Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, England. The club participates in the Championship, the second tier of English football, having been relegated from the Premier League in 2016, they were first promoted to the top flight in 1972. Norwich have won the League Cup twice, in 1962 and 1985; the club has never won the top flight, but finished third in 1993. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian derby 134 times since 1902; the fans' song "On the Ball, City" is the oldest football chant in the world, written in the 1890s and still sung today. The club participates in characteristic yellow and green kits and are nicknamed The Canaries after the history of breeding the birds in the area. Norwich City F. C. was formed following a meeting at the Criterion Cafe in Norwich on 17 June 1902 and played their first competitive match against Harwich & Parkeston, at Newmarket Road on 6 September 1902.
They joined the Norfolk & Suffolk League for the 1902–03 season, but following a FA Commission, the club was ousted from the amateur game in 1905, deemed a professional organisation. That year Norwich were elected to play in the Southern League and with increasing crowds, they were forced to leave Newmarket Road in 1908, moving to The Nest, a disused chalk pit; the club's original nickname was the Citizens, although this was superseded by 1907 by the more familiar Canaries after the club's chairman dubbed his boys'The Canaries' and changing their strip to yellow and green. During the First World War, with football suspended and facing spiralling debts, City went into voluntary liquidation on 10 December 1917; the club was reformed on 15 February 1919 – a key figure in the events was Charles Frederick Watling, future Lord Mayor of Norwich and the father of future club chairman, Geoffrey Watling. When, in May 1920, the Football League formed a third Division, Norwich joined the Third Division for the following season.
Their first league fixture, against Plymouth Argyle, on 28 August 1920, ended in a 1–1 draw. The club went on to endure a mediocre decade, finishing no higher than eighth but no lower than 18th; the following decade proved more successful for the club with a club-record victory, 10–2, over Coventry City and promotion as champions to the Second Division in the 1933–34 season under the management of Tom Parker. With crowds continuing to rise, with the Football Association raising concerns over the suitability of The Nest, the club considered renovation of the ground, but decided on a move to Carrow Road; the inaugural match, held on 31 August 1935, against West Ham United, ended in a 4–3 victory to the home team and set a new record attendance of 29,779. The biggest highlight of the following four seasons was the visit of King George VI to Carrow Road on 29 October 1938; the club was relegated to the Third Division at the end of the season. The league was suspended the following season as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War and did not resume until the 1946–47 season.
City finished this and the following season in 21st place, the poor results forcing the club to apply for re-election to the league. The club narrowly missed out on promotion under the guidance of manager Norman Low in the early 1950s, but following the return of Tom Parker as manager, Norwich finished bottom of the football league in the 1956–57 season; the 1958–59 season saw Norwich reach the semi-final of the FA Cup as a Third Division side, defeating two First Division sides on the way: Tottenham Hotspur and Matt Busby's Manchester United. In the 1959–60 season, Norwich were promoted to the Second Division after finishing second to Southampton, achieved a fourth-place finish in the 1960–61 season. In 1962 Ron Ashman guided Norwich to their first trophy, defeating Rochdale 4–0 on aggregate in a two-legged final to win the League Cup. Sixth place in the league was the closest the club came to promotion to the First Division again during the 1960s, but after winning the division in the 1971–72 season under manager Ron Saunders, Norwich City reached the highest level of English football for the first time.
They made their first appearance at Wembley Stadium in 1973, losing the League Cup final 1–0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Relegation to the Second Division in 1974 came after Saunders had departed and been succeeded by John Bond, but the board of directors kept faith in Bond and were rewarded. A successful first season saw promotion back to the First Division and another visit to Wembley, again in the League Cup final, this time losing 1–0 to Aston Villa. Bond departed to Manchester City in autumn 1980 and the club were relegated six months but bounced back the following season after finishing third under Bond's successor Ken Brown. Norwich had been the beneficiaries of one of English football's first million-pound transfers when they sold striker Justin Fashanu to Nottingham Forest in August 1981; the 1984–85 season was of mixed fortunes for the club. In the final, they beat Sunderland 1–0, but in the league both Norwich and Sunderland were relegated to the second tier of English football; this made Norwich the first English club to win a major trophy and suffer relegation in the same season.
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is a professional football club in Preston, whose team plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. A cricket club, Preston have been based at Deepdale since 1875; the club first took up football in 1878 as a winter fitness activity and decided to focus on it in May 1880, when the football club was founded. Deepdale is now football's oldest ground in terms of continuous use by a major league club. Preston North End was a founder member of the Football League in 1888. In the 1888–89 season, the team won both the inaugural league championship and the FA Cup, the latter without conceding a goal, they were the first team to achieve the "Double" in English football and, as they were unbeaten in all matches, are remembered as "The Invincibles". Preston won the league championship again in 1889–90 but their only major success since has been their 1938 FA Cup Final victory over Huddersfield Town; the club's most famous players have been Tom Finney and Bill Shankly, who are both commemorated at Deepdale by stands named after them.
Other notable players include Alan Kelly Sr. and Graham Alexander. Until 1961, Preston were members of the First Division but, having been relegated after the 1960–61 season, they have not yet returned to the top flight, they were first relegated to the Third Division after the 1969–70 season and have spent 28 of the 49 seasons since 1970 in the bottom two divisions, including a span of 19 seasons from 1981–82 to 1999–2000. Preston were twice in danger of closure; the club is now owned by businessman Trevor Hemmings and has been established in the EFL Championship since gaining promotion in 2015. Preston North End was founded in 1863 as a cricket club, played their first matches at the Marsh near the River Ribble in the Preston suburb of Ashton; that year, they switching to Moor Park in the north of the town, calling themselves "North End" in recognition of the new location. On 21 January 1875, the club leased a field opposite Moor Park on the site of the current Deepdale stadium, its home since.
The club formed a rugby union team in 1877 as a winter fitness activity but this was not a success and, a year they played their first game under the rules of association football. In May 1880, a proposal to adopt the association code was unanimously accepted and Preston North End Football Club was founded. Preston became one of the first professional clubs by hiring players from Scotland. In 1887, they beat Hyde 26–0 in the first round of the FA Cup, still a record winning margin in English first-class football. Scottish forward Jimmy Ross scored eight goals in the match before going on to score 19 goals in the competition that season still a record, they played Hibernian F. C. in 1887 World Championship losing 2-1 in Edinburgh. In 1888–89, Preston became the first league champions and the first winners of "The Double", becoming the only team to date to go throughout an entire season unbeaten in both the league and FA Cup – winning the FA Cup without conceding a goal. In a contribution to Paul Agnew's 1989 biography of Tom Finney, the player himself wrote: "The club has long been known as Proud Preston, the Old Invincibles of the previous century set some incredible standards".
The author wrote elsewhere: "...and that team became immortalised as the'Old Invincibles'". Other sources call the team "The Invincibles" and both versions of the nickname have been used. In his autobiography, Finney wrote: "The championship stayed with North End — by now tagged the Old Invincibles — the following year, but runners-up spot had to suffice for the next three seasons"; as Finney said, Preston have not won the title since. In total, they have been league runners-up six times, including the three consecutive seasons from 1890–91 to 1892–93, twice in the 1950s when Finney was playing; the club's last major trophy win was in the 1938 FA Cup Final when they defeated Huddersfield Town 1–0 and the team included Bill Shankly, Andy Beattie and goalscorer George Mutch. Preston's most famous player, Tom Finney, joined the club as a teenager in 1938, his first team debut was delayed until 1946 by the Second World War but he played for Preston until he retired in 1960. He was nicknamed the "Preston Plumber" because of his local business.
Finney remains the club's top goalscorer, with 187 goals from 433 appearances, scored 30 international goals for England in 76 appearances. A year after Finney's retirement, Preston were relegated to the Second Division and have not played in the top division since, they had a memorable season in 1963–64 when, managed by former player Jimmy Milne, they finished third in the Second Division and reached the 1964 FA Cup Final where they lost a thrilling match 3–2 to West Ham United. Preston were first relegated to the Third Division after the 1969–70 season. Although they won promotion again the team have spent 28 of the 49 seasons since 1970 in the bottom two divisions, including a span of 19 seasons from 1981–82 to 1999–2000; the club experienced a near-terminal decline in the 1980s which brought about the real threat of closure, the nadir being the 1985–86 season when they finished 23rd in the Fourth Division and had to seek re-election to the league. Under manager John McGrath, the team recovered and won promotion back to the Third Division only a year but it was a false dawn as the team spent another three years in the bottom division from 1993 to 1996.
The club began to recover and move forward after a takeover by heating manufacturer Baxi in 1994 but their ownership ended in June 2002. The team's ce
Peterborough United F.C.
Peterborough United Football Club is a professional football club in Peterborough, which plays in League One, the third tier of English football. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and joined the Midland League, which they won six times being admitted to the Football League in 1960, their home ground is London Road Stadium and the club nickname is The Posh. Their highest finishing position in the Football League was 10th in the Championship. Peterborough won the 2013–14 Football League Trophy. Peterborough United formed in 1934 at Peterborough's Angel Hotel to provide a replacement for Peterborough & Fletton United, who had folded two years previously; the Posh played in the old Midland League. They won this league on six occasions, including five seasons in a row from 1956 to 1960; the Posh were elected to The Football League for the beginning of the 1960–61 season, winning Division Four. Following the Fourth Division Championship success in 1960–61, The Posh spent seven seasons in the 3rd Division.
They reached the quarter-finals of the 1964–65 FA Cup, beating Arsenal and Swansea Town along the way before going out to Chelsea. They were relegated back to the 4th Division for financial irregularities in the summer of 1968; the club took six seasons to return to Division 3. In 1977–78 the club threatened to go one better until they narrowly missed out on promotion to Division 2 when they drew the last game of the season at champions Wrexham when a win was needed to go up; the game was notable for the fact that over 2,000 Preston North End fans travelled to Wrexham to watch the game and cheer on the home side – Preston were the club who went up because Peterborough did not win. The Wrexham defeat cast a long shadow over the club and it fell into a long decline. Relegation followed in 1979 and Posh subsequently spent 12 years back in the 4th division; the 1980s was a long story of mismanagement and false dawns, punctuated by the odd cup run. In January 1991, Chris Turner, who had played in the 1974 Fourth division championship team took over as manager and the team embarked on a run of 13 unbeaten games that propelled them into the top four.
Six players were signed on transfer deadline day, which at the time was a record for the number of players signed by one club on a single day. On the final day of the season, Posh travelled to Chesterfield needing a win to seal promotion. Despite going two goals down in the first ten minutes, the team rallied and drew level with goals from David Robinson and George Berry. However, Posh's closest rivals, Blackpool lost at Walsall and promotion was achieved; the following season arguably remains the most successful in the club's history. After an inconsistent start the team hit form during the Autumn when they knocked Wimbledon and Newcastle United out of the League Cup; the reward was a home tie with a Liverpool team containing Bruce Grobbelaar, Jan Mølby, Steve McManaman, Dean Saunders and Mark Wright. Garry Kimble scored the only goal after 19 minutes prompting wild celebrations and a place in the quarter-finals. In the league, the team surged up the table. Middlesbrough ended the League Cup run after a replay and there was further disappointment when the team missed out on a trip to Wembley in the Football League Trophy when they lost to Stoke City over two legs in the area final.
Progress continued in the league and a play-off place was clinched on the last day of the season despite a 1–0 defeat to champions Brentford. The following week, Huddersfield Town came to London Road for the first leg of the Semi-final. Captain Mick Halsall's last minute equaliser levelled the score at 2–2. Three days the supporters travelled north more in hope than expectation but they were rewarded when the team came from a goal down to win 2–1 with Worrell Sterling and Steve Cooper scoring the goals. On 24 May 1992, Peterborough United played at Wembley for the first time, against Stockport County in the Third Division playoff final. With Posh winning 2–1 and gaining promotion to the new First division, they played in Football League Division One between 1992 and 1994 and finished 10th, their highest league finish, in 1992–93 season. During the 2005–06 season the club had three managers: Team owner Barry Fry returned to management following former England international Mark Wright's sacking in January 2006.
Wright's assistant Steve Bleasdale was appointed acting manager, but resigned in April. Keith Alexander joined as manager from Lincoln City for 2006–07 but was sacked in January 2007 after a run of poor form and was replaced by Darren Ferguson, he led the club to back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship in his two full seasons in charge. By November 2009 Posh were bottom of the Championship and Ferguson left the club, to be replaced by Mark Cooper. In February 2010, after only 13 games in charge, Cooper left the club and Jim Gannon was appointed in his place. Following confirmation of relegation from the Championship after a 2–2 draw at Barnsley, Gannon was replaced by Gary Johnson. Gary Johnson left the club on 10 January 2011 due to policy disagreement. Two days after Johnson's departure, Darren Ferguson returned to the club on a four and a half-year contract. Peterborough finished 4th in 2010-11 Football League One with one of the worst defensive records in the third tier, conceding over 70 goals, but scoring 106.
Peterborough beat Milton Keynes Dons in the playoff semi-finals. They defeated Huddersfield Town in the Final with a 3–0 victory, gained promotion back to the Championship. Darren Ferguson led the team to safety in its first season back in the Championship, leading to a finish in 18th. However, the Posh were relegated back the following season, afte
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club referred to as Forest, is a professional football club based in West Bridgford, England. Forest were founded in 1865 and have played home matches at the City Ground since 1898, they compete in the second tier of the English football league system. Forest have won the League title once, two FA Cups, four League Cups, one FA Charity Shield, two European Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, their most successful period was under the management reign of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor between 1976 and 1982. The club have competed in the top two league tiers during their history except for five seasons in the third tier. In 1865 a group of shinty players met at the Clinton Arms on Nottingham's Shakespeare Street. J. S. Scrimshaw's proposal to play association football instead was agreed and Nottingham Forest Football Club was formed, it was agreed at the same meeting that the club would purchase twelve tasselled caps coloured'Garibaldi Red'. Thus the club's official colours were established.
Forest's first official game was played against Notts County taking place on 22 March 1866. In their early years Forest were a multi-sports club; as well as their roots in bandy and shinty, Forest's baseball club were British champions in 1899. Forest's charitable approach helped clubs like Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion to form. In 1886, Forest donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves – the North London team still wear red. Forest donated shirts to Everton and helped secure a site to play on for Brighton. In 1878–79 season Forest entered the FA Cup for the first time. Forest beat Notts County 3–1 in the first round at Beeston Cricket Ground before losing 2–1 to Old Etonians in the semi final. Forest's application was rejected to join the Football League at its formation in 1888. Forest instead joined the Football Alliance in 1889, they won the competition in 1892 before entering the Football League. That season they lost in an FA Cup semi final for the fourth time to date.
This time it was to West Bromwich Albion after a replay. Forest's first FA Cup semi-final win was at the fifth attempt, the 1897–98 FA Cup 2–0 replay win against Southampton; the first game was drawn 1–1. Derby County beat Forest 5–0 five days before the final. Six of the cup final side were rested in that league game. In that 1898 FA Cup Final at Crystal Palace before 62,000 fans, Willie Wragg passed a 19th minute free kick to Arthur Capes. Capes shot through the defensive wall to score. Derby equalised with a free kick headed home by Steve Bloomer off the underside of the cross bar after 31 minutes. In the 42nd minute Jack Fryer was unable to hold a Charlie Richards shot giving Capes a tap in for his second goal. Wragg's injury meant. In the 86th minute John Boag headed away a corner by Forest. John McPherson moved in to collect shooting low into the goal to win 3–1. Forest lost FA Cup semi finals in 1900 and 1902, they finished fourth in the 1900–01 Football League followed with fifth place the season after.
The club started to slide down the table. Forest were relegated for the first time in 1905–06. Grenville Morris had his first of five seasons as the club's highest scorer en route to becoming the all-time club highest goalscorer with 213 goals. Promotion as champions was immediate in 1906–07, they were relegated a second time to the Second Division in 1911 and had to seek re-election in 1914 after finishing bottom of that tier. As World War One approached; the outbreak of The Great War along with the benevolence of the committee members mitigated the club going under. In 1919, the Football League First Division was to be expanded from twenty clubs to twenty-two in time for the 1919–20 Football League: Forest were one of eight clubs to campaign for entry but received only three votes. Arsenal and Chelsea gained the two additional top tier slots. In a turnaround from the first six seasons struggling back in the Second Division, Forest were promoted as champions in 1921–22, they survived each of the first two seasons back in the top flight by one position.
In the third season after promotion they were relegated as the division's bottom club in 1924–25. They remained in the second tier until relegation in 1949 to the Football League Third Division, they were promoted back two years as champions having scored a record 110 goals in the 1950–51 season. They regained First Division status in 1957. Johnny Quigley's solitary 1958–59 FA Cup semi final goal beat Aston Villa. Billy Walker's Forest beat Luton Town 2–1 in the 1959 FA Cup Final. Like in 1898 Forest had lost to their opponents only weeks earlier in the league. Stewart Imlach crossed for a 10th-minute opener by Roy Dwight. Tommy Wilson had Forest 2–0 up after 14 minutes; the game had an unusually large number of stoppages due to injury to Forest players. This was put down to the lush nature of the Wembley turf; the most notable of these stoppages was Dwight breaking his leg in a 33rd minute tackle with Brendan McNally. Forest had been on top until that point. Luton though took control of the match with Dave Pacey scoring midway through the second half.
Forest were reduced to nine fit men with ten minutes remaining when Bill Whare crippled with cramp became little more than a spectator. Despite late Allan Brown and Billy Bingham chances Chick Thomson conceded no further goals for Forest to beat the Wembley 1950s'hoodoo'. Club record appearance holder Bobby McKinlay played in the final winning
Christian Dailly
Christian Eduard Dailly is a Scottish former professional footballer. A versatile player, he was seen in central defence, although he played in most outfield positions during his career, he started his professional career as a teenager. He helped. Towards the end of his time with United, Dailly began playing as a central defender, he moved to English Premier League club Derby County in 1996. After two seasons with Derby, Dailly moved to Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee of £5,350,000. During his time with Blackburn, the club were relegated in 1999 and Dailly lost his place in the team, he moved to West Ham United in 2001 for £1,700,000. During his time with West Ham, the club were relegated in 2003 but won promotion in 2005. Dailly appeared as a substitute in the 2006 FA Cup Final, which West Ham lost on penalties to Liverpool. After a loan spell with Southampton, Dailly moved to Rangers in January 2008, he helped. His final appearance for Rangers was as a substitute in the 2009 Scottish Cup Final, which Rangers won 1–0 against Falkirk.
After a two-year spell with Charlton Athletic and short stints with Portsmouth and Southend United, Dailly retired in 2012. Dailly made 67 full international appearances for Scotland between 1997 and 2008, he was part of the Scotland squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Dailly is the record cap-holder for the Scotland under-21 team, having made 35 appearances between 1990 and 1996. Dailly was born in Dundee and first signed professional terms with Dundee United on 2 August 1990, aged sixteen years old, he became the youngest-ever player to appear for Dundee United when he made his first-team debut on 21 August 1990, though this record has since been broken by Greg Cameron. Playing as a striker and scoring in each of his first three games, Dailly shot to prominence, making his Scotland Under 21 side debut just a month later. In his debut season, Dailly managed five goals in eighteen appearances, his debut season would become his most prolific, the 1991–92 season brought just eight games with no goals.
In the 1992–93 season, Dailly scored four from fourteen appearances and established himself as a regular in the 1993–94 season with 38 league appearances, not only another four goals, but the Scottish Cup, when his shot rebounded off the post for Craig Brewster to score the only goal against Rangers. The 1994–95 season ended in disappointment with relegation, with yet another four goals from 33 games. In 1995–96, Dailly was established as a central defender and started the season as United's club captain, although he was subsequently replaced by Dave Bowman, he scored just once in 30 appearances. It was an important goal though, as it ensured United drew the away leg of the short-lived league-playoff against Partick Thistle, subsequently won the home leg to gain promotion at the first opportunity; this proved to be Dailly's final game for Dundee United, as he joined Derby County in August 1996 for £500,000, with a further £500,000 payable dependent on his international career, paid. Dailly joined Derby County at the start of the 1996–97 season, following Derby's promotion to the FA Premier League.
In his debut English season, Dailly missed just two games, with his three goals helping Derby to 12th place and six points clear of relegation. In the 1997 -- 98 season, Dailly scored once. In 1998–99, Dailly played just once, coincidentally against Blackburn Rovers, the club to which he was transferred. Dailly joined Rovers in August 1998 for £5.35m but a tumultuous season followed with Dailly not finding a settled position and an injury meaning he played just seventeen times. To make matters worse, Rovers were relegated from the FA Premier League as Dailly suffered relegation for the second time in his career. In the First Division, Dailly appeared 43 times in a hectic 1999–2000 season, which saw him score four goals. However, he fell out of favour with new boss Graeme Souness and in January 2001, after making just nine appearances that season, Dailly left for West Ham United in a £1.75m deal and returned to the Premier League. During his spell at Blackburn he played in a testimonial match for Celtic – scoring a late consolation goal against Liverpool in the Ronnie Moran testimonial match on 13 May 2000.
Following his transfer from Blackburn to the Hammers for a fee of £1.7m he made twelve appearances in 2000–01, helping the Hammers to 15th place. He played in their 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup; the following season, Dailly played every minute of every game as West Ham finished in seventh place. 2002–03 proved to be a low point, as Daily suffered relegation for a third time. Playing 26 times, West Ham were relegated with the highest number of points since the 1995–96 change to 20 teams, a total of 42. Dailly was to go on and score twice from 43 games as West Ham finished in the Division One play-off positions in 2003–04, he scored the winner against Ipswich Town in the play-off semi-final to send them to the final but they failed to win promotion. Injury prevented Dailly from the majority of West Ham's promotion-winning 2004–05 season, although he returned to make brief appearances in one play-off semi-final leg and the final, he signed a new deal with West Ham in June 2005.
Dailly appeared as a substitute for West Ham in their 2006 FA Cup Final defeat to Liverpool, coming on in the 77th minute. Despite being 2–0 ahead after 28 minutes, West Ham lost on penalties, he was the longest serving West Ham player at the time of his departure and something of a cult hero to the fans. On 20 September 2
Premier League
The Premier League is the top level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League; the Premier League is a corporation. Seasons run from August to May with each team playing 38 matches. Most games are played on Sunday afternoons; the Premier League has featured 47 English and two Welsh clubs since its inception, making it a cross-border league. The competition was formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League, founded in 1888, take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal; the deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB and BT Group securing the domestic rights to broadcast 116 and 38 games respectively. The league generates € 2.2 billion per year in international television rights. Clubs were apportioned revenues of £2.4 billion in 2016–17. 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, second highest of any professional football league behind the Bundesliga's 43,500. Most stadium occupancies are near capacity; the Premier League ranks second in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons, as of 2018. Forty-nine clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992. Six of them have won the title since then: Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City; the record of most points in a Premier League season is 100, set by Manchester City in 2017–18. Despite significant European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 1980s marked a low point for English football. Stadiums were crumbling, supporters endured poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, English clubs were banned from European competition for five years following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985; the Football League First Division, the top level of English football since 1888, was behind leagues such as Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga in attendances and revenues, several top English players had moved abroad.
By the turn of the 1990s the downward trend was starting to reverse: at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, England reached the semi-finals. In the 1980s, major English clubs had begun to transform into business ventures, applying commercial principles to club administration to maximise revenue. Martin Edwards of Manchester United, Irving Scholar of Tottenham Hotspur, David Dein of Arsenal were among the leaders in this transformation, it gave the top clubs more power. By threatening to break away, clubs in Division One managed to increase their voting power, they took a 50% share of all television and sponsorship income in 1986. Revenue from television became more important: the Football League received £6.3 million for a two-year agreement in 1986, but by 1988, in a deal agreed with ITV, the price rose to £44 million over four years with the leading clubs taking 75% of the cash. According to Scholar, involved in the negotiations of television deals, each of the First Division clubs received only around £25,000 per year from television rights before 1986, this increased to around £50,000 in the 1986 negotiation to £600,000 in 1988.
The 1988 negotiations were conducted under the threat of ten clubs leaving to form a "super league", but they were persuaded to stay with the top clubs taking the lion share of the deal. As stadiums improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the country's top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the influx of money into the sport. In 1990, the managing director of London Weekend Television, Greg Dyke, met with the representatives of the "big five" football clubs in England over a dinner; the meeting was to pave the way for a break away from The Football League. Dyke believed that it would be more lucrative for LWT if only the larger clubs in the country were featured on national television and wanted to establish whether the clubs would be interested in a larger share of television rights money; the five clubs decided to press ahead with it. The FA did not enjoy an amicable relationship with the Football League at the time and considered it as a way to weaken the Football League's position.
At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring more money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the game's top-flight clubs, established the basic principles for setting up the FA Premier League; the newly formed top division would have commercial independence from The Football Association and the Football League, giving the FA Premier League licence to negotiate
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is a professional football club in Bolton, Greater Manchester, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed as Christ Church Football Club in 1874, it adopted its current name in 1877 and was a founder member of the Football League in 1888. Bolton have spent more seasons than any other club in the top flight without winning the title, they finished third in the First Division in 1891–92, 1920–21 and 1924–25. Bolton won three FA Cups in the 1920s, a fourth in 1958; the club spent a season in the Fourth Division in 1987-88 before regaining top-flight status in 1995 and qualifying for the UEFA Cup twice, reaching the last 32 in 2005–06 and the last 16 in 2007–08. The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895. On 9 March 1946, 33 Bolton fans lost their lives in the Burnden Park disaster when a human crush occurred. In 1997, Bolton moved to the Reebok Stadium, renamed the Macron Stadium in 2014, now known as the University of Bolton Stadium.
The club was founded by the Reverend Joseph Farrall Wright, Perpetual curate of Christ Church Bolton, Thomas Ogden, the schoolmaster at the adjacent church school, in 1874 as Christ Church F. C, it was run from the church of the same name on Deane Road, Bolton, on the site where the Innovation factory of the University of Bolton now stands. The club left the location following a dispute with the vicar, changed its name to Bolton Wanderers in 1877; the name was chosen as the club had a lot of difficulty finding a permanent ground to play on, having used three venues in its first four years of existence. Bolton were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888. At the time Lancashire was one of the strongest footballing regions in the country, with 6 of the 12 founder clubs coming from within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire. Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton have spent more time in the top flight than out of it. In 1894 Bolton reached the final of the FA Cup for the first time, but lost 4–1 to Notts County at Goodison Park.
A decade they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904. The period before and after the First World War was Bolton's most consistent period of top-flight success as measured by league finishes, with the club finishing outside the top 8 of the First Division on only two occasions between 1911–12 and 1927–28. In this period Bolton equalled their record finish of third twice, in 1920–21 and 1924–25, on the latter occasion missing out on the title by just 3 points. On 28 April 1923, Bolton won their first major trophy in their third final, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first Wembley FA Cup final; the match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters. Bolton's centre-forward, David Jack scored the first goal at Wembley Stadium. Driven by long-term players Joe Smith in attack, Ted Vizard and Billy Butler on the wings, Jimmy Seddon in defence, they became the most successful cup side of the twenties, winning three times.
Their second victory of the decade came in 1926, beating Manchester City 1–0 in front of over 91,000 spectators, the third came in 1929 as Portsmouth were beaten 2–0 in front of nearly 93,000 fans. In 1928 the club faced financial difficulties and so was forced to sell David Jack to Arsenal to raise funds. Despite the pressure to sell, the agreed fee of £10,890 was a world record, more than double the previous most expensive transfer of a player. From 1935 to 1964, Bolton enjoyed an uninterrupted stay in the top flight – regarded by fans as a golden era – spearheaded in the 1950s by Nat Lofthouse; the years of the Second World War saw most of the Wanderers' playing staff see action on the front, a rare occurrence within elite football, as top sportsmen were assigned to physical training assignments, away from enemy fire. However, 15 Bolton professionals, led by their captain Harry Goslin, volunteered for active service in 1939, were enlisted in the 53rd Bolton Artillery regiment. By the end of the war, 32 of the 35 pre-war professionals saw action in the British forces.
The sole fatality was Goslin, who had by risen to the rank of Lieutenant and was killed by shrapnel on the Italian front shortly before Christmas 1943. 53rd Bolton Artillery took part in the Battle of Dunkirk and served in the campaigns of Egypt and Italy. Remarkably, a number of these soldiers managed to carry on playing the game in these theatres of war, taking on as'British XI' various scratch teams assembled by, among others, King Farouk of Egypt in Cairo and Polish forces in Baghdad. On 9 March 1946, the club's home was the scene of the Burnden Park disaster, which at the time was the worst tragedy in British football history. 33 Bolton Wanderers fans were crushed to death, another 400 injured, in an FA Cup quarter-final second leg tie between Bolton and Stoke City. There was an estimated 67,000-strong crowd crammed in for the game, though other estimates vary with a further 15,000 locked out as it became clear the stadium was full; the disaster led to Moelwyn Hughes's official report, which recommended more rigorous control of crowd sizes.
In 1953 Bolton played in one of the most famous FA Cup finals of all time – The Stanley Matthews Final of 1953. Bolton lost the game to Blackpool 4–3 after gaining a 3–1 lead. Blackpool were victorious thanks to the goals of Stan Mortensen. Bolton Wanderers have not won a major trophy since 1958, when two Lofthouse goals saw them overcome Manchester United in the FA Cup final in front of a 100,000 crowd at Wembley Stadium; the closes
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