QPR are Champions, but will they still be champions at the end of the week? Everyone will have to sit back and wait on the outcome of next week's Football Association hearing into the transfer of Argentinian midfielder Alejandro Faurlin. If they are fined they stay Champions which most of the pundits believe will happen. If its points deduction it will throw the whole race for promotion wide open for the two automatic spots.
The final promotion place is still between Norwich and Cardiff who both will be chasing wins on Monday night. The games are on Sky Sports so fans of the Championship can watch the closing stages of the season. Cardiff has the earlier kick-off give them the advantage to ply the pressure Norwich who kick-off not long after the Cardiff game. Cardiff also have the advantage of being at home which If both Norwich and Cardiff were to lose Swansea would the dragged to the race for that finally spot creating one hell of an end to the season.Saturday, April 30, 2011
I with rather see Peter Zois back than Ledley
Ex-Cardiff City player Joe Ledley has expressed his desire to return to Cardiff one day in the future and play for his old club. Well I for one hope he stays in Scotland playing Sunday league football in a two horse race of league glory. Celtic are no better than a Championship team and would struggle to win promotion if they were in it. Yes they have beaten the odd Premier League team in Europe, but how would they fair week in week out grind of the league.
I was happy for him to leave to look for a high level of football the Premier League or even one of the big European League, but the Scottish Premier League, what a joke. I don't care about the money he was never going to sign a new contract unless Cardiff won promotion and then I would have to say maybe.
He used Cardiff City to putting himself in the shop window for his last season, but no one bit Cardiff's hand off in the January transfer window. Why would any club in their right mind pay out a few million quid when in a few months they could get him on a free transfer. Stoke wanted him in the summer it was rumour, not one of the bigger Premiership clubs, but a good bottom half of the table club. They once offer £6million so him, but it was Celtic who got the players signature.
The Cardiff manager Dave Jones never wanted to sell him or let him go, but the right offer could have swayed the Cardiff City board so sell. They took a gamble in keeping him for the finally season of his contract it just didn't workout. Maybe they should have sold him the previous summer.
We're the Champions (for now......)
Today the R's faithful travelled to Watford hoping that Rangers' would finally seal promotion (albeit maybe for a week only) and really get the champers flowing.
The Lofty Heights gang were in full force as Sam, Jess and Lorna travelled in my car, Lofty travelled alone, Jenson travelled with Smithy and PK drove Corp and California Hoop, yes you heard correctly, California Hoop attending an away game from the first time since the Boxing Day at Charlton a few years ago. Corp and California Hoop had to sit in the home end but its still a damn good effort by them.
The majority of the gang assembled in The Oddfellows pub for a few pints and shared our views on The Sun's article yesterday on next weeks hearing, mixed views were shared and the nervousness has cerainly unsettled a few of us but I remain calm and hope for a positive outcome and that its them just stirring a few leftovers outta a dirty toilet.
Neil Warnock was forced into one change before naming the line up, Clint Hill missed out through injury and was replaced by Matt Connolly. However in a late twist one more change was forced on the R's boss, Paddy Kenny was injured in the warm up so he had to be replaced by Radek Cerny, who was making his first appearance of the season.
As we made our way to our seats Phill was in place alongside his Dad and a whole load of inflatables for us to blow up and surf to the crowd. Jess got hold of a shark and kept hold of it as what could hopefully be a lucky charm for us.
The first half wasn't really a spectacle to be fair and it was a tale of three offside goals dissallowed. Taarabt and Routledge had goals chalked off, Helguson's looked very tight from where we standing. Watford had one chalked off for a clear offside as our female linesman definitely knew what the offside rule was throughout the half.
Danny Graham headed narrowly wide and Alejandro Faurlin sidefooted over after great work by Taarabt down the left.
Fitz Hall had to be replaced midway through the first half due to injury, his replacement was Danny Shittu.
At half time I continued with my tradition of starting this write up whilst the gang got refreshments and had their respective breaks before getting back in their seats in time for the second half to kick off.
Rangers' again started the half well but did not manage to forge any clear cut chances.
As the half got older the R's were not getting the roll of things and Watford came more and more into the game. Rangers' fans were sweating as Watford managed to make the R's defend deeper and deeper but Cerny remained untested in the R's goal as we entered the final fifteen minutes of the game.
It looked as if one moment of brilliance or one mistake would come between the two teams and two minutes later we found out what it would be......
Tommy Smith attacked down the left hand side and managed to get a cross in that seemed to strike a Watford arm along the way but as we appealed for it our magical captain Taarabt stole in at the near post and flicked the ball past Scott Loach and the R's end erupted!!
The gang in our row went crazy as plenty of love went around and the shark was waved around in absolute delight.
The next 13 minutes seemed to last a lifetime but eventually the board with the additional minutes on it........... FIVE MINUTES????? Where did they come from??????
As we stand more anxious than ever waiting for the minutes to tick down there was time for one final goal.
Tommy Smith was fed the ball on the edge of the box and he drilled the ball into the bottom corner past the despairing Scott Loach and Rangers' fate was sealed.
This was Smith's 100th league goal of his career and what a time to grab it!
The celebrations were ones of relief, jubilation and just ecstasy. Iceman started to cry, phones from the row behind us were being lost and plenty of hugging was shared amongst us all.
FINALLY RANGERS ARE BACK 'ELLO 'ELLO!!!!!!!
I must say that after all the hard work this season that today was the day we as R's fans have waited for and have finally got after 15 years out of the big time.
Today was not the best footballing contest but with a lot of patience and some solid defending we got what we deserved, something that should've been sealed weeks ago, the Championship title.
Words cant describe what today is, all I can say is that it is a very special day that all members will all remember for the rest of our lives, even Corp and California Hoop who managed to get on the pitch from the Rookery End and came down to the away end to celebrate with all the R's fans.
Jess, Lofty, PK, Corp, California Hoop and myself made our way to the Breakspear Arms in Ruislip. We toasted the Championship title in a reserved style but with plenty of laughs and banter along the way, the company could not of been better.
Today's Man of the Match was settled by one vote. As we left the pub Danny Shittu edged the votes with five votes to Tommy Smith's three but after receiving Sam, Luke and Lorna's votes by text it was Tommy Smith that won today's award with six votes to Shittu's five.
Watford: Loach, Hodson, Eustace, Taylor (Bennett 54), Mariappa, Cowie, Deeney, Graham, Buckley (Murray 78), Doyley, Sordell (Whichelow 73).
Subs: Gilmartin, Mingoia, Drinkwater, Assombalonga.
QPR: Cerny, Orr, Derry, Hall (Shittu 23), Taarabt (Ramage 90), Helguson, Faurlin, Gorkss, Routledge (Buzsaky 75), Connolly, Smith.
Subs: Agyemang, Hulse, Vaagan Moen, Ephraim.
Goals: Taarabt (77), Smith (90+3)
Referee: Mr N Swarbrick
Attendance: 15,538 (2171 QPR fans in the away end, numberous others elsewhere.)
Tomorrow the gang will be attending the Player of the Year dinner and dance (minus myself and Jess) so I wish everyone a great night ahead.
Lofty will be back during the course of the week with the Lofty Heights Awards 2010/11 and then again next weekend for our final report of the season.
I sign off this season with a massive thank you to everyone for all their support and hope you all continue to enjoy our ramblings next season....... as a Premier League club!!
U R'SSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!
Big weekend for Cardiff
Woke up this morning hoping it was Monday and QPR and Swansea had both lost on the weekend. Breaking news on Sky Sports News was that the entire Norwich first team about broke their left leg in some secret Norfolk ritual and they had to fulfil the last two fixtures.
Nice to dream, but the fact is, we need ever ounce of luck including the possibility of QPR being docked over the charges of signing a player owned by a third-party with is against the FA rules. The Sun newspaper carried a story yesterday that the Londoners could be docked fifteen points according to a source in the FA, but an official statement was put out on the FA's website denying the article.
Today we need help from outside the Cardiff City family with our likely hero's of the day being Millwall were there is little brotherly love between the two sets of fans, but today Cardiff fans worldwide will have their fingers hoping for a Millwall win. They face Swansea at home who hasn't won an away game in the last five. Swansea along with QPR, Norwich and Cardiff are the only teams who are still in the race for an automatic promotion spot which for us Bluebirds fan mean a defeat or draw for them would be a blessing. Millwall are a great spot to keep up the pressure for a play-off place finish to the season so Swansea can expect a hard fought game ahead.
It's a London affair the other game of interest with QPR travel to Watford. The home team will be playing for pride having missed out on a play-off finish while a win for QPR would see the promoted as Champions of the Championship even a draw would be enough owing to a far superior goal difference.
News out of the Cardiff City camp to the up to the Middlesbrough with no talk about injury worries so base on that it looks like Cardiff will be at full strength.
Nice to dream, but the fact is, we need ever ounce of luck including the possibility of QPR being docked over the charges of signing a player owned by a third-party with is against the FA rules. The Sun newspaper carried a story yesterday that the Londoners could be docked fifteen points according to a source in the FA, but an official statement was put out on the FA's website denying the article.
Today we need help from outside the Cardiff City family with our likely hero's of the day being Millwall were there is little brotherly love between the two sets of fans, but today Cardiff fans worldwide will have their fingers hoping for a Millwall win. They face Swansea at home who hasn't won an away game in the last five. Swansea along with QPR, Norwich and Cardiff are the only teams who are still in the race for an automatic promotion spot which for us Bluebirds fan mean a defeat or draw for them would be a blessing. Millwall are a great spot to keep up the pressure for a play-off place finish to the season so Swansea can expect a hard fought game ahead.
It's a London affair the other game of interest with QPR travel to Watford. The home team will be playing for pride having missed out on a play-off finish while a win for QPR would see the promoted as Champions of the Championship even a draw would be enough owing to a far superior goal difference.
News out of the Cardiff City camp to the up to the Middlesbrough with no talk about injury worries so base on that it looks like Cardiff will be at full strength.
Friday, April 29, 2011
The Championship ends here..........
Who can forget that tuesday night. 20th April 2010. Scunny vs Reading. 5299 people inside Glanford Park. Reading go 2-0 up with 18 minutes left. The Iron miss a host of chances to get back in the game. A Garry Thompson shot is spilled by Reading keeper Adam Federici. Gary Hooper smashes home the loose ball. Game on ! 8 minutes to save their season. Jon Forte heads a ball down in the box in the 89th minute. Local boy done good Matt Sparrow pops up, in the right place at the right time, to score the scruffiest of equalisers. 2-2. Glanford Park is rocking ! The Iron are staying in the second tier of football for the first time in 47 years. The final whistle is met with the most amazing pitch invasion the ground had seen since the 99 play offs. Players on the shoulders of fans, photographers looking for the perfect picture, jubilation !
Fast forward 12 months.........
Gary Hooper is now a few games away from the Champions League football with Celtic. Matt Sparrow has just won another League One winners Medal, to go with the one from his time at Glanford Park. Nigel Adkins isn't far behind Sparrow on his way to the Championship, and possibly the glory of the Premier League with Southampton. Former fans favourite Paul Hayes warms the bench for a Preston team destined for relegaton along with thie Iron
Monday 25th April 2011. Millwall the visitors to Glanford Park. fans hoping for the kind of game seen two weeks earlier, when league leaders QPR came to town and where shown how to play football by a team on top form. Things seemed well before kick off. The players looked like they were fired up, the fans were singing, a decent crowd inside the ground, this was going to be it. Everything was riding on this game. Win and we would go into the last two games with a chance of staying up, lose an thats it League One football next year. You could say a make or break game for the team. It was and we were broken !
From the kick off you kind of knew it wouldn't be our day. Not many times have i seen us play towards the terrace in the first half and win, and today would be no different. I thought that, after only getting a few minutes in our draw at Coventry, Michael O'Connor was sure to start, seeing him on the bench was a bit of a shock., bringing Joe Garner back into attack would surely give us an extra spark up front though. The passion of the QPR game was sadly missing. It was all too easy for a stubborn Millwall defence, the only real chances for us being a Michael Collins shot that was nearer hitting the corner flag than the goal, and a Marcus Williams effort that was easily saved by Lions keeper David Forde. Millwall took their opportunities well. Young striker John Marquis getting the better of Eddie Nolan from a set piece to stab the ball past a shocked Joe Murphy. No shock that they had scored, more of a shock that Nolan has struggled so much after signing permanently till the end of the season. His full time signing was greeted well by the fans, after he played so well on loan from fellow strugglers Preston, but since the appointment of Alan Knill he seems to have dropped behind Andy Hughes in the pecking order. After a terrible mistake for Marquis' second goal he was hauled off to spare him more embarrasment. O'Connor came off the bench with Collins moved to right back. After his recent good form i think the fans were expecting him to change the game, his few good passes weren't enough to turn things round. The only spark came after Garner was hauled down in the six yard box by Tony Craig. Not surprising. A clear penalty. The games began as O'Connor picked up the ball. Garner wanted the spot kick but the Northern Irishman would not give up the ball. O'Connor clearly wanted the goal, maybe he's after taking club top scorer honours from the now departed Martyn Woolford. Garner looked more than annoyed with his team mate and had to be puleed away by other players. O'Connor smashed the ball into the roof of the net but chose not to celebrate too much, probably realising that the game was slipping away from his team, along with their Championship status. Manager Alan Knill came out after the game and told it how it was. "There has got to be some changes – this squad has under-performed not just now and again, but consistently."
After a poor season Knill seems to know who he wants out of the current squad. The likes of Josh Wright, David Mirfin and Joe Murphy look most likely to leave. Wright hasn't done well since Ian Baraclough left as manager, Murphy is at the age where he needs Championship football, Josh Lillis is the perfect replacement for him, the only problem being the need for a good back up. Mirfin would be a loss, but Michael Raynes can easily fill that gap in League One alongside the fantastic Michael Nelson. If Eddie Nolan leaves we need a good quality right back to fill that gap, whilst a left back is also on the shopping list. Mark Duffy has stepped up well from League Two, more than replacing Martyn Woolford as our best wide player. Ramon Nunez will probably be too expensive to buy from Leeds so aa attacking left sider will be required. The central midfield spots could be sorted with Sam Togwell and Michael O'Connor, if he stays with us, best siuted to that role. Up front has been the season long problem. Chris Dagnall was brought in to replace Gary Hoopers goals but has struggled without a big forward next to him. A Steve Torpey style player may be what we need to get the best of the former Rochdale man, or we could try and steal Chris O'Grady from Dagnalls former club. Bobby Grant was brought in from Accrington, after scoring a few screamers in League Two, he has struggled a bit with the two league step up. Next year could be a big one for Matt Godden, he needs a few goals in pre season to get the attention of Knill and earn himself a regular spot, be that on the bench or f he's lucky in the team. All round we need more attacking threat. A team that lets in a lot of goals needs to score a lot or they will drop through the leagues like stone. Knill's team next year will have to be a lot better than the current team, seeing the last six games we know at least that anyone who doesn't give 100% for the team will be out of the door.
It was sad to look around the stands and see fans leaving after 60 minutes, by full time a lot of people had left their seats to beat the traffic. Only a few bored looking kids in Premier League shirts were left, with dads who wouldn't leave early, this is their team and they were with them till the end. I hate it when supposed fans boo their team off the pitch, a few dissenting voices at the final whistle were drowned out by the appreciation of the real fans who were proud of what their team had achieved in the last two years. Some of the defeats along the road were hard to stomach but starting with the play off win against Millwall, beating Newcastle at GP, beating Sheff Utd away on two occasions, away trips to St James' Park and The Hawthorns, wining 1-0 at arch rivals Hull, beating QPR 4-1 at GP are all things that even the most optimistic of fans wouldn't have seen coming a few years ago, when we were a Steve MacLean goal away from going out of the league and into football oblivion (much like our friends down the M180). We as fans need to remember the highs as well as the lows, thats what football is all about. Some people will support their team through thick and thin, some only want to be their for the good times. Inevitable relegation League One will show us our true fan base, if we start next year well no doubt the crowds will rise and the town will be buzzing again. Now though we have two games left in the Championship, we need to see what the players who will be here next season can offer us and who will play their way out of the club.
Next year will be massively different to this. We'll be in a different league, we'll have a few new players, we'll enter the FA Cup at round one, we also get the joys of the JP Trophy. One thing is for sure though, with Knill at the helm a return to the Championship could well be on the cards, i hope...........
Fast forward 12 months.........
Gary Hooper is now a few games away from the Champions League football with Celtic. Matt Sparrow has just won another League One winners Medal, to go with the one from his time at Glanford Park. Nigel Adkins isn't far behind Sparrow on his way to the Championship, and possibly the glory of the Premier League with Southampton. Former fans favourite Paul Hayes warms the bench for a Preston team destined for relegaton along with thie Iron
Monday 25th April 2011. Millwall the visitors to Glanford Park. fans hoping for the kind of game seen two weeks earlier, when league leaders QPR came to town and where shown how to play football by a team on top form. Things seemed well before kick off. The players looked like they were fired up, the fans were singing, a decent crowd inside the ground, this was going to be it. Everything was riding on this game. Win and we would go into the last two games with a chance of staying up, lose an thats it League One football next year. You could say a make or break game for the team. It was and we were broken !
From the kick off you kind of knew it wouldn't be our day. Not many times have i seen us play towards the terrace in the first half and win, and today would be no different. I thought that, after only getting a few minutes in our draw at Coventry, Michael O'Connor was sure to start, seeing him on the bench was a bit of a shock., bringing Joe Garner back into attack would surely give us an extra spark up front though. The passion of the QPR game was sadly missing. It was all too easy for a stubborn Millwall defence, the only real chances for us being a Michael Collins shot that was nearer hitting the corner flag than the goal, and a Marcus Williams effort that was easily saved by Lions keeper David Forde. Millwall took their opportunities well. Young striker John Marquis getting the better of Eddie Nolan from a set piece to stab the ball past a shocked Joe Murphy. No shock that they had scored, more of a shock that Nolan has struggled so much after signing permanently till the end of the season. His full time signing was greeted well by the fans, after he played so well on loan from fellow strugglers Preston, but since the appointment of Alan Knill he seems to have dropped behind Andy Hughes in the pecking order. After a terrible mistake for Marquis' second goal he was hauled off to spare him more embarrasment. O'Connor came off the bench with Collins moved to right back. After his recent good form i think the fans were expecting him to change the game, his few good passes weren't enough to turn things round. The only spark came after Garner was hauled down in the six yard box by Tony Craig. Not surprising. A clear penalty. The games began as O'Connor picked up the ball. Garner wanted the spot kick but the Northern Irishman would not give up the ball. O'Connor clearly wanted the goal, maybe he's after taking club top scorer honours from the now departed Martyn Woolford. Garner looked more than annoyed with his team mate and had to be puleed away by other players. O'Connor smashed the ball into the roof of the net but chose not to celebrate too much, probably realising that the game was slipping away from his team, along with their Championship status. Manager Alan Knill came out after the game and told it how it was. "There has got to be some changes – this squad has under-performed not just now and again, but consistently."
After a poor season Knill seems to know who he wants out of the current squad. The likes of Josh Wright, David Mirfin and Joe Murphy look most likely to leave. Wright hasn't done well since Ian Baraclough left as manager, Murphy is at the age where he needs Championship football, Josh Lillis is the perfect replacement for him, the only problem being the need for a good back up. Mirfin would be a loss, but Michael Raynes can easily fill that gap in League One alongside the fantastic Michael Nelson. If Eddie Nolan leaves we need a good quality right back to fill that gap, whilst a left back is also on the shopping list. Mark Duffy has stepped up well from League Two, more than replacing Martyn Woolford as our best wide player. Ramon Nunez will probably be too expensive to buy from Leeds so aa attacking left sider will be required. The central midfield spots could be sorted with Sam Togwell and Michael O'Connor, if he stays with us, best siuted to that role. Up front has been the season long problem. Chris Dagnall was brought in to replace Gary Hoopers goals but has struggled without a big forward next to him. A Steve Torpey style player may be what we need to get the best of the former Rochdale man, or we could try and steal Chris O'Grady from Dagnalls former club. Bobby Grant was brought in from Accrington, after scoring a few screamers in League Two, he has struggled a bit with the two league step up. Next year could be a big one for Matt Godden, he needs a few goals in pre season to get the attention of Knill and earn himself a regular spot, be that on the bench or f he's lucky in the team. All round we need more attacking threat. A team that lets in a lot of goals needs to score a lot or they will drop through the leagues like stone. Knill's team next year will have to be a lot better than the current team, seeing the last six games we know at least that anyone who doesn't give 100% for the team will be out of the door.
It was sad to look around the stands and see fans leaving after 60 minutes, by full time a lot of people had left their seats to beat the traffic. Only a few bored looking kids in Premier League shirts were left, with dads who wouldn't leave early, this is their team and they were with them till the end. I hate it when supposed fans boo their team off the pitch, a few dissenting voices at the final whistle were drowned out by the appreciation of the real fans who were proud of what their team had achieved in the last two years. Some of the defeats along the road were hard to stomach but starting with the play off win against Millwall, beating Newcastle at GP, beating Sheff Utd away on two occasions, away trips to St James' Park and The Hawthorns, wining 1-0 at arch rivals Hull, beating QPR 4-1 at GP are all things that even the most optimistic of fans wouldn't have seen coming a few years ago, when we were a Steve MacLean goal away from going out of the league and into football oblivion (much like our friends down the M180). We as fans need to remember the highs as well as the lows, thats what football is all about. Some people will support their team through thick and thin, some only want to be their for the good times. Inevitable relegation League One will show us our true fan base, if we start next year well no doubt the crowds will rise and the town will be buzzing again. Now though we have two games left in the Championship, we need to see what the players who will be here next season can offer us and who will play their way out of the club.
Next year will be massively different to this. We'll be in a different league, we'll have a few new players, we'll enter the FA Cup at round one, we also get the joys of the JP Trophy. One thing is for sure though, with Knill at the helm a return to the Championship could well be on the cards, i hope...........
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Call-up for Gerrard?
Cardiff City's defender Anthony Gerrard, unwanted by Cardiff City boss Dave Jones and loan out to Hull City looks to have played himself into a Republic of Ireland international call-up. He represented Ireland at under-18 level and recently declared he saw his international future with Ireland. The Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni, watched the defender and is believed to be about to call him into the squad for the Carling Nations Cup games against Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Gerrard has been named as the club's Player of the Season by the Hull fans. Gerrard has enjoyed a brilliant campaign for the Tigers since joining on a season-long loan from Cardiff. The Hull manager Nigel Pearson has already stressed he would like to see the 25-year-old remain at the KC Stadium next season where it is believed he has a season left on his contract.
What will City boss Dave Jones want to do keep him or sell? Will his form at Hull mean Jones could would to keep the defender, he never said he will never play for Cardiff again. His first season here was ever present at centre-back, but in pre-season something had changed and at the start of the season found himself on the bench. He got to starts in the League Cup and then loan out to Hull. His first game for Hull saw him back at the Cardiff City Stadium after both clubs agree to allow their players to play. Cardiff City had taken Hull midfielder Seyi Olofinjana on loan for the season.
Craig Bell-ieve-amy OR Craig + Bellamy = promotion (Podcast)
Listen the the great podcast 'View from the Ninian' from Cardiff City from Cardiff City Adam and Ben. Some fruity language at times but great chat about Cardiff City with some catchy jingles.
R's on the Road................. To Watford.
On Saturday Rangers' travel to Watford to see if they can finally seal promotion and the Championship title. After weeks of guessing when it will happen this is finally the day we know that a draw will clinch promotion and a win will bring the title to Loftus Road.
Will we finally have a good memory of a trip to the glory hornet boys????
The Stadium.
Current Capacity – 19,900
Watford have been at home at Vicarage Road since 1922. From 1922-2001 the ground was owned by Benskins Brewery and they bought the ground from its freehold outright and owned the stadium for the first time in its history. However due to the clubs poor financial state in 2002 they had to sell the ground and agreed a £6m deal but agreed a £7m buy back clause in the future. This option was taken up in 2004 and once again owned the ground.
Redevelopments at Vicarage Road have been prominent for the last two years as improvements are made to the ground. The South-West corner has been the main focal point of this and when it is finished it will house the new dressing rooms and a new media centre. The East Stand will be the next subject of redevelopment and they hope all work will be completed by 2011.
Away fans are housed in the Vicarage Road end for this fixture. The stand holds 2,200 people and offers a great view of proceedings on the pitch. The concourses however are the tightest you will ever come across and will struggle to breath down there. There is a betting facility down there also.
The History between the teams.
At Watford (54)
Watford 21
QPR 22
Draw 12
Vicarage Road hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Rangers. Since 1988 the R’s have once won once in eight attempts, the solitary win coming two seasons ago during the Christmas period with a fantastic display of football and ending up 4-2 victors.
In the last six meetings at Watford the home side have won five of the matches, with the outcome being either 3-0 or 3-1. This game promises goals and lets hope they end up in the right net as far as Rangers are concerned
How to get there.
By Car:- The post code for today is WD18 0ER.
There are many ways to enter Watford. Via the M1 you should come off at junction 5 and take the A4008 into Watford town centre. Via the M25 you should come off at junction 19 and get onto the A41 towards Watford and once again head towards the town centre. On reaching Watford you will be greeted by the inner ring road. For the easiest parking I would suggest the Church Street multi storey car park as it is open for 24hrs and will only cost you £2.50 for 4hours. The ground is a 5 minute walk from there.
By Train:- The overground station at Watford is the Watford Junction train station and is a 20 minute walk to the ground. You can catch the Metropolitan Line down to Watford High Street or alternatively walk for the 20minutes if you choose. The directions should you decide to take the walk are as follows. Leave the station & take main road straight opposite (Clarendon Road) all the way (over Ring Road at lights) up to the High Street. Turn left and go past Wetherspoons (Moon under Water) on your right and then take the first right after 100 yards into Market Street. Continue along again crossing Ring Road to T junction & then left at chip shop. Vicarage Road is the next right turn.
Watford High Street tube station is on the Metropolitan Line and is a short walk away from the ground. Come out of the tube station and take a left onto the High Street. A short way up the High Street is King Street on the left hand side, go up there and follow it up to the end of the road (Lady’s Close) turn right and this will lead you onto Vicarage Road. At the start of Vicarage Road take a left and then follow the road into the away end.
Pubs 'n' Grub.
With the ground being only a 5-10 minute walk from the High street you have a full array of food and drinking outlets to take advantage of. Everything you could possibly want is here and needs no build up.
Bothroyd linked with North East clubs
This morning some more transfer rumours it the Daily Mirror who over the last few have linked Cardiff City with Coventry striker Marlon King and Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone.
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| Jay Bothroyd |
Today's rumour surrounds Cardiff City striker Jay Bothroyd and Sunderland who along with Newcastle are reported to be keen to sign him. Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is in the market for a striker and has been link with the Cardiff player before and could be again with no transfer fee to pay.
The carrot to any interested a number of club is that Bothroyd is out of contract in the summer and he can walk away on a free transfer. He has stressed on humours occasions he is a Cardiff City player and will only look to his future at the end of the season.
For sure the Cardiff City boss Dave Jones would like him to stay and signed a new contract, but Cardiff would have to win promotion. Bothroyd wants to make the step up to the Premier League where he hopes to in hence his chances of another England recall.
From the article in the paper we would thing a deal was all sown up already. It is also reported that Sunderland boss Steve Bruce could pay Bothroyd around £30,000-a-week, way out of Cardiff reach without promotion. Time will tell, but both clubs can expect competition for his signature in the near future he will be a popular target for the rumour mill.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
King again linked with Cardiff
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| Agent talk |
Cardiff City has been linked to Coventry City striker Marlon King, and not for the first time. Back in Match it was highly rumoured he would be joining Cardiff and then Coventry confirmed the approach.
At the time Coventry found themselves with financial problems when the then chairman Ray Ranson stood down. They were considering parting company with the striker because of his wages, but they decided to keep him to help in the fight from relegation which was threatening them. He joined them on a one a year contract back in September.
He is a free agent in the summer and should find himself with a number of suitors for his signature. In today's Daily Mirror newspaper besides Cardiff he is also wanted by Leicester City. It just a rumour, but sounds very much like an agent on a fishing trip and testing the water for a summer move.
His stats at Coventry are Appearances: 27 – total goals: 12 – yellow cards: 1 – red cards: 2
They Think It's All Over.... Not Just Yet...
QPR 1-1 Hull
The Promotion Champagne was once again put on ice yesterday as QPR were held at home by a determined Hull City at Loftus Road.
There were all sort of perms and if's and buts before the game, but overall, it was quite simple. QPR win and they go up and as Champions. But it was not to be as yet another late goal from Norwich at home to Derby, gave the Canaries the win that will take it into another week. Rangers, with a 6 point lead over 3rd, 5 over second, are all but there of course and just one point is needed to rubber stamp the title. But a few weeks ago, it looked like the R's would cross the finish line like a Formula One car, but instead are crossing like a winkle barge drifting by Southend Pier....
Earlier in the day, a what is, much divided gang these days, headed to the upstairs balcony in the Springbok for pre match drinks and chats. But as mentioned before, the regulations meant that the balcony was closed at 2pm, so instead of standing in what was a sweatbox, we made our way to the blue and white bar, where we were able to stand and soak up the sunshine whilst having a refreshing pint.
Onto the game and there were early half chances for both sides, but in the 9th minute, Loftus Road went literally beserk - Taarabt's clever ball set Routledge speeding ahead of the Hull defence and the winger cracked a right foot drive past the keeper and into the net. It was just what the expectant R's fans wanted and maybe settled the early nerves a bit. The rest of the first half was all Rangers with Heidar Helguson heading over and also forcing a fine save from Duke, and Clint Hill seeing an effort scrambled off the goal-line.
Hull, who don't forget, boast one of the best away records in the league and had everything to play for to get into a play off position, had to go for it and get back into the game - and they certainly did that. The Tigers closed Rangers down well in midfield and the chances were certainly afew as R's fans watched the clock tick down.
On 55 minutes, Taarabt sent a free kick just over, before Fitz Hall came to the R's rescue with a superb block tackle on Matt Fryat as the Hull striker was about to let fly. But the danger signs were certainly there for the R's. Taarabt again had a chance to seal it, but his powerful effort flew just wide.
Instead, Rangers were stunned with nine minutes remaining when substitute Amoo latched on to a hopeful ball over the top and crashed a superb 20-yarder past Kenny to level the scores. QPR substitute Patrick Agyemang did have a late chance to hit what would have been a glorious winner, but he overhit a lob when well placed to score, before Alejandro Faurlin's left-foot free-kick was quite superbly pushed away by Duke.
The final whistle then went and the R's fans poured onto the pitch thinking that a point was enough to secure our return to the Premier League. But the news soon started filtering through of Norwich's late, late winner and as mentioned, we are all but promoted, but nothing will now be confirmed until next week.
QPR: Kenny, Orr, Hill, Derry, Hall, Taarabt, Helguson (Agyemang 77), Faurlin, Gorkss, Routledge, Smith (Ephraim 68). Subs: Cerny, Buzsaky, Connolly, Hulse, Shittu.
Man of the Match - again, probably due to us being a tad deflated, there was no discussion after the game, so will go with my own personal choice this time, which was Fitz Hall.
As we descended on the British Queen after the game and still in the sunshine, it was obvious that many R's fans had arranged to stay out and party. But the best way I could summarise the feeling around Shepherds Bush after the result, is to state how our own Corporate Hoop described the events...
'It was like, pulling a bird with DD breasts, only to later find that'.... well, I will leave the rest to your imagination....
Come on You R'sssssssssssssssssss!!!!!
The Promotion Champagne was once again put on ice yesterday as QPR were held at home by a determined Hull City at Loftus Road.
There were all sort of perms and if's and buts before the game, but overall, it was quite simple. QPR win and they go up and as Champions. But it was not to be as yet another late goal from Norwich at home to Derby, gave the Canaries the win that will take it into another week. Rangers, with a 6 point lead over 3rd, 5 over second, are all but there of course and just one point is needed to rubber stamp the title. But a few weeks ago, it looked like the R's would cross the finish line like a Formula One car, but instead are crossing like a winkle barge drifting by Southend Pier....
Earlier in the day, a what is, much divided gang these days, headed to the upstairs balcony in the Springbok for pre match drinks and chats. But as mentioned before, the regulations meant that the balcony was closed at 2pm, so instead of standing in what was a sweatbox, we made our way to the blue and white bar, where we were able to stand and soak up the sunshine whilst having a refreshing pint.
Onto the game and there were early half chances for both sides, but in the 9th minute, Loftus Road went literally beserk - Taarabt's clever ball set Routledge speeding ahead of the Hull defence and the winger cracked a right foot drive past the keeper and into the net. It was just what the expectant R's fans wanted and maybe settled the early nerves a bit. The rest of the first half was all Rangers with Heidar Helguson heading over and also forcing a fine save from Duke, and Clint Hill seeing an effort scrambled off the goal-line.
Hull, who don't forget, boast one of the best away records in the league and had everything to play for to get into a play off position, had to go for it and get back into the game - and they certainly did that. The Tigers closed Rangers down well in midfield and the chances were certainly afew as R's fans watched the clock tick down.
On 55 minutes, Taarabt sent a free kick just over, before Fitz Hall came to the R's rescue with a superb block tackle on Matt Fryat as the Hull striker was about to let fly. But the danger signs were certainly there for the R's. Taarabt again had a chance to seal it, but his powerful effort flew just wide.
Instead, Rangers were stunned with nine minutes remaining when substitute Amoo latched on to a hopeful ball over the top and crashed a superb 20-yarder past Kenny to level the scores. QPR substitute Patrick Agyemang did have a late chance to hit what would have been a glorious winner, but he overhit a lob when well placed to score, before Alejandro Faurlin's left-foot free-kick was quite superbly pushed away by Duke.
The final whistle then went and the R's fans poured onto the pitch thinking that a point was enough to secure our return to the Premier League. But the news soon started filtering through of Norwich's late, late winner and as mentioned, we are all but promoted, but nothing will now be confirmed until next week.
QPR: Kenny, Orr, Hill, Derry, Hall, Taarabt, Helguson (Agyemang 77), Faurlin, Gorkss, Routledge, Smith (Ephraim 68). Subs: Cerny, Buzsaky, Connolly, Hulse, Shittu.
Man of the Match - again, probably due to us being a tad deflated, there was no discussion after the game, so will go with my own personal choice this time, which was Fitz Hall.
As we descended on the British Queen after the game and still in the sunshine, it was obvious that many R's fans had arranged to stay out and party. But the best way I could summarise the feeling around Shepherds Bush after the result, is to state how our own Corporate Hoop described the events...
'It was like, pulling a bird with DD breasts, only to later find that'.... well, I will leave the rest to your imagination....
Come on You R'sssssssssssssssssss!!!!!
Squeaky bum time at Cardiff City
So close, it was so, so close, but at the end it was just out of reach, but the game is not over there are still two games left and the club, players and fans are up for it - bring it on. Cardiff looked to be on their way back to second spot after one of the most nerve-wracking games in some time for yours truly. I don't know which was worst being at the match or listening to the radio, but on my laptop chasing results listening to the game was difficult and wearing on the old ticker.
A goal in the sixth minute of the game led to a nail biting a game at 1-0 you just never feel safe especially in the last minutes of the game could that last minute equalisers ruin the day. Not yesterday anyway Cardiff had total control of the game and they had the chances, but the Preston keeper rode his luck sometimes and made some fine saves. Although if you were watching 'The Football League Show' highlights of the game you would have thought there was only a goal to the game.
Once again Craig Bellamy was all over the pitch chasing the ball down and making darting runs at the beleaguered Preston defence. It was rumoured he could be rested for the game or go on the bench, but he is reported has wanting to play. Some way into the second half of the game the Cardiff manager Dave Jones made a number of attempts to call Bellamy off, but the striker wave him away until he finally singled to the bench it was time for him to come off. He played three games in just over a week and now the whole squad will have time to rest before their next game on Monday.
The very late goal from Norwich spoiled the day for the Bluebirds every so what does the last two game hold for the rivals.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Cardiff v Middlesbrough, 17:15
Portsmouth v Norwich, 19:45
Both play on Monday with advantage going to Norwich again I say again because before today game they had over three days to rest having played Thursdays night while Cardiff played Saturday.
However, is it much of an advantage to Norwich this time if Cardiff win in the earlier kick-off it would then heap of pressure on them it could also work the other way if Cardiff were to lose. Middlesbrough have hit a rich vain of form they and have only lost one game in the last ten games hopefully home advantage on top of a packed stadium will count for a couple of goals. While Norwich City opponents Portsmouth have only won two of their last ten games. Both games are live on Sky Sports.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Burnley v Cardiff, 12:45
Norwich v Coventry, 12:45
There are a number of scenarios that could play out on Monday,
Norwich win and Cardiff lose, Norwich are promoted.
If Norwich win and Cardiff draw there is still a chance of automatic promotion for the Bluebirds.
Cardiff win or draw and Norwich lose, Cardiff are back in second with a game to go.
The last games of the season could well be seen of TV if the promotion challenge goes right down to the final game.
It's Cardiff who on paper has the tougher game of the two. Cardiff are away to Burnley who are in the chase for a play-off place so have every reason to play their heads off looking for a win and glory. Norwich City will face Coventry with nothing to play for, but pride and their fans to end the mediocre season they have had.
Monday, April 25, 2011
City chasing keeper
Cardiff City are reported to be keen to take Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone on loan next season. The young Arsenal keeper is on loan at Hull City and will be return to Arsenal at the end of the season. Hull are keen to sign him on a permanent deal, but he signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal in 2010. Wenger and his staff rate the with Arsenal.The Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is believed to want to lean out Mannone for a season. He joined Hull in October and today played ten games, six of which have been clean sheets. The 23-year-old has made 12 appearances for Wenger in the Premiership and Champions League.
Welsh Cup next season
Cardiff City boss Dave Jones is up for a return to the Welsh Cup, but only if there is a European spot for the winner which including the Welsh teams playing outside Wales.
The politics surround the decision the exclude the Welsh clubs and including the likes of Hereford, Chester City Shrewsbury and a few others from across the border killed the competition. It was all because the then FAW Secretary General Alun Evans believed the Welsh football was under threat from FIFA who wanted to see a team GB. He felt Wales need a strong League structure so the League of Wales was launched. In the process a civil war between the FAW and Welsh non-league teams that played over the border in England.
The FAW set up the FAW Invitation Cup which became the Premier Cup and invited the English playing league clubs plus the non-league team into the competition with the BBC Wales air games live. Without a European spot for the winners the competition saw the Football league clubs turn out weaken teams.
It's been 16-years since Cardiff was in the Welsh Cup and 18-years since winning the Cup and playing in Europe against Standard Liege.Manager Dave Jones said about the FAW plans,
"If there's a European spot then I'm sure myself and the other guys at their clubs would welcome it.
“If it is going to be as it was then it wouldn’t appeal to me personally. I haven’t spoken to the board or anything but the reason we didn’t play our strongest team in it was it wasn’t worth it to us"
“If there’s a European spot, I’m sure myself and the other guys would welcome it.
“We wouldn’t want to play in the Welsh league, definitely not. I don’t think the fans would or the hierarchy would.
“No disrespect to the Welsh football league but it is not as good as playing in the English League. That is where everyone wants to be.”
And Jones said any criticism of the move by rival clubs in the English pyramid would merely be sour grapes.
“A lot of people are always moaning that we come under the FAW sanctions. That’s not the club’s fault.
“If there’s a route for us into Europe let them moan because if was given to them you would not hear a peep out of them.
“It’s nothing to do with us as a football club it’s all about the hierarchy.
“And if we are invited into the Welsh Cup it’s because we are a Welsh team and nobody complained about it before.
“European football is part of this club’s history, you think back to when Cardiff played Real Madrid that happened because they won the Welsh Cup, nothing to do with what they’d done in the English league.
“I think it was only the Welsh that stopped it, not the English, so if nobody complained then, how can they complain now?”
Vice-president Trefor Lloyd Hughes has confirmed that the FAW would be happy to nominate any of them to represent Wales in Europe should they win.
"We think that by having them in, it would raise the profile of the Cup and would help improve the playing standard of the clubs in the Welsh Premier.
"We would put their names forward to Uefa and it would then be Uefa's decision, not the FAW's, whether or not to allow them to play in Europe."
The route to play in Europe for the winners in Welsh Cup is the Europa League. The FAW will now have to talk to the football governing bodies to discuss the plan.
Cardiff City team v Preston
Heaton
Quinn McNaughton Keinan Samuel
Burke McPhail Olofinjana Whittingham
Bothroyd Bellamy
Bench - Brown (gk), Rae, Chopra, Koumas, Blake, Parkin, Hudson
Goalkeeper Tom Heaton gets the starts with Jason Brown on the bench Stephen Bywater picked up a knock in Saturday’s game against QPR. The rumoured that Craig Bellamy would be rested turnout to be untrue has he starts for David Jones this afternoon.
FC Bayern Munchen (Bayern Munich Football Club)
History
After clashes between club management and players of the MTV 1879 Munich at the bar "Gisela" in Schwabing, 11 players decided to secede and form their own club under the management of Franz John on February 27, 1900. The name chosen for the new club is FC Bayern München. This is the beginning of a unique success story of 1932 in Nuernberg ditahun victory in the final against Eintracht Frankfurt was the first victory of a total of 20 title victory. FC Bayern Munich did not participate when the Bundesliga was formed. But in 1965, this club was promoted and became number three on the next season and since then became a permanent member in the Bundesliga, won 21 Bundesliga titles and a victory puts the club comes out of the Bundesliga. So far, FC Bayern Munich is the most successful club.
Bayern Munich's first hundred years-history and success story begins and ends with the name Franz. Is it a coincidence that Franz John who founded FC Bayern and a century later by Franz different, this time Beckenbauer, who led Bayern Munich became a respected club and ideally with a stack of titles behind them in the new century as its president. Many things that distinguish the past and present. Franz John founded and built Bayern from zero and relatively happy with the results of Bayern's 7-1 victory in his first match against a team before, MTV 1879. But John also gave the club a "charismatic" is the uniqueness first. At the beginning, people recognized as Bavaria, and then as Schwabinger Bayern, unique hat from his players. In his day, Franz Beckenbauer has helped Bayern Munich to be like him now: an international club with millions of fans, an institution that reaches far beyond the German football was never in the craziest dream though Franz John imagined that his team will be German champions, European Cup winners and even among clubs kejuaaraan international winner.
Color
At first the color is white and blue Bavarian, but the clubs use a white shirt with black shorts until 1905, when Bayern join the MSC. MSC decided that the players have to play with the red shorts. Bayern have been playing in red and white for most of its existence, but the blue used as an alternative. In the 1969-70 season a striped shirt with blue and white colors, and shorts and socks are also blue. Similar style appeared in 1995, when it became the dominant color blue color for the first time. From 1999 on Bayern returned to its original color.
The away kit has a variety of colors over the years, including white, black, blue, and golden-green. Bayern also features a distinct international kit. In 2009, the home kit of red, dark blue away kit, and international kit white.
Organization and Finance
Professional football team in Bavaria is run by FC Bayern Munich AG. AG stands for Aktiengesellschaft, and Bayern are a joint stock company that is not listed on public stock markets, but private property. 81.82% of FC Bayern München AG is owned by the club, FC Bayern München e. V. (E. V. short for Eingetragener Verein, which translates into "Registered Club") and 9.09% respectively by sporting goods manufacturer Adidas from Germany, and German car companies, Audi. Adidas has a stake in 2002 for € 77m. The money was intended to help finance the Allianz Arena. In 2009 Audi's pay to pay € 90m as part of its shares. Capital is used to restore the Allianz Arena construction loans to be faster than planned.
Bayern's main advertising partner and rights holders are Deutsche Telekom jersey. The main kit supplier Adidas club this is. Other major partners include Audi, Coca-Cola, Lufthansa, Nikon, Siemens, and Sony Ericsson In previous years the jersey rights is owned by Adidas (1974-1978)., Magirus Deutz and Iveco (trucks / 1978-1984), Commodore ( computer / 1984-1989) and Opel (cars / 1989-2002).
Bayern largely led by ex-club players. President of the club Uli Hoeness. He has been in office, previously as general manager of the club, since 1979. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is chairman of the executive board of FC Bayern Munich AG. Supervisory Board consists of nine mostly managers of large German companies. They are Herbert Hainer (CEO of adidas), Uli Hoeness, Timothy Höttges, Helmut Markwort, Dieter Rampl, Fritz Scherer, Rupert Stadler, Edmund Stoiber, and Martin Winterkorn.
After the earnings record of € 328.4 million in 2007-08 and profit after tax of € 2.1 Million, Bayern reported revenues of € 303.8 million and a profit of € 2.5 million in 2008-09. According to data from the Deloitte Football Money League, Bayern are fourth in the world's richest club in 2009, generating revenues of € 289.5 million.
Allianz Arena
Super-modern stadium was designed by Swiss architectural firm, Herzog & de Meuron and seating capacity of 66,000 for international games. outer layer is composed of 1056 rhombus-shaped panels, each of which can be illuminated in different colors - different (red, blue or white), so it looks like a pattern that moves.
At the beginning of this stadium is a joint venture of two soccer teams from the city of Munich. But in 2010, Bayern Munich full rights to buy Allianz Arena, TSV 1860 München after experiencing financial problems and no longer able to cover the construction debt.
Achievement
Based on the history of Bavaria is the most successful team in German football, because they have won the most championships and the most trophies. They also Germany's most successful team in international competitions, having won six trophies. Bavaria is one of three clubs have won all three major European competitions and also the last club to win the Champions League three times in a row, they are entitled to wear badges multi-winner during a Champions League match.
Bellamy doubtful?
Cardiff City flew into Preston yesterday for today's all important game after Cardiff backer billionaire backer Vincent Tan loan the players his private plane. It's a must win to keep the pressure on second place Norwich for an automatic promotion spot while hoping Derby show the same form that saw them beat Leeds and draw with QPR. On the weekend they failed to carry on their winning ways losing 4-2 to play-off chasing Burnley.
It's believed Cardiff boss Dave Jones as one small problem over who will be in the starting the game?. Will he rest Captain Craig Bellamy who has played three games in just over a week? Bellamy's personal trainer tweeted moments ago,
It's believed Cardiff boss Dave Jones as one small problem over who will be in the starting the game?. Will he rest Captain Craig Bellamy who has played three games in just over a week? Bellamy's personal trainer tweeted moments ago,
following by
"Interesting dilemma. Automatic promotion to Premier League is on the line. Will manager risk player & maybe lose him for possible play-offs?"
You call bet boss Dave Jones will not be unhappy over this rumour coming from someone so close to the player. Will he keep to the eleven that started against QPR on Saturday are we he make changes with Michael Chopra and Mark Hudson both on the bench against the Londoners.
Preston have a lot to fight for like Championship survival, they could even be relegated today if results go wrong for them.
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| Not good viewing if you are a Preston fan |
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Jonathan Owen targets football hooligans in online comedy
Cardiff City fan and actor Jonathan Owen is staring in a new online comedy spoofing the culture of football hooligans called 'The B Team'. It is along the line of his other online hit 'Svengali' which could be hitting the big screen
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Need three points on Monday
Not the result Cardiff City need or wanted, but there isn't anything that can be done about it now, but to win the three remaining games and hope for a Norwich slip-up. The game may have ended all square at 2-2, but overall I think Cardiff had the best of the games Cardiff had a team while QPR had Adel Taarabt.
The buildup to the game felt like a cup final with Football focus live from the Cardiff City Stadium the only something missing was a 'It's a Knockout' competition between both sets of fans.
Everything now switches to Mondays and the Championship Bank holiday fixtures. With only three games left Cardiff have to beat Preston have to win any other result could be disastrous. Preston took a battering at Millwall losing 4-0 and will be desperate to win on Monday.
Mondays fixtures
Norwich City v Derby County, 15:00
Preston North End v Cardiff City, 15:00
QPR v Hull, 15:00
Reading v Sheffield United, 15:00
Cardiff City are a point away from at least secure a play-off spot, but few Cardiff City will be happy with that. Sheffield United could find themselves relegated if they were to lose and Crystal Palace win, the same for Preston.
Reading.0.Palace.2.Coventry.1.
After the high of beating the Champions elect, came the comedown of tuesday against the form team in the league.
Reading came to Glanford Park on top of the form table.We knew that anything against them could leave us with a chance to get out of the botom three with a win against Palace at Selhurst.
We played well for the first 45 minutes,only we couldn't break down a stuborn defence and the sucker punch came after the withdrawl of the fantastic Michael O'Connor at half time. Josh Wright again struggled to play at the same level as the ever improving Northern Irishman. A quick breakaway saw Shane Long sweep home a Jimmy Kebe cross and when Shane Long went down easily over the leg of Michael Nelson, Ian Harte showed his class from the spot putting the pen high into the top corner. Murphy was a little unlucky with the pen, almost getting his hand to the ball and looking gutted that he couldn't keep it out. Nelson reacted angrily at the final whistle with Referee Andy Woolmer, clearly showing his frustration at the penalty decision. Long did seem to go down a little easily and the Iron skipper rightly looked annoyed that a result had slipped from his teams grasp.
The disappointment of that night was wiped away only four days later.
Saturday 16th April.Palace Away.
The last time we rocked up here we played them off the park and rightfully left with a 4-0 win.Jon Forte had one of his rare good games (funnily he nearly fell over me on the touchline as he celebrated putting us 1-0 up early on) and we got an early season boost in our fight against the drop. Surely we couldn't go there again and get the victory?
Its funny but seeing a man with a real life, full sized eagle on his shoulder outside the ground as we picked up our Press tickets from a portakabin outside the ground makes you look twice.The pre match cheer leaders got a few heads turning on the Iron bench as well, but sadly for them that was as good as it got for the Palace fans. When a few scantily clad ladies and a giant bird is the highlight of your match day you know your team has had a bad day at the office !
Even though the noise from the Palace fans was deafening as the belted out the White Stripes Seven Nation Army, you knew that they could easily turn on their team if the game was going against them. Against them it did, as from the first minute we looked the most likely winners. Ramon Nunez tested out the reflexes of Palace keeper Speroni. Nunez has quickly become a favourite with the Scunny fans and rightly so. He's unpredictable, not scared to take players on and looks like he may score a few screamers before his career is over. We had a few decent chances before Mark Duffy's corner was brilliantly headed in at the far post by David Mirfin.If i'm honest i thought he'd hit the side netting, as did the Iron fans at the other end of Selhurst Park. Only when i saw Duffy running away to celebrate did i realise it had gone in.The Palace fans quickly started to turn on their team, the drum stopped drumming and the few fans who were still making noise were only getting on the backs of their players. As well as the ref. It was fair to see that the game would not end up 11 vs 11. Jo Garner was running a good battle with Palace skipper Paddy McCarthy, but the Iron striker always looked like boiling over one time too many. Anyone who witnesed the recent Leicester game at Glanford Park will know what i mean. Kyle Naughton kicked Garner up in the air, a bad tackle to be fair, but if Eddie Nolan hadn't got a firm hold on Garners shirt i think the forward would have been nursing an aching hand and Naughton an aching face as they both sat in the early bath ! Anyway, we set ourselves up the right way, Dagnall and Garner hassled the Palace back four, Duffy and Nunez got forward and used the ball sensibly trying to cause as much danger as possible as they swapped wings. Michael Collins slotted in well alongside Sam Togwell, we didn't really miss the injured Michael O'Connor as much as i thought we would, Collins had possibly the best game i've seen from him in an Iron shirt. Michael Nelson and David Mirfin look as solid at the back as Andy Crosby and Steve Foster a few years back. They are both no-nonsense centre backs, they get the ball away from danger before anyone can capitalise. Marcus Williams slotted back i n at left back like he'd never been away, his time at Reading may only have been short and he looked like he'd never been away. Andy Hughes busts his gutts for the team, at times he loses his concentration as we would see later in the game. Joe Murphy has been a different players since the arrival of Knill and keeping coach Neil Cutler. He looks like the keeper that won the League One Golden Gloves award a short while back.
Half time was met with a corus of boos for the ref from the Palace fans.
The second half started the same as the first. We pressed and Palace tried their best to hit us on the break. It didn't take long for Nunez to put us 2-0 up.The Little Prince had to long to control a Duffy cross. Given time he took a touch to control the ball and still had time to smash it past Speroni at his near post. I was a bit gutted that both Nunez and Mirfin earlier had celebrated on the other side of the pitch from where the photographers ahve to sit. My saving grace was the 500 Iron fans sat behind me. There was a young kid sat near the front. I recognised him as the same kid who was close to tears last year as Preston beat us late on away from home. Toay he had possibly the biggest smile i've ever seen on his face. That soon turned to a worried look.
Andy Hughes was beaten all to easily on the edge of the box by Sean Scannell. The Palace man rifled a great shot past Murphy. The game ebbed to a conclusion, only lit up by red cards for Garner and Palace scorer Scannell, and 8 minutes of added time. 8 minutes. 8 minutes we'd never hold on for 8 minutes more. But no this is Knill's team. I felt a little bit proud that we held on for that long.The "we are staying up" chant started as soon as the whistle was blown. It was about then that i realised my prediction that we might be able to do it, staving off relegation for a second season was more than possible, it was actually a real possibility and we could stay up.
We had to hope that the Palace heads would hopefully be down when they travelled to a Billy Sharp-less Doncaster on Good Friday and at least a draw at Coventry would put us in the driving seat, we knew we'd probably need at least two wins and two draws in the last 4 games.
To get a 1-1 draw with the Sky Blues after going 1-0 down to a Marlon King thunder bolt early on was a bit of a shock. The Iron came back strong though. Mark Duffy, Michael Collins and Chris Dagnall all had good chances to get the winner for us after Ramon had again scored a cracking goal, this time with the help of a deflection. Happily for me i was in the right place this time to get a fantastic picture of the little Honduran International enjoying his moment. We've not seen the old sliding on your knees celebration for a while from one of our own players, so to see the Nunez loves it is cracking. He looks like a player who will only get better the more games he plays after spending most of the season in Leeds' reserves. Quickly he is showing that if some way we could sign the liile guy in the summer we should do all we can to make it happen.
I felt a little bit sad for the near 1000 Iron fans, that they didn't see a victory that would have pulled us to within one win of overtaking Palace, who played out what sounded like a limp 0-0 draw with Donny,but i hope that it won't stop some of those fans from travelling to the City Ground next weekend. They really looked like they were enjoying themselves with numerous inflatables flying around the away end. They even spotted former Iron keeper coach Kevin Pressman in amongst the Cov fans and gave him a good cheer as a few of the Iron's non playing squad players talked to the former keeping legend. After that game it was good to see that Manager Alan Knill has quickly been taken into the hearts of the Iron faithful, he looks a little bit more pleased with his team with every game and i think he'll be as good a boss as Nigel Adkins proved he was before he moved on to pastures new down on the South Coast, they cheered him as he made his way around every one of his players to shake their hands and say well done. It can't have been easy in that heat. I know i was more than a little bit sweaty at the end so can only imagine how the players must have felt.
We now head into a game with a Milwall team on a massive high, after a 4-0 demolition of the Preston team sitting one place and two points behind us, without their first choice strike force. We need to take three points from that game and hope that Palace get nothing from their game with Leeds. I get the feeling that this battle against the drop will go right down to the last minute of the last game against Pompey. Will we see scenes similar to those after beating Reading last year and the draw the year before against Tranmere that got us back on the road to the Championship. I think a few people might be on that Glanford Park pitch at the end of 90 minutes against Portsmouth.
Three good results against Milwall, Forest and Pompey could keep up this Championship adventure. Same ship, different Captain. But with Captain Knill at the helm, if we do go down, a play off push should be on the cards, if we stay up we might still have a trip to Wembley next year. The Premier League could do with some Iron in it....well we can all dream can't we !
As i'm not allowed to post my pictures due to Football League rules here'a few links to some of my pictures from the Scunthorpe Telegraph Galleries section, hope you get time to look over them !
SCUNNY 4-1QPR
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/galleries/Scunthorpe-v-Queens-Park-Rangers-gallery-3432683-detail/gallery.html
SCUNNY 0-2 READING
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/galleries/Scunthorpe-United-v-Reading-gallery-3459962-detail/gallery.html
PALACE 1-2 SCUNNY
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/galleries/Crystal-Palace-v-Scunthorpe-gallery-3459979-detail/gallery.html
Reading came to Glanford Park on top of the form table.We knew that anything against them could leave us with a chance to get out of the botom three with a win against Palace at Selhurst.
We played well for the first 45 minutes,only we couldn't break down a stuborn defence and the sucker punch came after the withdrawl of the fantastic Michael O'Connor at half time. Josh Wright again struggled to play at the same level as the ever improving Northern Irishman. A quick breakaway saw Shane Long sweep home a Jimmy Kebe cross and when Shane Long went down easily over the leg of Michael Nelson, Ian Harte showed his class from the spot putting the pen high into the top corner. Murphy was a little unlucky with the pen, almost getting his hand to the ball and looking gutted that he couldn't keep it out. Nelson reacted angrily at the final whistle with Referee Andy Woolmer, clearly showing his frustration at the penalty decision. Long did seem to go down a little easily and the Iron skipper rightly looked annoyed that a result had slipped from his teams grasp.
The disappointment of that night was wiped away only four days later.
Saturday 16th April.Palace Away.
The last time we rocked up here we played them off the park and rightfully left with a 4-0 win.Jon Forte had one of his rare good games (funnily he nearly fell over me on the touchline as he celebrated putting us 1-0 up early on) and we got an early season boost in our fight against the drop. Surely we couldn't go there again and get the victory?
Its funny but seeing a man with a real life, full sized eagle on his shoulder outside the ground as we picked up our Press tickets from a portakabin outside the ground makes you look twice.The pre match cheer leaders got a few heads turning on the Iron bench as well, but sadly for them that was as good as it got for the Palace fans. When a few scantily clad ladies and a giant bird is the highlight of your match day you know your team has had a bad day at the office !
Even though the noise from the Palace fans was deafening as the belted out the White Stripes Seven Nation Army, you knew that they could easily turn on their team if the game was going against them. Against them it did, as from the first minute we looked the most likely winners. Ramon Nunez tested out the reflexes of Palace keeper Speroni. Nunez has quickly become a favourite with the Scunny fans and rightly so. He's unpredictable, not scared to take players on and looks like he may score a few screamers before his career is over. We had a few decent chances before Mark Duffy's corner was brilliantly headed in at the far post by David Mirfin.If i'm honest i thought he'd hit the side netting, as did the Iron fans at the other end of Selhurst Park. Only when i saw Duffy running away to celebrate did i realise it had gone in.The Palace fans quickly started to turn on their team, the drum stopped drumming and the few fans who were still making noise were only getting on the backs of their players. As well as the ref. It was fair to see that the game would not end up 11 vs 11. Jo Garner was running a good battle with Palace skipper Paddy McCarthy, but the Iron striker always looked like boiling over one time too many. Anyone who witnesed the recent Leicester game at Glanford Park will know what i mean. Kyle Naughton kicked Garner up in the air, a bad tackle to be fair, but if Eddie Nolan hadn't got a firm hold on Garners shirt i think the forward would have been nursing an aching hand and Naughton an aching face as they both sat in the early bath ! Anyway, we set ourselves up the right way, Dagnall and Garner hassled the Palace back four, Duffy and Nunez got forward and used the ball sensibly trying to cause as much danger as possible as they swapped wings. Michael Collins slotted in well alongside Sam Togwell, we didn't really miss the injured Michael O'Connor as much as i thought we would, Collins had possibly the best game i've seen from him in an Iron shirt. Michael Nelson and David Mirfin look as solid at the back as Andy Crosby and Steve Foster a few years back. They are both no-nonsense centre backs, they get the ball away from danger before anyone can capitalise. Marcus Williams slotted back i n at left back like he'd never been away, his time at Reading may only have been short and he looked like he'd never been away. Andy Hughes busts his gutts for the team, at times he loses his concentration as we would see later in the game. Joe Murphy has been a different players since the arrival of Knill and keeping coach Neil Cutler. He looks like the keeper that won the League One Golden Gloves award a short while back.
Half time was met with a corus of boos for the ref from the Palace fans.
The second half started the same as the first. We pressed and Palace tried their best to hit us on the break. It didn't take long for Nunez to put us 2-0 up.The Little Prince had to long to control a Duffy cross. Given time he took a touch to control the ball and still had time to smash it past Speroni at his near post. I was a bit gutted that both Nunez and Mirfin earlier had celebrated on the other side of the pitch from where the photographers ahve to sit. My saving grace was the 500 Iron fans sat behind me. There was a young kid sat near the front. I recognised him as the same kid who was close to tears last year as Preston beat us late on away from home. Toay he had possibly the biggest smile i've ever seen on his face. That soon turned to a worried look.
Andy Hughes was beaten all to easily on the edge of the box by Sean Scannell. The Palace man rifled a great shot past Murphy. The game ebbed to a conclusion, only lit up by red cards for Garner and Palace scorer Scannell, and 8 minutes of added time. 8 minutes. 8 minutes we'd never hold on for 8 minutes more. But no this is Knill's team. I felt a little bit proud that we held on for that long.The "we are staying up" chant started as soon as the whistle was blown. It was about then that i realised my prediction that we might be able to do it, staving off relegation for a second season was more than possible, it was actually a real possibility and we could stay up.
We had to hope that the Palace heads would hopefully be down when they travelled to a Billy Sharp-less Doncaster on Good Friday and at least a draw at Coventry would put us in the driving seat, we knew we'd probably need at least two wins and two draws in the last 4 games.
To get a 1-1 draw with the Sky Blues after going 1-0 down to a Marlon King thunder bolt early on was a bit of a shock. The Iron came back strong though. Mark Duffy, Michael Collins and Chris Dagnall all had good chances to get the winner for us after Ramon had again scored a cracking goal, this time with the help of a deflection. Happily for me i was in the right place this time to get a fantastic picture of the little Honduran International enjoying his moment. We've not seen the old sliding on your knees celebration for a while from one of our own players, so to see the Nunez loves it is cracking. He looks like a player who will only get better the more games he plays after spending most of the season in Leeds' reserves. Quickly he is showing that if some way we could sign the liile guy in the summer we should do all we can to make it happen.
I felt a little bit sad for the near 1000 Iron fans, that they didn't see a victory that would have pulled us to within one win of overtaking Palace, who played out what sounded like a limp 0-0 draw with Donny,but i hope that it won't stop some of those fans from travelling to the City Ground next weekend. They really looked like they were enjoying themselves with numerous inflatables flying around the away end. They even spotted former Iron keeper coach Kevin Pressman in amongst the Cov fans and gave him a good cheer as a few of the Iron's non playing squad players talked to the former keeping legend. After that game it was good to see that Manager Alan Knill has quickly been taken into the hearts of the Iron faithful, he looks a little bit more pleased with his team with every game and i think he'll be as good a boss as Nigel Adkins proved he was before he moved on to pastures new down on the South Coast, they cheered him as he made his way around every one of his players to shake their hands and say well done. It can't have been easy in that heat. I know i was more than a little bit sweaty at the end so can only imagine how the players must have felt.
We now head into a game with a Milwall team on a massive high, after a 4-0 demolition of the Preston team sitting one place and two points behind us, without their first choice strike force. We need to take three points from that game and hope that Palace get nothing from their game with Leeds. I get the feeling that this battle against the drop will go right down to the last minute of the last game against Pompey. Will we see scenes similar to those after beating Reading last year and the draw the year before against Tranmere that got us back on the road to the Championship. I think a few people might be on that Glanford Park pitch at the end of 90 minutes against Portsmouth.
Three good results against Milwall, Forest and Pompey could keep up this Championship adventure. Same ship, different Captain. But with Captain Knill at the helm, if we do go down, a play off push should be on the cards, if we stay up we might still have a trip to Wembley next year. The Premier League could do with some Iron in it....well we can all dream can't we !
As i'm not allowed to post my pictures due to Football League rules here'a few links to some of my pictures from the Scunthorpe Telegraph Galleries section, hope you get time to look over them !
SCUNNY 4-1QPR
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/galleries/Scunthorpe-v-Queens-Park-Rangers-gallery-3432683-detail/gallery.html
SCUNNY 0-2 READING
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/galleries/Scunthorpe-United-v-Reading-gallery-3459962-detail/gallery.html
PALACE 1-2 SCUNNY
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/galleries/Crystal-Palace-v-Scunthorpe-gallery-3459979-detail/gallery.html
Dave Jones left feeling sheepish.
Today the R's faithful traveled to Cardiff hoping that the R's could secure three points that would mean that automatic promotion and gain sweet revenge for 2003. Could all our dreams come true in one day? We were about to find out.
The Lofty Heights gang were travelling in numbers once again with two car loads of us making our way to Wales. Jess, Sam, Luke and Iceman all jumped in with me and in Jenson's car was Lofty, PK and Lorna.
My party left at 8.45 and headed straight for a McDonald's for a nice greasy breakfast before hitting the M4 and Wales bound. Jenson's party left slightly later, albeit a tad hungover after a Jenson BBQ ran into the early hours.
After paying the £5.70 toll over the Severn Bridge we stopped at the first available services for a toilet break and then getting back on track and completing our final leg of the journey, getting stuck in traffic just as we were getting off the motorway and waiting just behind the four coach loads of R's fans that had left at 7.30am.
Having rolled up the away car park with an hour to spare before kick off, we had to park just outside of the caged area it had just filled up as we arrived. We waited around outside the ground and bumped into Nik, Gobi and Phill as me and Jess awaited the arrival of the second car as I had Lofty and Jenson's ticket. Luckily enough the gang rolled up to the ground with just under 10 minutes left before kick off.
Neil Warnock named an unchanged side after the team drew 0-0 against Derby on Monday.
From the very start the R's fans were in fine voice and singing loud and proud as we looked to gain our dream result.
Rangers' and Taarabt came out of the traps flying and Taarabt's opening effort only helped liven up an already excited R's following.
However on six minutes the opening blow was dealt..... by Cardiff.
Bothroyd had a first effort blocked from just outside the 18 yard box but his second was superbly curled into the far corner leaving Paddy Kenny with no chance whatsoever of reaching it as the ball hit the post and rustled into the back of the net.
Rangers' went up the other end and continued to pressure the Cardiff defence and were soon on level terms.
Taarabt's corner was only cleared as far as the magical Moroccan and he beautifully curled it over to the far post and found the top corner. Cue mental celebrations!!! The gang went crazy when the goal went in and there was plenty of love being shared amongst us all.
The game then went into deadlock as Cardiff used the exact same tactic as they had previously at Loftus Road, playing in behind Faurlin and off the shoulder of Matt Connolly and the tactic was creating plenty of trouble for Connolly and Gorkss.
It was a deep cross that was the undoing of the R's once more.
Bothroyd crossed from the left hand side and Connolly failed to attack the ball and ended up palming the ball into the path of Bellamy and he sliced his shot into the top corner from six yards out. 2-1 Cardiff.
Rangers' played out the rest of the half and geared themselves up for a Warnock pep talk at half time.
At half time the queues to get to the concourse were so long that it took a while for everyone to get downstairs and do their bits before arriving for the second half a few minutes late. The half time interval was hardly entertaining, would've been nice to see what was said in the BBC studio's.
Having stolen John's inflatable sheep as the half started, Sam and Jess examined the item and found a hole in the back of the sheep and begun to see how many fingers Sam could get up there. That was the entertainment for the opening five minutes of the half before they got bored and Jess instead just kept hold of the sheep and held it for the entire second half.
Cardiff again looked to trouble the R's with their traditional long ball over the top, which in fairness did trouble the R's for a short period but finally we sussed this out and nullified the attacks and the half grew. With this Rangers' started to find their feet and the passing game of ours slowly became more and more effective and the space across the pitch began to open up as Routledge and Taarabt started to work their magic.
With the introduction of Patrick Agyemang, with Tommy Smith making way, there was an imediate impact.
Routledge flicked the ball with the outside of his foot to Taarabt and the R's captain controlled the ball before wriggling free of his defender and then placed the ball into the bottom left corner past the despairing Bywater.
Rangers' piled the pressure on Cardiff after the goal and in the final minute they carved out a great opening.
Taarabt once again was the creator as he drilled a low cross to the back post where Heidar Helguson was arriving with the goal wide open to him....... and his effort dribbled wide and left R's fans wondering what could have been.
In fairness every R's fan would've taken a point at the start of the game, just as long as we didn't lose.
Defensively first half we were all over the place and just needed the confidence and composure to deal with the Cardiff game plan which consisted of balls being played over the top for Bothroyd and Bellamy to chase, once we figured that out and brought Fitz Hall on for Matt Connolly the R's looked like the only team likely to win the game.
Man of the Match today was a unanimous decision but we did have three candidates going into this one. Lorna pointed out Tommy Smith as an outstanding performer and with his hard work. Lofty voted for Bradley Orr, who had probably his best game for the R's to date and has been performing well over the last three or four games. However the majority vote went to the man that scored both goals and was always going to be a danger to the Cardiff backline, Adel Taarabt.
Cardiff City: Bywater, McNaughton, Whittingham, Bothroyd, McPhail, Burke (Emmanuel-Thomas 77), Keinan, Quinn, Olofinjana, Samuel, Bellamy (Chopra 88).
Subs: Heaton, Rae, Hudson, Blake, Matthews.
Goals: Bothroyd (6), Bellamy (35)
Bookings: Whittingham (33), Quinn (67)
QPR: Kenny, Orr, Hill, Derry, Taarabt, Helguson, Faurlin, Gorkss, Routledge, Connolly (Hall 81), Smith (Agyemang 70).
Subs: Cerny, Buzsaky, Hulse, Ephraim, Miller.
Goals: Taarabt (10 & 71)
Referee: Mr L Mason
Attendance: 26,058(2000 QPR)
Having now got home and seen Dave Jones' interview after the game and how Cardiff apparently "took us to the cleaners" I will politely say this to the miserable old git............... YOU'RE GONNA LOSE IN THE PLAY OFFS.........
U R'SSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cardiff City team v QPR
Bywater
Quinn McNaughton Keinan Samuel
Burke McPhail Olofinjana Whittingham
Bothroyd Bellamy
Bench - Heaton (gk), Rae, Chopra, Emmanuel-Thomas, Blake, Matthews, Hudson
Cardiff City boss Dave Jones has stuck with the same starting 11 has for Portsmouth the major changes are on the bench. Jones when with Jay Emmanuel Thomas over Jason Koumas and the surprise is the inclusion of Michael Chopra and Mark Hudson both back after injuries.
Chopra
Cardiff striker Michael Chopra send a ray of hope to City fans that he could still play some part in this season. It was thought he was out until next season, but he tweeted yesterday 'Big big game tomorrow been back in training for two days now hope gaffer puts me on the bench come on leeds tonight do us a favour'
He has been out since mid-March with a hamstring tear and his speedy return would be welcome by the fans. With only two days of training under his belt it would be unlikely the Cardiff boss Dave Jones would risk throwing into the firing line even the bench today. However, Jones can be a law to himself and who knows what he is thinking.
It will be a hot one at the CCS
Not much to say about today everyone knows what is need a victory that will take Cardiff back into second and the driving seat for automatic promotion. The Bluebirds were helped along by Leeds United who drew with promotion rivals Reading.
We love you Cardiff we do, oh Cardiff we love you .... Is this the biggest Cardiff City game ever against QPR tomorrow, not quite, but it's up there? If promotion is worth at least £80million the last four games are worth £20million each mean there is a hell of a lot riding on these games.
The stat below says it all about the visitor to the Cardiff City Stadium only twice this season have they been off the top of the Championship table, both times replace by Cardiff. Team news is up in the air has both managers have kept any news to an absolute minimum. It will be roasting at the stadium and hope the atmosphere generated by the Cardiff fans will be just as hot. It will be a full house the game is a sellout for both set of fans. Live on the BBC and then worldwide for the thousand of fans who can get to the game.
 |
| Some stat |
Friday, April 22, 2011
English Premier League (Barclays Premier League)
At 100-500 BC the Romans spread some communities harpastrum game in Europe. It is characterized by an important event that is the match between British soldiers defeated the Roman armies. Other historical records show that in 1100 the game of football in the UK mainland is done by brutal and no rules are arranged so that by the year 1314 King Edward II banned football and this prohibition to continue by King Edward III in 1369.
Italy in 1500 and in 1561 found calcio a man named Richard Mulcaster adopt calcio from Florence and made these subjects in elementary schools and secondary education in England. In 1572 Queen Elizabeth I again forbade football again, and even threaten the people who insisted on playing with jail.
About two hundred years later, Joseph Strutt (1700 AD) wrote the book The Sports and Pastimes of the People England. This book explains the rules of football that must consist of two teams with their respective number of players together. Both teams have to scramble the ball to be able to put it into the opponent's goal. A named Mulcaster campaigning football game that is not brutal. The game can even be played by women and children because it is useful to add strength and fitness.
The concept of the book Strutt then used as a reference in the preparation of modern football rules and can underlie the birth of the Football Association in England on October 26, 1863 by a number 11 football clubs. From this was born the term soccer organization, the abbreviation word association. Charles Wreford Brown, student at Oxford, found accidentally this term when asked people whether he was a rugby player (rugger), a sport more popular there. Brown replied, "No, I'am soccer."
While the term football first mentioned in the prohibitions of the kings from the 17th century as Fute-ball, and then popularized also by the famous British playwright, William Shakespeare. The game was later spread to several British colonies and thrive in the modern age of mass.
As if no one denied that the Premiership is one of the best league on earth to the present era. Of course competing with the popularity of the Italian league, Spanish and German. In the English Premier League populated by soccer players are awarded world-class talent and world popularity, though most not from the original English.
English Premier League football primer followed by a number of 20 clubs in the court's leading soccer league English football. From historical records, the league was founded in 1992, when the number of top football clubs broke away from the football league with a lucrative contract with several television stations.
English Premier League (Premier League, FA Premier League old name) by the general public is also called the Barclays Premiership in the UK and the Barclays Premier League internationally. This league is a competition between English football club which is the main class of the many English football league structure, so therefore it becomes the primary football competition in England.
From some 20 clubs league participants who competed in the Premier League in one round of the season each club to do a game against another club two times a game. Ie once in their stadium (home base stage) and once again in place of his opponent (away).
With a total of 38 matches for all club participants will generate a total 380 matches. At each end of the season, a number of the bottom three clubs will be subject to the rules of degradation, while the top four clubs will enter the Champions League zone to compete for the Champions Cup.
For the three top clubs go straight, while the club ranked 4 and 5 go through the preliminary round (play-off). For the club to-5 ranking will go straight to the main league competition for the UEFA Cup. To order the 18-20 club will be relegated to the Championship division and the position will be replaced by the club rankings Championship Division 1-2 of the primary gain promotion to the English league.
Competition
A total of 20 clubs competing in the Premiership. Each season, each club against other clubs each twice. Once in their stadium (home staging) and once again in place of his opponent. A total of 38 games for each club to make a total of 380 games in the Premiership. Each end of the season, three clubs relegated to the bottom and four top clubs enter the Champions League to compete for the Champions Cup. The top three clubs entered automatically, while the order of the 4th entry through the play-offs. Club on the order of the 5th major league going into competition for the UEFA Cup. Club in order to-6 and 7 can also enter the UEFA Cup competition depends on the situation of two other domestic competitions. Medium order of 18-20 will be relegated club to the Division Championship and will be replaced by the club ranked 1-2 of Division Championship and the club's automatic promotion from Division Championship 3-6 ratings that fight a ticket left.
Sponsorship
Since 1992, the English Premier League has a sponsorship. Sponsor reserves the right to add his name in the name of the league. Here is a list of sponsors in the UK league.
* 1992-1993: Barclays
* 1993-2001: Carling (FA Carling Premiership)
* 2001-present: Barclays (Barclays Premiership, from 2001-2004, known as the Barclaycard Premiership)
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