Tesco
Tesco plc trading as Tesco, is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer with headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, England, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and ninth-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues, it has shops in seven countries across Asia and Europe, is the market leader of groceries in the UK, Ireland and Thailand. Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen as a group of market stalls; the Tesco name first appeared in 1924, after Cohen purchased a shipment of tea from T. E. Stockwell and combined those initials with the first two letters of his surname, the first Tesco shop opened in 1931 in Burnt Oak, Barnet, his business expanded and by 1939 he had over 100 Tesco shops across the country. A UK grocer, Tesco has expanded globally since the early 1990s, with operations in 11 other countries in the world; the company pulled out of the USA in 2013, but as of 2018 continues to see growth elsewhere.
Since the 1960s, Tesco has diversified into areas such as the retailing of books, electronics, toys, software, financial services and internet services. In the 1990s Tesco repositioned itself from being a down-market high-volume low-cost retailer, to one designed to attract a range of social groups by offering products ranging from low-cost "Tesco Value" items to its "Tesco Finest" range; this broadening of its appeal was successful and saw the chain grow from 500 shops in the mid-1990s to 2,500 shops fifteen years later. Tesco is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, it had a market capitalization of £18.1 billion as of 22 April 2015, the 28th-largest of any company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange. Jack Cohen, the son of Jewish migrants from Poland, founded Tesco in 1919 when he began to sell war-surplus groceries from a stall at Well Street Market, Hackney, in the East End of London; the Tesco brand first appeared in 1924. The name came about, he made new labels using the initials of the supplier's name, the first two letters of his surname, forming the word TESCO.
After experimenting with his first permanent indoor market stall at Tooting in November 1930, Jack Cohen opened the first Tesco shop in September 1931 at 54 Watling Street, Burnt Oak, Middlesex. Tesco was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1947 as Tesco Stores Limited; the first self-service shop opened in St Albans in 1956, the first supermarket in Maldon in 1956. In 1961 Tesco Leicester made an appearance in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest shop in Europe. During the 1950s and 1960s, Tesco grew organically, through acquisitions, until it owned more than 800 shops; the company purchased 70 Williamson's shops, 200 Harrow Stores outlets, 212 Irwins shops, 97 Charles Phillips shops and the Victor Value chain. Jack Cohen's business motto was "pile it high and sell it cheap", to which he added an internal motto of "YCDBSOYA" which he used to motivate his sales force. In May 1987, Tesco completed its hostile takeover of the Hillards chain of 40 supermarkets in the North of England for £220 million.
In 1994, the company took over the supermarket chain William Low after fighting off Sainsbury's for control of the Dundee-based firm, which operated 57 shops. This paved the way for Tesco to expand its presence in Scotland, in which its presence was weaker than in England. Tesco introduced a loyalty card, branded'Clubcard' in 1995, an Internet shopping service. In 1996 the typeface of the logo was changed to the current version with stripe reflections underneath, whilst the corporate font used for shop signage was changed from the familiar "typewriter" font, used since the 1970s. Overseas operations were introduced the same year. Terry Leahy assumed the role of Chief Executive on 21 February 1997, the appointment having been announced on 21 November 1995. On 21 March 1997, Tesco announced the purchase of the retail arm of Associated British Foods, which consisted of the Quinnsworth and Crazy Prices chains in Ireland and Northern Ireland, associated businesses, for £640 million; the deal was approved by the European Commission on 6 May 1997.
The company was the subject of a letter bomb campaign lasting five months from August 2000 to February 2001 as a bomber calling himself "Sally" sent letter bombs to Tesco customers and demanded Clubcards modified to withdraw money from cash machines. The company started to expand the range of products it sold during the 1960s to include household goods and clothing under the Delamare brand, in 1974 opened its first petrol station. In July 2001, Tesco became involved in internet groceries retailing in the USA when it obtained a 35% stake in GroceryWorks. In 2002, Tesco purchased 13 HIT hypermarkets in Poland, it made a major move into the UK's convenience shop market with its purchase of T & S Stores, owner of 870 convenience shops in the One Stop and Day & Nite chains in the UK. In June 2003, Tesco purchased the C Two-Network in Japan, it acquired a majority stake in Turkish supermarket chain Kipa. In January 2004, Tesco acquired Adminstore, owner of 45 Cullens and Harts convenience shops, in and around London.
In Thailand, Tesco Lotus was a joint venture of the Charoen Pokphand Group and Tesco, but faci
Seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people; the largest sporting venue in the world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has a permanent seating capacity for more than 235,000 people and infield seating that raises capacity to an approximate 400,000. Safety is a primary concern in determining the seating capacity of a venue: "Seating capacity, seating layouts and densities are dictated by legal requirements for the safe evacuation of the occupants in the event of fire"; the International Building Code specifies, "In places of assembly, the seats shall be securely fastened to the floor" but provides exceptions if the total number of seats is fewer than 100, if there is a substantial amount of space available between seats or if the seats are at tables.
It delineates the number of available exits for interior balconies and galleries based on the seating capacity, sets forth the number of required wheelchair spaces in a table derived from the seating capacity of the space. The International Fire Code, portions of which have been adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction, it specifies, "For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms, the occupant load shall not be less than the number of seats based on one person for each 18 inches of seating length". It requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including "details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating...."Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the total size of the venue, its purpose. For sports venues, the "decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors. Chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area".
In motion picture venues, the "limit of seating capacity is determined by the maximal viewing distance for a given size of screen", with image quality for closer viewers declining as the screen is expanded to accommodate more distant viewers. Seating capacity of venues plays a role in what media they are able to provide and how they are able to provide it. In contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the "seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed". Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be the royalties to be given; the seating capacity must be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums advertise their seating capacity. Seating capacity is an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas; when entities such as the National Football League's Super Bowl Committee decide on a venue for a particular event, seating capacity, which reflects the possible number of tickets that can be sold for the event, is an important consideration.
The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as'covers'. Seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Where seating capacity is a legal requirement, however, as it is in movie theatres and on aircraft, the law reflects the fact that the number of people allowed in should not exceed the number who can be seated. Use of the term "public capacity" indicates that a venue is allowed to hold more people than it can seat. Again, the maximum total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law. All-seater stadium List of stadiums by capacity List of football stadiums by capacity List of American football stadiums by capacity List of rugby league stadiums by capacity List of rugby union stadiums by capacity List of tennis stadiums by capacity Seating assignment
Rushden & Diamonds F.C.
Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, England. It was formed by a merger of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds in 1992; the club played in the Conference National following a short spell in the Football League at the start of the 2000s. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park; the club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The club were expelled from the Conference National on 11 June 2011. Rushden and Diamonds was formed on 21 April 1992 by a merger of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds; the move was the brainchild of Max Griggs. On 22 August 1992, Ollie Kearns scored the first league goal in the club's history, against Bilston Town in the Southern League Midland Division; the club's first few seasons were remarkable for the success the team enjoyed, finishing 3rd in the Southern League Midland Division in their inaugural season. The following year they won the division, winning promotion to the Southern League Premier Division, two years the Diamonds were again promoted as champions.
The team had gained promotion to the Football Conference after just four years as a club. After their rapid rise to the top tier of non-league football, the club spent five seasons attempting to reach the Football League, finishing 12th in the 1996–97 season, 4th, 4th and 2nd in the Football Conference before they won promotion to the Football League as champions in 2001, it was within this period that the club had achieved their best success in the FA Cup, getting to the 3rd Round twice. In 1998–99, the Diamonds held Leeds United to a famous 0–0 draw at Nene Park, ahead of a record attendance of 6,431. After taking a shock early lead at Elland Road in the replay, they went on to lose 3–1. In the following campaign, the club were rewarded with a 3rd Round draw away to Sheffield United; the Diamonds secured a 1 -- 1 draw at Bramall Lane. In the return fixture, the match went to penalties following a 1–1 deadlock after extra-time. In the shootout however, it was the Blades who edged the Diamonds out 6–5 to go through.
In their first season in new surroundings, the Diamonds reached the Division Three Play-Off Final. After overcoming Rochdale 4–3 on aggregate over the two-legged Semi-Final, the club lost to Cheltenham Town in the final, 3–1 at the Millennium Stadium. In 2003, they won the division, pipping Hartlepool United to the Division Three championship on the last day of the season – their third promotion/league title in eight seasons; the 2003–04 season in Division Two proved to be one of difficulty for Rushden & Diamonds. Despite a promising early start, a run of bad results over the winter period saw the club slip down the table, in March 2004 Brian Talbot left the club after seven years as manager; the transfer window saw star players Paul Underwood, Onandi Lowe, Paul Hall and Marcus Bignot all depart as off the pitch problems mounted, the club struggled for the remainder of the season. Barry Hunter took over as caretaker player-manager but they were relegated in 22nd place after losing their last three games of the season.
Ernie Tippett was confirmed as permanent manager for the start of the 2004–05 season. However, after a dismal run of results which saw the team the media predicted as promotion contenders fall to 22nd place in the League Two, he was sacked, replaced by Barry Hunter, appointed full-time manager; the club staved off relegation. The following season, after a summer in which Max Griggs handed the club over to the Supporters' Trust, the club continued to struggle and on 29 April, Rushden were relegated back to the Football Conference after a 2–0 away defeat to Boston United. Hunter's contract was not renewed over the summer; the seasons following the Diamonds' return to the Football Conference were marred by instability on and off the pitch. Keith Cousins took over the club in November 2006 and resigned in 2011, he was replaced by Liam Beasant and Gary Calder, the latter of whom himself quit the club just weeks after taking over. Meanwhile, five managers took control of the team at different times.
During their first three seasons back in England's fifth division the Diamonds failed to finish in the top ten. By the end of the 2008–09 season the average attendance was less than 50% of what it had been during their last season in the Football League; the sole highlight of these three years was reaching the Conference League Cup Final against Aldershot Town in 2007. With the scores level at 3–3 after extra-time, the Diamonds lost 4–3 on penalties. However, the Diamonds' fortunes changed after the resignation of Garry Hill in February 2009, the subsequent appointment of Justin Edinburgh as manager – as caretaker, but full-time. During his first full season in charge he led the club to the Football Conference play-offs as a result of finishing in 4th place– their first top-ten finish since 2003; the team succumbed to a 3–1 aggregate defeat at the hands of eventual play-off winners Oxford United. The Diamonds progressed to the second round of the FA Cup, having beaten Workington and Hinckley United before being knocked out by Brighton & Hove Albion at the Withdean Stadium.
The Diamonds struggled to replicate their successes the following season. During the summer and throughout the season some of the most influential players of the previous campaign left Nene Park, including Lee Tomlin, Mark Byrne, Jamie Stuart, Andrew Lawton and Paul Terry; because of these losses the Diamonds struggled to make a serious play-off push, by mid-
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Colchester, England. The team competes in the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its early years playing in the Southern Football League until they were elected to the Football League in 1950. Between 1950 and 1990, Colchester spent their time between the Third Division and Fourth Division, during which time they produced one of their most memorable results, a 3–2 victory in the fifth round of the FA Cup over Don Revie's Leeds United in 1971. Colchester United were relegated to the Football Conference in 1990 following a decline in the late 1980s, but won the Conference title in 1992 to make a swift return to League football, they achieved promotion to the Second Division in 1998 following a 1–0 win against Torquay United in the play-off final. The club were again promoted in 2006; the following season, they achieved their highest league finish in club history, ending the season 10th in the Championship ahead of East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, Norwich City and Essex rivals Southend United, despite having the division's lowest attendance.
The club returned to League One in 2008 following relegation from the Championship and made a return to the fourth tier for the first time in 18-years in 2016. Colchester United play their home games at Colchester Community Stadium in Colchester, they relocated to the stadium in 2008 when they moved away from Layer Road, their home stadium for 71 years. Until 1937, Colchester Town were the original tenants of Layer Road. Colchester Town joined the Eastern Counties League in 1935, but their poor performances in the league convinced supporters that the club should turn professional, much like nearby Ipswich Town. With club officials against the idea of turning professional, a new professional club was formed in March 1937, Colchester United, which would play at Layer Road. United joined. In December 1937, Colchester United formed a reserve team; as a result of this and Town struggling with £300 debts, Colchester Town folded the same month. The club won the Southern League Cup in their first season of existence, were Southern League champions in 1939 prior to the Second World War.
Following the war, in 1947–48, the U's produced one of the most notable FA Cup runs by a non-league side, defeating fellow non-leaguers Banbury Spencer in the first round, before beating Football League clubs Wrexham, Huddersfield Town and Bradford Park Avenue. They fell to Blackpool in the fifth round; this set them in good stead for potential election to the Football League. Colchester United were elected to the Football League in 1950 on the back of their second Southern League Cup win and ending the 1949–50 season second to Merthyr Tydfil on goal average alone, they spent eleven years in the Third Division South and Third Division following the league's reorganisation, with a best finish of third place in 1957, just one point behind rivals Ipswich Town and Torquay United. The club suffered their first relegation in 1961 as they finished 23rd in the Third Division, but didn't have to wait long until their first Football League promotion, spending just one season in the Fourth Division as they ended the season second to Millwall by just one point.
This trend continued over the next two decades as they were relegated to the Fourth Division in 1965 and promoted to the Third Division in 1966 relegated in 1968 and promoted in 1974, relegated in 1976 and promoted in 1977 before a final relegation to the Fourth Division in 1981. During this time, the club embarked on one of the most notable runs in FA Cup history, as manager Dick Graham took his ageing side to the 1970–71 quarter-finals, dispatching non-league Ringmer, Cambridge United and Rochdale following a replay. With the draw having been made prior to the replay against Rochdale, the U's knew they would face a home tie with First Division Leeds United, duly trounced Dale 5–0. In the match with Leeds, the U's raced to an unprecedented 3–0 lead in front of a 16,000 Layer Road crowd, with two goals from Ray Crawford and one from Dave Simmons. Leeds did grab two goals back but Colchester held on for a famous 3–2 victory; the club faced Everton in the quarter-finals but succumbed to a 5–0 defeat in front of 53,028 at Goodison Park.
Financial difficulties and a number of changes at board level in the mid-1980s caused a slide towards the lower end of the Fourth Division table and crowd numbers to dwindle. Despite a brief turn around in form under former Rangers manager Jock Wallace, United were relegated from the Football League for the first time since their election. Despite their relegation, the U's remained a full-time club while playing in the Football Conference, as they sold their Layer Road ground to the Colchester Borough Council to clear the club's debts; the club finished the season as runners-up to Barnet during their first season outside of the Football League, under the stewardship of player-manager Roy McDonough, the U's won the league the following season on goal difference over bitter rivals Wycombe Wanderers. In addition to earning a swift return to League football, the club won the FA Trophy in 1992; the club had a successful 1995–96 season as they reached the 1995–96 Football League play-offs, but were defeated by Plymouth Argyle at the semi-final stage.
The club narrowly missed the play-offs in 1996–97 but did however reach the Football League Trophy Final held at Wembley. The U's were defeated 4 -- 3 on penalties; the following season however, Colchester were promoted via the Third Division play-off Final wi
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club in Liverpool, that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club has won 5 European Cups, more than any other English club, 3 UEFA Cups, 3 UEFA Super Cups, 18 League titles, 7 FA Cups, a record 8 League Cups, 15 FA Community Shields. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has played at Anfield since its formation. Liverpool established itself as a major force in English and European football in the 1970s and 1980s when Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley led the club to 11 League titles and seven European trophies. Under the management of Rafael Benítez and captained by Steven Gerrard, Liverpool became European champions for the fifth time in 2005. Liverpool was the ninth highest-earning football club in the world in 2016–17, with an annual revenue of €424.2 million, the world's eighth most valuable football club in 2018, valued at $1.944 billion. The club is one of the best supported teams in the world.
Liverpool has long-standing rivalries with Manchester Everton. The club's supporters have been involved in two major tragedies: the Heysel Stadium disaster, where escaping fans were pressed against a collapsing wall at the 1985 European Cup Final in Brussels, with 39 people – Italians and Juventus fans – dying, after which English clubs were given a five-year ban from European competition, the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 Liverpool supporters died in a crush against perimeter fencing; the team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home strip in 1964, used since. The club's anthem is "You'll Never Walk Alone". Liverpool F. C. was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houlding, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892 and Houlding founded Liverpool F. C. to play at Anfield. Named "Everton F. C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd", the club became Liverpool F. C. in March 1892 and gained official recognition three months after The Football Association refused to recognise the club as Everton.
The team won the Lancashire League in its début season, joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 1893–94 season. After finishing in first place the club was promoted to the First Division, which it won in 1901 and again in 1906. Liverpool reached its first FA Cup Final in 1914, it won consecutive League championships in 1922 and 1923, but did not win another trophy until the 1946–47 season, when the club won the First Division for a fifth time under the control of ex-West Ham Utd centre half George Kay. Liverpool suffered its second Cup Final defeat in 1950; the club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953–54 season. Soon after Liverpool lost 2–1 to non-league Worcester City in the 1958–59 FA Cup, Bill Shankly was appointed manager. Upon his arrival he released 24 players and converted a boot storage room at Anfield into a room where the coaches could discuss strategy; the club was promoted back into the First Division in 1962 and won it in 1964, for the first time in 17 years.
In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup. In 1966, the club won the First Division but lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners' Cup final. Liverpool won both the League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, the FA Cup again a year later. Shankly was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley. In 1976, Paisley's second season as manager, the club won another UEFA Cup double; the following season, the club retained the League title and won the European Cup for the first time, but it lost in the 1977 FA Cup Final. Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 and regained the First Division title in 1979. During Paisley's nine seasons as manager Liverpool won 21 trophies, including three European Cups, a UEFA Cup, six League titles and three consecutive League Cups. Paisley was replaced by his assistant, Joe Fagan. Liverpool won the League, League Cup and European Cup in Fagan's first season, becoming the first English side to win three trophies in a season. Liverpool reached the European Cup final again in 1985, against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium.
Before kick-off, Liverpool fans breached a fence which separated the two groups of supporters, charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a retaining wall to collapse, killing 39 fans Italians; the incident became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster. The match was played in spite of protests by both managers, Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus; as a result of the tragedy, English clubs were banned from participating in European competition for five years. Fourteen Liverpool fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter. Fagan had announced his retirement just before the disaster and Kenny Dalglish was appointed as player-manager. During his tenure, the club won another three league titles and two FA Cups, including a League and Cup "Double" in the 1985–86 season. Liverpool's success was overshadowed by the Hillsborough disaster: in an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989, hundreds of Liverpool fans were crushed against perimeter fencing. Ninety-four fans died that day.
After the Hillsborough disaster there was a government review of stadium saf
Huish Athletic Ground
Huish Athletic Ground more referred to as Huish was a football stadium located in Yeovil, England. It was the second home ground of Yeovil Town Football Club, after the Pen Mill Athletic Ground which they left in 1920, until the club's departure for Huish Park in 1990; the ground was most famous for having an 8-foot side to side slope, was the scene of one of the biggest FA Cup giant killings when Yeovil beat Sunderland in the fourth Round in 1949. The site is now occupied by the car park of a Tesco Extra hypermarket; the club had made an approach at the end of the 1897–98 season, for the Huish field owned by Brutton's Brewery, but this approach was unsuccessful. Negotiations continued before the First World War for a move to this more central location in the town, with the club at the time playing at a ground adjacent to Pen Mill station; the summer of 1920 saw Yeovil & Petters United leave the Pen Mill Athletic Ground, after the purchase of the land at Huish from the brewery for £1,725. The name for the ground was borrowed from the name of a suburb of the town, from the Old English hiwisc meaning a group of houses, or a household.
The new ground, at the west end of the town centre, saw its first competitive game on 28 August 1920 when the reserve team played Christchurch in the Dorset League: an attendance of 1,500 witnessed Yeovil & Petters United win 5–0. The terraces were flat with the only covered accommodation in the form of a 300-seater stand, brought from Pen Mill. During the summer of 1923, tennis courts were marked out on the pitch and hired out at £2 per court for the summer season; that summer, 750 loads of earth were brought to the ground by Bartletts Ltd. to form a terrace at the Queen Street end of the ground and the pitch was lengthened by four yards at a cost of £15. In October and November, a further 100 tons of materials were given by Westlands and hauled to the ground at a cost of £9 and the Club opened negotiations with the Southern Railway Company to purchase 1,000 railway sleepers, at a cost of £50, to add steps to the terraces. In 1924 the Supporters Club was formed and three tea huts were purchased and installed at Huish, on 15 November 1924, Yeovil played their first game against a Football League team in the FA Cup, beating Bournemouth and Boscombe 3–2 at Huish before a crowd of 5,500.
Before the next round home tie against Bristol Rovers, additional terracing was added at the Bruttons End and toilets were installed. In October 1926 the club acquired a lighting set on extended loan from Petters United, which enabled training to take place at night on the pitch and, a month the covered accommodation over the terraces at the Queen Street end was opened. Greyhound racing took place around the pitch as early as 12 May 1928; the independent racing was organised by the Yeovil Football and Athletic Club Ltd.. It is believed that the racing stopped before 1950 but was taking place in 1946. In 1931 the club acquired the freehold of the land from Brutton's Brewery and purchased further land at the end of the ground to increase accommodation. A substantial amount of money was loaned to the club at a nominal rate of interest for the period that football was played at Huish to fund the purchase, fans were asked to play their part in wiping off the balance; the next development of Huish came in the 1934–35 season when Yeovil reached the third round of the FA Cup for the first time and were drawn against Liverpool.
In the two weeks between the time of the draw and the game being played, a small stand was built in the corner at the Queen Street end to hold 100 people at a cost of £250. The stand acted as the director’s box and boardroom until the new main stand was built, remained in place until 1983. At a board meeting on 7 February 1938, the first of many plans to level the pitch was discussed, but the practicality and the cost of such a scheme made this impossible; the ground's slope became infamous with the pitch sloped six feet along the halfway line and eight feet from corner to corner. On 12 January 1939, during a FA Cup third round replay against Sheffield Wednesday the game saw a new record crowd of 14,329 pack into Huish with thousands more locked outside the ground. After the game got under way, the weight of the hordes of supporters who had climbed onto the roof of the Queen Street end caused the roof to split from one end to the other but the spectators were safely removed; that same month a loudspeaker system was purchased for £10 and in July the same year a quotation for £514 was received to build a retaining wall and to provide a concrete terrace at the Bruttons end.
The last game at Huish before the ground was closed due to the Second World War was against Lovell's Athletic resulting in a 3–2 win for Yeovil on 27 January 1940. During the war Huish was, at first, used by the War Office as an ammunitions store and by the United States Army, who offered to level the pitch if they could use the ground to play baseball, but their offer was not taken up. Competitive football returned to Huish on 25 August 1945, when Swindon Town Reserves ran out 3–0 winners; the ground's most famous moment came on 29 January 1949, when Huish hosted Yeovil's greatest giant-killing as the Southern League upset'Bank of England' side Sunderland in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Over 35,000 applications for tickets were received but the ground could only hold half that number. A total of 17,123 spectators crammed into the largest attendance at the ground. The
Yeovil
Yeovil is an English town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, with a population of 45,000. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, 130 miles from London, 40 miles south of Bristol, 6 miles from Sherborne and 30 miles from Taunton; the aircraft and defence industries developed in the 20th century made it a target for bombing in the Second World War. They are still major employers. Yeovil Country Park, which includes Ninesprings, is one of several open spaces with educational and sporting facilities. Religious sites include the 14th-century Church of St John the Baptist; the town has two railway stations. Archaeological surveys of the town have yielded palaeolithic remains, in the shape of burial and settlement sites to the south of the modern town in Hendford where a Bronze Age golden torc was found. Yeovil is on the main Roman road from Dorchester to the Fosse Way at Ilchester; the route of the old road is aligned with the A37 from Dorchester, Hendford Hill, across the Westland site, to Larkhill Road and Vagg Lane, rejoining the A37 at the Halfway House pub on the Ilchester Road.
The Westland site has evidence of a small Roman town. There were several Roman villas in the area, including finds at West Coker and Lufton. Yeovil was first mentioned in a Saxon charter dated 880 as Gifle; the name derives from an earlier name of the River Yeo. The estate was bequeathed in the will of King Alfred the Great to his youngest son Aethelweard, it was recorded in the Domesday Book as a thriving market community. The parish of Yeovil was part of the Stone Hundred. After the Norman Conquest the manor known as Hendford, was granted to the Count of Eu and his tenant Hugh Maltravers, whose descendants became Earls of Arundel and held the lordship until 1561. In 1205 it was granted a charter by King John. By the 14th century, the town had gained the right to elect a portreeve; the Black Death exacted a heavy toll, killing half the population. In 1499 a major fire broke out in the town, destroying many of the wooden, thatched roofed buildings. Yeovil suffered further serious fires, in 1620 and again in 1643.
After the dissolution of the monasteries the lord of the manor was the family of John Horsey of Clifton Maybank from 1538 to 1610 and by the Phelips family until 1846 when it passed to the Harbins of Newton Surmaville. Babylon Hill across the River Yeo to the south east of the town was the site of a minor skirmish, the Battle of Babylon Hill, during the English Civil War, which resulted in the Earl of Bedford's Roundheads forcing back Sir Ralph Hopton's Cavaliers to Sherborne. During the 1800s Yeovil was a centre of the glove making industry and the population expanded rapidly. In the mid-19th century it became connected to the rest of Britain by a complex set of railway lines which resulted from competition between the 7 ft broad gauge lines of the Great Western Railway and the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in standard gauge lines of the London and South Western Railway. In 1853 the Great Western Railway line was opened between Yeovil; the first railway in the town was a branch line from the Bristol and Exeter Railway near Taunton to a terminus at Hendford on the western side of the town, which opened on 1 October 1853.
As an associated company of the GWR, this was a broad gauge line. The GWR itself opened Yeovil Pen Mill railway station on the east side of the town as part of its route from London on 1 September 1856, the original line from Taunton was connected to this; the LSWR route from London reached Hendford on 1 June 1860 but a month the town was by-passed by the extension of the LSWR to Exeter. A new station at Yeovil Junction was provided south of the town from where passengers could catch a connecting service to Hendford. On 1 June 1861 passenger trains were withdrawn from Hendford and transferred to a new, more central, Yeovil Town railway station. In 1854, the town had its first mayor. In the early 20th century Yeovil had around 11,000 inhabitants and was dominated by the defence industry, making it a target of German raids during World War II; the worst of the bombing was in 1940 and continued until 1942. During that time 107 high explosive bombs fell on the town. 49 people died, 68 houses were destroyed and 2,377 damaged.
Industrial businesses developed in the area around the Hendford railway goods station to such a degree that a small Hendford Halt was opened on 2 May 1932 for passengers travelling to and from this district, but the growth of road transport and a desire to rationalise the rail network led to half of the railway stations in Yeovil being closed in 1964. First to go was Hendford Halt, closed on 15 June along with the line to Taunton Yeovil Town closed on 2 October. Long-distance trains from Pen Mill had been withdrawn on 11 September 1961 leaving only Yeovil Junction with a service to London, but the service between there and Pen Mill, the two remaining stations, was withdrawn from 5 May 1968; as a former centre of Britain's leather industry, the town is post-industrial in character. Journalist John Harris, for instance, described the towns Taunton and Bridgwater as a'post-industrial, hardscrabble place that contain 19 of the council wards in the 20% of English areas classed as the most deprived.'
Designated as Yeovil Municipal Borough in 1854, the town continued to lend its name to the area with the creation of the local government district of Yeovil on 1 April 1974, with the merging several neighbouring rural and urban districts, today known as S
