The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part Five
The supply of players from the Netherlands to England began to slow towards the end of the 1980s. With financial problems, hooliganism and the European ban on English clubs after Heysel in 1985, the Football League became a less attractive destination. Few Dutch internationals moved to the First Division. Hans Kraay Jr. had one of…
Play-Off Facts & Figures 1987-2023 – Appendix
The 2023 play-offs were the 37th time the end-of-season fixtures have been played since the system was (re)introduced in 1987. In that time, a number of clubs, managers and players have set notable records. This post gathers a few of the Football League play-off facts and figures over the past five decades. In 2023, Salford…
Bristol Rovers v Cardiff City, 1983
Bristol Rovers welcomed Cardiff City to Eastville for the final game of the 1982/83 season. The fixture included many famous football names of the past, and future. Cardiff were already promoted and a point secured second place behind Portsmouth, and an immediate return to the Second Division. Bristol Rovers finished in 7th place. There was…
The Play-Offs (Part Two): 1987-1992
The play-offs were re-introduced to the Football League almost a century after the ‘test matches’ of the 1890s. The measure was agreed at a League meeting in December 1985 as part of a package of compromise measures to prevent a ‘Super League’ breakaway of the First Division clubs. Initially the play-offs were proposed to run…
‘Test Matches’: The First Football League Play-Offs
With the rapid evolution and expansion of the Football League from its twelve founder members in 1888, came the question of promotion and relegation. ‘Test matches’ were the League’s solution, introduced in April 1893. The clubs which had formed the rival Football Alliance were absorbed into the League at the start of the 1892-93 season,…
The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part Four
Another look at Dutch players in the Football League during the 1980s, with the expert help of Jan Roskott: Johannes Franciscus ‘Hans’ van Breukelen – Nottingham Forest 1982-84 He was an up and coming keepers talent, very outspoken and Mr Positivo as he was called. He started his career at FC Utrecht where he was…
The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part Three
Jan Roskott continues a series looking in-depth at the Dutch players in the Football League during the 1980s. Franciscus Johannes ‘Frans’ Thijssen – Ipswich Town 1979-83 / Nottingham Forest 1983 Thijssen was a Gordon Strachan or Xavi type playmaker. Silent Frans, they called him. He talked with his feet. A very gifted passer of the…
The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part Two
Continuing an in-depth look at the Dutch players in the Football League between 1978 and 1992, with the help of Jan Roskott: Fransiscus Leonardus Albertus ‘Frans’ Koenen – Newcastle United (1980-81) All I know is that he moved to Newcastle from NEC Nijmegen on a two-year deal. He was a winger (currently football coach in amateurs)…
The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part One
The Netherlands supplied more players to the Football League between 1978 and the start of the Premier League in 1992 than any other country outside Britain and Ireland. From international stars to fleeting lower-division stays, a steady stream of Dutchmen tried their luck in England. Twice beaten World Cup finalists in the 1970s, the gifted…
Yugoslavs in the Football League 1978-92 – Appendix
A brief overview of the Yugoslav footballers who played in the Football League between 1978 and 1992. Radomir ‘Raddy’ Antić Born: 22.11.1948 Žitište (d. 06.04.2020) Signed from: Real Zaragoza (Spain), July 1980 [£50,000] Football League Career: Luton Town 1980-83 – 94 appearances, 9 goals Football League Debut: West Ham v Luton, Second Division 16 August…
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