Belgium v USSR, 1986 World Cup
Belgium v USSR was a seven-goal thriller in the Second Round of the 1986 World Cup, played in León, Mexico. The two nations had progressed from the opening group stage in contrasting fashion – USSR topped their group, including an impressive 6-0 rout of Hungary; Belgium lost their opening game to hosts Mexico and only…
ConIFA World Cup 2018 Review
The ConIFA World Cup 2018 took place in the UK last summer, a 16-team tournament held for minorities, unrecognised states, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA. 3,000 people attended the final on the 9th June, which saw Kárpátalja beat Northern Cyprus on penalties after a goalless draw at Enfield Town FC’s Queen Elizabeth II…
Trevor Brooking and One-Club Men
On May 14, 1984, Trevor Brooking played his final game for West Ham United, the club he represented for his entire Football League career. Signed as an apprentice by manager Ron Greenwood on the recommendation of legendary scout Wally St Pier, he made his debut in August 1967 and ended up with a total of…
Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur, 1982
On the 15th May 1982, Liverpool clinched another Football League title, their fifth in seven seasons, with a win over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. It had taken a phenomenal run in the second half of the season for them to reclaim the title from Aston Villa, confirming their status as the First Division’s dominant team…
The Football League 1888-89 – Review
The very first season of the Football League concluded 130 years ago, on the 20th April, 1889. Managed by Major William Sudell, one of the leading advocates of professional football, Preston North End were the first League title winners, going through the 1888-89 season unbeaten. They also won the 1889 FA Cup, and retained their…
Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 1983
Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers was a clash between founder members of the Football League, whose very first meeting was on 22 September 1888. The two sides have just met for the 130th time, in the Premier League, but this match at Burnley’s Turf Moor found them in the Second Division as they fell on hard…
Genoa: The British Abroad
The northern Italian port of Genoa has strong English connections. The city of Christopher Columbus, gateway to the Americas (Genoese emigrants were among the founders of Argentina’s Boca Juniors), also flies the flag of St George. Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club was set up by a group of ten expatriates in 1893 to represent England…
Cardiff City v Real Madrid, 1971
Cardiff City v Real Madrid was a famous night at Ninian Park in March 1971, as the Second Division side took on the Spanish giants in the first leg of a European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final tie. Cardiff, who knocked out French side Nantes in the previous round, had cup pedigree – their 1927 FA…
Hull City v Scunthorpe United, 1983
Unthinkable today, but the BBC’s flagship highlights programme, Match of the Day, once regularly featured football from outside the top division. This snippet from February 1983 shows the cameras visiting Humberside for a Fourth Division encounter between Hull City (who commentator Tony Gubba insists on calling ‘Hull Tigers’ long before that was seriously proposed) and…
John Sitton – A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
John Sitton’s autobiography is a compelling, at times painfully honest, account of life at the sharp end of the Football League, in an era completely removed from today’s multi-million-pound business. If you’re familiar with his name, it’s more than likely through the YouTube clips taken from a 1995 Channel 4 documentary on Leyton Orient, where…
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