England v Argentina, 1980
England welcomed Argentina to Wembley for a prestigious friendly in May 1980. The home team were preparing for the summer’s European Championships, their first international tournament finals since the Mexico World Cup a decade earlier. The visitors were the reigning World Champions, having triumphed on home soil two years earlier. Manager César Luis Menotti had…
West Ham United v Ipswich Town, 1986
West Ham United remained in contention for the First Division title going into the final week of the 1985-86 season, ahead of their last home game against relegation-threatened Ipswich Town. The clubs were meeting for the fifth time that season, after their FA Cup Fourth Round tie needed two replays. The biggest crowd of the…
Derek Goodier: An Interview (Part Two)
The second part of my interview with Derek Goodier moves onto football from the 1960s onwards, and explores some of the main differences between ‘then and now’. Over the years from the fifties into the sixties, my impression is that there were less goals scored, the game became a bit more tactical and defensive. Was…
Derek Goodier: An Interview (Part One)
I have had many football conversations over the years with my father-in-law, Derek Goodier, who was playing and watching the game as early as the Second World War. When I started the blog, I decided to interview Derek, to capture his wealth of knowledge and experience. He kindly shared his memories of Stanley Matthews, Stoke…
The Football Alliance: Teams Who Didn’t Make the League
The Football Alliance was the most successful of the short-lived rivals to the Football League. The League’s founder, William McGregor, had ensured it would be an exclusive institution from its formation in 1888. McGregor issued his famous letter to invite only a select group of clubs to join the proposed new competition. The number of…
Jesse Carver & George Raynor: The British Abroad
Jesse Carver and George Raynor were post-War English coaches and managers who are regarded as pioneers in European football. Both men earned acclaim for successful spells in several countries during the 1950s, but remain largely unheralded in England. Born in Liverpool, Jesse Carver played for Blackburn and Newcastle in the 1920s and 30s, before coaching…
Wrexham v Anderlecht, 1975-76 Cup Winners’ Cup
Wrexham Association Football Club was founded 1864 as Wales’ first professional club – making them the third oldest professional club in the world. They have played at the Racecourse Ground ever since, the venue for Wales’ first international match in 1877. Elected to the Football League in 1921, Wrexham first experienced European football in the…
Orient v Chelsea, 1972 FA Cup
Orient hosted their illustrious London rivals Chelsea in 1972 hoping to add to a number of FA Cup upsets in the early 1970s. Among the spectacular results were Don Revie’s mighty Leeds United humbled at Colchester in 1971, and Southern League Hereford’s defeat of First Division Newcastle a year later – perhaps the most famous…
The Opening of Old Trafford
The opening of Old Trafford in February 1910 was a pivotal moment in the history of Manchester United. Today, they are one of the world’s most famous football clubs, and their home among the game’s iconic stadiums. Yet their origins were much more humble, and their early years often troubled. Their history began in 1878…
Béla Guttmann – The Greatest Comeback
The Greatest Comeback: From Genocide to Football Glory – The Story of Béla Guttmann is a compelling account of one of the great football managers, and a man whose life encompassed much of the tragedy and turbulence of the twentieth century. Charting the career of this Hungarian Jew and Holocaust survivor, author David Bolchover interweaves…
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