1.
Poplar, London
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Poplar is an historical, mainly residential area of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is about 5.5 miles east of Charing Cross, historically a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, Middlesex, in 1817 Poplar became a civil parish. In 1855 the Poplar District of the Metropolis was formed, which also included Bromley, the district became the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in 1900 which was abolished in 1965. The district centre is Chrisp Street Market, Poplar contains notable examples of public housing including the Lansbury Estate and Balfron Tower. Architecturally it is a mixture of 18th and 19th-century terraced houses, st Matthias Old Church is located on Poplar High Street, opposite Tower Hamlets College. It is next to Poplar Town Hall – which has mosaic detail – and Poplar Bowls Club, a recently reopened sports centre called The Workhouse stands on the site of Poplar Workhouse, where local politician Will Crooks spent some of his earliest years. The Metropolitan Borough of Poplar was the location, in 1921, of the Poplar Rates Rebellion, led by the Mayor, George Lansbury, who was later elected as leader of the Labour Party. As part of the 1951 Festival of Britain, a new housing estate was built to the north of the East India Dock Road. This estate includes Chrisp Street Market, which was commended by Lewis Mumford. Other notable buildings in Poplar include Poplar Baths, which reopened in 2016 having finally closed in 1988, during the development of the Isle of Dogs the street signs pointed to the new development, and Poplar was lost for a decade or more. The following year, tenants on further estates voted to remain with the Council, although many people associate wartime bombing with The Blitz during World War II, the first airborne terror campaign in Britain took place during the First World War. Air raids in World War One caused significant damage and took many lives, German raids on Britain, for example, caused 1,413 deaths and 3,409 injuries. Air raids provided a means of striking at resources vital to an enemys war effort. The East End of London was one of the most heavily targeted places, Poplar, in particular, was struck badly by some of the air raids during the First World War. Initially these were at night by Zeppelins which bombed the area indiscriminately, the first daylight bombing attack on London by a fixed-wing aircraft took place on 13 June 1917. Fourteen German Gotha G bombers led by Hauptmann Ernst Brandenberg flew over Essex and it was a hot day and the sky was hazy, nevertheless, onlookers in Londons East End were able to see a dozen or so big aeroplanes scintillating like so many huge silver dragonflies. These three-seater bombers were carrying shrapnel bombs which were dropped just before noon, numerous bombs fell in rapid succession in various districts. In the East End alone 104 people were killed,154 seriously injured and 269 slightly injured, the gravest incident that day was a direct hit on a primary school in Poplar
2.
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
3.
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
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Tottenham Hotspur Football Club /ˈtɒtnəm, -tənəm/, commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English football club located in Tottenham, Haringey, London, that competes in the Premier League. The clubs home stadium is White Hart Lane and their newly developed training ground is in Bulls Cross on the northern borders of the London Borough of Enfield. Founded in 1882, Tottenham won the FA Cup for the first time in 1901, Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. After successfully defending the FA Cup in 1962, in 1963 they became the first British club to win a UEFA club competition – the European Cup Winners Cup, in 1967, Spurs won the FA Cup for a third time in the 1960s. In the 1970s Tottenham won the League Cup on two occasions and were the winner of the UEFA Cup in 1972, becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies. In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies, the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield, in the 1990s the club won the FA Cup and the League Cup. When they won the League Cup once more in 2008, it meant that they had won a trophy in each of the last six decades – an achievement only matched by Manchester United. The clubs Latin motto is Audere est Facere, and its emblem is a cockerel standing upon a football, the club has a long-standing rivalry with nearby neighbours Arsenal, with head-to-head fixtures known as the North London derby. The club was formed in 1882, as Hotspur F. C. and played in the Southern League from 1896 until 1908, when they were elected into the Football League Second Division. Before this promotion Tottenham had won the FA Cup in 1901, since then, Tottenham have won the FA Cup a further seven times, the Football League twice, the Football League Cup four times, the UEFA Cup twice and also the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. The Cup Winners Cup victory in 1963 made Tottenham the first English team to win a UEFA competition, in 1960–61 they became the first team to complete The Double in the 20th century. Tottenham played their first matches at Tottenham Marshes on the public pitches. It was at this ground that Spurs first played archrivals Arsenal, there were occasions on which fights would break out on the marshes in dispute of the teams that were allowed to use the best pitches. Crowd sizes were regularly increasing and a new site was becoming needed to accommodate these supporters, in 1898 the club moved from the marshes to Northumberland Park and charged an admission fee of 3d. They only remained at this ground for a year as in April 1899,14,000 fans turned up to watch Spurs play Woolwich Arsenal. The ground was no able to cope with the larger crowds and Spurs were forced to move to a new larger site 100 yards down the road. The White Hart Lane ground was originally a disused nursery owned by the brewery Charringtons, the landlord spotted the increased income he could enjoy if Tottenham played their matches behind his pub and in 1899 the club moved in. They brought with them the stand they used at Northumberland Park which gave shelter to 2,500 fans, notts County were the first visitors to the Lane in a friendly watched by 5,000 people and provided in £115 in receipts, Spurs won 4–1
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Brentford F.C.
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Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, Greater London, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of English football. It was founded on 10 October 1889 and plays its games at Griffin Park, its home stadium since 1904. Brentfords most successful spell came during the 1930s, when it achieved consecutive top six finishes in the First Division, Brentford have been FA Cup quarter-finalists on four occasions, and have been runners-up of the Football League Trophy on three occasions. As a result of a vote, by eight votes to five, taken six days later, the very first fixture, between Brentford FC and Kew FC, was on 23 November 1889. Due to ownership of the land changing hands, Brentford FC was on the lookout for a new ground after only 30 months, in October 1892, Benns Field – land behind The Plough PH Little Ealing Lane – in Little Ealing, was the clubs new home. The football club decided to move nearer to Brentford and in December 1894 it moved to Shotters Field – what is now Gunnersbury School, The Ride – and stayed there until April 1898. As the club grew, therefore entertaining larger crowds, a move to a ground with the chance of improving better spectator facilities, with under cover enclosures and changing rooms, was looked for. Boston Park Cricket Ground, in York Road, Brentford – what is now land along the east side of Ealing Road, finally, in January 1904, the club agreed a 21-year lease on an orchard, once owned by Chiswick brewers Fuller, Smith and Turner. The clearance of the orchard, over 200 trees, and the levelling of the land took several months, in August 1904 trial matches were played on the pitch. Then the first competitive match was played, a team game in the Western League v Plymouth Argyle. On 7 September 1904, Brentford and West Ham United played out a 0–0 draw, in the Southern League First Division, in 1920 it was a founder member of the Football League Third Division. In 1921–22, the Football League Third Division was regionalised and Brentford FC was placed in the Southern section, during the late 1920s and 1930s, the club began to make real progress. In the 1929–30 season, the side won all 21 of its matches in the Third Division South. It is the last of six teams in English football to amass a perfect record. After several more near-misses, promotion to the Second Division was finally achieved in 1932–33, Two years later, Brentford reached the First Division and finished 5th in its debut season – which is still the clubs highest ever league position – to complete a remarkable rise for the club. Under manager Harry Curtis and captain Arthur Bateman, Brentford achieved more impressive placings in the league for the rest of the decade before the Second World War interrupted. During the war, Brentford competed in the London War Cup, the club was relegated in the first season after the war, and a downward spiral set in, which culminated in relegation to the Third Division in 1953–54 and the Fourth Division in 1961–62
7.
Leamington F.C.
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Leamington Football Club is a football club in Whitnash, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, who are currently playing in the Southern Football League. The club was founded in 1933 as Leamington Borg & Beck, known as Lockheed Borg & Beck, the team soon became Lockheed Leamington, and then in 1973, as the works team for Automotive Products. In 1985 the club returned to their name, but within three years the ground had been sold and the club went into hiatus until re-emerging in 2000. With the club at its pinnacle, Automotive Products decided to sell the Windmill Ground in Tachbrook Road for housing. The last match was played in April 1988, three years later Leamington gained promotion to the Midland Alliance. At the start of the 2008–09 season the team became affiliated with Leamington Lions, the ladies team. The 2012/13 season saw the win the Southern Football League title. The 2014/15 season saw the club get relegated from the Conference North to the Southern Football League, famous ex-players include former Coventry City captain Charlie Timmins, George Green, who won the 1925 FA Cup Final with Sheffield United and Harry Redknapp. Leamington FCs colours are gold shirts, black shorts and yellow stockings, the Leamington FC badge shows a windmill and a football. The windmill image has been associated with the club for a long time, the away kit for 2015–16 is royal blue with a yellow stripe down the arms and around the collar. Home to Leamington Town, Lockheed Leamington, AP Leamington and Leamington FC the Windmill Ground was situated on the Tachbrook Road, in 1937 Leamington Town fell foul to money matters, the club was voluntarily wound up, and the Windmill Ground was sold to Coventry City. Coventry paid £1,739 6s and 8d for the ground which was to be used for their A team, during the 2nd World War the ground also hosted Forces matches and Birmingham City matches. Lockheed, the company situated opposite the Windmill Ground, saw their social club form a club in 1946 called Lockheed Leamington and it was after this time that the ground saw most of its development work – stands, terracing, etc. The floodlights were installed in 1965, by its demise it boasted a 440-seater stand running half the length of the Tachbrook Road side. At the left side were the changing rooms. To the right, and extending behind the goal, was terracing. The terracing gradually faded into a gently sloping gravel bank that continued round the other 2 sides of the pitch, the north end was covered, as was a very small section of the embankment opposite the stand. The stated capacity of the ground was 5,000 – with cover for 1,600 spectators, the clubhouse sat behind the stand, up towards the northern end of the ground
8.
England national under-19 football team
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Primarily, it competes to qualify for the annual UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. In July 2015, Aidy Boothroyd was appointed to coach the squad, players born on or after 1 January 1998 will be eligible until the end of the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Names in italics denote players who have been capped by England in an age group. The following players were named in the squad for the European Championship Elite Qualifying Round in March 2017, the following players have also been called up to the England under-19 squad and remain eligible. INJ Player withdrew from the squad before any games had been played
9.
Portsmouth F.C.
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Portsmouth Football Club /ˈpɔərtsməθ/ is a professional football club in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which plays in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the formation in 1898. Portsmouth have been champions of England twice, in 1949 and 1950, in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, Portsmouth played European heavyweights A. C. Milan. In this period, the club had international footballers including England players Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, David James, financial problems, however, soon set in and Portsmouth were relegated to the Football League Championship in 2010. In 2012, they were relegated, to League One. They began the 2013–14 season in the tier of the English football league system for the first time since the late 1970s. Portsmouth became the largest fan-owned football club in England, after the Pompey Supporters Trust successfully gained possession of Fratton Park in April 2013, Portsmouth Football Club are nicknamed Pompey, a name which it shares with the city of Portsmouth and its historic naval base. Pompey is thought most likely to originate from the abbreviation of Portsmouth Point to the shorter Pom. The club was founded in 1898 with John Brickwood — owner of the local Brickwoods Brewery — as chairman, a blue plaque on the wall of 12 High Street Portsmouth commemorates the founding on 5 April. That first season was successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, 1910–11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Robert Brown as manager, the team was promoted the following season. League football was suspended during First World War, but following the resumption of matches Portsmouth won the Southern League for the second time, continuing success saw them in the Third Division for the 1920–21 season. They finished 12th that year, but won the division in the 1923–24 season, the club continued to perform well in the Second Division, winning promotion by finishing second in the 1926–27 season, gaining a record 9–1 win over Notts County along the way. Portsmouths debut season in the First Division was a struggle, the next season they continued to falter, losing 10–0 to Leicester City, still a club record defeat. Despite their failings in the league, however, that also saw Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final for the first time. Portsmouth managed to survive relegation, and their fortunes began to change, the 1933–34 season saw Portsmouth again reach the FA Cup final, beating Manchester United, Bolton, Leicester and Birmingham City on the way. The club was defeated in the final, this time to Manchester City. Having established themselves in the top flight, the 1938–39 season saw Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final and this time, Portsmouth managed to convincingly defeat favourites Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1. Bert Barlow and Jock Anderson scored, whilst Cliff Parker scored twice to complete a famous victory, League football resumed for the 1946–47 campaign after five years and Portsmouth continued in the First Division
10.
Southampton F.C.
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Their home ground since 2001 has been St Marys Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. Southampton has a rivalry with Portsmouth due to its close proximity. Matches between the two sides are known as the South Coast derby, the club has won the FA Cup once, in 1976, and their highest-ever league finish was second in the First Division in 1983–84. Southampton were relegated from the Premier League on 15 May 2005 and they returned after a seven-year absence, and have played there ever since. Southampton were founded at St. Marys Church, on 21 November 1885 by members of the St. Marys Church of England Young Mens Association. More important matches, such as cup games, were played either at the County Cricket Ground in Northlands Road or the Antelope Cricket Ground in St Marys Road. During this time, they moved to a newly built £10,000 stadium called The Dell, the club reached the first of their four FA Cup Finals in 1900. On that day, they went down 4–0 to Bury and two later they would suffer a similar fate at the hands of Sheffield United as they were beaten 2–1 in a replay of the 1902 final. After World War I, Saints joined the newly formed Football League Third Division in 1920 which split into South and North sections a year later, the 1921–22 season ended in triumph with promotion and marked the beginning of a 31-year stay in the Second Division. The 1922–23 season was a unique Even Season –14 wins,14 draws and 14 defeats for a total of 42 points, goals for and against statistics were also equal and the team finished in mid-table. In 1925 and 1927, they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing 2–0 and 2–1 to Sheffield United, in the 1948–49 and 1949–50 seasons, Charlie Wayman rattled in a total of 56 goals. Then relegation in 1953 sent Saints sliding back into Division 3 and it took until 1960 for Saints to regain Second Division status with Derek Reeves plundering 39 of the champions’106 league goals. On 27 April 1963 a crowd of 68,000 at Villa Park saw them lose 1–0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final. In 1966, when Ted Bates’ team were promoted to the First Division as runners-up, for the following campaign Ron Davies arrived to score 43 goals in his first season. Saints stayed among the elite for eight years, with the highest finishing position being seventh place in 1968–69 and again in 1970–71. These finishes were high enough for them to qualify for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969–70 and its successor, the UEFA Cup in 1971–72, in December 1973, Bates stood down to be replaced by his assistant Lawrie McMenemy. The Saints were one of the first victims of the new three-down relegation system in 1974, the following season, they played in Europe again in the Cup Winners Cup, reaching Round 3 where they lost 2–3 on aggregate to Anderlecht. In 1977–78, captained by Alan Ball, Saints finished runners-up in the Second Division and they finished comfortably in 14th place in their first season back in the top flight
11.
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
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Queens Park Rangers Football Club is a professional association football club based in White City, London, that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Their honours include winning the League Cup in 1967, as well as finishing top of the tier in 1983 and 2011. QPR were also runners-up of the Football League First Division in 1975–76, Queens Park Rangers were founded in 1886 after the merger of Christchurch Rangers and St. Judes Institute. Owing to their proximity to other west London clubs, QPR maintain long-standing rivalries with other clubs in the area. The most notable of these are Chelsea, Fulham and Brentford, outside London, QPR also traditionally share rivalries with Watford, Luton and Cardiff, although in recent years these fixtures have become less prominent. For the current season see 2015–16 Queens Park Rangers F. C. season The club was formed in 1886, the resulting team was called Queens Park Rangers, because most of the players came from the Queens Park area of north-west London. QPR were promoted as champions of Division 3 South in the 1947–48 season, Dave Mangnall was the manager as the club participated in four seasons of the Second Division, being relegated in 1951–52. Tony Ingham was signed from Leeds United and went on to make the most ever league appearances for QPR, arguably the clubs greatest ever manager, Alec Stock, arrived prior to the start of the 1959–60 season. The 1960–61 season saw QPR achieve their biggest win to date, in time, Stock, together with Jim Gregory who arrived as chairman in the mid-1960s, helped to achieve a total transformation of the club and its surroundings. It is still the major trophy that QPR have won. It was also the first League Cup final to be held at Wembley Stadium, after winning promotion in 1968 to the top flight for the first time in their history, Rangers were relegated after just one season and spent the next four years in Division Two. Terry Venables joined from Spurs at the beginning of the 1969–70 season, during this time, new QPR heroes emerged including Phil Parkes, Don Givens, Dave Thomas and Stan Bowles. These new signings were in addition to home-grown talent such as Dave Clement, Ian Gillard, Mick Leach, after completing their 42-game season, QPR sat at the top of the league, one point ahead of Liverpool who went on to defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers to clinch the title. Wolves were relegated to the Second Division that same season, following Sextons departure in 1977 the club eventually slipped into the Second Division in 1979. In 1980 Terry Venables took over as manager and the club installed a plastic pitch, in 1982 QPR, still playing in the Second Division, reached the FA Cup Final for the only time in the clubs history, facing holders Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham won 1–0 in a replay, the following season QPR went on to win the Second Division championship and returned to English footballs top division. After a respectable fifth-place finish, and UEFA Cup qualification, the following year, in 1988 the club had a new chairman, Richard Thompson. Who at 24 was the Premier Leagues youngest ever chairman, over the next seven years, various managers came and went from Loftus Road and the club spent many seasons finishing mid table but avoided relegation
12.
Jordan national football team
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The Jordan national football team, known by its fans as Al-Nashama, is the national team of Jordan and is controlled by the Jordan Football Association, the governing body for football in Jordan. Jordans home ground/stadium is the Amman International Stadium, Jordan have never qualified for the World Cup finals, but have appeared three times in the Asian Cup and reached its quarter-final stage in the 2004 and 2011 editions. Jordan is a champion of the Pan Arab Games, having won the 1997 and 1999 editions of the tournament. So far, Jordan has hosted the West Asian Football Federation Championship three times in, the Arab Nations Cup once in 1988, and the Pan Arab Games once in 1999. The Jordanian national football teams first international match was played in 1953 in Egypt where the team defeated Syria 3–1, the first FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Jordan took part in was the 1986 qualifiers, but they are yet to qualify for a World Cup. For the first time in history, Jordan have qualified for the round of the FIFA World Cup qualification AFC in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. After he resigned from coaching Jordan, the Egyptian Mahmoud El-Gohary agreed to take Brankos place as head coach, in the WAFF championship tournaments of 2004 and 2007, El-Gohary helped Jordan win third place in 2004 and helped Jordan reach the semifinals in 2007. Another opportunity to show Vingadas worthiness as head coach came in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, but after failing to help Jordan qualify for the 2010 World Cup, Vingada was able to help Jordan win second place in the 2008 West Asian Football Federation Championship. Next up were the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches starting from January 2009 and his first experiences with Jordanian football players took place as he was coaching top Jordan football club Al-Faisaly from 2006–2008 and achieved great results with that team as well. Hamad prepared for that tournament with a couple of friendlies as well as three more to prepare for the Asian Cup tournament in Qatar. Just like Mahmoud El-Gohary, Hamad also helped Jordan qualify for the quarterfinals in the Asian Cup, Hamad was also got Jordan to win second place in the 2011 Pan Arab Games in Qatar. Hamad helped Jordan finish third in the round of Asian group qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. He was replaced ahead of the stages by the Egyptian Hossam Hassan to led them to the play-off round against Uzbekistan to determine the AFC participant in the intercontinental play-off. The games took place on 6 and 10 September 2013, with the two teams still evenly matched at full-time in the second leg, Jordan eventually progressed to the intercontinental playoff after winning 9–8 on penalties. Unfortunately, the Jordanians missed their very first FIFA World Cup debut after losing 5–0 against the formidable Uruguayan team, Hassan also helped Jordan to qualify to the Asian Cup 2015. On 3 September 2014, Ray Wilkins was appointed as the new coach of Jordan. He led Jordan at the Asian Cup 2015, where they eliminated in group-stages for the first time after two losses against Iraq and Japan and a win over Palestine, *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. Caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2017 after the game against Cambodia, the following players have been called to Jordans national team in the last 12 months
13.
Birmingham City F.C.
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Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, the team compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. As Small Heath, they played in the Football Alliance before becoming founder members, the most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They won the competition for the second time in 2011. St Andrews has been their ground since 1906. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, the clubs nickname is Blues, due to the colour of their kit, and their fans are known as Bluenoses. Birmingham City were founded as Small Heath Alliance in 1875, the club turned professional in 1885, and three years later became the first football club to become a limited company with a board of directors, under the name of Small Heath F. C. Ltd. From the 1889–90 season they played in the Football Alliance, which ran alongside the Football League, in 1892, Small Heath, along with the other Alliance teams, were invited to join the newly formed Football League Second Division. The club adopted the name Birmingham Football Club in 1905, and moved into their new home, St Andrews Ground, matters on the field failed to live up to their surroundings. Birmingham were relegated in 1908, obliged to apply for two years later, and remained in the Second Division until after the First World War. Frank Womacks captaincy and the creativity of Scottish international playmaker Johnny Crosbie contributed much to Birmingham winning their second Division Two title in 1920–21, Womack went on to make 515 appearances, a club record for an outfielder, over a twenty-year career. 1920 also saw the debut of the 19-year-old Joe Bradford, who went on to score a club record 267 goals in 445 games, and won 12 caps for England. In 1931, manager Leslie Knighton led the club to their first FA Cup Final and they were finally relegated in 1939, the last full season before the Football League was abandoned for the duration of the Second World War. The name Birmingham City F. C. was adopted in 1943, under Harry Storer, appointed manager in 1945, the club won the Football League South wartime league and reached the semifinal of the first post-war FA Cup. Two years later won their third Second Division title, conceding only 24 goals in the 42-game season. Storers successor Bob Brocklebank, though unable to stave off relegation in 1950, when Arthur Turner took over as manager in November 1954, he made them play closer to their potential, and a 5–1 win on the last day of the 1954–55 season confirmed them as champions. In their first season back in the First Division, Birmingham achieved their highest league finish of sixth place. They also reached the FA Cup final, losing 3–1 to Manchester City in the game notable for Citys goalkeeper Bert Trautmann playing the last 20 minutes with a bone in his neck
14.
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
15.
Central Coast Mariners FC
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Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia, the Mariners was founded in 2004 as one of the eight original A-League teams. It was the first professional club from the Gosford region to compete in a national competition. The club has appeared in the AFC Champions League four times. The club plays matches at Central Coast Stadium, a 20, 059-seat stadium in Gosford, its training facility. The facility is home to a youth team that competes in the National Youth League. The English Football League Ones Sheffield United has invested in the Central Coast-based club, the Mariners main supporters group is known as the Yellow Army, for the colour of the clubs home kit. The club shares a rivalry with Newcastle Jets, known as the F3 Derby, Matt Simon is the Mariners all-time leading goalscorer as of December 2014, with 45 goals in all competitions. The team record for matches played is held by John Hutchinson, Central Coast Mariners bid for a franchise in the Football Federation Australias new A-League competition was aimed at filling the one spot for a regional team that was designated by the FFA. Media speculation prior to the announcement of the franchises in the new league suggested that the Mariners bid may be due to its new blood. As the only bidder, Central Coast was expected to make it into the league by default. Following a reported signed deal with the FFA, the club signed former Northern Spirit coach Lawrie McKinna as manager and Ian Ferguson, to aid the FFAs goals of building the profile of the sport, the Mariners created formal links with local state league team Central Coast United. On 1 November 2004, after much expectation, the club was announced as one of eight teams to become part of FFAs domestic competition, the decision made Central Coast Mariners the first Gosford-based professional sports team to play in a national competition. At the time of the formation of the new league in 2004, McKinna was keen to sign local player Damien Brown of Bateau Bay, formerly of the Newcastle Jets. In a decision which prompted the player to declare that he was over the moon, Club chairman Lyall Gorman was pleased that a local had become a foundation player and part of Browns role would be to assist with selection of younger players from the local area. Mrjda was one of the most prominent players in the last season of the National Soccer League, scoring the final goal to secure Perth Glorys finals win. The clubs management was reluctant to sign a player outside of the $1.5 million salary cap, stipulating that they would have to contribute on the pitch. The Mariners inaugural season was considered a success by most
16.
Southern Football League
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Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. The structure of the Southern League has changed several times since its formation in 1894, the Premier Division is at step 3 of the National League System, and is a feeder division, mainly to the National League South but also to the National League North. Feeding the Premier Division are two divisions, Division One South & West and Division One Central, which are at step 4 of the NLS. These divisions are in turn fed by various regional leagues, professional football developed more slowly in Southern England than in Northern England. Additionally, a league, the Southern Alliance was founded in 1892, with seven clubs from the region. Nonetheless, another attempt was made to form the Southern League, a competition for both professional and amateur clubs was founded in 1894 under the initiative of Millwall Athletic. Initially only one division was envisaged, but such was the enthusiasm, the sixteen founder members were, 2nd Scots Guards withdrew before the first season started and were replaced by Southampton St Marys. Woolwich Arsenal attempted to add their reserve side to the second division, the Southern League soon became the dominant competition below The Football League in Southern and Central England. By the turn of the century a few of the Southern League sides began to rival the Football League in the FA Cup, Two Southern League clubs, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur reached the final of the FA Cup around the turn of the century. Tottenham Hotspur are the club from below the 2nd level of English football to have won the FA Cup. The champions of the two leagues during this period met in the annual Charity Shield, in 1907, it accepted Bradford Park Avenue, a northern club, as a member, reflecting its senior position at the time. In 1920, virtually the top division of the Southern League was absorbed by the Football League to become that leagues new Third Division. A year later the Third Division was expanded and regionalised, the Third Division clubs from the previous season became the Third Division South, with the addition of the Third Division North. Of the original members, six – Gillingham, Luton Town, Millwall, Reading. For the next six decades, the Football League and Southern League would exchange a number of clubs as a result of the older leagues re-election process. From 1920 onward, the Southern Leagues status as a league was firmly established. In turn, the APL would eventually succeed in becoming a feeder to the Football League, the league lost more of its top clubs in 2004 when the Conference added two regional divisions below the existing National League, the Conference South and Conference North. The first sponsor of the Southern League was Beazer Homes who sponsored the league from 1987–96, the sponsors after Beazer Homes to the present day are, Dr Martens, British Gas, Zamaretto, Evo-Stik, Calor Gas, and Evo-Stik
17.
Wimborne Town F.C.
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Wimborne Town Football Club is a football club based in Wimborne Minster in Dorset, England. They were established in 1878 and won the FA Vase in 1992 and they reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in the 1982–83 season for the first time. For the 2014-15 season, the club is playing in the Southern League Division One South & West, the club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA Chartered Standard club. Wimborne Town Football Club was formed in 1878 and originally catered for football, in 1884, Wimborne Town were one of the founder members of the South Hampshire and Dorset Football Association. In 1887 the club became a member of the Dorset County Football Association. The clubs first piece of Silverware was in 1913 when they won the Dorset Minor Cup for the time in their history. They almost achieved more silverware a year later when they finished as Runners up in the Dorset Junior Challenge Cup. During the 1930s, Wimborne Town won the Dorset League Division Two championship three times, finished runners-up on an occasion and were runners-up in Dorset League Division One in 1939. Wimborne Towns first senior honour came in 1937 by winning the Dorset Senior Amateur Cup, wimbornes fortunes dramatically took off when they won the Dorset League Division One title in 1980–81 without losing a match. Despite missing out the Dorset Combination, they made an impact by just losing out on third spot to local rivals Swanage Town & Herston on goal difference. Wimborne Town entered both the FA Cup & FA Vase for the first time in 1982–83, 1984–85 was Wimborne Town’s most successful season in the Western League when they finished in third place, this time ahead of Swanage on goal difference. In 1987, Wimborne Town joined the Wessex League, which played in up until the 2009–10 season. The club have won the Wessex Championship on three occasions, in 1991–92, 1993–94 and 1999–2000— and finished runners-up in 1992–93, 1996–97 & 2009–10, before 1992, Wimborne Town’s best performances in the FA Vase had brought them to the third round proper on three occasions. However, in 1991–92, the Club enjoyed a run to the Wembley final under joint managers Alex Pike and Nick Jennings, in so doing, Wimborne Town became the first ever Dorset club at any level to contest a Wembley final. During that same season, Wimborne Town also won the Dorset Senior Challenge Cup and they won the Wessex League Cup in 1993–94 becoming the first club to achieve the league and cup double. At the end of the 2009–10 season, after years of ground grading issues and they have since remained in the Southern League Division One South & West. In 2011–12, they reached the final of the Dorset Senior Cup, in 2014-15, Wimborne had reached its highest position with the current English football league pyramid system and achieved its highest run in the 1st Round of the FA Trophy. In January 2016, the club unveiled Harry Redknapp as a director, Wimborne Town play their games at the W+S Stadium, Cowgrove Road, Wimborne BH21 4EL
18.
UEFA Champions League
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The UEFA Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations and contested by top-division European clubs. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, the UEFA Champions League final is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide. The final of the 2012–13 tournament had the highest TV ratings to date, the pre-1992 competition was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the format was expanded, incorporating a round-robin group stage to include clubs that finished runner-up of some nations top-level league. Clubs that finish next-in-line in each top level league, having not qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition. In its present format, the UEFA Champions League begins in mid-July with three qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams enter the stage, joining 22 other teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams, the eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competitions history, having won the tournament 11 times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, followed by England, the competition has been won by 22 different clubs,12 of which have won it more than once. Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins, Milan were the last holders to defend their title. The reigning champions are Real Madrid, who secured their title in the competition after defeating Atlético Madrid on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the 2016 final. The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs. In 1930, the Coupe des Nations, the first attempt to create a cup for national clubs of Europe, was played and organised by Swiss club Servette. Held in Geneva, it brought together ten champions from across the continent, the tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary. Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949 and it was conceived in Paris in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs Cup. The first edition of the European Cup took place during the 1955–56 season, the first European Cup match took place on 4 September 1955, and ended in a 3–3 draw between Sporting CP and Partizan. The first goal in European Cup history was scored by João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP, the inaugural final took place at the Parc des Princes between Stade de Reims and Real Madrid
19.
Jamie Redknapp
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Jamie Frank Redknapp is an English retired professional footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is now a pundit at Sky Sports and a sports columnist at the Daily Mail. He also gained 17 England caps between 1995 and 1999 and his 11 years at Liverpool were the most prolific, playing more than 237 league games for the club and being involved in winning the 1995 Football League Cup Final. In a career that was blighted by a succession of injuries and he married the pop singer Louise in 1998. Redknapp comes from a footballing family. His father is the football manager Harry Redknapp and he is also a cousin of Frank Lampard, and a nephew of former West Ham United coach Frank Lampard Senior. He went on to play for Liverpool where Redknapp will be remembered for his best performances, after that Redknapp returned and played two and a half seasons for Tottenham Hotspur then finally joined Southampton, where he played under his father for a second time. Redknapp was also capped 17 times by England, scoring one goal and he made 13 appearances for the club before attracting the attention of Liverpool, who signed him on 15 January 1991. Kenny Dalglish had paid £350,000 for Redknapp, who was still only 17 at the time and he was one of the most expensively signed teenagers in English football around this time. Redknapps first goal for Liverpool came in his debut on 7 December 1991 when he featured as a 63rd-minute substitute for Jan Mølby in a 1–1 draw with Southampton at the Dell. Following Dalglishs departure, Redknapp was part of a transitional Liverpool team under Graeme Souness, on the pitch, Redknapp established himself as a key midfielder during the time Roy Evans managed at Anfield. Redknapp became vice- and then club captain by 1999–2000 following the departures of John Barnes, Steve McManaman. As a result, Redknapp was unable to participate in the whole of the cup treble campaign which yielded the FA Cup, League Cup. Although injured, as the captain he was called up by his teammates to receive the FA Cup with vice-captain Robbie Fowler at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. He made his comeback from injury during the tour before the 2001–02 season. Redknapps return did not last long as he was struck by injury. He had played 308 times for the Reds and scored 41 goals, becoming a favourite amongst Liverpool fans, Redknapp was allowed to join Glenn Hoddles Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer on 18 April 2002 with just a couple of fixtures remaining of the 2001–02 season. He made his debut at the beginning of the campaign when he played on 17 August 2002 in the 2–2 league draw with his former club Liverpools rival Everton at Goodison Park
20.
Frank Lampard
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Frank James Lampard OBE is an English former professional footballer and childrens writer. Lampard began his career at West Ham United, for whom his father Frank Lampard and he secured a place in the first team by the 1997–98 season, and the following year helped the team finish fifth in the Premier League, their highest-ever Premier League placing. In 2001, he moved to rival London club Chelsea for £11 million, in 2014, he was released by Chelsea after 13 years of service. Lampard then joined New York City FC on a deal, in preparation for the clubs Major League Soccer debut in 2015, as a free transfer. On 31 December 2014, however, BBC Sports David Ornstein revealed Lampard is under contract to Manchester City, from his debut, Lampard was ever-present in the Chelsea first team and made 164 consecutive Premier League appearances, a record for an outfield player. He signed a new contract in 2008, becoming the highest-paid Premier League footballer at that time and he won a second FA Cup winners medal in 2009, scoring the winning goal in the final. In the 2009–10 season, Lampard helped Chelsea secure their first league and FA Cup Double, in 2012, Lampard captained Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League success and a year later to their first UEFA Europa League title. He was released by the club after the 2013–14 season, a three-time Chelsea Player of the Year, Lampard is the clubs all-time top goalscorer with 211 goals in all competitions. Lampard is one of seven players, and the only midfielder and he is second in the Premier Leagues all-time assists table, behind Ryan Giggs. In 2005, Lampard was voted FWA Footballer of the Year and was runner-up in both the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon dOr, in 2010, he received the FWA Tribute Award. He has won 13 trophies in his career, internationally, Lampard was capped 106 times by England since his debut in October 1999, and scored 29 international goals. He was voted England Player of the Year for two years in 2004 and 2005. He played in Euro 2004, where he was named in the team of the tournament after scoring three goals in four games and he was top scorer for England in their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign with five goals, and played at three World Cups. He is Englands most prolific penalty taker with nine goals, surpassing the record holders, Ron Flowers. Since December 2015, he has married to television presenter Christine Bleakley. Lampard currently serves as a captain on the ITV sport panel show Play to the Whistle. Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his fathers club, joining the youth team in 1994, his schoolboy hero being West Ham striker. Lampard joined West Ham when his father was the assistant coach, entering as an apprentice in the team in 1994
21.
Cheshunt
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Cheshunt /ˈtʃɛzənt/ is a town in the metropolitan area of London, the Greater London Urban Area and the Borough of Broxbourne, the most southeasterly borough in the county of Hertfordshire. It is north of central London by 12 miles and has a population of around 52,000 according to the United Kingdoms 2001 Census, the Prime Meridian passes to the east of Cheshunt. This is commemorated in the arms of the former Cheshunt urban district council, Cheshunt was a settlement on Ermine Street, the main Roman road leading north from London. This origin was investigated by the archaeology programme Time Team. Before the Norman Conquest, the manor of Cheshunt was held by Eddeva the Fair, the parish church of St Mary the Virgin was first recorded in a charter of 1146, but was entirely rebuilt between 1418 and 1448 with a three-stage tower topped by an octagonal turret. As Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth I lived at Cheshunt in the care of Sir Anthony Denny, Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, died here in 1712. In 1825, Cheshunt was also the location of the Cheshunt Railway, the towns Bury Green neighbourhood was once the home of singer Cliff Richard. Lotus Cars as well as the nationally famous Debenhams were also founded in Cheshunt, and the headquarters of Tesco, in 2002, Cheshunt hosted the only officially licensed European BotCon convention to date. Services in Cheshunt include the Brookfield Centre, which includes Next, Boots, Argos, River Island and Marks & Spencer stores, there is a Marriott Hotel nearby, and the town centre includes a wide variety of smaller shops. Being located in the Lea Valley, Cheshunt has access to the Lee Valley Park, the park is accessible at many points, one being extremely close to the towns railway station at Windmill Lane. The B198 which runs near the site has been renamed Lieutenant Ellis Way, after the pilot. One of the firemen who attended the scene secured funding in 2010 for a permanent memorial at the scene, up until 2004, Temple Bar stood in Theobalds Park, having been moved from London at the turn of the 19th century. The gateway has since been re-erected in London at Paternoster Square on the side of St Pauls Cathedral. The park received a Green Flag award in 2013, cheshunts best-known employer is Tesco, whose head office has been in Cheshunt for many years. A small store has been in the centre for many years and is still open today. In 1983 a new out-of-town Tesco store located to the north of the opened, named Brookfield Farm. It later expanded, and a branch of Marks & Spencer built next door, on 8 January 2015, Tesco announced among other major cost cutting measures that its headquarters were to move from Cheshunt to Welwyn Garden City. In 1959, Colin Chapman moved his fledgling Lotus group of companies, including Lotus Cars and Team Lotus, racing cars from here won the first two of its seven constructor championships in before moving to Hethel, Norfolk, in 1966
22.
Bill Nicholson (footballer)
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William Edward Bill Nicholson OBE was an English football player, coach, manager and scout who had a 36-year association with Tottenham Hotspur. Born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, the eighth of nine children and he worked briefly in a laundry after leaving school, but at the age of 16 he was invited to a trial at Tottenham Hotspur, where he arrived on 16 March 1936. After a months trial, he was taken on as a boy at £2 a week. He signed as a professional at the age of 18. As a professional footballer he was sent on a Physical Education course and was made a sergeant-instructor, during the Second World War he was a guest player for several clubs including Newcastle United where he played on 19 occasions. Although the war probably cost him half his career, he did not regret it as his experiences taught him the man-management skills which were to have such a great effect later in his career. In 1946 Nicholson returned to the Spurs first team, playing at centre half for two seasons, then moving to right half for a six years. He was a part of the legendary push and run Tottenham team which won the league championship in the 1950–51 season. This proved to be his only international appearance due to injuries, the dominance of Billy Wright, Nicholson is quoted as saying My duty is to get fit for Tottenham. Well, they pay my wages, dont they, of his only appearance he said Stan Pearson nodded it back and I ran on to let go a first time shot which, from the moment I hit it, I knew was going in. But for the game they brought back Billy Wright and I accepted that because he was the better player. Nicholson is the player to have scored for England with his first touch in international football. Nicholson took a Football Association coaching course and joined the staff at Tottenham upon his retirement as a player. He quickly rose through the ranks of the staff to become first team coach in 1955. He subsequently assisted England manager Walter Winterbottom at the 1958 FIFA World Cup, on 11 October 1958, Nicholson was called to the Tottenham boardroom and appointed manager of the club in succession to Jimmy Anderson. At the time the club was sixth from the bottom of the First Division and that afternoon, in the clubs first game under Nicholsons management, Tottenham Hotspur beat Everton 10–4 at White Hart Lane. This represented a new record, surpassed only by their 13–2 FA Cup replay win over Crewe Alexandra in the 1959–60 season. Less than two years later Spurs wrote their place in the books when they won the Football League championship and the FA Cup in the 1960–61 season
23.
Dave Mackay
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David Craig Mackay was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the Double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961. He also represented Scotland 22 times, and was selected for their 1958 FIFA World Cup squad and he was described, by Tottenham Hotspur, as one of their greatest players. His father was a printer who worked for The Scotsman newspaper, as a young footballer, he was a Scottish Schoolboy internationalist. Davie McLeans sudden death on 14 February 1951 saw Tommy Walker promoted to the position of manager, walkers reign was to prove the most successful period in the clubs history. To this established core Walker added the name of Dave Mackay. Mackay supported Hearts as a boy and had been at Tynecastle as a schoolboy before being signing as a professional in 1952, cummings pairing with Mackay at wing half was to become the nucleus of the team in the middle of the pitch. Mackay was a talented all round player of ferocious tackling, endless running. Cummings Iron Man nickname says much of his fearless determination, despite his commitment he retained control of his temper and was never booked in his career. Cumming was the player to collect medals for all seven of the trophies Hearts won under Walker. It was either a good game or an excellent game. Both went on to become full Scotland internationalists while playing for Hearts, in 1953–54, Wardhaugh became the A Divisions top scorer with 27 goals as Hearts appeared set to win the League championship. However in the Scottish Cup quarter final 3-0 defeat to Aberdeen, Parker broke his jaw, Conn injured his back, to add to this was Bauld was sidelined for weeks with a troublesome back injury. A stuttering end to their season saw Celtic overtake them, the young Mackay was given his first team debut in November of that 1953-54 season. The team was boosted by the signing of Ian Crawford in August 1954, Mackay was given his extended place in the team in the 1954-55 season with Glidden now playing at centre half. They promptly became a trophy winning force lifting the first of seven trophies over nine seasons between 1954 and 1963, in 1954–55 they won their first trophy since 1906,48 years before. They beat Motherwell 4–2 in the 1954 Scottish League Cup Final, Bauld scored three and Wardhaugh scored one in the final giving the team their break through trophy. Hearts gained some recompense against Celtic from the season before by beating them home, after signing Alex Young and Bobby Kirk, Walker’s side proceeded to win the 1955–56 Scottish Cup
24.
Danny Blanchflower
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Robert Dennis Danny Blanchflower was a former Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager, and journalist who captained Tottenham Hotspur during its double-winning season of 1961. He was ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times in 2009 and he is perhaps best known for his quote, The game is about glory. Its about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and he played as a right half and was known for his accurate passing and ability to dictate the tempo of the game. Blanchflower was born on 10 February 1926 in the Bloomfield district of Belfast and his mother had played as a centre-forward on a womens football team. He was educated at Ravenscroft public elementary school and was awarded a scholarship to Belfast College of Technology and he left early to become an apprentice electrician at Gallahers cigarette factory in Belfast. He also joined the Air Raid Precautions and in 1943 lied about his age to join the RAF, as a trainee navigator he was sent on a course to St Andrews University and in the spring of 1945 was posted to Canada for further training. By 1946, aged 20, he was back in Belfast, back at Gallahers, while at St Andrews Blanchflower played for the University College Dundee football team which was coached by former Celtic, Dundee United and Scotland trainer Jack Qusklay. Blanchflower signed for Glentoran in 1946, before crossing the Irish Sea and signing for Barnsley for £6000 in 1949 and he transferred from Barnsley to Aston Villa for a fee of £15,000, making his debut in March 1951. He made 155 senior appearances for Villa, before being sold during the 1954–55 season, in 1954 Blanchflower was bought by Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £30,000, and during his ten years at White Hart Lane he made 337 League appearances, and 382 total appearances. The highlight of his time at Spurs came with the 1960–61 season, with Blanchflower as captain Spurs won their first 11 games, a record for the top flight of English football and eventually won the league by 8 points. They then beat Leicester City in the final of the FA Cup to become the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double, Blanchflower was voted FWA Footballer of the Year in 1958 and 1961. In 1962 he helped Spurs win the FA Cup, scoring a penalty in the final against Burnley, in 1963 he captained his side to victory over Atlético Madrid in the final of the European Cup Winners Cup. During his time with Spurs he also had a spell with Toronto City, alongside fellow Football League players Stanley Matthews. Making his debut in 1949, he earned 56 caps for Northern Ireland and he was the first Irishman to achieve a half century of caps when he played against Wales in 1962. He finally announced his retirement as a player of 5 April 1964 at the age of 38, having played nearly 400 games in all competitions for Spurs and captained them to four major trophies. Following his retirement as a player, Blanchflower coached at Spurs for a number of years, when Nicholson resigned from the club in 1974 however, Blanchflower found himself being passed over in favour of Terry Neill, and subsequently left the club himself. He became manager of Northern Ireland for a spell in 1978. However, he won three of his 15 games in charge and he left them in September 1979
25.
Bobby Moore
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Robert Frederick Chelsea Bobby Moore OBE was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, Moore is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. He won a total of 108 caps for the England team and this record was later broken by 125-cap goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Moores total of 108 caps continued as a record for players until 28 March 2009. Moore was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a player, the same year he was named in the BBCs list of the 100 Greatest Britons. Moore was born in Barking, Essex and he attended Westbury Primary School and Tom Hood School, Leytonstone, playing football for both schools. In 1956, Moore joined West Ham United as a player and, after advancing through their youth set-up, in putting on the number six shirt, he replaced his mentor Malcolm Allison, who was suffering from tuberculosis. Allison never played another first team game for West Ham nor indeed any other First Division game as Moore became a regular. Indeed, Moores ability to head the ball or keep up with the pace was average at best, Bobby Moore also played county cricket for the Essex youth team alongside fellow West Ham player Geoff Hurst. In 1960, Moore earned a call up to the England Under-23 squad, Moore was uncapped as he flew to South America with the rest of the squad, but made his début on 20 May 1962 in Englands final pre-tournament friendly – a 4–0 win over Peru in Lima. Also débuting that day was Tottenham Hotspur defender Maurice Norman, on 29 May 1963, 22-year-old Moore captained his country for the first time in just his 12th appearance after the retirement of Johnny Haynes and an injury to his successor, Jimmy Armfield. He was the youngest man ever to captain England at the highest level,1964 turned out to be quite an eventful year for Moore. As well as gaining the England captaincy, he lifted the FA Cup as West Ham defeated Preston North End 3–2 in the final at Wembley, on a personal level, Moore also was successfully treated for testicular cancer and was named the Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year. The FA Cup success would become the first of three successful Wembley finals in as many years for Moore, in 1965, he lifted the European Cup Winners Cup after West Ham defeated 1860 Munich 2–0 in the final with both goals coming from Alan Sealey. By now he was the first choice captain for England with 30 caps,1966 had a mixed start for Moore. For Moore, who had scored in the first leg, and his West Ham team-mates Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, Moore scored his second and ultimately final England goal in a friendly against Norway, two weeks before the World Cup would begin. On the verge of his greatest triumph, details were released to the press in early 1966 that Moore wanted to leave West Ham
26.
Tom Finney
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Finney was President of Kendal Town. Finney was born at home in Preston on a next to the Deepdale stadium to Margaret. He was frail and somewhat sickly in his youth and stood only 4 ft 9 in at the age of fourteen. When he was offered the opportunity to sign for Preston North End and his mother died in 1927, aged 32. Finney was married to Elsie from 1945 until her death in 2004 and she suffered from Alzheimers disease, which led Finney to be a strong supporter of the Alzheimers Society. They had two children, a son Brian and a daughter Barbara, soon after Finney signed, however, the Second World War began and normal football was suspended, though Finney started to achieve some recognition during wartime tournaments. In December 1942, he made a guest appearance for Southampton in a 3–1 defeat by Arsenal at The Dell, local leave in North Africa allowed him to play in army teams against local opposition, and on one occasion he played against the future actor Omar Sharif. Once normal competition was restored, Finney made his debut for Preston in August 1946, post-war demand for plumbers ensured that he had a second income to supplement the £14 he received as a footballer and was nicknamed The Preston Plumber. Such was his influence on the team that Preston were, rather unfairly, known to some as the Plumber and his 10 drips. Twenty-eight days after his first Football League appearance for Preston, and aged 24, Finney made his England debut against Northern Ireland in Belfast, Finney referred to this as his proudest day as a footballer. He went on to win 76 caps and score 30 goals in an England career that spanned 13 years, in 1952, Prestons chairman Nat Buck rejected an offer for Finney worth £10,000 over two years from Italian club Palermo, and Finney remained a one-club player. He was voted Footballer of the Year in 1953–54, the season of his appearance in the FA Cup Final where Preston lost 3–2 to West Bromwich Albion. He was Footballer of the Year again in 1956–57, becoming the first player to win this award more than once, Finney revealed in his autobiography that he was not fully match fit for the 1954 FA Cup Final, and therefore did not give his best performance. Finney formed a partnership with Tommy Thompson in the 1950s. In the 1956–57 season they scored 57 goals altogether, in 1957–58 their combined tally was 60 goals, in June 1958, he scored his 29th international goal, against the Soviet Union to become joint England all-time top-scorer, sharing the record with Vivian Woodward and Nat Lofthouse. In October the same year, he netted his 30th goal, against Northern Ireland, two weeks later, Lofthouse equalled his tally. Both were surpassed by Bobby Charlton in October 1963, Finneys final appearance for England came in October 1958, in a 5–0 win over the Soviet Union at Wembley. Finney said, Youve had some bad luck son, and Im not going to take you on, I want you to get through todays game, Finney retired from Preston North End in 1960, only when forced out with a persistent groin injury
27.
Arsenal F.C.
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Arsenal Football Club is a professional football club based in Highbury, London, that plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 League titles,12 FA Cups, Arsenal was the first club from the South of England to join The Football League, in 1893. They entered the First Division in 1904, and have accumulated the second most points. Relegated only once, in 1913, they continue the longest streak in the top division, in the 1930s, Arsenal won five League Championships and two FA Cups, and another FA Cup and two Championships after the war. In 1970–71, they won their first League and FA Cup Double, between 1989 and 2005, they won five League titles and five FA Cups, including two more Doubles. They completed the 20th century with the highest average league position, Herbert Chapman won Arsenals first national trophies, but died prematurely. He helped introduce the WM formation, floodlights, and shirt numbers, Arsène Wenger has been the longest-serving manager and has won the most trophies. His teams set several English records, the longest win streak, the longest unbeaten run, in 1886, Woolwich munitions workers founded the club as Dial Square. In 1913, the crossed the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. They became Tottenham Hotspurs nearest club, commencing the North London derby, in 2006, they moved down the road to the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal earned €435. 5m in 2014–15, with the Emirates Stadium generating the highest revenue in world football, based on social media activity from 2014–15, Arsenals fanbase is the fifth largest in the world. In 2016, Forbes estimated the club was the second most valuable in England, on 1 December 1886, munitions workers in Woolwich, now South East London, formed Arsenal as Dial Square, with David Danskin as their first captain. Named after the heart of the Royal Arsenal complex, they took the name of the complex a month later. Royal Arsenal F. C. s first home was Plumstead Common, though spent most of their time in South East London playing on the other side of Plumstead. Royal Arsenal won Arsenals first trophies in 1890 and 1891, Royal Arsenal renamed themselves for a second time upon becoming a limited liability company in 1893. They registered their new name, Woolwich Arsenal, with The Football League when the club ascended later that year, Woolwich Arsenal was the first southern member of The Football League, starting out in the Second Division and winning promotion to the First Division in 1904. Falling attendances, due to financial difficulties among the munitions workers, businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall took the club over, and sought to move them elsewhere. In 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Woolwich Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury and this saw their third change of name, the following year, they reduced Woolwich Arsenal to simply The Arsenal
28.
Sunderland A.F.C.
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Sunderland Association Football Club is a professional football club based in the North East city of Sunderland in the larger metropolitan area of Tyne and Wear. The club is playing in the Premier League, the top league of English football. Since its formation in 1879, the club has won six top-flight First Division titles, a total bettered by five other clubs. The club has won the FA Cup twice and been runners-up twice, as well as winning the FA Community Shield in 1936. Sunderland have also been Football League Cup finalists in 1985 and 2014, Sunderland won their first FA Cup in 1937 with a 3–1 victory over Preston North End, and remained in the top league for 68 successive seasons until they were relegated for the first time in 1958. Sunderlands most notable trophy after the Second World War was their second FA Cup in 1973, the team has won the second tier title five times in that period and the third tier title once. Sunderland play their games at the 49, 000-capacity all-seater Stadium of Light having moved from Roker Park in 1997. The original ground capacity was 42,000 which was increased to 49,000 following expansion in 2000, Sunderland have a long-standing rivalry with their neighbouring club Newcastle United, with whom they have contested the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898. Founded 17 October 1879 as Sunderland and District Teachers A. F. C. by schoolmaster James Allan and they replaced Stoke, who had failed to be re-elected, becoming the first new club to join the league since its inauguration in 1888. During the late 19th century, they were declared the Team of All Talents by William McGregor, Sunderland won the league championship in the 1891–92 season, one season after joining The Football League. The clubs 42 points were five clear of nearest rivals Preston North End, Sunderland successfully defended the title the following season, aided by centre forward Johnny Campbell, who broke the 30-goal mark for the second time in consecutive seasons. In the process, they became the first team to score 100 goals in a season, a feat not matched until 1919–20, Sunderland came close to winning a third successive league championship in the 1893–94 season, finishing second behind Aston Villa. However, they regained the title in the 1894–95 season, ending the five points ahead of Everton. After winning the English League Championship, Sunderland played against Heart of Midlothian, Sunderland won the game 5–3 and were announced Champions of the world. Sunderland came close to winning another title in the 1897–98 season. That season was their last at Newcastle Road, as moved to Roker Park the following season. After coming second in 1900–01, the club won their league title in the 1901–02 season. In 1904, Sunderlands management was embroiled in a payment scandal involving player Andrew McCombie, the club was said to have given the player £100 to help him start his own business, on the understanding that he would repay the money after his benefit game
29.
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
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The club was formed in 1878 and has played at its home ground, The Hawthorns, since 1900. Albion were one of the members of the Football League in 1888 and have spent the majority of their existence in the top tier of English football. They have been champions of England once, in 1919–20 and have been runners-up twice but they have had success in the FA Cup. The first came in 1888, the year the league was founded, and they also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966. The clubs longest consecutive period in the top division spanned twenty-four years between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 they spent their longest ever spell out of the top division and they currently play in the Premier League. The team has played in blue and white stripes for most of the clubs history. The club was founded as West Bromwich Strollers in 1878 by workers from George Salters Spring Works in West Bromwich, the club joined the Birmingham & District Football Association in 1881 and became eligible for their first competition, the Birmingham Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, beating several longer-established clubs on the way, in 1883, Albion won their first trophy, the Staffordshire Cup. Albion joined the Football Association in the year, this enabled them to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883–84 season. In 1885 the club turned professional, and in 1886 they reached the FA Cup final for the first time and they reached the final again in 1887, but lost 2–0 to Aston Villa. In 1888 the team won the trophy for the first time, as FA Cup winners, they qualified to play in a Football World Championship game against Scottish Cup winners Renton, which ended in a 4–1 defeat. Thus when the Football League started later that year, Albion became one of the founder members. Albions second FA Cup success came in 1892, beating Aston Villa 3–0 and they met Villa again in the 1895 final, but lost 1–0. The team suffered relegation to Division Two in 1900–01, their first season at The Hawthorns and they were promoted as champions the following season but relegated again in 1903–04. The club won the Division Two championship once more in 1910–11, and the season reached another FA Cup Final. Albion won the Football League title in 1919–20 for the time in their history following the end of World War I. The team finished as Division One runners-up in 1924–25, narrowly losing out to Huddersfield Town, in 1930–31, they won promotion as well as the FA Cup, beating Birmingham 2–1 in the final. The Double of winning the FA Cup and promotion has not been achieved before or since, Albion reached the final again in 1935, losing to Sheffield Wednesday, but were relegated three years later
30.
Burnley F.C.
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Burnley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed The Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, Burnley have been Football League Champions twice, in 1920–21 and 1959–60, have won the FA Cup once, in 1914, and have won the Community Shield twice, in 1960 and 1973. The Clarets also reached the 1961 quarter-finals of the European Cup and they are one of only three teams to have won all top four professional divisions of English football, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Preston North End. The club colours of claret and blue were adopted in 1910 in tribute to the dominant club of English football at the time and their home ground since 1883 has been Turf Moor and their current manager is Sean Dyche. During May 1882, Burnley Rovers Football Club decided to shift their allegiance from rugby union to football, in 1883 the club moved to Turf Moor and remain there, only their Lancashire rivals Preston North End having occupied the same ground continuously for longer. Burnley first appeared in the FA Cup in 1885–86 but were ignominiously beaten 11–0 when eligibility restrictions meant that their side had to be fielded against Darwen. On 13 October 1886, Turf Moor became the first ground to be visited by a member of a Royal Family, when it was decided to found the Football League for the 1888–89 season, Burnley were among the 12 founders of that competition. William Tait of Burnley scored the first ever hat-trick in League football and that season did, however, present Burnley with their first honours, winning the Lancashire Cup with a 2–0 final victory over Blackburn Rovers. Before Burnley won a trophy again, they were relegated to the Second Division in 1896–97 and they responded to this by winning promotion the next season, losing only 2 of their 30 matches along the way before gaining promotion through a play-off series then known as Test Matches. Burnley and Stoke City both entered the last match, to be played between the two teams, needing a draw for promotion. A 0–0 draw ensued, reportedly The Match without a shot at goal, Burnley needed a win against Forest in the last match of the season to escape relegation. This is the earliest recorded case of match fixing in football, Burnley changed their colours from green to the claret and sky blue of Aston Villa, the most successful club in England at the time, for the 1910–11 season. The 1912–13 season saw them win promotion to the First Division once more, as well as reaching the FA Cup semi-final, only to lose to Sunderland. The next season was one of consolidation in the top flight, but more importantly their first major honour and this cup final was historic in that King George V became the first reigning monarch to present the cup to the winning captain. The winning Burnley team also got special medals with English Cup Winners written on it instead of the usual FA Cup Winners inscription. World War I impacted the 1914–15 season, in which Burnley finished 4th in the First Division, before English football reorganised itself, Burnley struggled in English footballs second tier, narrowly avoiding a further relegation in 1931–32 by only two points. The years through to the outbreak of the Second World War were characterised by uninspiring league finishes, broken only by an FA Cup semi-final appearance in 1934–35 and the arrival of Tommy Lawton. Burnley participated in the football leagues that continued throughout the war
31.
FA Cup
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The FA Cup, known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annual knockout association football competition in mens domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest association football competition in the world and it is organised by and named after The Football Association. For sponsorship reasons, from 2015 through to 2018 it is known as The Emirates FA Cup. A concurrent womens tournament is held, the FA Womens Cup. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12, the tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. The last entrants are the Premier League and Championship clubs, into the draw for the Third Round Proper, in the modern era, only one non-league team has ever reached the quarter finals, and teams below Level 2 have never reached the final. As a result, as well as who wins, significant focus is given to those minnows who progress furthest, especially if they achieve an unlikely giant-killing victory. Winners receive the FA Cup trophy, of which there have two designs and five actual cups, the latest is a 2014 replica of the second design. Winners also qualify for European football and a place in the FA Community Shield match, in 1863, the newly founded Football Association published the Laws of the Game of Association Football, unifying the various different rules in use before then. On 20 July 1871, in the offices of The Sportsman newspaper, the inaugural FA Cup tournament kicked off in November 1871. After thirteen games in all, Wanderers were crowned the winners in the final, Wanderers retained the trophy the following year. The modern cup was beginning to be established by the 1888–89 season, following the 1914–15 edition, the competition was suspended due to the First World War, and did not resume until 1919–20. The 1922–23 competition saw the first final to be played in the newly opened Wembley Stadium, due to the outbreak of World War II, the competition was not played between the 1938–39 and 1945–46 editions. Having previously featured replays, the modern day practice of ensuring the semi-final and final matches finish on the day, was introduced from 2000 onwards. Redevelopment of Wembley saw the final played outside of England for the first time, the final returned to Wembley in 2007, followed by the semi-finals from 2008. The competition is open to any club down to Level 10 of the English football league system which meets the eligibility criteria, all clubs in the top four levels are automatically eligible. Clubs in the six levels are also eligible provided they have played in either the FA Cup. Newly formed clubs, such as F. C. United of Manchester in 2005–06 and also 2006–07, all clubs entering the competition must also have a suitable stadium
32.
EFL Cup
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The EFL Cup, or simply the League Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in mens domestic English football. First held in 1960–61 as the Football League Cup, it is one of the three top domestic competitions in England, alongside the Premier League and FA Cup. It concludes in February, long before the two, which end in May. It was introduced by the league as a response to the popularity of European football. It also took advantage of the roll-out of floodlights, allowing the fixtures to be played as midweek evening games, with the renaming of the Football League as the English Football League in 2016, the tournament was rebranded as the EFL Cup from the 2016–17 season onwards. The tournament is played over seven rounds, with single leg ties throughout, the final is held at Wembley Stadium, it is the only tie in the competition played at a neutral venue and on a weekend. Entrants are seeded in the rounds, and a system of byes based on league level ensures higher ranked teams enter in later rounds. Winners receive the EFL Cup, of which there have been three designs, the current one also being the original, the current holders are Manchester United, who beat Southampton 3–2 in the 2017 final to win their fifth League Cup. Some clubs have fielded a weaker side in the competition. Many of the top English sides, Arsenal and Manchester United in particular, have used the competition to give young players valuable big-game experience. However, in 2010, in response to Arsène Wengers claim that a League Cup win would not end his trophy drought, Alex Ferguson described the trophy as a pot worth winning. The original idea for a League Cup came from Stanley Rous who saw the competition as a consolation for clubs who had already knocked out of the FA Cup. However it was not Rous who came to implement it, the re-organisation of the league was not immediately forthcoming, however, the cup competition was introduced regardless. The trophy was paid for personally by Football League President Joe Richards, Richards was proud of the competition, Richards described the competitions formation as an interim step on the way to the leagues re-organisation. I hope the Press will not immediately assume that the League is going to fall out with the F. A. or anybody else, the time has come for our voice to be heard in every problem which affects the professional game. The League Cup competition was established at a time when match day attendances were dwindling, the league had lost 1 million spectators compared to the previous season. It was established at a time when tensions between the Football League and the Football Association were high, the biggest disagreement was how revenue was shared between the clubs. During the late 1950s, the majority of senior English clubs equipped their grounds with floodlights and this opened up the opportunity to exploit weekday evenings throughout the winter
33.
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
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Bolton Wanderers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in League One, the tier of the English football league system. The club was formed as Christ Church Football Club in 1874, founder members of the Football League in 1888, Bolton have spent the highest number of seasons of any club in the top flight without winning the title. The closest they have come to the title is third in the First Division on three occasions, as of 2015, the club has spent more seasons in the top division than any other club outside the current Premier League. Bolton were a successful cup side in the 1920s, winning the FA Cup three times, the club won the cup a fourth time in 1958. A leaner spell followed, reaching a nadir in 1987 when the club spent a season in the Fourth Division, the club regained top-flight status in 1995 after a 15-year absence. In a period of success, the club qualified for the UEFA Cup twice, reaching the last 32 in 2005–06. The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895, on 9 March 1946, The Burnden Park disaster occurred, which was a human crush in which 33 Bolton fans lost their lives. In 1997 it moved out of town to the Reebok Stadium, the stadium was renamed the Macron Stadium in July 2014, to reflect the clubs new deal with Italian sportswear company Macron. The club was founded by the Reverend Joseph Farrall Wright, Perpetual curate of Christ Church Bolton and Thomas Ogden, the schoolmaster at the adjacent church school in 1874 as Christ Church F. C. It was initially run from the church of the name on Deane Road. The club left the following a dispute with the vicar. The name was chosen as the club initially had a lot of difficulty finding a permanent ground to play on, 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, 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, a decade later they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904. In this period Bolton equalled their record finish of third twice, in 1920–21 and 1924–25, on 28 April 1923, Bolton won their first major trophy in their third final, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first ever Wembley FA Cup final. The match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters, boltons centre-forward, David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley Stadium. Driven by long-term players Joe Smith in attack, Ted Vizard and Billy Butler on the wings, in 1928 the club faced financial difficulties and so was forced to sell David Jack to Arsenal to raise funds
34.
Leeds United F.C.
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Leeds United Football Club is a professional association football club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1919 following the disbanding of Leeds City F. C. by the Football League and they play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won three First Division league titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup, the club has also won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups. The majority of the honours were won under the management of Don Revie in the 1960s and 1970s, Leeds lost the 1975 European Cup Final against Bayern Munich and reached the semi-finals of the tournaments successor, the Champions League, in 2001. Leeds play in all-white kits, leading to their nickname being the whites, the clubs badge features the White Rose of York together with the monogram LUFC. The clubs anthem is Marching On Together, Leeds Uniteds predecessor team, Leeds City, was formed in 1904, and were elected League members in 1905. At first they found it hard to draw big crowds to Elland Road, in 1919, Leeds United was formed and they received an invitation to enter the Midland League, being voted into it on 31 October, taking the place vacated by Leeds City Reserves. Following Leeds Citys disbanding, Yorkshire Amateurs bought their stadium Elland Road, Yorkshire Amateurs offered to make way for the new team under the management of former player Dick Ray. The chairman of Huddersfield Town, Hilton Crowther loaned Leeds United £35,000 and he brought in Barnsleys manager Arthur Fairclough and on 26 February 1920, Dick Ray stepped down to become Faircloughs assistant. On 31 May 1920, Leeds United were elected to the Football League, over the following few years, they consolidated their position in the Second Division and in 1924 won the title and with it promotion to the First Division. They failed to establish themselves and were relegated in 1926–27, after their relegation, Fairclough resigned, which paved the way for Ray to return as manager. In the years up until the start of World War II Leeds were twice relegated, on 5 March 1935, Ray resigned and was replaced by Billy Hampson, who remained in charge for 12 years. In the 1946–47 season after the war, Leeds were relegated again, after this season, Hampson resigned and was replaced in April 1947 by Willis Edwards. In 1948, Sam Bolton replaced Ernest Pullan as the chairman of Leeds United, Edwards was moved to assistant manager in April 1948 after just one year as manager. He was replaced by Major Frank Buckley, Leeds remained in the Second Division until 1955–56, when they once again won promotion to the First Division, inspired by John Charles. Charles was hungry for success at the highest level, and manager Raich Carter was unable to convince him that Leeds could satisfy his ambitions, Charles was sold to Juventus for a then world record of £65,000. The loss of Charles resulted in Leeds being relegated to the Second Division in the 1959–60 season, in March 1961, the club appointed former player Don Revie as manager, following the resignation of Jack Taylor. His stewardship began in adverse circumstances, the club was in financial difficulty, Revie implemented a youth policy and a change of kit colour to an all-white strip in the style of Real Madrid, and Leeds soon won promotion to the First Division in 1963–64
35.
Billy Bremner
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William John Bremner was a Scottish professional footballer and manager known for his strength, skills and compact constitution. A midfielder, he played for Leeds United from 1959 to 1976, and captained the side during this time, with the club he won the First Division, Second Division, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, FA Cup, League Cup, and Charity Shield. The club also finished second in numerous competitions, doing so in the five times and ending as runners-up in seven cup finals. He was also named as the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1970 and was listed on the PFA Team of the Year in 1973–74 and he has since been voted Leeds Uniteds greatest player of all time and has a statue outside the South East corner of Elland Road. He has also included in the Football League 100 Legends and is a member of both the English Football Hall of Fame and Scottish Football Hall of Fame. He spent 1976 to 1978 at Hull City, before being appointed player-manager at Doncaster Rovers in November 1978. He spent seven years at the helm, guiding the club to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1980–81 and 1983–84 and he could not get the club promoted back into the top-flight and left the club in September 1988. He returned to Doncaster in July 1989, ending his spell in charge in November 1991. He is on the Scotland national football team roll of honour for having won more than 50 caps for Scotland and he captained his country at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where Scotland failed to advance from the group stage despite going unbeaten in the competition. Born in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, to James and Bridget Bremner, he attended St Modans High School and he joined along with his friend Tommy Henderson, who would return to Scotland due to homesickness without making a first team debut. A Sunday Times headline later dubbed him as 10st of barbed wire due to his tenacity, regular outside-right Chris Crowe was sold to Blackburn Rovers in March 1960, allowing Bremner to take his place on a permanent basis. However, Leeds went on to be relegated from the First Division at the end of the 1959–60 season, taylor resigned in March 1961, and player Don Revie was promoted to manager. Revie rejected an approach of £25,000 from Hibernian for Bremner, one bright spot was the signing of Bobby Collins in March, who helped form the win-at-all-costs attitude that defined Leeds and Bremner throughout the rest of Revies 13 years as manager. United had a more promising 1962–63 campaign, finishing four points shy of promotion, with Bremner, Collins and Giles in midfield, Leeds went on to win promotion as champions in the 1963–64 season. The club won no friends in doing so however, and the summer were labelled by the Football Associations own FA News as the dirtiest in the Football League. A run of victories put the top by the new year. The Manchester club would become a rival, one which intensified after Leeds knocked them out of the FA Cup at the semi-finals after two physical encounters. Revie and Bremner had a bond of trust, which was why the manager gave him the captaincy at such a young age
36.
Newcastle United F.C.
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Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Following the clubs most recent relegation from the top-flight during the 2015–16 season, Newcastle returned to the Football Leagues 2nd tier, the Championship, for the 2016–17 campaign. Newcastle United was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, the ground was developed into an all-seater stadium in the mid-1990s and now has a capacity of 52,354. They have won four League Championship titles, six FA Cups and a Charity Shield, as well as the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Newcastle United has the ninth highest total of trophies won by an English club. The clubs most successful period was between 1904 and 1910, when they won an FA Cup and three of their First Division titles. The club were successful in the Premier League in the 1990s and early 2000s, but have been mostly struggling since the 2006–07 season. Newcastle has a local rivalry with Sunderland, and the two clubs have engaged in the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898. The clubs traditional kit colours are black and white striped shirts, black shorts and their traditional crest takes elements of the city coat of arms, which features two grey seahorses. The club has been owned by Mike Ashley since 2007, succeeding long term chairman, the club is the seventeenth highest revenue producing club in the world in terms of annual revenue, generating €169. 3m in 2015. Historically, Newcastles highest placing was in 1999 when they were the fifth highest revenue producing club in the world. The first record of football being played on Tyneside dates from 3 March 1877 at Elswick Rugby Club, later that year, Newcastles first football club, Tyne Association, was formed. The origins of Newcastle United Football Club itself can be traced back to the formation of a club by the Stanley Cricket Club of Byker in November 1881. This team was renamed Newcastle East End F. C. in October 1882, to avoid confusion with the club in Stanley. Rosewood F. C. of Byker merged with Newcastle East End a short time later, in 1886, Newcastle East End moved from Byker to Heaton. In August 1882, Newcastle West End F. C. formed from West End Cricket Club, and in May 1886, the two clubs became rivals in the Northern League. In 1889, Newcastle East End became a team, before becoming a limited company the following March. However, on the hand, Newcastle West End were in serious financial trouble. With only one club in the city for fans to support
37.
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
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Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, England. The team competes in the Championship, the tier of the English football league system. Formed as an offshoot of The Wednesday Cricket Club in 1867, in 1868 they won the Cromwell Cup, only the second tournament of its kind, and in 1877 they won the inaugural Sheffield Challenge Cup, the oldest county cup in England. They were founding members and inaugural champions of the Football Alliance in 1889, in 1992 they became founder members of the Premier League. The club has spent most of its history in English footballs top flight. The Owls, as they are nicknamed, have won four league titles, Wednesday have also competed in UEFA cup competitions on four occasions, reaching the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1963. Since 1899 the club has played its matches at Hillsborough stadium. Although no contemporary evidence has found to support the claim. Nevertheless, an 1842 article in Bells Life magazine states the club was founded as far back as 1816, the club was so named because it was on Wednesdays that the founding members had their day off work. They were initially based at the New Ground in Darnall, and often went by the name of Darnall Wednesday, in 1855 they were one of six clubs that helped build Bramall Lane, and held a wicket there for many years. The proposal proved very popular, with over 60 members signing up for the new team on the first night and they played their first match against The Mechanics on 19 October the same year, winning by three goals and four rouges to nil. On 1 February 1868, Wednesday played their first competitive match as they entered the Cromwell Cup. A week after their semi-final, they went on to win the cup, beating the Garrick club in the final after extra time, a key figure during the formative years of the football club was Charles Clegg, who joined the Wednesday in 1867. His relationship with the club lasted for the rest of his life and he also became president and chairman of the Football Association, and was known as the Napoleon of Football. In 1876 Wednesday acquired Scot James Lang, although he was not employed by the club, he was given a job by a member of the Sheffield Wednesday board that had no formal duties. He is now acknowledged as the first professional player in England. With Lang in their team the club became one of the strongest in the region. In 1880 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, but although they had had Lang on their books a decade earlier, the club officially remained staunchly amateur, and this stance almost cost the club its very existence
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Minnesota Kicks
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The Minnesota Kicks were a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburbs of Bloomington, Minnesota from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League, the Minnesota Kicks were established in 1976 and quickly became one of the leagues more popular teams, with an average attendance of 23,120 fans per game in 1976. The Kicks won their four years in a row from 1976–79. The Kicks drew over 23,000 fans in each season from 1976–79, the team had relocated to Minnesota after having been based in Denver, Colorado as the Denver Dynamos. A group of ten investors from Minnesota, led by Jack Crocker, bought the Denver team on November 25,1975, the name Kicks was selected by a name-the-team contest, and announced on January 28,1976. Freddie Goodwin, who had coached the New York Generals, was named the first coach on February 19,1976. Goodwin served also as president starting in August 1976. The team began the 1976 season slowly, however by the end of its first season the team had won the Western Division, during the season, the Kicks boosted their roster by signing Ade Coker from Boston. The Kicks also played Glasgow Rangers to a 2–2 draw in a friendly, Minnesota was a success with fans, averaging 23,117 per game, including 42,065 for its regular season finale, the largest NASL crowd to date. The team was led by leading scorer Alan Wiley with 16 goals, in 1977, the Kicks won the Western Division again, and averaged 32,775 fans, second only to the New York Cosmos. The Kicks were again led by Alan Willey with 14 goals, the Kicks lost in the playoffs to Seattle. In 1978 the Kicks won the Central Division, averaging 30,928 fans, the teams leading scorer was Alan Willey, with 21 goals. In the playoffs, the Kicks defeated Tulsa before losing to the New York Cosmos, after the 1978 season, Goodwin stepped down as coach. Roy McCrohan was named coach December 1978, and he coached the team for the 1979 season, in 1979, the Kicks signed a major international star in defender Björn Nordqvist, Swedens all-time caps leader. The Kicks won the Central Division again in 1979, but fell to Tulsa in the playoffs, once again, Alan Willey led the teams scoring with 21 goals, and Ace Ntsoelengoe was named to the All-Star Team. After nine games into 1980 season, McCrohan was removed, the Kicks finished the regular season second behind the Dallas Tornado in the Central Division, and lost in the playoffs to Dallas. Ace Ntsoelengoe was the leading scorer with 13 goals and 17 assists. Stars for the Kicks included US Soccer Hall of Famers Patrick Ntsoelengoe and Alan Willey, ron Futcher, who along with Willey played all six Kicks seasons, went on to become the leagues fourth all-time leading scorer
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Soccer Bowl '77
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Soccer Bowl 77 was the championship final of the 1977 NASL season. The Cosmos took on the Seattle Sounders, the match was played on August 28,1977 at Civic Stadium, in Portland, Oregon. The game was noteworthy, as it was the final competitive match for Pelé. The Cosmos won the match, 2–1, to claim their second North American championship, the Cosmos qualified for the playoffs by virtue of a second-place finish in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference with 140 points. The Cosmos defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies in a first round single-match, 3–0, on August 10,1977 and they then faced the Eastern Division winner and number one seed, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers in a best-of three-series. The first game of the series was witnessed by an all-time record NASL crowd of 77,691 and saw the Cosmos win convincingly, 8–3, the second leg, played in Fort Lauderdale on August 17,1977, finished regulation as a 2–2 draw. After 15 minutes of golden goal extra time the teams moved on to an NASL shoot-out. The win advanced them to the Conference finals, in the Atlantic Conference finals series the Cosmos went up against the upset-minded Rochester Lancers, who had already dispatched two higher seeded opponents. Game 1 of the series was played on August 21,1977 in Rochester, the second leg was played before another large Meadowlands crowd of 73,669 on August 24,1977. In that game, as with the two home playoff games, the Cosmos proved to be a decisive winner, 4–1. By winning the two games to none, the Cosmos won the Atlantic Conference title and advanced to the Soccer Bowl. The Seattle Sounders qualified for the playoffs by virtue of a finish in the Western Division of the Pacific Conference with 123 points. The Sounders defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps in a first round single-match, 2–0 and they then faced the Western Division winner, Minnesota Kicks in a best-of three-series. The first game of the series, which was played on August 14,1977, saw the Sounders edge ahead, 2–1, in the second leg, the Sounders hung on for a 1–0 win on August 17,1977. The two victories advanced them to the conference finals, in the Pacific Conference finals series, the Sounders went up against the Los Angeles Aztecs, who themselves had just upset Dallas, the number one seed in the conference. Game 1 of the series was played on August 21,1977 in Los Angeles, the second leg was played before an impressive Kingdome crowd of 56,256 on August 25,1977. In that game, the Sounders gutted out a 1–0 result, in doing so, they won the series two games to none, and the Pacific Conference title to advance to the Soccer Bowl
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Soccer Bowl
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The NASL Championship is the annual championship competition of the North American Soccer League. There, the two top teams face off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy, from 1975 through 1983, and again in 2013, the championship game itself was also known as the Soccer Bowl. After the 1966 World Cup was successfully televised in the United States, with international and national sanctioning from FIFA, the CFSA and USSFA, the United Soccer Association was created by a consortium known as the North American Soccer League. The second, independent league, enacted without sanction, was the National Professional Soccer League, by the following year, the two leagues merged and created the original North American Soccer League. Between 1968 and 1974 the championship game, or series, was titled the NASL Final, from 1975 to 1984 it became the Soccer Bowl. The winner of the NASL Finals received the NASL trophy, during the Soccer Bowl years the trophy was interchangeably regarded by association as the Soccer Bowl trophy, though the official title remained the same. The concept for the Soccer Bowl began in 1975 by then NASL Commissioner Phil Woosnam, unlike the Super Bowl, the annual numbering scheme of the match did not use Roman numerals but instead used the last two digits of the year played. The original NASLs last Soccer Bowl took place in early October 1984 in a best-of-three series, the 2011 and 2012 titles were decided in a two-game aggregate finish. Since 2013 the championship has been a single-game final, for the 2014 season, a new format was introduced, called the NASL Championship, with the final game being called the NASL Championship Final and the trophy the Soccer Bowl trophy. Among the championship matches, there have different formats used. The 1967 NPSL Final, and the 1968 and 1970 NASL Finals were contested by two-game aggregate goals, after 1971, the initial parameters by the United Soccer Association were used. The 1967 USA Final, and the 1972 through 1983 NASL Finals were all single-games, there was no 1969 NASL Final match contested. Instead, as in many leagues in Europe, the championship was awarded to the league winner, the 1971 and 1984 NASL Finals were played in a best-of-three series. Sources, *From 1977 through 1984 the NASL had a variation of the penalty shoot-out procedure for tied matches, the shoot-out started 35 yards from the goal and allowed the player 5 seconds to attempt a shot. The player could make as many moves as he wanted in a situation within the time frame. NASL procedure during this era called for the box score to show an additional goal given to the side of a shoot-out. *No championship game was held in 1969. Kansas City finished first in the season and was awarded the championship. On October 22,2011, the day their inaugural championship series got underway in Minnesota, the silver trophy has a large bowl etched with the NASL logo resting atop three long prongs, and the words North American Soccer League Soccer Bowl inscribed prominently across the base
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Isthmian League
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The Isthmian League is a regional mens football league covering London, East and South East England featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. It is sponsored by Ryman, and therefore known as the Ryman League. It was founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area and it now consists of 72 teams in three divisions, the Premier Division above its two feeder divisions, Division One North and Division One South. Together with the Southern League and the Northern Premier League, it forms the seventh and eighth levels of the English football league system and it has various regional feeder leagues and the league as a whole is a feeder league mainly to the National League South. Before the Isthmian League was formed, there were no leagues in which amateur clubs could compete, therefore, a meeting took place between representatives of Casuals, Civil Service, Clapton, Ealing Association, Ilford and London Caledonians to discuss the creation of a strong amateur league. All the clubs supported the idea and the Isthmian League was born on 8 March 1905, membership to the league was through invitation only. The league was strongly dedicated to amateurism, the champions did not even receive a trophy or medals, teams less able to compete financially thus gravitated to it rather than the Southern League, while those with ambition and money would move in the opposite direction. By 1922 the league had fourteen clubs and over the five decades, only a few new members were admitted. Most new Isthmian League members joined from the Athenian League, which was dedicated to amateurism. The league began to admit professionalism in the 1970s, a second division of sixteen clubs was formed in 1973 and a third division followed in 1977. The reward of promotion into the Conference means that, since 1985, the Athenian League disbanded in 1984 when the Isthmian League Second Division split into North and South Divisions. These were restructured again to Second and Third Divisions in 1991, in 2002, the league was restructured again, with the First and Second Divisions merging to become Division One North and Division One South, and the Third Division being renamed as Division Two. In 2004, The Football Association pushed through a restructuring of the non-league National League System. The Isthmian League was reduced back down to three divisions, and its boundaries were changed to remove the overlap with the Southern League, in 2006, further reorganisation saw a reversion to two regional Division Ones and the disbandment of Division Two. This current plan calls for clubs based on the edges of the Isthmian Leagues territory to transfer to, One team, Clapton, had been ever-present in the Isthmian League since its foundation, but they moved to the Essex Senior League for the 2006–07 season. Dulwich Hamlet, who joined the league in 1907, are currently its longest serving member, for the 1973–74 season, the Second Division was added. For the 1977–78 season, the Premier Division was added, for the 1984–85 season, the Second Division was reorganised into North and South regions. For the 1991–92 season, the regional Second Divisions were merged, at the end of the 1994–95 season, Enfield were denied promotion to the Conference
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