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August 28, 2008

What To Do About The League Cup?

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It's the end of August. This means, of course, that it's time for our annual dissection of what is wrong with the League Cup. This year's Second Round has already been played, and it has already provided a couple of surprises, including Northampton Town beating Bolton Wanderers and Rotherham United knocking out Wolverhampton Wanderers on [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 06:50 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Bolton Wanderers, League Cup, Northampton Town, Wolverhampton Wanderers, latest, the game

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...
Twohundredpercent @ 04:27 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: The Football League, football culture, latest, the game

August 14, 2008

Biting The Hand That Feeds You

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In an era in which it often feels as if too many people within football get too much praise, it sometimes feels as if there are too few people left that could be described as an "unsung hero". If there is someone that has given selflessly of his time to produce something that is invaluable [...] Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 07:02 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: football culture, latest, the game

An Early Kick-Off

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Has it really been just ninety-one days since the 2008 FA Cup Final? Apparently it has, but the FA Cup gets back under way this weekend with the Extra Preliminary Round. On Saturday afternoon, 406 entrants will take their marks, dreaming of the twin tower, meeting the Queen... well, probably not. For clubs entering the [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 05:22 AM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: FA Cup, Non-League, Queen, fa cup final, latest, the game

August 13, 2008

Automatic Promotion

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Due to a technical error, we appear to have lost last night's piece about "Football Manager". Many apologies. With a bit of luck, it will be re-written at some point in the future. It's difficult not to feel a twinge of sympathy for the supporters of Stoke City and Hull City. With the expressions of [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 06:34 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: in praise of, latest, the game

August 11, 2008

Premier League Preview 2008/09

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You might not guess it from this morning's papers, but the new season has already begun, and many of last weekend's result served as a handily timely reminder of how gloriously unpredictable football can be. It's difficult to believe that the Premier League, which kicks off this weekend, will match the competitiveness of the Football [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 05:17 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: English Premier League, latest, the game

Match Of The Week - Wrexham vs Stevenage Borough

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It is, perhaps, no great surprise that the two most funereal evictions from the Football League since the introduction of automatic promotion and relegation between Division Four and the Conference in 1987 both involved Welsh clubs. In the case of Newport County in 1988, it was like witnessing the last day at work of a [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 07:58 AM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Football League, Non-League, latest, match of the week, relegation, the game

August 9, 2008

A Minute’s Applause

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On the eve of the new season, the hope and optimism are, in their own way, very entertaining to watch. There was, however, sad and sobering news this week in the form of an interview this week with Sir Bobby Robson, in which he confirmed that the lung cancer that he has been fighting is [...] Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 06:53 AM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Sir bobby robson, football history, latest, the game

August 8, 2008

Non-League Preview 2008/09

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Right, here we go, then. The new season starts for the Blue Square, Ryman, Unibond and BGB Southern Leagues tomorrow, so I've managed to fit in a quick preview of what I think is going to unfold this season. Last season was a good season for well-run clubs, but this year looks like being a [...] Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 05:01 AM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Non-League, 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...
Twohundredpercent @ 05:18 AM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
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...
Twohundredpercent @ 04:21 AM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Football League, The Football League, latest, the game

August 6, 2008

Give Them An Ince And They’ll Take A Mile

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In this day and age, racism has become easier to spot. You no longer get working class northern comedians on primetime television yakking on about "nig-nogs" and, in football, no-one could away with, say, the claim of Ron Noades that black players couldn't cope with defending, especially in bad weather. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 08:23 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: English Premier League, comedians, latest, politics, racism, the game

August 5, 2008

The First Proper Guffaw Of The Season

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It's over before it begun then, for this season. Last season, you'll remember, Rangers were involved in a dreadful case of fixture congestion as they fought to walk off with the UEFA Cup, the Scottish Cup and the Scottish Premier League. As it turned out, they managed just one out of three (and that was [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 06:33 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: International football, Rangers, Scottish Premier League, Scottish football, UEFA Cup, latest, scottish cup, the game

August 4, 2008

In Praise Of… The Topical Times Football Book

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Of the many things that young people no longer do that I did in my youth, buying second-hand books is one that I am fairly confident never happens any more - at least not annuals from market stalls. On Saturday lunchtimes, as a boy I would go to the old band-stand in the centre of [...] Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 09:01 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: football culture, football history, in praise of, latest, the game

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...
Twohundredpercent @ 05:51 AM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: English Premier League, The Football League, Waste of time, latest, money, the game

August 3, 2008

Banned For Life?

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Slowly but surely, the new season is starting to come to life. Players are starting to sign for their new clubs, the pre-season matches are coming to an end, and by next weekend we'll be off and running in the Football League and the Conference. For one amateur club, however, not only the new season [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 03:41 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Football League, Non-League, latest, the game

August 2, 2008

Preliminary Reports

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Well, I can barely contain my excitement. The FA Cup starts in two weeks time, and here's a list of the matches that ITV will be covering as part of their expanded web coverage. Jarrow Roofing Boldon CA V Spennymoor Town Bridlington Town V Guisborough Town Formby V AFC Emley Racing Club Warwick V Cadbury [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 03:13 AM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: AFC, FA Cup, excitement, latest, 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...
Twohundredpercent @ 05:17 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
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...
Twohundredpercent @ 04:40 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Crowds, English Premier League, English football, Euro 2008, Football Focus, International football, The Football League, football history, latest, politics, the game

July 27, 2008

When Is A Pre-Season Tour Not A Pre-Season Tour?

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Well, it seems like a fairly obvious question, doesn't it? The pre-season tour has become part of the football landscape, with clubs of all shapes and sizes taking advantage of cheap air flights to take the opportunity to get in some pre-season bonding and throw in a couple of practice matches at the same time. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 04:35 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Non-League, latest, the game

July 24, 2008

Football, Hooliganism & The United States

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For those of us watching from the other side of the Atlantic ocean, Major League Soccer is, to say the very least, an education. English football developed into what it is today as the result of one hundred and twenty years of evolution. MLS, by comparison, hasn't had much time to develop a universe of [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 06:14 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail (Links: 1 in)
Tags: English football, International football, Major League Soccer, education, evolution, latest, the game

Quiet Optimism

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Over the last couple of years, we have been less than complimentary about ITV's football coverage. However, I'm not one to bear a grudge, and I'm now quietly optimistic that it might be set to improve. Whisper this quietly, but... I'm starting to think that they might have put someone that cares in charge of [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 03:53 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: FA Cup, football on tv, latest, the game

July 23, 2008

Underneath The Archie

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For the many things that British football has exported across the world - naked greed, hooliganism, you know the sort of thing - but some of them, just some of them, have been worthwhile. The league system is an British invention, as is international football. One of the less celebrated exports, however comes in the [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 06:39 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Greed, Hooliganism, International football, british football, football history, latest, the game

July 22, 2008

Too Many Captions, Too Little Time

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Taken from the inside of the toilets of the Premier League's headquarters, this photograph is so rich with possibility that I couldn't not post it up here. I always told you that Richard Scudamore is full of shit. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 06:31 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: English Premier League, latest, scudamore, the game

Seeing The Wood For The Trees

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If you live in the south of England, one of the biggest myths that you grow up with is the one that says that, "All Manchester United supporters are football tourists from Devon, Surrey, Ireland, Norway and South Korea. All football supporters in Manchester support City". This is frequently cast around by City supporters and, [. Click to continue reading...
Twohundredpercent @ 04:32 PM EDT | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Non-League, Norway, South Korea, ireland, latest, the game
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