Leeds United v Everton, 1970
August 1970 brought an early-season meeting between Leeds United and Everton, England’s top two teams in the previous season. Champions Everton had claimed their seventh league title in 1969-70, finishing nine points clear of runners-up Leeds. Each club had provided four players to the England squad for that summer’s World Cup in Mexico: Jack Charlton,…
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…
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…
Arsenal v Newcastle United, 1976
Arsenal and England striker Malcolm ‘Supermac’ MacDonald was the centre of attention at Highbury on the 4th December 1976. MacDonald came up against his former club Newcastle United, who he had left for a record fee of £333,333 that summer, for the first time in this game. Centre-half Pat Howard made the same move from…
Thames AFC and the Football League’s lowest-ever attendance
The brief history of Thames AFC saw an ambitious attempt to launch a new team in London, based at the West Ham Stadium in the Custom House area of East London. Built in 1928 with a capacity of 100,000 and designed by the celebrated Scottish engineer Archibald Leitch, the stadium was primarily known as a…
Bolton Wanderers v Bristol City, 1969
This Second Division fixture at Burnden Park on 1st November 1969, captured on film by an unknown cameraman, saw a 3-1 win for the home side. Bolton Wanderers, founder members of the Football League and FA Cup winners in 1958, had been a First Division side from 1935 until relegation in 1964. Under club legend…
Tottenham Hotspur v Nottingham Forest, 1979
The visit of European Cup holders Nottingham Forest to Tottenham Hotspur for a First Division fixture in October 1979 saw one of the goals of the season at White Hart Lane. Glenn Hoddle, the young Spurs midfielder earning a reputation for spectacular strikes, scored a masterpiece on his 22nd birthday to beat England goalkeeper Peter…
Manchester City v Oldham Athletic, 1988
Manchester City today are multiple Premier League winners, a hugely successful global brand and very, very wealthy. It’s hard to imagine them competing against their impoverished neighbours Oldham Athletic, currently languishing in the fifth tier of English football, the National League – let alone struggling to beat them. Yet a look at their head-to-head record…
Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur, 1982
Liverpool clinched another Football League title, their fifth in seven seasons, with a win over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on the 15th May 1982. 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. The ‘Invincibles’ also won the 1889 FA Cup to complete…
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