1.
Bescot Stadium
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Bescot Stadium, also known as the Bankss Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Walsall, England, and the current home ground of Walsall Football Club. It was built in 1989-90, by GMI Construction, with a build cost of £4. 5m. The stadium replaced the previous ground, Fellows Park, which was located a quarter of a mile away. The stadium was opened on 18 August 1990, by Sir Stanley Matthews, the first competitive game was played a week later on 25 August 1990. 5,219 spectators watched Walsall draw 2-2 with Torquay United, the first goal scored for Walsall at the stadium was by Stuart Rimmer. A sponsorship deal with Banks Brewery in 2003 saw the changed from Bescot Stadium to Banks Stadium. The stadium has been host to England under-21, under-19 and under-17 international matches, Aston Villa reserve team matches and England womens international matches. Outside football, in 1991 the stadium hosted a concert by Black Country band The Wonder Stuff Originally both ends of the ground were standing areas, and the capacity of the ground was around 11,000. However, capacity was reduced to around 9,800 in 1992, following an extension to the Tile Choice Stand, during the 2002-03 season, it is now an all-seater stadium, with a capacity of 11,300. The stadium is situated less than a mile from junction 9 of the M6 motorway, has a railway station within easy walking distance. Bescot Stadium has two large conferencing suites - the Bonser Suite and the Stadium Suite, the Bonser Suite adjoins the rear of the Main Stand, while the Stadium Suite is underneath the upper tier of the northern most stand. Both suites host conferences, cabaret evenings, concerts and events, there are food and beverage kiosks in all four corners of the ground, whilst the Bonser Suite doubles as a restaurant on match days. In 2009, the club erected a large advertising hoarding to the south of the southern most stand, facing the M6 motorway. It was reported in the Express and Star Newspaper on 6 June 2008, that Walsall were attempting to sell the stadium to Walsall Council, the Council, however, stated they did not have the funds to purchase the ground. During Spring 2011, the owner of Bescot Stadium, Jeff Bonser, announced via his proxy, Suffolk Life, steve Jenkins, record producer and lifelong Walsall supporter, tried to drum up support for the council to buy the land. On 11 July 2011, the idea of ownership of Bescot Stadium was finally put to bed after the council voted 28-24 against purchasing the stadium. Plans to develop the southern most stand were announced by the club during 2005, the proposed development would mean using the blueprint of the northern most stand, which stands opposite it. Funding for the redevelopment was to come, in part, from an advertising board on the back of the stand facing the M6 motorway
2.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
3.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
4.
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
5.
Walsall
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Walsall is an industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located 8 miles north-west of the City of Birmingham and 6 miles east of the City of Wolverhampton, historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation, and part of the Black Country. Walsall is the centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. At the 2011 census, the towns built-up area had a population of 67,594, neighbouring settlements in the borough include Darlaston, Brownhills, Willenhall, Bloxwich and Aldridge. The name Walsall is thought to have derived from the words Walh halh, Walsall is first referenced as Walesho in a document dated 1002. However, it is believed that a manor was held here by William FitzAnsculf, by the first part of the 13th century, Walsall was a small market town, with the weekly market being introduced in 1220 and held on Tuesdays. The mayor of Walsall was created as a position in the 14th century. The town was visited by Queen Elizabeth I, when it was known as Walshale and it was also visited by Henrietta Maria in 1643. She stayed in the town for one night at a building named the White Hart in the area of Caldmore, the Industrial Revolution changed Walsall from a village of 2,000 people in the 16th century to a town of over 86,000 in approximately 200 years. The town manufactured a range of products including saddles, chains, buckles. Nearby, limestone quarrying provided the town with much prosperity, in 1824, the Walsall Corporation received an Act of Parliament to improve the town by providing lighting and a gasworks. The gasworks was built in 1826 at a cost of £4,000, in 1825, the corporation built eleven tiled, brick almshouses for poor women. They were known to the area as Molesleys Almshouses, the Walsall Improvement and Market Act was passed in 1848 and amended in 1850. The Act provided facilities for the poor, improving and extending the sewerage system, on 10 October 1847, a gas explosion killed one person and destroyed the west window of St Matthews Church. Walsall finally received a line in 1847,48 years after canals reached the town. In 1855, Walsalls first newspaper, the Walsall Courier and South Staffordshire Gazette, was published, over 2000 men from Walsall were killed in fighting during the First World War. They are commemorated by the cenotaph, which is located on the site of a bomb which was dropped by Zeppelin L21 – killing the towns mayoress. Damage from the Zeppelin can still be seen on what is now a club on the corner of the main road, the town also has a memorial to two local VC recipients, John Henry Carless and Frederick Gibbs
6.
West Midlands (county)
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The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2014 estimated population of 2,808,356, making it the second most populous county in England. It came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county itself is a NUTS2 region within the wider NUTS1 region of the same name. The county consists of seven boroughs, the City of Birmingham, the City of Coventry, and the City of Wolverhampton, as well as Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull. The metropolitan county exists in law and as a frame of reference. And as a county it has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. A new administrative body for the county, the West Midlands Combined Authority was created in June 2016, there will be a directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands from May 2017. Other county-wide bodies include the West Midlands Police, the West Midlands Fire Service, the county is sometimes described as the West Midlands metropolitan area or the West Midlands conurbation, although these have different, and less clearly defined, boundaries. The main conurbation, or urban area, does not include Coventry for example, Coventry was one of Englands most important cities during the Middle Ages, with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of dating back to the 16th century. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of arms, whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture. The coal and iron ore deposits of the Black Country area provided a source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation, Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century, it had become an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture. Around the periphery of this area, three towns remained separate, while Aldridge and Brownhills joined to form a single unit. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was established in 1968, in 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs, the new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with Aldridge-Brownhills added to Walsall, Halesowen and Stourbridge to Dudley and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of Sandwell was formed by the merger of West Bromwich, the 1974 reform created the West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. Between 1974 and 1986, the county had a system of local government
7.
English football league system
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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
8.
Wembley Stadium
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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
9.
2015 Football League Trophy Final
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The third win made Bristol City the most successful team in the history of the tournament. The match was refereed by Mick Russell, at the time of the final, Bristol City were 10 points clear at the top of the League One table,37 above Walsall. Bristol City had previously played at Wembley in 2008, when they lost the Championship playoff final to Hull City, Walsall, of League One, arrived in the final as winners of the Northern section. On 12 November, in the quarter-finals, Walsall hosted Sheffield United and again won by a single goal, from Romaine Sawyers. On 9 December in the semi-finals, they travelled to Prenton Park to play League Two Tranmere Rovers, in the second half, they equalised with goals by Anthony Forde and Michael Cain. However, Tranmeres Liam Ridehalgh hit the crossbar and Marc Lairds attempt was saved by Walsall goalkeeper Richard ODonnell, in the Northern section final, Walsall played Preston North End over two legs. The first, away at Deepdale on 7 January 2015, was a 2–0 win for Walsall with late goals by a Forde free kick, a goalless draw 20 days later in the second game at the Bescot Stadium confirmed Walsalls place in the final. Bristol City, also of League One, were given a bye in the first round of the Southern section. They won 3–1, with Wes Burns scoring the first goal, on 11 November in the quarter-finals at Ashton Gate, they defeated another fourth-tier team, AFC Wimbledon, 2–1. Aaron Wilbraham scored two goals, despite a consolation by George Francomb. In the semi-finals on 10 December, again at home, Bristol City won 2–0 against Coventry City with a goal in half from Derrick Williams. In the second leg on the 29th, Matt Smith opened the scoring and Jermaine McGlashan equalised in the first half, but Bristol City nonetheless advanced 5–3 on aggregate. Supporters of Bristol City and their local rival Bristol Rovers walked 100 miles to the match over four-and-a-half days, Pycroft has cerebral palsy and surgery could result in him being able to walk. Bristol City gained the lead after 15 minutes, Aden Flint heading a Marlon Pack corner past Walsall goalkeeper Richard ODonnell, Walsall then had chances to equalise by Sam Mantom and Andy Taylor. Five minutes into the half, Mark Little, a winner in the previous seasons final with Peterborough United, scored a second after ODonnell had saved his header. Walsalls Jordan Cook hit the post, and Bristol Citys Aaron Wilbraham had a goal disallowed for offside, Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill said that despite the gap between the two teams in the league table, Walsall were a difficult side to beat. He said that for a lot of his players, it would be the start of their careers and his Walsall counterpart Dean Smith expressed disappointment with his teams performance, saying that for reasons of height it was likely that they would concede from a corner. He added that nerves may have played a part in the defeat, as most of his players were young and had never played in front of such a large crowd before
10.
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
11.
Fellows Park
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Fellows Park was a football stadium in Walsall, England. It was the ground of Walsall F. C. from 1896 until 1990. Fellows Park was situated about a quarter of an away from the clubs present ground, The Bescot Stadium, at the junction of Hilary Street. The club moved to the ground from West Bromwich Road in 1895, until 1930 it was named Hilary Street, at which point it was renamed after H. L. Fellows, a club director. Walsalls record home attendance was at Fellows Park, when 25,453 spectators were present for the teams Second Division match against Newcastle United on 29 August 1961, by March 1988, the club was planning to build a new stadium at nearby Bescot Crescent. The final game played at the ground was on 11 May, when retiring defender Peter Harts testimonial was held there with local rivals West Bromwich Albion providing the opposition. This game also ended in a 1-1 draw, with Gary Shaw scoring an equaliser for Walsall in the 37th minute, thus going down in history as the last player to score at the stadium, the new Bescot Stadium was ready for the 1990-91 season. A reminder of Fellows Park remains in the new stadium, in the name of the H. L, the old stadium was demolished soon after its closure and a Morrisons supermarket built on the site
12.
Swift
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The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are not closely related to any of the passerine species, Swifts are placed in the order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds. The treeswifts are closely related to the swifts, but form a separate family. Resemblances between swifts and swallows are due to convergent evolution, reflecting similar life styles based on catching insects in flight. The family name, Apodidae, is derived from the Greek ἄπους, meaning footless, the tradition of depicting swifts without feet continued into the Middle Ages, as seen in the heraldic martlet. Some species of swifts are among the fastest animals on the planet, the taxonomy of the swifts is complicated, with genus and species boundaries widely disputed, especially amongst the swiftlets. A prehistoric genus sometimes assigned to the swifts, Primapus, might also be a distant ancestor. There are around 100 species of swifts, normally grouped into two subfamilies and four tribes, cypseloidinae Tribe Cypseloidini Apodinae Tribe Collocaliini Tribe Chaeturini – needletails Tribe Apodini – typical swifts Swifts are the fastest of birds. Larger species are amongst the fastest fliers in the animal kingdom, even the common swift can cruise at a maximum speed of 31 metres per second. In a single year the common swift can cover at least 200,000 km, compared with typical birds, swiftlet wings have proportionately large wingtip bones. By changing the angle between the bones and the forelimb bones, they are able to alter the shape and area of their wings, maximizing their efficiency. This flight arrangement could also have benefits for the birds control, the swiftlets or cave swiftlets have developed a form of echolocation for navigating through dark cave systems where they roost. One species, Aerodramus papuensis, has recently found to use this navigation at night outside its cave roost too. Swifts occur on all the continents except Antarctica, and also not in the far north, in large deserts, the swifts of temperate regions are strongly migratory and winter in the tropics. Some species can survive periods of cold weather by entering torpor. Many have a shape, with a short forked tail. The flight of some species is characterised by a flicking action quite different from swallows. Swifts range in size from the pygmy swiftlet, which weighs 5.4 g and measures 9 cm long, to the purple needletail, which weighs 184 g and measures 25 cm long
13.
Saddle
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The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animals back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, today, modern saddles come in a wide variety of styles, each designed for a specific equestrianism discipline, and require careful fit to both the rider and the horse. Proper saddle care can extend the life of a saddle. The word saddle originates from the Proto-Germanic language *sathulaz, with cognates in various other Indo-European languages, there is evidence, though disputed, that humans first began riding the horse not long after domestication, possibly as early as 4000 BC. The earliest known saddle-like equipment were fringed cloths or pads used by Assyrian cavalry around 700 BC and these were held on with a girth or surcingle that included breast straps and cruppers. From the earliest depictions, saddles became status symbols and these were located in Pazyryk burials finds. These saddles, found in the Ukok Plateau, Siberia were dated to 500-400 BC, the Scythians also developed an early saddle that included padding and decorative embellishments. Though they had neither a solid tree nor stirrups, these early treeless saddles and pads provided protection and comfort to the rider, with a slight increase in security. The Sarmatians also used a padded treeless early saddle, possibly as early as the century, BC. Early solid-treed saddles were made of felt that covered a wooden frame, Asian designs appeared during the Han dynasty approximately 200 BC. One of the earliest solid-treed saddles in the west was the four horn design, the invention of the solid saddle tree also allowed development of the true stirrup as it is known today. Without a solid tree, the weight in the stirrups creates abnormal pressure points. Thermography studies on treeless and flexible tree saddle designs have found there is considerable friction across the center line of a horses back. The stirrup was one of the milestones in saddle development, the first stirrup-like object was invented in India in the 2nd century BC, and consisted of a simple leather strap in which the riders toe was placed. It offered very little support, however, the stirrup appeared to be in widespread use across China by 477 AD. which then spread to Europe. This invention gave great support for the rider, and was essential in later warfare, Saddles were improved upon during the Middle Ages, as knights needed saddles that were stronger and offered more support. The resulting saddle had a higher cantle and pommel and was built on a tree that supported more weight from a rider with armor. This saddle, a predecessor to the modern Western saddle, was padded with wool or horsehair
14.
Walsall F.C. seasons
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Walsall Football Club was formed in 1888 when Walsall Town and Walsall Swifts amalgamated. They joined the Football League in 1892, as members of the new Second Division. The table below details the achievements in all national competitions
15.
Aston Villa F.C.
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Aston Villa Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aston, Birmingham, that plays in the Championship, the second level of English football. Founded in 1874, they have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, Aston Villa were one of the founder members of the Football League in 1888. They were also one of the members of the Premier League in 1992. Aston Villa are one of only five English clubs to be crowned champions of Europe and they have also won the First Division Championship seven times, the FA Cup seven times, the Football League Cup five times, and the UEFA Super Cup once. They have a local rivalry with Birmingham City and the Second City derby between the sides has been played since 1879. The clubs traditional kit colours are claret shirts with sky blue sleeves, white shorts and their traditional badge is of a rampant lion, which was introduced by the clubs Scottish chairman William McGregor in honour of the Royal Standard of Scotland. The club is owned by Recon Group Limited, a company chaired by Chinese businessman Tony Xia. Aston Villa Football Club were formed in March 1874, by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth which is now part of Birmingham, the four founders of Aston Villa were Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood. Aston Villas first match was against the local Aston Brook St Marys Rugby team, as a condition of the match, the Villa side had to agree to play the first half under Rugby rules and the second half under Association rules. The club won their first FA Cup in 1887 with captain Archie Hunter becoming one of the games first household names. Aston Villa were one of the teams that competed in the inaugural Football League in 1888 with one of the clubs directors. Aston Villa emerged as the most successful English club of the Victorian era, winning no fewer than five League titles, in 1897, the year Villa won The Double, they moved into their present home, the Aston Lower Grounds. Supporters coined the name Villa Park, no official declaration listed the ground as Villa Park. This was largely the result of a defensive record, they conceded 110 goals in 42 games,7 of them coming from Arsenals Ted Drake in an infamous 1–7 defeat at Villa Park. Like all English clubs, Villa lost seven seasons to the Second World War, the team was rebuilt under the guidance of former player Alex Massie for the remainder of the 1940s. The team struggled in the league though and were relegated two seasons later, due in part to complacency. However, under the stewardship of manager Joe Mercer Villa returned to the top-flight in 1960 as Second Division Champions, the following season Aston Villa became the first team to win the Football League Cup. Mercers forced retirement from the club in 1964 signalled a period of deep turmoil, the most successful club in England was struggling to keep pace with changes in the modern game, with Villa being relegated for the third time, under manager Dick Taylor in 1967
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Scotland national football team
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The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the two professional tournaments, the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland, as a constituent country of the United Kingdom, is not a member of the International Olympic Committee, the majority of Scotlands home matches are played at the national stadium, Hampden Park. Scotland is the joint oldest national team in the world, alongside England. Scotland has a rivalry with England, whom they played annually from 1872 until 1989. The teams have met six times since then, most recently in November 2016. Scotland have qualified for the FIFA World Cup on eight occasions and the UEFA European Championship twice, the team have achieved some noteworthy results, such as beating the 1966 FIFA World Cup winners England 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in 1967. Archie Gemmill scored what has been described as one of the greatest World Cup goals ever in a 3–2 win during the 1978 World Cup against the Netherlands, in their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 2008, Scotland defeated 2006 World Cup runners-up France 1–0 in both fixtures. Scotland supporters are known as the Tartan Army. The Scottish Football Association operates a roll of honour for every player who has more than 50 appearances for Scotland. Kenny Dalglish holds the record for Scotland appearances, having played 102 times between 1971 and 1986, Dalglish scored 30 goals for Scotland and shares the record for most goals scored with Denis Law. Scotland and England are the oldest national teams in the world. Teams representing the two sides first competed at the Oval in five matches between 1870 and 1872, the two countries contested the first official international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland, on 30 November 1872. The match ended in a goalless draw, all eleven players who represented Scotland that day played for Glasgow amateur club Queens Park. Over the next forty years, Scotland played matches exclusively against the other three Home Nations—England, Wales and Ireland, the British Home Championship began in 1883, making these games competitive. The encounters against England were particularly fierce and a rivalry quickly developed, Scotland lost just two of their first 43 international matches. It was not until a 2–0 home defeat by Ireland in 1903 that Scotland lost a match to an other than England. This run of success meant that Scotland would have topped the Elo ratings
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Wales national football team
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The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales, the body for football in Wales. During their history, Wales have qualified for two international tournaments. They reached the quarter-finals of the 1958 FIFA World Cup and they reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 after beating Belgium in the quarter-final match on 1 July 2016. This was, therefore, the first time that Wales had reached the semi-final of a major tournament, Wales also progressed through UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying to the quarter-final, which was played on a home and away leg basis but they did not feature in the finals tournament. At all levels including the teams the Welsh national team draws players primarily from clubs in the English football league system. The main professional Welsh clubs play in the English leagues, with some full-time and part-time professional clubs playing in the Welsh football league system. Wales played its first competitive match on 25 March 1876 against Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland took the spoils winning 2–0. Wales first match against England came in 1879 – a 2–1 defeat at the Kennington Oval, London and in 1882 Wales faced Ireland for the first time, the associations of the four Home Nations met in Manchester on 6 December 1882 to set down a set of worldwide rules. This meeting saw the establishment of the International Football Association Board to approve changes to the rules, the 1883–84 season saw the formation of the British Home Championship, a tournament which was played annually between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, until 1983–84. Wales were champions on 12 occasions, winning seven times whilst sharing the title five times. As a result, Wales did not enter the first three World Cups, in 1932 Wales played host to the Republic of Ireland, the first time they played against a side from outside the four home nations. A year later, Wales played a match outside the United Kingdom for the first time when they travelled to Paris to take on France in a match which was drawn 1–1. The top two teams were to qualify for the finals in Brazil, but Wales finished bottom of the group. The 1950s were an age for Welsh football with stars such as Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones, Alf Sherwood, Jack Kelsey, Trevor Ford, Ronnie Burgess, Terry Medwin. Wales made its only World Cup finals tournament appearance in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, however, their path to qualification was unusual. In the Asian/African qualifying zone Egypt and Sudan had refused to play against Israel following the Suez crisis, as a result, FIFA proclaimed Israel winners of their respective group. However, FIFA did not want a team to qualify for the World Cup finals without actually playing a match and so lots were drawn of all the second placed teams in UEFA
18.
English Football League
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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
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Southern Football League
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Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. The structure of the Southern League has changed several times since its formation in 1894, the Premier Division is at step 3 of the National League System, and is a feeder division, mainly to the National League South but also to the National League North. Feeding the Premier Division are two divisions, Division One South & West and Division One Central, which are at step 4 of the NLS. These divisions are in turn fed by various regional leagues, professional football developed more slowly in Southern England than in Northern England. Additionally, a league, the Southern Alliance was founded in 1892, with seven clubs from the region. Nonetheless, another attempt was made to form the Southern League, a competition for both professional and amateur clubs was founded in 1894 under the initiative of Millwall Athletic. Initially only one division was envisaged, but such was the enthusiasm, the sixteen founder members were, 2nd Scots Guards withdrew before the first season started and were replaced by Southampton St Marys. Woolwich Arsenal attempted to add their reserve side to the second division, the Southern League soon became the dominant competition below The Football League in Southern and Central England. By the turn of the century a few of the Southern League sides began to rival the Football League in the FA Cup, Two Southern League clubs, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur reached the final of the FA Cup around the turn of the century. Tottenham Hotspur are the club from below the 2nd level of English football to have won the FA Cup. The champions of the two leagues during this period met in the annual Charity Shield, in 1907, it accepted Bradford Park Avenue, a northern club, as a member, reflecting its senior position at the time. In 1920, virtually the top division of the Southern League was absorbed by the Football League to become that leagues new Third Division. A year later the Third Division was expanded and regionalised, the Third Division clubs from the previous season became the Third Division South, with the addition of the Third Division North. Of the original members, six – Gillingham, Luton Town, Millwall, Reading. For the next six decades, the Football League and Southern League would exchange a number of clubs as a result of the older leagues re-election process. From 1920 onward, the Southern Leagues status as a league was firmly established. In turn, the APL would eventually succeed in becoming a feeder to the Football League, the league lost more of its top clubs in 2004 when the Conference added two regional divisions below the existing National League, the Conference South and Conference North. The first sponsor of the Southern League was Beazer Homes who sponsored the league from 1987–96, the sponsors after Beazer Homes to the present day are, Dr Martens, British Gas, Zamaretto, Evo-Stik, Calor Gas, and Evo-Stik
20.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
21.
FA Cup
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The FA Cup, known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annual knockout association football competition in mens domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest association football competition in the world and it is organised by and named after The Football Association. For sponsorship reasons, from 2015 through to 2018 it is known as The Emirates FA Cup. A concurrent womens tournament is held, the FA Womens Cup. A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12, the tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. The last entrants are the Premier League and Championship clubs, into the draw for the Third Round Proper, in the modern era, only one non-league team has ever reached the quarter finals, and teams below Level 2 have never reached the final. As a result, as well as who wins, significant focus is given to those minnows who progress furthest, especially if they achieve an unlikely giant-killing victory. Winners receive the FA Cup trophy, of which there have two designs and five actual cups, the latest is a 2014 replica of the second design. Winners also qualify for European football and a place in the FA Community Shield match, in 1863, the newly founded Football Association published the Laws of the Game of Association Football, unifying the various different rules in use before then. On 20 July 1871, in the offices of The Sportsman newspaper, the inaugural FA Cup tournament kicked off in November 1871. After thirteen games in all, Wanderers were crowned the winners in the final, Wanderers retained the trophy the following year. The modern cup was beginning to be established by the 1888–89 season, following the 1914–15 edition, the competition was suspended due to the First World War, and did not resume until 1919–20. The 1922–23 competition saw the first final to be played in the newly opened Wembley Stadium, due to the outbreak of World War II, the competition was not played between the 1938–39 and 1945–46 editions. Having previously featured replays, the modern day practice of ensuring the semi-final and final matches finish on the day, was introduced from 2000 onwards. Redevelopment of Wembley saw the final played outside of England for the first time, the final returned to Wembley in 2007, followed by the semi-finals from 2008. The competition is open to any club down to Level 10 of the English football league system which meets the eligibility criteria, all clubs in the top four levels are automatically eligible. Clubs in the six levels are also eligible provided they have played in either the FA Cup. Newly formed clubs, such as F. C. United of Manchester in 2005–06 and also 2006–07, all clubs entering the competition must also have a suitable stadium
22.
Villa Park
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Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Aston Villa Football Club since 1897, the ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations and has hosted sixteen England internationals at senior level, the first in 1899 and the most recent in 2005. It was the first English ground to stage international football in three different centuries, Villa Park has hosted more FA Cup semi-finals than any other stadium, having hosted 55 matches in total. In 1897, Aston Villa moved into the Aston Lower Grounds, a ground in a Victorian amusement park in the former grounds of Aston Hall. The stadium has gone through stages of renovation and development, resulting in the current stand configuration of the Holte End, Trinity Road Stand, North Stand. The club has planning permission to redevelop the North Stand. Before 1914, a track ran around the perimeter of the pitch where regular cycling meetings were hosted as well as athletic events. Aside from football-related uses, the stadium has seen various concerts staged along with sporting events including boxing matches and international rugby league. In 1999, the last ever final of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup took place at Villa Park, Villa Park also hosted the 2012 FA Community Shield, as Wembley Stadium was unavailable due to it staging the final of the Olympic football tournament. The Aston Lower Grounds, later renamed Villa Park, was not the first home of Aston Villa F. C and their previous venue, Wellington Road faced increasing problems including an uneven pitch, poor spectator facilities, a lack of access and exorbitant rents. As a result, in 1894, Villas committee began negotiations with the owners of the Aston Lower Grounds, situated in the former grounds of Aston Hall, a Jacobean stately home, the Lower Grounds had seen varied uses over the years. The current pitch stands on the site of the Dovehouse Pool, the committee immediately engaged an architect who began preparing plans for the site, which included construction of a new 440 yards cement cycle track to replace the existing cinder one. The main stand was to be built to the east on the Witton Lane side, with the track, construction of the final phase of the stadium began in the winter of 1896 following negotiations with contractors over the price. Several months behind schedule, the stadium finally opened on 17 April 1897. The process of fixing issues with the work would continue for a number of months thereafter. As built, the stadium could house 40,000 spectators, the first match at the ground, a friendly against Blackburn Rovers, took place on 17 April 1897, one week after Aston Villa had completed the League and FA Cup Double. After winning the championship in 1899, Villas record-breaking average crowd of 21,000 allowed the club to invest in a two-stage ground improvement programme. In 1911, Villa bought the freehold of the ground for £8,250, the buildings in the old aquarium and car park area for £1,500
23.
Arsenal F.C.
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Arsenal Football Club is a professional football club based in Highbury, London, that plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 League titles,12 FA Cups, Arsenal was the first club from the South of England to join The Football League, in 1893. They entered the First Division in 1904, and have accumulated the second most points. Relegated only once, in 1913, they continue the longest streak in the top division, in the 1930s, Arsenal won five League Championships and two FA Cups, and another FA Cup and two Championships after the war. In 1970–71, they won their first League and FA Cup Double, between 1989 and 2005, they won five League titles and five FA Cups, including two more Doubles. They completed the 20th century with the highest average league position, Herbert Chapman won Arsenals first national trophies, but died prematurely. He helped introduce the WM formation, floodlights, and shirt numbers, Arsène Wenger has been the longest-serving manager and has won the most trophies. His teams set several English records, the longest win streak, the longest unbeaten run, in 1886, Woolwich munitions workers founded the club as Dial Square. In 1913, the crossed the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. They became Tottenham Hotspurs nearest club, commencing the North London derby, in 2006, they moved down the road to the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal earned €435. 5m in 2014–15, with the Emirates Stadium generating the highest revenue in world football, based on social media activity from 2014–15, Arsenals fanbase is the fifth largest in the world. In 2016, Forbes estimated the club was the second most valuable in England, on 1 December 1886, munitions workers in Woolwich, now South East London, formed Arsenal as Dial Square, with David Danskin as their first captain. Named after the heart of the Royal Arsenal complex, they took the name of the complex a month later. Royal Arsenal F. C. s first home was Plumstead Common, though spent most of their time in South East London playing on the other side of Plumstead. Royal Arsenal won Arsenals first trophies in 1890 and 1891, Royal Arsenal renamed themselves for a second time upon becoming a limited liability company in 1893. They registered their new name, Woolwich Arsenal, with The Football League when the club ascended later that year, Woolwich Arsenal was the first southern member of The Football League, starting out in the Second Division and winning promotion to the First Division in 1904. Falling attendances, due to financial difficulties among the munitions workers, businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall took the club over, and sought to move them elsewhere. In 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Woolwich Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury and this saw their third change of name, the following year, they reduced Woolwich Arsenal to simply The Arsenal
24.
Football League First Division
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The Football League First Division is a former division of the Football League. Between 1888 and 1992 it was the division in the English football league system. Following the creation of the FA Premier League it was a second-level division, in 2004 it was rebranded as the Football League Championship. The Football League was founded in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor and it originally consisted of a single division of 12 clubs, known as The Football League. When the League admitted additional members from the rival Football Alliance in 1892, for the next 100 years, the First Division was the top professional league in English football. Then, in 1992 the 22 clubs making up the First Division elected to resign from the Football League, the Football League was consequently re-organised, with the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions now renamed the First, Second and Third respectively. Thus, the First Division, while still the top level of the Football League, the First Division was renamed as the Football League Championship prior to the start of the 2004–05 season, as part of a league-wide rebrand. Liverpool were the most frequent winners of the First Division when it was the top flight of English football, winning it a total of 18 times. After the creation of the Premier League, the new Division One title was won more than once by one club, Sunderland. The First Division initially consisted of 12 founder clubs, since then it has undergone a series of expansions as football became more popular, as of the 1975–76 season players had to make 14 appearances for their club during the season in order to qualify for a winners medal. See List of English football champions, see List of winners of English Football League Championship and predecessors
25.
English football champions
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The English football champions are the winners of the highest league in English football, which since 1992-1993 is the Premier League. At the end of the 1888–89 season, Preston North End were the first club to be crowned champions after completing their fixtures unbeaten and its status as the countrys pre-eminent league was strengthened in 1892, when the rival Football Alliance was absorbed into the Football League. Former Alliance clubs comprised the bulk of a new Second Division and it was not until 1931 that a Southern club were crowned champions, when Herbert Chapmans Arsenal secured the title. Arsenal scored 127 goals in the process, a record for a title-winning side, rules stipulating a maximum wage for players were abolished in 1961. This resulted in a shift of power towards bigger clubs, financial considerations became an even bigger influence from 1992, when the teams then in the First Division defected to form the FA Premier League. The first five champions in the Premier League era - Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United - had all won the title at least once prior to 1992. Leicester City were crowned champions for the first time in 2016, becoming the first, all the clubs which have ever been crowned champions are still in existence today and all take part in the top four tiers of the English football league system - the football pyramid. Sheffield Wednesday are the club who have ever changed their name after winning a league title having been known as The Wednesday for the first three of their four titles. Manchester United have won 20 titles, the most of any club, uniteds rivals Liverpool are second with 18. Liverpool dominated during the 1970s and 1980s, while United dominated in the 1990s and 2000s under Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal are third, their 13 titles all came after 1930. Everton have enjoyed success throughout their history, and both Aston Villa and Sunderland secured the majority of their titles before World War I. Huddersfield Town in 1924–26, Arsenal in 1933–35, Liverpool in 1982–84 and Manchester United in 1999–2001, teams in bold are those who won the double of League Championship and FA Cup, or the European Double of League Championship and European Cup in that season. See The Double and The Treble
26.
Don Revie
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Donald George Revie OBE was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell during Leeds Uniteds finest period, the late 1960s, and early 1970s. A forward, he began his career with Leicester City in August 1944 and he won the FA Cup in 1956, having finished on the losing side in the 1955 final. He was bought by Sunderland for £22,000 in October 1956, in March 1961, Revie was appointed player-manager of Leeds United, then a Second Division club who had never previously won a major trophy. Additionally, Leeds were First Division runners-up five times, thrice FA Cup runners-up and runners-up in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and he later had spells in Middle Eastern club football with Al-Nasr and Al-Ahly. As Leeds manager he was criticised for the physical and often negative approach of his teams and his resignation as England manager fuelled criticism of him as money-obsessed, and unproven allegations of bribery and financial misconduct also tarnished his reputation. He retired in 1984, but was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in May 1987 and he remains a highly popular figure in Leeds, and has a stand named after him at Elland Road as well as a statue outside the ground. Revie was born in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, on 10 July 1927 and his father, also named Donald, was a joiner who found himself frequently out of work during the Great Depression. His mother, a washerwoman, died of cancer when he was 12 and he played youth football for Newport Boys Club and then Middlesbrough Swifts, who were coached by influential manager Bill Sanderson. He learnt the rudiments of the using a small bundle of rags in the tiny yard behind his home. Leicester originally thought him not good enough to turn professional, and he could only listen on the radio as Leicester lost 3–1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final. Revie decided to leave Leicester after Duncan left the club, having already been dissatisfied with the lack of progress in the league. In November 1949 he joined Second Division club Hull City for a fee of £19,000. Carter did improve Revies game but was not a success as Hull manager, as City finished mid-table in 1949–50 and 1950–51, as at Leicester, Revie felt the time had come for him to move on and handed in a transfer request once Carter departed. Revie was sold to First Division side Manchester City for £25,000 in October 1951, the Citizens struggled in the 1951–52 season, and then went on to finish just one place above the relegation zone in the 1952–53 campaign. Revie was often isolated from the rest of the due to his lack of pace. This evolved into the so-called Revie Plan, with Revie as the central figure and his role derived from the more traditional inside right position, and was based on the style of the successful Hungarian national team, and in particular Nándor Hidegkuti, who invented the role. Revie devoted 20 pages to analysing and explaining the plan in his autobiography Soccers Happy Wanderer written in 1955. Revie had improved his goal tally to 13 in the 1953–54 season, the new tactic opened with a 5–0 defeat to Preston North End, but then Ken Barnes replaced John McTavish at inside-forward and the team clicked
27.
Leeds United F.C.
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Leeds United Football Club is a professional association football club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1919 following the disbanding of Leeds City F. C. by the Football League and they play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won three First Division league titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup, the club has also won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups. The majority of the honours were won under the management of Don Revie in the 1960s and 1970s, Leeds lost the 1975 European Cup Final against Bayern Munich and reached the semi-finals of the tournaments successor, the Champions League, in 2001. Leeds play in all-white kits, leading to their nickname being the whites, the clubs badge features the White Rose of York together with the monogram LUFC. The clubs anthem is Marching On Together, Leeds Uniteds predecessor team, Leeds City, was formed in 1904, and were elected League members in 1905. At first they found it hard to draw big crowds to Elland Road, in 1919, Leeds United was formed and they received an invitation to enter the Midland League, being voted into it on 31 October, taking the place vacated by Leeds City Reserves. Following Leeds Citys disbanding, Yorkshire Amateurs bought their stadium Elland Road, Yorkshire Amateurs offered to make way for the new team under the management of former player Dick Ray. The chairman of Huddersfield Town, Hilton Crowther loaned Leeds United £35,000 and he brought in Barnsleys manager Arthur Fairclough and on 26 February 1920, Dick Ray stepped down to become Faircloughs assistant. On 31 May 1920, Leeds United were elected to the Football League, over the following few years, they consolidated their position in the Second Division and in 1924 won the title and with it promotion to the First Division. They failed to establish themselves and were relegated in 1926–27, after their relegation, Fairclough resigned, which paved the way for Ray to return as manager. In the years up until the start of World War II Leeds were twice relegated, on 5 March 1935, Ray resigned and was replaced by Billy Hampson, who remained in charge for 12 years. In the 1946–47 season after the war, Leeds were relegated again, after this season, Hampson resigned and was replaced in April 1947 by Willis Edwards. In 1948, Sam Bolton replaced Ernest Pullan as the chairman of Leeds United, Edwards was moved to assistant manager in April 1948 after just one year as manager. He was replaced by Major Frank Buckley, Leeds remained in the Second Division until 1955–56, when they once again won promotion to the First Division, inspired by John Charles. Charles was hungry for success at the highest level, and manager Raich Carter was unable to convince him that Leeds could satisfy his ambitions, Charles was sold to Juventus for a then world record of £65,000. The loss of Charles resulted in Leeds being relegated to the Second Division in the 1959–60 season, in March 1961, the club appointed former player Don Revie as manager, following the resignation of Jack Taylor. His stewardship began in adverse circumstances, the club was in financial difficulty, Revie implemented a youth policy and a change of kit colour to an all-white strip in the style of Real Madrid, and Leeds soon won promotion to the First Division in 1963–64
28.
Phil Parkes (footballer, born 1950)
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Philip Benjamin Neil Frederick Phil Parkes is a former football goalkeeper. He was a pupil at Dormston School from September 1961 to December 1965 and his QPR debut was on Saturday 22 August 1970 in a 3–1 defeat at home to Leicester City. Parkes was part of the QPR team that reached the last eight of the FA Cup in 1974 and were League runners-up to Liverpool in 1976, many observers consider that side, managed by Dave Sexton, the finest team never to have won the League. His club career at QPR spanned 344 league appearances and he gained his only England cap during this period, against Portugal in 1974. Parkes was sold to West Ham United in 1979 for £565,000 and it is reported that Sexton, who by then was manager of Manchester United, put in six bids for the player but saw them all turned down. It was only the half-million-pound bid from West Ham United that QPR chairman Jim Gregory could not resist, despite this longevity, however, he only ever gained one piece of silverware, when West Ham beat Arsenal 1–0 to win the 1980 FA Cup Final. Although Parkes collected just one trophy during his long playing career. In 1983–84, the Hammers were in the title race mid season and they re-emerged as title challengers in 1985–86 and were in the hunt for the title right up to the end of April, finally finishing third. He also helped them reach the League Cup semi-finals in 1988–89, Parkes had sat out much of the season despite new signing Allen McKnight making many mistakes before Parkes was finally reinstated as first choice. Parkes finished his West Ham career having played exactly the number of league games for them as he had for QPR –344. In 1990, he left the Hammers on a transfer after 11 years. He played three games in 1990–91 and moved into coaching. In 2003, an official West Ham United members poll for the greatest West Ham XI named him as the teams goalkeeper and he is considered by QPR supporters to be one of the three best goalkeepers in the clubs history, the others being Reg Allen and David Seaman. Parkes had great ability, and was unfortunate to only win one England cap. After the game Parkes went home and said to his wife he would never make himself available for England again, football League Second Division, 1980–81 FA Cup,1980 In 2014, Parkes received treatment for Dukes stage A bowel cancer
29.
Republic of Ireland national football team
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The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland and plays its home fixtures at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, the team made their debut at the 1924 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals. Between 1924 and 1936, the team competed as the Irish Free State and from then until 1950, Northern Ireland was allowed to use the title Ireland by FIFA in the Home International Competition until it was discontinued in 1984. The Republic of Ireland was the first nation from outside the United Kingdom to defeat England at home at a fixture played at Goodison Park, Liverpool, the team also reached the quarter-final stage of the 1964 European Nations Cup, where they lost to the eventual winners Spain. Charltons successor Mick McCarthy lost out on the two major tournaments but ultimately qualified for the 2002 World Cup, making it to the last 16. Under Giovanni Trapattoni, the narrowly lost out on qualification for the 2010 World Cup during a controversial play-off. The team failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Republic of Ireland also fell to a record low FIFA ranking of 59th, then a record low of 70th in June 2014. The Boys in Green reached the Round of 16 stage at that tournament and were knocked out by the hosts, between 1882 and 1924, Ireland was represented by a single national football team organised by the Belfast-based Irish Football Association. In 1923, the FAIFS was recognised by FIFA as the body of the Irish Free State and at the 1924 Summer Olympics. On 28 May, at the Stade Olympique, they beat Bulgaria 1–0, as a result, they qualified for the quarter-finals. On 14 June 1924, the Irish Free State made their debut against the United States. Ed Brookes scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win at Dalymount Park, the Irish Free State did not play their next game until 21 March 1926, an away game against Italy lost 3–0. In subsequent years, the status of the Olympic Games football competition was downgraded and as a result, on 25 February 1934, the Irish Free State made their FIFA World Cup debut, drawing 4–4 with Belgium at Dalymount Park in a 1934 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Paddy Moore scored all four of the Free States goals and became the first player ever to four goals in a World Cup game. After 1936, they reverted to the designation Football Association of Ireland, during this entire period, there were two Irish international football teams, chosen by two rival Associations. FIFA eventually intervened when both teams entered 1950 World Cup qualification, the first time they had entered the same competition, four players – Tom Aherne, Reg Ryan, Davy Walsh, Con Martin – actually played for the two different teams in the same FIFA World Cup tournament. All four players concerned had been born in the Irish Free State and this may have alarmed the FAI, since they subsequently lobbied FIFA to prevent the IFA from picking Southern-born players. e. Initially the FIFA World Cup and subsequently the European Nations Cup, FIFA decreed that the FAI team officially be called the Republic of Ireland while the IFA team was to be named Northern Ireland
30.
Michael Ricketts
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Michael Barrington Ricketts is a former English football player. He played as a striker and was capped once by England, Ricketts began his career at Walsall, for whom he signed in 1996. He made 76 league appearances for them, scoring 14 times, in July 2000, then First Division side Bolton Wanderers signed him for £400,000. He started his Bolton career in style, scoring 24 times as Bolton won promotion to the Premier League through the playoffs. Ricketts continued scoring in his first season in the Premier League, hitting 15 goals by February, Ricketts played 45 minutes in that game but failed to score, and subsequently did not score for Bolton again all season. In January 2003, Middlesbrough spent £3.5 million to him from Bolton. He failed to recapture his form, netting just four times in 38 matches. While at Middlesbrough he did, however, win the League Cup in the 2003–04 season, in June 2004, he signed for Championship side Leeds United on a free transfer. Ricketts failed to impress, failing to score in 25 league appearances and he was then loaned out to Stoke City in February, but also failed to impress there, and returned to Leeds. He made five appearances, scoring once against Oldham Athletic. He was then loaned out to Cardiff, where he scored four goals in 11 appearances, on 30 January 2006 he signed for Championship side Burnley in a loan deal that would keep him at Turf Moor until the end of the season. Despite scoring twice in his first three matches against Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town, he failed to impress and returned to Leeds after the season had finished. On 30 June 2006, Ricketts signed a deal with Championship side Southend United with an option to extend for another year. A clause in the contract he signed stated that he was prohibited from playing against Leeds United, after leaving Southend, Ricketts joined Preston North End, playing a handful of games for their first team. In March 2007 he scored the winner against Ipswich Town and he scored two league goals during his time at Oldham, in victories over Swansea City and his former club Walsall. On 2 November 2007, he returned to his first club Walsall on a loan deal from Oldham. He made his debut for Walsall in a league match against Cheltenham Town on 3 November. On 31 January 2008, transfer deadline day, Ricketts had his contract cancelled by Oldham Athletic, on 24 July 2008, Ricketts once again rejoined Walsall and scored nine goals in his third spell there
31.
Bolton Wanderers
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Bolton Wanderers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in League One, the tier of the English football league system. The club was formed as Christ Church Football Club in 1874, founder members of the Football League in 1888, Bolton have spent the highest number of seasons of any club in the top flight without winning the title. The closest they have come to the title is third in the First Division on three occasions, as of 2015, the club has spent more seasons in the top division than any other club outside the current Premier League. Bolton were a successful cup side in the 1920s, winning the FA Cup three times, the club won the cup a fourth time in 1958. A leaner spell followed, reaching a nadir in 1987 when the club spent a season in the Fourth Division, the club regained top-flight status in 1995 after a 15-year absence. In a period of success, the club qualified for the UEFA Cup twice, reaching the last 32 in 2005–06. The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895, on 9 March 1946, The Burnden Park disaster occurred, which was a human crush in which 33 Bolton fans lost their lives. In 1997 it moved out of town to the Reebok Stadium, the stadium was renamed the Macron Stadium in July 2014, to reflect the clubs new deal with Italian sportswear company Macron. The club was founded by the Reverend Joseph Farrall Wright, Perpetual curate of Christ Church Bolton and Thomas Ogden, the schoolmaster at the adjacent church school in 1874 as Christ Church F. C. It was initially run from the church of the name on Deane Road. The club left the following a dispute with the vicar. The name was chosen as the club initially had a lot of difficulty finding a permanent ground to play on, Bolton were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888. At the time Lancashire was one of the strongest footballing regions in the country, having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton have spent more time in the top flight than out of it. In 1894 Bolton reached the final of the FA Cup for the first time, a decade later they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on 23 April 1904. In this period Bolton equalled their record finish of third twice, in 1920–21 and 1924–25, on 28 April 1923, Bolton won their first major trophy in their third final, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first ever Wembley FA Cup final. The match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters, boltons centre-forward, David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley Stadium. Driven by long-term players Joe Smith in attack, Ted Vizard and Billy Butler on the wings, in 1928 the club faced financial difficulties and so was forced to sell David Jack to Arsenal to raise funds
32.
Matty Fryatt
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Matthew Charles Matty Fryatt is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Nottingham Forest. Fryatt holds the record for fastest goal scored by a Leicester City player when he scored after 9 seconds in a 2–1 defeat to Preston North End on 15 April 2006. Fryatt broke two records during his time at Leicester in the 2008–09 season. His first was becoming the first player in 42 years to score 20 goals before Christmas, born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Fryatt rose through the ranks at youth level at Walsall. He made his first team debut as a substitute in a 3–1 League Cup second round defeat to Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on 24 September 2003, replacing Steve Corica after 67 minutes. His first appearance in The Football League came on 14 October, on 18 December 2003, Fryatt moved to Third Division Carlisle United on loan for a month to gain vital first team experience. Twelve days later, Fryatts loan was extended by another month, on 20 March, he scored his first goal for the Saddlers, in the first two minutes of a 2–1 win at Preston North End, but the season ended with relegation to League One. Fryatt began the 2004–05 season with a 12th-minute penalty to open a 3–2 win over West Midlands neighbours Port Vale on 7 August, a week later he netted two – including another penalty – in a 5–3 loss at Oldham Athletic. He scored 15 goals in 36 appearances across the season, including a hat-trick in a 4–3 win over Huddersfield Town on 29 January 2005, on 12 March, he scored within seven seconds of the start of a home match against AFC Bournemouth, who won 2–1 nonetheless. He also collected the goal of the season and the player of the awards at Walsall at the end of the season. Nottingham Forest made a £850,000 offer for him on 17 August 2005, on 24 August, Merson believed Birmingham City and Sunderland would bid for Fryatt. Despite signing a 12-month extension to his contract on 27 September. On 13 December 2005, Fryatt said he expected to be sold by the end of the 2005–06 season, a concrete offer was made by Danish club Odense Boldklub, which was managed by Bruce Rioch, but Fryatt had no intention of moving to Denmark. He scored 18 goals in his season at Walsall. Fryatt signed a year deal with Leicester City for an undisclosed fee on 9 January 2006. He was handed the number 12 shirt, which he wore at Walsall. He made his debut in a 2–1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on 14 January, on 6 February 2006, Fryatt admitted he was a bit shocked when manager Craig Levein was sacked within 16 days of his arrival, after a run of poor results. Nonetheless, he believed he made the right move from Walsall
33.
Ishmel Demontagnac
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Ishmel Abendigo Demontagnac is an English footballer who plays as a winger for Thurrock. He has played in all four divisions of football in England, in the Football League. He has also represented England at Under-18 and Under-19 levels, born in London, Demontagnac started his playing career with Charlton Athletic, before moving to join the Walsall youth system. Demontagnac created an instant impression on the Walsall coaching staff with his fast pace and footballing talents, the 17-year-old Demontagnac marked his October 2005 first team debut with an assist and a goal in a 3–2 defeat away to Port Vale. He went on to make 27 appearances that season, scoring twice, and picked up the clubs Young Player of the Year award, Walsall manager Paul Merson was replaced by Richard Money in 2006–07. Money selected Demontagnac for the starting line-up just once in the season, Demontagnac signed a two-year contract extension at the beginning of the 2007–08 season, but again spent most of the season as a substitute. His goal against Brighton and Hove Albion in November 2007 was voted the clubs Goal of the Season, following a defeat against Crewe Alexandra, new manager Jimmy Mullen recalled him to the first team and handed him a start for The Saddlers against Southend United. Playing up front alongside Jabo Ibehre, Demontagnac scored his first career hat-trick, in the first round FA Cup tie against Scunthorpe United, he was sent off for an off-the-ball incident only eight minutes after coming on as a substitute. The following day he was arrested on suspicion of a breach of the peace, a club statement said that the players dismissal was the result of a series of serious breaches of club discipline. Mullen expressed regret over the situation, saying that Demontagnac had the talent to be a Premier League player, following Demontagnacs dismissal by Walsall, Crystal Palace took him on trial. The trial was unsuccessful, but Palace manager Neil Warnock allowed Demontagnac to train, in January 2009 he went full circle, playing for Charlton Athletics reserve team on a trial basis. His trial at Charlton was unsuccessful, and later joined Leeds United, in July 2009 he had a trial with Championship side Blackpool. On 6 August, the Blackpool Gazette reported that Blackpool manager Ian Holloway was likely to offer Demontagnac a month-to-month contract with the Seasiders, the following day he signed a one-year contract with the option for a further 12 months. On 8 August, he was a substitute as the Seasiders started the 2009–10 season with a 1–1 draw with Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road. He made his debut for the Seasiders as a 60th-minute substitute in a 2–1 win over Crewe Alexandra in the first round of the 2009–10 League Cup on 11 August 2009, Demontagnac created Blackpools winning goal when his pass was fired home by Daniel Nardiello. Four days later he made his debut, and his 100th career appearance. Demontagnac scored on his debut on 26 August, in the Seasiders 4–1 victory over Premier League side Wigan Athletic in the second round of the 2009–10 League Cup. However, he suffered a hamstring early in the second half
34.
EFL Cup
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The EFL Cup, or simply the League Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in mens domestic English football. First held in 1960–61 as the Football League Cup, it is one of the three top domestic competitions in England, alongside the Premier League and FA Cup. It concludes in February, long before the two, which end in May. It was introduced by the league as a response to the popularity of European football. It also took advantage of the roll-out of floodlights, allowing the fixtures to be played as midweek evening games, with the renaming of the Football League as the English Football League in 2016, the tournament was rebranded as the EFL Cup from the 2016–17 season onwards. The tournament is played over seven rounds, with single leg ties throughout, the final is held at Wembley Stadium, it is the only tie in the competition played at a neutral venue and on a weekend. Entrants are seeded in the rounds, and a system of byes based on league level ensures higher ranked teams enter in later rounds. Winners receive the EFL Cup, of which there have been three designs, the current one also being the original, the current holders are Manchester United, who beat Southampton 3–2 in the 2017 final to win their fifth League Cup. Some clubs have fielded a weaker side in the competition. Many of the top English sides, Arsenal and Manchester United in particular, have used the competition to give young players valuable big-game experience. However, in 2010, in response to Arsène Wengers claim that a League Cup win would not end his trophy drought, Alex Ferguson described the trophy as a pot worth winning. The original idea for a League Cup came from Stanley Rous who saw the competition as a consolation for clubs who had already knocked out of the FA Cup. However it was not Rous who came to implement it, the re-organisation of the league was not immediately forthcoming, however, the cup competition was introduced regardless. The trophy was paid for personally by Football League President Joe Richards, Richards was proud of the competition, Richards described the competitions formation as an interim step on the way to the leagues re-organisation. I hope the Press will not immediately assume that the League is going to fall out with the F. A. or anybody else, the time has come for our voice to be heard in every problem which affects the professional game. The League Cup competition was established at a time when match day attendances were dwindling, the league had lost 1 million spectators compared to the previous season. It was established at a time when tensions between the Football League and the Football Association were high, the biggest disagreement was how revenue was shared between the clubs. During the late 1950s, the majority of senior English clubs equipped their grounds with floodlights and this opened up the opportunity to exploit weekday evenings throughout the winter
35.
Liverpool F.C.
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Liverpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, the club has won 5 European Cups,3 UEFA Cups,3 UEFA Super Cups,18 League titles,7 FA Cups, a record 8 League Cups, and 15 FA Community Shields. The club was founded in 1892 and joined the Football League the following year, the club has played at Anfield since its formation. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably the North West Derby against Manchester United, the clubs supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The second was the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 Liverpool supporters died in a crush against perimeter fencing, the team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home strip in 1964 which has been used ever since. The clubs anthem is Youll Never Walk Alone, Liverpool F. C. was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houlding, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892, the team won the Lancashire League in its début season, and joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 1893–94 season. After finishing in first place the club was promoted to the First Division, Liverpool reached its first FA Cup Final in 1914, losing 1–0 to Burnley. Liverpool suffered its second Cup Final defeat in 1950, playing against Arsenal, the club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953–54 season. Soon after Liverpool lost 2–1 to non-league Worcester City in the 1958–59 FA Cup, the club was promoted back into the First Division in 1962 and won it in 1964, for the first time in 17 years. In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup, in 1966, the club won the First Division but lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners Cup final. Liverpool won both the League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, and the FA Cup again a year later, Shankly retired soon afterwards and was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley. In 1976, Paisleys second season as manager, the club won another League, the following season, the club retained the League title and won the European Cup for the first time, but it lost in the 1977 FA Cup Final. Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 and regained the First Division title in 1979, Paisley retired in 1983 and was replaced by his assistant, Joe Fagan. Liverpool won the League, League Cup and European Cup in Fagans first season, Liverpool reached the European Cup final again in 1985, against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium. Before kick-off, Liverpool fans breached a fence separated the two groups of supporters, and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a wall to collapse, killing 39 fans. The incident became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster, the match was played in spite of protests by both managers, and Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus
Joe Edwards
Will Grigg
Clayton Ince
Anthony Gerrard
Paul Ritchie
Jorge Leitão
Gino Padula
Jeff Peron
Tom Bradshaw
Júnior
Kyle Lightbourne
Dr Ricky Shamji
Jan Sørensen