When Leeds United were relegated to League 1 in the season of 2006/2007, many fans and pundits thought that they would bounce straight back up into the Championship. However as it proved with Nottingham Forest, League 1 is tougher than most teams think.
For Leeds the points deduction which was hurled at them in the 2007/2008 season, didn’t take drastic affect. That season Leeds climbed the League 1 table and ended up in the play-offs with 76 points. The season ended as Swansea and Nottingham Forest took the two automatic promotion …

A lion never dies.
Displaying this simple message was a banner hanging on the wall of Notre Dame des Victoires cathedral, in Yaounde, Cameroon, on 7th July 2003. The day that Cameroon footballer Marc Vivien Foe was laid to rest in his place of birth following his death 11 days previous, aged only 28.

Tributes to Foe at both his funeral and a memorial at Maine Road

 
Cameroon were 1-0 up against Columbia during the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup. In the 72nd minute, Foe collapsed. After attempts to resuscitate him on field …

Football is, nay, was a working class game. The crowd was mostly made up of working class men, watching footballers they could identify and empathize with. Games were a mass gathering of similarly minded people, enjoying a sport that was not dominated by money, unlike their lives which were dictated by the upper classes and their swelling money-bags. Football’s not like that anymore, it’s not been like that for a very long time, and the players, managers and crowds have changed. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, all seater stadia …

It was a windless Saturday when 80,000 fans gathered at Ibrox Stadium to watch an Old Firm derby on the 5th September 1931. Rangers were attempting to equal Celtic’s unprecedented record of six titles in a row. The Hoops had started the season well and were eager to prevent Rangers domination from continuing. However, it was for much more serious reasons that this game was written into Celtic folklore.

Five minutes after the interval with the match still scoreless, Davie Meiklejohn of Rangers attacked and laid the ball off to Jimmy …

As legendary manager Bill Shankly once famously remarked, “Some people believe football is a matter of life or death.
“I am very disappointed with that attitude – I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”
Shankly’s words are now routinely regurtitated whenever a tragedy strikes the game. They were used when 96 fans of Liverpool perished in the Hillsborough disaster, and when Marc-Vivien Foe died on the pitch at the African Cup of Nations.
Football is not a matter of life or death – it is, after all, just …

When Rochdale hosted Oldham Athletic in a pre-season friendly in 2003, nobody could predict the effect a Latics player would have on both clubs. With the visitors stuggling for cash, they fielded a team mainly consisting of YTS players and trialists. One such trialist was Ernie Cooksey, a 24 year old utility player on trial from Crawley Town.
A few things made Ernie stand out from the crowd. Firstly, the fact that his bald head and general appearence defied his true age. However secondly, and more importantly, his willingness to chase …

Lionel Pickering was born on 4th December 1932 in Derby; he was a Derby County fan from an early age and was one of the lucky ones who was able to go on and to get the top job at the club he loved.
Before he became a majority shareholder in 1991 Lionel was actually banned from attending matches at the Baseball Ground by Brian Clough and then Robert Maxwell! Clough took issue with comments in Pickering’s publication the Derby Trader and Maxwell didn’t like Pickering trying to oust him as …

A mixture of arrogance, initiative, bombast and generosity, Brian Clough was one of the biggest and most memorable characters in the history of football.
As a manager, he won the European Cup in successive years with Nottingham Forest and turned Derby County into a title winning team. At the same time, he is well renowned for his inability to win the coveted England role he craved and his spectacular high profile failure at Leeds United, which has recently been adapted into a film called The Damned United.

Many great managers have come …

Five Matches To Catch
Blackburn v Aston Villa
Blackburn haven’t made the best of starts to the Premier League season, as they currently sit in 18th place in the Premiership. Blackburn has only won one game in the League this season, as they beat Wolves 3-1 at Ewood Park. Benni McCarthy could well earn himself a recall after scoring in the Carling Cup in midweek. Blackburn’s defence looks quite strong on paper, with the likes of Samba, Nelsen and Givet packing it; however it has been shedding too many goals.
For Aston Villa …

Burnley FC are back in the top flight of English Football, and it’s safe to say they are doing impressively well in the first two months of the Premier League season.
Burnley are currently 9th in the League only two places behind Arsenal. However the question is can Burnley stay in the top 10 for most of the season? Hull started well last year however they faded away dramatically and nearly got relegated in the end.
However going back about four to five seasons ago Wigan Athletic came up from The Championship and finished in an …