The Football League

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November 25, 2008

Scenes From Football History - 1982/83: How Fulham Blew It

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From the mid-1960s on, football grew massively as a passive spectator sport. The realisation that football could evolve as a spectator sport for people that weren't even at the match was a revolution in terms of the perception of the game. By 1983, moves were in place for live televising of league football for the [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 07:03 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , The Football League, football history, latest

November 18, 2008

In Praise Of… Brian Clough

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The unveiling of a new statue of Brian Clough in Nottingham last week seems like as good a time as any to to take a quick look back at the career of arguably English football's greatest manager. It's probably fair to say that the managerial achievements of Brian Clough will never be repeated again. He [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, football history, in praise of, latest

November 16, 2008

Match Of The Week - Leeds United 1-2 Huddersfield Town

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It's difficult to say whether this proves anything or whether it's just a coincidence, but a high number of the most objectionable people that I have met in the course of my adult life have been Leeds United supporters. The guy that played football for the same team as me and said to me, just [...] Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 09:23 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Match Reports, The Football League, Video, latest, match of the week

November 12, 2008

Bordering On The Ridiculous

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In the olden days, managers either resigned, or they were sacked. There was something noble about the resignation of a football manager. The admission that they weren't quite up to the job. The falling on the sword in order to spare the greater dignity of The Club. The flipside to this was the sacking which, [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, latest, politics

November 2, 2008

Match Of The Week - Grimsby Town 1-2 Darlington

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Wikipedia desribes purgatory as "the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for heaven". Such a condition may not have been the intention of the Football League when they imposed their points deductions upon Luton Town, AFC Bournemouth [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, latest, match of the week

October 31, 2008

There’s No Business Like Snow Business

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It is always surprising when it snows in England, and the fact that it takes everyone by surprise causes a few problems. The trains, which seem to have been designed to only run properly when the sky is fair and the temperature sits at between seventeen and twenty degrees, grind slowly to a halt. Pavements [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, football culture, football history, latest

October 5, 2008

Match Of The Week: Coventry City 4-1 Southampton

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Coventry City and Southampton are, in many respects, two sides of the same coin. They are clubs that became regular components of the top division of English football for many years, arguably punching against their weight. For both of them relegation brought about the end of an era for both clubs from which they haven't [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 01:21 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , The Football League, latest, match of the week

September 25, 2008

Match Of The (Mid)Week: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Manchester City (Brighton Win 5-3 Penalties)

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Some people danced in the car parks at the City of Manchester Stadium when the Abu Dhabi United group bought Manchester City. Some of their supporters were devastated. Many of the rest of us rolled our eyes and looked to the heavens. The reinvention of Manchester City might take some time to complete, and last [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 04:21 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Abu Dhabi, City of Manchester Stadium, League Cup, Manchester City, The Football League, latest, match of the week

September 22, 2008

The Goal That Never Was

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It was, by any standards, the most bizarre moment of the football season so far, and it's difficult to imagine that it will be bettered. During Saturday afternoon's match in the Championship between Watford and Reading, a goal was awarded that was not only controversial but didn't actually happen at all. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, latest

September 21, 2008

Match Of The Week - Preston North End 1-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers

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The term "sleeping giant" is a misused one, often used to describe a club that had a few glorious seasons, many years ago. If there are two clubs that deserve this particular epithet, then it would probably have to be Preston North End and Wolverhampton Wanderers. These are clubs that have hit the highest heights [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 02:26 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Preston North End, The Football League, Wolverhampton Wanderers, latest, match of the week

September 17, 2008

Subsidising The Ultra-Rich

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Bernie Ecclestone is said to be worth £2.243bn, according to the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List. Lakshmi Mittal has done even better for himself than Bernie. Mittal is, according to this year's Forbes Rich List, the fourth richest man in the world. He is worth an estimated £20bn. Flavio Briatore doesn't quite exist in this [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, flavio briatore, latest

September 13, 2008

Match Of The Week: Barnet 1-1 Morecambe

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One of the least desirable effects of the Football League's absurdly disproportionate points deductions in League Two has been the comparative lack of competition at the bottom of the table. With Luton Town, Rotherham United and AFC Bournemouth having been deducted a massive amount of points between them over their recent financial difficulties, several clubs [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , AFC, Football League, The Football League, latest, match of the week

September 3, 2008

Match Of The (Mid)Week: Leeds United 2-1 Bradford City

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Spare your sympathy for the League Cup. It has a massive live match on Sky Sports and a place in UEFA Cup as a reward for the winners. There are no such rewards for the Johnstones Paint Trophy, the first round of which was played last night. Started by the Football League as the Football [...] Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , Football League, The Football League, johnstones paint trophy, latest, match of the week, sky sports

August 15, 2008

A Few Things About Local Derbies

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What constitutes a local derby seems, on the face of it, to be a question with a pretty obvious answer. However, if we take a couple of minutes to actually examine it, it becomes more nuanced that you might at first think. Derby matches are usually local, but they don't necessarily have to be. The [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, football culture, latest, the game

August 7, 2008

Trying To Get Inside The Mind Of The Football League

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Back in the day, struggling Fourth Division clubs had to regularly undergo the annual ordeal of re-election, in which the bottom four clubs in the table along with any non-league clubs that would fancied their chances took part in a vote to retain league membership. It is often said that the voting was seldom an [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, Vote, latest, the game

League One & League Two - 2008/09

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If last season was a season of mixed messages in the bottom two divisions of the Football League, then this season may be the one in which size matters in League One, whilst, with the moneyed clubs both promoted from League Two, there is all to play for with anything up to a dozen clubs [...] Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , Football League, The Football League, latest, the game

August 4, 2008

The Championship - 2008/09

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If last season's Championship is anything to go by, this page is a complete waste of time. This time last year we talked glumly of the likelihood of all three of the recently relegated teams from the Premier League stomping straight back into the the top flight, having made good use of their parachute money. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , English Premier League, The Football League, Waste of time, latest, money, the game

July 30, 2008

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

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League football might just be the greatest export of Victorian Britain. It seems scarcely credible that it was a little short of one hundred and twenty years ago that The Football League kicked off for the first time, so now feels like an appropriate time to celebrate the anniversary of a venerable institution which has [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , Football League, The Football League, anniversary, football history, latest, the game

July 29, 2008

The Cost Of Living

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Reading lists of of football attendances records can make for dispiriting reading. After reaching highs in the late 1940s and late 1960s, crowds at English football went into a tailspin that nearly killed the club game for good. During the 1982/83 season, Tony Gubba reported for "Football Focus" upon the malaise that was sweeping the [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , Crowds, English Premier League, English football, Euro 2008, Football Focus, International football, The Football League, football history, latest, politics, the game

July 10, 2008

Just In Case You Thought That They Actually Cared…

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"All animals are created equal", wrote George Orwell, "but some animals are more equal than others". The images of "Animal Farm" are easily invoked when considering the running of football in England, and none are quite as apt as the pigs in their ceremonial blazers with self-awarded medals if one is trying to imagine what [. Click to continue reading...
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Tags: , The Football League, animals, clubs in crisis, images, latest, the game