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Liverpool Football Club have been League Champions 18 times, FA Cup winners seven times, League Cup winners seven times, European Cup winners five times and UEFA Cup winners three times.

The Football League was founded in 1888 and Anfield was one of their original grounds, and Everton FC won the League Championship there in 1891. Everton left Anfield in a dispute with chairman John Houlding over rent ? in 1884 Everton were paying £100 but by 1889/90 he was charging them £250. The majority of the players and the board left to build a new ground but he, John Houlding, the Mayor of Liverpool, stayed behind and created Liverpool Football Club.

Liverpool F.C. was formed on the 15th of March 1892 at John Houlding’s house in Anfield Road with his closest friends left from Everton FC. He had basically been left with an empty ground so had to form a new team to play in it! The Clubs initial application to join the Football League was rejected so they played their first match in September 1892 at Anfield against Rotherham in the Lancashire League. Houlding adopted the city’s colour of red and by 1901 they were using the Liverbird as their crest. It was ‘Honest’ John McKenna who did most of the team building work, recruiting over a dozen players from Scotland, and is highly regarded as the brain behind the early success of the Club.

By the end of their first season Liverpool had taken the League as well as the Liverpool District Cup and Everton were getting worried. By the end of 1900/01 season the players and directors of LFC were proudly made their way back to Anfield by horse-drawn carriage with the League Championship trophy for the first, but by no means the last time.

The team played their first Wembley final in 1950, with Arsenal as opposition but sadly they were defeated 2-0, which made their wait for FA Cup glory even longer, but the fans continued to be as supportive as ever. Bill Shankly moved the team from second division mediocrity when he took over as manager in 1959, and he remained the manager until 1974. The Club finally won the FA Cup in 1965 which was an event so sought after it was joked that the mythical Liver Birds would fly from their perch the day a Liverpool team brought home the FA Cup. They went on to win the European Cup in 1977.

Tragedy struck in Brussels when Liverpool were playing Juventus in the European Cup final when 28 Italians and one Belgian died when supporter chaos occurred, resulting in a crush and a wall collapsing on top of them. 1985/86 started in misery but ended a lot better by winning a 16th championship crown. Disaster struck again for the team in 1989 when 250,000 supporters travelled to Hillsborough to watch the FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest. 96 of these supporters were crushed to death in the Leppings Lane end just after kick off.

Liverpool Football Club have battled against the odds for the entire running of their club, but this is one of the reasons why they have such a dedicated fan base ? having gone through some horrendous tragedy, they always go on to triumph over adversity, and proved this yet again when they won the Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup in 2006.

History of Bristol City Football Club

Founded in 1894, the Bristol South End FC played their first games in Bedminster at St. John’s Lane. Three years later, the club’s name was changed to Bristol City FC and their first manager was Sam Hollis who was with Woolwich Arsenal at the time. His very first assignment was to get a team together to participate in the Southern League.

In 1900, they merged with another club, Bedminster FC who played only a mile away from them in Ashton Gate. After playing for quite some time at both venues, the decision was eventually made to make Ashton Gate their main home field in 1904.

In 1905, City had 14 wins in Division Two. This record stands to this day along with Manchester United and Preston North End. One year later in 1906, Harry Thickett becomes the new manager and leads Bristol FC to the 1905/06 Division Two Championship including a 30 League win club record. Over the next twenty years the club would go from Division One down to Division Three.

In 1927, Bristol FC won the Division Three (South) title but their time in Division Two would be short lived as they are sent back to Division Three in 1932. In 1934 they suffered their biggest loss to date, losing 0-9 to Coventry City on the 28th of April. In 1941, the grandstands of their home field were destroyed in an air raid. Then, during a war-time cup match, Bristol FC beat Coventry 2-1 in the 202nd minute.

In 1955, Bristol FC again won the Division Three (South) title and would return to the same division in 1960. During this season they would suffer two club records. The first would be 96 goals against in one season, as well as losing posting 26 losses. In 1966, John Atyeo retires after finishing his 597th League appearance for Bristol FC, which is still a club record.

Over the course of the next 40 years for the club, they would make it to Division One in 1976 and by 1982 be relegated to Division Four. In 1998 they made it back into Division One but were returned to Division Two in 1999.

Are you a keen football fan and love to collect items of Chelsea Football Club? To obtain unique and real items of Chelsea football club consider the Chelsea gifts. The Chelsea gifts a collection of authentic items that relives the magnificent history of the club and also pays homage to the players.

Considering Chelsea gifts is rewarding for Chelsea nuts because they can access items that are archives and not easily available in any sports store. The gifts are valuable because they are signed by legendary players. Gifts such as- shirts, photos and montages bear personal signatures of the celebrated players and presented beautifully in frames. The gifts comes with the certificate of authentic and lifetime guarantee. The gifts are dignified to make the football nut feel elevated.

Chelsea gifts also relive the renowned players and capture them in their action. The photos and montage of the players are presented in different sizes and with the provision to mount or display on the desktop. For example: Chelsea Back To Back Premiership Champions Presentation is truly amazing gift. This montage captures Chelsea’s victory the league championship in 2004 or 05. The stunning presentation exhibits colour photographs of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Jose Morinho holding the trophy. You can consider this gift and make the recipient feel exalted.

You can also consider the signed shirts that are authentic. The signed shirts have the limited edition and are rare. For instance: Frank Lampard Chelsea Signed Shirt is a precious gift as it is personally signed with a black marker pen. The signature is 100% genuine. To purchase such fabulous gifts consider the internet as the best medium. The online gives you the advantage to purchase instantly before the item is out of stock or at the wee hours of any occasions. Additionally, the Chelsea gifts can be delivered to the door steps of the recipient and surprise him on birthdays, anniversary, Christmas, wedding etc.

Manchester United football club, one of the most admirable clubs in the world of football, has won many leagues and trophies. Manchester united fans desire eagerly to possess some unique and authentic items of the club to show their appreciation and enthusiasm. If you have the same passion of collecting items then consider the Manchester united gifts. The collection of gifts includes real shirts, amazing photos, interesting memorabilia book and wonderful montages.

Manchester United gifts possess features that are unique and enduring. The gifts are genuine and come with the certificate of authenticity. For example: Manchester united multiple signed away shirt is unquestionably a gift that have worth. This item is duly signed by many legendary players of the team in the loving memories of the moments. This signed shirt is presented in a black plated frame and a certificate of originality. Thus, you can find shirts of many celebrated players who have brought glory to the club with their personal signatures on it.

The photos and montages capture some of the golden moments of the club and players in action. The prints of these photos and montages are of high quality and carry no watermarks. You can find photos of your favourite players and with their autograph on it. Many gift items of Manchester united gifts are best sellers and presented in limited edition. The best way to find the gift before it runs out of stock is by using the internet. For instance: David Beckham Signed Photo with Cup is a marvellous photo capturing the legendary player David Beckham in a celebrative mood. This photo is fabulous and worthy to amuse David Beckham fans.

If you want to have an outlook on the Manchester united football club’s history then take into account the Manchester United Football Books. The memorabilia books highlight events, victories and incidents of the team from early 20th century to the recent bygone matches. Thus, you can proudly display the collection to your mates and make them envy.

The origins of the Australian Football League (AFL) can be traced back to 1896 when 8 teams decided to split from the Victorian Football Association (VFA) to form the Victorian Football  League (VFL). The VFA had been formed in 1877 but organised Australian Rules Football had been played in Victoria long before that with the first documented game taking place in August 1858 between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar.
In 1897 Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South
Melbourne contested the first VFL season with Essendon winning the first premiership.

St Kilda struggled in the new league losing their first 48 games before finally breaking through in the 1st round of the 1900 season defeating Melbourne by 1 point.  The game finished with the
scores deadlocked on 68 points apiece but St Kilda successfully argued that one of Melbourne’s
points had been scored after the three-quarter time bell so the game was awarded to St Kilda.
Success for the Saints was short-lived though with St Kilda losing their remaining 13 games in
1900 and their first 12 games in 1901 before posting another victory.

Round 1 of 1903 saw Geelong defeat St Kilda by 50 points meaning that St Kilda had managed to win only 2 of their first 100 League games.  But by round 6 that same year something had changed.  St Kilda started winning and finished the year in 5th position on the ladder with 6 wins just missing out on the Final Four.

In 1908 Richmond and University joined the VFL.  Both teams were immediately competitive.
Richmond winning their first League match against Melbourne then going on to complete the
season with 6 victories.  University had to wait until round 2 to record their first win when they
defeated fellow newcomer Richmond.  They finished the season in 6th place with 8 wins.

By 1912 University were in decline.  They only won 1 game that year against St Kilda and were
unable to record a victory in either of the following two seasons.  Struggling to attract players,
University disbanded before the start of the 1915 season having lost their final 51 games.
University was the first VFL team to feel the pressure of players joining the forces fighting in WWI.
The 1916 season saw Essendon, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne go into
recess.  With just four remaining in the League, Fitzroy achieved the unusual distinction of
finishing last yet under the Final Four system they competed in the finals and won the
premiership.
Geelong and South Melbourne rejoined the League in 1917 with St Kilda and Essendon coming
back the following season.  Melbourne returned to the League in 1919 after the war had finished.
The VFL expanded to 12 teams in 1925 when North Melbourne, Footscray and Hawthorn joined.
The newcomers filled the bottom three spots on the 1925 ladder recording 5, 4 and 3 wins
respectively.
The late 1920s were dominated by Collingwood.  Runners-up in 1925 and 1926, they won 4
premierships in a row from1927-30 losing just 10 games along the way.  They were a machine,
propelling their prolific full-forward Gordon Coventry to a 1,299 goal career.

Collingwood’s four premierships in a row remained unchallenged until the 1950s.  Melbourne were runners-up in 1954, when Footscray won their first premiership, before a run of 3 premierships in 55, 56 and 57.  Fate pitched them against Collingwood in the 1958 Grand Final.  Collingwood won by 3 goals ensuring their record remained unequalled.  Melbourne won the 1959 and 1960 premierships making it five flags from their seven consecutive Grand Final appearances.

Collingwood again featured when St Kilda won the premiership in 1966 by a solitary point becoming the last of the original 8 VFL teams to win a flag. The 1972 season saw the number of teams playing in the finals increased from 4 to 5 with the introduction of the McIntyre Final Five system.  This allowed an extra two matches to be played during the 4 week duration of the finals bringing additional gate receipts to the League. For the following decade, despite the extra money from finals, several VFL teams felt the pinch financially.  The VFL were eyeing expansion into Sydney, Australia’s biggest city. But with a preference for Rugby League rather than Australian Rules Football breaking into the Sydney sports market would not be easy.  With VFL encouragement, South Melbourne relocated to Sydney during the 1981 post-season and became the Sydney Swans starting and unparalleled period of change for the VFL.

The VFL expanded into Western Australian and Queensland with the inclusion of newly formed teams, the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears.  These new teams both won their first games.  Brisbane defeating North Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with West Coast beat Richmond at Subiaco.  The Bears finished the year 13th with 6 wins while the Eagles were 8th with 11 wins.

With three teams based outside Victoria the VFL was renamed the Australian Football League (AFL) in 1990.  Towards the end of that year the most successful South Australian team, Port Adelaide, made a bold bid to join the AFL.  Their bid was thwarted when the South Australian League (SANFL) formed the Adelaide Crows who were accepted into the AFL expanding the competition to all five Australian mainland States.

The Crows hit the competition with a bang in the first round of 1991 beating Hawthorn by 86 points at Football Park but finished the season in 9th place with 10 wins.

The 1991 season also saw the expansion of the Finals system to a Final Six.  Also devised by McIntyre, the Final Six had it’s problems.  It was tweaked in 1992 when West Coast became the first non-Victorian team to win the premiership although with the Brisbane Bears Reserves winning  the premiership in the curtain-raiser it could be argued that Brisbane holds that honour.  In any case, the Eagles were the first non-Victorian team to win a senior flag and by 1994 when they added a second one, the Final Six system had been replaced by a Final Eight. With only 15 teams in the League, a Final Eight meant more teams made the finals than missed  out.  That was rectified in 1995 the Fremantle Dockers became the second Western Australian team to join the AFL.  Freo lost their first two games before breaking through in round 3 against Fitzroy at the Western Oval.  They finished the year with 8 wins in 13th
place.

1996 marked the 100th season of VFL/AFL football.  The AFL celebrated the entire season as its centenary and scheduled a series of re-enactment games in round 7 where teams wore replica  uniforms from the 1890s.  Over 75,000 people saw Essendon defeat Geelong in the first game of that round at the MCG on a Wednesday night.  Two days later more than 70,000 fans again made there way to the MCG to watch St Kilda defeat Collingwood.

Cynics suggest the AFL celebrated the centenary a year early because Fitzroy, one of the foundation teams, were in such financial trouble that they would not see the season out.  It was no surprise when in July 1996 it was announced that Fitzroy would merge with another team.  The expected partner was North Melbourne but when the announcement was made it was the Brisbane Bears who were the other team.  Fitzroy and the Bears played out the 1996 season
before forming the Brisbane Lions for the 1997 season.  Melbourne would have merged with Hawthorn that same year it had not been rejected by the members of both clubs at emotion charged meetings.  North Melbourne went on to win the Grand Final against Sydney earning a gold premiership cup to mark the Centenary. To maintain 16 teams, Port Adelaide Power were admitted to the AFL in 1997.  The Power were separate from the powerful SANFL team the Port Adelaide Magpies but they claimed a shared history with both teams based a Alberton Oval. Port Adelaide lost their first two games in 1997 to Collingwood and Essendon before defeating Geelong in round 3 at Football Park in Adelaide.  Brisbane Lions also lost in round 1 but rebounded in round 2 defeating St Kilda by 97 points in their first home game at the Gabba.  Port and the Lions fought out 8th spot on the ladder each having 10 wins and a draw.  Brisbane played in the finals due to their superior percentage.  Perhaps inspired by the inclusion of their cross-town rivals, Adelaide won their first premiership in 1997.  They went back-to-back winning again in 1998.

The finals system was changed again in 2000.  The number of teams remained at 8 but the AFL did not want the match-ups from week one to be repeated in week 3.  The changes brought more  uncertainty and complexity to the finals match-ups but at this stage remains the AFL’s preferred system.

The early 21st century belonged to the non-Victorian clubs.  Brisbane won 3 flags in a row in 2001, 02 and 03 before falling to Port Adelaide in 2004 leaving Collingwood’s 4-in-a-row untouched. The Sydney Swans won the premiership in 2005 breaking a 72 year drought since South Melbourne had won in 1933.

The future of the AFL looks as interesting as the past.  Victorian teams with exciting squads such
as St Kilda and Geelong are pushing for the premiership while Brisbane, Adelaide and West
Coast continue to look strong.  Fremantle remains the only team not to have won a flag but no
doubt their time will come.

The origins of the Australian Football League (AFL) can be traced back to 1896 when 8 teams decided to split from the Victorian Football Association (VFA) to form the Victorian Football  League (VFL). The VFA had been formed in 1877 but organised Australian Rules Football had been played in Victoria long before that with the first documented game taking place in August 1858 between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar. In 1897 Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne contested the first VFL season with Essendon winning the first premiership.

St Kilda struggled in the new league losing their first 48 games before finally breaking through in the 1st round of the 1900 season defeating Melbourne by 1 point.  The game finished with the scores deadlocked on 68 points apiece but St Kilda successfully argued that one of Melbourne’s points had been scored after the three-quarter time bell so the game was awarded to St Kilda. Success for the Saints was short-lived though with St Kilda losing their remaining 13 games in 1900 and their first 12 games in 1901 before posting another victory.

Round 1 of 1903 saw Geelong defeat St Kilda by 50 points meaning that St Kilda had managed to win only 2 of their first 100 League games.  But by round 6 that same year something had changed.  St Kilda started winning and finished the year in 5th position on the ladder with 6 wins just missing out on the Final Four.

In 1908 Richmond and University joined the VFL.  Both teams were immediately competitive. Richmond winning their first League match against Melbourne then going on to complete the season with 6 victories.  University had to wait until round 2 to record their first win when they defeated fellow newcomer Richmond.  They finished the season in 6th place with 8 wins.

By 1912 University were in decline.  They only won 1 game that year against St Kilda and were unable to record a victory in either of the following two seasons.  Struggling to attract players, University disbanded before the start of the 1915 season having lost their final 51 games. University was the first VFL team to feel the pressure of players joining the forces fighting in WWI. The 1916 season saw Essendon, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne go into recess.  With just four teams remaining in the League, Fitzroy achieved the unusual distinction of finishing last yet under the Final Four system they competed in the finals and won the premiership. Geelong and South Melbourne rejoined the League in 1917 with St Kilda and Essendon coming back the following season.  Melbourne returned to the League in 1919 after the war had finished. The VFL expanded to 12 teams in 1925 when North Melbourne, Footscray and Hawthorn joined. The newcomers filled the bottom three spots on the 1925 ladder recording 5, 4 and 3 wins respectively. The late 1920s were dominated by Collingwood.  Runners-up in 1925 and 1926, they won 4 premierships in a row from1927-30 losing just 10 games along the way.  They were a machine, propelling their prolific full-forward Gordon Coventry to a 1,299 goal career.

Collingwood’s four premierships in a row remained unchallenged until the 1950s.  Melbourne were runners-up in 1954, when Footscray won their first premiership, before a run of 3 premierships in 55, 56 and 57.  Fate pitched them against Collingwood in the 1958 Grand Final.  Collingwood won by 3 goals ensuring their record remained unequalled.  Melbourne won the 1959 and 1960 premierships making it five flags from their seven consecutive Grand Final appearances.

Collingwood again featured when St Kilda won the premiership in 1966 by a solitary point becoming the last of the original 8 VFL teams to win a flag. The 1972 season saw the number of teams playing in the finals increased from 4 to 5 with the introduction of the McIntyre Final Five system.  This allowed an extra two matches to be played during the 4 week duration of the finals bringing additional gate receipts to the League. For the following decade, despite the extra money from finals, several VFL teams felt the pinch financially.  The VFL were eyeing expansion into Sydney, Australia’s biggest city. But with a preference for Rugby League rather than Australian Rules Football breaking into the Sydney sports market would not be easy.  With VFL encouragement, South Melbourne relocated to Sydney during the 1981 post-season and became the Sydney Swans starting and unparalleled period of change for the VFL.

The VFL expanded into Western Australian and Queensland with the inclusion of newly formed teams, the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears.  These new teams both won their first games.  Brisbane defeating North Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with West Coast beat Richmond at Subiaco.  The Bears finished the year 13th with 6 wins while the Eagles were 8th with 11 wins.

With three teams based outside Victoria the VFL was renamed the Australian Football League (AFL) in 1990.  Towards the end of that year the most successful South Australian team, Port Adelaide, made a bold bid to join the AFL.  Their bid was thwarted when the South Australian League (SANFL) formed the Adelaide Crows who were accepted into the AFL expanding the competition to all five Australian mainland States.

The Crows hit the competition with a bang in the first round of 1991 beating Hawthorn by 86 points at Football Park but finished the season in 9th place with 10 wins.

The 1991 season also saw the expansion of the Finals system to a Final Six.  Also devised by McIntyre, the Final Six had it’s problems.  It was tweaked in 1992 when West Coast became the first non-Victorian team to win the premiership although with the Brisbane Bears Reserves winning  the premiership in the curtain-raiser it could be argued that Brisbane holds that honour.  In any case, the Eagles were the first non-Victorian team to win a senior flag and by 1994 when they added a second one, the Final Six system had been replaced by a Final Eight. With only 15 teams in the League, a Final Eight meant more teams made the finals than missed  out.  That was rectified in 1995 the Fremantle Dockers became the second Western Australian team to join the AFL.  Freo lost their first two games before breaking through in round 3 against Fitzroy at the Western Oval.  They finished the year with 8 wins in 13th place.

1996 marked the 100th season of VFL/AFL football.  The AFL celebrated the entire season as its centenary and scheduled a series of re-enactment games in round 7 where teams wore replica  uniforms from the 1890s.  Over 75,000 people saw Essendon defeat Geelong in the first game of that round at the MCG on a Wednesday night.  Two days later more than 70,000 fans again made there way to the MCG to watch St Kilda defeat Collingwood.

Cynics suggest the AFL celebrated the centenary a year early because Fitzroy, one of the foundation teams, were in such financial trouble that they would not see the season out.  It was no surprise when in July 1996 it was announced that Fitzroy would merge with another team.  The expected partner was North Melbourne but when the announcement was made it was the Brisbane Bears who were the other team.  Fitzroy and the Bears played out the 1996 season before forming the Brisbane Lions for the 1997 season.  Melbourne would have merged with Hawthorn that same year it had not been rejected by the members of both clubs at emotion charged meetings.  North Melbourne went on to win the Grand Final against Sydney earning a gold premiership cup to mark the Centenary. To maintain 16 teams, Port Adelaide Power were admitted to the AFL in 1997.  The Power were separate from the powerful SANFL team the Port Adelaide Magpies but they claimed a shared history with both teams based a Alberton Oval. Port Adelaide lost their first two games in 1997 to Collingwood and Essendon before defeating Geelong in round 3 at Football Park in Adelaide.  Brisbane Lions also lost in round 1 but rebounded in round 2 defeating St Kilda by 97 points in their first home game at the Gabba.  Port and the Lions fought out 8th spot on the ladder each having 10 wins and a draw.  Brisbane played in the finals due to their superior percentage.  Perhaps inspired by the inclusion of their cross-town rivals, Adelaide won their first premiership in 1997.  They went back-to-back winning again in 1998.

The finals system was changed again in 2000.  The number of teams remained at 8 but the AFL did not want the match-ups from week one to be repeated in week 3.  The changes brought more  uncertainty and complexity to the finals match-ups but at this stage remains the AFL’s preferred system.

The early 21st century belonged to the non-Victorian clubs.  Brisbane won 3 flags in a row in 2001, 02 and 03 before falling to Port Adelaide in 2004 leaving Collingwood’s 4-in-a-row untouched. The Sydney Swans won the premiership in 2005 breaking a 72 year drought since South Melbourne had won in 1933.

The future of the AFL looks as interesting as the past.  Victorian teams with exciting squads such as St Kilda and Geelong are pushing for the premiership while Brisbane, Adelaide and West Coast continue to look strong.  Fremantle remains the only team not to have won a flag but no doubt their time will come.

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Football is perhaps one of the few things that unites people of all nationalities, cultures and faiths. The word ‘football’ followed by ‘Barcelona’, ‘Manchester United’ or ‘Ronaldo’ is likely to be met with a knowing-nod anywhere in the world. It’s probably for this reason that football has become known as ‘the beautiful game’.

Many argue that the real football fans aren’t those that follow the big guns from La Liga or the English Premier League: it’s those fans who turn up week after week to cheer the thousands of lower-league clubs across the world, where the chances of glory are slim and the simple thrill is eleven local men giving everything they have purely for the love of the game.

However, one small club in particular stands out from the rest as being a team that truly belongs to the fans.

Ebbsfleet United rose from the ashes of Gravesend & Northfleet, a club initially founded in 1946. The Kent club’s name change was announced at a public consultation meeting in May 2007. The lower-league Football Conference team made history in February 2008, by becoming the first ever football club to be owned by an online community.

The power of the internet and the global love of football combined to create a football club owned by tens of thousands of people spanning seventy countries. The scheme – under the banner ‘My Football Club ‘ – proved particularly popular in Scandinavia, where Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland boasted almost a thousand members collectively by the end of October 2007.

By the beginning of 2008, well over a thousand Americans were on board, paying £35 for a one year membership.

This new model of football club ownership is testament to the love of the beautiful game – and also how the internet has helped reduce oceans to streams by creating a true global footballing village. The fact that ‘fans’ from as far away as the Americas and Asia can democratically vote on player transfers and team selection, relating to a tiny team from Kent is truly remarkable. The food served up at the ‘crowdsourced’ club’s stadium also goes to the ballot – a clear indication of how much power the people actually have.

The football club may be small in terms of attendance, but its global reach is far greater than many other English or European teams will ever achieve. And its ideal location by Ebbsfleet International railway station, with several Eurostar trains a day servicing the likes of Paris and Brussels, means the club is pretty well connected to the continent.

Whether Ebbsfleet United rise to the giddy heights reached by Manchester United or Real Madrid remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure, the club’s meteoric rise from being a small local team in Kent, to one followed – and owned – by thousands across the planet, is a remarkable story. Who knows what the future holds for them?

College football is just nothing else but American football played by teams fielded by the American colleges. These include teams from American universities, as well as from military academies. College football is very popular among college students, and it is through the American colleges that American Football has gained the stature it has today. College football developed from Rugby, a form of football played in England. Rugby reached North America through the British soldiers stationed in Canada, and became very popular in Canadian colleges.

The first game of ‘football’ played between two American college teams – Rutgers College and the College of New Jersey – was not a form of Rugby but more akin to soccer. This game, which Rutgers won 6-4, was played at College Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on November 6, 1869. Rutgers College is now the Rutgers University; College of New Jersey is now the Princeton University; and College Field is where, today, the College Avenue Gymnasium of the Rutgers University stands.

The first ‘rugby-style’ game of college football in the United States took place in 1875, between teams from Harvard and Yale. The credit of fashioning the game of American Football from rugby, by 1892, goes to the one time captain of the Yale football team – Walter Chauncey Camp. The most significant person in the history of American football, Camp has rightly been called the ‘Father of American Football.’

Camp pioneered the modern elements of scoring – at least most of them, the eleven man team, the traditional seven man line of offensive setup, the four man backfield, and the play from scrimmage. The college football became increasingly popular, and also more violent. After a series of player deaths in the collegiate games, Present Roosevelt, in 1906, threatened to ban the sport.

This caused the formation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which formulated rules to govern the game. It was during these days that college football was the predominant way to American football. College football was where style of play and strategy innovations were made and then passed on gradually to the professional arena.

College football remains very popular, despite the rise and popularity of professional football in America. It is more popular in rural areas, and in the south, due to the lack of professional teams there. College football is very popular in places, such as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, among others.

The Tickets

College football teams have as large a fan following as do the professional football teams, and their games draw more number of spectators than do the professional teams.

College football tickets are in great demand, and may not be easy to procure. You can safely forget to procure them from the venues of the games – they would be sold out. Your best alternative option – those ticket brokers. Legitimate and professional ticket brokers, such as have a successful history of helping you arrange college football tickets for the games of your choice.

Portsmouth F.C. was founded in the back garden of 12 High Street, Old Portsmouth on 5th April 1898 with John Brickwood, owner of the local Brickwoods Brewery as chairman and Frank Brettell as the club’s first manager. Portsmouth F.C. is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The city and hence the club are nicknamed Pompey and sometimes called ‘The Blues’, with fans known across Europe. Pompey were early participants in the Southern League, One of their first Goalkeepers Pre -1898 was Arthur Conan Doyle the author of Sherlock Holmes.

The club joined the Southern League in 1898 and their first league match was played at Chatham Town on 2nd September 1899 (a 1–0 victory), followed three days later by the first match at Fratton Park, a friendly against local rivals Southampton, which was won 2–0, with goals from Dan Cunliffe (formerly with Liverpool) and Harold Clarke (formerly with Everton.

That first season was hugely successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, earning them the runner-up spot in the league. During 1910-11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Robert Brown as manager the team were promoted the following season.

The team play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from the Premier League after the 2009/10 season. Until then, Portsmouth had been a member of the Premier League for seven consecutive seasons.

Portsmouth’s debut season in the English First Division was during the 1920′s that alas, turned out to be a difficult one. However, despite disappointing league form the club fought off stiff competition to reach the FA Cup final closely losing out to Bolton Wanderers.

Having solidified their position in the top flight, the 1938-1939 season saw Portsmouth again reach the FA Cup final. This time Portsmouth were successful beating Wolves in a convincing 4-1 win. The club had secured their first major trophy.

After the end of World War Two league football began again and Portsmouth quickly proved to the footballing masses that they were a team to be reckoned with, lifting the League title in 1949 season. The club then crowned this achievement by retaining the title the following year 1950 and becoming only one of five English teams to have won back to back championships since World War Two.

Portsmouth was the first club to hold a floodlit Football League match when they played Newcastle in 1956.

Finally under the management of Harry Redknapp Portsmouth were promoted into the Premier League and have held a solid place in the top flight since this date despite coming close to relegation a number of times.

Portsmouth went from strength to strength under the careful management of Harry Redknapp and a much-needed injection of cash. In the 2007-2008 season Portsmouth won the English F.A. Cup and qualified for the UEFA Cup qualification. They had proven themselves as a consistent and strong team.

Alas during the 2009-2010 season they had financial difficulties and were at the root of the Premier League because of there financial difficulties they were deducted 9 points due to going into Administration and subsequently relegated into the Championship league Division. They only bright part of the season was when they reached the F.A.Cup final in 2010 and lost to Chelsea.

Please visit my Funny Football and Sports on Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com

My other website is called Directory of British Icons: http://fabprints.webs.com

The Chinese call Britain ‘The Island of Hero’s’ which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.

Copyright © 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.

Imbued in English culture is a love and inventor of Sports of all kinds.

I have a website where I have listed and linked to the 100+ various sports and games created by us Brits. Our national game is Football which It is believed was first played over a 1,000 years ago in English villages up and down the country. There are stories that villager’s played against villager’s and the aim of the game was to get the ball passed the opposing village boundary line. The rules included kicking, punching, scratching the opposition over and above the kicking of the ball.

1280 AD – Earliest form of ball kicking

The earliest recorded form of ball kicking was recorded in England in 1280 AD at Ulgham near Ashington in Northumberland. A player was killed by running into an opposing players dagger.

1314 AD – The first banning of Football

In 1314, comes the earliest reference to a game called football when Nicholas de Farndone Lord Mayor of the City of London issued a decree on behalf of King Edward II banning football. It was written in the French used by the English upper classes at the time. A translation reads: “For as much as there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large foot balls in the fields of the public from which many evils might arise which God forbid: we command and forbid on behalf of the king, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in the future.”

1409 AD – First banning of betting on Football

In 1409 King Henry IV of England gives us the first documented use of the English word “football” when issued a proclamation forbidding the levying of money for “foteball”.

1481 AD – Earliest description of Football Game At the end of the 15th century comes the earliest description of a football game. This account in Latin of a football game contains a number of features of modern football and comes from Cawston, Nottinghamshire, England. It is included in a manuscript collection of the miracles of King Henry VI of England. Although the precise date is uncertain it certainly comes from between 1481 and 1500. This is the first account of an exclusively “kicking game” and the first description of dribbling. “The game at which they had met for common recreation is called by some the foot-ball game. It is one in which young men, in country sport, propel a huge ball not by throwing it into the air but by striking it and rolling it along the ground, and that not with their hands but with their feet… kicking in opposite directions” The chronicler gives the earliest reference to a football field, stating that: “The boundaries have been marked and the game had started.

1526 AD – First Football Boots In 1526 comes the first record of a pair of football boots occurs when Henry VIII of England ordered a pair from the Great Wardrobe in 1526. Unfortunately these are no longer in existence.

1581 AD – First organised Team Sport In 1581 comes the earliest account of football as an organised team sport. Richard Mulcaster, a student at Eton College in the early 16th century and later headmaster at other English schools provides the earliest references to teams (“sides” and “parties”), positions (“standings”), a referee (“judge over the parties”) and a coach “(trayning maister)”. Mulcaster’s “footeball” had evolved from the disordered and violent forms of traditional football:

[s]ome smaller number with such overlooking, sorted into sides and standings, not meeting with their bodies so boisterously to trie their strength: nor shouldring or shuffing one an other so barbarously … may use footeball for as much good to the body, by the chiefe use of the legges.

Mulcaster also confirms that in sixteenth century England football was very popular and widespread: it had attained “greatnes. .. [and was] much used … in all places”

Despite this violence continued to be a problem. For example, the parish archives of North Moreton, Oxfordshire for May 1595 state: “Gunter’s son and ye Gregorys fell together by ye years at football. Old Gunter drew his dagger and both broke their heads, and they died both within a fortnight after.”

1600 AD – First reference to Scoring a Goal

The first direct references to scoring a goal come from England in the 1600s. For example, in John Day’s play ‘The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659): “I’ll play a gole at camp-ball” (an extremely violent variety of football, which was popular in East Anglia. Similarly in a poem in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to “when the Ball to throw, And drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe”.

1602 AD – First reference to Passing the Ball In 1602 the earliest reference to a game involving passing the ball comes from cornish hurling. In particular Carew tells us that: “Then must he cast the ball (named Dealing) to some one of his fellowes”. In this case, however, the pass is by hand, as in rugby football. Although there are other allusions to ball passing in seventeenth century literature, this is the only one which categorically states that the ball was passed to another member of the same team. There are no other explicit references to passing the ball between members of the same team until the 1860s, however, in 1650 English puritan Richard baxter alludes to player to player passing of the ball during a football game in his book Everlasting Rest: “like a Football in the midst of a crowd of Boys, tost about in contention from one to another”.

1608 AD – Outlawing of Football in Cities

Football continued to be outlawed in English cities, for example the Manchester Lete Roll contains a resolution, dated 12 October 1608: “That whereas there hath been heretofore great disorder in our towne of Manchester, and the inhabitants thereof greatly wronged and charged with makinge and amendinge of their glasse windows broken yearlye and spoyled by a companye of lewd and disordered psons vsing that unlawfull exercise of playinge with the ffote-ball in ye streets of ye sd toune breakinge many men’s windowes and glasse at their plesures and other great enormyties. Therefore, wee of this jurye doe order that no manner of psons hereafter shall play or use the footeball in any street within the said toune of Manchester, subpœnd to evye one that shall so use the same for evye time xiid”.

Although football was frequently outlawed in England, it remained popular even with the ruling classes. For example, during the reign of King James I of England James Howelll mentions how Lord Willoughby and Lord Sunderland enjoyed playing football, for example:”Lord Willoughby, and he, with so many of their servants … play’d a match at foot- ball against such a number of Countrymen, where my Lord of Sunderland being busy about the ball, got a bruise in the breast.

1624 AD – First concept of Football Teams

The concept of football teams is mentioned by English Poet Edmund Waller in c1624: He mentions a “a sort [i.e. company] of lusty shepherds try their force at football, care of victory… They ply their feet, and still the restless ball, Toss’d to and fro, is urged by them all”. The last line suggests that playing as a team emerged much earlier in English football than previously thought.

1638 AD – Popularity of Football

Football continued to be popular throughout seventeenth century England. For example in 1634 Davenant is quoted (in Hones Table-Book) as remarking, “I would now make a safe retreat, but methinks Jam stopped by one of your heroic gamea called football; which I conceive (under your favor) not very conveniently civil in the streets, especially in such irregular and narrow roads as Crooked Lane. Yet it argues your courage, much like your military pastime of throwing at cocks, since you have long allowed these two valiant exercises in the streets”. Similarly in 1638 Thomas Randolp suggests this in the following lines from one of his plays: “Madam, you may in time bring down his legs To the just size, now overgrown with playing Too much at foot-ball”.

1660 AD – First Objective study of Football In 1660 comes the first objective study of football, given in Francis Willughby’s Book of Sports, written in about 1660. This account is particularly noteworthy as he refers to football by its correct name and is the first to describe the following: goals and a pitch (“a close that has a gate at either end. The gates are called Goals”), tactics (“leaving some of their best players to guard the goal”), scoring (“they that can strike the ball through their opponents’ goal first win”) and the way teams were selected (“the players being equally divided according to their strength and nimbleness”). He is the first to describe a law of football: “They often break one another’s shins when two meet and strike both together against the ball, and therefore there is a law that they must not strike higher than the ball”. His book includes the first (basic) diagram illustrating a modern football pitch.

Football continued to be played in the later seventeenth century, even in cities such as London. The great diarist Samuel Pepys, for example, states in 1665 that in a London street “the streete being full of footballs”

1840′s AD – Codified Football England was the first country in the world to develop codified football, coming about from a desire of its various public schools to compete against each other. Previously, each school had its own rules, which may have dated back to the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. The first attempts to come up with single codes probably began in the 1840s, with various meetings between school representatives attempting to come up with a set of rules with which all would be happy. The first attempt was The Cambridge Rules, created in 1848; others developed their own sets, most notably Sheffield F.C. (1855) and J.C. Thring(1862). These were moulded into one set in 1863 when the Football Association was formed; though some clubs continued to play under the Sheffield Rules 1878, and others dissented to form Rugby Union instead. The 1863 rules of the Football Association provides the first reference in the English Language to the verb to “pass” a ball.

1866 AD – First Player to be Ruled Offside C.W.Alcock became the first footballer ever to be ruled off side on 31 March 1866, confirming that players were probing ways of exploiting the new off side rule right from the start. The offside rule was introduced in 1866 into the Football Association rules. It was almost identical to the one that had been part of the Cambridge Rules.

The early Sheffield Rules were particularly important as their offside system allowed poaching or sneaking and thus demonstrated the use of the forward pass: Players known as “kick throughs” were positioned permanently near the opponents goal to receive these balls. According to C.W. Alcock the Sheffield style gave birth to the modern passing game. The Sheffield Rules of 1862later included both crossbars and half time and free kicks were introduced to their code in 1866.

1867 AD – The Oldest Football Cup in the World The Youdan Cup was an association football competition played in Sheffield, England. A local theatre owner Thomas Youdan sponsored the competition and provided the trophy. The trophy itself was made of silver, and although Thomas Youdan awarded a £2 prize to the winner of a competition to design the trophy, it was not completed in time to be presented on the day to the winners.

The format of the competition was drawn up by a committee and played under Sheffield Rules. The first two rounds were on a knock-out basis, however the final was contested between three teams playing each other in turn.

The final was played at Bramell Lane, Sheffield on 5 March 1867 and attracted 3,000 spectators, each paying 3d admission. The game used the concept of ‘rouges’ (a rouge was scored when an attempt at goal, using a goal only 4 yards wide, missed, but would have gone into an 8 yard wide goal: rouges were only considered in the case of a drawn match), and Hallam beat Norfolk and Mackenzie to finish first, while Norfolk beat Mackenzie and finished second. The Runners-up were presented with a two-handed silver goblet encircled with athletic figures that had been purchased with the proceeds of the gate money and had been completed. Sadly Youdan was unable to present it personally as he was ill.

1870 AD – The first International England was home to the first ever international football match on the 5 March 1870. The first match ended in a draw and was one of a series of four matches between representatives of England and Scotland at The Oval, London. These matches were arranged by the Football Association, at the time the only national football body in the world.

The origin of these games came in 1870 when CW Alcock challenged homegrown contenders in Scotland against an English eleven. These challenges were issued in Scottish newspapers, including the Glasgow Herald. He received no response to these adverts. One response to Alcock’s challenges illustrates that soccer was eclipsed in Scotland by other codes:

“Mr Alcock’s challenge to meet a Scotch eleven on the borders sounds very well and is doubtless well meant. But it may not be generally well known that Mr Alcock is a very leading supporter of what is called the “association game”…devotees of the “association” rules will find no foemen worthy of their steel in Scotland”.

As a result he was forced to draw upon London-based players with Scottish origins. One notable Scottish player of the 1870 and 1871 games was Smith, a player of Queensn Park FC. This suggests that southern teams were not so isolated from Glasgow players and style of play as originally thought. Alcock was categorical that although most players were London based, this was due to lack of response from north of the border:

“I must join issue with your correspondent in some instances. First, I assert that of whatever the Scotch eleven may have been composed the right to play was open to every Scotchman [Alcock's italics] whether his lines were cast North or South of the Tweed and that if in the face of the invitations publicly given through the columns of leading journals of Scotland the representative eleven consisted chiefly of Anglo-Scotians … the fault lies on the heads of the players of the north, not on the management who sought the services of all alike impartially. To call the team London Scotchmen contributes nothing. The match was, as announced, to all intents and purposes between England and Scotland”. The first official ( i.e. Currently recognised by FIFA) international match would take place between Scotland and England on November 30th. 1872. This match was played under the Football Association rules.

1871 AD – The F.A.Cup The F.A. Cup was the first nationally organized competition. A knockout cup, it began 1871, with the first winners being the Wanderers. In those days professionalism was banned, and the cup was dominated by service teams or old schoolboys’ teams (such as Old Etonians). In the early 1870s the modern team passing game was invented by the Sheffield FC, Royal Engineers A.F.C. and Scottish players of the era from Queens Park FC. This was the predecessor to the current passing, defensive game which was known as the Combination Game and was spread around the world by British expatriates.

1888 AD – Worlds First Football League The new professionals needed more regular competitive football in which they could compete, which led to the creation of the Football league in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor . This was dominated by those clubs who had supported professionalism, and the twelve founding members consisted of six from Lancashire (Blackburn Rovers, Burnely, Bolton Wanderers, Accrington, Everton and preston North End) and six from the Midlands (Aston Villa, Derby County, Notts County, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers). No sides from the South or London initially participated.

Preston North End won the first ever Football League championship without losing any of their 22 fixtures, and won the FA Cup to complete the double. They retained their league title the following year but by the turn of the 20th century they had been eclipsed by Aston Villa, who had emulated Preston’s double success in 1897. Other Midlands sides, such as Wolves (1893 FA Cup winners) and West Bromwich Albion (1888 & 1892 FA Cup winners) were also successful during this era, as were Blackburn Rovers, who won five FA Cups in the 1880s and 1890s. In 1892 a second division was added and in 1920 a third division was added.

1891 AD – Creation of Football Net In 1891 Liverpool engineer John Alexander Brodie invented the football net.

1991- Present In 1991 the English Premier league was formed of 20 clubs and with its links to Sky television and the increase in revenues by 2001 The Premier league was the richest league of any kind of sports in the world. At the present day, the league’s TV rights have reached over 2 Billion Pounds. The argument at present is when will technology be used around the goal to confirm problem goals by Video replay.

It always amazes me how from a little Island like England we created and gave the world over 100 sports and games that have dominated the world.

Please visit my Sports and Football Playing funny Dogs on
Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com/SPORTS.html

The Chinese call Britain ‘The Island of Hero’s’ which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.

Copyright © 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved.