LONDON’s top clubs had a mixed start to the 1971-72 season. Not everyone was surprised, however, for despite the capital city scooping all the domestic prizes and a European trophy, the football establishment still looked to the north of England as the hub of the game in the early 1970s. “I wonder sometimes if the […]
Tag: Stoke City
1971: Geoffrey and Gordon
ONE OF the privileges of being born in the late 1950s was that your formative years, from a footballing perspective, were the late 1960s and early 1970s. This was a great time for English football as the nation basked in the glow of World Cup 1966. As the passage of time moves on, and history […]
Football Read Review: Played-out ballet
JUST before Christmas, I spotted former Chelsea star Alan Hudson outside Fulham Broadway station selling his biography on a stall. I was a little shocked by seeing this rather forlorn figure hawking his book in this way, but if you read his story, you’ll understand that Hudson’s life has not worked out quite like […]
Great Reputations: Stoke City 1972-1975 – Clued-up with Mr Waddington and Mr Hudson
ACCORDING TO Deloitte, Stoke City are among the top 30 football clubs, bigger than the likes of Ajax Amsterdam, four times European champions. Of course, this is attributable to the remarkable level of wealth that exists in the English Premier League rather than Stoke’s success on the field of play. Although one of the founding […]
The Pulis style is stoking up debate
Stoke City and Sunderland bored the pants off 27,000 people this weekend and even the locals look fed-up with the way Tony Pulis’ side is plying its trade these days. I have to admit to being a little biased against Stoke. I witnessed their supporters in action at the 2011 FA Cup final, where neutral […]