Groundtastic Is Here !!

Just met the postie going down the driveway and thrilled to receive my latest copy of Groundtastic magazine - a must for followers of soccer grounds/stadia history.

http://www.groundtastic.co.uk/

Football League Is Born

Paul Fletcher of BBC Sport has written an excellent article tracing the founding of the English football league.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21492352

Man U Trounced

Manchester United may be running away with this season's Premiership but in 1904 they more than met their match in the form of England's senior amateur club, Corinthians. As the caption for this photo indicates this is the only time in United's history that they have conceded 10 or more goals in a match:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46492720@N04/8164226954/in/set-72157630082874654

No Rules

In 2011 Alex Perry wrote a number of short pieces about the Victorian development of sport, for the BBC History website. From the point of view of early soccer development there is much of interest:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/sport_01.shtml

Going Dutch

Off to Holland today (not literally but on the Net) and read a fascinating and comprehensive account of the history of Ajax. Despite it's iconic status in world soccer history, life has not always been plain sailing for the Amsterdam giant:

http://www.worldsoccer.com/blogs/334848

Arsenal In Soccer's Oldest Film Footage?

I came across this short clip from 1897. Although it is thought to be an early film record of Arsenal in training (in which case it was at their Manor Ground in south-east London), one of the comments suggests it is of a match between Glentoran and Cliftonville in Ireland.

Whichever, it still remains a fascinating record of the relatively early days of association football (wooden terracing and all):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRl56TOinKk

League Cup Weekend

Yet again the League Cup Final (I still like to call it this rather than by its latest sponsorship moniker) is upon us - and this year none of the big 4 (or 5) will be on show.

This BBC film of one of the first Final giantkillings brought back memories of previous finals I have witnessed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21423401

Old Soccer Films

I'm a great fan of old soccer films. Many of these were lost forever, or so we thought, and then resurrected many decades later after some chance discovery in a dusty attic. Take the films of the pioneers Mitchell and Kenyon as examples - many of which provide us with exquisite glimpses of the English soccer match of the turn of the last century (hopefully more about these in future posts).

The film I've been watching today was also rediscovered and shows us the skills of that Swindon Town stalwart and legend, Harold Fleming - they even named a road after him in Swindon, Fleming Way.

Not only was I interested in the player in the typical heavy kit and boots of the day (we're talking early 1900's here) but also how much Swindon Town's ground had changed over the last century or so (I'm also a great fan of sporting architecture).

The film can be clicked to at the bottom of the following web article. Hope you find it as fascinating as  I did. Enjoy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2009/01/28/harold_fleming_footage_feature.shtml

Who Were Eastern Rangers?

Early histories of clubs always throw up enthralling questions. One that intrigues me is the identity of the team who provided the very first opposition for Dial Square, the group of munitions workers whose club ultimately metamorphosed into the famous Arsenal FC.

The match against Eastern, played on the Isle of Dogs in the east end of London, is recorded as a win for Dial Square but newspaper accounts etc give no indication of who Eastern Rangers were. My belief is that they were connected with one of the local railway companies in London, and certainly there were a number of staff connections between the Royal Arsenal, where the men of Dial Square worked, and the London railway companies.

There is even more debate about the origins of Arsenal FC at the site of the Arsenal History Society:

http://www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/

Current Reading

Arthur Kinnaird: First Lord Of Football

By +Andy Mitchell, former head of communications at the Scottish F.A.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1463621116/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00

A very insightful biography of the great founder of modern soccer. An all-round sportsman, in addition to his prowess on the soccer field (celebrating with a hand stand after winning the F.A. cup), a philanthropist and avid supporter of social change in the Victorian era. At the same time observing immense humility - gave away most of his wealth and, can you believe it?, lost his F.A. cup winning medals - he considered them of no value (can't imagine that now!!).

I would highly recommend.