FOOTY FAIR

Throwback Thursdays: Sponsored Kits Come to England

2016-01-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Forty years ago this month, Kettering Town became the first club in British football to slap a sponsor on the front of their kit and predictably it was met with a mixed reception.

Kettering Town player-manager (and chief executive) Derek Dougan, a former Northern Ireland international, was the architect behind this controversial move but even he couldn't have possibly imagined the impact this deal was to have on football in the UK.

The flamboyant, but forward thinking Dougan served as the chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) from 1970 to 1978 and was instrumental in the establishment of several important players' rights and helped pave the way to free agency. But beyond the rights of players, Dougan understood that football needed new streams of revenue so after joining Kettering Town from Wolves in 1975 he arranged a deal with local company Kettering Tyres to sponsor the club's shirts in return for a four-figure deal.

In exchange for this cash injection into the tiny Southern League side, the Tyre firm would have their name in large letters across the front of the team's shirts. Kettering debuted their new sponsored shirts for a match against Bath City on 24 January 1976.

An unamused English FA, who hadn't been made aware of the arrangement beforehand, ordered the club to remove the sponsor.

Dougan attempted to pull a fast one by shortening the sponsor on the shirt fronts to "Kettering T" and then claiming that it stood for Kettering Town. The FA weren't fooled and again ordered the club to remove the sponsor or face a £1,000 fine for non-compliance.

The former Wolves maverick was left with no choice but to bow to the FA's wishes.

The FA could not stop the winds of change though and by the following year shirt sponsorship was allowed across Britain.

Hibernian became the first top-flight team in Britain to adopt a sponsor and soon many other clubs followed. Football in the UK has never been the same.

10 of Mick McCarthy's Funniest Quotes

2015-12-16T12:57:00.000-05:00

After listening to Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy put a bumbling BBC interviewer in his place earlier this week, I thought it would be fun to look back at the former Republic of Ireland managers funniest quotes:

"Opinions are like backsides, we've all got them but it's not wise to air them in public."
"Anyone who uses the word 'quintisentially' in a half time talk is talking crap."
"What I learned from Jack [Charlton] - ensure that you're all inside the tent pissing out and get rid of any fellow who's outside the tent pissing in."
"Before the goal it was two rubbish teams playing rubbish football."
"The Serbian keeper is a big tart doing that [going down injured] because there's nothing wrong with him."
"I started [trying to give up alcohol] on Shrove Tuesday and then by Ash Wednesday something had happened and I'd had a bottle of beer."
"Some people might be frustrated with that result? Some people can fuck off."
"At the moment we've got 16 first team players. My initials stand for Mick McCarthy, not Merlin the Magician."
"We've got the drug testers here today. They shouldn't be going to see the players. They should go to see the officials instead."
Reporter: "No yellow cards today..."
McCarthy: "No and I asked all the lads to go out there and knock seven bells out of everybody as well like I normally do. Shame that isn't it? They went out there and played free-flowing football and were rampant for 45 minutes. What were they playing at?"

Throwback Thursdays: The 1955-1956 European Cup

2015-09-03T12:00:00.000-04:00

This week marks the sixtieth year since the kick off of the European Cup, the greatest prize in European club football.

The competition, which was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League in 1992, started off on 4 September 1955, with a match between Portugal's Sporting CP and Yugoslavia's Partizan. The first goal in European Cup history was scored by João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP with the match eventually ending in a 3-3 draw.

The competition came about thanks to the tireless work of Gabriel Hanot, editor of L'Équipe, who lobbied UEFA to create a continental club competition after reading reports from his journalists on the success of the Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones in 1948 and also being irked by Wolverhampton manager Stan Cullis' claims that his side were "Champions of the World" after victories in several high profile friendlies.

Eventually UEFA saw the potential in Hanot's proposal and in the fall of 1955 a club competition for European nations finally got off the ground.

Sixteen teams participated in the first year of the European Cup: Milan (Italy), AGF Aarhus (Denmark), Anderlecht (Belgium), Djurgården (Sweden), Gwardia Warszawa (Poland), Hibernian (Scotland), Partizan (Yugoslavia), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Rapid Wien (Austria), Real Madrid (Spain), Rot-Weiss Essen (West Germany), Saarbrücken (Saar), Servette (Switzerland), Sporting CP (Portugal), Stade de Reims (France), and Vörös Lobogó (Hungary).

Notably the English champions, Chelsea, were dissuaded from entering the competition by the Football Association who saw the European Cup as an unwanted distraction from league football.

The 1955-1956 final would be contested in Paris between Stade de Reims and Real Madrid. Madrid, led by the magnificent Alfredo Di Stefano came from behind to win their first of five straight titles by a final score of 4-3.

5 Football Social Media Disasters

2015-08-18T16:00:00.000-04:00

Blackpool FC supporters have had it rough over the past few years with the club going through five managers in two and a half seasons, while in the midst of being relegated to League One.

A fractious relationship between the club's ownership and the supporters got worst this week as Blackpool's commercial opportunities Twitter account bulldozed their way onto our list of 5 Football Social Media Disasters:

Tangerine Dream

Trouble started this weekend when a Blackpool fan contacted @CommercialBFC and offered to donate £20 to charity if the often brutal Bloomfield Road pitch would be in decent shape for a match against Rochdale. After the official account responded that he'd better have his donation ready, the fan said he would donate it any way. He was then blasted with: "back track, typical arsehole wankers!!!"

The club have since deactivated the account.

Joey Barton Strikes Again

In August 2011, Newcastle United told their fiery midfielder Joey Barton that he could leave on a free transfer. The reason? He had publicly criticized the club on Twitter. Barton had said of the club's board that summer: "And again it would be left to those magnificent fans to pick up the remnants of their once great football club. #hadenoughofcertainpeople”.
He isn't wrong though.

Michel Morganella's Olympic Sized Outburst

Swiss defender Michel Morganella landed himself in hot water after his side were defeated in the 2012 Olympic tournament by South Korea when he angrily tweeted: "I'm going to beat up every Korean. Go on - burn yourselves! Bunch of Motherfuckers."
He was subsequently thrown off the team and has only won a single cap since 2012.

No Love Lost Between Local Rivals

After defeating local rivals Wolves in 2013, Walsall FC's official Twitter account blasted: "@OfficialWoves Better look next time you six fingered, inbred, dingle bastards. YOU’VE LET US DOWN AGAIN!!!!”
The spelling was atrocious, but even more laughable was the club's excuse that their account had been hacked.

Babel On

Liverpool player Ryan Babel was censured by the English FA in 2010-11 for posting a photograph of the referee Howard Webb mocked up in a Manchester United shirt on Twitter, in clear reference to the popular assertion that Webb gave United favourable calls.

Sir Jack Hayward: The Man Who Saved a Club

2015-01-13T16:00:00.001-05:00

As news filtered out today of the passing of 91 year old English business man Sir Jack Hayward in Fort Lauderdale, fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers were united in mourning for the man who was primarily responsible for raising their club from the ashes.

Between 1949 and 1960, Wolves were one of the best sides in England as they captured two FA Cups and three League Championships under the stewardship of their legendary manager Stan Cullis. The club also helped stoke the flames for the formation of an official European Cup competition after their successful friendlies against the top continental sides of the time like Spartak Moscow and Honved.

After mixed fortunes over the next two decades though, Wolves had fallen on desperate times by the 1980’s as they tumbled all the way down into the old Fourth Division and were twice in danger of going out of existence all together.

Their once great home, Molineux Stadium, which had regularly hosted crowds in excess of 40,000 in Wolves glory years, had become dilapidated by the middle of the decade and two of the ground’s four stands were closed as they did not meet safety standards.

The ground, and indeed the club itself, were transformed though when millionaire businessman and philanthropist Sir Jack Hayward returned to Wolverhampton to buy the club he had supported as a boy in May 1990.

Getting to work first on bringing the Molineux in line with the Taylor Report, which outlawed terraces in England’s top two divisions by the 1993/1994 season, Hayward oversaw the complete redevelopment of three of the grounds four sides by the end of his third year in charge.

Wolves went from having half of a crumbling relic of a stadium to proudly owning one of the finest grounds in England when the Molineux was officially reopened with a match, appropriately, against Honved in December 1993.

Sir Jack’s investment in his beloved Wolves didn’t end with the ground though, as he invested significant amounts of his own money in upgrading the club’s coaching staff, scouting network and playing squad. It’s been estimated that Hayward sunk over £70 million of his own funds into the club.

After several near misses, the club finally achieved Hayward’s dream of promotion into the English Premier League in 2003, by virtue of an emotional 3-0 victory over Sheffield United in the Promotion Playoff Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Although the club would only manage one season in the top flight, by the time Hayward sold the club on to Steve Morgan for a nominal fee of £10 in 2007, with the assurance that Morgan would invest at least £30 million in the club, Wolves were on much firmer financial ground than they had been 17 years earlier.

Appropriately, one of the stands at the Molineux is now named after Sir Jack Hayward and the ground is a lasting testament for what he did for the club.

When the man who had done so much for his local side visited the club museum to see a tribute to him a few months back, he simply signed the visitor’s book with the message:

“Glad to have helped.”

Rest in Peace, Sir Jack.

Football Statues (Gallery)

2014-11-18T20:00:00.000-05:00

In this world you have only one life, and I gave mine to Wolves.

The quote above is from Wolverhampton Wanderers legendary manager Stan Cullis who led the club through their halcyon days of the 1950's when Wolves rivaled Manchester United for English supremacy with three league titles and two FA Cup's under Cullis.

This brilliant quote is inscribed under the statue of Cullis that sits outside of the stand also bearing his name at Wolves' Molineux Stadium.

I first saw the Cullis statue in the flesh on a visit to the ground in 2006 and was impressed by the relaxed pose, the terrific attention to detail and the wonderful inscription that simply stated what the club had meant to the man.

This statue and the one of Wolves captain in the 1950's Billy Wright on another side of the ground were both sculpted by James Walter Butler and both marvelous pieces of work.

Whenever I visit a football ground I always make a point of seeking out these statue of the games greats, and snapping a quick picture, like the one I took below of Manchester United's George Best, Denis Law, and Bobby Charlton on a trip to Old Trafford in 2011.

However one group, The Sporting Statues Project that was featured in a recent article in Four Four Two have taken the appreciation for football statues a step further and have carefully cataloged photos and details for statues all over the world.

You can visit their site at: http://www.offbeat.group.shef.ac.uk/statues/

In the meantime, here are five of my favourites from their great site:

(Photo by Carlos Benavídez ©)

(Photo by Felipe Camara ©)

(Photo by Hardamik ©)

(Photo by Paul Horne ©)

(Photo by Pedro Montes ©)

Players Who Smoked

2014-10-17T20:54:00.002-04:00

Like most teens in North America, that come from working or middle class backgrounds, I had a series of crappy part time jobs in Highschool to put money aside for a car and, hopefully, College, but also to have some cash to spend on things like music, trips to the movies, sports cards and magazines.

While working at a factory, dying clothes one summer, I quickly realized that the smokers got more breaks than the rest of us. So while I was sweating my balls off loading drenched sweaters into something called an 'extractor', all the guys who lived for that sweet Carolina breeze, were outside shooting the shit while having a smoke.

'Well fuck that noise," I thought to myself, "I'm taking up smoking."

So before my third shift, I promptly bought myself a pack of DuMaurier Lights and joined the smokers on their extra breaks.

Not to date myself, but this was back in the days when cigarette manufacturers were allowed to label smokes as 'lights', almost as if they were good for you and far less cancer causing.

I never became a regular smoker, and after leaving that particular job I pretty much only had the odd smoke here and there while out drinking, so I found it relatively easy to quit.

One thing I did notice is that none of my friends that smoked regularly could run for any great distances, at least not without hacking up a lung, and it therefore has always blown my mind when I have come across pictures of professional footballers smoking.

A goalkeeper for my Sunday league side, years ago, used to enjoy a smoke during play and would scream at us defenders if he had to make a save that would cause him to drop his cigarette. But this guy would get winded when walking from his couch to the refrigerator for another beer, so there was a reason we put him in goal.

Besides the notable exceptions of Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshere, most modern footballers generally refrain from smoking and with the high pace of the game these days you can understand why.

But back in the '50s and '60s, it wasn't an uncommon thing to see a player sneaking a 'crafty dart' at half time, or even prior to a match.

Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn even admitted sneaking to the bathroom to have a smoke before the 1951 FA Cup Final and finding four of his teammates in there doing the same.

Smoking didn't hold Milburn back though, as he went on to score two goals as Newcastle went on to beat Blackpool 2-0.

Speaking of Blackpool, their star winger Sir Stanley Matthews was a 'tea total', non drinking or smoking, clean living guy, who ended up playing professional football until the age of 50. This however didn't stop him from doing advertisements for Craven A.

Jackie Milburn's famous nephews Jackie and Sir Bobby Charlton also enjoyed a few tabs themselves and the picture below of Jackie enjoying a post training smoke is more 1970's than butterfly collars and the Bee Gees.

Outside of England, stars such as the great Alfredo Di Stefano enjoyed the odd ciggie and the Dutch master Johan Cruyff used to smoke at least 20 cigarettes a day. Brazil's Socrates was another heavy smoker, but if you've ever watched footage of his leisurely pace you could almost imagine him having a puff while elegantly passing the ball around to more hurried teammates.

Despite all of the guys that did feed their nicotine habits, even as early as the 1930's managers such as Arsenal's famous Herbert Chapman and Wolves' Major Frank Buckley tried to persuade their players from smoking as they, quite rightly, believed that affected performance.

These two managers proved to be well ahead of their time though, as smoking only really began to become a no-no for professionals from the mid-1970's and onwards.

Anyhow, smoke 'em if you got 'em, here's to the weekend, and all the best to one of the writers here on Footyfair, Kon, who is in the process of quitting smoking himself and hasn't hit the psychotic or binge eating stages yet.

Musicians Who Love Football

2014-07-25T18:00:00.000-04:00

What do Dave Grohl, Julio Iglesias and Sir Elton John all have in common?

If you answered that they're all musicians then you're correct, but they are also football fans and the real reason they're featuring on this website. Today celebrities are quick to pledge their allegiance to football clubs to show they have the common touch and are actually real people, but there are musicians out there that genuinely love the game and are real fans. The following are ten examples of football supporting musicians. Please feel free to add any others you can think of in the comments below.

Dave Grohl - West Ham United

The former Nirvana drummer, Foo Fighters guitarist and lead singer, and all around music impresario is a big fan of Premier League football and said in a VH1 interview that West Ham are his club of choice. West Ham do seem to be a trendy choice though for celebrity fans, but Grohl is a pretty straight shooter so I'll take his word for it.

Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris - West Ham United

Whereas you can maybe question if Grohl’s blood bleeds claret and blue, there’s no doubting the allegiance of Iron Maiden legends Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris to West Ham. Both are huge fans of the Hammers and have been since childhood. Harris was actually offered a trial with the Upton Park club as a teenager before opting for a career in music. When they aren’t summoning hellfire, Iron Maiden also runs its own football team made up of band members and their friends. Harris also plays a guitar that designed with Hammers colours at most Maiden concerts.

Fatboy Slim - Brighton & Hove Albion

English DJ Fatboy Slim, the artist behind some of the most memorable videos of the late ‘90s and a driving force behind the dance scene of that era, is a part owner of Brighton & Hove Albion. Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, got his start by helping to grow the hip hop scene in Brighton in the early ‘80s and later returned to the sea side town after his career took off to purchase a 12% stake in the local football club.

Sir Elton John - Watford

The legendary recording artist is not just one of the bigger football fans on this list, but he was also once the acting chairman of Watford Football Club. Taking the club over in 1976, John sunk large amounts of his own money into the Hornets and saw them rise through the divisions under manager Graham Taylor. Incredibly for a club of their size, they finished runners-up for the league title behind Liverpool in 1983 and were losing FA Cup Finalists to Everton a year later. Although John no longer owns the club, he still sits on their board and continues to put money into Watford FC.

Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler - Aston Villa

With both Osbourne and Butler born in Aston, Birmingham there was only one club the former Black Sabbath legends could support and that was The Villa. Although you’re more likely to see Geezer at Villa Park these days than the Godfather of Heavy Metal, both are lifelong fans of the Midlands side.

Robert Plant - Wolverhampton Wanderers

The former Led Zeppelin lead singer is not just a fan of his local side Wolverhampton Wanderers, but has confessed to being obsessed with Wolves. Plant became a fan of the club, as a young boy, in their halcyon days of the 1950’s when they won three league titles and fell in love with Wolves when he was waved to in the crowd at his first match by captain Billy Wright. Plant has said that “Wolverhampton Wanders is paradise, a nightmare, a barrel of laughs and a whole lot of heartache.” He said that he was accused at one point of Wolves being one of the reasons behind his divorce.

Rod Stewart - Celtic

Although he’s yet another celebrity that dubiously claims to support West Ham, the club that’s closet to the Scottish crooner’s heart is Celtic. Stewart even mentioned his love for the club in his hit song “You’re in My Heart”. Rod was actually quite a talented player as a youngster and played in Brentford’s youth system. He is still often seen at both Celtic matches and Scotland internationals.

Julio Iglesias - Real Madrid

The world renown Spanish singer has been a fan of Real Madrid for most of his life and was once the goalkeeper for Madrid's reserve side, Real Madrid Castilla. Always maintaining that he had "more courage and attitude than talent", Iglesias' football career was ended as a result of a serious car accident. With his lower spine smashed and his legs subsequently damaged for life a nurse gave him a guitar to help pass the time away in his hospital bed. The rest as they say is history. Despite leaving football behind, Iglesias is still very much a fan of the Madrid side.

Brian Johnson - Newcastle United

Although thought of an Australian band, the lead singer of rockers ACDC, Brian Johnson, is in fact from Newcastle and is a massive fan of his local side. Johnson even appeared in a cameo role as a Newcastle United shirt wearing fan in the film “Goal: The Dream Begins”.

Noel and Liam Gallagher - Manchester City

Oasis’ Gallagher brothers are both huge fans of Manchester City, but pretty much everyone on the planet knows that as they are so vocal in their support for the club. The elder brother Noel often appears on British radio station TalkSport to talk about City and other football matters. Both can be spotted at many of City’s bigger matches, but in separate boxes after a major falling out between the two a few years back.

Football League Championship Released & Leaked Kits 2014-15 Season (Gallery)

2014-07-12T11:00:00.000-04:00

These are some of the already released and leaked Football League Championship kits for the 2014-15 season.

Leeds Away Kit

Leicester City Away Kit

Leicester City Goalkeeper Kit

Leicester City 3rd Jersey

Blackburn Rovers Away Kit

Bolton Away Jersey

Fulham Away Jersey

Leicester Kits

Notthingham Forest Home Jersey

AFC Bournemounth Home Jersey

Birmingham City Away Jersey

Birmingham City Home Jersey

Birmingham City Third Jersey

Bolton Home Jersey

Bournemouth Away Kit

Brighton Away Kit

Brighton Home Kit

Charlton Athletic Home, Away & Third Jersey

Fulham Goalkeeper Jersey

Fulham Home Jersey

Derby County Goalkeeper Home Jersey

Leeds United Goalkeeper Jersey

Leeds United Home Jersey

Fulham Home Jersey

Norwich City Home Kit

Notthingham Forest Away Jersey

Derby County Home Jersey

Wolves Away Jersey

Wolves Away Goalkeeper Jersey

Wolves Home Goalkeeper Jersey

Wolves Home Jersey

Throwback Thursdays - Wolves vs. Honved and the Birth of the European Cup

2014-05-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

On December 13, 1954, at a packed Molineux Stadium, the mighty Hungarian Champions, Honved, played a match against English Champions Wolverhampton Wanderers that many argue provided the final push towards the creation of a European Cup of Champions.

As the finalists Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid go through the final preparations for their 2014 Champions League Final clash on Saturday, this week in Throwback Thursday's we take a look back at the birth of the European Cup and a pivotal friendly that proceeded it.

The European Cup, the predecessor of the Champions League, was first contested in the 1955/1956 season and was won, incredibly, for the first five years by Real Madrid. Prior to the birth of this knockout tournament of champions, there had been no way to decisively determine the best side in Europe.

As early as 1897 though, a Challenge Cup had been contested by the top club sides from within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Following World War 1, and the resulting political shifts across Europe, a new cup competition was created called the Mitropa Cup that included clubs from Central and Eastern Europe. The main countries, whose clubs featured in this tournament, were Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania and Italy. The Mitropa Cup was first contested in 1927 and did much to develop the level of play in the countries involved.

In Western Europe however, clubs had to be content with high profile friendlies in order to test themselves against sides from other countries. Although a Latin Cup between clubs from Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy had started after World War 2, a need for a Europe wide tournament was still there. The European Cup just needed a final push to get it off the ground.

The Magical Magyars

In the early 1950's the strongest National side in Europe, and perhaps the world, was Ferenc Puskas' Hungary. The Magical Magyars, won Olympic Gold in 1952 and then went on to smash England 6-3 at Wembley, becoming the first side from outside the British Isles to triumph on the Empire Stadium's hallowed turf.

Deploying a deep lying centre-forward in Nándor Hidegkuti, and playing with a fluid formation that would heavily influence the Dutch "Total Football" of the 1970's, Hungary made the England defense look "like a fire brigade rushing to put out the wrong fire."

Hungary went into the 1954 World Cup as firm favourites, and only an injury to Puskas and a questionable offside call kept them from glory, as they fell 3-2 to West Germany in the Final.

In December of 1954, the Hungarian club side Honved, which contained the future Real Madrid star Puskas, along with future Barcelona ace Sándor Kocsis and most of the Hungarian National side, came to Wolverhampton to play in a high profile flood-light friendly against Wolves. The English Champions, managed by Stan Cullis, were known for their direct wing play and were thought to be no match for the sophisticated Hungarians.

Although, Wolves enjoyed a golden period in the 1950's matching Manchester United with three league titles, and playing several other high profile matches against top European sides, many like my Grandmother who were privileged to be there that night, have said that there's never been a match like it at the Molineux. The ground was bursting beyond capacity, with many only seeing the ball when it went up the air, but the atmosphere was electric as the West Midlands crowd strained to see what their side could do against mighty Honved. The match was also carried live on the BBC, which was extremely rare in those days.

Predictably, Honved took a two goal lead in the first half with goals from Sándor Kocsis and Ferenc Macho. But after what was no doubt a stirring halftime team talk by the volatile Cullis, Wolves got back into it with a goal from Johnny Hancocks early in the second half. With fifteen minutes to go, Roy Swinbourne headed an equalizer and then within 100 seconds he had scored the winner, sending the 55,000 strong crowd into raptures on what is arguably the most famous night in the clubs history.

After the match, the British press raved about Wolves brave comeback and said that they drew on the "Spirit of Lord Nelson" in order to overcome the Hungarians. Some papers went as far as to call Wolves the "Champions of the World".

Over in Europe, the British reaction to Wolves victory did not go down so well. Gabriel Hanot, the editor of L'Equipe had this to say:

"Before we declare that Wolverhampton are invincible, let them go to Moscow and Budapest. And there are other internationally renowned clubs: AC Milan and Real Madrid to name but two. A club world championship, or at least a European one – larger, more meaningful and more prestigious than the Mitropa Cup and more original than a competition for national teams – should be launched. "

Impressed by the success of the Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones (South American Championship of Champions) in Chile in 1948, Hanot had already put forward a proposal to UEFA for a tournament between European football's Champions. Spurred on by the reaction to Wolves victory, Hanot pressed the issue further until UEFA agreed during their congress in March of 1955 to the formation of a European Cup.

The tournament would begin play in the fall of that year, eventually morphing into the Champions League in 1992, and has arguably become the greatest prize in club football.

This Saturday, as Real Madrid seek their tenth "Cup With the Big Ears", supporters of Wolves and Honved can be proud of the part their clubs played in prompting a determined French editor to get this great tournament off the ground all those years ago.