Football

[Haywain]

Sorry but this is nonsense. There have always been teams buying the league and financially out muscling their competitors, the whole Football League was founded as a big money grab.

Back in the early days clubs with wealthy backing used to just buy up all of the local talent and put other clubs out of business. That was exactly the situation in Birmingham in the late 1800s when Aston Villa put Birmingham St George's out of business by kicking them out of the league decreeing that only 1 team could represent each town. This directly lead to the excluded clubs forming "The Combination" rival league which eventually became the second division of the Football League after a rebrand as the Football Alliance.

Even before this Aston Villa directly lead to the winding up of several clubs in Birmingham; Excelsior, Warwick County (the football wing of Warwickshire CCC), Aston Unity, Aston Shakespeare and 'The Birmingham Club' to name a few. Coincidentally most of these played at Aston lower Grounds (a very large facility where several teams including Villa played, a small part of it is now Villa Park) where the wealthy owners of Villa could essentially cherry pick the players and staff they liked.

This situation cannot be unique to Birmingham, early football business was an absolute bloodbath. Fortunately, Small Heath Alliance survived so I don't have to support a club built upon upper class exceptionalism who's snobbish attitude still survives to the modern day.

Even in the start of the 'modern era' of football, teams like Forest didn't win the European Cup twice on a budget of 20 B&H and a packet of digestives. Same goes for Blackburn when they won the Premier League, even Leicester too to some extent

Money dominating football... Same as it ever was.

That looks like a seriously ancient grudge surfacing!

 

[Cross City]

That looks like a seriously ancient grudge surfacing!

Don't get me wrong, I hate them, but not for what they did to the Birmingham football scene 150 years ago

I do often wonder what it'd be like now if St George's had survived, they were a reasonably large club at one point, or even one of the smaller clubs like Excelsior or Herbert's.

My main point was that the Football League itself was created entirely for financial reasons, and that money in football has been from the start, and always will be, the dominant reason for success.

 

[DarloRich]

I dont think there's a single club that can claim that level of improvement in that short a time, under the current rules which specifically prevent clubs just buying their way to success

They have won NOWT!

Nottingham Forest going from the old second division to being champions of Europe in two years is loads more impressive.

Correct. The greatest achievement in English football.

50 years this week since Clough arrived at the city ground. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c80vd04vxelo

Brian Clough was the manager who some at Nottingham Forest were frightened to appoint.

But on 6 January, 1975 - 50 years ago today - a board mindful of the need for "a breath of fresh air" ratified a deal that brought the celebrity manager to the banks of the River Trent

And Sean Dyche has left Everton. Not by mutual consent, it would seem.

a strange one - Dyche has kept Everton up ( twice) despite having no actual players, having 8 points docked, loads of injuries and with about £3.50 to spend after the previous managers splurged all the cash on rubbish. When your best player is made of glass and you have as much creativity in your team as a brick I think he has done a good job but is clear the fans didn't like him, want to see Pepball style football and the new owners want a "name".

He would have kept them up this season imo and then been replaced. Moving now seems a desperate gamble.

 

[Howardh]

There is also Swansea City's rise from Division 4 to Division 1 in four years (1977/78 to 1981/82) and Watford's rise from Division 4 to Division 1 runners-up in five years (1977/78 to 1982/83) then onto the UEFA Cup third round and FA Cup final in 1983/84, but all these ignore the point in post #34,687 about the financial rules in force when they happened.

THC

Yes, I've just been reading up the history of Swansea Town/City!

 

[75A]

Does it dwell on their F.A.Cup embaressement in 1984 when they lost a replay 3-1 to Bognor Regis Town of the Isthmian League after a 1-1 draw at the Vetch Field?
Proud to say I was at both games and at the 2nd round game at Elm Park when Reading won 6-2.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

I wonder how many non-league teams have "astroturf-type" pitches these days?

Weather-wise, the temperature was minus 9 degrees C locally where I live at 23:00 last night.

Quite a lot.

Bradford, Buxton, Morpeth, Consett, Widnes (FC&RL), Gloucester City, Ilkeston, Dunston, ... immediately come to mind.

These are not all weather pitches. Bradford have had their last two home games called off or abandoned due to heavy snow and fog. And perhaps as well. Who would want to watch non-league football in sub zero temperatures and navigate the steep icy roads & pavements surrounding non-league grounds like ours?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I wonder how many non-league teams have "astroturf-type" pitches these days?

Weather-wise, the temperature was minus 9 degrees C locally where I live at 23:00 last night.

Plenty of NL fixtures on 3G pitches already off this weekend. Including Bradford Park Avenue, City of Liverpool and Avro. No doubt there'll be several others. As @Old Yard Dog has pointed out, 3G doesn't always cope with ice, snow and/or thick fog.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Bradford, Buxton, Morpeth, Consett, Widnes (FC&RL), Gloucester City, Ilkeston, Dunston, ... immediately come to mind.

Ilkley, Billericay, Basingstoke, Aveley, Maidstone, Dorking, Romulus, Oxford City, Boro Rangers, Consett, Bedlington, Staveley MW, Hyde United, Scarborough Athletic …… they’re just ones I’ve been to

These are not all weather pitches. Bradford have had their last two home games called off or abandoned due to heavy snow and fog. And perhaps as well. Who would want to watch non-league football in sub zero temperatures and navigate the steep icy roads & pavements surrounding non-league grounds like ours?

No pitch is ever going to be “all weather”, but a 4G pitch does massively reduce the likelihood of a postponement. But it won’t prevent games being called off if there’s a blizzard, significantly below zero temperatures for a few days, fog etc etc. (And obviously games can be called off because the public areas are unsafe whilst the pitch is fine)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

(And obviously games can be called off because the public areas are unsafe whilst the pitch is fine)

A very well-made point.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2025 ==

This current very cold weather has carried on for a longer period of time that originally forecasted. I can only speak in relation to north-west England and there may well be areas to the south of the country who have not experienced it, that seemed to reflect some of the earlier postings made on this matter.

I don't know the truth of the old adage that the Boundary Park ground of Oldham Athletic was one of the coldest in England during winter.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I don't know the truth of the old adage that the Boundary Park ground of Oldham Athletic was one of the coldest in England during winter.

It was pretty chilly in august!!

 

[dangie]

…I don't know the truth of the old adage that the Boundary Park ground of Oldham Athletic was one of the coldest in England during winter.

Stoke’s ground is pretty cold, gets even colder once the match starts….

 

[THC]

Stoke’s ground is pretty cold

Veritably tropical in comparison to Pittodrie (Aberdeen) when the wind blows in from the North Sea!

THC

 

[Howardh]

Droylsden v Daisy Hill still not been called off, they say the pitch has been covered!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Droylsden v Daisy Hill still not been called off, they say the pitch has been covered!

Now been postponed. 90% of the pitch was o.k. apparently but certain areas are frozen and won’t be playable. Covers were down.

 

[Howardh]

Now been postponed. 90% of the pitch was o.k. apparently but certain areas are frozen and won’t be playable. Covers were down.

Needed a hot air blower under the covers, but that's asking a lot for EFL level, never mind NWCL!

Rematch will be an evening KO, hopefully not when I'm on holiday!

 

[PauloDavesi]

Birmingham City move into the 4th round with a 2-0 win against Lincoln City.

 

[75A]

I was well pleased to see my team (Portsmouth) get knocked out in their first game, last night @ Wyecombe. Just want to concentrate on staying in the Championship in this our first year back after a long time. We've won the F.A.Cup in most fans lifetime, let's concentrate on the league.

 

[Falcon1200]

I was well pleased to see my team (Portsmouth) get knocked out in their first game, last night @ Wyecombe. Just want to concentrate on staying in the Championship

Same applies to Oxford United, although embarrassingly our defeat was also to a lower league team (1-3 away at Exeter City). Just hope Plymouth are exhausted after their remarkable effort at Brentford, when we play them next week.....

 

[Haywain]

Birmingham City move into the 4th round with a 2-0 win against Lincoln City.

Shock result? Not really.

 

[150249]

Same applies to Oxford United, although embarrassingly our defeat was also to a lower league team (1-3 away at Exeter City). Just hope Plymouth are exhausted after their remarkable effort at Brentford, when we play them next week.....

Exeter City 3-1 Oxford United

Best performance I've seen all season from my Exeter. We started off poorly and Oxford capitalised by scoring an excellently worked counter attack 14 minutes in.

We slowly grew into the game and Birthday Boy Mitchell Bagged an equaliser with 22 on the clock.

Mitchell poked us in front just 18 minutes later and we somewhat controlled the game from then on. Harper scored a well deserved goal in the second half to cap off an excellent individual performance from him.

My player of the match was undoubtedly Caleb Watts who was everywhere all game, getting the assist for Harper's goal.

Just a shame our performance is slightly overshadowed by Argyle's win.

 

[Falcon1200]

Best pperformance I've seen all season from my Exeter. We started off poorly and Oxford capitalised by scoring an excellently worked counter attack 14 minutes in.

I have to say 'well done Exeter;' 'Giant' killers!

 

[DarloRich]

Darlington P v P Chorley (FM) - Frozen pitch. Another weekend with no game.

I listened to Boro v Blackburn on the wireless. Precious little "romance of the FA Cup" (TM) on show at the Riverside! Blackburn won 1-0 in a complete ZZZZZZZZZ fest.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I was amazed to find that amongst a whole number of match cancellations today, that the National League North match between Buxton and Chester was played. Buxton is "high up in them there hills".

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I was amazed to find that amongst a whole number of match cancellations today, that the National League North match between Buxton and Chester was played. Buxton is "high up in them there hills".

3G pitch these days at Silverlands and had been cleared of snow earlier in the week. Unfortunately for the Bucks, Chester won 4-2.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

The referee added no injury time at all yesterday at Chelsea vs Morecambe, I'm guessing to spare Morecambe further punishment. But at least it allowed me to get to Euston in time for the 1800 to Chester.

One of the good things about football is that referees use their common sense when blowing for half- or full-time. The time allowed is calibrated in whole minutes and refs rarely blow when the ball is in a critical area or when an attacking free-kick or corner is about to be taken. This means there are few controversies - in fact the only one I can remember came in 1987 at Burnden Park when Halifax were denied an equaliser when the ref blew for half time when the ball was screaming into the net.

Technology can have unintended consequences. VAR has led to changes in the offside and handball rules which has rendered both far removed from what the 19th century legislators had in mind when they first drafted the rules of the game.

I would hate to see basketball-style time clocks used in football as that would lead to many an attack being controversially thwarted by the hooter, perhaps just before or after a goal is scored. They can just about get around this problem in RU and RL where the phases of play are better defined, but please leave football alone.

 

[Ghostbus]

"The Magic of the FA Cup"

- Commentators pretending full Premier League stadiums against lower league opposition isn't about true fans being priced out of Premier League or even Championship fixtures

- The BBC putting Arsenal (can't win a League Cup game because the ball is too round) versus Manchester United (can't keep mice out the prawn sandwich buffet) on free to air television, rather than an up and coming first season in League Two side doing well and just went up 0-1 against Premier League opposition (and just came inches from making that 0-2), with a prodigious 17 year old talent in Lewis Miley saving the Premier League side's blushes with a screamer from outside the box, all in the first 20 minutes.

Forget the magic of the FA Cup.

Relish the magic of football. English football.

Newcastle’s prodigy with the brilliant brain: the rapid rise of Lewis Miley | Louise Taylor

The 6ft 2in midfielder who ‘doesn’t look 17, doesn’t act 17 and doesn’t play 17’ has stepped into Eddie Howe’s first team with aplomb

www.theguardian.com

After another stellar performance during Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes – where Miley became the third-youngest Englishman after Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden to start a Champions League match – Paris Saint-Germain’s players are unlikely to disagree.

It was thrilling to behold Miley displaying a 30-year-old’s nous yet playing with the fearless freedom of a child and Howe’s pride was reinforced by the knowledge that such exceptional talent is leavened by healthy humility and rare emotional maturity.

Miley grew up as one of four brothers in what his manager terms an “exceptionally good, extremely sensible” family from the small former colliery County Durham hill town of Stanley. An older and younger sibling are also on Newcastle’s books, Jamie with the under-21s and Mason the under-18s.

Keep the faith.

 

[Haywain]

I would hate to see basketball-style time clocks used in football as that would lead to many an attack being controversially thwarted by the hooter, perhaps just before or after a goal is scored. They can just about get around this problem in RU and RL where the phases of play are better defined, but please leave football alone.

It would be just as easy to continue play in football until the ball goes out of play. However, using timekeepers is unlikely to happen so it's all rather academic.

 

[SuspectUsual]

ne of the good things about football is that referees use their common sense when blowing for half- or full-time. The time allowed is calibrated in whole minutes and refs rarely blow when the ball is in a critical area or when an attacking free-kick or corner is about to be taken. This means there are few controversies - in fact the only one I can remember came in 1987 at Burnden Park when Halifax were denied an equaliser when the ref blew for half time when the ball was screaming into the ne

There was a game at Accrington a few years ago where the ref (the generally inept Trevor Kettle I think) blew for half time with a shot about 6 yards from the goal and on its way in

"The Magic of the FA Cup"

Tamworth more than doubling their league ticket prices for their game against Spurs, and accepting sponsorship from The Sun. Corporate greed exists at all levels

 

[Ghostbus]

The certainty of knowing you have precisely 13 seconds of play left has certainly produced some spectacular moments in American football. Certainly far more than Agueeeeerooooo and the Manchester United treble.

It also has an uncanny habit of exposing your previously well thought of coach as a man who has only a loose grasp of the fundamentals of the sport. In real football we have to wait until the bloke is blaming the ball or his funny accent for their shockingly bad performances. Bromley have offered more attacking threat away to Newcastle in the first half than Arsenal did at home to Newcastle.

The joke doing the rounds the last few weeks was that Newcastle were resting stars in fixtures against Manchester United, Tottingham and Arsenal, who they beat quite convincingly away for an aggregate of score of 6 goals scored and 1 conceded, for the big game, the home fixture against League 2 debutants Bromley.

It's funny because it's true? While not the first team exactly, you'd have to say only three of this Newcastle side (Targett, Almiron, Osasula) aren't currently considered good enough to play serious minutes in the Premier League for Newcastle. Schar and Joelinton are regular starters, Trippier, Kelly, Longstaff and Barnes all start if the player ahead of them is unavailable, or regularly come on as subs to change games. Which leaves Miley......the selection problem evey single Premier League manager would kill for.

 

[1D54]

Tamworth more than doubling their league ticket prices for their game against Spurs, and accepting sponsorship from The Sun. Corporate greed exists at all levels

Nothing new with The Sun getting involved. About 20 years ago the old Scarborough club ditched their shirt sponsors for the game against Chelsea in favour of taking money from the paper. They claimed the cash they made off the run in the competition would keep them going for 10 years but within 4 of them the club were declared bankrupt.