1.
Sheffield F.C.
–
Sheffield Football Club is an English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. They play in the Northern Premier League Division One South, at level 8 of the English football league system, founded in 1857, the club is the oldest club now playing association football. Sheffield F. C. initially played games under the Sheffield rules, the club competes in the Rules derby with near neighbours Hallam. On the pitch, the clubs finest hour came in 1904 when they won the FA Amateur Cup and they also finished as runners up of the FA Vase in 1977. In 1855, members of a Sheffield cricket club organised informal kick-abouts without any official rules, – subsequently two members, Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, formed the Sheffield Football Club. The inaugural meeting of the club took place on 24 October 1857 at Parkfield House in the suburb of Highfield, initially, Sheffield FC games were played among club members themselves and took the format of Married v Singles or Professionals v the Rest. Creswick and Prest were responsible for drawing up the rules of play. They were referred to as the Sheffield Rules, and were the first official set of rules, at the time, before the formation of the Football Association, many different kinds of football were popular in England. For example, each of the public schools played football according to their own individual rules. The Sheffield Rules were later adopted by the Sheffield Football Association when it was formed in 1867, sheffields near neighbour, Hallam, was formed in 1860 and in the same year the two clubs first met each other in a local derby which is still contested today. By 1862 there were 15 clubs in the Sheffield area and they became members of The Football Association on 30 November 1863 but continued to use their own set of rules. On 2 January 1865, the club played its first fixture outside Sheffield against Nottingham, by this time the club had decided only to play teams outside Sheffield in order to seek a bigger challenge. On 31 March 1866, there was a match between a team representing the city of Sheffield and one representing London, at Battersea Park, Rules that differed only slightly from the FA rules were used. The game, played as an aside, was won by London by 2 goals. However the matter of rules remained a problem with Sheffield clubs continuing to play by their own rules, Sheffield clubs finally adopted the FA rules in 1878. They would reach the 4th Round of the competition in 1877–78 and their reluctance to play against local clubs led to the formation of Thursday Wanderers in 1876, a team of players registered to Sheffield who wished to play in the Sheffield Challenge Cup. The Wanderers operated from 1876 to 1879, winning the cup in their final year, after the legalisation of professionalism, the staunchly amateur Sheffield suggested to the FA the creation of a cup exclusively for amateur clubs. The FA Amateur Cup was inaugurated in 1893 and Sheffield themselves won the competition in 1904 and they joined their first league competition in 1889 when entering the Midland League, but left after just one season when they finished bottom of the table
2.
Hallam F.C.
–
Hallam Football Club is an English football club based in Crosspool, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. They play in the Northern Counties East League Division One, at level 10 of the English football league system, founded in 1860, it is second only to local rivals Sheffield F. C. in the list of the oldest association football clubs in the world. Games between these two clubs are known as the Rules derby, in 1867 the club made history by winning the worlds first ever football tournament, the Youdan Cup. The club still possess this historic trophy, the club had in excess of 300 members by the 1850s, and in 1860 it decided to form a football club to oppose Sheffield F. C. formed three years earlier. On Boxing Day 1860 the two played each other on Sandygate Road for the first time. The match report for the game in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph states that the game was played between 16 of Sheffield and 16 of Hallam and Stumperlowe. Shaw was directly instrumental, with Charles Alcock of the London-based Football Association, shaw and Alcock were the respective captains in the first game between a Sheffield XI and a London XI, in 1871, in which the preferred rules were experimented. In 1867, Hallam won the first ever football competition, the Youdan Cup. The trophy was subsequently lost by the club, and didnt resurface again until 1997 when a Scottish antiques collector who had come into possession of the silver trophy sold it to the club for £2,000. In 2014 the trophy featured on the BBC programme Antiques Roadshow, Club chairman Chris Taylor subsequently said the club had no plans to sell the trophy. Although professionalism began to creep into the game during the 1870s and 80s and they also reached the final of the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup for the first time in 1904, but lost 1–6 to Barnsley reserves at Bramall Lane. In 1911 the club first competed in an FA cup competition, eventually, in 1917, Hallam decided they could no longer keep playing, and suspended playing operations, only re-joining the Sheffield Amateur League after hostilities had ended, in 1919. In 1924 Hallam pulled off one of their greatest ever results when they knocked out five-time Amateur Cup winners Bishop Auckland in front of over 2,000 at Sandygate Road, two years later the club entered the FA Cup for the first time. After winning the Sheffield Amateur League for the time in 1927. At the end of the 1932–33 season the landlord of the Plough Inn public house decided to lease the Sandygate Road ground to other teams as Hallam werent providing enough bar takings. Although the club retained its affiliation with the local FA, Hallams eviction from their ground saw them refrain from playing any football for a period of 15 years. A year later Hallam won the Sheffield Senior Cup for the first time when they beat Stocksbridge Works at Hillsborough in front of 7,240 spectators, and in 1952 they entered the Yorkshire League. That same season an Amateur Cup tie with Dulwich Hamlet was switched to Hillsborough stadium because of increased ticket demands – the attendance of over 13,000 proving to be a club record
3.
Sheffield
–
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, its derives from the River Sheaf. With some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base. The population of the City of Sheffield is 569,700, Sheffield is the third largest English district by population. The metropolitan population of Sheffield is 1,569,000, in the 19th century, Sheffield gained an international reputation for steel production. Known as the Steel City, many innovations were developed locally, including crucible and stainless steel, Sheffield received its municipal charter in 1843, becoming the City of Sheffield in 1893. International competition in iron and steel caused a decline in these industries in the 1970s and 1980s, the 21st century has seen extensive redevelopment in Sheffield along with other British cities. Sheffields gross value added has increased by 60% since 1997, standing at £9.2 billion in 2007, the economy has experienced steady growth averaging around 5% annually, greater than that of the broader region of Yorkshire and the Humber. The city is in the foothills of the Pennines, and the valleys of the River Don and its four tributaries, the Loxley, the Porter Brook, the Rivelin. 61% of Sheffields entire area is space, and a third of the city lies within the Peak District national park. The area now occupied by the City of Sheffield is believed to have inhabited since at least the late Upper Palaeolithic period. The earliest evidence of occupation in the Sheffield area was found at Creswell Crags to the east of the city. In the Iron Age the area became the southernmost territory of the Pennine tribe called the Brigantes and it is this tribe who are thought to have constructed several hill forts in and around Sheffield. Gradually, Anglian settlers pushed west from the kingdom of Deira, a Celtic presence within the Sheffield area is evidenced by two settlements called Wales and Waleswood close to Sheffield. The settlements that grew and merged to form Sheffield, however, date from the half of the first millennium. In Anglo-Saxon times, the Sheffield area straddled the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, after the Norman conquest, Sheffield Castle was built to protect the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city. By 1296, a market had been established at what is now known as Castle Square, from 1570 to 1584, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor. During the 1740s, a form of the steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of a better quality of steel than had previously been possible
4.
Sheffield United F.C.
–
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the tier of English football. The football club was formed in 1889 as an offshoot of Sheffield United Cricket Club, the club have played their home games at Bramall Lane since their formation in 1889. Bramall Lane is currently an all-seater ground with a capacity of 32,609, Sheffield United won the original First Division in 1898 and the FA Cup in 1899,1902,1915 and 1925. They were beaten finalists in the FA Cup in 1901 and 1936 and they reached the semi-finals of the League Cup in 2003 and 2015. For most of the history they have played in red. Their closest rivals are Sheffield Wednesday, with whom they contest the Steel City Derby, Sheffield United formed on 22 March 1889 at the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield by the President of the Cricket Club Sir Charles Clegg. The Wednesday had moved from Bramall Lane to their own ground at Olive Grove, Sir Charles Clegg was incidentally also the president of The Wednesday. Their darkest days came between 1975 and 1981 and they did fall back into the Third Division in 1988, but new manager Dave Bassett masterminded a quick revival which launched the Blades towards one of the most successful eras in their history. Successive promotions in the aftermath of the 1988 relegation saw them return to the First Division in 1990 after a 14-year exile and they survived at this level for four seasons and reached an FA Cup semi-final in the 1992–93 season before being relegated in 1994. Three years later, however, Warnock delivered a Premier League return as the Blades finished runners-up in the rebranded Football League Championship, Neil Warnock resigned as manager after the Blades went down. The Blades did reach the Championship playoff final in 2009 under Kevin Blackwell, in the 2011–12 season, the club finished third in League One, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to rivals Sheffield Wednesday, and entered the playoffs. With victory over Stevenage in the semi-final, United missed out on a return to the Championship after suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Huddersfield Town. In 2014, the Blades gained the nickname of giant-killers, having reached the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley, losing 5–3 to Hull City. In 2014–15, they reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and semi-finals of the Football League Cup, the club was formed by members of the Sheffield United Cricket Club, itself formed in 1854 and the first English sports club to use United in its name. Sheffield Uniteds predominant nickname is The Blades, a reference to Sheffields status as the producer of cutlery in the United Kingdom. Because of this, the nickname would also be used in reference to rivals Sheffield Wednesday, another nickname used was The Cutlers. In 1907, Wednesday came to be referred to as The Owls, in reference to their new ground in Owlerton, within Sheffield fans of the club are also sometimes referred to as Unitedites
5.
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
–
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, England. The team competes in the Championship, the tier of the English football league system. Formed as an offshoot of The Wednesday Cricket Club in 1867, in 1868 they won the Cromwell Cup, only the second tournament of its kind, and in 1877 they won the inaugural Sheffield Challenge Cup, the oldest county cup in England. They were founding members and inaugural champions of the Football Alliance in 1889, in 1992 they became founder members of the Premier League. The club has spent most of its history in English footballs top flight. The Owls, as they are nicknamed, have won four league titles, Wednesday have also competed in UEFA cup competitions on four occasions, reaching the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1963. Since 1899 the club has played its matches at Hillsborough stadium. Although no contemporary evidence has found to support the claim. Nevertheless, an 1842 article in Bells Life magazine states the club was founded as far back as 1816, the club was so named because it was on Wednesdays that the founding members had their day off work. They were initially based at the New Ground in Darnall, and often went by the name of Darnall Wednesday, in 1855 they were one of six clubs that helped build Bramall Lane, and held a wicket there for many years. The proposal proved very popular, with over 60 members signing up for the new team on the first night and they played their first match against The Mechanics on 19 October the same year, winning by three goals and four rouges to nil. On 1 February 1868, Wednesday played their first competitive match as they entered the Cromwell Cup. A week after their semi-final, they went on to win the cup, beating the Garrick club in the final after extra time, a key figure during the formative years of the football club was Charles Clegg, who joined the Wednesday in 1867. His relationship with the club lasted for the rest of his life and he also became president and chairman of the Football Association, and was known as the Napoleon of Football. In 1876 Wednesday acquired Scot James Lang, although he was not employed by the club, he was given a job by a member of the Sheffield Wednesday board that had no formal duties. He is now acknowledged as the first professional player in England. With Lang in their team the club became one of the strongest in the region. In 1880 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, but although they had had Lang on their books a decade earlier, the club officially remained staunchly amateur, and this stance almost cost the club its very existence
6.
Bramall Lane
–
Bramall Lane is a football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Sheffield United and it was also used by Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield F. C. for major matches. This is because Sheffield Wednesday are a club and used to own this ground. It has been the home of Sheffield United since the establishment in 1889. It is the oldest major stadium in the still to be hosting professional association football matches. The stadium was built on a Sheffield road named after the Bramall family, the Bramalls owned The Old White House on the corner of Bramall Lane and Cherry Street, and subsequently built the Sheaf House, now a public house that still stands at the top of Bramall Lane. The stadium was opened as a cricket ground. It was also used for games in the 19th century by Sheffield F. C. and Sheffield Wednesday. Bramall Lane is one of two grounds which has hosted England football internationals, an England cricket test match and an FA Cup Final. It also regularly hosted FA Cup Semi Finals and replays between 1889 and 1938, the ground has also hosted rugby league games for the Sheffield Eagles, a Billy Graham Evangelist meeting in 1985 and a pair of rock concerts by Bruce Springsteen in 1988. The record attendance for the ground is 68,287, set at an FA Cup 5th Round tie between Sheffield United and Leeds United on 15 February 1936. Bramall Lane opened as a ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the industrial area. It was built to host the matches of cricket clubs and originally had six clubs playing there, one of whom was the Wednesday Cricket Club. Bramall Lane opened on 30 April 1855 as a ground with a match between The Eleven and The Twenty Two, The Eleven, despite being the senior team. A team representing Yorkshire played the first county match at the ground on 27 August 1855, against Sussex, although the first county game had been played eight years earlier, the official Yorkshire County Cricket Club was not formed until 1863. The idea came from Ellison, who was using his own finances to support the club and it was the clubs headquarters until 1893, when they moved to Headingley in Leeds. In 1897, Jack Brown and John Tunnicliffe recorded a first wicket score of 378 against Sussex—a ground record that has never been beaten, browns score of 311 and Yorkshires innings of 681 for 5 declared were also records when the cricket ground closed
7.
Hillsborough Stadium
–
Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England has been the home ground of Sheffield Wednesday F. C. since opening in 1899. It is a 39,732 capacity stadium, making it the largest club ground in England outside of the Premier League until Newcastle United and it is located in the Sheffield suburb of Owlerton. Although the ground has received little investment since Euro 1996, it is regarded as a beautiful ground oozing character. It has two large two-tiered stands and two large single-tiered stands, all of them covered, all four stands are of a similar capacity with the South Stand being the largest and the West stand the smallest. Only one corner of the ground is filled, between the West and North Stands and this area, known as the North West corner, is uncovered and is only used for visiting supporters when the West Stands upper and lower tiers are full. On the other corner of the West Stand is a screen which was installed in 2015. On 15 April 1989, the ground was the scene of the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final. Plans by the club to renovate the stadium and expand capacity to 44,825 have been approved by Sheffield City Council with the aim of hosting World Cup matches. The playing surface has been upgraded to a Desso GrassMaster including a replacement of the Under-soil heating. The stadium previously played host to World Cup and European Championship football in 1966 and 1996 respectively, during the 1898–99 season Sheffield Wednesday were told that the land rented at Olive Grove would be needed for railway expansions. They were allowed to remain there for the rest of season but had to find a new ground for the next season. Several locations were considered but fell through for various reasons, an alternative was offered by the Midland Railway Company but it did not meet the requirements of the club. Finally James Willis Dixon of Hillsborough House, owner of the Silversmiths James Dixon & Sons, offered a 10-acre site at Owlerton, the land was part of the Hillsborough House estate which was being sold off by the Dixons. It was successfully bought for £5,000 plus costs, soil was dumped at both ends of the ground to level out the ground which was initially meadowland covered with dandelions. The 2,000 capacity stand at Olive Grove was then transported to the new site and was joined by a newly constructed 3,000 capacity stand for the start of the next season, the first match to be played was on 2 September 1899 against Chesterfield. The match was kicked off by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield William Clegg and it was a Chesterfield player, Herbert Munday, who scored the first goal at the new stadium but Wednesday came back to win the game 5–1. Despite the location of the several miles outside the city boundaries. The ground was known as the Owlerton Stadium until 1914, when it was renamed Hillsborough to coincide with a series of ground improvements, the ground took its new name from the newly created parliamentary constituency
8.
Local derby
–
A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, the intensity of the rivalry varies from a friendly competition on one end to serious violence on the other that, in one case, was suggested to have led to military conflicts. Simple geographic proximity as well as frequent meetings in important games can lead to rivalries and it was renowned as the site of a chaotic and exuberant game that involved the whole town and often resulted in fatalities. The goals were at Nuns Mill in the north and the Gallows Balk in the south of the town, nominally the players came from All Saints and St Peters parishes, but in practice the game was a free-for-all with as many as 1,000 players. A Frenchman who observed the match in 1829 wrote in horror, if Englishmen call this play, the traditional Shrovetide football match is commonplace in the town of Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Saraperos de Saltillo vs. Vaqueros Laguna on a game named Coahuilas Metropolitan Derby, pericos de Puebla vs. Rojos del Águila de Veracruz on a game named Center rivalry. Diablos Rojos del México vs. Péricos de Puebla on a game named Anahuac Derby, naranjeros de Hermosillo vs. Tomateros de Culiacán on a game named Derby of the Pacific Coast. Charros de Jalisco vs. Venados de Mazatlán on a game named Rivalry of the west, real Madrid Basque derby, Baskonia vs. Alpla HC Hard Minsk derbies, Dinamo Minsk vs. SKA Minsk vs. Arkatron Minsk Liège derbies, ROC Flémalle vs. Union Beynoise ROC Flémalle vs. Jeunesse Jemeppe, union Beynoise vs. HC Visé BM. Germanophone derby, HC Eynatten-Raeren vs. KTSV Eupen 1889 Limburg derbies, sporting Neerpelt-Lommel vs. Kreasa HB Houthalen vs. DHC Meeuwen. Anvers derbies, KV Sasja HC Hoboken vs. Olse Merksem HC vs. DHW Antwerpen vs. HV Uilenspiegel Wilrijk
9.
English football league system
–
There are more than 140 individual leagues, containing more than 480 divisions. As there are no definitions of any level below 11, any references to the structure at level 12. The pyramid for womens football in England runs separately to nine tiers, the Football League was created in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor. It was dominated by clubs who had supported professionalism. The twelve founding members consisted of six from Lancashire and six from the Midlands, no sides from the South including London initially participated. The system consists of a pyramid of leagues, bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. A certain number of the most successful clubs in each league can rise to a higher league, in addition to sporting performance, promotion is usually contingent on meeting criteria set by the higher league, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances. In theory it is possible for a local amateur club to rise to the pinnacle of the English game and become champions of the Premier League. While this may be unlikely in practice, there certainly is significant movement within the pyramid, the top five levels contain one division each and are nationwide in scope. Below this, the levels have progressively more leagues, with each covering progressively smaller geographic areas. Many leagues have more than one division, at the lower levels the existence of leagues becomes intermittent, although in some of the more densely populated areas there are leagues more than twenty layers below the Premier League. Clubs from these leagues may, if they feel they meet the standard of play and have suitable facilities. The seven levels immediately below the Premier League and English Football League are known as the National League System, in May 2014 The Football Association announced provisional plans for a new division between the English Football League and the National League which would include B teams of higher level clubs. The English football league system does not include the version of the game often called Sunday league football. These leagues are independent entities with no promotion or relegation involving the football pyramid, however, some Sunday League clubs have been known to join pyramid leagues if they desire to progress higher. There are also some Saturday leagues such as the Lincolnshire League which are not officially part of the pyramid, at the top is the single division of the Premier League, containing 20 clubs, all of which, up to the 2010–11 season, were based in England. Below the Premier League is the English Football League, which is divided into three divisions of 24 clubs each, The Championship, League One and League Two, the 92 clubs in the Premier League and English Football League are all full-time professional clubs. They are often referred to as League clubs because, before the establishment of the Premier League in 1992, clubs outside this group are referred to as non-League clubs, although they too play most of their football in league-type competitions
10.
Football in England
–
Today Englands top domestic league, the Premier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world, with six of the ten richest football clubs in the world. The England national football team is one of only 8 teams to win the World Cup, a total of five English club teams have won the UEFA Champions League. Football was played in England as far back as medieval times, kicking ball games are described in England from 1280. An account of an exclusively kicking game from Nottinghamshire in the fifteenth century bears similarity to association football. By the 16th centuries references to organised teams and goals had appeared, there is evidence for refereed, team football games being played in English schools since at least 1581. The eighteenth-century Gymnastic Society of London is, arguably, the worlds first football club, the Cambridge rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, during the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised a set of rules. These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association in 1863, the Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games. A match between Sheffield and Hallam F. C. on 29 December 1862 was one of the first matches to be recorded in a newspaper, on 8 March 1873, the England national teams 4–2 win over Scotland at the Oval was the first ever victory in international football. The late nineteenth century was dominated by the split between the amateur and professional teams, which was roughly aligned along a North-South divide. Northern clubs were keen to adopt professionalism as workers could not afford to play on an amateur basis, preston North End were inaugural winners in 1888–89, and were also the first club to complete the double of both winning the league and the FA Cup. Aston Villa repeated the feat in 1896–97 and it remained at 40 until the league was suspended after the 1914–15 season with the outbreak of World War I. Other clubs to win titles in this period include Sheffield United, Manchester United. During the war, competitive football was suspended, however, an unofficial Wartime Football league was played from 1915–16 to 1918–19, although the FA Cup was suspended until after the war. The next season the league was expanded with the Third Division divided into North and South sections. In the 1923–24 season the Third Division North was expanded to 22 clubs, Bolton Wanderers defeated West Ham United to win this landmark game. Bolton Wanderers would win the FA Cup on three occasions during the 1920s, by the turn of the 1930s, the national side regularly played against other national teams from outside the British Isles
11.
Akpo Sodje
–
Idoro Akpoeyere Ujoma Akpo Sodje is an English former footballer of Nigerian heritage. A journeyman striker, he is usually an instantly recognisable figure on the due to his original –. With Queens Park Rangers in 2001, he was loaned out to Stevenage Borough and he moved on to Heybridge Swifts via Gravesend & Northfleet the following year, before joining Erith & Belvedere in 2003. He rejoined the Football League with Huddersfield Town in 2004, before joining Darlington the next year and he spent the 2006–07 season with Port Vale, before becoming a Sheffield Wednesday player. He found success and popularity at clubs, before he joined Charlton Athletic in 2010, after two loan spells. He moved into Scottish football with Hibernian in 2011, before departing in January 2012, Two months later he emigrated to China to sign with Tianjin Teda to become the first English footballer in the Chinese Super League. He returned to the English game in August 2012, when he joined Preston North End for a brief spell and he joined Scunthorpe United on a short-term basis in January 2013, before signing with Tranmere Rovers in July 2013. He was loaned out to Macclesfield Town in February 2014, born in Greenwich, London, his family originate from Warri, in Delta State, Nigeria. Sodje has four brothers who play football, three of them professionally and one semi-professionally. Sam and Efe have represented Nigeria at international level, steve, has never played a Football League game. Another brother, Bright, used to play rugby league and rugby union and his cousin Onome Sodje, also played professionally in England. Akpo is the youngest of the ten Sodje children, I am very proud to come from the Sodje family, I want to thank our dad and mum for the sacrifices they made in bringing us up. We are all close, Bright, Sam, Efe. I am number 10 among the children, and they all treat me as their pet because I am the youngest member of the family, when I was playing in Warri, I started as a defender. The coach whom I played under said I was fast and tall, I started playing in England when I was just about seven years old, and as I was growing up, I started from the lower divisions. He was signed to First Division Queens Park Rangers, though never made an appearance and he scored on his first outing for the club, in a 2–1 win at Morecambe on 31 March, replacing Darran Hay on 36 minutes. He was still with Stevenage for the start of the 2001–02 season and he left Broadhall Way the next month for Margate, making 16 appearances before the seasons end, scoring goals against Yeovil Town, Woking and Hayes. He began 2002–03 with Margate, playing in their 2–0 defeat at Leigh Genesis on 31 August, the next month he joined Gravesend & Northfleet, scoring on his debut on the 7th, in a 4–1 home win over Nuneaton Borough
12.
Marcus Tudgay
–
Marcus Tudgay is an English footballer who is currently plays as a striker for Coventry City. Before joining Nottingham Forest in 2010, he made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League playing for Derby County and he has since spent two loan spells with Barnsley. Born in Shoreham, Sussex, Tudgay came through the ranks at Derby County and his final Rams goal came against future club Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in November 2005. Tudgay joined Sheffield Wednesday for a fee in January 2006. He had initially signed on loan with the club but manager Paul Sturrock decided to make his move permanent after he claimed a goal in a 3–0 win over Crewe Alexandra. Tudgay was ruled out for the start of the 2006–07 campaign due to an injury sustained at a family barbecue over the summer. The player cut his toe on glass, severing tendons and requiring surgery which ruled him out of action for three months. But he bounced back on his return, forming a partnership with Deon Burton. He was moved out to the wing after injuries to Wade Small and Jermaine Johnson and he missed the end of the season due to an injury. At the start of the 2008–09 season Tudgay scored twice in the game against Burnley. He played in almost every position during the season and he won the Fans player of the month awards for February and March 2009 and the PFA Fans Championship Player Of The Year award, as well as the Sheffield Wednesday Player of the Year. On 15 July 2009 it was reported that the Owls had rejected an offer from newly promoted Premier League side Burnley, later that month he signed a new four-year contract until the summer of 2013. On 25 August 2010 it was reported that newly promoted Premier League side Blackpool had tried to sign Tudgay the previous month and were about to make an offer for him. Sky Sports reported that Blackpool manager Ian Holloway had watched Tudgay in action the previous night, two days later, the Yorkshire club rejected at £500,000 bid from Blackpool, calling the sum derisory. On 25 November 2010, Tudgay moved to Nottingham Forest on loan and he scored on his Forest debut in a 3–0 win against Crystal Palace on 18 December 2010 at the City Ground. In his next appearance for Nottingham Forest, he scored a brace in Forests 5–2 victory over their East Midlands rivals Derby County, on 5 January 2011, the loan deal was made permanent and he signed for Forest for an undisclosed fee. His next goal was the winner against Portsmouth in a 2–1 victory for Forest, Tudgays next goal came on 5 February against Watford, and it again proved decisive. He then did not score until April, when he opened the scoring in a 3–2 win against Leicester City and his final goal of the 2010–11 season came on the final day of the regular season, in a 3–0 win over Crystal Palace
13.
Steve Watson
–
Steven Craig Steve Watson is a former English footballer, who retired after being released by Sheffield Wednesday on 15 May 2009. Watson began his career with Newcastle United, playing on a regular basis. At the time of his debut, as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat to Wolves on 10 November 1990, he was the youngest person ever to play for Newcastle, a record he holds to this day. Watson appeared 24 times that season, firstly under Jim Smith, Watson featured prominently during the 1991-92 season as Kevin Keegan returned to Newcastle and relegation to the old Third Division was famously avoided. Steve was hugely popular with the Newcastle faithful and years later the feeling amongst the Toon Army is that Watson should never have left, whilst at Newcastle, he played in the 1998 FA Cup Final. Steve Watson was transferred to Aston Villa for £4m in October 1998, at Villa he scored once against Southampton in the League Cup. He moved to Everton in the summer of 2000 in a £2. 5m deal, Watson was signed by West Bromwich Albion prior to the 2005–06 season. He made his Albion debut as a substitute in a 0–0 draw away at Manchester City on 13 August 2005. His only goal for the club was scored on 2 January 2006, on 9 February 2007, he joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the 2006–07 season and made his debut away at Burnley in a 1–1 draw on 10 February at Turf Moor. Before he joined them, the Yorkshire side had lost five matches in a row, however, they won six, drew four and only lost once when Watson was in the side. He was primarily signed by Brian Laws due to his versatility to play in midfield alongside playmaker Glenn Whelan. Due to a clause in his contract, he missed Wednesdays 1–0 victory over his parent club West Brom and was then re-called with only two games remaining, Watson moved to Wednesday permanently in July 2007 on a free transfer. His first goal for the club came as a 90th-minute equaliser against West Brom at The Hawthorns on 6 November. On 19 October Watson scored the winner in the Steel City Derby against Sheffield United, on 14 May 2009 Sheffield Wednesday decided to release Watson due to long term injury problems. On 13 November 2010, he was appointed as the new Development Coach at Football League One side Huddersfield Town, on 24 August 2012, he was appointed coach at Birmingham City of the Championship. He was sacked along with Clark on 20 October 2014, on 4 July 2016, he was appointed assistant manager at National League side Macclesfield Town. Steve Watson player profile at swfc. co. uk Steve Watson player profile at wbafc. co. uk Steve Watson at Soccerbase Steve Watson at ESPN FC
14.
James O'Connor (footballer, born 1979)
–
James Kevin Matthew OConnor is a former Irish professional footballer currently head coach of Louisville City. He has played for the Republic of Ireland Under-21s, after making over 200 appearances for the Potters he left to join Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2003. He spent one season at the Hawthorns before moving on to Burnley, OConnor became a regular at Turf Moor making 149 appearances in four seasons at the club. In June 2008 he joined Sheffield Wednesday where he had spent four years making over 150 appearances, in January 2012 he decided to move to the United States to play for Orlando City. He retired from playing in the summer of 2014 to become coach of Louisville City. OConnor was born in Dublin and joined English club Stoke City in 1996 after being spotted by the clubs Irish base scouts and he made his debut in the 1998–99 season before becoming a regular in the team in 1999–2000. He played 54 times in 2000–01 for Stoke scoring ten goals as they failed in the play-offs losing to Walsall. He played in 50 matches in 2001–02 as Stoke finally won promotion via the play-offs and he played 47 times in 2002–03 helping Stoke avoid relegation before he turned down the offer of a new contract. He moved to West Bromwich Albion in summer 2003 for a fee of £250,000 and he spent a successful three-month loan spell with Burnley in 2004–05. His form at the start of the 2006–07 season at Burnley was among the best of his career, however, by the start of the 2007–08 season he seemed to be relegated to a squad players role. The departure of Steve Cotterill as Burnley manager brought Owen Coyle in, OConnor responded by resuming his previous good form as the teams results improved. He was offered a new contract at the end of the 2007–08 season but when OConnor asked for time to consider his options, Coyle withdrew the offer. OConnor confirmed in an interview on BBC Radio Lancashire on 23 May that he was about to start a coaching course before deciding on his future, OConnor confirmed his move to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on 27 June 2008 following a month of speculation surrounding the move in the press. He joined the club on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling after turning down the offer to extend his stay at Turf Moor, on 10 January 2012, OConnor signed with American third-tier side Orlando City of USL Pro. He became a player-coach in 2013 with the team and he is now the manager of Louisville City. Louisville City is the affiliate of the MLS side Orlando City, OConnor has played for the Republic of Ireland at Under-21 level. OConnors two brothers, Danny and Kevin both play for Bray Wanderers. com
15.
Jermaine Johnson
–
Jermaine Johnson is a Jamaican professional footballer, plays for Tivoli Gardens, in the Jamaican National Premier League, after being released by Sheffield Wednesday. He started his career in his homeland with Tivoli Gardens, before coming to England, Johnson has also won 74 caps for Jamaica. Johnson started his career at Tivoli Gardens before he came to England with Bolton Wanderers and he spent that season and the 2002–03 season at the club but started only ten games and came on as substitute in another nine but scored no goals. After his spell at the Reebok he moved to Oldham Athletic spending the two seasons there making 34 appearances and eight as substitute scoring ten goals. Johnson was signed by Bradford City manager Colin Todd on a deal in June 2006 to join fellow Jamaican teammate Donovan Ricketts at Valley Parade. His debut came in the first game of the 2006–07 season at Bradford lost to Nottingham Forest, a week later he scored his first goal for Bradford to secure a 4–2 victory over Gillingham. Johnsons last game in Bradford colours was in a 2–0 defeat to Yeovil Town when he was sent off after 81 minutes, overall Johnson played 31 games,27 in the league, scoring four goals for City. Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws signed the Jamaican for a fee in excess of £250,000 from Bradford City on 31 January 2007. Johnson had to face a three-game suspension when he arrived in Sheffield due to a red card he received in his last game for Bradford. He finally made his debut on 20 February 2007 away at Luton Town, showing glimpses of his skill, Johnson added his first goal to his impressive performances scoring Wednesdays third goal in the 3–2 victory over Yorkshire rivals Leeds United on 3 March 2007 in the 54th minute. He was injured during his game against Plymouth Argyle which combined with a bout of chicken pox prevented him starting for the team until the last game of the season against Norwich City. Johnson scored again to help the team win 3–2, in December 2007, Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers made an offer for Johnson. It was turned down however as he was described as a top asset in the playing squad and his first full season with the club was disrupted by injuries and suspensions, however he was still voted midfielder of the year by fans of the club. This occurred after he reacted angrily to his substitution by kicking a water bottle into the home supporters, Jermaine Johnson was promoted with Sheffield Wednesday in 2012. On 9 July 2012, he signed an extension with the club. He secured Wednesdays first win of the season on 21 August with an 89th-minute goal against Birmingham City to see Wednesday win 3-2, on 4 July 2013, he signed another one-year extension, continuing as the clubs longest-serving current player. In May 2014, Johnson announced via Twitter that he was to leave Sheffield Wednesday, Jermaine Johnson signed with Indy Eleven on 30-July-2014. He made his Indy debut from the bench against Atlanta Silverbacks on 2 Aug 2014 and he was red carded in his second appearance against Fort Lauderdale Strikers four days later
16.
Tommy Spurr
–
Thomas Tommy Spurr is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Preston North End. Spurr was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where he played for Seacroft Colts AFC as a youngster and he was named Academy Player of the Year in the 2004–05 season and made his first team debut against Reading on 22 April 2006. He was awarded Sponsors Man of the Match for his performance in the game, the 2006–07 season saw Spurr hold down a regular place in the starting eleven at left back ahead of the more experienced Peter Gilbert and John Hills. In December 2006, Spurr was given a new contract which took his contract up until the summer of 2009. Spurr scored his first goal for Sheffield Wednesday against Charlton Athletic on 25 August 2007 in a 3–2 defeat and he scored his second career goal and first Hillsborough goal on 14 April 2008 against Plymouth Argyle. It proved to be the equaliser in what was a game for Sheffield Wednesday and was voted Sky Sports Championship Goal of the Season. In December 2007 Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers made an offer for Spurr and it was turned down, however, as he was described as a top asset in the playing squad. Later in the month Queens Park Rangers made an offer which was also rejected by Sheffield Wednesday. Spurr scored his goal for Wednesday against Watford in a 2–0 win at Hillsborough on 13 September 2008. Spurr scored another eye-catching goal in a 2–1 defeat by Fulham in the FA Cup 3rd Round on Saturday,3 January 2009, when he collected a square ball from James OConnor to score from 30 yards. During the 7 February 2009 Steel City derby Spurr scored his league goal for the club from a Michael Gray cross just 45 seconds into the game. Spurr was handed the captaincy in the game on 21 February 2009 against Neil Warnocks Crystal Palace. In September, he signed a contract extension. However Sheffield Wednesday were relegated from The Championship on the day of the season against Crystal Palace. After staying with the club in League 1, Spurr found himself out of favour when manager Gary Megson took over the club. In June 2011, it was reported that Sheffield Wednesday had accepted an undisclosed fee said to be around the £200,000 area from Doncaster Rovers for the services of Spurr and he signed for Doncaster Rovers on 28 June 2011. When fit, Spurr is a starter at left back for Doncaster. Spurrs Doncaster contract expired in June 2013 and he went straight into the starting eleven for Blackburns opening-day draw at Derby County
17.
Darren Potter
–
Darren Michael Potter is a professional footballer who plays for Milton Keynes Dons as a midfielder. He is a former Liverpool schoolboy captain who hails from the Scotland Road area of the city and is a full Irish international, born in Liverpool, Potter is a central midfielder who is a product of the Liverpool Academy. He started out at Everton before transferring to Blackburn Rovers and then, in total, he made 10 appearances in the 2004–05 season, mostly in cup competitions. He featured in Liverpools run to the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, the following season, he was involved in pre-season friendlies and the Champions League qualifying rounds but did not feature in the Premier League. Instead, he saw action on loan at Championship side Southampton. He joined Southampton on loan in January 2006, making a total of 12 appearances and he returned to Anfield in the summer but was swiftly loaned out again, this time to another Championship club, Wolves, for the 2006–07 season. After impressing, the move was made permanent in a £250,000 three-and-a-half-year deal during the January 2007 transfer window, Potter scored his first and only Wolves goal in the FA Cup against Oldham Athletic on 16 January 2007. Potter rejected the offer and remained at Molineux for the rest of the season, after finding no takers for him during the Summer transfer window, he was taken off the transfer list and told to fight for his place. He failed to appear for his parent club during the first half of the 2008–09 season, Potter scored for the Owls 16 minutes into his debut against Charlton with a 30-yard drive into the bottom corner. He also hit the bar from a kick in the 4–1 win. He signed for Sheffield Wednesday in a permanent deal on 10 July 2009 for an undisclosed fee, Potter scored his first goal of the 2009–10 season on 22 August in a 4–0 thumping of newly promoted Scunthorpe United. His next goal was to be later on in the season with a left-footed curler in the bottom corner against Blackpool at Hillsborough on 9 February. Potter added to his tally for the season with a volley against Wednesdays fierce rivals Sheffield United in the Steel City Derby on 19 April, Potter left Hillsborough on 23 June 2011 by mutual consent. On 23 June 2011, Potter signed a contract for Milton Keynes Dons. He was given the number 8 shirt, on 21 February 2014, Potter signed a new two-year contract extension. Liverpool UEFA Champions League,2005 Milton Keynes Dons League One runners-up, 2014–15 Milton Keynes Dons Player of the Year, 2011–12 Darren Potter at Soccerbase LFCHistory. net profile
18.
Lee Williamson
–
Lee Trevor Williamson is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Burton Albion. Born in Derby he started his career at Mansfield Town before spending time at Northampton Town, Rotherham United, Watford, Preston North End, Sheffield United and he has chosen to play internationally for Jamaica. Williamson started his career at Mansfield Town, making 165 appearances in his stay at Field Mill and he then moved to Northampton Town early in the 2004–05 season where he quickly established himself as an automatic choice in the first team where he scored two goals. Williamson then joined Rotherham United in the summer of 2005, and he completed a move to Watford along with team mate Will Hoskins for a combined fee of £1.2 million on 5 January 2007. On 31 January 2007 he played his first Premier League match for Watford against Manchester United, Williamson scored three times in his first season at Vicarage Road but was then loaned to Preston North End at the end of March until the end of the 2008–09 season. He scored his only Preston goal on 18 April 2009 against Cardiff City which rounded off a 6–0 win at Deepdale, Williamson signed with Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £500,000, during the 2009 close season. Having suffered an injury in pre-season Williamson found himself sidelined until the end of October and had to wait until December to score his début goal for the club against Crystal Palace. He continued to be dogged by injuries during his first season with the Blades and this time, however, Williamson almost died after suffering complications during the operation. He was placed on a life support machine for two days after contracting an infection, commenting at the time, then Blades Manager Kevin Blackwell said, He was placed on life support. Hes a very lucky lad to be alive, despite this Wilson refused to rule out Williamson signing a new deal. On 16 August 2012, Williamson signed a deal with Portsmouth. In January 2013 he was released by Portsmouth along with 5 other players due to financial reasons, Williamson signed for Championship side Blackburn Rovers in an 18-month deal on 8 February 2013. On 14 September 2013, Williamson was red-carded in the East Lancashire derby against Burnley after fouling striker Danny Ings in a last man situation during injury time with the level at 1–1. This was well received by the fans of Blackburn Rovers as an admirable and selfless piece of play for the sake of the team. Williamson was roundly applauded for stopping Danny Ings being clean through, on 25 July 2016 Williamson signed for Burton Albion on a one-year deal On 23 May 2008, Williamson was included in a 28-man squad to play for Jamaica. He was again called up in 2015 by Winfried Schäfer, to feature as part of Jamaicas first 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying squad. He made his debut on 8 September 2015, playing the full 90 minutes for Jamaica as they beat Nicaragua 4–3 on aggregate to advance to the Fourth CONCACAF Round of qualifying. As of match played 8 August 2014
19.
Chris O'Grady
–
Christopher James Chris OGrady is an English footballer who plays for Burton Albion on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion as a striker. Born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, OGrady originally caught the eye of former Leicester City boss Micky Adams as he was prolific in front of goal for the under 18s and reserves. OGrady was handed his debut coming off the bench in Leicesters 2–0 victory over Grimsby Town in April 2003. He grabbed his first Championship goal at Luton Town in March 2006, in his first start for Leicester City, he scored the first goal in a 2–0 win over Macclesfield Town in the League Cup first round. His second start saw Leicester win 1–0 at home to Southend United, on 18 January 2007, OGrady signed for Rotherham United on a two-and-a-half-year deal for £65,000. His first goal for Rotherham was a penalty against Huddersfield Town in February 2007, OGrady altogether scored four goals in his first season with Rotherham. OGrady transferred to Oldham Athletic for a fee on 28 May 2008. After ten appearances for the Latics without a goal, he was loaned out to Bury, OGrady signed on loan for Bradford City on 2 January 2009 on a months loan. His debut for Bradford came the day when he was a second-half substitute for Michael Boulding in a 0–0 draw with Shrewsbury Town. OGrady played just two games with Bradford, before he returned to Oldham and immediately joining another League One side Stockport County on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season. His debut for the Hatters came on 4 February, coming on at half-time in a 1–0 loss to Milton Keynes Dons, oGradys first goal for Stockport was in his seventh game to give the side a 1–1 draw with Leicester City on 3 March 2009. OGrady signed for Rochdale on loan on 21 August 2009 and impressed, on 14 January 2010 OGrady signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Rochdale for an undisclosed fee. On 23 January 2010 he scored his first hat-trick, against Cheltenham, on 14 July 2011 Rochdale confirmed that a bid for OGrady had been rejected from Sheffield Wednesday. Chris scored his first goal for the Owls in a 2–2 draw against fierce rivals Sheffield United and his next goal came away at Morecambe in the FA Cup. His third, a spectacular headed lob, came against local rivals and he was considered the work horse of the Wednesday frontline by many an Owls fan. Despite having not scored many goals for the club, he cemented himself as first-choice forward alongside Gary Madine, OGrady also formed a solid partnership with fellow frontman Ryan Lowe, when Madine was either suspended or out injured. On 26 February 2012, OGrady scored once against fierce rivals Sheffield United with a header from a Lewis Buxton cross in a 1–0 win for the Owls at Hillsborough. He received the ball from Lewis Buxton, turned and smashed a shot with his foot into the top left corner
20.
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
21.
Wembley Stadium
–
Wembley Stadium is a football stadium in Wembley, London, England, which opened in 2007, on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002–2003. The stadium hosts football matches including home matches of the England national football team. The stadium will be the home of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur while White Hart Lane is being demolished. Wembley Stadium is owned by the body of English football. The FA headquarters are based in the stadium, with 90,000 seats, it is the largest football stadium in England, the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe. Designed by Populous and Foster and Partners, it includes a retractable roof. The stadium was built by Australian firm Multiplex at a cost of £798 million, a UEFA category four stadium, Wembley hosted the 2011 and 2013 UEFA Champions League Finals, and will host both the semi-finals and final of UEFA Euro 2020. The stadium hosted the Gold medal matches at the 2012 Olympic Games football tournament, the stadium also hosts rugby leagues Challenge Cup final, the NFL International Series and music concerts. The design of the services was carried out by Mott MacDonald. It is one of the most expensive ever built at a cost of £798 million. The all-seater stadium is a design with a capacity of 90,000. It can also be adapted as a stadium by erecting a temporary platform over the lowest tier of seating. The stadiums signature feature is a circular section lattice arch of 7 m internal diameter with a 315 m span, erected some 22° off true and it supports all the weight of the north roof and 60% of the weight of the retractable roof on the southern side. The archway is the worlds longest unsupported roof structure, a platform system has been designed to convert the stadium for athletics use, but its use would decrease the stadiums capacity to approximately 60,000. No athletics events have taken place at the stadium, and none are scheduled, the conversion for athletics use was a condition of part of the lottery funding the stadium received, but to convert it would take weeks of work and cost millions of pounds. Demolition officially began on 30 September 2002, with the Twin Towers being dismantled in December 2002, delays to the construction project started as far back as 2003. In December 2003, the constructors of the arch, subcontractors Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company of Darlington, Cleveland Bridge withdrew from the project and replaced by Dutch firm Hollandia with all the attendant problems of starting over. In October 2005, Sports Minister Richard Caborn announced, They say the Cup Final will be there, by November 2005, WNSL were still hopeful of a handover date of 31 March, in time for the cup final on 13 May
22.
Huddersfield Town A.F.C.
–
F. C. Halifax Town is a semi-professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, the tier of English football. They replaced Halifax Town A. F. C. which went into administration in the 2007–08 season, huge tax debts buried Halifax Town A. F. C. after almost 100 years as a football club. New figures put to a creditors meeting in May 2008 showed the cash-strapped Shaymen owed over £800,000 to Her Majestys Revenue. The Revenue refused any deal and that finished the club – already over £2 million in the red. It was originally thought the club owed the taxman around £500,000, but the news that it owed £814,000 meant that even if all the other creditors had accepted the 2. 5p-in-the-pound offer originally on the table it would not have been enough. Halifax appealed against the decision to them from the Football Conference. Though the appeal was rejected on 11 June, the hope was that Halifax could play in the NPL Premier Division. This did not materialise, and eventually Halifax Town were accepted to play in the Northern Premier League Division One North in the new season under the new name FC Halifax Town. The clubs first game under the new name FC Halifax Town was a friendly away against Tamworth on 19 July 2008, there was to be no fairytale ending however, and the game ended in a 2–0 defeat. The clubs first ever victory was against Alsager Town on 26 July 2008 by a 2–0 scoreline, colin Hunter scored the new clubs first ever goal after six minutes. Their first competitive Northern League Division One North match was at The Shay against Bamber Bridge on 16 August 2008, the club got off to a poor start, despite recording their first competitive victory in the next match. However, a 7–1 home win against Salford City in late September seemed to turn the tide for Town and they went on an 8-game unbeaten run,7 of those being victories, and shot to the top of the league table. The run eventually came to an end against Rossendale United, who ended up doing the double over Halifax. Despite the loss, Halifax remained top and more results, including 5–1 and 4–1 victories against Garforth Town and Wakefield respectively. After the Wakefield match however, Halifax won just 2 of their final 14 league games and this poor run led to the sacking of manager Jim Vince, and senior player Nigel Jemson stepped up to the managers position for the remainder of the season. They could only manage 2 draws and so a poor ending to the season cost them dearly, with new manager Neil Aspin taking the helm near the start of close season, Halifax Town got off to a much better start. Promising results in friendlies were consolidated after beating Colwyn Bay 3–0 on their own turf in the first league match of the season
23.
John Fleck (footballer)
–
John Alexander Fleck is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Sheffield United. Fleck was born in Glasgow and was educated at Knightswood Secondary School, Fleck began his career in the Rangers youth teams. He played in Rangers 5–0 Scottish Youth Cup victory over Celtic on 26 April 2007, on 12 July 2007, Fleck was called up to take part in the full squad pre-season tour of Germany. Fleck was handed his debut for the first team against SV Lippstadt 08 on 15 July 2007, Fleck impressed and scored in a 3–1 friendly victory over Sportfreunde Lotte in the next friendly game. On 25 August 2007, just a day after his 16th birthday and he made his competitive debut on 23 January 2008 in the Scottish Cup game against East Stirlingshire and made his league debut on 22 May in the final league game of the season against Aberdeen. Two days later, Fleck became the youngest ever player to play in a senior British Cup final, Fleck gained his first start for Rangers against Falkirk on 17 January 2009 earning the man of the match award for his performance. Five days before this, The Times had placed Fleck seventh in their Top 50 Rising Stars of football list, Fleck scored his first competitive goal in a 2–0 league victory over Dundee United at Ibrox on 31 January 2009. The goal was a 78th-minute penalty, awarded after Mihael Kovačevićs challenge had brought Fleck to the ground, flecks talent, precocious performances, technique, vision and work-rate led him to be heralded as Scotlands Wayne Rooney. Fleck signed for Championship club Blackpool on loan in January 2012, in June 2012, Fleck lodged an objection against his contract being transferred to the newco set up by Charles Green. PFA Scotland had previously commented that players were entitled to free agents if they objected to the transfer. On 4 July 2012, Fleck joined Football League One side Coventry City after he rejected his Rangers contract being transferred to the new company. Rangers were reported to have an agreement, meaning they would be entitled to a percentage of any transfer fee Coventry subsequently received for the player. Fleck scored his first Coventry City goal in a 4–1 loss away to Shrewsbury Town from the penalty spot on 18 September 2012, between the start of the 2012–13 season and the end of the 2013–14 season, Fleck scored just one goal for Coventry City. Flecks importance to the team was described by manager Tony Mowbray as being the oil in our machine as the Sky Blues rose to the top of the League One table. Fleck was rewarded for his improvement in 2015-16 by being awarded the player of the year award by both the fans and his fellow team-mates at the clubs end of season awards. Fleck signed a contract with Sheffield United in July 2016. Fleck scored his first goal for the club in a 4-1 win over Chesterfield on 13 November 2016, on 12 September 2006, Fleck captained Scotland Under 16s to an 11–0 victory over Jersey Under 17s, scoring a hat trick in the process. He was the captain of the Scotland side at the 2006 Victory Shield competition and he also captained the Scotland Under 17 side throughout 2007 and 2008 and is a regular at Under 19 level
24.
Mark Duffy (footballer)
–
Mark James Duffy is an English professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Sheffield United. Born in Liverpool, Duffy played for the teams of both home-town club Liverpool and Welsh team Wrexham. Duffy began his career playing non-League football for Vauxhall Motors, Prescot Cables. Duffy signed for League Two club Morecambe on loan in February 2009, Duffy moved to Championship side Scunthorpe United on 20 January 2011 for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his two days later, in a 0–0 draw at home to Burnley. He moved to Doncaster Rovers in July 2013, Duffy signed a two-year contract with Birmingham City in June 2014 after activating his relegation release clause at Doncaster Rovers. After appearing only once more in the league by the end of January 2015, he spent a month on loan to League One club Chesterfield, where he made one start and two substitute appearances. Before the start of the 2015–16 season, Duffy joined Burton Albion, newly promoted to League One, in pre-season, Burton manager Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink used him in a playmaker role, and he began the league season as a regular selection in the starting eleven. In the opening match, Scunthorpe goalkeeper Luke Daniels was sent off for elbowing Duffy in the head, after the initial loan period expired, it was extended to the end of the season. Duffy completed the season having missed one league match, against Walsall in February after twisting his ankle in training. He scored eight goals and provided numerous assists as Burton were promoted to the Championship as League One runners-up and his performances earned him selection in the PFA League One Team of the Year. He was released by Birmingham at the end of the season, as of match played 5 April 2017
25.
Leon Clarke
–
Leon Marvin Clarke is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for League One club Sheffield United. Clarke began his career with Wolves but then played for different clubs – in both permanent and loan deals – over the subsequent years after leaving Wolves for Sheffield Wednesday in 2007. He returned to Wolves in January 2014 having led the League One goalscoring charts while at Coventry City, having progressed through Wolves youth academy, Clarke made his senior debut for his hometown club in a League Cup win over Darlington on 23 September 2003. Though he did not feature at all in the teams Premier League campaign of that season and he ended the campaign with eight goals from 31 appearances. He angered sections of the Wolves support after making a gesture toward the crowd after he scored a goal against Plymouth in January 2006. Clarke returned to regularly for Wolves during the first half of the 2006–07 season. However, in the January transfer window he was transfer-listed when manager Mick McCarthy said he wanted to freshen up the strike force. The striker made five appearances for Oldham, netting three times, his first goal coming against League One rivals Doncaster Rovers in a 4–0 victory on 11 March 2007. After returning to Hillsborough, he was placed in the first team. Having scored on his debut and set up both other goals in a 3–0 victory against Gillingham, Clarke ended this loan spell with eight goals from 16 appearances. After returning to his parent club he was restricted to one start and he was rewarded with a contract extension for a further year after his manager praised him making a fantastic amount of progress during the year. However, in celebrating the goal, he kicked the advertising boarding, the game finished 2–2, which saw Wednesday relegated to League One. Three days later it was announced he would not be offered a new contract, Clarke signed for Queens Park Rangers on 21 May 2010 on a two-year contract, with manager Neil Warnock stating that he believed Clarke had underachieved but was worth a gamble. However, he struggled to make any impact, failing to score in fifteen appearances before being loaned to Preston North End in January 2011 until the end of the season and he scored his only goal during his six Preston games on 15 February 2011 against Watford. On 19 August 2011, QPR – now promoted to the Premier League – confirmed that Clarkes contract had been terminated by mutual consent, the same day, he signed for League Two side Swindon Town on a two-year contract. After a 1–3 loss to Southampton, Clarke was involved in an altercation with Claudio Donatelli, after his manager Paolo Di Canio intervened, the manager and player were shown on television cameras arguing and having to be separated by coaching staff. On 8 September, he signed a loan deal at League One club Chesterfield. Manager John Sheridan had been in charge at Oldham when Clarke spent a loan spell there, following his loan move to Chesterfield, Clarke denied comments by Di Canio that he is not very professional
26.
Gary Hooper
–
Gary Hooper is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Championship club Sheffield Wednesday. Hooper started his career at non-League Grays Athletic in 2003, while there he won the 2004–05 Conference South, as well as the FA Trophy twice in 2005 and 2006. After this Championship club Southend United signed him on a transfer in 2006. He was loaned out twice by the club, on a loan to League One club Leyton Orient in 2007. Scunthorpe United signed him in 2008, for a fee of £175,000, after two years he was signed by Scottish Premier League side Celtic for £2.4 million. In his first season with the club he was the top scorer, on top of this, he has also scored in the Conference National and the Conference South. Hooper was born in England but has not represented the team at any level. In March 2011 it was thought that he may be eligible to represent Scotland, however, this possibility was later closed off. Since his move to Celtic he has considered for England duty and was called up to the under-21 squad for a friendly but had to pull out due to injury. He was then included in the squad for the 2011 European Under-21 Championship. Hooper was born in Harlow, Essex and grew up in Loughton and he joined the Tottenham Hotspur youth team at the age of seven. When he was 14 he played 20 minutes of a game and was then released by the club. After this he had trials with Northampton Town and Luton Town and these proved unsuccessful and he started playing Sunday league football. He then had a spell with Maldon Town, before he was signed by Conference National side Grays Athletic at the start of the 2003–04 season. Hooper joined Isthmian Premier side Grays Athletic, in the 2003–04 season and his debut was the following season when Grays were promoted into the newly formed Conference South, helping them to win the league by scoring 12 goals in 29 league appearances. He started for Grays in the 2004–05 FA Trophy Final against Hucknall Town, the match went to penalties and Grays won the shoot-out 6–5. The following season in the Conference National, Hooper scored eight times in 40 league appearances and he was an unused substitute in Grays Athletics 2–0 triumph over Woking in the final of the 2006 FA Trophy. At the end of the 2006 season he was released by Grays, Hooper said that he was only getting substitute appearances for the last few minutes of games and that he wanted to move
27.
English Football League
–
The English Football League is a league competition featuring professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in world football and it was the top-level football league in England from its foundation in the 19th century until 1992, when the top 22 clubs split away to form the Premier League. The league has 72 clubs evenly divided into three divisions, which are known as the Championship, League One and League Two, with 24 clubs in each division, the Football League has been associated with a title sponsor between 1983 and 2016. As this sponsor changed over the years the league too has been known by various names, the English Football League is also the name of the governing body of the league competition, and this body also organises two knock-out cup competitions, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy. The operations centre of the Football League is in Preston, while its commercial office is in London, the commercial office was formerly based in Lytham St Annes, after its original spell in Preston. The Football League consists of 70 professional association football clubs in England and 2 in Wales and it runs the oldest professional football league competition in the world. It also organises two knockout cup competitions, the Football League Cup and Football League Trophy, the Football League was founded in 1888 by then Aston Villa director William McGregor, originally with 12 member clubs. Steady growth and the addition of more divisions meant that by 1950 the League had 92 clubs, the Football League therefore no longer includes the top 20 clubs who belong to this group, although promotion and relegation between the Football League and the Premier League continues. In total,136 teams have played in the Football League up to 2013, the Football Leagues 72 member clubs are grouped into three divisions, the Football League Championship, Football League One, and Football League Two. Each division has 24 clubs, and in any season a club plays each of the others in the same division twice, once at their home stadium. This makes for a total of 46 games played each season, clubs gain three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat. At the end of the season, clubs at the top of their division may win promotion to the higher division. At the top end of the competition, three Championship clubs win promotion from the Football League to the Premier League, with the bottom three Premier League clubs taking their places, reserve teams of Football League clubs usually play in the Central League or the Football Combination. Since the 2004–05 season, penalties have existed for clubs entering financial administration during the season and it is also required that a club exiting administration agree a Creditors Voluntary Agreement, and pay in full any other footballing creditors. Failure to do either of these result in a second. The other main situation in which is a club may lose points is by fielding an improperly registered or otherwise ineligible player. If a club is found to have done this, then any points earned from any match that player participated in will be deducted, the EFL organises two knock-out cup competitions, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy. The EFL Cup was established in 1960 and is open to all EFL and Premier League clubs, the EFL Trophy is for clubs belonging to EFL League One and EFL League Two
28.
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
29.
FA Cup
–
The FA Cup, known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annual knockout association football competition in mens domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest association football competition in the world and it is organised by and named after The Football Association. For sponsorship reasons, from 2015 through to 2018 it is known as The Emirates FA Cup. A concurrent womens tournament is held, the FA Womens Cup. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12, the tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. The last entrants are the Premier League and Championship clubs, into the draw for the Third Round Proper, in the modern era, only one non-league team has ever reached the quarter finals, and teams below Level 2 have never reached the final. As a result, as well as who wins, significant focus is given to those minnows who progress furthest, especially if they achieve an unlikely giant-killing victory. Winners receive the FA Cup trophy, of which there have two designs and five actual cups, the latest is a 2014 replica of the second design. Winners also qualify for European football and a place in the FA Community Shield match, in 1863, the newly founded Football Association published the Laws of the Game of Association Football, unifying the various different rules in use before then. On 20 July 1871, in the offices of The Sportsman newspaper, the inaugural FA Cup tournament kicked off in November 1871. After thirteen games in all, Wanderers were crowned the winners in the final, Wanderers retained the trophy the following year. The modern cup was beginning to be established by the 1888–89 season, following the 1914–15 edition, the competition was suspended due to the First World War, and did not resume until 1919–20. The 1922–23 competition saw the first final to be played in the newly opened Wembley Stadium, due to the outbreak of World War II, the competition was not played between the 1938–39 and 1945–46 editions. Having previously featured replays, the modern day practice of ensuring the semi-final and final matches finish on the day, was introduced from 2000 onwards. Redevelopment of Wembley saw the final played outside of England for the first time, the final returned to Wembley in 2007, followed by the semi-finals from 2008. The competition is open to any club down to Level 10 of the English football league system which meets the eligibility criteria, all clubs in the top four levels are automatically eligible. Clubs in the six levels are also eligible provided they have played in either the FA Cup. Newly formed clubs, such as F. C. United of Manchester in 2005–06 and also 2006–07, all clubs entering the competition must also have a suitable stadium
30.
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
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
