EVERTON and Tottenham fought-out an exciting FA Cup fith round tie this week, with the Toffees winning by the odd goal in nine. It has been 26 years since Everton lifted a trophy, 33 since the league title last ended up at Goodison Park. Having made it to the last eight, the blue half of […]
A NUMBER of top managers have questioned the logic behind continuing top level football as a new, more lethal, variant of the covid virus sweeps Britain and is now impacting the game. The recent FA Cup ties involving Aston Villa and Derby County featured well below full strength line-ups due to players being infected with […]
WHEN the year ends with a “1”, Tottenham win things. That’s the old adage, one that may have run its course, although in 2021, it could ring true once more. Almost one hundred years ago, Tottenham won their second FA Cup, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge in the final. It was the high point […]
WHAT A ridiculous situation this season’s FA Cup is. The second qualifying round brought us many ties involving step two teams from the non-league world. But in this confusing world of the pandemic, step two clubs cannot admit supporters to their grounds. Somebody needs to tell the authorities that most non-league clubs play in front […]
FOOTBALL is back in Europe, with the Bundesliga kicking off in empty stadiums and players acknowledging goals with a grin, a mannekin-like pose and not a hint of schadenfreude. Rout in the Ruhr The world’s biggest crowd-puller, Borussia Dortmund (average gate 80,000-plus), opened the restart in a near empty Signal Iduna Park. The absence of […]
TO THE outside world, Leatherhead’s FA Cup run of 1974/75 might have looked like an ‘overnight success’. Indeed, the club had never previously reached the first round proper of the competition, much less the heights of the fourth round and the “Leicester game”. In our latest Guest Slot, Kevin Parrott recalls one of the mid-1970s […]
IF Chelsea had not got off to a miserable start in 1969-70, they may well have gone much closer to winning the Football League instead of their first FA Cup. Not that the Cup was a consolation, because in 1970, it really meant something and for the Blues, it was their first ever FA Cup […]
FOOTBALL dramas rarely hit the spot and unfortunately, Netflix’s The English Game did little to satisfy fans’ craving for action while the world’s most popular sport is suspended until further notice. As lightweight afternoon drama, it made a nice change from watching funeral plan advertisements and over-50s insurance, and it looked pretty good aesthetically, but […]
MORE THAN 18 years ago, Jeff Astle, a member of England’s 1970 World Cup squad and a prolific goalscorer in the late 1960s and early 1970s for West Bromwich Albion, died. Astle’s passing was greatly mourned, because not only was he a notable and popular player, but there was a hint that Astle’s death had […]
