Internazionale v Juventus, 1910

December 29, 2016, 10:28 am

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A scene from one of the Juventus v Internazionale matches in 1910.
The goalposts appear to be far from perpendicular.

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Football in Germany

December 30, 2016, 10:33 am

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In November 1899 the Football Association sent a team to Germany and Austria on the invitation of Walter Bensemann. The tourists, as expected, thrashed the hosts.
Back home The Athletic News anticipated the matches with a rather uncharitable caricature of the portly and eccentrically equipped bon vivants reputed to represent The German Empire.

Holiday Match

January 1, 2017, 4:53 am

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The Glasgow Herald 02.01.95

The cutting above appears in the excellent Celtic Wiki
This was the first New Years Day meeting between the Glasgow rivals.

Primer Campeonato Mundial de Futbol

January 2, 2017, 4:07 am

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If I had a time machine I think the first football match I would go and watch would be the 1930 World Cup Final.
This souvenir brochure was produced in a limited edition of 3,000 copies. Published by the Uruguyan Football Association the book featured 174 photographs and an account of the organization of the tournament, reports of all the matches and  FIFA's official summary.
A good copy would fetch about € 1,100 at auction.

Raich Carter

January 5, 2017, 10:27 am

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1937

His wonderful positional sense and beautifully timed passes made him the best forward of his generation.

Charles Buchan

Horatio Stratton Carter made his debut for Sunderland in October 1932. His career went on until 1952. He won the League Championship with Sunderland in 1936 (when he was also top scorer in the League) and the FA Cup the following season. 
He represented England 13 times. 
His father, Robert 'Toddler' Carter had played for Burslem Port Vale, Stockport County, Fulham and Southampton. He tragically died of an head injury when Raich was just 14.
Carter junior had a trial with Leicester at the age of 17, but was told he was too small to make it. He broke into the Sunderland first team as an 18 year old, standing 1.70m and weighing around 59 kg. 

The New Craze; Football and Society in North East Wales c.1870-90

January 7, 2017, 8:43 am

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Druids, 1880 

North East Wales was a hotbed of football in the late 19th century. A link to a very interesting article here.

Stalinets

January 8, 2017, 2:52 pm

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Stalinets (which very roughly translates as Steel men) was founded in 1925 by the workers of the Leningrad Metal Factory (Ленинградский Металлический Завод). Stalinets were effectively absorbed into the Zenit Leningrad club.

Liverpool v Sunderland 07.11.96

January 11, 2017, 2:34 pm

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7th of November 1896, a match played at Anfield in rain and fog, Ned Doig (top  right) protesting that the light was too dim for the match to continue. Liverpool fielded 9 Scottish players, Sunderland 11. 
Following this win Liverpool went top of the League, but eventually finished in 5th place. 
Former Sunderland player Davy Hannah, playing at outside left, scored all 3 goals for Liverpool.

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FC Libertador

January 13, 2017, 2:20 pm

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The city of Caxias do Sul in Rio Grande do Sul was founded by Italian migrants in 1890. The 2 major clubs in the city are Sociedade Esportiva e Recreativa Caxias do Sul (1935) and Esporte Clube Juventude (1913).
Pictured above is the team of FC Libertador from 1933. From what I can gather this was a team associated with the São Pedro woolen mill.  

Names

January 14, 2017, 1:13 pm

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If we look at the current top 5 levels of the English Football Pyramid we find 18 different suffixes to club names:

I have not included Villa as Aston Villa is actually a place name (Villa Cross, Handsworth  was shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834 as Aston Villa). Crystal Palace, similarly, I have taken to be a place name.  I have also passed over the psuedo exotic use of AFC as a prefix . 
In a blog which deals with the development of football up until 1937 it would be foolish to include Dons, a 21st century suffix arising out of the relocation of Wimbledon in 2004.  Arsenal was originally a suffix, but now Arsenal is just Arsenal. 
That leaves us with the following:

Unique suffixes:

Alexandra 
 Crewe's football club formed in 1877. They either took their name from Princess Alexandra or from a pub that was named in her honour.  

 Argyle
 Initially founded in 1886 and resurrected in 1897 Argyle Football Club added Plymouth to their name on joining the Southern League in 1903. The club was likely to have been named after the Argyle public house. 

Hotspur 
The Tottenham was added by in order to avoid confusion with the Hotspur FC who had joined the Football association in 1879.

Orient
Eagle Cricket Club became Orient FC in 1888. This was possibly a reference to the
Orient Shipping Company, or maybe on account of  their relatively easterly location. The locational prefixes Clapton (1898) and Leyton (1945) were used in turn. From 1966-1987 the club was known as plain Orient.


Stanley

Accrington Stanley were originally founded in 1891. As far as I am aware the name originates from the Stanley Street area of the town. 

Wednesday
Founded in 1867 Sheffield Wednesday were officially known as The Wednesday until 1929.  

Interestingly there was a club in Wales called Abergavenny Thursdays (1927-2013).

 Others:

Albion
The ancient Greek name for Britain. West Bromwich were the first team to be known as Albion. However, rather than some poetic reference to antiquity or the visionary Blake the name originates from the fact that Albion is actually a district in West Bromwich. West Bromwich Albion graced the first season of  League football. 

Athletic
Amateur Athletic were a London club formed in 1868. Loughborough Athletic and Football Club (founded 1887) joined the League in the 1895–96 season.

City

The earliest use of the suffix City was by Lincoln City in 1884. They were also the first City in the League (1892–93).

County
The Nottingham club pre date the Football Association, being founded in 1862. The 2 Counties, Notts and Derby featured in the first season of the Football League.

Forest
The original Forest FC (the forest referred to being Epping forest) went on to change their name to Wanderers. Nottingham Forest joined the League in 1892–93.

North End 
Preston North End (originally a cricket club founded in 1863) played in the northern part of the town. hence the name. Preston began playing Association football in 1878.  Glossop North End was founded in 1886.

Rangers
The original Rangers were Hertfordshire ('Herts') Rangers, based in Watford and founded in 1865. Queen's Park Rangers entered the League in 1920.

Rovers 
A first for London: Clapham Rovers, alternating between Rugby and Association, founded in 1869. Blackburn carried the name proudly in the opening season of the League. 

Town
Saffron Walden were the first club to bear the suffix Town. Founded in 1872 they were known as Town by the time they joined the Football Association in 1879. The first Town in the League were Grimsby (1892–93).

United 
In 1873 Hanover United from Chiswick were the first Association club to use United. Sheffield United (1892–93) were the fist United in the League. 

Wanderers 
Wanderers FC were founder members of the FA. The first team to use Wanderers as a suffix appears to have been Shropshire Wanderers circa 1873. Wolverhampton and Bolton both played in the first season of League football.


The Football League has featured the following suffixes in the past:

Borough

Image by George Chilvers

Wigan Borough were in existence from 1920-1931 (previous clubs in Wigan had been Town, United  and County, Borough were later superseded by Athletic).

Celtic
Usually denoting a club with Irish Catholic origins, the Manchester club Stalybridge Celtic (founded 1909) played in the League for 3 seasons from 1921. I am uncertain about the origins of the club name.

Fosse
Leicester used to play their matches alongside the old Roman road, the Fosse Way. Joining the League in 1894–95 they were known as Leicester Fosse up until 1919, when they adopted the name Leicester City.

Harriers
Kidderminster Harriers and Football Club was formed by the merger of an Athletics club and a Rugby club. Harriers was a common name for athletics clubs. They switched to Association football in 1886. I have included them here although they did not join the Football League until 2000.

Ironopolis
A city of Iron- an apt suffix for Middlesbrough. The 'Nops' were founded in 1889. There was a  Welsh club Caernarvon Ironopolis (1894-1903).

Park Avenue 
A slippery one this, as this was never the official name of Bradford FC (1907), but the name of their ground was used to distinguish them from Bradford City.

Swifts
Burton Swifts came into being in 1871, morphing into Burton United in 1901. The season that Burton Swifts joined the League (1892–93) was also the debut season for Walsall Town Swifts (founded 1888). 

Trinity
Gainsborough Trinity were founded in 1873 as Trinity Recreationists, being founded by the Vicar of Holy Trinity Church. 

Tower
It is hardly surprising that a New Brighton club playing in the shadow of a 173 m tower (compared with Blackpool @ 158 m or Eiffel @ 324 m) should pay homage to that structure. New Brighton Tower (1896-1901) did just that.

Victoria 
The original Northwich Victoria was founded in 1874 and named in honour of The Queen.

1930

January 16, 2017, 1:28 pm

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Gold medals from the 1930 World Cup. These were presented to Hector Scarone and Jose Leandro Andrade. The 18 carat medals measure 4cm x 2cm and weigh 25 grammes.
The Uruguayan Football Association also presented the players with replicas of the Trophy 'Victory', later named in honour of Jules Rimet.

This model was the property of Uruguay captain, Jose Nasazzi.

Leeds United

January 21, 2017, 10:47 am

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Leeds United- 1920-21

Standing : Jim Baker, Dick Murrell (Trainer), Ernie Hart, Billy Down, Mark Barker (Director), Ralph Rodgerson, J. Hilton-Crowther (President), Jimmy Walton.

Sitting : George Mason, Bert Duffield, Tommy Howarth, Merton Ellson, Basil Wood, Jimmy Frew.

United's president, Mr John Hilton-Crowther was a prosperous woollen mill owner who had injected a fortune into Huddersfield Town in 1918.  Huddersfield struggled to attract support, and their ability to sustain League status was called into question. With the demise of Leeds City Hilton-Crowther proposed a merger between Huddersfield town and the newly formed Leeds United.  Whilst welcomed in Leeds, this proposal, which was submitted to the Football League, caused outrage and protests in Huddersfield. The situation was resolved thus: The League gave Huddersfield Town  a month in which to pay Mr Hilton-Crowther off (£25,000) in order to maintain their independence. If they failed to do so the merger would go ahead. Hilton-Crowther settled for £17,500 and 12,500 Huddersfield Town shares.

Strangely, for the first 14 years of their existence Leeds United played in the same colours as Huddersfield Town.

Joan Gamper - Goal Machine

January 23, 2017, 1:24 pm

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The Joan Gamper we usually see is the bespectacled, avuncular elder statesmen of Barcelona, but when he founded that eminent club he was still a player first and foremost.
In 1901-02 Barcelona enjoyed a glut of goals. They played 26 matches, losing only one, and scored in every game. They scored 146 goals in total, an average of over 5 a game.

Goals scored	Number of games
1	3
2	2
3	3
4	6
5	1
6	1
7	3
8	2
9	1
10	1
12	2
15	1

At the forefront of this goal rush was 24 year old Gamper:

Joan Gamper / Hans Camper	Switzerland	29
Bernat Lassaleta	Spain	24
Lluís d'Ossó	Catalunya	20
Udo Steinberg	Germany	19
Paul Viderkher	Switzerland	6
Joaquín García	Catalunya
George Noble	Catalunya	5
Alfonso Albéniz	Catalunya
John Parsons	Catalunya	4
James Albert Eckes	England
Stanley Harris	England
Josep Llobet	Catalunya
Arthur Leask	Catalunya	3
Henry Morris	England /Basque/Philippines	2
? Chown	?
? Catala	Catalunya
Own Goals
Josep Quirante	Catalunya	1
Josep Vidal	Catalunya
? Conarre	?
? Gener	?

The only team to defeat Barcelona's only defeat came in the final of Copa de la Coronació, beaten 2-1 by Athletic Club Bilbao in the guise of Bizcaya.

Alexandre Villaplane

January 26, 2017, 12:05 pm

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France v Mexico,13.07.30 Villaplane behind the bouquet. 

Algeria born Villaplane was a robust left half who played for FC Sète, Nimes, Racing, Antibes and Nice.
He won 25 international caps and was the captain of France at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.
During the war he emerged from the criminal underworld as an officer of the Brigade Nord Africain, who operated under the direction of the Gestapo. He was actively involved in atrocities and was executed for his crimes in 1944.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/nov/16/france

Gatto Magico

January 30, 2017, 12:44 pm

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Goalkeeper Mario Gianni played 340 plus first team games for Bologna, winning 3 scudetti. In an era of outstanding goalkeepers he represented Italy 6 times.

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Aston Villa

February 1, 2017, 12:53 pm

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Aston Villa moved grounds in 1897, playing the first game at the Aston Lower Grounds on 17th April, 1 week after they had won the FA Cup and their position at the top of the League had become unassailable. 

Aston Villa topped the League attendances for 6 seasons from 1899-1904 (displacing Everton, who had been top for the first 10 seasons of League Football, firstly at Anfield and then at Goodison).  

Season	Average
1898-99	23,045
1899-1900	18,765
1900-01	17,530
1901-02	19,580
1902-03	19,790
1903-04	20,035

1898-99 was the first time that any club had enjoyed an average attendance in excess of 20,000.

The new stadium at Aston Lower Grounds had more to recommend it than just accommodation for large numbers of spectators. Here we see Howard Spencer, the Prince of fullbacks (also England captain), enjoying the therapeutic benefits of an individual hot bath. The photographer was former Villa player Albert Wilkes who specialized in football subjects. 

Yorkshire

February 3, 2017, 8:49 am

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The Wednesday, 1892

Huddersfield Town, 1910

Middlesbrough, 1910

Sheffield United, 1915

Leeds United, 1934

Bradford (Park Avenue), 1914

Apart from the city of Sheffield, Yorkshire was Rugby country. Professional Association teams began to emerge at the turn of the century, but public interest largely remained with Rugby. This is illustrated by the relative attendances in Huddersfield as late as 1919. Town's average attendance was around 4,000 whilst the Rugby club drew crowds of 10,000.
Sheffield of course held a  special place in the development of organised football (pre dating Association), and the emergence of 2 great clubs was a reflection of the huge popularity of the Association game in the city when the rules had effectively become unified.
Let's look at the League careers of the Yorkshire based clubs in the pre 1937 era:

SEASON	Div 1.		Div 2.
92-93	The Wednesday (12)		Sheffield United (2)
93-94	Sheffield United (10) The Wednesday (12)		Middlesbrough Ironopolis (11) Rotherham Town (14)
94-95	Sheffield United (6) The Wednesday (8)		Rotherham Town (12)
95-96	The Wednesday (7) * Sheffield United (12)		Rotherham Town (15)
96-97	Sheffield United (2) The Wednesday (6)
97-98	Sheffield United (1) The Wednesday (5)
98-99	Sheffield United (16) *  The Wednesday (18)		Barnsley (11)
1899-1900	Sheffield United (2)		The Wednesday (1) Middlesbrough (14) Barnsley (16)
1900-01	The Wednesday (8) Sheffield United (14)		Middlesbrough (6) Barnsley (15)
01-02	The Wednesday (9) Sheffield United (10) *		Middlesbrough (2) Doncaster Rovers (7) Barnsley (11)
02-03	The Wednesday (1) Sheffield United (4) Middlesbrough (13)		Barnsley (8) Doncaster Rovers (16)
03-04	The Wednesday (1) Sheffield United (7) Middlesbrough (10)		Barnsley (8) Bradford City (10)
04-05	Sheffield United (6) The Wednesday (9) Middlesbrough (15)		Barnsley (7) Bradford City (8) Doncaster Rovers (18)
05-06	The Wednesday (3) Sheffield United (13) Middlesbrough (18)		Leeds City (5) Hull City (6) Barnsley (11) Bradford City (12)
06-07	Sheffield United (4) Middlesbrough (11) The Wednesday (13) *		Bradford City (5) Barnsley (7) Hull City (9) Leeds City (10)
07-08	The Wednesday (5) Middlesbrough (6) Sheffield United (17)		Bradford City (1) Hull City (8) Leeds City (12) Barnsley (16)
08-09	The Wednesday (5) Middlesbrough (9) Sheffield United (12) Bradford City (18)		Hull City (4) Leeds City (12) Bradford Park Avenue (16) Barnsley (17)
09-10	Sheffield United (6) Bradford City (7) The Wednesday (11) Middlesbrough (17)		Hull City (4) Barnsley (9) Bradford Park Avenue (10) Leeds City (17)
10-11	Bradford City (5) * The Wednesday (6) Sheffield United (9) Middlesbrough (16)		Hull City (5) Leeds City (11) Bradford Park Avenue (12) Huddersfield Town (13) Barnsley (19)
11-12	The Wednesday (5) Middlesbrough (7) Bradford City (11) Sheffield United (14)		Barnsley (6) * Hull City (7) Bradford Park Avenue (11) Huddersfield Town (17) Leeds City (19)
12-13	The Wednesday (3) Bradford City (13) Sheffield United (15) Middlesbrough (16)		Barnsley (4) Huddersfield Town (5) Leeds City (6) Hull City (12) Bradford Park Avenue (13)
13-14	Middlesbrough (3) Bradford City (9) Sheffield United (10) The Wednesday (18)		Bradford Park Avenue (2) Leeds City (4) Barnsley (5) Hull City (7) Huddersfield Town (13)
14-15	Sheffield United (6) * The Wednesday (7) Bradford Park Avenue (9) Bradford City (11) Middlesbrough (12)		Barnsley (3) Hull City (7) Huddersfield Town (8) Leeds City (15)
19-20	Bradford Park Avenue (11) Middlesbrough (13) Sheffield United (14) Bradford City (15) The Wednesday (22)		Huddersfield Town (2) Hull City (11) Barnsley (12) Rotherham County (17)
20-21	Middlesbrough (8) Bradford City (15) Huddersfield Town (17) Sheffield United (20) Bradford Park Avenue (22)		The Wednesday (10) Hull City (13) Leeds United (14) Barnsley (16) Rotherham County (19)
21-22	Middlesbrough (8) Sheffield United (11) Huddersfield Town (14) * Bradford City (21)	Barnsley (3) Hull City (5) Leeds United (8) The Wednesday (10) Rotherham County (16) Bradford Park Avenue (21)		Div. 3N
				Halifax Town (19)
22-23	Huddersfield Town (3) Sheffield United (10) Middlesbrough (18)	Leeds United (7) The Wednesday (8) Barnsley (9) Hull City (12) Bradford City (15) Rotherham County (21)		Bradford Park Avenue (2) Halifax Town (7)
23-24	Huddersfield Town (1) Sheffield United (5) Middlesbrough (22)	Leeds United (1) The Wednesday (8) Barnsley (11) Hull City (17) Bradford City (18)		Rotherham County (4) Bradford Park Avenue (5) Doncaster Rovers (9) Halifax Town (14)
24-25	Huddersfield Town (1) Sheffield United (14) * Leeds United (18)	Hull City (10) Middlesbrough (13) The Wednesday (14) Barnsley (15) Bradford City (16)		Bradford Park Avenue (5) Halifax Town (9) Doncaster Rovers (18) Rotherham County (22)
25-26	Huddersfield Town (1) Sheffield United (5) Leeds United (19)	The Wednesday (1) Middlesbrough (9) Hull City (13) Bradford City (16) Barnsley (18)		Bradford Park Avenue (2) Halifax Town (5) Doncaster Rovers (10) Rotherham United (14)
26-27	Huddersfield Town (2) Sheffield United (8) The Wednesday (16) Leeds United (21)	Middlesbrough (1) Hull City (7) Barnsley (11) Bradford City (22)		Bradford Park Avenue (3) Halifax Town (4) Doncaster Rovers (8) Rotherham United (19)
27-28	Huddersfield Town (2) Sheffield United (13) The Wednesday (14) Middlesbrough (22)	Leeds United (2) Barnsley (13) Hull City (14)		Bradford Park Avenue (1) Doncaster Rovers (4) Bradford City (6) Halifax Town (12) Rotherham United (14)
28-29	The Wednesday (1) Sheffield United (11) Leeds United (13) Huddersfield Town (16)	Middlesbrough (1) Bradford Park Avenue (3) Hull City (12) Barnsley (16)		Bradford City (1) Doncaster Rovers (5) Halifax Town (13) Rotherham United (16)
29-30	Sheffield Wednesday (1) Leeds United (5) Huddersfield Town (10) Middlesbrough (16) Sheffield United (20)	Bradford Park Avenue (4) Barnsley (17) Bradford City (18) Hull City (21)		York City (6) Doncaster Rovers (14) Rotherham United (20) Halifax Town (21)
30-31	Sheffield Wednesday (3) Huddersfield Town (5) Middlesbrough (7) Sheffield United (15) Leeds United (21)	Bradford City (6) Bradford Park Avenue (10) Barnsley (19)		Hull City (6) York City (11) Rotherham United (14) Doncaster Rovers (15) Halifax Town (17)
31-32	Sheffield Wednesday (3) Huddersfield Town (4) Sheffield United (7) Middlesbrough (18)	Leeds United (2) Bradford Park Avenue (6) Bradford City (7) Barnsley (21)		Hull City (8) York City (9) Doncaster Rovers (15) Halifax Town (17) Rotherham United (19)
32-33	Sheffield Wednesday (3) Huddersfield Town (6) Leeds United (8) Sheffield United (10) Middlesbrough (17)	Bradford Park Avenue (8) Bradford City (11)		Hull City (1) Doncaster Rovers (6) Barnsley (8) Halifax Town (15) Rotherham United (17) York City (20)
33-34	Huddersfield Town (2) Leeds United (9) Sheffield Wednesday (11) Middlesbrough (16) Sheffield United (22)	Bradford Park Avenue (5) Bradford City (6) Hull City (15)		Barnsley (1) Doncaster Rovers (5) Halifax Town (9) York City (12) Rotherham United (21)
34-35	Sheffield Wednesday (3) * Huddersfield Town (16) Leeds United (18) Middlesbrough (20)	Sheffield United (11) Hull City (13) Bradford Park Avenue (15) Barnsley (16) Bradford City (20)		Doncaster Rovers (1) Halifax Town (2) Rotherham United (9) York City (15)
35-36	Huddersfield Town (3) Leeds United (11) Middlesbrough (14) Sheffield Wednesday (20)	Sheffield United (3) Bradford City (12) Bradford Park Avenue (16) Doncaster Rovers (18) Barnsley (20) Hull City (22)		Rotherham United (11) York City (16) Halifax Town (17)
36-37	Middlesbrough (7) Huddersfield Town (15) Leeds United (19) Sheffield Wednesday (22)	Sheffield United (7) Barnsley (14) Bradford Park Avenue (20) Bradford City (21) Doncaster Rovers (22)		Hull City (5) Halifax Town (7) York City (12) Rotherham United (17)

League Championships	Wednesday (4) Huddersfield Town (3) Sheffield United (1)
Average Division 1 position	Huddersfield Town 6.9 Wednesday 8.5 Sheffield United 10.2 Bradford City 12.5 Middlesbrough 13.11 Leeds United 14.7 Bradford Park Avenue 14
Most seasons in Division 1	Sheffield United (37) Wednesday (34) Middlesbrough (26) Huddersfield Town (17) Leeds United (11) Bradford City (10) Bradford Park Avenue (3)
FA Cup Wins	Sheffield United (4) Wednesday (3) Huddersfield Town Bradford City Barnsley

Sparta Prague 60 games unbeaten

February 5, 2017, 10:23 am

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There's been a lot in the press recently about League of Wales team The New Saints beating Ajax's record of most successive league wins (27 matches). In the period 1919-23 Sparta Prague recorded a 60 game unbeaten run.
Having lost 2-1 at home to Union Žižkov in the second match of the 1919 season, Sparta won 9 games in a row to claim the Championship of the Czech Association of Football.
They were unbeaten for 2 seasons in the Mistrovství Středočeské župy and then for a further 2 seasons in the Championship of the Czech Association of Football.

Season	P	W	D	L	F	A
1919	8	7	0	1	25	3
Play offs	3	3	0	0	17	0
1920	11	11	0	0	37	6
1921	11	11	0	0	48	8
1922	13	13	0	0	51	12
Play offs	1	1	0	0	7	0
1923	15	15	0	0	94	17

1923

http://gottfriedfuchs.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/zelezna-sparta.html

Men v Boys

February 6, 2017, 1:13 pm

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A remarkable photograph.
Internazionale claimed their first championship title on 24-04-1910. They did so with a 10-3 victory over a Pro Vercelli reserve team made up of youths reportedly aged 11-15. The 2 had finished level on points at the end of the league programme. F.I.G.C.had refused to reschedule the play off, which clashed with Pro Vercelli's prior arrangement to play in a tournament. Pro Vercelli's response was to field the youth side, who reportedly indulged in some dirty play.
 In the regular season Pro Vercelli had beaten Inter 4-1 in Milan, whilst Inter had won the return 2-1.

Major trophy wins by region

February 8, 2017, 11:21 am

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London was the dominant region in football until the advent of professionalism.
The North and the Midlands then dominated the game.
After Blackburn Olympic's triumph in 1883 no southern team would win the  FA Cup  until 1901.
It was 54 years before a southern team won the First Division championship.
For the purpose of this post I have divided England into 5 broad areas:

The South
Lancashire
North East
Yorkshire
Midlands

And the period under consideration, from the introduction of competitive football in 1872 up until 1937, I have divided into the pre Football League era and the Football League era.

Pre Football League era 1872-1888

FA Cup winners:
The South- 11*
Lancashire-  4
Midlands-  2

* From 1872-1883 the FA Cup was won exclusively by southern teams. 

The Football League Era 1888-1937

FA Cup Winners:
Lancashire- 15
Yorkshire -10
Midlands-10
North East -4**
The South -4
Wales -1

Football League Champions:
Lancashire-16
North East -9**
Yorkshire-8
Midlands- 7
The South -4*

*Exclusively Arsenal- it was 54 years before a southern team won the First Division championship
** Although the North east is traditionally a football heartland, only Newcastle United and Sunderland have won major honours.


FA Cup winners
Football League Champions

Season	Lancashire	Midlands	North East	Yorkshire	The South
72					Wanderers
73					Wanderers
74					Oxford University
75					Royal Engineers
76					Wanderers
77					Wanderers
78					Wanderers
79					Old Etonians
80					Clapham Rovers
81					Old Carthusians
82					Old Etonians
83	Blackburn Olympic
84	Blackburn Rovers
85	Blackburn Rovers
86	Blackburn Rovers
87		Aston Villa
88		West Bromwich Albion
88-89	Preston North End Preston North End
89-90	Preston North End Blackburn Rovers
90-91	Everton Blackburn Rovers
91-92		West Bromwich Albion	Sunderland
92-93		Wolverhampton Wanderers	Sunderland
93-94		Aston Villa Notts County
94-95		Aston Villa	Sunderland
95-96		Aston Villa		The Wednesday
96-97		Aston Villa Aston Villa
97-98		Nottingham Forest		Sheffield United
98-99		Aston Villa		Sheffield United
1899-1900	Bury	Aston Villa
1900-01	Liverpool				Tottenham Hotspur
01-02			Sunderland	Sheffield United
02-03	Bury			The Wednesday
03-04	Manchester City			The Wednesday
04-05		Aston Villa	Newcastle United
05-06	Liverpool Everton
06-07			Newcastle United	The Wednesday
07-08	Manchester United	Wolverhampton Wanderers
08-09	Manchester United		Newcastle United
09-10		Aston Villa	Newcastle United
10-11	Manchester United			Bradford City
11-12	Blackburn Rovers			Barnsley
12-13		Aston Villa	Sunderland
13-14	Blackburn Rovers Burnley
14-15	Everton			Sheffield United
19-20		West Bromwich Albion Aston Villa
20-21	Burnley				Tottenham Hotspur
21-22	Liverpool			Huddersfield Town
22-23	Liverpool Bolton Wanderers
23-24			Newcastle United	Huddersfield Town
24-25				Huddersfield Town
25-26	Bolton Wanderers			Huddersfield Town
26-27			Newcastle United		Cardiff City*
27-28	Everton Blackburn Rovers
28-29	Bolton Wanderers			The Wednesday
29-30				Sheffield Wednesday	Arsenal
30-31		West Bromwich Albion			Arsenal
31-32	Everton		Newcastle United
32-33	Everton				Arsenal
33-34	Manchester City				Arsenal
34-35				Sheffield Wednesday	Arsenal
35-36			Sunderland		Arsenal
36-37	Manchester City		Sunderland

* Wales