footyfrenzy's Blog

 

The making and success of Wigan Athletic Football Club was the direct consequence of Wigan Borough’s failure as a football team in 1931. When the Great Depression struck in the 1930’s it came as no surprise that Wigan Borough had hit hard times and could no longer support the financial demands in running and operating a Football Club and like several other teams before them who attempted this similar act, closure swiftly engulfed the club. There was no financial gifts or help and when players weren’t been paid they had to seek other employment to feed their families and survive the tough times. So for Wigan Athletic FC to form but also to endure this hard period and succeed where many before had failed deserves credit.   With Springfield Park no longer in use by the now bankrupt Borough’s Club, Wigan Athletic purchased the ground. At this time they played football in the Cheshire County League but it was in the 1934 FA Cup first round when they met and beat Carlisle United 6-1 who incidentally were a Football League side that the club came to the attention of the football community. This record score for a none league side to dish out a humiliating defeat to a league side remained until 1955.   In 1978 luck fell at their side when they won enough votes to compete in the Football League even though Boston United finished top of the Northern Premier League and were favourites to win the vote. This was partially due to Springfield Park been seen by voting members as a more suitable stadium. Automatic promotion to the Football League wasn’t incorporated until 1987.   They managed to finish just 6 points off promotion in their opening season but it wasn’t until 1981/2 season under the gifts of ex Liverpool player Larry Lloyd and accumulating 91 points that Wigan moved up to Division 3. The club found its self in deeper water and making progress wasn’t forthcoming. Lloyd’s enthusiasm and commitment did not bring the results the club craved for and he was replaced in 1983 by Harry McNally.  The club still struggled but kept their place safe in Division 3 but that’s alls they really did achieve under McNally. His intention for Wigan was to bring genuinely good things for the future but he also became an ex manager. Then the gifts of Irishman Bryan Hamilton came into play and with it more substantial results for Wigan. The clubs first silverware was added when they won The Freight Rover Trophy which gave the club a much needed confidence boost and the 1985/86 season saw their form reach a higher level when they finished impressively fourth in the league. Hamilton had worked wonders in invigorating Wigan Athletic, so much so that other clubs were showing an interest in his football gifts. One in particular came from Leicester and with been a Division 1 club the appeal for Hamilton was too great to refuse and sadly for Wigan he left.   However, the good times were gradually coming to a halt and for the latter parts of the 80’s and early 90’s Wigan’s performance on the pitch became diabolical which added to the knock on effect of poor attendances. Many of Wigan’s games could not attract more than a couple of thousand people at home which in turn created a detrimental situation on assets.   1995 saw local businessman and ex football player Dave Whelan buy the club and vowed to have Wigan playing in the Premiership. His gifts and influence were put to use almost straight away when he brought in three Spanish players who would become known as the three amigos. The current manager Graham Barrow was sacked and John Deehan was put in charge. The idea appeared to have the desired affect when the club ended the season just 2 points away from a play-off place. Another year would soon come to pass and with it Wigan were crowned champions of Division 3. The football gifts of Graeme Jones had been a much welcomed help with his 31 league goals. 1999 the club added other silverware under veteran Wigan manager Ray Mathias when they beat Millwall 1-0 at Wembley to lift Auto Windscreens Shield. Harshly, Mathias was sacked when they lost to Manchester City in the play-offs but the pressure from Whelan was colossal to succeed.   The 2002/03 season saw the club move one step closer to their Premiership dreams when they finished top of the tables in Division 2 under another manager and ex Wigan player Paul Jewell. The new manager’s gifts put the Latics in finer form in the 2004/05 season. On the verge of Premiership status they required a draw on their last game at the JJB Stadium against Reading. The 3-1 win was more than enough to see Wigan win promotion and play in the top flight of English football for the first time in their history.   The clubs nail biting opening game against Chelsea looked like a draw would be the outcome but the London club sneaked a last minute goal. They held their own in the Premiership and for a short while were 2nd in the league. Over-all Wigan did exceptional in their debut participation and silenced their sceptics with a mid table finish.   Dave Whelan’s statement many years before and the belief and determination to see it through had been realized. Newspapers and the media thought and wrote how ridiculous this notion to be at the time.   Steve Bruce made a return to the club in the 2007/08 season after Chris Hutchings was dismissed by Whelan for the clubs poor performance and putting them in danger of relegation. Bruce’s football gifts did settle the Latics down and saw them climb out of the table’s bottom positions, plus held Liverpool to a draw at Anfield. Respectable signings were made with the likes of Lee Cattermole for £3.5 million from Middlesbrough and Amr Zaki, the Egyptian striker. When the manager’s role at Sunderland came vacant, Bruce left Wigan yet again and later, so did Cattermole.   Spaniard Robert Martinez and former Wigan player joined the Latics as manager for the start of the 2009/10 season. They did get off to a bumpy start but did manage to beat Chelsea 3-1.

In 1878 at Newton Heath, Manchester, once farmlands that turned to the industrial revolution in keeping with the times, railway men and like many formed their own football teams. Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway FC or Newton Heath L&YR FC was the beginning of a rather special moment in English football history. Their first playing ground, which in fact was nothing more than a field on North Road and shared with local cricketers before acquiring a more stadium like venue 15 years later at Baker Street, Clayton. 1 year prior to this, the club had signed up for the Football League and had amended their name to the shorter, Newton Heath FC. What was adverse for the club in 1902 and very much could have been the end was the debt they seemed to accumulate. It is believed that bailiffs closed the Baker Street ground until the some of £2.500 was paid. There is a congenial story connected to this but how factual it is remains unclear. The club captain, Harry Stafford, apparently attending a fundraiser with his St. Bernard dog was asked by a gentleman named John Henry Davies, a wealthy brewery owner, if he cared to sell the animal. Stafford refused the offer but then took the conversation to the subject of Newton Heath and the problems it faced. Regardless of how true this is, what is true is Davies did become chairmen after making a large financial donation. Davis changed the colours of Newton Heath from green and gold to red and white and furthermore decided on a new name, Manchester United FC.

  The clubs first few seasons were spent in Division 2 but they always managed to finish in the tables top half. In 1904 and for a record transfer fee at the time for United they signed the football gifts of Charlie Roberts for £750 from Grimsby Town. Roberts did have an impact on the club when in the following season they finished second and got their promotion to Division 1. Other players United signed were detrimental to Manchester City been punished for over paying players. Many players were told they could never play for City again. This is where Manchester United seized the moment, buying players like Sandy Turnbull and Billy Meredith. In 1907/08 season United finished 9 points clear of Aston Villa in the tables to win the League. The next season saw the club lift two trophies – Charity Shield and later but bigger the FA Cup. They did lift the League title again in 1910/11 season but this is where the club just lost some of its finesse. United had one last move to make during this time, to their final home – Old Trafford.   In 1945, United’s manager’s role became available and who better to fill that slot than the football gifts of Alexander Matthew Busby better known as Matt Busby, who at the time was assistant coach at Liverpool FC. Busby was a Scottish football player who incidentally also played for United’s biggest rivals Manchester City. Before Busby accepted the job, he did request some concessions from the board at Manchester to minimise interference from them and several were granted which consisted of, Busby choosing the squad, training sessions and the signing of new players. Oddly, Busby first signing was ex football player Jimmy Murphy but his role would not be on the pitch but as Busby’s assistant. This came about when Busby heard Murphy giving a speech on football to a group of soldiers and was obviously impressed enough to offer him a job. Busby brought to the club great players and local lads like Jack Rowley and Stan Pearson who helped United finish 2nd in the tables for 3 years on the trot. In 1948 Busby, lead United to FA Cup victory beating Blackpool 4-2. One of Busby’s successful guiding principles was to get more youth players on board and even though this took time to employ, the rewards were massively beneficial in the long run. Busby’s babes as they came to be known consisted of fantastic talents such as Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton and Roger Byrne.   In 1958, a catastrophe accident shook not just football but also the world when flight 609 crashed during take off with 44 people onboard. In total 23 people lost, their life’s and 8 of these were members of the Busby babes. Duncan Edwards was one of the fatalities; he died 14 days later in hospital through his injuries. Many hold the belief that if given the chance, Edwards would have been the best footballer in the world. The other players along with him were Liam Whelan , Tommy Taylor , David Pegg , Mark Jones , Eddie Colman , Roger Byrne and Geoff Bent.   With Busby recovering from his injuries, Jimmy Murphy became acting manager. In spite of playing with lesser skilled players, the United team adapted and reached the FA Cup final but sadly lost to Bolton Wanderers 2-0.   When Busby returned to the club, he had to assemble a new squad to try and recreate the desperately missed skills of those individuals that had now gone. Having gone through this ordeal most managers would not have had the resolute to of stepped inside another dressing room but with Busby the show must gone on. His task started with signings such as Pat Crerand, Denis Law and a young Irish lad named George Best. The latter was discovered by United scout Bob Bishop when best was 15 years old. Bishop sent Busby a telegram from Northern Ireland, in it, it read,” I think I’ve found you a genius.”  Football gifts like Best do not come along to often. He had it all in terms of pace, skill in his ability to out manoeuvre the finest defenders – one way then another with the ball glue liked to his feet; a joy to watch. The results that Busby wished for were not so imminent in returning but they did finally reveal a light at the end of the tunnel in 1963 when United won the FA Cup beating Leicester City 3-1. Then in 1965 and 1967, Busby’s United won the League Title and then the European Cup in 1968, making the United the first English club to win the competition. Busby had accomplished what he had set out to do and in 1969, he stepped down as United’s manager. He did however return for a short spell but that was the last whistle for him. Currently Matt Busby is still the longest serving manager of Manchester United FC.   In the late 60’s and 70’s with many of the clubs top players leaving, saw that once bright light of United now starting to fade. United saw Several managers including Wilf McGuinness, Frank O’Farrell, Tommy Docherty axed, and Dave sexton who became another statistic before been sacked by the board. 1981 the colourful Ron Atkinson was given the chance to shine at Old Trafford and he did just that. Getting football gifts like Bryan Robson on board, one of the best midfielder’s English football has seen plus Paul McGrath and Gordon Strachan, Atkinson soon established a new stronger United that had disappeared for a long time. Within 3 years, the club was back on form, winning the FA Cup in 1983 and 1985 and were front-runners to take the League title in 1985/86 season. What happened though was the complete opposite as they ended the season unexpectedly in 4th position. The season after could not have got much worse but it did and United found themselves in the bottom half of the tables and forever drifting closer to relegation. The board had seen enough and Atkinson was promptly replaced by Alex Ferguson from Aberdeen in 1986.   If Ferguson was looking for the best of starts out of the blocks, managing United, he certainly did not get it. For the first 3½ years, Ferguson had produced nothing that special and early on in the 1990 season, the feeling at Old Trafford was that a dismissal was looming. The sudden change in attitude came when they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley then in 1991 the squad brought back to Old Trafford the Cup Winners Cup, beating Barcelona 2-1. They had another invite to Wembley in 1992 for the League Cup final against Nottingham Forrest and walked away the winners with a 1-0 victory.   Behind the scenes, the club needed to generate cash and the board decided to float United on the stock market, which raised £47 million. This extra money paved the way for signings such as Leeds United, Frenchman Eric Cantona who had great charisma on the pitch and the awesome talented, football gifts of Danish keeper Peter Schmeichel. Later came the ear-splitting Roy Keane from Nottingham Forrest.   In 1995, saw a British record transfer fee of £6 million for Newcastle United’s Andy Cole. United wrote one in the history books by becoming the first English club to have won the Double twice. More youth players were entering the squad like David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers with other players such as Paul Ince and Mark Hughes been sold on to various clubs.   No English club had ever won the treble but United changed that and rewrote the history pages yet again in the 1998/99 season. This period is probably noted as the clubs pinnacle point in terms of success. First, they wrapped up the Premier League title then with goals from Scholes and Sheringham they added the FA Cup beating Newcastle United 2-0. To complete the treble they were up against FC Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League final. The match was played at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. Referee for the game was, Pierluigi Collina, he later revealed, it to be of his most unforgettable matches he had refereed. Throughout the game, United trailed 1-0 and it appeared that the ending was going to be doom and gloom for the English club. Subsequently injury time was added and to the amazement of all watching, United miraculously scored two goals to beat Munich and lift the trophy. This game is considered to be of the best comebacks in the game of football. The Munich players could do nothing but, and understandably sob on the pitch. Not many clubs in the world could have pulled that out of the bag at exactly the right time. Later and deservingly so, Ferguson was knighted for his services to the game of football.   After that triumph, United were always going to struggle to go one better than the treble. Even with the club topping the Premier League in 2000 and 2001 the silverware just wasn’t flowing. In 2004 they did knockout League Champions Arsenal from the FA Cup and went on to take the trophy beating Millwall 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff with two goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy and one from Cristiano Ronaldo. The club paid £12.24 million for the Portuguese Ronaldo in 2003 after Ferguson became aware of his football gifts. Ronaldo, arrogant and cocky at times was an instant sensation at United with his ability and skill. During this time, American businessman Malcolm Glazer at the despair of fans, brought out shareholders of the club and by 2005 took full control over United, appointing his sons as directors.   The following 2007 season, United were much stronger playing a more attacking game one that they were accustomed to. There were I hopes that the club were on their way to winning another treble, however, United lost to Milan in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The FA Cup was still alive for United and they were favourites to win it but Chelsea denied them that trophy at the new Wembley Stadium beating them 1-0 in extra time.   2008 United had no such rejections when a win over Wigan Athletic crowned them League Champions then defeating Chelsea on penalties gave them their third European Cup. Ryan Giggs was also honoured by breaking Bobby Charlton’s record in making 759appearances for the club. In addition, they also won the FA Community Shield then in December 2008; the FIFA Club World Cup trophy was added thanks to Wayne Rooney scoring the only goal. A couple of months later in 2009 United were League Cup champions and then in May won their 11th Premier League title.   In 2009, Ferguson signed Michael Owen, Gabriel Obertan and Antonio Valencia but in the process had to let go of the football gifts and best footballer in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo for a record transfer fee of £80 million to Real Madrid.  

 

 

On the 14th March 1905 at the public house The Rising Sun – today called The Butchers Hook – on Fulham Road, London, businessman Henry Mears along with others formed a football club and named it, Chelsea. Fulham would have been the ideal title; unfortunately this had already been taken. Prior to this in 1904, Mears had purchased Stamford Bridge Athletics Ground with the intentions of having Football Clubs play their games there, in particularly Fulham, whom declined. With this, Mears decided to create his own football club.   Like countless other clubs, Chelsea attempted to play in the Southern League but with - and no surprise – Fulham and other Clubs objecting they were refused. Friend and colleague of Mears, Fred Parker then applied for Chelsea to play in the Football League. With some good talking and persuasion by Parker to the appropriate individuals Chelsea were acknowledged to the Football League on May 5th 1905.   Scottish football player and manager John Tait Robertson, was employed as Chelsea Manager and wasted no time in searching for talent for the Club, one of these been the huge 6ft 4”, 22 stone, William “Fatty” Foulke who had already tasted success with Sheffield United, winning the FA Cup.   Chelsea did not get off to the best of starts, loosing their first game away against Stockport County 1-0 on the 2nd September 1905. Their first home game though had a sweeter result when they beat Liverpool 4-0. For their first season in the Second Division, they did make a decent challenge and managed to finish third.   In January 1907, Robertson departed for Glossop, a Football Club based in Derbyshire. Behind closed doors, Chelsea’s Board of Directors typically over ruled the Manager on squad setup and players to play; for Robertson and appropriately so that was the role of Manger and his position became untenable. A Mr William Lewis stepped into Robertson’s shoes for a time been. He was Chelsea’s first Club Secretary and started out as a Football Referee. Unexpectedly, Lewis guided Chelsea to promotion at the end of the season, helped by the football gifts and the first player to score 100 goals for the club, George Hilsdon. Lewis was replaced by Chelsea’s longest serving manager, David Calderhead. He served the club for an astonishing 26 years and with such a lengthy spell at Chelsea, there should have been more achievement to his credit. Even his son, David junior spent time at Chelsea as a player while his Father managed. In total Calderhead oversaw Chelsea play in 966 games.   It wasn’t until 1952 that Chelsea started to have an impact on the game under new manager Ted Drake. Drake was an ex footballer himself, starting his career with Southampton but his time at Arsenal is where he acquired his recognition. Unlike his predecessors, Drake felt more at ease kitted out like a player and not as a manger so it was exceptional to see him in a suit. With the old days gone of the Boards interference, Drake set out to improve the club. Ball work was established in training and instead of looking to the big transfer signings more scouts were sent out to find young hungry talent that would bring quality football gifts to Chelsea. And no longer was the Chelsea Pensioner for this was to be replaced by the lion rampant crest. Fans were urged to get behind the club and team in unison. Patience would be required; for it took until the 1954/55 season for things to start to fall into place and Chelsea were beginning to look and feel like a Football Club with ambition. And they were, winning the League title with a close Wolverhampton Wanderers in second place just 4 points behind. What’s more intriguing is that the majority of the Chelsea squad were considered amateurs with the exception of Roy Bentley. It was difficult for Drake to repeat this accomplishment the following season and Chelsea finished in the bottom half of the table. One Football gift to shine through for the club was top goal scorer and club record holder, scoring 41 goals in a season, Jimmy Greaves but he left for AC Milan in 1961. Without his presence and the balls he once netted, Chelsea drifted down the table meaning it was time for a change and Drake was sacked by the Board.   There was little new manager Tom Docherty could do to prevent relegation to Division 2. He tried and tested various techniques and in doing so sold many of the now aging players. Luckily, Chelsea had many up and coming talented youth players who were eager to prove themselves along with other football gifts. These included Ron “Chopper” Harris, Bobby Tambling, Peter Bonetti and Terry Venables all at Docherty’s disposal. With now a rebuilt squad of such talent, Chelsea finished in second place in Division 2 and on their last game embarrassed Portsmouth with a 7-0 win. On their first season back to Division 1 they finished fifth in the table and the season that followed won the League Cup. There trophy cabinet had space for more but Chelsea missed out on the FA Cup to Manchester United. Docherty blew hot and cold and this did cause tension with certain players, especially Terry Venables, one for speaking his mind. Venables later signed to Tottenham Hotspur where by this time his old teammate Jimmy Greaves was. Ironically for Docherty and the club it was Tottenham they played against in the first all London FA Cup final and Chelsea’s first appearance at a Wembley final. Chelsea lost 2-1 and not long after Docherty was sacked.   Chelsea really turned the corner in the mid 90’s. 1996 saw the football gifts of Holland legend, Ruud Gullit takes over as manager from Glenn Hoddle who decided to try his hand managing England, as it happens with not much success. Gullit had instant triumph in his opening season, winning the FA Cup, their first significant trophy for 26 years and finishing sixth in the League, Chelsea’s best position since 1990. Regrettably, in 1998 Gullit was sacked over a contract disagreement with the board. His replacement was 33-year-old Gianluca Vialli and within a short space of time had won the Club 2 trophies, the League Cup and the Cup Winners Cup. In 2000 Vialli, with a quality squad that consisted of Zola, Ed de Goey, Frank Leboeuf and Poyet, lifted the FA Cup with a win against Aston Villa. Then they beat Manchester United 2-0 to add the Charity Shield. Vialli by now became Chelsea’s most successful manager. Bizarrely, Vialli was also sacked by the club in the same season for what must be due to a bad start, loosing 5 games on the bounce.   By 2003 Chelsea were financially in trouble with £80 million worth of debt hanging over their head. Unexpectedly, Ken Bates who brought the Club in 1981 for just a pound sold it to Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich for £60 million, which netted Bates a nice profit. Abramovich, made his masses of wealth through the Russian oil industry, buying it exceptionally cheap then selling it on to international companies. Now the club had no debts and massive funds to buy players like Joe Cole, Geremi, Glen Johnston to name a few.   In 2004/05 season, Abramovich employed the outspoken Jose Mourinho to succeed Ranieri's as manager of Chelsea. Up until his replacement, Ranieri’s had created a number of good results for Chelsea and helped them finish as runners up in the League. It appears somewhat unforgiving the reason he was sacked but changes made to the formation of the squad by Ranieri’s during a semi-final with AC Monaco which Chelsea ultimately lost was enough for Abramovich to have him replaced.   The 2004/05 season was slow off the marks for Mourinho but gradually gained momentum. In the company of football gifts like Lampard, Cole, Arjen Robben, Ricardo Carvalho and Captain John Terry, Chelsea were beginning to win more and more games. In November, they beat Everton placing them top of the table and never really looked back. The outstanding goalkeeping skills of Petr Cech gave him his own Premiership record of 1025 minutes without a goal scored against him. With two goals from Lampard, the match with Bolton Wanderers was over and so was the title race. It had been a long fifty years since their last League Title. In addition, this gave Chelsea the double with their 2-0 win over Liverpool FC earlier in the year. The Club was heading for the treble in the Champions League. In the semi-final, they met old rivals Liverpool again. This time the scouse club had different ideas and Chelsea couldn’t manage the same result they had previously, loosing 1-0 to a Liverpool squad who defensibly were flawless. The season after saw, Chelsea keep hold of their League title and during a visit to Anfield, they unleashed something special on their hosts, in annihilating them 4-1. Manchester United were close on the heels towards the end of season but Chelsea put that to bed at Stamford Bridge, beating United 3-0. Also becoming the only London Club to win two League Titles in consecutive years. Mourinho’s Chelsea certainly became the team to beat around this time.   The following 2006/07 season saw Chelsea just have a slight dip in form but not enough to stop them from winning the League Cup, beating Arsenal 2-1. Manchester United were back on top in the League tables but Chelsea, still in super form went on to win the FA Cup again, beating United 1-0 at the new Wembley Stadium.   By this time, it was common knowledge that Mourinho and Abramovich did not see eye to eye on numerous matters and with Mourinho not one to back down he decided to leave Stamford Bridge in September 2007. This was indeed a sad day for Chelsea Football Club and the millions of fans worldwide. It is widely agreed that Jose Mourinho, whether you love or hate him brought many football gifts to Chelsea and one that will be very difficult to substitute.   Israeli Avram Grant, replaced Jose Mourinho but the club lacked the success they were accustomed too. He did manage to lead them to the Champions League final but lost out to Manchester United on penalties, subsequently Grant was sacked shortly after.   It was then, Luiz Felipe Scolari turn, a well-known and respected manger worldwide, who had brought glory to the Brazil national team in the 2002 World Cup. Again, sacked after another short spell on 9th February 2009.    On the 1st June 2009, Carlo Ancelotti took over from temporary manager Guus Hiddink. It is still early days but Chelsea’s first match with Ancelotti in charge was for the Community Shield against Manchester United, which ended 2-2. Chelsea went on to win through penalties 4-1. With that, it was Chelsea’s first win taking penalties in over 10 years.  

 

The Dial as they were originally known in 1886 was formed by the employee’s - notably, David Danskin, of a munitions factory in Woolwich, London. The Dial adopted various names, these included Royal Arsenal and in 1891 when they turned professional, they became Woolwich Arsenal. In 1893, they decided to sign up to the Football League and spent their first 11 years in the second Division. In 1904 saw them promoted to Division one where they stayed for a further 10 years but the Club financially was in a mess. In 1910, their saviour came in the form of a Mr Henry George Norris, a business man and Politian who made his money from property development. Unfortunately though in 1913 they were relegated back to Division 2. It was around this time that the shrewd Henry Norris’s desire to move the Club to a new ground in a superior location was realized. Highbury also known as “The Home of Football” became The Arsenal or Arsenal, as they were now known, new home. With this move also created a rivalry with local Football Club Tottenham Hotspurs, which is a strong today as it was back then. Other factors made this bitterness between these two Clubs even more raw, with allegations made towards Henry Norris, but these just remained as rumours.   Huddersfield’s ex and well-respected Football Manager, Herbert Chapman took control of the Arsenal squad in 1925. Despite the fact that Chapman was an ex player himself but on a smaller scale it was his Managerial skills he will always be remembered for. His ideas and philosophy brought success to Arsenal in winning the FA Cup during the 1929/1930 season then came the League Championship twice in 1930/1931 – 1932/1933. Sadly, in 1934 Herbert Chapman died of suspected pneumonia. His legacy and football gifts did carry on in the hands of George Allison with further League wins in 1933/34 – 1933/35 plus the FA Cup again in 1935/36 and yet again the League 1937/38. With Allison in charge, The Gunners became the best English Club in the 1930’s and George Allison is one of the longest serving Managers Arsenal has had to present day.   When World War II started all football competitions were subsequently stopped and for many clubs up and down the country their form dwindled due to players been drafted or more commonly having to retire.     Post war years saw Arsenal FC have there ups and downs with Managers coming and going. Their success in the 30’s eluded them but they did mange to win the League under Tom Whittaker in the 1947/48 season and then in 1952/53. The 50’s and 60’s were over-all tough decades for The Gunners who struggled, the football gifts in quality players they were once accustomed to no longer existed and finding replacements wasn’t forthcoming. Wolverhampton Wanderers and England legend Billy Wright took the Managerial reigns in 1962-1966 but that also was to no avail.   Their fortunes turned when in 1966 the football gifts of, Bertie Mee, was selected as new Manager. Mee had good football history, with both himself and his younger brother players but through injury, Mee had to opt for early retirement. Joining the Royal Army Medical Corps, he made sergeant 6 years later and it was also here that he trained in physiotherapist. This gave him the ideal occupation for football work. The success Arsenal craved for was just around the corner. In 1969/70, they won the Inter Cities Fairs Cup a European Trophy. This was just a small token in comparison to what followed when in 1969/70 The Gunners achieved their first double win- The League and FA Cup. Even though lifting another trophy was a few years down the line, they still managed to book three FA Cup Finals in the 70’s but came off in 2nd place until 1979/80 beating Manchester Untied FC 3-2 in what can only be described as a classic.   The early 80’s for Arsenal FC were just middle-of-the-road in terms of success but they were in for another good spell. In 1986 saw the return of former player George Graham as Manager. The Club won the League Cup in 1986/87; Grahams first season in charge as Manager, followed by a League Title win in 1988/89 season. Then another big double, the FA Cup and League Cup in 1992/93. More was to come when they lifted the European, Cup Winners Cup in 1993/94. The Club had gone from strength to strength under Graham. In 1995 all that was shattered when he was sacked for dubious dealings in player transfers to the Club.   In 1996, French Manager Arsen Wenger was appointed new Manager of The Gunners.  Bringing with him his football gifts, European style and foreign signings and a much-needed discipline to the Club, Arsenal achieved great triumph under him.  In 1997/98, they won another League Cup double plus reached the UEFA Final in 1999/2000 but just missed out against Galatasaray on penalties. Another double was making its way to Arsenal in the 2001/02 season. The Gunners again won the FA Cup in 2002/03 and the Premier League. In winning the Premier League that season, they did it in awesome style – not loosing a single game throughout which totalled 49 matches. This is a record in itself in Premiership Football that still stands today (2009). The 2004/05 saw The Gunners once more lift the FA Cup. Up until 2005/06 Arsenal hadn’t had much luck when it came to the Champions League, this season they reached the final but were just beaten past the line by Barcelona 2-1. For 93 years Arsenals home had been Highbury but this ended when they moved to the new impressive £430 million Emirates Stadium in July 2006, one of the largest football stadiums in the UK. One more record was added to Arsen Wenger’s collection – the longest ever Manager of The Gunners.  

Like numerous Football Clubs up and down the country, Tottenham Hotspur’s foundations originate in the School and Cricket paternity. The “Hotspur” is believed to be linked to a gentleman named Sir Henry Percy alias Harry Hotspur who existed in the 1500’s and whose descendants were quite wealthy landowners.

“Hotspur Football Club”, as it was known became “Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Club”, in 1884 to stop the confusion and also to have a more unique name than that of a similar local club that went by the title of “London Hotspur”   Their first ground so to speak was the Tottenham Marshes in Greater London, a natural wetland. They then shifted to Northumberland Park in 1888, a location more suitable for spectators and where they could charge gate fees. A set back for Tottenham was when they received no votes which would of allowed them to join the Southern League. This was reversed when in 1895, the Club turned professional and Spurs started to attract bigger crowds at games and with this, a bigger venue was required, so in 1899 the Club moved to their new ground at High Road which is now the famous White Hart Lane which as brought many football gifts to fans.   A great achievement for Tottenham Hotspur was in 1901 when they won the FA Cup and in doing so were and still are the only non-League club to have lifted that trophy, which was presented to Spurs Captain Jack Jones. It was at this presentation that ribbons were tied to the Cup by a Spurs Directors wife and that is where the tradition of ribbons on the FA Cup originates.   In the 1908/09 season, Tottenham was elected to participate in Division 2 of the Football League and in the same season won promotion as runners up to Division 1. The Clubs high hopes were soon watered down as they found themselves overwhelmed with stronger Clubs and in 1914/15 when football was suspended due to WWI Spurs found themselves at the bottom of the League.   After the War in 1919 and with more Clubs turning professional and wanting to join the Football League additional places were allocated and in doing so, the League added two extra Clubs making the total number of Clubs in the League 1 now 22 from 20. There was already a degree of hostility with Arsenal after they moved ground to Tottenham’s vicinity but what happened after the War added insult to injury. The Two extra places in League 1 went to Chelsea who finished 19th and the other should naturally of been Tottenham who had finished in 20th place, but Arsenal who had finished in 6th position in League 2 were somehow promoted to Division 1. Even more amazingly, this decision was not over ruled and Arsenal FC stayed in Division 1 and Tottenham in Division 2. This opened up a wound for Spurs that even to this day has not been closed.   Tottenham dug deep and at the end of 1919/20 season were crowned champions of Division 2 and went even one better the following year by winning the FA Cup for the second time beating Wolverhampton 1-0.    After WW2, footballs popularity was ceaselessly increasing bringing masses to the weekend matches. In 1949 a born and bread Tottenham man and an ex player, Arthur Sydney Rowe became Manager of Spurs. Football gifts like Rowe remain timeless and his input and the strategy,”push and run”, he formed while at the Club are still seen in all Football Squads today. General like in his tactics he brought some thing special to Spurs and now they were going places. They Finishes in top position that same season Rowe took charge but there was more to come in the ensuing season, Division 1. Only losing seven games, they were comfortable leaders for the majority of the time and crowned champions with Manchester United runners up.   Like all new methods of play, especially those that work and are successful, meant other Clubs were adopting and adapting Rowe’s, “push and run”, style. With this Tottenham ended the 1951/52 season a close second to a younger Man United squad. The 1952/53 season saw the Club in a mess finishing only 10th. Another mess which did contribute to this middle of the table result was the poor condition of the home pitch. Even for the low standards back then it was still considered disgraceful.    If there was a man, who knew everything about Tottenham Hotspur FC it was Bill Nicholas. He had served the Club in every aspect upon leaving school and was given the opportunity to manage in 1958. In terms of football gifts Nicholas was another and stamped his authority on his opening game against Everton, thrashing them 10-4, making this a Spurs record at the time. There was optimism in the air once again and rightly so. Tottenham’s first 3 seasons with Nicholas’s guidance were a blast with them winning the Double in 1961 then reaching the FA Cup/European Cup semi finals in 1962. 1963 saw Spurs lift the Cup Winners Cup, and then they did have a quiet spell while Nicholas basically rebuilt the whole squad but then bounced back in 1967, beating Chelsea FC 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley with Robertson and Saul the goal scorers. Spurs later added the League Cup in 1971 and the UEFA Cup in 1972 then the League Cup again in 1973. Before Nicholas resigned in 1974/75 season, he had accumulated 8 major trophies and Spurs had never tasted success to that degree.   Tottenham Hotspur couldn’t have wished for a better start to the 80’s. Now with, Keith Burkinshaw in charge they beat Manchester City 3-2 to add another FA Cup to their collection and then did it again the following season against QPR. In 1984 with players like Gareth Brookes and Glenn Hoddle enthused Spurs to grab another major trophy, the UEFA Cup.  The mid and late 80’s did see Spurs have numerous chances but it always just seemed to elude them.   In 1991 and under manager Terry Venables the club did have some success. With players like Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker the FA Cup was once more theirs. Largely though, Tottenham was really much the same as they were in the late 80’s but had an extra problem of financial security. Certain individuals like Sir Alan Sugar stepped in to curb the Clubs £20 million debt. In addition, that meant other individuals had to be sold off, one of these included England star Paul Gascoigne. The club was in better hands but still not producing the goods and after another poor season Sir Alan Sugar sold his hold on the Club to ENIC Sports PLC.   Former Spurs player Glenn Hoddle took managers post in 2001 with big ideas to turn the Club around. In fairness he didn’t have a particularly bad opening season plus steered the squad to the League Cup final, but cracks started to appear in the relationships with certain players and these individuals began complaining about Hoddle methods or lack of them. Again with no good results taking shape he was sacked by the board in 2003/04.   The most recent manager to date, Harry Redknapp, former manager of Portsmouth joined Tottenham 2008/09 season. With the Club in a serious position of relegation, Redknapp needed only wins for survival and got them. He had only been in charge for a couple of weeks but this saw Spurs move up the table and out of the danger zone and when the final whistle blew for end of season Spurs were mid table. For this season, lets hope we can get some more football gifts at white Hart Lane with that old Tottenham magic.