| Historyman |
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| 20/01/2008 22:59 |
On This Day in History
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I got an idea for this thread when I visited the excellent '11v11.com' website, the official site for the Association of Football Statisticians (try saying that after a few drinks). They have a feature called 'Today in History', which lists interesting facts in football history which occurred on today's date in times past. I thought it might be relevant to highlight some of these events and maybe provoke further discussion.
One of the events took place 34 years ago - Jan 20th 1974. Milwall beat Fulham 1-0 with a goal from Brian Clark. So what? Well, this was the first ever league match to be played on a Sunday. Given that Sunday football is routine in many countries, including England, this may not seem that newsworthy. But it was a major event at the time, given that the Football League was such a conservative body and resisted change for as long as they could.
That historic match is also relevant in Northern Ireland. It was only a few months ago that the IFA lifted its 60 year ban on Sunday football, becoming effective from June 1st this year. Now, clubs will be able to play on the 'Sabbath' if they so wish. Although expect staunch opposition from some religious fans of certain clubs. Some clubs may decide that it's not worth the hassle and so maintain the status quo.
So, 34 years later, the IFA are now a little less conservative than their English counterparts across the water.
It's also worth noting that today is the 25th anniversary of Garrincha's tragic death. A flawed genius no doubt. And what's equally as tragic is the fact that we have so little footage of him on camera.
The BBC football website has a touching article on the anniversary.
By the way, would somebody be willing to PM me and explain how to post a link on a forum message?
| FootballFanatic1 |
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| 21/01/2008 14:03 |
Re: On This Day in History
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Garrincha!
A lovely tribute to him can be found on the following blog page:
http://www.runofplay.com/
| Historyman |
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| 22/01/2008 00:01 |
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Re: On This Day in History
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Thanks to all those who sent me a PM. I should know how to post a link by now!
On this day in 1927, BBC radio broadcast the first commentary on a football match. It was between Arsenal and Sheffield Utd at Highbury, finishing 1-1.
Radio commentaries, of course, proved to be immensely popular before the dawn of the television age. So popular that the Football League subsequently banned them for some years, as they were worried that men would stay by the fireplace instead of going to their local match.
How times have changed!
| Historyman |
| (member) |
| 22/01/2008 12:39 |
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Re: On This Day in History
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Haha! I can now put my new found knowledge to good use and post the link. Here it is.
Today in History
Thought it was interesting to read about Barnsley's Frank Bokes scoring direct from a throw in.
And for those who complain about penalty shoot outs deciding drawn games, would you want to return to the days of the coin toss?
| Historyman |
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| 23/01/2008 06:32 |
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Re: On This Day in History
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A couple of today's gems are:
In 1938, Liverpool signed Ray Lambert at the tender age of 13 years and 188 days, a record at the time. A big news story in an era when youth academies were non-existent. He became a 'one club man'. This link makes interesting viewing. It contains the chosen few who have stayed loyal to one club for their professional careers. Some big and not so big names. And something that will virtually disappear within the next generation of players.
One club men
Another interesting piece concerned Albert Shepherd, who in 1909, promised that he would leave the field early should he score a hat-trick. And he did leave the field-after scoring four! According to Wikipedia, this was in order to catch a train. I wonder if King Kev would allow Michael Owen to do the same?
Albert Shepherd is also 'famous' for being the first person to score a penalty in the FA Cup Final.
Albert Shepherd
1910 FA Cup Final
| Historyman |
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| 20/02/2008 09:52 |
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Re: On This Day in History
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There was a significant event which took place yesterday, 31 years ago. On the 19th February 1977, it was announced that Kevin Keegan would be joining SV Hamburg from Liverpool. The fee was £500,000, which was a record for a British player at that time.
This might seem like a routine piece of information, but when this news was announced 31 years ago, it shocked and, in many cases, angered the nation. Up to this point, few British players had plied their trade abroad. Of the few that did, only John Charles of Juventus could be considered an unqualified success. So, for Keegan to take this step was perceived as a bold move.
Why were many people upset at his transfer? Well, during the mid 70s, the general feeling seemed to be that the captain of the national team should not be playing in another country. He should be visible at home. To make matters worse, that foreign country happened to be (West) Germany.
It was only thirty years after WWII had ended, and the collective memory of those who had lived and fought in the war had not grown dim. Thus, anti-German feeling was a dominant attiude amongst a large section of the population. So, for England's captain to be leaving the champions of England and Europe to go and play for a club in the land of the 'enemy' caused quite a stir.
For the record, Keegan's move to Hamburg was an unqualified success. Not only did Hamburg win the Bundesliga for the first time in their history and reach the 1980 EC final, but Keegan was voted European footballer of the year twice in succession - 1978 and 1979. Not surprisingly, he's still remembered with great affection by Hamburg fans today.
Keegan at Hamburg
The concept of restricting the national team captain to playing at home might seem hoplessly outdated. I was wondering though, whether the Italian or Spanish media have ever made an issue over this subject in recent times. Especially since Fabio Cannavaro plays in Spain for Real.
| Historyman |
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| 21/02/2008 06:41 |
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Re: On This Day in History
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February 21 1905 was a significant date in the history of football transfers. It was on this day that Alf Common was transferred from Sunderland to Middlesborough for £1,000. This was the first four figure transfer sum in history, and as the above link shows, it caused a sensation at the time.
I was able to work out from an online currency convertor site that £1,000 in 1905 would be worth approx. £57,350 in 2008. In the context of today's inflated market, Alf was a real bargain!
I wonder what Alf and others of his generation would make of the list of record transfer fees.
The madness had to start somewhere.
| Historyman |
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| 11/04/2008 07:32 |
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Re: On This Day in History
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It was on this day back in 2001 when Australia set a new world record for the number of goals scored in an international game. They defeated American Samoa 31-0 in a WC qualifier in Coffs Harbour. Another record was achieved in the same match when Archie Thompson scored 13 of those goals - a record that’s unlikely to be beaten, especially since Australia no longer play in the Oceania section of WC qualifying. In all four new records were set this day.
Ironically, it was only two days previously that the Australians had beaten Tonga 22-0, which in itself was a new record.
Here’s a link to a brief match report of the game. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which I think adds to the surreal nature of this famous occasion. Especially when you consider that Thompson was dropped to the bench for the next game against Fiji!
Australia 31 v 0 AS
Maybe FIFA should consider honouring the American Samoans for their part in creating football history. Just fulfilling this fixture was a Herculean effort on their part, and it’s good for us to remember the smaller nations of world football and how much duller the game would be without them. Despite what some of the bigger nations may say, the underdogs should always have the right to compete for a place at the table, in my opinion.
In hindsight, all this goal scoring did the Aussies very few favours. When they faced their biggest test of all - a play-off against Uruguay for a place in the 2002 WC, they were found seriously wanting and lost 3-1 on aggregate.
As we know, the Australians are now in the Asian section of the WC qualifiers, having decided that Oceania and the Earth’s largest ocean were just too small for them. So when they qualified for Germany 2006 there were no doubts over the quality of the opposition that they were facing. Still, as the old football cliché goes, ‘you can only beat the team that’s put in front of you’, and the men from down under did what was asked of them on this day in 2001.
Just one more odd piece of trivia. Below is a link to the Wikipedia proile of Archie Thompson. I was amazed to discover that he was actually born in New Zealand! The perfect trick quiz question has been born:
"In which country was the record holder for the most number of goals in one international match born?"
Archie Thompson
| Historyman |
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| 01/05/2008 13:03 |
Re: On This Day in History
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Time to remember another one of the great characters who graced the early history of professional football.
The man in question is William 'Fattie' Foulke, who died on this day in 1916. A goalkeeper who played for Sheffield United, Chelsea and Bradford City, he was a colossus in every sense of the word. He stood 6ft 2 inches tall at a time when the average height of males was 5ft 5 inches.
His weight was immense and he would eventually balloon up to 25 stones before retiring on grounds of ill-health. He's left behind an appealing legacy, at a time when top-class footballers have never been so physically fit and well-tuned.
It's said that Foulke inspired the famous terrace chant, "Who Ate All The Pies?". However there's no clear evidence to support that claim.
Read a bit more about him on the link below. It contains some funny anecdotes!
William Foulke
Some of the photos and drawings in that article really emphasise just how much Foulke towered over all of his team mates and opposition players.
I thought it was quite timely to read about Foulke's difficulty with low shots because of his excess weight. That's of course one of the major differences between goalkeepers of his generation and those of today. Most keepers now are well over the 6ft mark, yet their agility is so pronounced that they can usually attempt to get down to block or catch low shots. Mind you, Drogba's low shot last night was so powerful that probably no keeper could have saved it.
So, the next time that you step on to the pitch and you're carrying a little excess baggage, keep in mind William 'Fattie' Foulkes. Things aren't that bad yet!
