1.
West Ham United F.C.
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West Ham United Football Club is a professional football club based in Stratford, East London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, in 2016 the club re-located to the London Stadium. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United and they moved to the Boleyn Ground in 1904, which remained their home ground for more than a century. The team initially competed in the Southern League and Western League before joining the Football League in 1919 and they were promoted to the top flight in 1923, when they also losing finalists in the first FA Cup Final held at Wembley. In 1940, the won the inaugural Football League War Cup. West Ham have been winners of the FA Cup three times, in 1964,1975, and 1980, and have also been runners-up twice, in 1923, and 2006. The club have reached two major European finals, winning the European Cup Winners Cup in 1965 and finishing runners up in the competition in 1976. West Ham also won the Intertoto Cup in 1999 and they are one of eight clubs never to have fallen below the second tier of English football, spending 59 of 91 league seasons in the top flight, up to and including the 2016–17 season. The clubs highest league position to date came in 1985–86 when they achieved third place in the then First Division, three West Ham players were members of the 1966 World Cup final-winning England team, captain Bobby Moore and goalscorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. The club, Thames Ironworks were the first ever winners of the West Ham Charity Cup in 1895 contested by clubs in the West Ham locality and they turned professional in 1898 upon entering the Southern League Second Division, and were promoted to the First Division at the first attempt. The following year they came second from bottom, but had established themselves as a fully fledged competitive team and they comfortably fended off the challenge of local rivals Fulham in a relegation play-off, 5–1 in late April 1900 and retained their First Division status. In 1899, they acquired their now-traditional home kit combination of claret shirts and sky blue sleeves in a wager involving Aston Villa players, because of the original works team roots and links, they are still known as the Irons or the Hammers amongst fans and the media. West Ham Utd joined the Western League for the 1901 season while continuing to play in the Southern Division 1. In 1907, West Ham were crowned the Western League Division 1B Champions, the reborn club continued to play their games at the Memorial Grounds in Plaistow but moved to a pitch in the Upton Park area in the guise of the Boleyn Ground stadium in 1904. The Cup Final match itself ended 2–0 to Bolton, the team enjoyed mixed success in Division 1 but retained their status for ten years and reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1933. In 1932, the club was relegated to Division Two and long term custodian Syd King was sacked after serving the club in the role of manager for 32 years, following relegation, King had mental health problems. He appeared drunk at a meeting and soon after committed suicide. The club spent most of the next 30 years in division, first under Paynter
2.
North Shore, New Zealand
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North Shore is the part of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the north of the Waitemata Harbour. The city had an population of 229,000 at 30 June 2010. The former city was also the fourth largest city in land, with an area of 129.81 square kilometres. It was also the most densely populated city in the country because, unlike other New Zealand cities, the North Shore has been administered by various councils over the years, in the most recent past the North Shore City Council. On 1 November 2010, North Shore City Council and the six local councils. The administrative area of North Shore City Council was bounded by Rodney District to the north, Waitemata Harbour to the south, the seat of the council was in Takapuna. The city was divided into three wards, Harbour, Northern and Central, and each ward is divided into two community boards. Inner suburbs include Milford, Takapuna, Belmont, Devonport, Bayswater, Northcote, Birkenhead, Highbury, Hillcrest, Glenfield, Wairau Valley, Westlake and Forrest Hill. Those here with an asterisk, along several other beaches on the Hauraki Gulf coast, are collectively known as East Coast Bays. By the 1950s, only about 50,000 people lived on the Shore, eventually the growth became significant enough for the North Shore to be considered a city in its own right, though densities remained still below what is typical south of the Harbour. All council services and facilities are now under authority of the Auckland Council, commuting within the North Shore itself can be done relatively easily, but those who commute to Auckland City and need to cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge face severe traffic congestion. The alternative route through western suburbs is also prone to traffic at peak times. Several options for new bridges and tunnels have been studied in depth, but at the moment, public transport has been upgraded in an attempt to reduce the citys car dependence. In 2003, there were indications that the stages of the busway project were generally regarded as a success. The North Shore City Council increased the number of facilities with more park and ride stations in Sunnynook, Smales Farm and these were completed in February 2008. In January 2009, the Northern Busway began trial runs featuring New Zealands first bus-dedicated roadway, a number of North Shore suburbs have a regular ferry service to Auckland City, including Devonport, Stanley Bay, Bayswater, Birkenhead. Others are planned for Takapuna and Browns Bay, the city was run by a 15-member council and mayor, democratically elected every three years using the First Past The Post voting system. The final mayor prior to 2010 amalgamation was Andrew Williams, the mayor was a strong critic of the Super City proposals which would see North Shore City amalgamated into a larger Auckland authority, Auckland Council
3.
Auckland
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Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the most populous area in the country. Auckland has a population of 1,495,000, which constitutes 32 percent of New Zealands population, a diverse and multicultural city, Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. It has also been called Ākarana, the Māori pronunciation of Auckland, the Auckland urban area ranges to Waiwera in the north, Kumeu in the northwest, and Runciman in the south. It is not contiguous, the section from Waiwera to Whangaparāoa Peninsula is separate from its nearest neighbouring suburb of Long Bay, the surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with dozens of dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two major bodies of water. The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich, Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson and he named the area Auckland for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. It was replaced as the capital in 1865, but immigration to the new city stayed strong, today, Aucklands Central Business District is the major financial centre of New Zealand. Auckland is classified as a Beta World City because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, education and tourism. Aucklands landmarks such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Harbour Bridge, the Sky Tower, the isthmus was settled by Māori around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā were created, mainly on the volcanic peaks, Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 people before the arrival of Europeans. As a result, the region had relatively low numbers of Māori when European settlement of New Zealand began, there is, however, nothing to suggest that this was the result of a deliberate European policy. Auckland was officially declared New Zealands capital in 1841 and the transfer of the administration from Russell in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson was seen as a choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the city of the Auckland Province until the provincial system was abolished in 1876. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers, the men being fully armed in case of emergency but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads
4.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
5.
Defender (association football)
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In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals. There are four types of defenders, centre-back, sweeper, full-back, the centre-back and full-back positions are essential in most modern formations. The sweeper and wing-back roles are more specialised for certain formations, a centre-back defends in the area directly in front of the goal, and tries to prevent opposing players, particularly centre-forwards, from scoring. Centre-backs accomplish this by blocking shots, tackling, intercepting passes, contesting headers, with the ball, centre-backs are generally expected to make long and pinpoint passes to their teammates, or to kick unaimed long balls down the field. For example, a clearance is a long unaimed kick intended to move the ball as far as possible from the defenders goal, during normal play, centre-backs are unlikely to score goals. In this case, other defenders or midfielders will temporarily move into the centre-back positions, in the modern game, most teams employ two or three centre-backs in front of the goalkeeper. The 4–2–3–1, 4–3–3, and 4–4–2 formations all use two centre-backs, the sweeper is a more versatile centre-back who sweeps up the ball if an opponent manages to breach the defensive line. This position is more fluid than that of other defenders who man-mark their designated opponents. Because of this, it is referred to as libero. For example, the system of play, used in Italian football in the 1960s. The more modern libero possesses the qualities of the typical libero while being able to expose the opposition during counterattacks. The Fundell-libero has become popular in recent time with the sweeper transitioning to the most advanced forward in an attack. This variation on the position requires great pace and fitness, while rarely seen in professional football, the position has been extensively used in lower leagues. Modern libero sit behind centre-backs as a sweeper before charging through the team to join in the attack, some sweepers move forward and distribute the ball up-field, while others intercept passes and get the ball off the opposition without needing to hurl themselves into tackles. If the sweeper does move up the field to distribute the ball, they will need to make a speedy recovery, in modern football, its usage has been fairly restricted, with few clubs in the biggest leagues using the position. Though it is used in modern football, it remains a highly respected. A recent and successful use of the sweeper was made by Otto Rehhagel, Greeces manager, Rehhagel utilized Traianos Dellas as Greeces sweeper to great success, as Greece surprisingly became European champions. The full-backs take up the wide positions and traditionally stayed in defence at all times
6.
FC Midtjylland
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FC Midtjylland is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the midwestern part of Jutland. The team was a result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad, Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which it won for the first time in 2015. FC Midtjylland was founded by Johnny Rune, a carpenter and owner of a business in the wood-supply industry, and Steen Hessel. The two men wanted to unite the football clubs Ikast FS and Herning Fremad – clubs that for decades had been strong rivals, Ikast FS had some success in the late 1970s and 80s, but that was about it. At least ten years had passed with the two clubs being unable to agree on a merger, but on 6 April 1999, a deal was finalized and announced at a conference the next day. In 2000, Midtjylland were promoted to the top-flight Danish Superliga after a season in which the team had gathered more points than any team in the history of the first division. In July 2014, Matthew Benham became the majority shareholder of Midtjyllands parent company FCM Holding, in the 2014–15 season, they won the championship in the Danish Superliga. Midtjylland have generally built a reputation of finding and developing promising talents, in July 2004, Midtjylland was the first Danish club to have its own football academy, similar to that of French side Nantes. The academy attracts players from throughout Denmark, as well as players from a club in Nigeria – F. C. Ebedei. The club has developed a network of over 100 clubs located in the part of Jutland. In 2008, Danish centre-back Simon Kjær, a talent of the academy, was sold to Palermo for a fee of approximately DKK30 million. In 2010, Sune Kiilerich, another talent of the academy, was sold to Sampdoria, while Winston Reid, in 2016, vice-captain Erik Sviatchenko was sold for £1.5 million to Celtic. In 2004, the moved to a new stadium in Herning with a capacity of approximately 12,000 spectators. Midtjylland was the first Danish club to sell the naming rights to a sponsor. The stadiums opening match was on 27 March, it proved to be a success, five of the goals were scored by Egyptian striker former AB player Mohamed Zidan. Black Wolves is the official fanclub of FC Midtjylland and it was founded in the beginning in August 1999, as the official fanclub of Ikast FS1993 Yellow Flames changed their name at an extraordinary general meeting. Ultra Boys Midtjylland is the first ultra firm in Midtjylland, established in 2007, in 2014, Midtjyland got its second ultra firm, a youth department called Midtjylland Ungdom. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules
7.
Denmark national under-19 football team
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The Denmark national under-19 football team was founded in 1950 as an under-18 team. In 2001, it was changed to an under-19 team, the following players were called up for the friendly matches against Switzerland on 4th and 6th October 2016. The Danish under-19 squad has never taken part in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, *Draws also include penalty shootouts, regardless of the outcome. *Draws also include penalty shootouts, regardless of the outcome, 1970–1973, Bent Dahl 1973–1975, Poul Erik Bech 1975–1976, Kai Arne Nielsen 1976–1980, Kaj Christensen 1980–1981, Hans Brun Larsen 1982–1986, Per Simonsen 1986–1991, Per Andersen 1992, Jan B
8.
Denmark national under-21 football team
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The Denmark national under-21 football team has played since 1976 and is controlled by the Danish Football Association. Before 1976, the age limit was 23 years, *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. **Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won, ***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil. Until and including the 1988 Summer Olympics, Olympic games counted as regular national team matches. Since the 1992 Summer Olympics, Olympic games have counted as under-21 national games,1992 – Group stage 2016 – 8th Last updated,29 March 2016. Source, Ground, A = Away, H = Home, result, D = Draw, L = Loss, W = Win, P = Postponed. Source, Ground, A = Away, H = Home, result, D = Draw, L = Loss, W = Win, P = Postponed. The following players were called up for the matches against Spain and England on 23 and 27 March 2017. Caps, note, Club represents the permanent clubs during the players time in the under-21 national team. Players in bold have played at least one game for the senior Danish national team, note, Club represents the permanent clubs represented in the games in which the players scored for the under-21 national team. Players in bold have played at least one game for the senior Danish national team, 1976–1980, Tommy Troelsen 1980–1989, Richard Møller Nielsen 1989–1992, Viggo Jensen 1992–1999, Jan B
9.
New Zealand national football team
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The New Zealand national football team represents New Zealand in international association football. The team is controlled by the body for football in New Zealand New Zealand Football. The teams official nickname is the All Whites, being one of national team nicknames related to the All Blacks. New Zealand is a five-time OFC champion, the team represented New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup tournaments in 1982 and 2010, and the FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments in 1999,2003 and 2009. New Zealands first international match was played in Dunedin at the old Caledonian Ground on 23 July 1904 against a team representing New South Wales. New Zealand lost by the only goal, but drew with the same team 3–3 in a game at Athletic Park. Of these three matches they won one, lost one, and drew one, the results were two 3–1 wins to New Zealand and a 1–1 draw in Wellington. Since the 1990s, United States college soccer has played a significant role in the development of New Zealand players. This influence began when former Scotland international Bobby Clark returned to the U. S. after his 1994–96 stint as New Zealand head coach to take the coaching job at Stanford University. Clark began recruiting in New Zealand, and former New Zealand national players Ryan Nelsen, the trend that Clark started has continued to the present, more than two dozen New Zealanders are now playing for NCAA Division I mens programs in the U. S. S. However, Lathams speculation did not prove true, as only one MLS player made the New Zealand squad for the World Cup, New Zealand formerly competed against Australia for top honours in the OFC. However, after Australia left to join the AFC in 2006, New Zealand qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup though exited the competition after the first round despite being the only team not to lose a game during the tournament. The tournament also featured one of New Zealands most notable results, New Zealand drew their other two pool games with Slovakia and Paraguay and inevitably finished above Italy, who placed last, in the group. New Zealand drew all three games and finished third in their group, in August 2014, Anthony Hudson was appointed manager of the All Whites. Hudsons first game in charge of the team was a 3–1 defeat away to Uzbekistan in September 2014. The All Whites record since that time is 8 wins,5 draws and 4 losses and this includes defeating Oman, who were ranked 67 places higher at 92nd place in the FIFA World Rankings, in a 1–0 victory. The supporters of the New Zealand national team are known as the White Noise, New Zealands long time rivals are Trans-Tasman neighbors Australia. The two teams dates back to 1922, where they first met in both their international debuts
10.
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
11.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
12.
Captain (association football)
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The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband. The only official responsibility of a captain specified by the Laws of the Game is to participate in the toss prior to kick-off. Contrary to what is said, captains have no special authority under the Laws to challenge a decision by the referee. However, referees may talk to the captain of a side about the general behaviour when necessary. At an award-giving ceremony after a fixture like a cup competition final, any trophy won by a team will be received by the captain who will also be the first one to hoist it. The captain also generally leads the teams out of the room at the start of the match. The captain generally provides a point for the team, if morale is low. Captains may join the manager in deciding the first team for a certain game, in youth or recreational football, the captain often takes on duties, that would, at a higher level, be delegated to the manager. A club captain is usually appointed for a season, if he is unavailable or not selected for a particular game, then the club vice-captain will be appointed to perform a similar role. The match captain is the first player to lift a trophy should the team win one, a good example of this was in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final when match captain Peter Schmeichel lifted the trophy for Manchester United as club captain Roy Keane was suspended. In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, match captain Frank Lampard jointly lifted the trophy for Chelsea with club captain John Terry, a club may appoint two distinct roles, a club captain to represent the players in a public relations role, and correspondent on the pitch. After Neville retired in 2011, regular starter Nemanja Vidić was named as club captain, são Paulos Rogério Ceni is the player who has worn the captains armband the most times. A vice-captain is a player that is expected to captain the side when the captain is not included in the starting eleven, or if, during a game. Examples include Manuel Neuer succeeding Philipp Lahm at Bayern Munich, Marcelo attaining from Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid C. F, gary Cahill being the understudy of John Terry at Chelsea FC and Lionel Messi taking over from Andrés Iniesta at FC Barcelona. Similarly, some clubs also name a 3rd captain to take the role of captain when both the captain and vice-captain are unavailable, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Germany had three captains. Michael Ballack had skippered the team since 2004, including the successful qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Lahm ended up becoming the permanent captain of Germany, as Ballack was never called up for the national team
13.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
14.
Danish Superliga
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The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is contested by 14 teams each year. Founded in 1991, the Danish Superliga replaced the Danish 1st Division as the highest league of football in Denmark, from the start in 1991,10 teams were participating. The opening Superliga season was played during the spring of 1991, from the summer of 1991, the tournament structure would stretch over two years. The 10 teams would play each other twice in the first half of the tournament and this practice was abandoned before the 1995–96 season, when the number of teams competing were increased to 12, playing each other thrice for 33 games per Superliga season. For the first season of this new structure, Coca-Cola became the sponsor of the league. After a single season under that name, Faxe Brewery became sponsors, before the 2001–02 season, Scandinavian Airlines System became the head sponsor, and the name of the tournament changed to SAS Ligaen. From January 2015 the Danish Superliga is known as Alka Superliga, logos used for naming rights agreements for the league, From 1996 through 2016, the league included 12 clubs which played each other three times. The two teams with the fewest points at the end of the season were relegated to the Danish 1st Division, during this era, each team played every other team at least once at home and once away plus once more either at home or away. The top six teams of the season played 17 matches at home and 16 away while the teams in 7th to 10th place plus the two newly promoted teams played 16 matches at home and 17 away. Following the 2015–16 season, the league was expanded to 14 teams, accomplished by relegating only the last-place finisher in that season, the 2016–17 season is the first for a new league structure. It begins with the playing a full home-and-away schedule, resulting in 26 matches for each team. At that time, the splits into a six-team championship playoff. All teams table points and goals carry over fully into the playoffs, in the championship playoff, each team plays the others home and away again. The top team at the end of the playoff is Superliga champion, the second-place team enters the UEFA Europa League in the first qualifying round. The third-place team advances to a playoff match for another Europa League place. The qualifying playoff is split into two groups, with the teams finished the regular season in 7th, 10th, 11th, and 14th in one group and those finishing 8th, 9th, 12th. Each group plays home-and-away within its group, the top two teams from each group then enter a knockout tournament, with each match over two legs
15.
Royal League
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Denmark, however, are in mid-season when the tournament starts. The four best-placed teams in the leagues of Denmark, Norway. There was discussion of expanding the league, and include the winners of Veikkausliiga and Landsbankadeild, which are the Finnish, the 2007-2008 edition was cancelled for financial reasons, but the board planned to resurrect the tournament for the 2008-2009 season. On 11 October 2008 it was announced that the 2008-09 season would not be held either, there were however plans for a tournament in 2010, but under a new name, Royal Cup. For the Royal League 2004-05 tournament, the participating teams were initially placed into three groups. The two best-placed teams from each country were placed in the group, while the two other teams were placed in the two other groups. In each group, each team played against the three teams, home and away. The two best-placed teams of each group were placed into two new groups. The three teams of new group played each other, home and away. The 2005 Royal League Final was contested on 26 May 2005, by Swedish team IFK Gothenburg, FC Copenhagen won the title following a penalty shootout. In the second season of the tournament, the participating teams were also divided into three preliminary groups. The two best-placed teams of each group, and the two best third-placed teams went on to play quarterfinals, the rest of the tournament was played in a knockout-system. The quarter-finals and semi-finals were played both at home and away, while there was only a final game to decide the winner. The 2006 Royal League Final was contested on 6 April 2006, by FC Copenhagen, FC Copenhagen won their second title, when Razak Pimpong scored to 1-0 in the last minutes of the game. For the Royal League 2006-07 tournament, the structure of group stage. As opposed to the edition of the tournament, the knock-out stages were played as single games. The 2007 Royal League Final was contested on 15 March 2007, by Danish team Brøndby IF, Brøndby won 1-0, on a penalty kick converted by Martin Ericsson. The league has received quite a lot of criticism since the first season, the teams rarely bother to play with their best side, and this leads to a lack of interest
16.
David Nielsen
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David Jean Nielsen is a former Danish professional footballer who is the current manager of Lyngby Boldklub. He played for a number of Danish clubs, as well as Fortuna Düsseldorf in Germany and English clubs Grimsby Town, Wimbledon and his greatest triumph was the 1997 Danish Cup victory, which he won with Danish club F. C. Copenhagen. He played 46 matches and scored 33 goals for various Danish youth national teams between 1992 and 1997, including eight games and three goals for the Denmark national under-21 football team, born in Skagen, Nielsen started playing youth football in Skagen IK and Frederikshavn fI. He scored 17 goals in 24 matches for the Danish under-16, here he became known for his elaborate goal celebration, a round off stretch jump with a backtuck. He was loaned out to Lyngby FC in January 1996, where he got his breakthrough with 10 goals in 13 league games. When his Odense contract ran out in the Summer 1996, he moved abroad to play for Fortuna Düsseldorf in the Bundesliga championship. He did not find playing success with the club, and after half a year in Germany and he played three and a half years at F. C. Copenhagen, with whom he won the 1997 Danish Cup. He was club top goalscorer in 1998,1999 and 2000 and he was loaned out to English club Grimsby Town in the second tier of English football, the English First Division in October 2000, as Grimsby had a hard time scoring goals. When his loan ended in March 2001, Nielsen moved on to English club Wimbledon F. C. on a free transfer. He joined Norwich City F. C. Whilst playing for Norwich City he was a member of the team reached the final of the First Division play-offs in May 2002. However, he was unable to maintain his initial impressive scoring rate and he signed with Superliga club Aalborg BK, where he rediscovered his goalscoring ability. Following a training ground bust-up with teammate Allan Gaarde in February 2005, within days, he was hired by league rivals FC Midtjylland, to replace Egyptian striker Mohamed Zidan. He was let go by FCM in May 2006, and he moved abroad to play for Norwegian club IK Start and he became an immediate hit scoring seven goals in 21 matches, but left the club during the reign of manager Stig Inge Bjørnebye. On 20 July 2007, he signed a contract with the Danish Superliga side OB. On 26 March he went on a deal with the Norwegian club Strømsgodset Toppfotball. Nielsen was sold to the Norwegian club Brann as a part of a deal were Njougu Demba Nyren went in the direction in January 2009. During his stay in Brann, Nielsen has spent most of his time as a substitute, by April 2004, David Nielsen and fellow AaB teammate Jimmy Nielsen had raked up a debt of €201,000 with bookmakers in Aalborg. AaB director Lynge Jacobsen decided to help out financially and arranged for gambling addiction counselling, in his 2008 autobiography, Nielsen admitted playing to deliberately lose a Superliga match between AaB and his former club F. C. Copenhagen in May 2004
17.
AaB Fodbold
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AaB Fodbold, also referred to as Aalborg BK or AaB, is a professional football team of Danish sports conglomerate Aalborg Boldspilklub, located in Aalborg. They play in the Danish Superliga and have won four Danish Superliga championships, the last trophy they won was the double in 2014, the Danish cup and championship. AaB became the first Danish team ever to participate in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 1995, AaB also qualified for the 2008–09 Champions League and qualified for the UEFA Cup in the same season by finishing in 3rd place in their Champions League group. Aalborg BK was a part of the top-flight Danish leagues from the 1928–29 season, until the relegation of the club in 1947. The club came back to the best league in 1963, and except from the years of 1972,1978 and 1981–1986, Aalborg BK has since been a part of the various editions of the Danish football championship. Despite its many years in the Danish championship, the club never won a championship title, paid football was introduced in Denmark by the Danish Football Association in 1978. As Aalborg BK returned to the best Danish league, the founded the professional branch of AaB A/S in 1987 to run a professional football team. Through the 1990s, the club won its first two Danish championships, in the Danish Superliga 1994-95 season,24 goals from league topscorer Erik Bo Andersen secured the championship title for the team of coach Poul Erik Andreasen. Aalborg BK thus became the first Danish team to compete in the UEFA Champions League, as they managed a 2–1 home win over Panathinaikos and a 2–2 draw with Porto in the six matches the club played in the initial group stage, Aalborg BK was eliminated. Erik Bo Andersen left the club for Scottish club Rangers, but in Søren Frederiksen, though not the league top scorer, Frederiksen scored 17 goals in the Danish Superliga 1998-99 which the club won under guidance of Swedish coach Hans Backe. Since then, the club established itself in the top half of the Superliga and won a bronze medal and qualified for the 2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Aalborg beat Honka on the away goals rule in the second round, drawing the Italian team Sampdoria in the First Round, which have Antonio Cassano and Vincenzo Montella as notable players, made the task seem impossible. Aalborg made it again on the away goals rule, and qualified for the group stage – being the first Danish team ever, in the group stage Aalborg BK was seeded in the lowest pot, and drew Anderlecht, Tottenham Hotspur, Getafe, and Hapoel Tel Aviv. Drawing with Anderlecht at home, and losing 2–3 to Tottenham forced Aalborg to win at home against Getafe, in the 2007–08 season, Aalborg won their third Danish Championship and qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds. In the second qualifying round, Aalborg easily eliminated FK Modriča 7–1 on aggregate, in the group stage, they were drawn in Group E along with defending champions Manchester United, Villarreal and Celtic. Aalborg finished third in the group, ahead of Celtic, with 6 points and their first match in their UEFA Cup run was against Spanish side Deportivo de La Coruña. Aalborg BK won the first leg at home 3–0 and the leg at the Estadio Riazor 1–3. Aalborg BK thereby earned a place among the last 16 teams, after a 2–0 loss in Manchester in the first leg Aalborg BK fought back to tie the score with a 2–0 win at home
18.
AC Horsens
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AC Horsens is a professional Danish football team, playing in the Danish Superliga. They play on Casa Arena Horsens in Horsens, the club was founded in 1994, as a superstructure on Horsens fS and the merger of Dagnæs IF and B1940, FC Horsens. As AC Horsens only won two of 14 matches, and finished last in the Qualifying League, they missed their opportunity of instant promotion for the Superliga. In the first half of the 1994–95 1st Division season, AC Horsens finished at the bottom of the table after winning only a single game, and did not proceed to the Qualification League. In the second half of the season, AC Horsens managed three victories, but finished dead last and were relegated to the 2nd Division, AC Horsens spent two seasons in the 2nd Division before winning promotion back to the 1st Division. From the 1997–98 1st Division season forward, AC Horsens established itself as a consistent part of the 1st Division, in July 2001, Horsens hired former Danish international Kent Nielsen as their new manager. The 2002–03 1st Division season did not go well for Den Gule Fare, after the winterbreak halfway through the season, the club was close to relegation to the 2nd Division, but a good ending of the season secured an 11th place, seven points from the relegation zone. In the next season, ACH started out on amazing form, in the 2004–05 1st Division season, Horsens finally succeeded in winning promotion. Though amassing only one point more than in the 2003–04 season, AC Horsens finished in the runner-up spot, in their first year in the Superliga, AC Horsens became famous for their strong defence, as they finished in 10th place and avoided relegation. They drew 13 of 33 matches,8 of them ending 0–0 and they conceded just 41 goals in 33 matches, a statistic only bettered by the defences of the top-three finishing teams that season. The Superliga season of 2006–07 saw AC Horsens take a lead over relegation rivals Vejle Boldklub. In the spring of 2007, a slew of performances were followed by a series of disappointing defeats and draws. Instead, Brazilian Gilberto Macena from the Danish 2nd Division East team Holbæk B&I became the top scorer for AC Horsens, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality
19.
UEFA
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The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world footballs governing body FIFA, UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern, in 1995, UEFA headquarters were transferred to Nyon, Switzerland. Henri Delaunay was the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the first president, UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. The European football union began with 25 members, that number doubled by the early 1990s, UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there are some exceptions. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a recognized sovereign state in the context of international law. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states, countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their associations main territory to take part in their domestic competition, saarland Football Union 1954–1956 German football association of the German Democratic Republic 1954–1990 Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954–1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union. The newly independent 14 Soviet Republics created their own football associations, Football Association of Yugoslavia 1954–1992, became Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia became independent, Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006, became Football Association of Serbia. Montenegro, which became independent, created its own football association, the main competition for mens national teams is the UEFA European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. It is also called UEFA or the EURO, UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For womens national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Womens Championship for senior sides as well as Womens Under-19. UEFA also organized the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football, UEFA launched the UEFA Regions Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship, the Italian, German, Spanish and French mens national teams are the sole teams to have won the European football championship in all categories. A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League and this competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999, in womens football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Womens Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Womens Cup until 2009, the UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League, and came into being in 1973
20.
Alessandro Diamanti
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Alessandro Diamanti is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Palermo. At club level, he has played for Prato, Empoli, Fucecchio, Florentia, AlbinoLeffe, Livorno, West Ham United, Brescia, Bologna, Fiorentina, Watford. At international level, he represented Italy at Euro 2012, winning a runners-up medal, Diamanti spent his early career with Prato, Empoli, Florentia and AlbinoLeffe. Having scored 15 goals in 31 outings during season 2006–07 he signed for Serie A side Livorno, Diamanti made 14 starts and 12 substitute appearances in his first season with the Tuscany side. He stayed with Livorno when they were relegated to Serie B due to finishing last in 2007–2008, on 23 August 2009, Diamanti played in Livornos opening day fixture in Serie A, a 0–0 home draw against Cagliari. In the process, Diamanti became the 800th player in West Ham Uniteds history. He scored his first West Ham goal from the penalty spot, albeit controversially as he fell over on run up, Diamanti scored eight goals, though only three came from open play with most coming from penalty kicks. On 4 May 2010 he was voted runner-up as Hammer of the Year by the supporters, for the 2009–10 season. On 24 August 2010, Serie A club Brescia bought Diamanti for €2.2 million from West Ham with an additional €300,000 to be paid if Brescia secured their Serie A status from the coming campaign. Brescia also announced in its report that Diamanti had cost €3.85 million. In his debut season at Brescia, Diamanti scored 6 Serie A goals and his sixth goal came in a 2–1 loss against Catania which confirmed Brescias relegation to the Serie B, just one season after promotion to the Italian topflight. On 1 August 2011, Diamanti was signed by Serie A side Bologna in a deal with Brescia. Diamantis first goal for the club came in a 3–1 home defeat to Internazionale, in Claudio Ranieris first game in charge of the Milan-based club, on 24 September. Diamanti scored the goal of a 3–1 away victory over Lazio on 11 March 2012 with a thirty-yard strike over out of position goalkeeper Federico Marchetti. On 12 April, Diamanti scored an incredible free-kick against Cagliari to move his side up to 40 points, on 16 September 2012, Diamanti scored in between strikes from Alberto Gilardino to help Bologna to a 3–2 comeback victory over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. Diamanti put the finishing touches on a comfortable 3–0 defeat of Palermo on 18 November, on 2 December, Diamanti netted from a free-kick as Bologna earned a hard fought 2–1 victory over Atalanta, courtesy of a second-half goal from teammate Manolo Gabbiadini. On 7 February 2014, Bologna and Guangzhou Evergrande officially announced an agreement over transferring Diamanti to Guangzhou Evergrande with a fee of €6.9 million. He made his appearance for Guangzhou in a 4–2 win over Melbourne Victory on 26 February 2014 in the first group match of the 2014 Asian Champions League
21.
Brescia Calcio
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Brescia Calcio is an Italian football club in Brescia, Lombardy, and currently plays in Serie B. The club holds the record for number of seasons and consecutive seasons in Serie B. Their best finish in Serie A came in the 2000–01 season when they placed seventh, when, led by the 1993 Ballon dOr winner Roberto Baggio, the club also qualified for the Intertoto Cup twice. In the latter competition, Brescia reached the final in the first partecipation but were defeated on the away goals rule by Paris Saint-Germain after two draws, the teams colours are blue and white. Its stadium is the 16,743 seater Stadio Mario Rigamonti, the team was founded in 1911 as Brescia Football Club, joining the Terza Categoria division the same year. In 1913, Brescia was promoted to First Division for its first time ever, successively, the club played among the two top divisions until 1982, when Brescia was relegated to Serie C1. The club then returned to Serie B in 1985, Brescia played outside the two national tournaments of Lega Calcio only four years, under this aspect, only 11 clubs in all Italy marked a better performance. Brescia won the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1994, the biggest notable achievement in their history to date. Baggio spent four years at Brescia before retiring in 2004 and during those four years. During Baggios four-year spell with Brescia, the club recorded its best-ever run of staying in Serie A, in the very next season that followed Baggios retirement, however, Brescia were relegated from Serie A on the last day, finishing a lowly 19th. Brescia struggled for returning to top flight after the relegation and finally returned to Serie A after beating Torino with a 2–1 aggregate in the 2009–10 season, in the 2010–11 season, however, they were relegated back to Serie B. In the 2014–15 season, they were relegated to Lega Pro after finishing second from last, however, after Parmas declaration of bankruptcy and demotion to Serie D, Brescia was among one of the teams selected to replace them in Serie B. Two-time treble-winning manager Pep Guardiola, the Romanian Gheorghe Hagi, striker Luca Toni, the first Brescia kit in 1911 was blue with a thick white vertical stripe down the middle, a design which has returned for the centenary season in 2011. The first appearance of a white V was in 1927, added so that the team could use Stadium and this style remained until 1940 when the V was removed and a plain blue shirt was used. Some substanstial changes after World War II saw the shirt become plain white with blue shorts and this was short-lived and, in 1954, the plain blue shirt returned. The white V also returned eventually in 1961 as a show of goodwill by the new chairman at the time, the V disappeared again in 1969, replaced by a diagonal white sash, and returned, but much smaller, in 1974 for two years. The V was situated over the heart with the inclusion of the lioness, the shirt remained plain blue until 1991, when the V returned and has been used ever since. The first badge appeared on Brescia kits in the 1980s, a blue crest with a golden outline featuring a lion, the city of Brescia is known as Leonessa dItalia after ten days of popular uprising that took place in the city in the spring of 1849 against Austrian rule
22.
Premier League
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The Premier League is an English professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League, Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, others during weekday evenings. It is colloquially known as the Premiership and outside the UK it is referred to as the English Premier League. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB, the league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion, the Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000, most stadium occupancies are near capacity. The Premier League ranks third in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. While 47 clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, only six have won the title, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, the current champions are Leicester City, who won the title in 2015–16. Despite significant European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 80s marked a low point for English football, the 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league, ten clubs threatened to leave and form a super league, but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadiums improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the influx of money into the sport. At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the games top-flight clubs, the argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe. The managing director of London Weekend Television, Greg Dyke, met with the representatives of the big five clubs in England in 1990. The meeting was to pave the way for an away from The Football League. The FA did not enjoy a relationship with the Football League at the time
23.
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
24.
Burnley F.C.
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Burnley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed The Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, Burnley have been Football League Champions twice, in 1920–21 and 1959–60, have won the FA Cup once, in 1914, and have won the Community Shield twice, in 1960 and 1973. The Clarets also reached the 1961 quarter-finals of the European Cup and they are one of only three teams to have won all top four professional divisions of English football, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Preston North End. The club colours of claret and blue were adopted in 1910 in tribute to the dominant club of English football at the time and their home ground since 1883 has been Turf Moor and their current manager is Sean Dyche. During May 1882, Burnley Rovers Football Club decided to shift their allegiance from rugby union to football, in 1883 the club moved to Turf Moor and remain there, only their Lancashire rivals Preston North End having occupied the same ground continuously for longer. Burnley first appeared in the FA Cup in 1885–86 but were ignominiously beaten 11–0 when eligibility restrictions meant that their side had to be fielded against Darwen. On 13 October 1886, Turf Moor became the first ground to be visited by a member of a Royal Family, when it was decided to found the Football League for the 1888–89 season, Burnley were among the 12 founders of that competition. William Tait of Burnley scored the first ever hat-trick in League football and that season did, however, present Burnley with their first honours, winning the Lancashire Cup with a 2–0 final victory over Blackburn Rovers. Before Burnley won a trophy again, they were relegated to the Second Division in 1896–97 and they responded to this by winning promotion the next season, losing only 2 of their 30 matches along the way before gaining promotion through a play-off series then known as Test Matches. Burnley and Stoke City both entered the last match, to be played between the two teams, needing a draw for promotion. A 0–0 draw ensued, reportedly The Match without a shot at goal, Burnley needed a win against Forest in the last match of the season to escape relegation. This is the earliest recorded case of match fixing in football, Burnley changed their colours from green to the claret and sky blue of Aston Villa, the most successful club in England at the time, for the 1910–11 season. The 1912–13 season saw them win promotion to the First Division once more, as well as reaching the FA Cup semi-final, only to lose to Sunderland. The next season was one of consolidation in the top flight, but more importantly their first major honour and this cup final was historic in that King George V became the first reigning monarch to present the cup to the winning captain. The winning Burnley team also got special medals with English Cup Winners written on it instead of the usual FA Cup Winners inscription. World War I impacted the 1914–15 season, in which Burnley finished 4th in the First Division, before English football reorganised itself, Burnley struggled in English footballs second tier, narrowly avoiding a further relegation in 1931–32 by only two points. The years through to the outbreak of the Second World War were characterised by uninspiring league finishes, broken only by an FA Cup semi-final appearance in 1934–35 and the arrival of Tommy Lawton. Burnley participated in the football leagues that continued throughout the war
25.
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
26.
EFL Championship
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The English Football League Championship is the highest division of the English Football League and second-highest overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League. Each year, the top finishing teams in the Championship are promoted to the Premier League, the Football League Championship, which was introduced for the 2004–05 season, was previously known as the Football League First Division, and before that was known as Division Two. The winners of the Championship receive the Football League Championship trophy, the Championship is the wealthiest non-top flight football division in the world and the seventh richest division in Europe. With an average attendance for the 2015-16 season of 17,578. Bundesliga as the secondary league in the world. In the 2015–16 season, Burnley were the champions, Middlesbrough were the runners up. At present, Ipswich Town hold the longest tenure in the Championship, the total figures were aided somewhat by the presence of 24 clubs, compared to 20 clubs in both Serie A and Ligue 1, and 18 in the Bundesliga. A major factor to the success comes from television revenue. On 30 September 2009, Coca-Cola announced they would end their deal with The Football League at the end of the 2009–10 season. On 18 July 2013, UK bookmaker Sky Bet announced that signed a 5-year agreement to sponsor the league. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, the teams are ranked in the league table by points gained, then goal difference, then goals scored and then their head-to-head record for that season. At the end of the season, the top two teams and the winner of the Championship play-offs are promoted to the Premier League and the three teams are relegated to Football League One. The Football League Championship play-offs is a competition for the teams finishing the season in third to sixth place with the winner being promoted to the Premier League. In the play-offs, the team plays against the sixth-placed team. The winners of each semi-final then compete in a match with the prize being promotion to the Premier League. From 2009 to 2012, Sky Sports had the rights to broadcast 65 live matches, the BBC had the rights to show 10 first choice live games for the regular season as well as the rights to show a highlight show. The deal is on a contract and is worth £264m that will mostly be paid by Sky. The deal included 75 live league games, all the matches,15 League Cup ties
27.
Nottingham Forest F.C.
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Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottinghamshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of English football. The club, often referred to as Forest, have played matches at the City Ground since 1898. Founded in 1865, Forest were founder members of the Football Alliance in 1889, since then, they have mostly competed in the top two League tiers, bar five seasons in the third tier. Forest won the FA Cup in 1898 and 1959, Forest were founded in 1865 as Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy Club by a group of shinty players shortly after their neighbours Notts County, in 1862. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889, and won the competition in 1892, in their early years Forest were a multi-sports club, as well as their roots in bandy and shinty, the baseball club Forest deployed were British champions in 1899. Forests charitable approach to the sport helped teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, in 1886, Forest donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves – the North London team still wear red. Forest also donated shirts to Everton and helped secure a site to play on for Brighton, Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County 3–1 at Crystal Palace. However, for much of the first half of the 20th century the club spent life in the Second Division and had to seek re-election in 1914 after finishing bottom. In 1949 the club were relegated to the Third Division, but were promoted back two years later as champions having scored a record 110 goals in the 1950–51 season. They therefore became the first team to defeat the Wembley hoodoo, by this time Forest had replaced Notts County as the biggest club in Nottingham and went on to become runners-up in the First Division and FA Cup semi-finalists in 1967. However, after a successful period for the club, Forest were relegated from the First Division in 1972. Clough became the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest, cloughs first game in charge was the third round FA Cup replay against Tottenham Hotspur, a 1–0 victory thanks to a goal by Scottish centre-forward Neil Martin. Nottingham Forest became one of the few teams to win the First Division Championship a year after winning promotion from the Second Division and they also won the European Super Cup and two League Cups. The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 but were knocked out by Anderlecht in controversial but uncertain circumstances. The case was dismissed and Anderlecht was acquitted from all charges Nottingham Forests next major trophies came in 1989 when they won the Football League Cup. Cloughs side retained the League Cup in 1990 when they beat Oldham Athletic 1–0, in Forests team that day was young Irish midfielder Roy Keane, who had joined the club the previous summer. In the summer of 1991, Brian Clough broke Forests transfer record fee by signing the top scorer, Millwall striker Teddy Sheringham
28.
Millwall F.C.
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Millwall Football Club is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. The team play in League One, the tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the Millwall area of the Isle of Dogs in 1910. From then until 1993 the club played at what is now called The Old Den in New Cross, before moving to its current home stadium nearby, the traditional club crest is a lion rampant, referred to in the teams nickname The Lions. Millwalls traditional kit consists of blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks, Millwall have a long-standing rivalry with West Ham United. The local derby between the two sides has been contested almost a hundred times since 1899, in the media, Millwalls supporters have often been associated with hooliganism, with numerous films having been made fictionalising their notoriety. The fans are renowned for their chant No one likes us, in 2004, the team reached the FA Cup final and qualified for the UEFA Cup, playing in Europe for the first time in their history. The club also reached FA Cup semi-finals in 1900,1903,1937 and 2013, Millwall have spent the majority of their existence in the second or third tier of the Football League. The team spent two seasons in the top flight between 1988–90, in which the club achieved its highest ever finish of tenth place in the First Division. Based on all results during the clubs 89 seasons in the Football League from 1920–21 to 2015–16, Millwall Rovers were formed by the workers of J. T. Mortons canning and preserve factory in the Millwall area of the Isle of Dogs in Londons East End in 1885. The club secretary was 17-year-old Jasper Sexton, the son of the landlord of The Islander pub in Tooke Street where Millwall held their club meetings. Millwall Rovers first fixture was held on a piece of ground on Glengall Road, on 3 October 1885 against Fillebrook. The newly formed team were beaten 5–0, Rovers found a better playing surface for the 1886–87 season, at the rear of the Lord Nelson pub and it became known as the Lord Nelson Ground. In November 1886, the East End Football Association was formed, Millwall made it to the final against London Caledonians, which was played at Leyton Cricket Ground. The match finished 2–2 and the teams shared the cup for six months each, Millwall won the East London Senior Cup at the first attempt. The club also won it the two years, and the trophy became their property. They were founding members of the Southern Football League which they won for the first two years of its existence, and were runners-up in its third. They were forced to move to a new ground North Greenwich in 1901, Millwall Athletic reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1900 and 1903, and were also champions of the Western Football League in 1908 and 1909
29.
2012 Football League Championship play-off Final
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Under Championship play-off rules, the final is contested by the two teams which secured an aggregate victory over two-legged semi-finals. The two-legged semi-finals will determine the competitors in the final, west Ham United won 5–0 on aggregate
30.
Blackpool F.C.
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Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. For the 2016–17 season, they are competing in League Two, founded in 1887, Blackpools home ground has been Bloomfield Road since 1901. Their main nickname is the Seasiders, but they are called the Pool and the Tangerines, the latter in reference to the colour of their home kit. Blackpools least successful period was in the 1980s, particularly when, in the 1982–83 season, they finished 21st in English League footballs lowest tier, the clubs motto is Progress, as featured on the club crest. Blackpool have a rivalry with Preston North End, and matches between the two clubs are known as the West Lancashire derby. They have not met in a match since February 2010. Football had developed in Blackpool by 1877 when Victoria F. C. were founded as a club with a ground in Caunce Street. This team disbanded a few years later but some of its members are understood to have merged with old boys from St Johns School to form a new club called Blackpool St Johns. The new club managed to win two pieces of silverware in its first season in existence, 1887–88, the Fylde Cup, at the conclusion of the following 1888–89 season, Blackpool became founder members of the Lancashire League. In their first season in the competition, the club finished out of the 13 member clubs. They finished as runners-up over the three seasons, before winning the championship themselves on their fourth attempt. Blackpools home at that point in time was Raikes Hall, which was part of an entertainment complex that included a theatre. This meant that the average attendances were around the 2000 mark. Their application was successful, and for the debut season, 1896–97. Blackpools first-ever Football League game took place on 5 September 1896, at Lincoln City, for the 1897–98 campaign, the club played their home games at the Athletic Grounds. They remained there for the first seven games of 1898–99. After finishing third-bottom, the club were not re-elected at the end of the 1898–99 season and they finished third, and after the Football Leagues annual meeting, on 25 May 1900, were permitted back into Division Two. It was during this season out of the League that Blackpool amalgamated with local rivals South Shore, during the 10 seasons that followed, Blackpool could finish no higher than 12th place
31.
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
32.
New Zealand at the 2012 Summer Olympics
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New Zealand competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nations twenty-fourth appearance at the Olympics, the New Zealand Olympic Committee sent 184 athletes,97 men, and 87 women to the Games to compete in 16 sports, the nations largest ever delegation. New Zealand left London with a total of thirteen medals, finishing fifteenth in the medal standings. Five of these medals were awarded to the team in rowing, New Zealand also ranked highly in medal tables adjusted for country populations, placing fourth for total medals per capita, gold medals per capita and weighted medals per capita. During the Games, New Zealand achieved its one hundredth overall Olympic medal, the gold medal was won by kayaker Lisa Carrington in the womens K-1200 metres. Originally, New Zealand won five medals, three in rowing, one in sailing, and the last canoeing. On 13 August 2012, however, the International Olympic Committee stripped Belarusian shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk of her medal after testing positive for anabolic steroid metenolone. On 19 September 2012, silver medallist Valerie Adams was subsequently awarded and received her medal at a public ceremony in Auckland. The New Zealand Olympic Committee selected a team of 184 athletes,97 men and 87 women and it was the nations largest delegation sent to the Olympics, surpassing the 182 athletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Field hockey and football were the only team-based sports in which New Zealand had representatives at the Games, for the first time in Olympic history, New Zealand did not qualify teams in basketball since its official debut in 2000. There was only a single competitor in judo, shooting, tennis, the New Zealand team featured past Olympic medallists, including the defending champion Valerie Adams in the womens shot put event. Equestrian eventing rider Mark Todd, at age 56, the oldest member of the team, todds compatriot Andrew Nicholson was at his seventh appearance, having participated in the Olympics since 1984. Meanwhile, football player Cameron Howieson, at age 17, was the youngest member of the team, middle-distance runner Nick Willis, who won New Zealands first Olympic track medal in Beijing since 1976, was the nations flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Originally, New Zealand officiated a total of 185 athletes to compete at the Olympics, on 20 July, middle-distance runner Adrian Blincoe, however, withdrew from the games because of an ankle injury. As per regulations, each team was made up of 16 players, roster The following is the New Zealand roster in the mens field hockey tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics. ‹See Tfd› Coach, Neil Emblen * Over-aged player, group play Team roster The following is the New Zealand squad in the womens football tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Men Men Women New Zealand has a total of 6 quota places –3 each for both the mens and womens triathlon, dave Currie – Chef De Mission Gary Hurring – Swim team coach New Zealand at the Olympics New Zealand Olympic medallists New Zealand at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
33.
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
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Tottenham Hotspur Football Club /ˈtɒtnəm, -tənəm/, commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English football club located in Tottenham, Haringey, London, that competes in the Premier League. The clubs home stadium is White Hart Lane and their newly developed training ground is in Bulls Cross on the northern borders of the London Borough of Enfield. Founded in 1882, Tottenham won the FA Cup for the first time in 1901, Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. After successfully defending the FA Cup in 1962, in 1963 they became the first British club to win a UEFA club competition – the European Cup Winners Cup, in 1967, Spurs won the FA Cup for a third time in the 1960s. In the 1970s Tottenham won the League Cup on two occasions and were the winner of the UEFA Cup in 1972, becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies. In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies, the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield, in the 1990s the club won the FA Cup and the League Cup. When they won the League Cup once more in 2008, it meant that they had won a trophy in each of the last six decades – an achievement only matched by Manchester United. The clubs Latin motto is Audere est Facere, and its emblem is a cockerel standing upon a football, the club has a long-standing rivalry with nearby neighbours Arsenal, with head-to-head fixtures known as the North London derby. The club was formed in 1882, as Hotspur F. C. and played in the Southern League from 1896 until 1908, when they were elected into the Football League Second Division. Before this promotion Tottenham had won the FA Cup in 1901, since then, Tottenham have won the FA Cup a further seven times, the Football League twice, the Football League Cup four times, the UEFA Cup twice and also the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. The Cup Winners Cup victory in 1963 made Tottenham the first English team to win a UEFA competition, in 1960–61 they became the first team to complete The Double in the 20th century. Tottenham played their first matches at Tottenham Marshes on the public pitches. It was at this ground that Spurs first played archrivals Arsenal, there were occasions on which fights would break out on the marshes in dispute of the teams that were allowed to use the best pitches. Crowd sizes were regularly increasing and a new site was becoming needed to accommodate these supporters, in 1898 the club moved from the marshes to Northumberland Park and charged an admission fee of 3d. They only remained at this ground for a year as in April 1899,14,000 fans turned up to watch Spurs play Woolwich Arsenal. The ground was no able to cope with the larger crowds and Spurs were forced to move to a new larger site 100 yards down the road. The White Hart Lane ground was originally a disused nursery owned by the brewery Charringtons, the landlord spotted the increased income he could enjoy if Tottenham played their matches behind his pub and in 1899 the club moved in. They brought with them the stand they used at Northumberland Park which gave shelter to 2,500 fans, notts County were the first visitors to the Lane in a friendly watched by 5,000 people and provided in £115 in receipts, Spurs won 4–1
34.
Swansea City A.F.C.
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Swansea City Association Football Club is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales, that plays in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Swansea City represent England when playing in European competitions, although they have represented Wales in the past, the club was founded in 1912 as Swansea Town and joined the Football League in 1921. The club changed their name in 1969, when adopted the name Swansea City to reflect Swanseas new status as a city. Swansea have played their matches at the Liberty Stadium since 2005. In 1981, the club was promoted to the original Football League First Division and it was during the following season they came close to winning the league title, but a decline then set near the seasons end before finishing sixth, although a club record. The clubs subsequent climb from the division of English football to the top division is chronicled in the 2014 film. In 2011, Swansea were promoted to the Premier League, following the lead of many other South Wales sides, joined the second division of the Southern League for the following season. J. W. Thorpe was the clubs first chairman, a site owned by Swansea Gaslight Co. called Vetch Field due to the vegetables that grew there, was rented to be the clubs ground. The clubs first professional match was a 1–1 draw at the Vetch Field against Cardiff City on 7 September 1912. During that first season the Welsh Cup was won for the first time, before the game Bradshaw had scored with thirty-six consecutive spot kicks. Remarkably, the Swans played most of the half with ten men. The Swans drew at another First Division side, Newcastle United, in the next round, following the First World War the Southern League dropped its second division, and with many clubs dropping out due to financial difficulties, the Swans were placed in the first division. After just four seasons in the Southern League, Swansea Town became founder members of the new Third Division of The Football League in 1920, the side had remained unbeaten at home in the league all season – something the next promotion team would emulate over twenty years later. Sadly for the Swans, an experienced Bolton side won the game 3–0, Swans record their highest average attendance during the season of 16,118 for pre-war league games. During the 1926–27 season they beat Real Madrid 3–0 on tour, during the 1931–32 season they finished 1st and went out in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. However they won the Welsh Cup after beating Wrexham 2–0 away after a replay and it was not until the 1933–34 season that Wilfred Milne scored his first goal for Swansea at Lincoln City after 501 appearances without a goal. After just one back from wartime football, the Swans finished 21st in the Second Division. The following season was one of consolidation, however in 1948–1949 the Swans stormed their way to winning the division for the second time
35.
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
36.
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
37.
Manchester City F.C.
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Manchester City Football Club is a football club in Manchester, England. Founded in 1880 as St. Marks, they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887, the club moved to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003, having played at Maine Road since 1923. After losing the 1981 FA Cup Final, the club went through a period of decline, having regained their Premier League status in the early 2000s, the club was purchased in 2008 by Abu Dhabi United Group and has become one of the wealthiest in the world. Since 2011 the club have won five major honours, including the Premier League in 2012 and 2014, by 2014–15, Manchester City had the sixth-highest revenue in the footballing world with an annual revenue of €463.5 million. In 2016, Forbes magazine estimated they were the sixth most valuable football club. City gained their first honours by winning the Second Division in 1899, with it promotion to the highest level in English football. A fire at Hyde Road destroyed the main stand in 1920, in the 1930s, Manchester City reached two consecutive FA Cup finals, losing to Everton in 1933, before claiming the Cup by beating Portsmouth in 1934. The club won the First Division title for the first time in 1937, after relegation to the Second Division in 1963, the future looked bleak with a record low home attendance of 8,015 against Swindon Town in January 1965. In the summer of 1965, the management team of Joe Mercer, in the first season under Mercer, City won the Second Division title and made important signings in Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell. Further trophies followed, City won the FA Cup in 1969, before achieving European success by winning the European Cup Winners Cup in 1970, beating Górnik Zabrze 2–1 in Vienna. City also won the League Cup that season, becoming the second English team to win a European trophy, the club continued to challenge for honours throughout the 1970s, finishing one point behind the league champions on two occasions and reaching the final of the 1974 League Cup. Former United player Denis Law scored with a backheel to give City a 1–0 win at Old Trafford, the final trophy of the clubs most successful period was won in 1976, when Newcastle United were beaten 2–1 in the League Cup final. A long period of decline followed the success of the 1960s and 1970s, Malcolm Allison rejoined the club to become manager for the second time in 1979, but squandered large sums of money on unsuccessful signings, such as Steve Daley. A succession of managers then followed – seven in the 1980s alone, under John Bond, City reached the 1981 FA Cup final but lost in a replay to Tottenham Hotspur. The club were relegated from the top flight in the 1980s. However, this was only a respite, and following Reids departure Manchester Citys fortunes continued to fade. City were co-founders of the Premier League upon its creation in 1992, after two seasons in Division One, City fell to the lowest point in their history, becoming the second ever European trophy winners to be relegated to their countrys third league tier, after 1. After relegation, the club underwent off-the-field upheaval, with new chairman David Bernstein introducing greater fiscal discipline, under manager Joe Royle, City were promoted at the first attempt, achieved in dramatic fashion in a play-off against Gillingham
38.
Boleyn Ground
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The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. From 1904 to 2016 it was the home of West Ham United, the stadium was also briefly used in the early 1990s by Charlton Athletic during their years of financial difficulty. The seating capacity of the ground at closure was 35,016, from the 2016–17 season, West Ham United play their home games at the London Stadium in nearby Stratford. The last first-class match played at the Boleyn Ground was on 10 May 2016, the stadium is set to be demolished to make way for a new development. The club rented Green Street House and grounds in the Municipal Borough of East Ham from the Roman Catholic Church from around 1912. Green Street House was known locally as Boleyn Castle because of its nature and an association with Anne Boleyn. Hence renting the grounds of Boleyn Castle the name Boleyn Ground came into being, the ground is often referred to as Upton Park, after the Upton Park, London area in which it is located. In August 1944, a V-1 flying bomb fell on the south-west corner of the pitch and this forced the team to play its games away from home while repairs were undertaken, but it did not affect performances as West Ham managed nine consecutive victories. Upon their return to the ground in December, they lost 1–0 to Tottenham Hotspur, the record attendance at Upton Park since it has become an all-seater is 35,550, recorded against Manchester City on 21 September 2002 in a Premier League match. The stadium has a capacity of 35,016 all seated. The stand also incorporates executive boxes as well as a digital clock,1995, North Bank replaced by a new 6,000 seat, two-tier stand named the Centenary Stand now renamed as the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand. The East Stand Lower is also made all seater,2001, West Stand replaced by a new 15,000 seat, two-tier stand named the Dr. Martens Stand. The stand also incorporates executive boxes on two levels as well as the West Ham United Hotel and this will result in a fully enclosed stadium by joining the new stand to the Centenary Stand and the Bobby Moore Stand. Relegation to the Football League Championship in 2003 resulted in the development being delayed, however promotion to the FA Premier League via the Play-Offs in May 2005 resulted in the immediate re-submission of plans to Newham London Borough Council. Rumours suggested that West Ham could move to a new located at the Parcelforce depot near to West Ham Underground/mainline station. On 7 November 2007, London mayor Ken Livingstone announced that a new site had been identified for West Ham to build a new stadium. On 23 March 2010, the announced they were in fact working on a joint bid with Newham London Borough Council to move into the Olympic Stadium. When the Premier League fixtures were drawn-up at the start of the 2015-16 season, Swansea City were planned to be West Hams final opponents at the Boleyn Ground, on 7 May 2016
39.
Manchester United F.C.
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Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Nicknamed the Red Devils, the club was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to its current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910. Manchester United have won a record 20 League Titles, a joint-record 12 FA Cups,5 League Cups, the club has also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the became the first in the history of English football to achieve the treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup. The 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players, in 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United became the first English football club to win the European Cup. Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles,5 FA Cups and 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, José Mourinho is the clubs current manager, having been appointed on 27 May 2016. As of June 2015, it is the worlds most valuable football brand and it is one of the most widely supported football teams in the world. In August 2012, Manchester United made a public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The club holds several rivalries, most notably with Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United, Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. By 1888, the club had become a member of The Combination. Following the leagues dissolution after only one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance and this resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the railway company and dropped the LYR from its name. After two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division, in January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £260,000 in 2017 – the club was served with a winding-up order. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield, Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City. In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000, in the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division. Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947,1948 and 1949, in 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years. With an average age of 22, the title winning side of 1956 were labelled the Busby Babes by the media. In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season
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Citizenship
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Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law as being a legal member of a sovereign state. A person may have multiple citizenships and a person who does not have citizenship of any state is said to be stateless. Nationality is often used as a synonym for citizenship in English – notably in international law – although the term is understood as denoting a persons membership of a nation. In some countries, e. g. the United States, each country has its own policies, regulations and criteria as to who is entitled to its citizenship. A person can be recognised or granted citizenship on a number of bases, usually citizenship based on the place of birth is automatic, in other cases an application may be required. If one or both of a persons parents are citizens of a state, then the person may have the right to be a citizen of that state as well. Formerly this might only have applied through the line. Citizenship is granted based on ancestry or ethnicity, and is related to the concept of a nation state common in China, where jus sanguinis holds, a person born outside a country, one or both of whose parents are citizens of the country, is also a citizen. States normally limit the right to citizenship by descent to a number of generations born outside the state. This form of citizenship is not common in civil law countries, Some people are automatically citizens of the state in which they are born. This form of citizenship originated in England where those who were born within the realm were subjects of the monarch, in many cases both jus solis and jus sanguinis hold, citizenship either by place or parentage. Many countries fast-track naturalization based on the marriage of a person to a citizen, States normally grant citizenship to people who have entered the country legally and been granted permit to stay, or been granted political asylum, and also lived there for a specified period. Some states allow dual citizenship and do not require naturalized citizens to renounce any other citizenship. In the past there have been exclusions on entitlement to citizenship on grounds such as color, ethnicity, sex. Most of these no longer apply in most places. The United States grants citizenship to those born as a result of reproductive technologies, Some exclusions still persist for internationally adopted children born before Feb 27,1983 even though their parents meet citizenship criteria. Polis meant both the assembly of the city-state as well as the entire society. Citizenship has generally been identified as a western phenomenon, there is a general view that citizenship in ancient times was a simpler relation than modern forms of citizenship, although this view has come under scrutiny
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