with whom he won promotion to the new First Division. He then resigned and joined Plymouth Argyle, leading them to the Second Division, after being sacked, he spent spells with Oldham Athletic and Bury. In 1999, he joined boyhood club Sheffield United, leading them to the semi-finals of the League Cup and FA Cup in 2003, however, he resigned in 2007 after the club were relegated. He then took over at Crystal Palace, saving the club from relegation to League One, when the club went into administration, he left to join Queens Park Rangers, winning promotion to the Premier League with the club in 2011. He was sacked with the club in a position and joined Leeds United. After being sacked by Leeds following a run of form, he was without a club for almost fifteen months until returning to Crystal Palace, now in the Premier League. In December 2014, he was sacked by Crystal Palace after a start to the season. After a month as caretaker at Queens Park Rangers, Warnock returned to Rotherham United as manager in February 2016, at Hartlepool he won the clubs Player of the Season award in 1972. He finished his career at Crewe Alexandra in 1979, aged only 30, after being involved in Sunday League coaching, his first full managerial job was with Northern Premier League side Gainsborough Trinity in 1981. Following this he managed Burton Albion and Scarborough and he had earlier spent time as a coach at Peterborough United, where he met Posh assistant boss Mick Jones. In late 1988, Warnock became manager of Notts County – then in the Third Division – with Jones as his assistant, also joining the backroom staff were Warnocks assistant at Scarborough, Paul Evans, and ex-Scarborough physio Dave Wilson. The four helped County achieved successive promotions to reach the First Division for the 1991–92 season, with Warnock turning down offers to manage Chelsea. However, Warnock was dismissed in January 1993 after Countys relegation had cost them a place in the new Premier League, in March 1993 he took over as consultant at Torquay United, saving the club from relegation from the Football League. Warnock resumed his partnership with Jones, Evans and Wilson at Huddersfield Town and he also did not enjoy the best of relationships with cult hero Phil Starbuck. The run to the 1994 Football League Trophy Final coincided with an upturn in league form, Warnocks side won the Yorkshire Electricity Cup in late 1994
23.
Mark Hudson (footballer, born 1982)
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Mark Alexander Hudson is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Huddersfield Town, where he is also the captain. As a child, Hudson played for Farncombe boys football club and he began his professional career with Fulham but never managed to establish himself in the first team. Prior to joining Oldham Athletic, Hudson was linked with Grimsby Town on loan following the trial, however, following his debut against Chesterfield in the League Cup, Hudson signed a one-year deal with the club. He spent two months on loan at Oldham Athletic while Iain Dowie was manager there, as a result of having his first team opportunities, Hudson loan spell with Oldham Athletic would be extended for another month twice. After Dowie moved to Crystal Palace, Hudson moved back to Fulham where he began to get amounts of first team football. In total he made three appearances for Fulham, all in the League Cup, in the 2003–04 season he went on a three-month-long loan to Crystal Palace This would be extended to two months. Dowie left in the summer of 2006, and was replaced by Peter Taylor, under Taylor, Hudson became a first team regular, making 42 appearances in 2006–07, largely alongside Leon Cort. In 2007–08, under Neil Warnock, he played largely alongside José Fonte and he was also appointed captain midway through that season as the Eagles made the play-offs. At the end of the season he was out of contract, in July 2009, Hudson signed for Championship side Cardiff City for a fee of £1. 075m with an extra £250,000 possible if the Bluebirds reach the Premier League. Hudson scored an own goal in a 1–1 draw against his former club Crystal Palace on 17 October 2009 before scoring his first goal for the three weeks later during a 3–2 defeat to Swansea City. He made his league appearance on Boxing Day against Plymouth Argyle. However, his season was dealt a blow when he was ruled out for up to two months after being forced to undergo surgery on an ankle tendon at the end of January. However, he did return in time for the play-offs where Cardiff lost 3–2 to Blackpool in the final, at the start of the 2010–11 season, Hudson lost his captaincy to Craig Bellamy, but retained his place in the team. On 19 March, Hudson suffered an injury in a 3–3 draw with Millwall. Despite reports claiming Hudson would be out for the season, he returned in Cardiffs 1–0 victory over Preston North End on 25 April, again reports of Hudsons season being in doubt were proven wrong as he was cleared for the first leg of Cardiffs second consecutive play-off participation. Cardiff drew the first match against Reading 0–0 at the Madjeski Stadium, went down to a 3–0 defeat in the return leg, ending their season. Under new manager Malky Mackay, Hudson regained the captaincy for the 2011–12 season and his first goal of the season came in the Severnside derby on 14 August 2011 against Bristol City. Hudson made his 250th league appearance on 27 August against Portsmouth and his second goal of the season came in a 2–1 win at Reading on 19 November
24.
Iceland national football team
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The Iceland mens national football team is the national mens football team of Iceland and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland. Although Iceland is one of Europes smaller football nations, the team has enjoyed success in the 21st century. In the qualifying rounds for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Iceland reached the play offs before losing to Croatia, Iceland reached its first major tournament, UEFA Euro 2016, after a qualification campaign which included home and away wins over the Netherlands. In doing so, they became the smallest ever nation to qualify for a major tournament, Iceland was allocated to Euro 2016 Group F. Birkir Bjarnason scored Icelands first major tournament goal in the 50th minute against Portugal in a group stage match. After advancing to the stages of Euro 2016, Iceland defeated England in the Round of 16, advancing to the quarter-finals. Iceland finished eighth in the tournament, with two wins, two draws and one defeat, although Úrvalsdeild, the Icelandic Football League, was founded in 1912, the countrys first international match was only played on 29 July 1930, against the Faroe Islands. Although Iceland won 1–0 away, both teams were at the time unaffiliated with FIFA, the first match officially recognised by FIFA took place in Reykjavík on 27 July 1946, a 0–3 defeat to Denmark. The first international victory was against Finland in 1947, for the first 20 years of the Football Association of Iceland s existence, the team did not participate in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. In 1954, Iceland applied to part in qualification for UEFA Euro 1956. In qualification for the 1958 World Cup, Iceland finished last in their group with zero wins, since 1974, the team has taken part inempted to qualifying for every World Cup and European Championship, but until recently without success. In 1994, the team was awarded their then best ever position in the FIFA World Rankings, in qualification for Euro 2004, Iceland finished third of their group, one point behind Scotland. If they had finished second, they would have made a playoff spot, in 2014, Iceland almost became the smallest nation to reach the World Cup Play offs. Finishing second in Group D, they played Croatia in a playoff for qualification. After holding them to a 0–0 draw in the home leg, during the qualification, they reached their then highest ranking in the FIFA World Rankings, 23rd. Iceland were drawn into a group with Portugal, Hungary and Austria for the final tournament, at the tournament finals, Iceland recorded 1–1 draws in their first two group stage matches against Portugal and Hungary. They then advanced from their pool with a 2–1 victory against Austria, Iceland qualified for the tournaments quarter-finals after a surprising 2–1 win against England in the Round of 16. However, they were eliminated by France in the quarter-finals, 5–2, as of 28 March 2017 This is a list of Icelandic national team complete records, both friendlies and competitive matches. Countries that are in italics are not members of FIFA or are former countries, UEFA, Rest of the World Last updated 23 November 2016
25.
Ligament
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In anatomy, a ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones and is also known as articular ligament, articular larua, fibrous ligament, or true ligament. Ligament can also refer to, Peritoneal ligament, a fold of peritoneum or other membranes, fetal remnant ligament, the remnants of a fetal tubular structure. Periodontal ligament, a group of fibers that attach the cementum of teeth to the alveolar bone. The study of ligaments is known as desmology, ligaments are similar to tendons and fasciae as they are all made of connective tissue. The differences in them are in the connections that they make, ligaments connect one bone to bone, tendons connect muscle to bone. These are all found in the system of the human body. Ligament most commonly refers to a band of dense connective tissue bundles made of collagenous fibers. Ligaments connect bones to other bones to form joints, while tendons connect bone to muscle, some ligaments limit the mobility of articulations, or prevent certain movements altogether. Capsular ligaments are part of the capsule that surrounds synovial joints. Extra-capsular ligaments join together in harmony with the other ligaments and provide joint stability, intra-capsular ligaments, which are much less common, also provide stability but permit a far larger range of motion. Cruciate ligaments are paired ligaments in the form of a cross and they gradually strain when under tension, and return to their original shape when the tension is removed. However, they retain their original shape when extended past a certain point or for a prolonged period of time. This is one reason why dislocated joints must be set as quickly as possible, if the ligaments lengthen too much, then the joint will be weakened, athletes, gymnasts, dancers, and martial artists perform stretching exercises to lengthen their ligaments, making their joints more supple. The term hypermobility refers to people with more-elastic ligaments, allowing their joints to stretch and contort further, the consequence of a broken ligament can be instability of the joint. Not all broken ligaments need surgery, but, if surgery is needed to stabilise the joint, if it is not possible to fix the broken ligament, other procedures such as the Brunelli procedure can correct the instability. Instability of a joint can over time lead to wear of the cartilage, one of the most often torn ligaments in the body is the anterior cruciate ligament. The ACL is one of the ligaments crucial to stability and persons who tear their ACL often seek to undergo reconstructive surgery. One of these techniques is the replacement of the ligament with an artificial material, an artificial ligament is a reinforcing material that is used to replace a torn ligament, such as the ACL
26.
Paul Ifill
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Paul Everton Ifill is a footballer who plays for Tasman United of the New Zealand Football Championship. Born in Brighton, England, Ifill was in part of Watfords youth programme but was not offered a professional contract, from there he was spotted by Millwall where he spent nearly seven years before being signed by Sheffield United in 2005. Ifill has also ten appearances for Barbados, scoring six goals. He now resides in the Wairarapa, as player/coach for Wairarapa United, after rejection from Watfords youth team as a 16-year-old, Ifill returned to his home town, Brighton. He enrolled on an education course at college and played non-League football in the same Saltdean United team as his father. Jeff Burnidge and Mick Beard scouted Ifill following a tip from a former Millwall player, after he suffered injury at a crucial time between contracts, manager Billy Bonds gave him just one month to prove himself. Ifill responded by scoring four goals the next Saturday and two more the following week, injuries led to Millwall switching him to midfield, but a recurring back-injury prevented him from sprinting, a basic requirement for a winger. Despite seeing a number of different specialists, he was out for three months, and seemed in danger of having to end his career, fortunately, a Harley Street consultant diagnosed a pelvic flaw pressing on a nerve, the day after treatment he was able to sprint again. He was a member of the team reached the 2004 FA Cup Final. He signed for Sheffield United in May 2005 for £800,000, in the top flight, Ifill fell out of favour, and boss Neil Warnock placed him on the transfer list. During the January transfer window, Ifill left the Blades and after competition from other clubs was unveiled by Crystal Palace. At Palace Ifills career stuttered, with him struggling for fitness, warnocks appointment to the managers post at Palace did not leave him without any chances, but nevertheless Ifill struggled to remain fit. On 18 August 2008 Ifill and team mate Carl Fletcher were put on the transfer list by manager Neil Warnock and he was released by Crystal Palace on 6 May 2009 with eight other players. On 21 July 2009, Ifill signed a contract with New Zealand-based Wellington Phoenix of the Australian A-League. He scored his first goal for his new club in his second appearance netting a header off a pinpoint cross from Leo Bertos to help secure a 2–1 win over Perth Glory at Westpac Stadium, Ifills second goal came against Adelaide United. On 6 September 2009 two days after his goal against Adelaide, Ifill signed an extension to keep him at the Phoenix until the end of the 2011–12 season. Ifills third goal came on 25 October 2009 as the Phoenix hammered Gold Coast United 6–0, Ifill not only scored, but provided three assists in a masterful performance. Ifill then scored in three games for the Phoenix, resulting in two wins and a draw for the fledgling club
27.
Sheffield United F.C.
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Sheffield United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the tier of English football. The football club was formed in 1889 as an offshoot of Sheffield United Cricket Club, the club have played their home games at Bramall Lane since their formation in 1889. Bramall Lane is currently an all-seater ground with a capacity of 32,609, Sheffield United won the original First Division in 1898 and the FA Cup in 1899,1902,1915 and 1925. They were beaten finalists in the FA Cup in 1901 and 1936 and they reached the semi-finals of the League Cup in 2003 and 2015. For most of the history they have played in red. Their closest rivals are Sheffield Wednesday, with whom they contest the Steel City Derby, Sheffield United formed on 22 March 1889 at the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield by the President of the Cricket Club Sir Charles Clegg. The Wednesday had moved from Bramall Lane to their own ground at Olive Grove, Sir Charles Clegg was incidentally also the president of The Wednesday. Their darkest days came between 1975 and 1981 and they did fall back into the Third Division in 1988, but new manager Dave Bassett masterminded a quick revival which launched the Blades towards one of the most successful eras in their history. Successive promotions in the aftermath of the 1988 relegation saw them return to the First Division in 1990 after a 14-year exile and they survived at this level for four seasons and reached an FA Cup semi-final in the 1992–93 season before being relegated in 1994. Three years later, however, Warnock delivered a Premier League return as the Blades finished runners-up in the rebranded Football League Championship, Neil Warnock resigned as manager after the Blades went down. The Blades did reach the Championship playoff final in 2009 under Kevin Blackwell, in the 2011–12 season, the club finished third in League One, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to rivals Sheffield Wednesday, and entered the playoffs. With victory over Stevenage in the semi-final, United missed out on a return to the Championship after suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Huddersfield Town. In 2014, the Blades gained the nickname of giant-killers, having reached the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley, losing 5–3 to Hull City. In 2014–15, they reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and semi-finals of the Football League Cup, the club was formed by members of the Sheffield United Cricket Club, itself formed in 1854 and the first English sports club to use United in its name. Sheffield Uniteds predominant nickname is The Blades, a reference to Sheffields status as the producer of cutlery in the United Kingdom. Because of this, the nickname would also be used in reference to rivals Sheffield Wednesday, another nickname used was The Cutlers. In 1907, Wednesday came to be referred to as The Owls, in reference to their new ground in Owlerton, within Sheffield fans of the club are also sometimes referred to as Unitedites
28.
Caretaker manager
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However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is suspended, ill or unable to attend to their usual duties. Caretaker managers are appointed at short notice from within the club, usually the assistant manager. In other sports, the interim manager is more commonly used. Tony Barton was appointed manager of Aston Villa after the departure of Ron Saunders, if a caretaker proves to be particularly successful during their spell in charge, they are sometimes given the managers job full-time. Glenn Roeder was appointed manager of Newcastle United after having taken over as caretaker following Graeme Souness dismissal in 2006. This also occurred when Ricky Sbragia got the Sunderland job permanently after Roy Keanes resignation in November 2008 but he resigned himself at the end of the season 2008–09. This also happened in the 2010–11 Premier League, on 8 January 2011, Roy Hodgson was sacked by Liverpool after a run of poor results, kenny Dalglish was appointed the caretaker manager of Liverpool for the remainder of the season. After an impressive run of results, which saw Liverpool rise to 6th on the table, Dalglish was appointed the manager of Liverpool. In Norway, a notable example occurred in 2006 when Rosenborg BK manager Per-Mathias Høgmo announced he was taking a leave of absence in mid-season, at the time, Rosenborg were ten points behind leaders SK Brann. His assistant Knut Tørum was appointed on a basis, and proceeded to lead Rosenborg to a furious comeback. Høgmo announced his resignation two days after Rosenborg clinched, and Tørum was named permanent manager after the season. On the other hand, Tony Parkes was named manager of Blackburn Rovers on six separate occasions between 1986 and 2004, without ever being given the role in a full-time capacity. He is still yet to be given a full-time managerial role, in November 2007, Sandy Stewart led St Johnstone to victory in the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup in his only game in charge as caretaker manager. In the 2007–08 season, Cevat Güler won Süper Lig as Galatasarays caretaker manager and he was in charge for the last five matches of the season due to Karl Heinz Feldkamps resignation. In the 2007 Hazfi Cup final, Sepahans head coach, Luka Bonačić had travelled to his country, mansour Ebrahimzadeh who was assistant to Bonačić served as caretaker manager for that match. Sepahan won the match and the title, roberto Di Matteo won the Champions League and FA Cup as caretaker manager of Chelsea in 2012, leading to him being appointed permanent manager on a two-year contract. Benítez was not offered a contract as permanent manager, instead being replaced by José Mourinho who went back to Chelsea for a second term
29.
Peter Reid
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Peter Reid is an English football manager, pundit and retired player. A defensive midfielder in his days, Reid enjoyed a long. He built his reputation as one of Englands brightest midfield talents of the time at Bolton Wanderers and it was there that he enjoyed the most fruitful spell of his career, as he helped the club win domestic and European honours, including the Football League twice. He was voted as the PFA Players Player of the Year in 1985 and came fourth in the World Soccer Player of the Year award, behind Michel Platini, Preben Elkjær and Diego Maradona. He also received his first senior England call-up that year, Reid joined Queens Park Rangers in 1989, but moved on to Manchester City a year later to begin his managerial career. He spent three years at Maine Road as player-manager, and guided them to two fifth-place finishes in the First Division, the first of which saw them finish above their city rivals Manchester United. He was persuaded to resume his career after leaving Manchester City. He won promotion to the Premier League with the club on two occasions and achieved two finishes in the top division. He combined his role at the Stadium of Light with the job as manager of the England U21 for a spell in 1999. His seven-year association with Sunderland ended in 2002 and he returned to management a year later, Reid left Elland Road the following season. He was appointed manager of Coventry City in 2004 but his tenure lasted less than a year and he then worked as a pundit for the BBC at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and also worked for Sky Sports and ESPN before returning to management with Thailand in 2008. He won the T&T Cup with the country before returning to England as assistant manager to Tony Pulis at Stoke City and he then managed Plymouth Argyle, taking over in June 2010, but was sacked after just over a year at the Devon club. Reid signed professional forms with Bolton Wanderers in 1974 and he first won a medal when Bolton won the championship of the Football League Second Division in 1978, but he only enjoyed two seasons of First Division football before Bolton were relegated. He was transferred to Everton for a fee of £60,000 in 1982 only 12 months after a much larger fee had been mooted – a succession of injuries had cut the price. At club level his greatest achievement was as part of the Everton team that in 1984 won the FA Cup, in 1985 and 1987 the Football League championship and they nearly won a unique treble but lost 1–0 to Manchester United in the 1985 FA Cup final. In that game, Reid was recklessly challenged by Manchester United defender Kevin Moran who became the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup final. He was voted PFA Footballer of the Year in 1985, the year that he collected a Football League title. Reids form was so good that year, he came 4th in the World Soccer player of the award behind only Michel Platini, Preben Elkjaer
30.
The Herald (Plymouth)
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The Herald is Local Worlds Plymouth-based newspaper, serving Plymouth and the surrounding communities of West Devon, South East Cornwall and parts of the South Hams. The editor is Paul Burton, the deputy editor is Clare Jardine, the head of news is Neil Shaw, the paid-for newspaper has an ABC circulation of 20,710 and is owned by Local World. Its sister titles include the Express & Echo in Exeter, the Herald Express in Torquay, the Leicester Mercury and its website at www. plymouthherald. co. uk has more than six million page views a month from 1,000,000 unique visitors. The Herald is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday and it carries a jobs supplement every Wednesday, a homes supplement every Thursday and an entertainment supplement every Friday, with extra pages of business printed on a Wednesday. The Herald extensively reports on Plymouths sports teams including Plymouth Argyle F. C. Plymouth Albion R. F. C, Plymouth Titans, Plymouth Admirals, Plymouth Raiders and the Plymouth Devils. The sports editor is Andy Phillips and the Argyle Chief Reporter is Chris Errington, the Heralds business editor is William Telford, as of 2012. The history of the Herald stretches back to 2pm on Monday 22 April 1895 when the Western Evening Herald was launched as Plymouths first evening newspaper, various other newspapers had come and gone in Plymouth in the preceding 100 years. The WEH was published by the owners of the Western Daily Mercury and it was then bought by Sir Leicester Harmsworth in 1921 — a year after he bought the Western Morning News company — and was renamed The Evening Herald and Western Evening News on 17 September 1923. On 24 May 1924, the name was changed again to the Western Evening Herald, alan Clark, the Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton from 1974 to 1992, dismissed the people of Plymouth as believing everything they read in the Herald. In 2012, Local World acquired owner Northcliffe Media from Daily Mail, official website Plymouth Argyle section Archive of stories related to The Herald at Hold the Front Page
31.
BBC Radio Devon
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BBC Radio Devon is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Devon. It first aired on 17 January 1983, replacing a previous breakfast show for Devon, BBC Radio Devon started broadcasting on 17 January 1983, superseding the BBC Radio 4 regional service. On the same day, BBC Radio Cornwall started broadcasting, as did BBC Breakfast television, when broadcasting started, the new studios in Exeter had not yet been finished, so BBC Radio Devon was broadcast from portable cabins for the first few weeks. The Exeter studios were opened by Alastair Milne, then BBC Director General. The station has reporters based in Exeter, Plymouth, Paignton and Barnstaple and it broadcasts two breakfast shows simultaneously, one for Plymouth and the other for the rest of Devon. The newsroom in Plymouth is shared with the BBC regional website, the station has won several Sony Awards for its programming. The majority of the programming is produced and broadcast from Plymouth. During off-peak hours, BBC Radio Devon also produces programming for the South West and West regions. As with all BBC Local Radio stations, it airs the networked weekday evening shows, originating from BBC Radio Leeds. During the stations downtime, BBC Radio Devon simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live overnight
Norway
