1.
Loftus Road
–
Loftus Road Stadium is a football stadium in Shepherds Bush, London, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, the became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. Rugby union team London Wasps shared the ground with QPR between 1996 and 2002 and Premier League football club Fulham shared it from 2002 to 2004 while Craven Cottage was closed for reconstruction, other users of the stadium have included the Jamaican and Australian national football teams. In 1985, Barry McGuigan defeated Eusebio Pedroza for the World Boxing Association featherweight championship at the stadium, the ground was first used on 11 October 1904 by Shepherds Bush F. C. an amateur side that was disbanded during the First World War. QPR moved to Loftus Road in 1917, having had their ground at Park Royal commandeered by the army in 1915, at that time the ground was an open field with a pavilion. One stand from Park Royal was dismantled and re-erected forming the Ellerslie Road stand in 1919 and this stand remained as the only covered seating in the ground until 1968 and was replaced in 1972. It had a capacity of 2,950, QPR moved out of Loftus Road at the start of the 1931–32 season, moving nearby to White City Stadium, but after a loss of £7,000, the team moved back for the start of the 1933-34 season. In 1938, a new covered terrace for 6,000 spectators was constructed by a company called Framed Structures Ltd at the Loftus Road end taking the ground capacity up to 30,000. It cost £7,000 and was opened by the Rt Hon Herbert Morrison, the section of the terracing that was covered was concreted at this time with the uncovered section later concreted in 1945. When the clubs finances were under pressure in the late 1950s the houses had to be sold, on 5 October 1953 floodlights were used at Loftus Road for the first time for a friendly game against Arsenal. In the summer of 1966 the original floodlights were replaced by much taller floodlight pylons, in the summer of 1980 these in turn were replaced with new floodlights. QPR experimented once again with a move to White City Stadium in the 1962–63 season, in the summer of 1968 the South Africa Road stand was constructed at a cost of £150,000 to replace the old open terracing. In 1972 a new stand was completed in Ellerslie Road, replacing the tin-roofed grandstand erected in 1919, the changing rooms and offices were moved to South Africa Road and the television gantry moved in the other direction. The stadiums highest recorded attendance of 35,353 was in a game against Leeds United on 27 April 1974, during the summer of 1981 an artificial pitch of Omniturf was installed at Loftus Road, the first such surface to be used in British professional football. Rangers lost the first league match played on the new surface 1-2 versus Luton Town on 1 September 1981 and it was removed in April 1988 because of football legislation and replaced with grass. There were just three other stadiums in the whole country with a plastic pitch, and by 1994 all of these had been ripped up. New stands were opened at the School End in the summer of 1980, at the same time as the new Loftus Road stand was built executive boxes were installed in the lower tier of the South Africa Road stand and the artificial pitch laid. The stadium capacity at this time was 27,000 and it was one of the most modern, in the summer of 1994 the Loftus Road ground became an all-seater stadium with the construction of seating in the lower Loftus Road stand
2.
Tune Group
–
Tune Group Sdn Bhd is a leisure and entertainment corporation founded by the Malaysian entrepreneurs Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Groups mission is to provide affordability and accessibility to leisure activities and entertainment and it does this via its airline, hotel, telecommunication, financial services, sports, media and creative industries subsidiaries. Tune Group was the shirt sponsor of FA match officials until 2013. Tune was founded in late 2001 with the purchase of AirAsia by Tune Air Sdn Bhd on 2 December 2001, in 2013, Tune Group expanded its low budget hotel business in Australia. It contracted to partner the Professional Games Match Officials for seven years, previously, PGMO was affiliated with the Tune Group subsidiary AirAsia
3.
Lakshmi Mittal
–
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal pronunciation, is an Indian steel magnate, based in the United Kingdom. He is the chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company, Mittal owns 38% of ArcelorMittal and holds an 11% stake in Queens Park Rangers F. C. In 2005, Forbes ranked Mittal as the third richest person in the world, in 2007, Mittal was considered to be the richest Asian person in Europe. He was ranked the sixth-richest person in the world by Forbes in 2011, in spite of the drop, Forbes estimated that he still had a personal wealth of US$16 billion in October 2013. Mukesh Ambani remains the richest Indian, overtaking him, although there have been frequent surpasses, in 2017, Forbes ranked him as the 56th richest person in the world with a net worth of US$16.4 billion. He is also the 57th-most powerful person of the 72 individuals named in Forbes Most Powerful People list for 2015 and his daughter Vanisha Mittals wedding was the second-most expensive in recorded history. Mittal has been a member of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs since 2008 and he also sits on the advisory board of Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management in the United States and is a member of the board of trustees of the Cleveland Clinic. In 2006 The Sunday Times named him Business Person of 2006, the Financial Times named him Person of the Year, in 2007, Time magazine included him in their 100 most influential persons in the world. Mittal studied at Shri Daulatram Nopany Vidyalaya from 1957 to 1964 and he graduated from St. Xaviers College, Calcutta, with a B. Com degree in first class from the University of Calcutta. His father, Mohan Lal Mittal, ran a steel business, in 1976, due to the curb of steel production by the Indian government, the 26-year-old Mittal opened his first steel factory PT Ispat Indo in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia. Until the 1990s, the main assets in India were a cold-rolling mill for sheet steels in Nagpur. Today, the business, including a large integrated steel plant near Mumbai, is run by his younger brothers Pramod Mittal and Vinod Mittal. In 2008, Mittal awarded Abhinav Bindra with Rs.1.5 Crore, Arcelor Mittal also provided steel for the construction of the ArcelorMittal Orbit for the 2012 Summer Olympics. For Comic Relief he matched the money raised on the celebrity special BBC programme, in 2009, the Foundation along with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan founded the Usha Lakshmi Mittal Institute of Management in New Delhi. SNDT Womens University renamed the Institute of Technology for Women as Usha Mittal Institute of Technology after a donation from the Lakshmi Niwas Mittal Foundation. In 2008 the Mittals made a donation of £15 million to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, the donation was used to help fund their new facility, the Mittal Childrens Medical Centre. Mittal successfully employed Marek Dochnals consultancy to influence Polish officials in the privatization of PHS steel group, dochnal was later arrested for bribing Polish officials on behalf of Russian agents in a separate affair. In 2007, the Polish government said it wanted to renegotiate the 2004 sale to Arcelor Mittal, employees of Mittal have accused him of slave labour conditions after multiple fatalities in his mines
4.
Tony Fernandes
–
Tan Sri Anthony Francis Tony Fernandes, CBE is a Malaysian entrepreneur. He is the founder of Tune Air Sdn, bhd. who introduced the first budget no-frills airline, AirAsia, to Malaysians with the tagline Now everyone can fly. Fernandes managed to turn AirAsia, a failing government-linked commercial airline and he has since founded the Tune Group of companies. As a result, these nations have granted landing rights to AirAsia, as of February 2014, Forbes Asia valued Fernandes net worth at $650 million, ranking him at number 28 on the Forbes list of Malaysias Richest. Fernandes was born in Kuala Lumpur on 30 April 1964 to an Indian father, at a young age, he would follow his mother who sold Tupperware at Tupperware parties. He was educated at The Alice Smith School in Kuala Lumpur, starting at age 12, from 1977 to 1983, he studied at Epsom College boarding school in England. He matriculated to the London School of Economics and graduated with a degree in accounting and he worked very briefly with Virgin Atlantic as an auditor, subsequently becoming the financial controller for Richard Bransons Virgin Records in London from 1987 to 1989. Fernandes was admitted as Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 1991 and he is currently a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Fernandes was formerly a Warner Music executive in Malaysia and he was the South East Asian regional vice-president for Warner Music Group from 1992 to 2001. When Time Warner Inc announced its merger with America Online Inc, Fernandes left to pursue his dream of starting a budget no-frills airline. In September 2001, Fernandes purchased AirAsia and became its chief executive, instead of starting from scratch, Mahathir advised Fernandes to buy an existing airline. AirAsia, the heavily indebted subsidiary of the Malaysian government-owned conglomerate, One year after his takeover, AirAsia had broken even and cleared all its debts. Its initial public offering in November 2004 was oversubscribed by 130 per cent, Fernandes says his timing was in fact perfect, after 11 September 2001, aircraft leasing costs fell 40%. Also, airline lay-offs meant experienced staff were readily available and he believed Malaysian travellers would embrace a cut-rate air service that would save them time and money, especially in a tight economy. Fernandes estimates about 50 per cent of the travellers on Asia’s budget airlines are first-time flyers, before the advent of AirAsia, he estimated that only six per cent of Malaysians had ever travelled by air. Fernandes biggest achievement was to open up countries within the region to new budget carriers, as a result of Fernandes lobbying in mid-2003, Dr Mahathir brought up the idea with leaders from neighbouring countries. Those nations subsequently granted landing rights to AirAsia and other discount carriers, in Thailand and Indonesia, AirAsia holds a minority stake in the respective local companies. PT Awair, re-launched as a low fare airline on 8 December 2004 and subsequently renamed Indonesia AirAsia, in 2007, Fernandes started a hotel chain, Tune Hotels, based on the no frills concept
5.
Steve McClaren
–
Stephen McClaren is an English professional football manager and former player who was recently the manager of Derby County. McClaren served as manager of the England national team from August 2006 to November 2007 and he was sacked when England failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2008. McClarens managerial career began at Middlesbrough in the Premier League, who won the League Cup in 2004 and were runners-up in the 2006 UEFA Cup, in 2008, McClaren became manager of Twente, with whom he won the clubs first Eredivisie championship in the 2009–10 season. He then worked as manager of VfL Wolfsburg in Germany between May 2010 and February 2011, after a short spell as manager of Nottingham Forest, he returned to Twente in January 2012. McClarens return to Twente was initially greeted with enthusiasm and the club was deemed to be one of the favourites to the 2012–13 Eredivisie championship at the start of the season, after unsuccessful results, however, McClaren resigned his position on 26 February 2013. Within seven months, he was back in management with Derby County, in May 2015, McClaren was sacked by Derby. On 10 June 2015, McClaren was appointed as coach of Newcastle United on a three-year deal. He returned to Derby on 12 October 2016 before being sacked for a time by the club 5 months later on 12 March 2017. McClaren was born on 3 May 1961 in Fulford, York, described as Yorkshire born and bred, McClarens ancestors worked variously as miners, brewers, cotton mill workers, labourers, and farmworkers, and in domestic service. As a child, McClaren attended Nunthorpe Grammar School after passing his eleven-pluses, in order to attend he had to cycle a daily ten-mile round trip across York. This is cited as an example of his determination to succeed in sport, at school he played rugby, tennis, squash and was captain of the schools football team. He also played for York Boys under-15 team and represented the county of Yorkshire, playing as midfielder, McClaren is remembered as being a tiny player but also skilful on the ball and head and shoulders above the rest. As a player, McClaren was a midfielder who spent most of his career in the leagues of English football. The bulk of his career was with Hull City, who he joined in 1979 at the age of 18 after leaving school. He then played for Derby County between 1985 and 1988, making 25 appearances, during 1987, he joined Lincoln City making only eight appearances. In 1988, he moved to Bristol City and played 61 times and he joined his final club, Oxford United, in 1989. He played 33 times for Oxford before an injury forced him to retire in 1992, after retiring from playing, McClaren began his coaching career as a youth and reserve team coach at Oxford United, where Denis Smith was manager. He moved back to Derby County in 1995, where he was assistant manager to Jim Smith, the pair won promotion to the Premier League in their first season in charge, establishing themselves in this division and later enjoyed further consolidation in the top flight
6.
EFL Championship
–
The English Football League Championship is the highest division of the English Football League and second-highest overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League. Each year, the top finishing teams in the Championship are promoted to the Premier League, the Football League Championship, which was introduced for the 2004–05 season, was previously known as the Football League First Division, and before that was known as Division Two. The winners of the Championship receive the Football League Championship trophy, the Championship is the wealthiest non-top flight football division in the world and the seventh richest division in Europe. With an average attendance for the 2015-16 season of 17,578. Bundesliga as the secondary league in the world. In the 2015–16 season, Burnley were the champions, Middlesbrough were the runners up. At present, Ipswich Town hold the longest tenure in the Championship, the total figures were aided somewhat by the presence of 24 clubs, compared to 20 clubs in both Serie A and Ligue 1, and 18 in the Bundesliga. A major factor to the success comes from television revenue. On 30 September 2009, Coca-Cola announced they would end their deal with The Football League at the end of the 2009–10 season. On 18 July 2013, UK bookmaker Sky Bet announced that signed a 5-year agreement to sponsor the league. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, the teams are ranked in the league table by points gained, then goal difference, then goals scored and then their head-to-head record for that season. At the end of the season, the top two teams and the winner of the Championship play-offs are promoted to the Premier League and the three teams are relegated to Football League One. The Football League Championship play-offs is a competition for the teams finishing the season in third to sixth place with the winner being promoted to the Premier League. In the play-offs, the team plays against the sixth-placed team. The winners of each semi-final then compete in a match with the prize being promotion to the Premier League. From 2009 to 2012, Sky Sports had the rights to broadcast 65 live matches, the BBC had the rights to show 10 first choice live games for the regular season as well as the rights to show a highlight show. The deal is on a contract and is worth £264m that will mostly be paid by Sky. The deal included 75 live league games, all the matches,15 League Cup ties
7.
Kit (association football)
–
In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
8.
Away colours
–
Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
9.
Third jersey
–
Alternate jerseys are also a means for professional sports organizations to generate revenue, by sales to fans. Of North American sports leagues, the NFL generates $1.2 billion annually in jersey sales, another use of the alternate uniform is for identifying with causes, like the Central Coast Mariners wear an alternate pink kit on pink ribbon day. Extra alternate uniforms or fourth/fifth kits are not commonly used, but are required when teams other uniforms cause color clashes. In cases where teams have more than three kits in the same season, the extra kits were usually recycled from previous seasons. Third-choice jerseys or uniforms are used in all four North American major professional sports leagues, Third kits are commonplace in professional European association football and in some professional European rugby union clubs. Alternate guernseys or jerseys are common in Australias two biggest domestic leagues, the Australian Football League and National Rugby League, for home and away jerseys in North America, historical convention has often dictated the colors used by teams in a given league. Teams generally have one jersey which is primarily in a team color, white at home is the convention in baseball, basketball, minor league professional hockey, and college hockey. White while away is the convention in football, major professional hockey. Association football does not have a white at home or a white while away convention, the NBA and NHL both enforce the color/white rule strictly, any NHL team seeking to wear white at home must get express permission from the league office to do so. In American sports, throwback jerseys are generally used for special team games. In American football a third jersey may be a uniform based on designs the team used in the past. In association football, meanwhile, it is commonly a radically different design. Initially, the NFL rule stated that a team may wear their third only once a year. There are currently no rules on wearing alternate pants, teams are also permitted to wear alternate jerseys as often as desired in playoff games, the only team to do so was the 2008 San Diego Chargers. Some teams will use one of their third jersey allotments against a particular division opponent each year. The New York Giants were known to wear their red jerseys at home against the Dallas Cowboys until the red jerseys were retired in 2009. The Washington Redskins wear their uniform on home games to commemorate their annual homecoming game once a year since 2012. When wearing their jerseys, especially if the team is wearing a throwback uniform
10.
Association football
–
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
11.
White City, London
–
White City is a district in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and forms the northern part of Shepherds Bush. Today, White City is home to the BBC Television Centre and BBC White City, and Loftus Road stadium, the area now called White City was level arable farmfields until 1908, when it was used as the site of the Franco-British Exhibition and the 1908 Summer Olympics. In 1909 the exhibition site hosted the Imperial International Exhibition and in 1910, the final two exhibitions to be held there were the Latin-British Exhibition and the Anglo-American Exhibition, which was brought to a premature end by the outbreak of the First World War. During this period it was known as the Great White City due to the marble cladding used on the exhibition pavilions. The White City Stadium in the north of the area, known as the Great Stadium, in 1931, a 440yd running track was installed for the Amateur Athletic Association Championships, held there from 1932 to 1970. It hosted one match during the 1966 World Cup, the stadium was demolished in 1985 to make way for the BBC White City building. The Marathon from these London Olympics played an important part in the development of the marathon race. In the early years of international sport, the long distance marathon race did not have a standard set distance. The distance run at the first seven Olympics from 1896 to 1920 varied between 40km and 42.75 km, the starting point of the race at the 1908 Olympics was at Windsor Castle creating a distance of 26 miles 385 yards to the finishing line at White City stadium. In 1921 this was adopted as the standard distance, to house the growing population of Shepherds Bush, a five-storey housing estate was built in the late 1930s, which also took the name of the White City. Streets were named after countries that had featured in the exhibitions, in 2001, BBC Television Centre was damaged by a car bomb attack by the Real IRA. The bomb went off on Wood Lane, in front of the Television Centre news building, on 30 October 2008, Westfield shopping centre was opened. Westfield Group has built a new shopping centre, bounded by the West Cross Route and this centre has been branded Westfield London. Shepherds Bush on the West London Line, to the east of the adjacent to the Holland Park roundabout. It is also a walking distance from Shepherds Bush tube station served by the Central line. In 2007, it was announced that the BBC would sell its landmark Television Centre as part of a cost-cutting programme, in 2008 English Heritage announced its recommendation to list parts of TV centre as an excellent example of 20th-century architecture. Following the sale of the Television Centre, White City has become a key area within Central London. A strong partnership between White City Living by St James, Westfield London, Stanhope and Imperial College London, has created a vision for the future of White City area
12.
Premier League
–
The Premier League is an English professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League, Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, others during weekday evenings. It is colloquially known as the Premiership and outside the UK it is referred to as the English Premier League. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB, the league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion, the Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000, most stadium occupancies are near capacity. The Premier League ranks third in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. While 47 clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, only six have won the title, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, the current champions are Leicester City, who won the title in 2015–16. Despite significant European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 80s marked a low point for English football, the 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league, ten clubs threatened to leave and form a super league, but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadiums improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the influx of money into the sport. At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the games top-flight clubs, the argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe. The managing director of London Weekend Television, Greg Dyke, met with the representatives of the big five clubs in England in 1990. The meeting was to pave the way for an away from The Football League. The FA did not enjoy a relationship with the Football League at the time
13.
EFL Cup
–
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
14.
Football League First Division
–
The Football League First Division is a former division of the Football League. Between 1888 and 1992 it was the division in the English football league system. Following the creation of the FA Premier League it was a second-level division, in 2004 it was rebranded as the Football League Championship. The Football League was founded in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor and it originally consisted of a single division of 12 clubs, known as The Football League. When the League admitted additional members from the rival Football Alliance in 1892, for the next 100 years, the First Division was the top professional league in English football. Then, in 1992 the 22 clubs making up the First Division elected to resign from the Football League, the Football League was consequently re-organised, with the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions now renamed the First, Second and Third respectively. Thus, the First Division, while still the top level of the Football League, the First Division was renamed as the Football League Championship prior to the start of the 2004–05 season, as part of a league-wide rebrand. Liverpool were the most frequent winners of the First Division when it was the top flight of English football, winning it a total of 18 times. After the creation of the Premier League, the new Division One title was won more than once by one club, Sunderland. The First Division initially consisted of 12 founder clubs, since then it has undergone a series of expansions as football became more popular, as of the 1975–76 season players had to make 14 appearances for their club during the season in order to qualify for a winners medal. See List of English football champions, see List of winners of English Football League Championship and predecessors
15.
1982 FA Cup Final
–
The 1982 FA Cup Final took place on 22 May 1982 at Wembley Stadium. It was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers, Spurs were the holders of the cup, and were hot favourites, while unfancied QPR had just missed out on promotion from the Second Division. After three and an hours of football, Spurs ran out eventual winners, 1–0 in the replay. It would be the last final involving a team from outside the top flight for 10 years, tottenhams victory meant that they had then won the FA Cup seven times – matching the record set by Aston Villa 25 years earlier. It also preserved their record in FA Cup finals. Tottenhams Argentinian player Ricky Villa decided not to play in the final because of the ongoing Falklands War, the first game was a tense and largely dull game of few clear cut chances. QPRs young goalkeeper Peter Hucker was certainly the busier keeper although Spurs were mainly being kept to long range efforts, Huckers performance in the first match would ultimately earn him the Man of the Match award. He was replaced by Gary Micklewhite five minutes into the second half, ninety minutes came and went with the score 0–0. With ten minutes of time remaining, Glenn Hoddle found himself just outside the QPR penalty box. His shot took a deflection and found the corner of Huckers goal. Not to be outdone, five minutes later Simon Stainrod took a long throw ten yards from the Spurs goal line. Rangers burly centre-back Bob Hazell, flicked the ball on at the near post and Terry Fenwick headed the ball past Spurs keeper Ray Clemence at point-blank range, the replay took place at Wembley five days later. Clive Allen had not recovered from his injury and his replacement on the Saturday, Gary Micklewhite, early in the game after only six minutes had elapsed, the Spurs midfielder Graham Roberts broke through into the Rangers penalty area. Rangers captain on the evening, Tony Currie, made a lunge to get the ball, Glenn Hoddle coolly slotted the penalty away sending Peter Hucker the wrong way. QPR soon managed to get into the game though and before long had the ball in the net by Micklewhite and it was fair to say that for much of the rest of the game they were the better side, taking the game to their more highly fancied opponents. The only thing they couldnt manage to do was score, the closest they came was in the second half when John Gregory received a raking long pass from the left wing from Simon Stainrod and spotted Spurs keeper Ray Clemence slightly off his line. Gregorys audacious volleyed chip from just inside the box however, agonisingly hit the crossbar, steve Archibald hit the post late on for Spurs but Hoddles early penalty remained the only goal, and Spurs retained the trophy just as they had done in 1962. The Tottenham Hotspur squad recorded a cup final song for the 1982 final – Tottenham Tottenham, Match report at fa-cupfinals. co. uk 1981–82 F. A Cup Results at soccerbase. com 1982 Cup Final at sportingchronicle. com
16.
Queen's Park, London
–
Queens Park is an area and civil parish of northwest London, located on the boundary between the London Borough of Brent and the City of Westminster. The neighbourhood lies between Kilburn and Kensal Green, and was developed from 1875 and named to honour Queen Victoria, the open space opened in 1887, located to the north, also shares the name. The north of Queens Park formed part of the parish of Willesden, in 1855 the vestry of the Chelsea parish was incorporated as a local council in the metropolitan area of London governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works. Willesden parish remained outside the area and formed a government district from 1874. In 1965 both parts of Queens Park became part of Greater London, the section formed part of Brent. Malchow, Felix Driver, Martin Gaskell and Peter Thorsheim, finally, the inter-relationships between the temperance movement, the National Health Society, and the idea of urban green spaces as places of health will be drawn out. Research paper, ‘To brighten the aspect of our streets and increase the health and enjoyment of our city’, The National Health Society, decisions must reflect user expectations, predictions of future needs and trends and, of course, budgets. There is a management plan for Queen’s Park that aims to highlight the priorities and main themes on which the City of London. Further details on the management of Queen’s Park can be found in the Queen’s Park Management Plan 2009/14 Managing for the environment Sustainable management is important to us. We recycle as much waste as we can, from grass clippings and wood we make mulch for our shrubberies, everyday waste like cans, bottles and plastics are separated and recycled. Residents bring in their Christmas trees which we mulch and return for use on their own gardens and we are also able to recycle rain water via a new drainage system. All water runs into a holding tank underground and can be pumped to areas when needed. The two-storey terraced houses east of the park, built between 1895 and 1900, typically have clean, classical lines and those west of the park, built 1900–05, tend to be more Gothic in style. Barnetts wife was from the West Country, and many of the roads he developed are named either for places she knew or for popular poets of the time, the first occupants of the area in late Victorian times were typically lower middle class, such as clerks and teachers. Currently Queens Park is both demographically and architecturally diverse, the streets around the park at the heart of Queens Park are a conservation area. The northern part of Queens Park is very different from the south of Kilburn Lane. The northern part is in the borough of Brent and has historically made up of family houses. Local schools – some of which struggled to attract the children of local families in the past – are now over-subscribed
17.
Chelsea F.C.
–
Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, that competes in the Premier League. Founded in 1905, the home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship and they then won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1996. The clubs greatest period of success has come during the last two decades, winning 21 trophies since 1997. Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League, and one of four clubs, Chelseas regular kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. The clubs crest has changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club. The current crest, featuring a lion rampant regardant holding a staff, is a modification of the one introduced in the early 1950s. The club have the sixth-highest average all-time attendance in English football and their average home gate for the 2015–16 season was 41,500, the seventh highest in the Premier League. Since 2003, Chelsea have been owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, in 2016, they were ranked by Forbes magazine as the seventh most valuable football club in the world, at £1.15 billion. In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium with the aim of turning it into a football ground, an offer to lease it to nearby Fulham was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium. Chelsea were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub, opposite the main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road. The club won promotion to the First Division in their second season and they reached the 1915 FA Cup Final, where they lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, the clubs best league campaign to that point. Chelsea attracted large crowds and had a reputation for signing big-name players, former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake became manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions Cup, but after objections from The Football League, Chelsea failed to build on this success, and spent the remainder of the 1950s in mid-table. Drake was dismissed in 1961 and replaced by player-coach Tommy Docherty, Docherty built a new team around the group of talented young players emerging from the clubs youth set-up and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, enduring several near-misses. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup. In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up, under Dochertys successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph, the year, with another replayed win
18.
Fulham F.C.
–
Fulham Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fulham, Greater London, England. Founded in 1879, they play in the Championship, the tier of English football. They are the football team from London to have played in the Premier League. The club has spent 25 seasons in English footballs top division, the latter spell was associated with former chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed, after the club had climbed up from the fourth tier in the 1990s. The club has produced many English greats, including Johnny Haynes, George Cohen, Bobby Robson, Rodney Marsh and they play at Craven Cottage, a ground on the banks of the River Thames in Fulham which has been their home since 1896. Fulhams training ground is located near Motspur Park, where the clubs Academy is also situated, Fulham were formed in 1879 as Fulham St Andrews Church Sunday School F. C. founded by worshipers at the Church of England on Star Road, West Kensington. Fulhams mother church still today with a plaque commemorating the teams foundation. They won the West London Amateur Cup in 1887 and, having shortened the name from Fulham Excelsior to its present form in 1888, one of the clubs first ever kits was half red, half white shirts with white shorts worn in the 1886–87 season. Fulham started playing at their current ground at Craven Cottage in 1896, the club gained professional status on 12 December 1898, the same year that they were admitted into the Southern Leagues Second Division. They were the club from London to turn professional, following Arsenal. They adopted a red and white kit during the 1900–01 season, in 1902–03, the club won promotion from this division, entering the Southern League First Division. The club won the Southern League twice, in 1905–06 and 1906–07, Fulham joined The Football League after the second of their Southern League triumphs. The clubs first league game, playing in the Second Divisions 1907–08 season, the first win came a few days later at Derby Countys Baseball Ground by a score line of 1–0. Fulham finished the three points short of promotion in fourth place. The club progressed all the way to the semi-final of that seasons FA Cup, in the semi-final, however, they were heavily beaten, 6–0, by Newcastle United. This is still a loss for an FA Cup semi-final game. Two years later, the won the London Challenge Cup in the 1909–10 season. Fulhams first season in Division Two turned out to be the highest that the club would finish for 21 years, until in 1927–28 when the club were relegated to the 3rd Division South, created in 1920
19.
Brentford F.C.
–
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
20.
West London derby
–
The West London Derby is the name given to a football derby played between any two of Brentford, Chelsea, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, all of whom are situated within West or Southwest London. In terms of postcodes, Chelsea and Fulham are in the SW6 postcode of London, Queens Park Rangers are in W12, the West London derby is less prominent than other such derbies in English football, owing to the teams frequently being in separate divisions. Chelsea did not face Fulham between 1986 and 2001, and have played Brentford only twice since 1950, QPR did not face Brentford between 1966 and 2001, and did not play Chelsea between 1996 and 2008. The derbys most common match, Chelsea vs Fulham, has taken place 75 times, by contrast, the North London derby has been contested over 170 times, and the Merseyside derby over 200 times. The 2011–12 campaign was the first instance of three of the west London clubs competing in the top flight in the season, Chelsea, Fulham. According to the 2012 Football Rivalries Survey, Fulham regard QPR as their rivals, Chelsea as their secondary rivals. QPR fans identified Chelsea as their rivals, Fulham second. Brentford fans chose Fulham as their rivals, QPR as their secondary rivals. Chelsea fans did not list any of the trio from West London, instead selecting Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, there is very little rivalry between Brentford and Chelsea, mainly due to the fact that they have been in different divisions for over 60 years. Also Brentford developed a bigger sporting rivalry with Arsenal at the time as both clubs vied for the title of Londons number one club, other than that, Brentford and Chelsea have always had fairly good relations, even amongst supporters. In fact, during the 1970s many Chelsea fans would come down to Griffin Park if their club were playing away, Chelsea reserves play their games at Griffin Park, and occasionally a pre season friendly is staged between the two clubs. Brentford and Chelsea met for the first time since 1950 on 27 January 2013 in an FA Cup 4th round tie at Griffin Park which ended in a 2-2 draw, Chelsea won the replay on 17 February 2013 at Stamford Bridge 4-0. Fulham and Brentford have competed at the level for a few periods in their history with the rivalry being fiercest during Fulhams descent to the lower leagues in the 1980s. The two teams competed between the 1920s and the 1950s in the Football League‘s various divisions. These games always drew bumper crowds and often caused tension on the pitch, Fulham later went on to win the London Derby cup. The two clubs spent a majority of seasons in the division until the 1997–98 Division Two campaign. On 21 November, Brentford won at home 2–1, sending them to one point of the leaders of the Championship. Prior to meeting in the league, the two sides were together in the League Cup second round on 26 August 2014, with Fulham winning 1–0 at Griffin Park
21.
White City Stadium
–
It also hosted swimming, speedway and a match at the 1966 World Cup, before the stadium was demolished in 1985. It was the first Olympic Stadium in the UK, from 1927 until 1984 it was the premier venue for greyhound racing hosting the English Greyhound Derby. Designed by the engineer J. J, the cost of construction was £60,000. Upon completion, the stadium had a running track 24 ft wide, the infield included a swimming and diving pool. Many events of the 1908 Olympics were at the stadium itself, swimming was held at White City, in a 100-yard pool dug in the infield. The position of the line for the marathon in the 1908 Summer Olympics is commemorated by a marker in the plaza that now stands there. The distance of the marathon was fixed at these Games. The medal table for the 1908 Summer Olympics is also listed on a nearby wall, the original running track continued in use until 1914. There were attempts to sell the stadium in 1922, but several athletes in the team for the 1924 Summer Olympics used it for training, in 1926 the GRA took over the stadium and in 1927, the track was grassed over for greyhound racing and speedway. They built new covered terracing and a restaurant, from 1927 until its closure it hosted weekly greyhound meetings and was considered the top greyhound track in Britain. It hosted the premier event, the English Greyhound Derby. Just before and after the Second World War attendances were huge, in 1931, a 440yd running track was installed for the Amateur Athletic Association Championships, held there from 1932 to 1970. Besides the AAA championships, major events, including international matches, were held at the stadium. In 1954 in a match against Russia Christopher Chataway broke the world 5000m record running against Vladimir Kuts, the one mile world record was broken there by Derek Ibbotson in 1957. In 1934 the second British Empire Games and the fourth Womens World Games were held at the venue, also in 1931, Queens Park Rangers F. C. began the first of two spells playing at the stadium, until 1933. QPR eventually decided against a permanent move to White City and stayed at Loftus Road, between 1932 and 1958 the stadium hosted major British boxing events, with attendances peaking as high as 90,000 for the second meeting between Len Harvey and Jack Petersen in 1934. The first major fight at the stadium was Len Harvey’s unsuccessful challenge for the NBA Middleweight Championship versus Marcel Thil of France, future heavyweight champion Primo Carnera suffered his only defeat on British soil here when he lost to Canadian Larry Gains in May 1932. Other important fighters to appear at White City include Jock McAvoy, Don Cockell, Nino Valdez, Henry Cooper, in 1933, Wigan Highfield, a rugby league side, nearly became bankrupt
22.
Leeds United F.C.
–
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
23.
Tranmere Rovers F.C.
–
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club founded in 1884, and based in Birkenhead, Wirral, England. Originally known as Belmont Football Club, they adopted their current name in 1885. They were a member of Division Three North in 1921, and were a member of The Football League until 2015, when they were relegated to the National League. During the 1980s, they were beset by problems and, in 1987. Under Kings successor, John Aldridge, Tranmere experienced a number of cup runs, other cup runs include reaching FA Cup quarter-finals in 2000,2001 and 2004. Tranmeres regular kit is a strip with blue trim, their main colours since 1962. The club moved to its current home, Prenton Park, in 1912, in 1995, the ground had a major redevelopment in response to the Taylor Report. It now seats 16,567 in four stands, the Main Stand, the Kop, the Johnny King Stand, Tranmere Rovers were, initially, formed as Belmont Football Club when the football arms of two cricket clubs – Lyndhurst Wanderers and Belmont – came together in 1884. On 15 November 1884, they won their first game 4–0 against Brunswick Rovers and this was a friendly match, as there were no leagues until 1888. Under the presidency of James McGaul, the team had an inaugural season. An unrelated, disbanded side had played under the name Tranmere Rovers Cricket Club in 1881–82, on 16 September 1885, before their second season began, Belmont F. C. adopted this name Tranmere Rovers. Tranmere played their first matches at Steeles Field in Birkenhead, in 1887, they bought Ravenshaws Field from Tranmere Rugby Club. In 1895, their ground was renamed Prenton Park, although it was 25 years later that the team moved into the current stadium of the same name, Tranmere first wore a kit of blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks. In 1889 they adopted orange and maroon shirts, but in 1904 returned to wearing their original kit, in 1886, Tranmere entered their first competition, the Liverpool and District Challenge Cup, in 1889, they entered the West Lancashire League. They joined the Combination, a stronger league, in 1897. Tranmere won the Lancashire Combination Championship in 1914 and Stan Rowlands became the first Tranmere player to receive a cap when he was selected to play for Wales. Rovers continued to play throughout the First World War, although their players were criticised for avoiding military service, following the expulsion of Leeds City Reserves in 1919, Tranmere were able to enter the Central League. Their timing was excellent as the season, four Central League clubs – including Tranmere – were invited to join the new Division Three North
24.
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
–
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
25.
Wembley Stadium (1923)
–
The Original Wembley Stadium was a football stadium located in Wembley Park, London. It stood on the now occupied by its successor, the new Wembley Stadium. The great Brazilian footballer Pelé once said of the stadium, Wembley is the cathedral of football and it is the capital of football and it is the heart of football in recognition of its status as the worlds best-known football stadium. It also hosted music events, including the 1985 Live Aid charity concert. The twin towers were an icon for England and Wembley, debris from the Original Wembley Stadium was used to make the award-winning Northala Fields in Northolt, Ealing. The stadiums first turf was cut by King George V, much of Humphrey Reptons original Wembley Park landscape was transformed in 1922–23 during preparations for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924–25. First known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium or simply Empire Stadium, the stadium cost £750,000, and was constructed on the site of an earlier folly called Watkins Tower. The architects were Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton and the Head Engineer Sir Owen Williams, the stadium had gone into liquidation, after it was pronounced financially unviable. Elvin offered to buy the stadium for £127,000, using a £12,000 downpayment and they then immediately bought it back from Elvin, leaving him with a healthy profit. Instead of cash he received shares, which gave him the largest stake in Wembley Stadium, the electric scoreboard and the all-encircling roof, made from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963. The stadiums distinctive Twin Towers became its trademark and nickname, also well known were the 39 steps needed to be climbed to reach the Royal box and collect a trophy. Wembley was the first pitch to be referred to as Hallowed Turf, in 1934, the Empire Pool was built nearby. The Wembley Stadium Collection is held by the National Football Museum, the stadium closed in October 2000, and demolition commenced in December 2002, completing in 2003 for redevelopment. The top of one of the towers was erected as a memorial in the park on the north side of Overton Close in the Saint Raphaels Estate. Wembley is best known for hosting football matches, having hosted the FA Cup Final annually as well as numerous England International fixtures, the Empire Stadium was built in exactly 300 days at the cost of £750,000. Described as the worlds greatest sporting arena, it was ready only 4 days before the White Horse Final in 1923, the FA had not considered admission by ticket, grossly underestimating the number of fans who arrived at the 104 gates on match day. However, after the game, every event, apart from the 1982 replay, was ticketed, the first event held at the stadium was the FA Cup Final on 28 April 1923 between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. This is known as the White Horse Final, the crowds overflowed onto the pitch as there was no room on the terraces
