1.
Kerkrade
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Kerkrade is a town and a municipality in the southeast of Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands. Kerkrade is the half of a divided city, it was part of the German town of Herzogenrath until the Congress of Vienna in 1815 drew the current Dutch-German border. The two towns, including outlying suburban settlements, have a population approaching 100,000, of which nearly 47,000 in Kerkrade, the history of Kerkrade is closely linked with that of the adjacent town of Herzogenrath, just across the German border. Herzogenrath began as a settlement, called Rode, near the river Worm in the 11th century, in 1104 Augustinian monks founded an abbey, called Kloosterrade, to the west of this settlement. It was called s-Hertogenrode or s-Hertogenrade after the duchy of Brabant took control over the region, as is the case for many parts of the Southern Netherlands, the place changed hands several times in the last few centuries. It was under Spanish control from 1661, Austrian between 1713 and 1785 and French between 1795 and 1813, in 1815, when the kingdom of the Netherlands was formed, the border was drawn through Herzogenrath, the western part being Kerkrade. In the 18th century the monks of Rolduc began small-scale coal mines, when the Willem Sophia mine was opened around 1900, the town grew even more rapidly, absorbing old villages like Chèvremont. In the decades following 1960, all the mines in Limburg were closed, one of the oldest buildings in the municipality is Erenstein, a castle the origins of which lie in the 14th century. One part of the border between the Netherlands and Germany runs along the middle of the street Nieuwstraat/Neustraße, there was a separate 2-way road on each side, and cars had to pass through the official crossing points, but pedestrians could readily step over the wall. In 1995, the wall was removed completely as part of the new Schengen Area agreement, Nieuwstraat/Neustraße is now a single two-way road, with the extra space now occupied with trees and bicycle lanes. The border is unmarked, and is crossed even when going round a roundabout or overtaking a vehicle, the two towns now share some of their public services, and promote themselves as a binational City of Eurode for economic development purposes. Kerkrades outlying neighborhoods and housing developments include, Every fourth year the World Music Contest, a competition for amateur, professional, also, for the last three years, the Drum Corps Europe championships have been held here. The building of a dam in the Anstel, a brook flowing west of Kerkrade, has led to the formation of a reservoir with an area of about 20 ha and this and its surroundings are very rich in flora and fauna. It is the reservoir in the Netherlands
2.
Goalkeeper (association football)
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Goalkeeper, often shortened to keeper or goalie, is one of the major positions of association football. It is the most specialised position in the sport, the goalkeepers primary role is to prevent the opposing team from successfully moving the ball over the defended goal-line. This is accomplished by the moving into the path of the ball. Within the penalty area goalkeepers are able to use their hands, goalkeepers usually perform goal kicks, and also give commands to their defence during corner kicks, direct and indirect free kicks, and marking. Goalkeepers play an important role in directing on field strategy as they have a view of the entire pitch. If an attacker on the opposing team obstructs the keeper from catching or saving the ball, for example, in a corner, it will normally be a free kick. If a goalkeeper is injured or sent off, a goalkeeper has to take their place. In order to replace a goalkeeper who is sent off, a team usually substitutes an outfield player for the backup keeper and they then play the remainder of the match with nine outfield players. Goalkeepers often have longer playing careers than players, many not retiring until their late thirties or early forties. This can be explained by noting that goalkeepers play a physically demanding position that requires significantly less running. For example, Peter Shilton played for 31 years between 1966 and 1997 before retiring at the age of 47. Because only one player can play in goal and the position is so specialised many professional teams on average especially at the highest level have one player as first-choice for many years, for example Gianlugi Buffon has played as first choice keeper for Juventus for more than 15 years. Petr Cech prior to his move to Aresnal was first choice keeper for Chelsea between 2004 and 2015, the squad number for a first choice goalkeeper is generally number 1. Although this is common, some goalkeepers now wear other numbers when in goal, association football, like many sports, has experienced many changes in tactics resulting in the generation and elimination of different positions. Goalkeeper is the position that is certain to have existed since the codification of the sport. The earliest account of football teams with player positions comes from Richard Mulcaster in 1581, the earliest specific reference to keeping goal comes from Cornish Hurling in 1602. One of these is appointed by lots, to the one side, there is assigned for their guard, a couple of their best stopping Hurlers. Other references to scoring goals begin in English literature in the early 16th century, for example, in John Days play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, Ill play a gole at camp-ball
3.
Fortuna Sittard
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Fortuna Sittard is a football club in Sittard, The Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Offermans Joosten Stadion, the club was a merger of former clubs Fortuna 54 and Sittardia who merged as the Fortuna Sittard Combinatie on 1 July 1968. Another KNVB Cup triumph was celebrated by Fortuna 54 in 1964 before the merging of the two clubs in 1968 due to financial difficulties. On 19 May 2009 the KNVB announced it would withdraw the license to play of Fortuna Sittard for the 2010–2011 season, after going to civil court, this decision was revoked and the club did not lose its license. These players later joined PSV Eindhoven and Rangers thereafter featured for the Dutch team, the teams management also had an eye for talent, as they snapped up Wilfred Bouma and Patrick Paauwe from the youth setup of PSV. Both players developed well under manager Bert van Marwijk, before breaking into the Dutch national side, at the end of the 1999–2000 season, successful manager Bert van Marwijk left to join Feyenoord and the team seemed to collapse. Due to poor management, the signed a number of over-paid. Fortuna relegated to the First Division in the 2001–2002 season, where things were getting bad to worse very quickly. Financial irregularities had been discovered and the team has been facing bankruptcy for the past 4 seasons, a little highlight came in the winter of 2003, when two of the clubs fans won the Dutch lottery and donated all of the prize money to the club. Things started to look up for Fortuna, when they were able to clear most of their debts by selling of the new stadium, unfortunately, the team hasnt been performing on the pitch and finished dead-last in the Dutch First Division for three consecutive seasons. In the 2005–2006 season, the managed to set a new record in Dutch professional football. The club also set a new record by finishing last for the time in a row. Even though financial troubles kept plaguing the club, recent years have seen a slow, as of 12 January 2017 For recent transfers, see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2016 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality
4.
Coach (sport)
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In sports, a coach is a person involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople. A coach may also be a teacher, the original sense of the word coach is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hungarian city of Kocs where such vehicles were first made. Britain took the lead in upgrading the status of sports in the 19th century, for sports to become professionalized, coacher had to become established. It gradually professionalized in the Victorian era and the role was established by 1914. In the First World War, military units sought out the coaches to supervise physical conditioning, a coach, particularly in a professional league, is usually supported by one or more assistant coaches and specialist support staff. The staff may include coordinators, strength and fitness specialists, in elite sport, the role of nutritionists, biomechanists and physiotherapists will all become critical to the overall long-term success of a coach and athlete. In association football, the duties of a coach can vary depending on the level they are coaching at, in professional football, the role of the coach or trainer is limited to the training and development of a clubs first team in most countries. The coach is aided by a number of assistant coaches, one of which carries the responsibility for the training, the coach is also assisted by medical staff and athletic trainers. The medium to long term strategy of a club, with regard to transfer policies, youth development. The system also provides a level of protection against overspending on players in search of instant success. In football, the director of a football team is more commonly awarded the position of manager. Baseball coaches at that level are members of the staff under the overall supervision of the manager. The baseball field manager is essentially equivalent to head coaches in other American professional sports leagues, the term manager used without qualification almost always refers to the field manager, while the general manager is often called the GM. At amateur levels, the terminology is similar to that of other sports. The person known as the manager in professional leagues is called the head coach in amateur leagues. In American football, like other sports, there are many coaches. Sports coaching in the UK follows a structured pattern in principle. In June 2008, the Sports Councils together with the governing bodies of sport formally adopted the UK Coaching Framework at the UK Coaching Summit in Coventry
5.
Roda JC Kerkrade
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Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade, also known as Roda JC Kerkrade is a Dutch professional association football club located in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eredivisie, the club was founded by a merger between Rapid JC and Roda Sport in 1962. They were placed in the Eerste Divisie, and after a relegation they were promoted back to the top division in 1973, in the 2009 season they added Kerkrade to the name to create brand awareness and get financial support. Roda JC is known as the coal-miners club, fans of arch rival, MVV, from the provincial capital of Maastricht, say those words condescendingly. In Kerkrade and the area, however, they are said with pride. The last Dutch coal mines were closed in the 1960s, but the part of the Netherlands most southern province. The coal mines are still recalled in folk songs in the dialect and in the stories of old miners. Southern Limburg will always be their home and their team, in most cases, is Roda JC. Roda JCs club honours include seven European campaigns and six KNVB cup finals, one of its predecessors in clubs family tree of mergers, Rapid JC, were champions of the Netherlands in 1956. Ten out of players on that Rapid JC team were coal miners. Roda JC Kerkrade came into being as the result of a merger of football clubs from Kerkrade. In 1954, SV Kerkrade and SV Bleijerheide merged to form Roda Sport and that same year, Rapid 54 and amateur club Juliana merged to form Rapid JC. Rapid JC was one of the most successful clubs of that time, in later years they would only finish in the top 10 once, when they finished second in the 1958–59 season. Roda Sport, however, were relegated to the Tweede Divisie and stayed there until the latest merger with Rapid JC, after the merger they began in the Eerste Divisie in the 1962–63 season, but were relegated the same season after finishing 16th. The following season they almost achieved promotion again, but they lost in the play-off, after their return to the Eerste Divisie, it only took a further two seasons before they were promoted to the Eredivisie, when they finished first. The club are finally in the division, but did not manage to qualify for a European competition even though they finished near the top several times. They only qualified for Europe once when they lost in the finals of the KNVB Cup in 1975, in the 1986–87 season they finally finished high enough for the European Cup play-offs in the Netherlands, but lost their place to FC Utrecht. One year later they finished 15th and struggled to avoid relegation to the Eerste Divisie and they did, however, reach the finals of the KNVB Cup
6.
AZ Alkmaar
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Alkmaar Zaanstreek, better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ, is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaanstreek. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional league in the Netherlands. AZ has won the Eredivisie twice, in 1980–81 and 2008–09, in the same season as their first league title, they also reached the UEFA Cup Final, which they lost to Ipswich Town. In addition, the team has won the KNVB Cup on four occasions, AZ was founded on 10 May 1967 as AZ67, the result of a merger of Alkmaar 54 and FC Zaanstreek. FC Zaanstreek was formed in 1964, continuing the adventure of the Kooger Football Club. KFC had been founded in 1910, had nearly become National Champion in 1934 through a loss to Ajax in the finals. After this merger failed, they successfully merged KFC with Alkmaar 54, partially through the hiring of expensive foreign players, the new club soon acquired large debts. They won the title with overwhelming power, winning 27 of 34 matches and only losing once while scoring a club record 101 goals and that same season, AZ reached the final of the UEFA Cup, losing 5–4 on aggregate to Ipswich Town. The next year, in the European Cup, they lost in the second round 3–2 on aggregate to Liverpool. Additional stars included John Metgod, who spent six years at AZ playing 195 games as a defender, like Hovenkamp, Metgod was also included in the Dutch squad for Euro 1980. Meanwhile, Danish forward Kristen Nygaard spent ten years at AZ, the club deteriorated after Klaas Molenaar left the club in 1985. AZ were relegated in 1988 from the Eredivisie, the involvement of businessman Dirk Scheringa in the mid-1990s marked the revival of the club as AZ returned to the Eredivisie in 1998. After a 22-year hiatus from European football, AZ appeared in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, in the same season, AZ finished third in the Eredivisie, thus also qualifying for the subsequent seasons UEFA Cup. In the summer of 2006, the moved to a new 17,000 capacity stadium AZ Stadion. Despite playing strongly for the majority of the 2006–07 season, AZs season ended in disappointment, additionally, AZ then lost the KNVB Cup final to Ajax 8–7 after a penalty shoot-out, while also falling to Ajax over two play-off games for participation in the Champions League. After the season, key players like Tim de Cler, Danny Koevermans, AZ had a poor season, suffering elimination in the first round of the KNVB Cup and the group stage of the UEFA Cup, as well as finishing the 2007–08 Eredivisie in 11th place. The 2008–09 season had a start after two opening defeats against NAC Breda and ADO Den Haag. Three weeks before the end of the season, AZ became Eredivisie champions, edging nearest title rivals Twente, being league champions, AZ qualified for the Champions League for the second time, but only took four points from six matches and finished bottom of their group
7.
Motherwell F.C.
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Motherwell Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premiership, Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1985, but have only lifted one trophy in that time – the Scottish Cup in 1991. Clad in their traditional claret and amber, Motherwell play their matches at Fir Park Stadium and have done since 1896. The clubs main rivals over the years have been Hamilton Academical and Airdrieonians and these matches are known as the Lanarkshire derby. Motherwells debut fixture proved to be a one as they overcame Hamilton Academical 3–2. On 5 August 1893 the decision was made to professional. Up until 1895 the club had played at a few different venues, including a site at Roman Road, the small pitch and muddy conditions at Dalziel Park were deemed unsuitable and fortunately Lord Hamilton granted a lease on a plot of land on his Dalzell estate. This new ground was named Fir Park and has remained the home for over one hundred years. The following years saw the club grow, appointing their first and longest serving manager to date, John Sailor Hunter, in 1913 the decision was made to change the clubs colours from blue to the now signature claret and amber. Motherwell enjoyed a period in the aftermath of World War I. The club placed third in the 1919–20 season and, although narrowly avoiding relegation in 1924–25, they climbed the table. In the summer of 1927, the made a very successful tour of Spain, winning six out of the eight games they played. These results included an emphatic 3–1 victory over Real Madrid and a 2–2 draw with Barcelona, following their success in Spain, the club went on another summer tour, this time of South America. After losing only three of their previous ten games, the tour culminated in a 5–0 defeat by a Brazilian League Select side, the championship was sealed on 23 April 1932, when Rangers could only draw at home against Clyde, handing Motherwell the title without kicking a ball. This was also the only League title won by a club outside the Old Firm between 1904 and 1947, in the two seasons following the league title win, Well finished runners up. Motherwell also contested three Scottish Cup finals in this period – in 1931,1933 and 1939, following the break-up of the squad after World War II, the club were not instantly successful. It then captured two trophies in as many years with victories in the 1950 Scottish League Cup Final. The club was relegated for the first time ever at the end of the 1952–53 season
8.
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
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Queens Park Rangers Football Club is a professional association football club based in White City, London, that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Their honours include winning the League Cup in 1967, as well as finishing top of the tier in 1983 and 2011. QPR were also runners-up of the Football League First Division in 1975–76, Queens Park Rangers were founded in 1886 after the merger of Christchurch Rangers and St. Judes Institute. Owing to their proximity to other west London clubs, QPR maintain long-standing rivalries with other clubs in the area. The most notable of these are Chelsea, Fulham and Brentford, outside London, QPR also traditionally share rivalries with Watford, Luton and Cardiff, although in recent years these fixtures have become less prominent. For the current season see 2015–16 Queens Park Rangers F. C. season The club was formed in 1886, the resulting team was called Queens Park Rangers, because most of the players came from the Queens Park area of north-west London. QPR were promoted as champions of Division 3 South in the 1947–48 season, Dave Mangnall was the manager as the club participated in four seasons of the Second Division, being relegated in 1951–52. Tony Ingham was signed from Leeds United and went on to make the most ever league appearances for QPR, arguably the clubs greatest ever manager, Alec Stock, arrived prior to the start of the 1959–60 season. The 1960–61 season saw QPR achieve their biggest win to date, in time, Stock, together with Jim Gregory who arrived as chairman in the mid-1960s, helped to achieve a total transformation of the club and its surroundings. It is still the major trophy that QPR have won. It was also the first League Cup final to be held at Wembley Stadium, after winning promotion in 1968 to the top flight for the first time in their history, Rangers were relegated after just one season and spent the next four years in Division Two. Terry Venables joined from Spurs at the beginning of the 1969–70 season, during this time, new QPR heroes emerged including Phil Parkes, Don Givens, Dave Thomas and Stan Bowles. These new signings were in addition to home-grown talent such as Dave Clement, Ian Gillard, Mick Leach, after completing their 42-game season, QPR sat at the top of the league, one point ahead of Liverpool who went on to defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers to clinch the title. Wolves were relegated to the Second Division that same season, following Sextons departure in 1977 the club eventually slipped into the Second Division in 1979. In 1980 Terry Venables took over as manager and the club installed a plastic pitch, in 1982 QPR, still playing in the Second Division, reached the FA Cup Final for the only time in the clubs history, facing holders Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham won 1–0 in a replay, the following season QPR went on to win the Second Division championship and returned to English footballs top division. After a respectable fifth-place finish, and UEFA Cup qualification, the following year, in 1988 the club had a new chairman, Richard Thompson. Who at 24 was the Premier Leagues youngest ever chairman, over the next seven years, various managers came and went from Loftus Road and the club spent many seasons finishing mid table but avoided relegation
9.
Bristol City F.C.
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Bristol City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Bristol, England. Their ground is Ashton Gate, located in the southwest of the city and they currently play in the Championship, the second tier of English football, after winning League One during the 2014–15 season. In sealing the League One title, Bristol City became only the team to win both the third-tier championship and Football League Trophy double during the same season. Bristol City won the Welsh Cup – despite being an English club – in 1934, in 1907 they finished runners-up in Football League Division One, which is their highest ever final position. In 1909 they lost the FA Cup final to Manchester United, since relegation in 1911, however, they only returned to the top division from 1976 to 1980 and did not contend for any honours then. In 1982, Bristol City became the first English club to three consecutive relegations. With victories in 1986,2003 and 2015, Bristol City are now the most successful team in the Football League Trophy, the clubs nickname is The Robins, and a robin featured on the clubs badge from 1976 to 1994. Official club merchandise, including replica kits, still has a showing a robin. An attempt by the club to alter the badge was abandoned after it was criticised fiercely by fans, the teams main rivals are Bristol Rovers in the Bristol derby and Cardiff City in the Severnside derby, along with other regional teams in the West Country derby. Bristol Citys current manager is Lee Johnson, a former Bristol City player who made 199 appearances for the club. Coincidentally, he is the son of former City manager Gary Johnson, who took City to the Championship play-off final in 2008, where they eventually lost 0–1 to Hull City. The club was founded in 1894 as Bristol South End and changed their name to Bristol City on adopting professionalism three years later when they were admitted into the Southern League. Finishing as runners-up in three of the first four seasons, in 1900 the club amalgamated with local Southern League rivals Bedminster, City joined the Football League in 1901 when they became only the third club south of Birmingham to perform in the competition. Their first game in the Football League was on 7 September 1901 at Bloomfield Road, nicknamed the Bristol Babe at this time, they finished as runners-up in their inaugural First Division campaign. Unfortunately, there was no such award to help them in the Final at the Crystal Palace as Manchester United took the honours 1–0. The 1920s were a time as City bounced between the Second Division and the Southern Section of the Third Division. By the 1930s they had slumped into the division. Harry Dolman became chairman in 1949, a post he would hold for over 30 years, an engineer who had bought out the firm he worked for, he designed the first set of floodlights installed at Ashton Gate in the early 1950s
10.
Wycombe Wanderers F.C.
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Wycombe Wanderers Football Club /ˈwɪkəm/ is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team play in League Two, the tier of English football. The club plays at Adams Park, which is situated on the outskirts of High Wycombe. The clubs nicknames are the Chairboys and the Blues, Ainsworth retired from playing at the end of the 2012–13 season. He is assisted by Richard Dobson and Barry Richardson, the club was awarded the Family Club of the Year award twice in a row in 2006–07 and 2007–08. This is the time that the award has been given to the same club in consecutive seasons. The club received a Football League Family Excellence Award after the 2009–10, 2011–12, the exact details of the formation of Wycombe Wanderers F. C. have largely been lost to history. A group of young furniture trade workers started a team to play matches in 1884 and this team was called North Town Wanderers. In 1887, a meeting held at the Steam Engine public house in Station Road and it is highly likely the club was named Wanderers after the famous Wanderers, winners of the first F. A. The club played friendly matches between 1887 and 1896, Amateur Cup in 1894 and the F. A. In 1895 the club moved to Loakes Park, which would become its home for the next 95 years, in 1896 the club joined the Southern League and competed in the Second Division until 1908. In the summer of 1908 the club declined the invitation to retain their membership of the Southern League, the club decided to pursue amateur instead of professional football and joined the Great Western Suburban League and remained there until the outbreak of the First World War. After the hostilities had ended the club joined the Spartan League in 1919 and were Champions in successive years, in March 1921 the clubs application to join the Isthmian League was accepted. The club remained a member of the Isthmian League until 1985, for over sixty years the Wanderers sought to be the greatest amateur club in the country. One of the clubs greatest achievements came in April 1931 when the F. A, Amateur Cup was won for the only time. The Wanderers beat Hayes 1–0 in the final at Highbury, home of Arsenal, the club also reached the first round proper of the F. A. Cup for the first time in November 1932, losing to Gillingham in a replay at Loakes Park, the club remained active during the Second World War, competing in the Great Western Combination, which was won in 1945. It provided the basis for a period of unprecedented success in 1950s, the club appointed Sid Cann as coach in 1952 and he led the Wanderers to their first Isthmian League title in 1956
11.
Dundee United F.C.
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Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the changed to the present name in 1923. United are nicknamed The Terrors or The Tangerines and the supporters are known as Arabs, the club has played in tangerine kits since the 1960s and have played at the present ground, Tannadice Park, since their foundation in 1909. United were founder members of the Scottish Premier League in 1998 and were ever-present in the competition until it was abolished in 2013 to make way for the SPFL structure, United were relegated in 2016 to the Scottish Championship, which is the second tier of the SPFL. Domestically, the club has won the Scottish Premier Division on one occasion, the Scottish Cup twice, United appeared in European competition for the first time in the 1966–67 season, going on to appear in Europe in 14 successive seasons from 1976. They also reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1984 and the UEFA Cup final in 1987, the club has a 100% record in four matches against Barcelona in competitive European ties. The club was formed as Dundee Hibernian in 1909, playing from the outset at Tannadice Park and they were voted into the Scottish Football League in 1910. After being saved from going out of business in October 1923, between 1925 and 1932 United were promoted and then relegated three times, winning the Second Division title in 1925 and 1929. The club achieved little success until Jerry Kerr became manager in 1959. Kerrs team won promotion in his first season in charge and became established in the top flight, Jim McLean took over from Kerr in 1971 and his youth policy led to the most successful era in the clubs history. United won the Scottish League Cup in 1979 and 1980 and then the Premier Division title in 1982–83, the club were also successful in Europe, reaching the European Cup semi-finals in 1984 and the 1987 UEFA Cup Final. The latter featuring another elimination of Barcelona, despite losing to IFK Gothenburg in the final, the club won a FIFA Fair Play Award. McLean retired as manager in 1993, but remained as club chairman, United won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 1994 under McLeans successor Ivan Golac, but were relegated in 1995, returning a year later. Shortly after Leveins departure, the won the Scottish Cup for a second time in 2010 under the management of Peter Houston. After several relatively successful seasons, a slump in form led to United being relegated in 2016, for a complete pictorial history of playing kit, see the Historical Football Kits site. After persuasion by the wife of manager Jerry Kerr, the colour would soon be adopted as the own in 1969 to give the club a brighter. The new colour was paraded for the first time in a friendly against Everton in August. When founded as Dundee Hibernian, they had followed the example of clubs of similar heritage by adopting the traditionally Irish colours of green shirts
12.
Ipswich Town F.C.
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Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in the Championship, the tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professional until 1936 and they play their home games at Portman Road in Ipswich. The clubs traditional colours are blue shirts and white shorts. Ipswich have won the English league title once, in their first season in the top flight in 1961–62 and they won the FA Cup in 1977–78, and the UEFA Cup in 1980–81. They have competed in the top two tiers of English football uninterrupted since 1957–58. They have competed in all three European club competitions, and have never lost at home in European competition, defeating Real Madrid, AC Milan, Internazionale, Lazio and Barcelona F. C. among others. The club was founded as a side in 1878 and were known as Ipswich A. F. C. until 1888 when they merged with Ipswich Rugby Club to form Ipswich Town Football Club. The team won a number of cup competitions, including the Suffolk Challenge Cup. The club won the league a further three times, in 1929–30, 1932–33 and 1933–34, before becoming members of the Eastern Counties Football League at the end of the 1934–35 season. A year later, the club turned professional and joined the Southern League, Ipswich were elected to The Football League on 30 May 1938, and played in Division Three until the end of the 1953–54 season, when they won the title and promotion to Division Two. The club won the Division Three title again in 1956–57, and this time, Ipswich established themselves in Division Two, and as the division champions, won promotion to the top level of English football, Division One, in 1960–61. In the top flight for the first time, Ipswich became Champions of the Football League at the first attempt in 1961–62, as English league champions, they qualified for the 1962–63 European Cup, defeating Maltese side Floriana 14–1 on aggregate before losing to Milan. Ramsey quit the club in April 1963 to take charge of the England national team, after the team won the 1966 World Cup, Ramsey was replaced by Jackie Milburn, under whose leadership fortunes on the pitch plummeted. Milburn quit after just one season and was replaced by Bill McGarry in 1964. McGarry left to manage Wolves and was replaced by Bobby Robson in January 1969, Robson led Ipswich to two major trophies and several seasons in top flight European football. The successful period began in 1973 when the won the Texaco Cup and finished fourth in the league. Ipswich regularly featured in the top five of the league and in the UEFA Cup, at their peak in the 1979–80 season, they beat Manchester United 6–0 in a league game at Portman Road, a game where United goalkeeper Gary Bailey also saved three penalties
13.
RBC (football club)
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Roosendaal Boys Combinatie, commonly abbreviated to RBC, is a Dutch football club based in Roosendaal, North Brabant. RBC currently plays in the Vierde Klasse, the eight tier of football in the Netherlands, after a bankruptcy in 2011, subsequently restarting the club, RBC, the brainchild of Frans Mathijsen and Anton Poldermans, was formed on July 31,1912. The club was initially called Excelsior and was renamed VV Roosendaal in 1920, the clubs present name is the result of a merger with another football team. On July 16,1927, the became known as Roosendaal Boys Combinatie because of the merger with Roosendaalsche Boys. In 1955 the club turned professional and won the Tweede Divisie B in 1957, with the leagues restructured by the KNVB the club left professional football in 1971. Between the return to status in 1983 RBC was a successful amateurclub. In 2000 the club reached the Eredivisie for the first time just for one season, before 2001, RBC played its league games in stadium De Luiten, which had a capacity of 2,000 seats and 5,000 standing places. In 2001, RBC moved into its new 5,000 seater stadium, RBC returned in the Eredivisie in 2002 for four seasons. In the 2004–05 season, RBC just avoided the Nacompetitie, relegation could not be avoided a year later, with RBC finishing bottom of the Eredivisie in the 2005–06 season. On 8 June 2011 RBC Roosendaal was declared bankrupt after the failed to repay the outstanding debts of €1.6 million. With RBC Roosendaal now out of Eerste Divisie, the board started working in order to register the club to the amateur Hoofdklasse league for the 15 June deadline, on 14 June 2011 it was published that RBC will not play in the Hoofdklasse. On 21 September 2011, it was announced that RBC Roosendaal would change their name back to RBC, RBC started season 2012/13 in the Vijfde Klasse, the 9th tier in Dutch football. They played their at Sportpark Rimboe in the village of Wouwse Plantage, on 7 April 2013, their first promotion since their restart has been confirmed after beating VV Rimboe 10-1. As a result, they play the 2013/14 season in the Vierde Klasse. One week after winning promotion, they won the championship in their division, after the end of the 2012/13 season it was announced that RBC will return to their old ground, the RBC Stadion for the 2013/14 season
14.
Germania Teveren
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The Germania Teveren is a German association football club from the Teveren suburb of Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The clubs greatest success has been to earn promotion to the tier three Regionalliga West/Südwest in 1996, where it played for two seasons, Germania Teveren was formed in 1910 and, for the most of its history, has been a non-descript amateur side in local football. The clubs rise began in the early 1980s when it won promotion to the Bezirksliga for the first time, Germania played the next three seasons in the Oberliga Nordrhein, coming eleventh in its first season there. The club greatly improved after this, coming fourth in 1995, the later also allowed the club direct promotion to the Regionalliga for the first time. In the Regionalliga West/Südwest from 1996 to 1998 the club came twelfth in its first season there but finished last the year after, back in the Oberliga Germania came ninth in 1999 but was relegated in 2000 after a sixteenth place. It remained in the Verbandsliga until 2003 when it dropped back to the Landesliga for a season, the club dropped out of the Verbandsliga again in 2006, playing in the Landesliga for two seasons. From 2008 to 2011 it returned to the Verbandsliga but was relegated once more, liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier, official team site Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables
15.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
16.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
17.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
18.
Tannadice Park
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Tannadice Park, usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the ground of Dundee United F. C. who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1909. The stadium has been all-seated since 1994 and has a capacity of 14,223 and it is located only 200 yards from Dundee F. C. s stadium, Dens Park, the two are the closest senior football grounds in the UK. The ground was known as Clepington Park, and was used by a number of local teams in the 19th century. It was the home of Dundee Wanderers F. C. from 1894 until 1909, the name of the ground was changed to Tannadice when Dundee Hibernian took over the lease in 1909. The ground that is now Tannadice was first used for football in the 1870s, in July 1882, Dundee East End secured the use of Clepington Park for the coming season, remaining there until the following year, when they moved to Madeira Park. Clepington was also used by newly formed junior club Dundee Violet during the 1883–84 season, both clubs vacated Clepington in 1884, Violet relocated to Fairmuir, while East End had spells at Madeira Park and Pitkero Park before returning to Clepington in 1887. They remained there until moving to Carolina Port, the most developed ground in Dundee at the time, East End would subsequently amalgamate with Dundee Our Boys to form Dundee F. C. in 1893. Clepington Park was subsequently taken over by Johnstone Wanderers, who had begun as an offshoot of Our Boys, by this time, the surrounding modern street pattern had begun to emerge, with Provost Road, Arklay Street, and Clepington Road all having been laid out. West of Arklay Street remained open land while the east was being developed, by 1890, one of the new streets leading off Arklay Street had been given the name Tannadice Street. In 1891, Johnstone Wanderers decided to enclose Clepington to enable them to charge for admission, in conjunction, it was decided to utilise the natural slope roughly a hundred yards to the west in order to provide better views for spectators. As well as enclosing the new pitch, now situated on approximately its modern alignment, the built an modest grandstand. It probably housed no more than 500 spectators, in January 1894 Johnstone Wanderers merged with another local club, Strathmore, to form Dundee Wanderers. The new combination successfully applied for Scottish Football League membership and Clepington Park staged its first Scottish League fixture against Motherwell on 25 August 1894, Wanderers struggled at national level, however, and were not re-elected at the end of the season, dropping down to the Northern League. From 1899, Wanderers had to contend with competition for local support with the opening of Dens Park. This was situated almost opposite Clepington, where the extended Tannadice Street met Sandeman Street at an angle, the two grounds are approximately 200 yards apart, which is the shortest distance between two senior football grounds in Britain. Only the grounds of two clubs in Budapest, MTK and BKV Elore, are closer together than Dens and Tannadice in the whole of Europe,1909 saw the formation of Dundee Hibernian, a new club representing the citys Irish community, which had previously supported Dundee Harp. As much of the local Irish population was concentrated in the Lochee district, however, rather than building a new ground from scratch, the new clubs secretary Pat Reilly took the controversial step of approaching the landlord of Clepington Park to secure a ready-made venue
19.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
20.
Virgil van Dijk
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Virgil van Dijk is a Dutch footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Southampton and for the Netherlands national team. In September 2015, he joined Southampton, Van Dijk made his international debut for the Netherlands in 2015. Van Dijk was born in Breda to a Dutch father and Surinamese mother and he started his career with Willem II before transferring to Groningen in 2010 on a free transfer after just one season. He made his debut for Groningen coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Petter Andersson during the 4–2 victory against ADO Den Haag on 1 April 2011. During the 2011–12 season, Van Dijk made 23 league appearances for the Eredivisie side and he scored his second professional goal for Groningen on 22 January 2012 against Heracles Almelo in a 2–1 victory before scoring again the following week during a 4–1 defeat to FC Twente. Van Dijk scored his first goal of the 2012–13 season on 7 October 2012 during a 2–2 draw with Feyenoord, Van Dijk yet again scored against Feyenoord in the return fixture on 23 December 2012 during a 2–1 defeat. On 21 June 2013, Van Dijk signed with Celtic for a fee of around £2.6 million, on a deal including a 10% selling-on fee for Groningen. He made his debut on 17 August, replacing Efe Ambrose for the final 13 minutes of a 2–0 Scottish Premiership win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie, a week later, he made his first start, in a 2–2 draw with Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Celtic Park. On 9 November, Van Dijk scored his first Celtic goals, after a solo run, he scored within five minutes the only goal of a victory over St Johnstone on 26 December. Van Dijk scored again on 26 January 2015, in a 4–0 win versus Hibernian for Celtics 11th consecutive league win. On 25 February, he was sent off after 13 minutes of an eventual 2–1 loss at Aberdeen, for a foul on Peter Pawlett. With Celtic having already won the league, Van Dijk netted again on 7 May to put his team 3–1 up away to St Johnstone and he was one of three Celtic players named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year. On 22 July 2014, Van Dijk and Teemu Pukki each scored twice in a 4–0 home win over KR Reykjavík in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, putting their team into the next round 5–0 on aggregate. His first goal of the Premiership season came on 9 November, three weeks later, Van Dijk scored the first and last goals of Celtics 4–0 win versus Heart of Midlothian in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. Four days after that, his goal of the season was enough for victory in a home match against Glasgow neighbours Partick Thistle. Van Dijk was again on target on 21 January 2015, opening a 4–0 home win over Motherwell. On 26 February, he was sent off in the 36th minute against Inter Milan for a foul on Mauro Icardi, as Celtic lost 1–0 on the night, 4–3 on aggregate in the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League. He was again sent off on 8 March in the Cup quarter-finals away to Dundee United at Tannadice and his suspension for the following weeks Scottish League Cup Final was overturned on appeal, as was that of Paul Paton, who was sent off when mistaken for Butcher
