Month: May 2007

I’d like to thank Tiberius Gracchus of Westminster Wisdom for his permission to post this article, first published at Bits of News on 14th May. The Last Day in the Premiership The last day of the Premiership was awaited with anticipation. Most of the issues at the top of the table had been decided when…

I’d like to thank Tiberius Gracchus of Westminster Wisdom for his permission to post this article, first published at Bits of News on 29th April. The Story of Leeds United Yesterday was one of the darkest days in the history of one of England’s most famous and most successful football clubs. Leeds United were relegated…

Here is Pathe’s unusually well-filmed coverage of the 1949 FA Cup Final, which Wolves carried 3-1 over Second Division opposition. Leicester have a goal controversially disallowed in the second half. This film is unusual for the time in that it’s possible to see enough of the players’ skills to relate them to what you’ll see…

At the start of the 06-07 season, I made two predictions that proved completely wrong. According to my crystal ball, Aidy Boothroyd, a manager for the future, would keep Watford up, and Keane, another manager for the future, would prove to have chosen the wrong level of club for his first job and would be…

Today’s FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Chelsea shares a billing with the whole of the season: can “yesterday’s manager” beat out his younger rival? And that, what with the amount of money that’s in the top part of the game these days, is felt to be symptomatic of where things are going. Each…

Not the story behind a title-winning season – I do mean beneath. In 1974-5 Rangers were beginning to crack Celtic’s long dominance of the Scottish scene. Here’s what was going on underneath Ibrox at the time: Underneath Glasgow/Ibrox More underneath Glasgow/Ibrox The new Life On Mars series will be set in London. I can’t help…

From Leo McKinstry’s excellent biography of Geoff Boycott, Boycs: Like most top sportsmen, who live by competition and individualism, Boycott’s political views are firmly on the right. Indeed, he could almost be described as the identikit Thatcherite, the miner’s son who built his own fortune through diligence and hard-nosed professionalism. However, though he might be…

Courtesy of The Sixth Day Is For Football, this film of the 1974 Holland of Cruyff, Rep and co., passing the ball around the legs of bemused Argentinians. One of these sides would go on to be World Champions in only a few short years’ time. Before Pele pointed it out, it’s unclear whether anyone…

One reason why film of football prior to the 1960s is so consistently awful is that the Football League wanted it that way. At the outbreak of World War II, most clubs kept their season ticket receipts despite fans taking them to court (as we’ll see in a forthcoming short film here). After the War,…

London: if anyone is interested in catching the Champions League Final on the evening of Wednesday 23rd May, please indicate in comments. My first thoughts as to location are (a) The Flask, Flask Walk, Hampstead; (b) The Cardinal, 23 St Francis Street (near Victoria Station) both of which should be showing the game. I don’t…