Football

[Old Yard Dog]

It seems fairly obvious to me: FCUM supporters are essentially a sub-set of Manchester United supporters. The two sets of fans coming together at Manchester Victoria before or after a game would have potential to flare up if the "banter" gets out of hand. It's a shame such things have to be considered, and it's almost certainly an over-reaction... but the thinking behind it is obvious.

The most threatened I've felt around football fans related to a game not involving my team, was on a train down The Marches when Chester were playing away at Wrexham: both were in the division I can't stop calling "The Conference".

I find it hard to believe that anybody would feel threatened by FCUM fans. My respect went up for them enormously after the sporting way they applauded our side when we beat them in the 118th minute of the 2012 NPL play-off final. And there is no longer any need to segregate their fans despite our rivalry over many years.

Sadly many NLN clubs like Stockport, Boston, Chester, Kidderminster and York still think they are in the fourth division and corral away fans into tiny corners or uncovered ends. Sometimes at Bradford we are forced by the powers that be to segregate when fans of clubs like these come in numbers, but they are given seats of equal quality to home fans and we put up a temporary beer tent and food stall.

 

[adrock1976]

I find it hard to believe that anybody would feel threatened by FCUM fans. My respect went up for them enormously after the sporting way they applauded our side when we beat them in the 118th minute of the 2012 NPL play-off final. And there is no longer any need to segregate their fans despite our rivalry over many years.

Sadly many NLN clubs like Stockport, Boston, Chester, Kidderminster and York still think they are in the fourth division and corral away fans into tiny corners or uncovered ends. Sometimes at Bradford we are forced by the powers that be to segregate when fans of clubs like these come in numbers, but they are given seats of equal quality to home fans and we put up a temporary beer tent and food stall.

I take this that it is Bradford Park Avenue that is being referred to here, and not City who initially started out as a rugby side then changed code?

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Adam - You are of course right. Bradford (Park Avenue) have always been known as "Bradford", and the letters "BFC" not "BPA" proudly adorned Archibald Leitch's fine double decker stand at Park Avenue. Unfortunately since we went out of the Football League, the media have got lazy and started calling City just "Bradford" which annoys both sets of fans, older ones anyway.

Interestingly both clubs started out as rugby union clubs, Avenue as "Bradford" and City as "Manningham". Both then switched codes and started playing Northern Union aka Rugby league. Bradford also had an association side playing at home on alternate Saturdays. Manningham then switched to association at which point they renamed themselves Bradford City. Bradford followed a few years later and was forced to add Park Avenue in brackets to its name to avoid confusion.

For more details on the history see

http://bradfordfc.org.uk/html/history.html

and two great books by John Dewhirst "Room at the Top" and "Life at the Top".

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Sadly many NLN clubs like... Boston, ... still think they are in the fourth division and corral away fans into tiny corners or uncovered ends. Sometimes at Bradford we are forced by the powers that be to segregate when fans of clubs like these come in numbers, but they are given seats of equal quality to home fans and we put up a temporary beer tent and food stall.

I seem to remember you got a covered stand behind the goal when I saw Bradford at York Street last year That last minute goal was always coming.

It is interesting how it varies down in non-league, I've had some with security and segregation the Premier League would be proud of, and others at exactly the same level in exactly the same context who couldn't care less what you bring in or where you stand.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Adam - You are of course right. Bradford (Park Avenue) have always been known as "Bradford", and the letters "BFC" not "BPA" proudly adorned Archibald Leitch's fine double decker stand at Park Avenue. Unfortunately since we went out of the Football League, the media have got lazy and started calling City just "Bradford" which annoys both sets of fans, older ones anyway.

Interestingly both clubs started out as rugby union clubs, Avenue as "Bradford" and City as "Manningham". Both then switched codes and started playing Northern Union aka Rugby league. Bradford also had an association side playing at home on alternate Saturdays. Manningham then switched to association at which point they renamed themselves Bradford City. Bradford followed a few years later and was forced to add Park Avenue in brackets to its name to avoid confusion.

For more details on the history see

http://bradfordfc.org.uk/html/history.html

and two great books by John Dewhirst "Room at the Top" and "Life at the Top".

I had noticed that the "Park Avenue" part, as of this season, appears in parentheses on the BBC and other websites. A small victory, I suppose...

 

[roversfan2001]

The most threatened I've felt around football fans related to a game not involving my team, was on a train down The Marches when Chester were playing away at Wrexham: both were in the division I can't stop calling "The Conference".

I do believe that in recent years, when Wrexham and Chester play each other, the away fans have to be bussed in on the official coach travel, with fans being forbidden to make their own way to the ground.

Of course, the only other rivalry in which this is the case is Blackburn vs. Burnley. A good fact to use when people ask what the fiercest rivalry in English football is.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I do believe that in recent years, when Wrexham and Chester play each other, the away fans have to be bussed in on the official coach travel, with fans being forbidden to make their own way to the ground.

Of course, the only other rivalry in which this is the case is Blackburn vs. Burnley. A good fact to use when people ask what the fiercest rivalry in English football is.

A few years ago, West Yorkshire Police decided that Huddersfield Town against Hull City was a potential flashpoint despite the two having no significant historical rivalry and the fixture taking place in August. As a result all Hull supporters were required to travel by coach or car and collect their tickets from police at Hartshead Moor MSA on the M62. If my memory serves me, a group of Hull fans (backed by a group from Huddersfield) won some sort of judgement afterwards which ruled the police action to be unnecessary and over-zealous.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I do believe that in recent years, when Wrexham and Chester play each other, the away fans have to be bussed in on the official coach travel, with fans being forbidden to make their own way to the ground.

Of course, the only other rivalry in which this is the case is Blackburn vs. Burnley. A good fact to use when people ask what the fiercest rivalry in English football is.

Not the only other one. You can add Cardiff V Swansea to that list, although that is Welsh football I guess .
Cardiff v Bristol was also the same up until a couple of years ago. Was a right pain for the game in Bristol as I'm a Cardiff fan living in Bath!

 

[Old Yard Dog]

I seem to remember you got a covered stand behind the goal when I saw Bradford at York Street last year That last minute goal was always coming.

It is interesting how it varies down in non-league, I've had some with security and segregation the Premier League would be proud of, and others at exactly the same level in exactly the same context who couldn't care less what you bring in or where you stand.

Boston United only gave us a small part of the covered stand by the corner flag which is a bit mean given the size of the ground.

Yes we deserved to win at your place last season but you were very unlucky to lose at ours a couple of weeks ago.

I saw Boston United a couple of times in D4 and both games were memorable: a 6-0 home win against Shrewsbury (when there were useful through workings to Crewe) and the infamous 2-1 defeat at Wrexham where you went into administration in the 85th minute. My boss was in the Welsh choir which sung before the game. And its funny how the powers that be never mention your 6-1 win at Derby in 1955 when discussing famous FA Cup upsets.

Finally a piece of useless trivia, such is the degree of churn in NLN that ... Boston Utd have been in continuous membership longer than anybody else having been promoted in 2010 by beating Bradford in the NPL play-off final; Bradford and Brackley are next having come up in 2012. Gainsborough had a longer spell but went down this year.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Boston United only gave us a small part of the covered stand by the corner flag which is a bit mean given the size of the ground.

Yes we deserved to win at your place last season but you were very unlucky to lose at ours a couple of weeks ago.

I saw Boston United a couple of times in D4 and both games were memorable: a 6-0 home win against Shrewsbury (when there were useful through workings to Crewe) and the infamous 2-1 defeat at Wrexham where you went into administration in the 85th minute. My boss was in the Welsh choir which sung before the game. And its funny how the powers that be never mention your 6-1 win at Derby in 1955 when discussing famous FA Cup upsets.

Finally a piece of useless trivia, such is the degree of churn in NLN that ... Boston Utd have been in continuous membership longer than anybody else having been promoted in 2010 by beating Bradford in the NPL play-off final; Bradford and Brackley are next having come up in 2012. Gainsborough had a longer spell but went down this year.

Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not a Boston fan, I was merely there for a day out (and to get York Street in before, if ever, the Pilgrims move out and it gets razed) and it just so happened Bradford were visiting I had no love for the town at all, but York Street is a nice old-school ground and a there was a lovely chippy just down the road towards town which helped!

I remember reading that Gainsborough had never been relegated prior to last season, the league structure had merely always changed around them. Quite a distance between the first- and second-longest tenured teams in that case!

 

[familyguy99]

Grimsby 0-3 Oldham

Good away win for Latics with all three goals come in second half thanks to quick double from on loan Bournemouth players Surridge. Amazingly this was first time in over four years that Oldham have won back to back away matches.

 

[Glenmutchkin]

Fort William gubbed 9 - 0 at Brora Rangers. I wonder what the record is for the worst goal difference over a full Highland League season.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Grimsby 0-3 Oldham

Good away win for Latics with all three goals come in second half thanks to quick double from on loan Bournemouth players Surridge. Amazingly this was first time in over four years that Oldham have won back to back away matches.

Frankie Bunn doing a decent job then? His work at Huddersfield's academy is finally starting to bear some fruit, with the emergence of Phil Billing as a first-team regular who doesn't look out of place in the Premier League... All we need now is a bit more luck, and the results will hopefully come. Speaking of which:

Huddersfield Town 0 - 1 Crystal Palace
Another game where we did everything but score, but fell to defeat due to one moment of brilliance from Wilfried Zaha who waltzed through our defence like a hot knife through butter towards the end of the first half. Palace were otherwise poor, and referee Lee Mason clearly had somewhere more important to be as he played only two and a half of the 'minimum' three added minutes. Though we wouldn't have scored if we'd played for another three hours, with the closest we came being Aaron Mooy's volley which came back off the inside of the post in the second half.

Expect MotD coverage (limited as it will be, as we're sure to be on last!) to focus on poor Wilf's rough treatment and lack of protection (he was fouled significantly once (and did a fine Neymar impression), for which the Town player was rightly cautioned) but ignore his two-footed lunge at Florent Hadergjonaj's ankles, which wasn't deemed worthy of a card at all.

 

[fowler9]

Wonder if Jordan Pickford has any more advice for Alisson today.

 

[DarloRich]

Southport 0 v Darlo 0 - not a classic but happy to take a point after our keeper saved a penalty.

 

[Minilad]

A few days in Madrid will see me visit the Bernabeu for the first time on Wednesday as Real face Roma in the Champions League.
Looking forward to visiting one of the genuine cathedrals of the game

 

[VauxhallandI]

Bradford (PA) 2 - 3 Altrincham

A big win for Alty after turning out their worst performance in 18 months against Curzon Ashton (I was Mach sponsor, thanks).

Only 4 shots on target but three goals, it doesn't usually work like that when you are on the slide but we will take it, Bradford we're ready to go second if they had one. A defeat would have started the self doubt spin that can be so hard to get out of.

Now for the Whitley Bay FA Cup banana skin....

 

[507021]

Wonder if Jordan Pickford has any more advice for Alisson today.

Pickford's error for West Ham's first goal was dreadful.

 

[507021]

Spurs 1-2 Liverpool.

Another good victory for Liverpool with our best performance of the season so far, and I still don't think we're at our best yet either. It would have been nice if we'd scored a couple more goals, seeing as we created several chances to score, but a win is a win and it's another three points in the bag.

 

[AlterEgo]

Pickford's error for West Ham's first goal was dreadful.

I thought it was brilliant myself.

 

[greyman42]

A few days in Madrid will see me visit the Bernabeu for the first time on Wednesday as Real face Roma in the Champions League.
Looking forward to visiting one of the genuine cathedrals of the game

Apparently the stadium is in need of refurbishment/modernisation. Let us know what you think.

 

[507021]

I thought it was brilliant myself.

I have to admit I was pleased to see West Ham win, they played really well and were the deserved winners.

My stepdad supports West Ham so I'd imagine he'll be happy they've managed to win their first game of the season.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Somewhat differing early-season fortunes of the three clubs that were promoted to the Premier Division of the Evo-Stik league so far:-

1st....South Shields.............P8...W6 D0 L2...For 16 Against 8...18 points
6th....Scarborough Athletic...P7...W4 D2 L1...For 13 Against 8...14 points
19th..Hyde United...............P7...W1 D2 L4...For 5 Against 9......5 points

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Fort William gubbed 9 - 0 at Brora Rangers. I wonder what the record is for the worst goal difference over a full Highland League season.

Based on current Highland League form of both Lossiemouth FC and Fort William FC, I look forward to the scores when they play each other. Current form of both sides:-

Lossiemouth........P10...W0 D0 L10.....For 3 Against 50.....Points 0
Fort William ........P10...W0 D1 L9.......For 6 Against 81.....Points -8

Fort William had 9 points deducted for fielding an ineligible player on three occasions this season.

 

[507021]

Liverpool 3-2 Paris St. Germain.

Liverpool win their first Champions League game of the season thanks to goals from Daniel Sturridge, James Milner (penalty) and Roberto Firmino, with a goal from Mohamed Salah disallowed. Again, I'm a bit disappointed we didn't score more considering the chances we had, but at least we managed to win the game.

 

[fowler9]

Liverpool 3-2 Paris St. Germain.

Liverpool win their first Champions League game of the season thanks to goals from Daniel Sturridge, James Milner (penalty) and Roberto Firmino, with a goal from Mohamed Salah disallowed. Again, I'm a bit disappointed we didn't score more considering the chances we had, but at least we managed to win the game.

Good result. Sadly never got to watch it.

 

[Iskra]

Leeds 3 Preston North End 0

Back to winning ways for Leeds after a couple of draws in tough fixtures. Although we started slowly, we soon reached sublime. The first goal was a scrappy one, which also saw Preston scrap their time-wasting antics and start to play football, which they aren't bad at. Two great finishes finished Preston off, but we could have scored many more. Another fantastic performance, even more so when you consider we have many 1st team players injured. It's amazing what a bit of stability and a decent manager can achieve.

It was also a good bit of revenge too for the way PNE knocked us out of the cup a couple of weeks back.

Bring on Birmingham on Saturday, then a lively fixture at Wednesday on Friday for which I've secured a ticket, thankfully in the away end this season.

 

[roversfan2001]

Somewhat differing early-season fortunes of the three clubs that were promoted to the Premier Division of the Evo-Stik league so far:-

1st....South Shields.............P8...W6 D0 L2...For 16 Against 8...18 points
6th....Scarborough Athletic...P7...W4 D2 L1...For 13 Against 8...14 points
19th..Hyde United...............P7...W1 D2 L4...For 5 Against 9......5 points

The other promoted club, Bamber Bridge, aren't doing too badly either.

 

[DarloRich]

Somewhat differing early-season fortunes of the three clubs that were promoted to the Premier Division of the Evo-Stik league so far:-

1st....South Shields.............P8...W6 D0 L2...For 16 Against 8...18 points
6th....Scarborough Athletic...P7...W4 D2 L1...For 13 Against 8...14 points
19th..Hyde United...............P7...W1 D2 L4...For 5 Against 9......5 points

Shields should win that league easily. After All they took the core of the darlo team which did just that. Scarborough took a couple of others from us

 

[familyguy99]

Frankie Bunn doing a decent job then? His work at Huddersfield's academy is finally starting to bear some fruit, with the emergence of Phil Billing as a first-team regular who doesn't look out of place in the Premier League...

Bunn is doing good job at Oldham, I wasn't sure about appoint at first given is his first manager job but he doing wonderful job.

Oldham 3-3 Colchester

Colchester look set to win match when they were 3-1 up with 20 mins to go until Surridge and Clarke scored 5 mins from time to give Oldham a unlikely point.