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Cardiff City FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Cardiff City Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Cardiff City FC is located in the southwestern part of the city of Cardiff. Cardiff is located on the southern coast of Wales in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League (this was accurate at time of recording in July 2018 – the club has since been relegated) and its home ground is the Cardiff City Stadium, which opened in 2009. The stadium holds about 33,000 people.

Origin

The club’s origin starts with a man named Bartley Wilson. Wilson was a member of the Riverside Cricket Club in Cardiff, and formed a soccer team in 1899 to keep the members of the club engaged and active over the winter months. Wilson had tried many times to form a club but wasn’t successful until 1899. The team was formed and called Riverside Football Club.

In 1902, the club changed its name to Riverside Albion.

By 1908, the club’s name changed again when it was allowed to join the South Wales League. At this time, the club became Cardiff City AFC. The AFC stood for Association Football Club. Due to rugby’s popularity in the area, many Welsh clubs used AFC to distinguish themselves as soccer clubs rather than rugby clubs.

AFC was used off and on throughout the clubs history before finally being officially changed in 2003 after a club rebrand. It became Cardiff City FC at this time, which is its official name today.

Nickname

Cardiff City’s nickname is the Bluebirds.

The story of the nickname comes from the early part of the 20th century.

Around 1910, Cardiff City changed its kit color from the original colors of chocolate and amber to blue and white. Around the same time, a famous children’s play called the Blue Bird was written. That play came to Cardiff in October 1911 and was wildly popular. A week after the play left town, the writer of the play won a Nobel Prize for Literature. This led to all kinds of publicity and notoriety for the play having just been in town.

An unknown Cardiff supporter began calling the team Bluebirds because of the new kit color and play’s notoriety. That nickname was the favorite among supporters at the time and has stuck over the years.

Crest

The current Cardiff City crest has been used since 2015.

The prominent feature of the crest is the Bluebird in the middle of it. As we just talked about, the Bluebird comes from the club’s nickname and was first featured on a Cardiff City crest in 1959. The Bluebird has featured prominently on every Cardiff City crest barring a 4 year period from 2011 to 2015, which we’ll talk about in our next section.

At the top of the crest is the club’s name of Cardiff City FC in a scroll.

And at the bottom of the crest is a red Welsh dragon. This dragon was featured large and in the middle of the crest immediately before the current crest. That crest was an ill-fated attempt by new owners to change the branding of the club. We’ll discuss that in more detail in our next segment, but it didn’t work and the club’s crest was returned to the bluebird prominently featuring.

The dragon is the symbol for the country of Wales and a version of a red dragon was used on the club’s first crest, which was the city’s coat of Arms.

The dragon was kept in the current crest after the 2015 rebrand but was relegated to a small appearance at the bottom of the crest where it is now.

Important Events

I’d like to discuss 3 important time periods in the Bluebird’s history in this section.

The first group of events came in 1927. This was arguably the greatest year in the club’s history as Cardiff City won the FA Cup, Welsh Cup, and Charity Shield (now known as the Community Shield).

The Bluebirds first beat Arsenal on April 23, 1927 at Wembley in front of more than 90,000 people. The match finished 1-0 with Cardiff striker Hughie Ferguson scoring the lone goal. This FA Cup is considered the only major trophy in the club’s history.

Two weeks later, the club beat Rhyl in the final of the Welsh Cup 2-0 with goals by Len Davies and Sam Irving.

And finally, a few months later, on October 12, 1927, Cardiff beat Corinthians 2-1 in the FA Charity Shield (which nowadays is called the Community Shield and doesn’t have as high of a profile). Back then, it did have more significance and the scorers for Cardiff on the day were Ferguson and Davies, who scored in the FA and Welsh Cup finals respectively.

The next period I’d like to mention is the 1967-1968 European Cup Winners’ Cup run for Cardiff. In this tournament, the Bluebirds went on an improbable run to reach the semi-finals. The club advanced past Shamrock Rovers, NAC Breda, and Torpedo Moscow before meeting Hamburg in the semi-finals.

The first leg of the semi-finals against Hamburg was played on April 24, 1968 at Hamburg. In front of more than 64,000 people, Cardiff secured a shock 1-1 draw and returned home. The second leg was played on May 1, and was 2-2 late in the match before Cardiff conceded a stoppage time goal to allow Hamburg the victory and progression to the finals. Although this run didn’t end in victory, it is Cardiff’s deepest run in a European competition in the club’s history.

And the last period I want to highlight is related to the current owner of Cardiff City, Vincent Tan. In May of 2010, the club was on the verge of bankruptcy, which is called administration in England. The terrible financial position came from unpaid taxes and the club over-exerting itself on building a new stadium as well as player acquisitions. Tan saved the club from bankruptcy but his ownership has brought a tumultuous time to the club.

In June 2012, Tan announced that the club’s main colors would be changing from blue to red. He cited the change to red was to honor Wales but really, the change was to market Cardiff City in Asia. There, the color of red has a strong significance. Additionally, the club’s crest was drastically changed to have a large red dragon in the middle of it rather than the Bluebird, which had been the case for more than 50 years. Less than a year later, Tan suggested the club’s name could be changed, again for marketing purposes to the Cardiff Dragons but fortunately this change never came.

It hasn’t been all bad under Tan’s ownership. The club was able to secure promotion to the first division on April 16, 2013 for the first time in 50 years. Additionally, the crest was changed to a version that more resembled the club’s previous crest in 2015 and the club’s primary color of blue has been restored. It appears relations have improved between supporters and the owner after a rocky start. Hopefully Tan continues to recognize and value the fantastic history of this great Welsh club.

Supporters

Cardiff City fans have a very interesting tradition where they tap their hands on their head as a show of support and it’s called “doing the Ayatollah.”

Before I explain the origins from a Cardiff perspective, I want to explain some world events that were happening at the time of this move’s origin. In June of 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini passed away. His funeral was shown all over the world, including Wales. The Iranian symbol for grief and mourning is a tapping of the head like this. About a year later, there was a massive earthquake in Iran that killed more than 35,000 people. Images of this were shown all over the world with the tapping of the head symbol often shown again.

With the image fresh in the minds of people all over the world, including in Wales, one Cardiff fan apparently applied it to watching a Cardiff City match. The supposed first use of the gesture came during an away match against Lincoln City in September 1990. The match ended 0-0 and was apparently a tough watch. That prompted a Cardiff fan to tap his head showing grief at the performance and it caught on.

As with most things in supporters culture, the gesture started small and grew organically to the point that the gesture is a sign of support for the bluebirds these days.

Noteworthy Players

Fred Keenor was the first real legend in Cardiff City history. He was a local kid from the city who joined the club when he was 18. He would spend 19 years with the club, taking a break to fight in WWI. During the war, he suffered an injury to his leg that threatened his playing career but he was able to recover and resume playing after the war. Keenor was club captain during the club’s most successful years in the 1920s. He led the team to the 1927 FA Cup, Welsh Cup, and Charity Shield. He was also captain as the team finished the first division in 2nd place, their highest ever finish. Keenor would earn 32 caps for Wales during his career and was a fantastic leader from his midfield position.

Alf Sherwood joined Cardiff in 1942 and would play for the club more than 350 times before leaving in 1956 for Newport County. Sherwood became captain in the late 1940s and led Cardiff from the 3rd division to the 1st division. The club remained in the first division while he played for Cardiff, only suffering relegation after his departure. Sherwood was also a backup keeper, which was exceptionally useful in the days before substitutions were allowed. He had a famous double-save in 1954 against Liverpool that relegated the Reds that season, which was the last time Liverpool have been relegated. Legendary striker Stanley Matthews called Sherwood the most difficult opponent he ever played against and Sherwood is considered one of the greatest Welsh players of all time.

The third player I want to discuss is Derek Tapscott. Tapscott was nicknamed “Tappy” and joined Cardiff in the prime of his career. He played with the club from 1958 to 1965 and led the bluebirds back into the first division. Tapscott led the first division in scoring while playing for Cardiff and is widely considered one of the best forwards to have ever played for the club.

I also wanted to briefly mention Ivor Allchurch, Aaron Ramsey and Craig Bellamy. None of these men are most well-known for playing at Cardiff, but they are some of the most famous Welsh soccer players of all-time and each played for Cardiff for a short time.

Allchurch was nicknamed the “Golden Boy” of Welsh soccer and would have a standout career, mainly for Cardiff’s bitter rivals Swansea. Allchurch played for the bluebirds from 1962 to 1965.
Ramsey joined Cardiff City at 8 years old. He spent more than 8 years at the club before he was sold to Arsenal FC in 2008. He’s gone on to have a stellar career for Arsenal and Wales.
And Bellamy played for many teams all over Britain, most notably Liverpool and Manchester City. He chose to end his career with Cardiff City, which was his hometown club. He joined the bluebirds in 2012, when they were in the 2nd division. Bellamy was instrumental in the 2012-2013 season as Cardiff earned promotion to the top flight for the first time since 1962.

Noteworthy Managers

Fred Stewart had the longest managerial career of any Cardiff City manager. He was in charge for more than 22 years at the club from 1911 to 1933. Stewart led the Bluebirds to the 1927 FA Cup, the club’s only major trophy, and managed more than 600 matches. During Stewart’s time in charge, the club enjoyed one of its most successful periods ever. This came mainly in the 1920s when it won the FA Cup, reached another FA Cup Final, reached the English First Division for the first time in the club’s history, and nearly won the league in 1923-1924 season. Cardiff missed out on the title by fractions of a goal due to the deciding factor being goal average at the time. It was the closest first division title margin ever. Stewart was instrumental in leading the club during this entire period.

Jimmy Scoular is the 2nd longest serving manager in club history and managed Cardiff City for more than 9 years. He was in charge when the Bluebirds first qualified for European competition. They did that by winning the 1964 Welsh Cup before Scoular took over the club and entered the 1964-65 European Cup Winners’ Cup in Scoular’s first season in charge. Cardiff made a surprising run to the quarterfinals of that tournament. Scoular would lead the club into Europe multiple times during his time at the club and Cardiff would often outperform expectations in the Cup Winners’ Cup. This included a run to the semi-finals of the 1967-1968 Cup Winners’ Cup. At the end of his time in charge, Scoular managed more than 450 matches for Cardiff and won 7 Welsh Cups with the club. The 7 Welsh Cups won is still a record for a Cardiff City manager.

Current manager, Neil Warnock is making a name for himself in Cardiff history. He’s been the manager since October 2016 and has one of the highest win percentages in club history. Warnock has managed 12 clubs since becoming a manager in 1986 and has more than 50 years of experience playing and managing professionally. He made his playing debut in 1967. If he can lead Cardiff to stability in the Premier League, he may go down as one of the greatest managers in club history.

Rivals

The Bluebirds have 2 main rivals: Swansea City and Bristol City

Cardiff City’s main rival is fellow Welsh club Swansea City AFC. Matches between the two clubs are called South Wales Derbies. The two cities are about 40 miles apart and are Wales’ two largest metropolitan areas. There is a natural rivalry between the two cities as many Welsh citizens believe Cardiff’s status as the capital of Wales means it gets preferential treatment & funding from the government. From a sporting sense, the rivalry wasn’t always intense, but the hooliganism of the 1980s turned the rivalry violent. Since then, it has been an extremely tense match between players and fans of either side whenever they each other. The two clubs have met many times across the divisions and cups of English soccer and this is one of the most intense rivalries in all of Britain.

Cardiff’s other main rival is Bristol City. Matches between these two are called the Severnside Derby in reference to the river that separates the two cities. Cardiff and Bristol City first met in an FA Cup match in 1915 and have met many times in meaningful matches across the English pyramid and FA Cup over the years. With the two stadiums about 44 miles apart and fans amped for whenever the sides meet, this has grown into quite a passionate rivalry.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of July 2018 when we are recording this video.

Cardiff have spent 17 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The Bluebirds have 1 major title – the 1927 FA Cup.

The club also has 22 Welsh Cups and the 1927 FA Charity Shield

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Phil Dwyer with 531 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Len Davies with 181 goals.

Cardiff’s record transfer purchase was Gary Medel from Sevilla in Spain on August 10, 2013 for about £11M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Steven Caulker to Queens Park Rangers on July 22, 2014 for about £8M.

One last interesting fact about the club: The 1927 FA Cup win for Cardiff was the first, and so far only, time a team from outside of England has won the FA Cup.

It was also the first and likely only time the FA and Welsh Cups were held by the same club. Since Welsh clubs participating in the English pyramid are no longer invited to the Welsh Cup, this feat will likely never be matched.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Cardiff City Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

West Ham United FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of West Ham United Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

West Ham is located in the eastern part of the city of London, though not quite as east as it used to be. London is located in the southern central part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground is the London Stadium, which opened in 2012 for the Olympics but West Ham moved in in 2016. The stadium holds about 57,000 people. West Ham’s former stadium was a few miles further east and was called the Boleyn Ground officially but was more commonly known as Upton Park named after the surrounding area. That held about 35,000 people.

Origin

The club traces its origin back to 1895. At that time, Arnold Hills who was the managing director for the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, was persuaded to start a soccer club. He was persuaded by one of his foreman named Dave Taylor who also was a local soccer referee. In June 1895, the Thames Ironworks Football Club was formally announced in the company’s newspaper.

The club played matches in different competitions over a 5 year period but were finally elected to a formal league (the Southern League) in 1900. Coupled with this move to the Southern League, the club was officially incorporated on July 5, 1900. With the incorporation, the club changed their colors from all-blue to their well-known colors of claret and blue. Additionally, with the incorporation of the club as its own company came a name change to West Ham United Football Club after the county borough where the club played. The club has been West Ham United FC ever since.

Nicknames

West Ham have 3 nicknames The Irons, The Hammers, & The Academy Of Football.

The Irons and Hammers nicknames both derive from the club’s association with the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company. Irons & Hammers were tools or materials used by the employees in shipbuilding and were carried over to the club as nicknames. Additionally, to dispel any confusion, the Hammers nickname has nothing to do with the club having Ham in its official name. That’s merely coincidence.

The Academy of Football nickname is more of a club motto. It came about in the 1950s when the club made a commitment to youth development. West Ham had 3 influential players on the 1966 World Cup winning England squad. Fans often claim, partially joking but kinda not, that the club won the World Cup. West Ham and their fans are fiercely proud of their commitment to youth development and view the academy as one of the best in the world. Hence the nickname of academy of football. It slightly implies that it is the best academy for soccer, which most of the rest of the world calls football.

Crest

The current crest was chosen from a fan vote in 2014.

The crest is a claret shield outlined in blue, which are the club’s main colors. At the top of the crest is the club’s name. The middle of the shield depicts two crossed hammers, representing the tools used by the club’s founding players in the local shipyard.

A crest with crossed hammers was first recorded to have been worn by the club in the 1923 FA Cup final, so this also harkens back almost 100 years. Finally The city of London, where the club is located is at the bottom.

West Ham United crest featuring the Boleyn Castle

One more point of note is the crests used before the current crest often included a castle in the background behind 2 crossed hammers. The castle was the Boleyn Castle. That was a local name for the Green Street House, as it was believed Anne Boleyn (Queen of England in the 16th Century) owned or at least lived in the house.

The dates of the house being built and her death don’t really add up, so it’s unlikely she ever lived in the building, but this video is about West Ham, not the monarchy, so let’s not go down that rabbit hole. The Boleyn Castle stood next to the ground where West Ham’s old stadium was located until the castle was demolished in 1955. This is why West Ham’s old stadium was named the Boleyn Ground.

Important Events

I’d like to discuss 3 important events in West Ham’s history now:

On May 2, 1964, West Ham United won their first major trophy as the Hammers beat Preston North End 3-2 in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in London. West Ham trailed twice in the match, going down 1-0 and then 2-1, but scored equalizing goals each time. With time winding down, Geoff Hurst beat several Preston defenders and found Peter Brabrook out wide in the 90th minute. Brabrook sent in a cross that Ronnie Boyce met with his head and nodded home a last minute game winning goal for the club’s first major piece of silverware.

The Hammers followed that first major trophy by winning its second only a year later. On May 19, 1965 the club met TSV Munich 1860 in the European Cup Winner’s Cup Final at Wembley. 100,000 people witnessed the club win it’s first and so far only major European trophy. The match was described as a “magnificent game” with beautiful and flowing play from both sides. West Ham prevailed through Alan Sealey’s 2 second half goals in a 3 minute span.

The last event is one that occurred off the pitch. On March 22, 2013, West Ham United beat out other London soccer clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient to secure a 99 year lease for the London Olympics stadium. The stadium was built for the 2012 Olympics and was located about 3 1/2 miles west of the Boleyn Ground. The stadium seating capacity was about 20K more than the Boleyn Ground and the West Ham owners promised that it would usher in a new era for the club.

The Hammers moved into the new stadium for the 2016-2017 season, but the move hasn’t been nearly as positive as promised. Fans have struggled to adapt to the stadium being in a new area. 3 1/2 miles may not seem like a lot but it can’t really be understated that a club’s home ground really has a place in the community. Many decades old traditions for attending matches have had to be completely changed, which supporters may have been okay with if the club owners lived up to their promises. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case either as West Ham are currently in a relegation fight this season and tensions between supporters and ownership are close to an all-time high. A lot of this tension stems from the club being awarded the lease to the Olympic stadium back in March of 2013.

Supporters

The West Ham supporters’ anthem is the song I’m forever blowing bubbles. It comes from a Broadway show called the Passing Show of 1918 and became popular in Britain in the 1920s. The origins of this song as it relates to West Ham is a bit convoluted.

One story is that Will Murray, a West Ham youth academy player from the 1920s, was nicknamed Bubbles because he looked like a character from a soap advertisement. Reportedly, one of his teachers attended a match and sung the song to him during the match with other supporters catching on.

Another story is that West Ham fans picked up the song from Swansea supporters. It is recorded that Swansea fans sung the song in their January 1921 FA Cup match against Bury. The Swans played West Ham in the FA Cup the following season and it’s possible West Ham supporters picked up the song then, but it couldn’t be confirmed.

There are other stories as well, but none could be fully verified. What we do know is that I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles was sung in air-raid shelters during WWII in London and the first record of West Ham supporters singing the song is from the 1940 Football League War Cup Final when the Irons beat Blackburn. The song remained popular throughout the War, which helped the song become a tradition for West Ham supporters that still continues today.

Noteworthy Players

Sir Bobby Moore – captained West Ham for more than 10 years during his 16 year West Ham career. He also captained England to the World Cup title in 1966 and is widely regarded as one of the best defenders of all time. Pele stated Moore as the best defender he ever played against and Sir Bobby won many awards throughout his career with the club.

Sir Geoff Hurst – won the 1966 World Cup with England. He scored a hattrick in the final, the only male player to ever do that. His legendary performance in that World Cup somewhat overshadowed his exemplary West Ham career. He scored 249 goals for the club, helped the Hammers win their first FA Cup title, and was named Hammer of the year 3 times during his tenure at the club.

Trevor Brooking spent 17 years at West Ham, winning 2 FA Cups with the team and 4 hammer of the year trophies as an individual. He remained with the club as it was relegated and is widely considered one of the top 5 players to have ever played for the club. He’s still involved behind the scenes at the club and in 2009 a stand at West Ham’s old stadium (Boleyn Ground) was named after him.

Recent players like Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and others have come through West Ham’s famed youth academy and have went on to have great careers with other clubs. There are other players from West Ham’s glorious past too but in the essence of time, let’s continue.

Noteworthy Managers

The three managers I want to highlight here were 3 consecutive managers for the club from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Ted Fenton became West Ham manager in 1950 and is credited with creating and building the “Academy of Football” at West Ham. He developed new tactics and philosophies of scouting, player development, recruiting, and training resulting in a “West Ham Way” of living and playing. He found and developed Sir Bobby Moore and Sir Geoff Hurst in addition to many great other players for the side. Fenton led the club back to the top flight in 1958 after a 26 year absence but wasn’t able to win any major trophies with the club. He was fired in 1961 with Ron Greenwood taking over the club.

Ron Greenwood became West Ham manager in April 1961. He continued to develop the Academy of Football, which paid dividends for the club shortly into his tenure. He won the club’s first ever major trophy (1964 FA Cup) and followed that up by winning the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup. Greenwood continued to lead the club until 1974 when he moved into a general manager role and his assistant John Lyall took over as manager.

John Lyall was statistically the greatest manager in the club’s history. He managed the club for a record 770 matches and won 2 FA Cups. He also led the club to its highest ever league position – third place in division 1 in the 1985-1986 season. It wasn’t all roses during his tenure, as the club suffered relegation in the late 1970s, but Lyall rebuilt the side, committed to playing the “West Ham Way” of attacking, attractive soccer and built the club back into a very competitive & respectable squad for most of the 80s. Unfortunately, the club suffered relegation in the 1988-89 season and Lyall left the club. It wasn’t the way he would have wanted to go out but he was still one of the best managers in the club’s history.

Rivals

The Hammers have 3 London based rivals: Chelsea, Tottenham, and Millwall.

Matches between Chelsea and West Ham are called District Line derbies in reference to the subway (or tube) route connecting the two London clubs. Both clubs have been around for a long time but the rivalry intensified during the hooligan days of the 1970s and 1980s. Both clubs had some of the most notorious firms or gangs in the hooligan era which helped make this a big rivalry. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Chelsea began poaching some of the best players from West Ham’s famous youth academy which definitely helped seal this as a rivalry for West Ham supporters.

West Ham’s other Premier League London based rival is Tottenham Hotspur. Both clubs were in similar competitive positions in the 1990s, which helped seal this rivalry. Tottenham supporters may claim to not really consider West Ham to be a rival these days. In the 2000s, Tottenham has grown into a stable Premier League club that competes at the top end of the table while West Ham have gone through periods of struggle including a handful of relegations in the last few decades.

There’s definitely still something for both sets of supporters in this rivalry though. Like Chelsea, Spurs have recruited some of West Ham’s best youth players. Additionally, West Ham won the rights to using the London Olympics Stadium at the expense of Tottenham, which forced Spurs to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on building their own stadium. That created some tensions between executives at both clubs which adds to this rivalry.

And that brings us to our last rival. Millwall is without question West Ham’s biggest rival. Both clubs have their roots based in shipbuilding docks on either side of the river Thames. There was a natural rivalry between workers at competing companies but in 1926, the Millwall shipyard dock workers broke a strike which increased the rift with West Ham supporters. Throughout the 30s and 40s the rivalry cooled a bit as the clubs didn’t play against each other much.

But by the 1960s, a culture of boasting and bragging about fighting developed among the supporters of both clubs. Mainly this bragging came from the glorification of gang culture in London at the time. This culture combined with the hooliganism of the 1970s and 80s made matches between these two clubs an excuse for mass brawling among supporters. It is still the most violent and toxic derby in London and, possibly all of England, even though the clubs haven’t played much in recent decades. The rivalry is rooted in the working class communities of both sets of supporters and isn’t going away anytime soon.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.

The Irons have spent 60 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 4 major trophies including:

3 FA Cups
1 European Cup Winners’ Cup

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Billy Bonds with 799 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Vic Watson with 326 goals.

West Ham’s record transfer purchase was Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City on July 22, 2017 for about £20M initially with a potential £5M in add-ons.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Dimitri Payet to Olympique Marseille on January 29, 2017 for about £25M.

One last interesting fact about the club: West Ham United are the last team to have won the FA Cup from outside the top division. The Hammers beat Arsenal 1-0 in the final of the 1980 FA Cup while playing that season in the old 2nd division (now known as the Championship).

So there you have it… a bit of history on West Ham United Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

West Bromwich Albion FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about West Bromwich Albion Football Club’s history. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

West Bromwich Albion FC is located in the eastern-central part of the town of West Bromwich. West Bromwich is located in the central part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League, but are looking likely to be relegated this season down to the Championship, which is England’s 2nd division (this video was recorded in March 2018 and the club was relegated that season). West Brom’s home ground is called the Hawthorns, which opened in 1900 and holds about 27,000 people.

Origin

West Brom’s founding story begins in November 1878 when a group of workers from the George Salter Spring Works played a match against a club named Hudsons FC. Ten months later, on September 20, 1879, many of the men from that initial match formed the West Bromwich Strollers as an official club.

Their initial name of Strollers is explained by 1 of 2 stories. (1) The first is that when the club was formed, no sporting shops in the town sold soccer balls. So, the players had to walk to a nearby town to buy their first ball. (2) The second is that the club didn’t have an official home ground in its early days and actually carried around portable goal posts since they were never sure where they’d be playing.

Whatever the real reason, the club decided to change the Strollers part of the name in 1880 because it sounded too casual. Albion was adopted as the last part of the club name in reference to the name of the old foundry district where many of the club’s members lived. Since the change in 1880, the club has been known as West Bromwich Albion Football Club.

Nicknames

West Brom are nicknamed Albion, the Throstles, & the Baggies.

The Albion nickname is rather self-explanatory as it is the last part of the club’s official name. One quick fact about the word Albion that we also mentioned in our Brighton & Hove video, is that Albion is actually the earliest known name for the island of Britain. It was used by Ancient Greeks as early as the 4th century BC.

The Throstles nickname has 2 possible explanations. The first is that it came about in 1900 when the club moved into its current home ground of the Hawthorns. The name of the ground came from the fact that the area where the stadium was built once had flourishing hawthorn bushes everywhere. Thrushes are small birds that commonly frequent hawthorn bushes and the local name for a Thrush is a Throstle.

The other explanation is that the bar where the team got ready for matches in its early days had a pet thrush in a cage and the nickname came from that.

Whatever the real reason, Throstles was the official club nickname until the 1980s.

The most common nickname these days for West Brom is “The Baggies”. There are many different stories to this nickname’s origin. You’re going to have to do your own research but to summarize some of them quickly:

Early gate receipts were often paid in coins and gatekeepers would need to carry large bags full of coins to the office for deposit. The nickname evolved from this practice.
Another story is that many supporters worked at the local iron works and tended to wear baggy clothing while attending matches, so they were called baggies.
Yet another story is that when locals needed their work attire repaired, it would often make them look like a big flour bag. Reportedly Aston Villa supporters, used the Baggies term to make fun of West Brom supporters.
And there are still other explanations beyond these, so we’ll never truly know the real reason for the club’s most common nickname.

But it was used for decades as an informal nickname before it was formally adopted by the club in the 1980s.

Crest

The club’s current crest has been used since 2006.

It’s a pretty straightforward crest with the club’s name of West Bromwich Albion at the top.

The blue and white vertical stripes on the shield are a reference to the club’s kit.

And in the middle of the crest is a Throstle, perched on hawthorn leaves and berries. That should be self-explanatory based on our conversation about the club’s nickname.

Important Events

Like many clubs in England, West Brom has plenty of important events in its history. I’d like to discuss 4 of them now.

West Bromwich was one of the founding members of the Football League on April 17th, 1888 at the Royal Hotel in Manchester. This league laid the foundations for what eventually became the English football pyramid and over 100 years later, the Premier League.

On April 8, 1920, West Brom beat Bradford Park Avenue 3-1 at home to win the club’s first and only top flight title. The team ended the season with 60 points and 104 goals, both records at the time.

The next important event I’d like to discuss is actually 2 events wrapped in one, with both occurring late in the 1930-31 season. On April 25, 1931, West Brom, then a second division club, played Birmingham City in the final of the FA Cup. West Brom won 2-1 to claim their 3rd FA Cup. Only 1 week later, on May 2, 1931, the club beat Charlton Athletic 3-2 to gain promotion back to the first division. This unique double of West Brom winning the FA Cup and promotion to the top flight in the same season is the only time it’s happened in English soccer’s history.

And finally, the last event I’d like to discuss is West Brom’s “Great Escape” in the 2004-2005 season. On Christmas of 2004, the club was bottom of table in the Premier League. The club bounced around near the bottom of the table throughout the rest of the season. On May 15, 2005, the club began the day in last place and almost certain to be relegated. The Baggies beat Portsmouth 2-0 at home, but still need other results to go their way. About 15 minutes before the end of the season since all matches were played at the same time, the club still sat bottom of the table.

But, a miraculous turn of events in multiple other matches saw the team surge to 17th place and achieve safety in the most dramatic circumstances. That season, West Brom became the first club to avoid relegation having been bottom at Christmas. And are still the only club to have avoided relegation being bottom of the table heading into the final match of the season.

Supporters

West Brom fans have an interesting chant and move where they jump up and chant “boing, boing!” Like a lot of the other items we’ve discussed, there’s a few different explanations on where this originated. My favorite is that it came from honoring the club’s founders who worked at a spring factory.

Another story is the fans were freezing cold at a match and just started jumping up and down to stay warm. There’s also a handful of other explanations but regardless of the reason, this has become a signature move for Baggies supporters.

Noteworthy Players

Tony Brown was nicknamed by his manager as Mr. Albion. He has the club record for appearances and goals scored. Brown also won a League Cup, FA Cup, and nearly won the 1st division during his playing career.

Jeff Astle was the greatest center forward in the Baggies’ history. He won and scored goals in both the League Cup and FA Cup finals. Astle was also the first man to score in both finals. There are memorial gates at West Brom’s home ground named the Astle gates in his honor.

And last, but certainly not least, Cyrille Regis, Brendon Batson and Laurie Cunningham played for West Brom in the late 1970s. These three men are largely credited with inspiring an entire generation of black professional soccer players in the UK. These men dealt with terrible abuse and treatment mainly from opposing fans but persevered as standout role models. The three are planned to be honored with a statue at West Brom’s ground. Also Regis and Cunningham are recognized as two of the greatest players to have ever played for the West Brom.

Noteworthy Managers

We have to mention Fred Everiss in this section. At the time, Fred wasn’t what we think of as a modern manager and basically served every function in his time with the club from 1896 until his death in 1951. He was officially secretary-manager from 1902 to 1948 and managed the club for over 1500 matches including winning the 1st division title and an FA Cup.

Since Fred Everiss, the club has gone through many managers with none remaining for a long amount of time, generally speaking. So, the one additional manager I wanted to highlight here is Bryan Robson.

Robson was arguably one of the greatest players to have played for the Baggies, but his greatest playing moments came after his time at West Brom, so I wanted to highlight him as a manager. Robson had some success as a manager prior to joining West Brom, winning a first division title and making a handful of cup finals.

He joined West Brom in 2004 and led them on their great escape that we’ve already discussed. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to avoid relegation in his second season and left after only being at the club for 2 years. He hasn’t had the greatest managerial career, but was a fantastic player and a famous manager, which is why I’m highlighting him in this section.

Rivals

The Baggies 3 main rivals are Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Stoke City. Including West Brom, all of 4 of these clubs were founding members of the Football League, way back in 1888.

Aston Villa are West Brom’s main historic rival. The two clubs play only 4 miles apart and met in 3 FA Cup Finals before 1900. The clubs have played numerous times over the years and were some of the best clubs in the country in the early 20th century. The rivalry has dwindled a bit in recent years with the clubs only being in the same division a handful of times since the late ’80s.

West Brom’s other main rival is Wolverhampton Wanderers. This rivalry has actually become more intense than the Villa rivalry. Matches between the Baggies and Wolves are called the Black Country Derby. The two clubs are about 13 miles apart and first met in 1886. Matches have always been intense, but the rivalry really escalated in the 1950s when both clubs were competing at the top of the first division. Things became more spiteful in the 80’s from a West Brom perspective as the Baggies struggled while Wolves were competing at the highest levels. This rivalry is actually one of the most intense in all of English soccer with violence among fans sometimes still an issue as recently as 2011.

And finally, West Brom’s current rivals in the Premier League are Stoke City. As we discussed in our Stoke City video, in addition to being local rivals and playing many times over the years, this rivalry really started to increase when both clubs were in the old 3rd division in the early 1990s. The two clubs had very different playing approaches which led to conflict. Stoke and West Brom have met many times across the years in England’s different divisions and both may be going down to the championship next season so the rivalry may continue.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.

The Baggies have spent 81 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 7 major trophies including:

5 FA Cups
1 1st Division title
1 League Cup

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Tony Brown with 720 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is also Tony Brown with 279 goals.

West Brom’s record transfer purchase was Oliver Burke from RB Leipzig in Germany on August 25, 2017 for about £15M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Saido Berahino to Stoke City FC on January 28, 2017 for about £15.

One last interesting fact about the club: The Hawthorns, West Brom’s home ground, is the highest stadium of all 92 fully professional grounds in the Premier League and Football League. It sits at an astounding 551 feet about sea level, which is absolutely nothing compared to stadiums in Mexico and South America.

So there you have it… a bit of history on West Bromwich Albion Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

Watford FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Watford Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Watford FC is located in the southwestern-central part of the town of Watford. Watford is located in the central part of England, just barely north of London, in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground is called Vicarage Road, which opened in 1922 and holds a little less than 24,000 people.

Origin

Watford FC traces their founding back to 1881 when a group of teenagers, led by Henry Grover, formed Watford Rovers. In 1890, Rovers became a part of West Herts Club. By 1898, West Herts and another local club named Watford St. Mary’s were both struggling financially, so they decided to merge and form Watford Football Club.

Nicknames

The club has a few nicknames including: The Hornets, The Horns or ‘Orns, & The Golden Boys.

The Hornets nickname comes from 1959 when the club changed their primary kit colors to gold shirts with black shorts. Supporters started calling them the Hornets shortly thereafter because they looked like Hornet bees.

The Horns or ‘Orns are slang versions of the hornets nickname.

And you’ll also sometimes hear the nickname of The Golden Boys, which comes from the kit color as well

Crest

Watford has a relatively simple crest.

It’s been in use basically since 1978 with some minor tweaks throughout the decades. The kind of diamond shaped crest has the club’s two main colors of black and yellow outlined by red.

The Watford at the top obviously comes from the club’s name, but why is there a moose in the middle of the crest? It’s actually not a moose but is a hart. A hart is a male deer and is the symbol for the county of Hertfordshire.

Up until the 1990s, Watford FC were the only club from Hertfordshire to be in the Football League (England’s top 4 divisions). So, the deer is an emblem of local pride.

Important Events

Most of the important events in Watford’s history revolve around 2 men: Elton John and Graham Taylor.

Elton John was born 5 miles from Watford’s home ground and is a lifelong Watford supporter. In 1976 he bought the club, then in the 4th division, and assumed the role of chairman of the board. After giving the existing manager 1 season, John appointed Graham Taylor as manager in 1977. Taylor immediately led the club to 2 consecutive promotions before gaining promotion to the top flight after the 1981-1982 season. Promotion was secured on May 4, 1982 with a 2-0 home victory over Wrexham. It was the first time the club had reached the first division in their history.

Following the club’s miraculous rise of 3 promotions in 5 seasons, the club went on to finish the 1982-1983 First Division season in 2nd place. It was an incredible time for the club as Elton John’s star power and steady leadership were able to attract talented players while Graham Taylor proved to be an exceptional manager for the club.

Taylor left Watford in the late ’80s and Elton John moved on in the early ’90s, but both men returned to the club by the late ’90s. In the 1998-1999 season, the club incredibly won 7 of their last 8 matches to qualify for the Championship playoffs. Watford dramatically beat Birmingham City over 2 legs via an epic penalty shootout to face Bolton in the final. On May 31, 1999 Watford won 2-0 at Wembley to qualify for the Premier League for the first time since its creation in 1992.

Both Elton John and Graham Taylor have stands in Vicarage Road named after them.

One last important event I’d like to mention happened in 2002. The club was in a terrible financial position and needed to raise at least £9.5M to avoid going into administration (bankruptcy). In September, the players agreed to a 12% pay deferral and reached the FA Cup semifinals that season. That helped stabilize the club financially and saved them from slipping into administration or worse.

Supporters

Supporters are sometimes called the Yellow Army, but more often than not, go by one of the club’s nicknames that we’ve already discussed.

Noteworthy Players

Luther Blissett is a club legend. He has the club’s all-time appearance and goal scoring records which he achieved during 3 different stints with the club. He was a key part of the club that rose from the 4th Division in the late 70s to 2nd place in the First Division by the early 80s.

John Barnes was one of the most talented players to ever play for Watford. He was signed as a 17 year old and made his debut shortly after. He scored 10 goals in that 1982-83 season where Watford finished 2nd in the top flight. He scored many goals during his 6 seasons with the club before being transferred to Liverpool in 1987. He’d go on to win many trophies, including twice being named PWA player of the year.

David James was a youth academy product for Watford, making his debut at 20 years old. He left the club after only 2 season, but went on to have a very long and successful career, winning a League and FA Cup each as well as 53 caps for the full English National team.

Ashley Young also came through Watford’s academy and spent his first 3 professional seasons with Watford before moving to Aston Villa. He subsequently moved to Manchester United where he’s won a Premier League and is still a regular contributor to that talented squad.

And I have to mention Jay Demerit. He was an American centerback who famously went to England to chase his dream of playing professional soccer. He started in the amateur leagues and had to work as a bouncer to make some money. Watford signed Demerit after a trial in 2004 and he helped the club reach the Premier League in 2006. Jay would go on to become Watford captain and represented the US at the 2010 World Cup.

Noteworthy Managers

We’ve already talked about him at length but Graham Taylor is the greatest manager in Watford FC history. He managed over 1,000 league matches in his career and also led the English National Team from 1990 to 1993.

No one can really come close to Taylor in Watford’s history but some other well thought of managers for the club are Ken Furphy and Aidy Boothroyd.

Furphy managed the club for 7 seasons. He led Watford into the 2nd division and FA Cup semi-finals, which were both firsts in the club’s history.

Boothroyd was 34 years old when he took over a struggling Watford side in the spring of 2005. He saved the club from relegation and led the club to a surprise promotion to the Premier League in the following season. He left the club in the fall 2008 but was a decent servant for Watford during his time in charge.

Brendan Rodgers, who is famous for his time at Liverpool and now Celtic began his first team manager career with Watford in 2008. It was a short stint but he’s somewhat noteworthy and I also wanted to mention here.

Rivals

Watford’s main rival is Luton Town FC, who currently play in the lower divisions of the English Football league. The two clubs are 19 miles apart and each represent proudly their respective counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. The two clubs first met in 1885 but the rivalry really kicked off with a match in late April 1969.

Three players were sent off in that match, keep in mind during that time, extremely physical play was tolerated, so people had to be doing some pretty violent things to get sent off. After that match, the supporters also fought in a nearby town.

With hooliganism spreading throughout the English game, there were many violent clashes between the two sets of fans over the decades since this 1969 match with the worst incident occurring in 2002 where fighting took place all over the town of Watford.

This rivalry has definitely lost some intensity in recent years with Luton being many divisions below Watford but Luton still remains Watford’s chief rival.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.

The Hornets have spent 11 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has no major trophies but does have a championship trophy from each of the 3rd & 4th tiers (I mistakenly said Watford won the 2nd tier in the video).

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Luther Blissett with 503 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Luther Blissett with 186 goals.

Watford’s record transfer purchase was Andre Gray from Burnley FC on August 9, 2017 for about £18.5M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Odion Ighalo to Changchun Yatai in the Chinese Super League on January 31, 2017 for about £20M.

One last interesting fact about the club: Only two players have been capped by the full English national team while on Watford’s books. That was John Barnes & Luther Blissett, who were both born in Jamaica.

Meanwhile, Watford have had five players represent the full Jamaican national team (Lloyd Doyley, Micah Hyde, Marlon King, Adrian Mariappa & Nyron Nosworthy) and they were all born in England.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Watford Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

Tottenham Hotspur FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s history. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Tottenham is located in the northern part of the city of London. London is located in the southern-central part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground for this season (video was recorded in March 2018) is Wembley Stadium, which holds about 90,000 people. Tottenham is currently building an upgraded stadium on the same grounds as its old stadium, White Hart Lane. The club played at the old White Hart Lane from 1899 to 2017 and it held about 36,000 people. The new White Hart Lane is scheduled to open for the 2018-19 season and has a capacity of about 62,000 people.

Origin

In September 1882, the Hotspur Football Club was formed as an offshoot of the Hotspur Cricket Club. The Cricket Club was founded 2 years earlier and the football club was started as an activity for the cricket members to perform during the winter.

Most of the founding members of the football club were local schoolboys from St John’s Presbyterian School and Tottenham Grammar School. In 1884, the club received some letters intended for a different Hotspur FC also based in London, so a choice was made to attach the local neighborhood of Tottenham to the club’s name to avoid confusion with their neighbors in West London. Since 1884, the club has been known as Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Nicknames

Tottenham has 2 nicknames – Spurs and the Lilywhites.

The Spurs nickname obviously comes from the club’s name of Hotspur but what does that actually mean? Hotspur comes from a 14th century knight named Sir Henry Percy who fought valiantly in battle while leading troops during the Middle Ages. He was fearless and often charged into battle wearing spurs.

Sir Percy’s behavior on the battlefield earned him the nickname of Hotspur. Additionally, Sir Percy’s family owned large amounts of land in the area of London that would become Tottenham. When founding members of the cricket club met to decide on a name, Hotspur was suggested in admiration of the local knight, Sir Percy, and in the hopes that the team would emulate his characteristics while playing. So that’s where the name comes from.

The club’s other nickname is the lilywhites. This simply comes from the white color of Tottenham’s kit, which is considered Lilywhite.

Crest

Tottenham’s present crest is a bird on top of an old looking soccer ball. This appears a bit odd at first glance, but once you understand the back story, it makes more sense.

In 1909, former Spurs player W.J. Scott commissioned a copper statue to be built with this image to celebrate Tottenham’s first ever promotion to the top flight. The club placed this statue on top of the West Stand of their home ground.

The bird is a cockerel, also known as a rooster. Fighting cockerels wear spurs on their feet and are fearsome looking, hence the association between the club and this image. The ball is a depiction of the soccer ball that would have been used around 1909. Though this was built in 1909, the club didn’t use this image as their crest until 1966.

Since then, the club has used differing crests, but they’ve all more or less included this image. In 2006, the club unveiled the current crest used today, which is simply a cleaner, more modern looking version of the statue from 1909 and crest first used in 1966.

Important Events

Now let’s talk about 4 important events in the club’s history.

On April 28, 1951, Tottenham beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at home in the second to last match of the season. The goal was scored by Len Duquemin and sealed Tottenham’s first ever top flight title.

About a decade later, Tottenham won the First division title and FA Cup, in the 1960-1961 season. Ten years after that first title, the club played Sheffield Wednesday yet again at home on April 17, 1961. Spurs won 2-1 to secure their second and most recent first division. One month later, the club played Leicester City at Wembley in the final of the FA Cup on May 6. Tottenham won 2-0 with second half goals from Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson. Tottenham were the first English club to win the Double (FA Cup and 1st division in the same season) in the 20th century. This historic season is easily the greatest in club history.

Our third event happened on May 15, 1963 when Spurs accomplished another historic feat. On this date, the club beat Atletico Madrid 5-1 in the final of the European Cup Winner’s Cup to become the first British club to win a European trophy.

And the last event I want to highlight is not related to a match, but is still important in the club’s modern history. In 1991, with Tottenham £20M in debt, then manager Terry Venables and a man named Alan Sugar teamed up to buy the club. Venables was a former player and very familiar with the soccer world. Sugar had no experience with soccer and proceeded to upset and alienate fans. The next 10 years were rocky between ownership and fans with Sugar firing Venables shortly after taking over the club. By 2001, Sugar sold a majority stake to current Tottenham owners before fully divesting his ownership in 2007. Although the relationship was rocky, Sugar did rescue the club from a rough financial position and this time period was incredibly important in the club’s history.

Supporters

Tottenham fans are probably most well-known for the song of “Oh When the Spurs Go Marching In”. The song is a slow build and seemingly the entire stadium gets involved, which makes for an epic experience. Other clubs and fans have versions of the song, but due to Tottenham’s recent rise in performance and popularity, the song is most often associated with Spurs these days.

Noteworthy Players

Jimmy Greaves was one of the greatest goalscorers in British soccer history. He is Tottenham’s all-time leading goalscorer and was was signed from AC Milan after beginning his career at Chelsea. While with Spurs, Greaves won two FA Cups, the European Cup Winners’ Cup and 42 England caps. He left in 1970 as the club’s all-time record goalscorer, which he remains as to this day.

Paul Gascoigne only had a brief couple of seasons with the club but his talent was unquestionable. He joined in 1988 for a then record British-transfer fee of £2.3M. He was on the Tottenham roster for the famous 1990 World Cup where his performances earned him the love of the nation. Shortly after, Gascoigne moved to Lazio and his career unfortunately fell off the rails, but his time with Tottenham was arguably the high point.

David Ginola was exceptionally talented and won the 1999 player of the year award from both the English Premier League Players Union and the Writers Union. He was the first player from a club that finished outside the top 6 to win the award.

Gareth Bale joined Tottenham in 2007 as an unproven left back. He struggled early in his Tottenham career, but his physical tools forced him into more attacking positions for the club and he absolutely thrived. He was dominant and scored many goals for Tottenham, with plenty of them being wonder strikes from outside the box. His 42 goals in 146 appearances for the club attracted Real Madrid, who bid £85M for him in 2013, then a world-record transfer.

Also, the current crop of Tottenham players are very talented. They’re led by Harry Kane who was born 5 miles from White Hart Lane and has been with Tottenham since he was 11 years old.

Noteworthy Managers

Arthur Rowe took over as manager in 1949, while the club was in the 2nd division. He implemented a push and run tactics approach to the game with his players passing and moving, that proved incredibly effective. Tottenham won promotion that season and followed it up with a First division title in his second season. Although he didn’t follow it up with any other major trophies and was gone by 1955, he deserves mention here.

Unquestionably, the greatest manager in Tottenham’s history was Bill Nicholson. He was a fantastic servant to the club as a player, making over 300 appearances for Spurs before joining as an assistant manager in 1955. He became full time manager in 1958 and led the club until 1974. Nicholson managed a club record 832 matches and won 8 major trophies including the 1961 Double and the 1963 Cup Winners’ Cup we’ve already discussed. He managed during the most successful time in the club’s history and is an absolute legend for the club.

Keith Burkinshaw is the second most successful manager in the club’s history. He managed from 1976 to 1984, winning 2 FA Cups and a UEFA Cup. All told, Burkinshaw managed 431 matches for the club and went out on top after winning the 1984 UEFA Cup.

And finally, Mauricio Pochettino deserves mention here. He is the club’s current manager and has proven to be one of the most talented and sought after young managers in the world. Still without a major title at time of recording, if Pochettino stays at Tottenham and continues building the squad, he could be considered one of the greatest managers in Tottenham history.

Rivals

Spurs 2 main rivals nowadays are Arsenal & Chelsea.

The North London Derby rivalry began when Arsenal moved to Highbury in 1910. Highbury was only about 5 miles from where Tottenham played at White Hart Lane. The rivalry escalated when Arsenal were infamously voted into the First Division in 1919 at the expense of Tottenham. Years of animosity between the clubs and important matches played only a few miles apart have helped this rivalry grow into one of the most intense in the Premier League today.

The rivalry between Tottenham & Chelsea can be traced back to the 1967 FA Cup final. That was the first FA Cup final to be contested by 2 clubs from London. Spurs won the match 2-1 with 2 former Chelsea players, which helped ignite animosity. In the 1974-75 season, the two clubs were battling to avoid relegation from the first division and met in a late season match, which Spurs won 2-0 and effectively relegated Chelsea.

Chelsea turned the rivalry around in the 90s, not losing a match for 16 years from 1990 to 2006. Since then, both clubs have built themselves into trophy contenders annually and matches between the clubs are always physical battles. The most memorable recent match was “The Battle At the Bridge.” Tottenham was chasing Leicester City for the league title in 2016 and needed to win at Stamford Bridge to keep its title hopes alive. In an incredibly physical match that ended 2-2 and should have seen multiple players sent off, but inexplicably weren’t, Chelsea ended Tottenham’s championship hopes that season, which has helped intensify this rivalry.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.

Tottenham have spent 83 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 17 major trophies including:

8 FA Cups
4 League Cups
2 first division titles
2 UEFA Cups (Europa League’s predecessor)
1 European Cup Winners’ Cup

The club’s record first team league appearance holder is Steve Perryman with 655 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Jimmy Greaves with 266 goals.

Spurs’ record transfer purchase was Davinson Sanchez from Ajax in the Netherlands on August 18, 2017 for about £42M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in Spain on September 1, 2013 for about £85M.

One last interesting fact about the club: Tottenham are the only non-league side to have won the FA Cup after the formation of the Football League in 1888. They won it in 1901 after competing in the Southern League that season.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

Swansea City A.F.C. | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Swansea City A.F.C, which stands for Association Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Swansea City AFC is located in the northern part of the city of Swansea. Swansea is located along the southern coast of Wales, in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League (this was accurate at time of recording in March 2018 when the club was still in the Premier League) and its home ground is called the Liberty Stadium, which opened in 2005 and holds about 21,000 people.

Origin

Due to rugby’s overwhelming popularity in the surrounding area, soccer got started late in the town of Swansea. Kids and some amateur adult squads played in local leagues in the 1890s and early 1900s but none of them seemed to last. There was however, growing momentum for the sport as the local Swansea League had about 2,500 registered players in 1911. On January 21, 1912, Harry Bradshaw, a former successful manager in England and newly appointed Secretary of the Southern League, met with local citizens of Swansea to encourage the formation of a professional club in Wales’ second largest town.

The townspeople responded and J.W. Thorpe organized a meeting on June 14, 1912 at the Royal Hotel in Swansea. At that meeting the club of Swansea Town Association Football Club was officially formed. Thorpe was appointed the club’s first chairman. Due to rugby’s prevalence in the area, the club used Association Football Club (AFC) rather than the more prevalent in England naming convention of Football Club (FC) for its name.

It wasn’t until 1971 when the town of Swansea was granted city status that the club changed its name to Swansea City AFC.

Nicknames

The club has 2 nicknames: the Swans & the Jacks.

The swans nickname is clear as it comes from the club and city’s name. It’s the officially recognized club nickname.

Another nickname for the club and people from Swansea are Swansea Jacks or simply Jacks. There’s 2 possible explanations for this name.

The first is that in the early 19th century sailors from Swansea, who were renowed for their hard work and skills on the seas, wore clothes that were jack tarred in order to protect them from the harsh elements of being on the open sea. They were known as Swansea Jacks and this is likely the explanation of the nickname.

The second and my personal favorite story for the nickname comes from a black Labrador retriever who was born in 1930 named Jack. He lived with his owner near the sea and was reported to have saved 27 people from the water during his life. Jack would jump into the water when people cried for help and drag them to safety on land.

In all likelihood, the Jack tar pants explanation is likely more accurate, but the black lab story is an awesome anecdote that I needed to share.

Crest

Like most other clubs, Swansea used their town’s coat of arms to represent their club as their first crest.

By the 1980s, the club implemented a crest with a swan on top of a castle. The swan obviously representing the club and its nickname and the castle representing the castle of Henry de Beaumont, which was built in 1099. This castle was the focal point around which the town of Swansea was built.

Versions of this crest were used until 1998 when the club unveiled the sleek, modern and elegant Swan crest used by the club today. Swansea experimented with different colors and incorporated a circle to enclose the crest but have thankfully settled back on this simple, black & white crest.

Important Events

Now let’s talk about 4 events in the club’s history.

On May 2, 1981 Swansea travelled to Preston North End for the final league match of the season knowing a win would grant Swansea promotion to the first division for the first time in the club’s history. Ten thousand Swansea supporters made the Journey to the Northwest of England to watch the match. Swansea took a 2-0 lead into half, but Preston got a goal in the 78th minute to make things nervy. Thankfully, an 87th minute goal for Swansea sealed the victory and sent the travelling Swansea fans into pandemonium. The victory secured a miraculous third promotion in 4 seasons for the club qualifying it for the top flight for the first time in its history.

Only a few years later, Swansea suffered consecutive relegations and on December 20, 1985, the club was given a winding up order – basically the start of bankruptcy. Fortunately, a group of directors was able to rescue the club and by January 1986, the club was allowed to continue with the winding up order rescinded. These directors saved the club from possible extinction. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only time the club was saved from financial trouble, but we’ll talk about that in our next section.

Our third event I want to highlight comes from the 2002-2003 season. The club was in danger of being relegated out of the Football League, meaning they would become semi-professional. On May 3, 2003, which was the final day of the season, Swansea beat Hull City 4-2 to secure safety by only 1 point. Hull took a first half lead in the match, but the Swans levelled by halftime and scored 2 goals in the 2nd half to remain in the Football League and begin their rise up the English soccer pyramid.

And our last event for this section happened on February 24, 2013. Swansea City played Bradford City in the League Cup final at Wembley. Swansea absolutely demolished the Cinderella story Bradford City squad as the Swans were up 2-0 at halftime before adding 3 second half goals. It is Swansea’s only major trophy in the 100+ year history of the club and a truly special day for the club.

Supporters

You can’t really talk about Swansea supporters without talking about the Swansea City Supporters Trust. The Swansea City Supporters Trust was formed in the summer of 2001 by supporters of the club in response to the club’s precarious financial position at that time.

The club then went through a terrible ownership situation before a local ownership group took control of the club in January 2002. As a result of the takeover, the Swansea Supporters Trust took about a 20% stake in the club and held a seat on the board of directors. This ownership structure still remains with Swansea fans owning 21% of the club through this trust in one of the more unique ownership structures in the Premier League.

Noteworthy Players

Gylfi Sigurdsson is one of the most talented players in Swansea history. He made 131 appearances for the club, scoring 37 goals and his quality on the ball combined with great work rate, make him one of the most celebrated players in Swansea history before he left for Everton in the summer of 2017.

Leon Britton has over 500 appearances for the club and has been a great servant for the club.

Ivor Allchurch is one of the greatest players in the club’s history, remaining with his hometown club despite having the talent to sign with teams in higher divisions. He made 445 appearances for the club and scored 164 goals.

Alan Curtis is nicknamed Mr. Swansea City as he played at the club and has been involved with management/administration side of Swansea for over 40 years. He played 437 times for Swansea, scoring 123 goals.

One last interesting player to mention: Giorgio Chinaglia got his professional start with Swansea but moved on shortly after. He went on to have a very successful career in Italy and the United States, earning 14 caps for the Italian National team, and starring for the New York Cosmos in the old NASL.

Noteworthy Managers

Swansea have had many managers in the club’s history but I’m going to highlight 3 here.

John Toshack managed Swansea from 1978 to 1984. He was manager for the Swans’ promotion campaign in the 1980-81 season that saw them enter the top flight for the first time in their history.

Brendan Rodgers managed Swansea from 2010-2012. He made some excellent signings and implemented a tactical style that led Swansea back to promotion to the top flight. After sustaining Swansea in the Premier League, he moved to Liverpool and almost won the Premier League title in the 2013-2014 season with that club before falling short. He now manages Celtic who dominate the Scottish Premier League.

Michael Laudrup took over for the departed Brendan Rodgers in 2012. He was a former great player and led Swansea to their first and only major trophy, the 2013 League Cup win. He was sacked in February 2014 but will live forever in Swansea’s history books.

Rivals

Cardiff City is by far Swansea’s biggest and most fierce rival. The two cities are 40 miles apart and are Wales’ two largest metropolitan areas. The rivalry really extends beyond just the sport with many Welsh citizens feeling Cardiff gets preferential treatment and funding from the government while other areas including Swansea don’t enjoy quite the same benefits.

The rivalry from a soccer perspective wasn’t always as intense, but the hooliganism of the early 80s provided the spark between the fanbases to make this a full-blown rivalry. The two clubs have met many times across the divisions and cups of English soccer and the animosity between the fans is felt by the players, making this one of the most intense rivalries in Britain.

Cardiff hasn’t played in the same division as Swansea for a few years. This hasn’t quite diminished the rivalry between the two clubs, but it has opened the opportunity for Swans supporters to develop a new rival. Surprisingly, Stoke City can be considered one of Swansea’s biggest current rivals. This is a recent development as both clubs have enjoyed an extended run in the Premier League. There have been a handful of controversial incidents involving diving and hard fought matches in recent seasons that have made Stoke into something of a rival for Swansea fans.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.

The Swans have spent 9 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club’s only major trophy is the 2013 League Cup though Swansea has won 11 Welsh Cups.

The club’s record first team league appearance holder is Wilfred Milne with 585 appearances.

The club’s record league goal scorer is Ivor Allchurch with 166 goals.

The Swans’ record transfer purchase was Andre Ayew from West Ham United on January 31, 2018 for about £18M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Wilfried Bony to Manchester City on January 14, 2015 for about £25M.

And 2 last interesting facts about the club:

(1) Swansea were the first Welsh side to play in Europe, qualifying for the European Cup Winners’ Cup after winning the 1961 Welsh Cup.

(2) For those who don’t know the story of Cyril the Swan, Swansea’s notorious mascot, please read this article from Howler Magazine. It’s well worth your time.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Swansea City Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

Stoke City FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Stoke City Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Stoke City FC is located in the south-central part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. Stoke-on-Trent is located in the central part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League (the video was recorded in March 2018 when the club was still in the Premier League) and its home ground is called the bet365 Stadium, which opened in 1997 and holds about 28,000 people.

Origin

Stoke City Football Club claim to be the second oldest professional soccer club in the world although details about their actual formation date remain a bit cloudy. There is a story that in 1863, students from the Charterhouse School formed a soccer club while they were apprentices at the Railway company in Stoke. There’s very few details and records about this club and/or matches happening from 1863 to 1868, but in September 1868, a magazine called The Field reported that a new Association Football (or soccer) club had been formed in Stoke-on-Trent called the Stoke Ramblers.

The founding member of the club was Henry Almond, a former Charterhouse School student. So it’s possible this club was a continuation of the club allegedly formed in 1863, but it’s not definitive. What is definitive is that the club began playing in 1868.

Ten years later, the club merged with Stoke Victoria Cricket Club and became Stoke Football Club. The club operated under that name until the summer of 1925 when King George V visited the then town of Stoke-on-Trent and granted it city status. This was a huge deal for the city and the club decided to add the city moniker to their name shortly after, thus becoming Stoke City FC that we know today.

Nickname

Stoke City are nicknamed the Potters.

The nickname comes from the city of Stoke-on-Trent’s history with pottery. The areas that became the city of Stoke-on-Trent were the epicenter of pottery production in the UK and the world in the 17 & 1800s. Though the pottery rose to prominence during that time, the pottery industry had existed for centuries before this. Given the area’s deep ties to pottery, it was only natural that the soccer club from the area would have the nickname of the Potters.

Crest

The club used the City of Stoke-on-Trent’s coat of arms up until the 1970s.

At this time, the Potters changed the crest to a shield shape with the initials SCFC at the top (standing for Stoke City Football Club), and 4 quadrants on the shield. 2 quadrants had red & white vertical stripes that mimicked the club’s kit. And the other 2 quadrants had a Stafford knot and pottery kiln. Both of these last 2 symbols were references to the area surrounding Stoke-on-Trent.

The current crest, which has been used since 2001, was developed with modern branding very much in mind. It was said to be inspired by AC Milan and was developed by the same design studio that helped design Liverpool’s new crest.

The club’s name is at the top. The red & white vertical lines are a nod to the club’s historical kit colors.

1863 is a reference to the club’s possible founding date, which we’ve already discussed and the club’s nickname of The Potters is at the bottom.

Important Events

I’d like to discuss 3 important events in the club’s history now:

(1) Stoke FC was one of the founding members of the Football League on April 17th, 1888 at the Royal Hotel in Manchester. This league laid the foundations for what eventually became the English football pyramid and about a century later, the Premier League.

(2) Now, let’s jump ahead about 85 years. On March 4, 1972, the club played Chelsea FC in the final of the League Cup at Wembley. Stoke had won a marathon semifinal series against West Ham that included 4 matches to get to the final. In the final, Stoke jumped out to a lead in the 4th minute through a Terry Conroy header, but Chelsea equalized just before halftime. Stoke scored the winning goal in the 67th minute through George Eastham to win the club’s only major trophy in their existence.

(3) January 3, 1976, there was a massive storm overnight that caused £250K worth of damage to Stoke’s Victoria Ground stadium roof. The cost to repair the stadium, left Stoke in a terrible financial position and the club was forced to sell off some of their best players. Port Vale helped the Potters by lending their home ground, but it wasn’t enough as Stoke were relegated to the Second division for the first time in 14 years. They were able to bounce back to the first division a few years later, but this freak storm killed any of the club’s momentum that had been building with the solid squad they established in the 1970s. It was incredibly unfortunate timing for the club.

Supporters

Back in the 1970s and 80s, Stoke City had one of the most infamous and violent hooligan firms (gangs) called the Naughty Forty or N40. At the height of the organization’s powers, it had 400 members that would fight other hooligan firms at matches home or away.

Noteworthy Players

Sir Stanley Matthews made 355 appearances for Stoke City and scored 62 goals. Sir Stanley holds the record for the oldest ever player to feature in England’s top division. His appearance for Stoke City against Fulham in February 1965 came shortly after his 50th birthday.

Gordon Banks was one of the greatest goalkeepers in history. He won the 1966 World Cup as England’s goalkeeper and is also known for making the ‘save of the century’ on Pele in 1970 in a match for England. He made 246 appearances for Stoke after joining in 1967 and won the 1972 League Cup with the club. Unfortunately, later in 1972, a car accident blinded him in one eye and forced his early retirement from the game.

Peter Shilton followed in Gordon Banks’ footsteps in many ways. He displaced Banks at Leicester City, forcing Banks to join Stoke and also replaced Banks as England GK in 1970. He appeared in a record 1,390 matches for 11 different clubs and is England’s all-time appearance record holder with 125 caps as well as record holder for clean sheets with 65. He joined Stoke in 1974 and made 110 league appearances for the club before moving to Nottingham Forest in 1977.

Michael Owen is certainly not a club legend as he only made 9 appearances, scoring 1 goal for the club. Owen retired from playing at the end of his Stoke contract in 2013. But he is the last English player to win the Ballon D’or (given to the best player in the world), so deserves a mention here as he won the award in 2001.

Noteworthy Managers

Tony Waddington managed Stoke from 1960 to 1977. He managed 822 matches, winning 288 of them and was the manager for Stoke’s only major trophy – the 1972 League Cup. He was able to attract Stanley Matthews back to the club from Blackpool in the early 1960s and is widely regarded by Stoke fans as the greatest manager in the club’s history.

Tony is by far the greatest manager in the club’s history but Tom Mather and Bob McGrory also deserve mention.

Mather led the team from 1923 – 1935. Things started rough for him, but he won the third and second division titles and stabilized the club in the first division. He also gave Stanley Matthews his debut and was instrumental in developing local players and giving them a chance with the first team.

Bob McGrory took over from Mather in 1935 and managed the club until 1952. McGrory actually joined the club as a player in 1921 and stayed for 31 years between playing and managing. He led the club to its highest ever finish of 4th in the first division in the 1935-1936 season and possibly could have won the first division if not for the outbreak of WWII. Famously, his wife took one look at the city of Stoke on Trent upon arrival in 1921 and got right back on a train to Scotland. The couple stayed married but lived separately for the 31 years McGrory was in Stoke, with Bob venturing back to Scotland in the summers to visit his wife.

Rivals

The Potters have 4 rivals I’d like to highlight here. West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal, & Port Vale.

In addition to being local rivals and playing many times over the years, the West Brom – Stoke rivalry started to really heat up when both clubs were in the old 3rd division in the early 1990s. Both clubs were targeting promotion in the 1992-93 season, but their approaches to winning greatly varied. West Brom tried to play attractive, attacking soccer and Stoke took a more physical, direct approach. The 3 matches that season between the clubs were all won by Stoke, but a rivalry was solidified as both were promoted. Stoke and West Brom have met many times across the years in England’s different divisions and West Brom are Stoke’s biggest rival.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers rivalry comes from Wolves being a nearby rival to Stoke. There’s not much detail behind the rivalry beyond the two clubs are located in the same geographic area and have played many times over the years.

An additional, unlikely rivalry that has popped up in Stoke’s Premier League years is Arsenal FC. The rivalry actually stretches back to the early 1970s when Stoke suffered 2 unjust defeats, at least in the Stoke supporters’ eyes, at the hands of Arsenal. Moving forward to the Premier League era, Stoke played Arsenal in November 2008 and won 2-1 with a stereotypical Stoke performance. Stoke were physical, forcing 3 Arsenal players off injured, and scored their two goals on long throw ins. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger complained after the match and the two clubs have met many times over the years, with Stoke continuing to be very physical and frustrating Arsene and his players. The most physical of which was in 2010 when Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross broke Aaron Ramsey’s leg in a horror challenge. Stoke’s style has changed a bit in recent years away from the physical but there is still some intensity between the clubs.

And finally Port Vale are Stoke’s nearest local rivals, but the two clubs haven’t met very often in their existence. The rivalry isn’t too great but Port Vale is worth mentioning as it’s a local derby though.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video

Stoke have spent 62 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club’s only major trophy is the 1962 League Cup.

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Eric Skeels with 597 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is John Ritchie with 176 goals.

The Potters’ record transfer purchase was Giannelli Imbula from Porto in Portugal in February 2017 for about £18M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Marko Arnautovic to West Ham United in July 2017 for about £20M initially with a potential £5M more in add-ons.

One last interesting fact about the club: Stoke City was instrumental in the addition of both the penalty kick and injury time being added to the rules of soccer. Both incidents happened in 1891.

Regarding the penalty rule, Stoke played Notts County in an FA cup match and a Notts county player blocked a goal bound shot with his hands. It resulted in a free kick and Notts County lined up all 11 players on the goaline and blocked the shot. The referee from that match didn’t think it was fair, so when he became a legislator, he campaigned to introduce the penalty kick inspired by this moment.

Later in 1891, Stoke were trailing by a goal late in a match against Aston Villa. Stoke earned a penalty, but an Aston Villa player picked up the ball and booted it out of the stadium. The referee blew for full time before the ball could be retrieved and the rules for added time were implemented shortly after.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Stoke City Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

Southampton FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Southampton Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Southampton FC is located in the eastern central part of the city of Southampton. Southampton is located along the south coast of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground is called St. Mary’s Stadium, which opened in 2001 and holds about 32,500 people.

Origin

The club’s founding story begins in 1885. In November 1885, the leaders of St. Mary’s Church in Southampton formed a Young Men’s Association for active recreation. They called the new organization Southampton St. Mary’s. The organization formed a soccer team and began play in late 1885. The club played for 12 seasons under that name before forming as an officially recognized limited company in 1897. Coinciding with the company formation, the club officially became Southampton Football Club in 1897.

Nickname

Southampton’s nickname is the Saints. As we just discussed, the church-based roots of the club’s formation are still a big part of the club’s identity, hence the nickname of the Saints. It’s one of the most straightforward nicknames in all of the Premier League.

Crest

The crest used today was actually designed by a fan in 1973 or 74 as part of a contest the club held. There have been slight tweaks to the crest over the past few decades but it’s been more or less the same since 1974.

The club’s name of Southampton FC is at the bottom of the crest.

The flower is a Hampshire rose in reference to the county where the city of Southampton is located.

The blue wavy lines represent the sea and local docks as Southampton has historically been and still is an incredibly important port city for England.

The tree is a reference to the nearby forest.

The scarf at the top of the crest represents the fans.

The soccer ball is a reference to the sport which the club plays and the Halo at the top of the crest is a nod back to Southampton’s founding by the church members of St. Mary’s.

Important Events

Let’s discuss 2 important events in the club’s history in this section.

In the 1965-1966 season, Southampton earned promotion to the first division for the first time in the club’s history. Draws against Leyton Orient and 2nd Division winners Manchester City in the last 2 matches of the season in May 1966 were enough for the squad to finish in 2nd place and secure promotion to the top flight. It was a joyous moment for the club and its fans.

The most memorable day in Southampton Football Club’s history came 10 years later on May 1, 1976. Southampton, then a Second Division side, won the FA Cup for the first time in their history. It was an incredible 1-0 victory over overwhelming favorites Manchester United. The Saints’ lone goal scored that day was by Bobby Stokes late in the match to secure a shock victory. The Queen of England physically awarded the trophy that day, which was the last time that the FA Cup was awarded by the Queen herself. The 1976 FA Cup remains Southampton’s only major trophy and is likely the greatest date in the club’s history.

Supporters

The song ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s’ was written specifically for Southampton FC supporters in 1950, but jazz became popular shortly after this song was written. For this reason, the club’s anthem sung by supporters became ‘Oh When the Saints Go Marching In’ and has been the anthem since the 1950s. Some Saints fans get annoyed that Tottenham supporters have taken their song, as Tottenham also sings a version of this. Due to Tottenham’s recent success and popularity, people are associating the anthem more with Tottenham even though Saints have more of a rightful claim to the anthem in their eyes.

Noteworthy Players

Let’s discuss 5 players in this section.

(1) Kevin Keegan – twice European player of the year, shockingly joined Southampton in 1980 ahead of Barcelona & Real Madrid. Although he was only with the club for 3 years, he managed to score 37 goals.

(2) Alan Shearer is regarded as the best striker in Premier League history. His record of 260 goals in the league still stands today. Although he is more well-known for his time at Blackburn and Newcastle United, he began his professional career at Southampton. He scored a hattrick at 17 years old for the Saints against Arsenal. He struggled for the next few seasons at the professional level before breaking out in the 1991-1992 season, at 21 years old to net 21 goals in all-competitions. That enticed Blackburn to pay an English record at the time transfer for him. He went on to have a legendary career.

(3) Matt Le Tissier likely had the greatest Southampton career of any player. He’s an absolute legend for the club, spending his entire 16 year playing career with the Saints. He scored 209 goals in 540 appearances for the club and earned the nickname of ‘Le God’ from supporters. He was known for scoring spectacular goals throughout his career and was a fantastic player for the club.

(4) Gareth Bale is one of the most famous modern Southampton players. He joined the Southampton satellite academy in Bath at 9 years old and signed for the first team in 2006 at 16 years old. Although he only played for the club for 2 seasons, his formative years were spent at Southampton and the club receives a ton of credit for developing him into the world class player he is currently. He was transferred to Tottenham in 2007, and then on to Real Madrid in a world record at the time transfer in 2013.

(5) So those four players were all great players in their own ways. This last player we need to talk about has one of the most interesting stories in Premier League history. A man named Ali Dia got a trial with Southampton in the mid-1990s. Someone posing as former world player of the year, George Weah, was recommending him to different clubs in England. Southampton gave him a 2 week trial based on this recommendation, which turned out to be bogus. After only 1 training session, the Saints were forced to put Ali Dia into a match due to an injury crises for the club. He did terribly in his one and only appearance and this infamous story is still one of the greatest mysteries in Premier League history.

Noteworthy Managers

Ted Bates is the club’s all-time winningest manager with 346 wins. He managed the club from 1955-1973 and was a former player, which earned him the nickname of “Mr. Southampton.” He led the Saints into the First division for the first time in the club’s history and there is a statue outside of Southampton’s home ground of Mr. Bates honoring his contributions to the club.

Lawrie McMenemy is the other manager I’d like to mention here. He was manager for the most successful period in Southampton’s history. McMenemy managed Southampton from 1973 to 1985. He led the club to their only major trophy, that FA Cup final in 1976 we discussed during the club’s important events. He also led the club to finishing 2nd place in the old first division, Southampton’s highest ever finish. McMenemy signed some of the most talented players in Europe during his tenure and built the Saints into a formidable club, making a handful of other cup finals during his time in charge.

Rivals

Southampton’s biggest rival is definitely Portsmouth FC. The cities of Southampton and Portsmouth are about 30 miles apart along England’s south coast. The clubs haven’t met too many times on the pitch relatively speaking in their 100+ year existence, which has actually helped really fuel this rivalry. It started to pick up in the 1950s & 60s when Portsmouth was falling down the divisions and Southampton was rising up the divisions. There was some resentment built up among fans at this time and hooliganism started to come into English soccer in the late 60s.

The resentment, coupled with the violence brought on by hooligans, took the rivalry into a fierce derby. Since the clubs haven’t met too often over the years, that pent up aggression and hatred from the rivalry really explodes whenever they do meet. So, even though Portsmouth is in the lower divisions, while Southampton is in the Premier League right now, this rivalry doesn’t look to be dissipating any time soon.

Far back of the rivalry with Portsmouth would be Southampton’s rivalry with AFC Bournemouth. As we mentioned in our AFC Bournemouth video, this isn’t much of a rivalry right now. But with both clubs having extended runs in the Premier League and both battling relegation this season, it has the potential to become a bigger rivalry. Both clubs are on the south coast of England. Both play in the Premier League now but their rivalry kind of began back in 2011 when both clubs were in League 1 (England’s 3rd division). It’s not a huge rivalry right now but is worth a mention.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.

Southampton have spent 41 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club’s only major trophy to date is the 1976 FA Cup.

The club’s record first team league appearance holder is Terry Paine with 713 appearances.

The club’s record league goal scorer is Mike Channon with 185 goals.

The Saints’ record transfer purchase was Guido Carrillo from AS Monaco on January 25, 2018 for about £19M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool FC on January 1, 2018 for about £75M.

One last interesting fact about the club: On October 22, 1988, Southampton fielded Danny, Rodney and Raymond Wallace in their match against Sheffield Wednesday. This was significant because the Saints became the first club to include three brothers in the same First Division match in England.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Southampton Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

Newcastle United FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Newcastle United Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Newcastle United is located in the central part of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle is located in the far northeastern part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground is called St James’ Park, which holds a little more than 52,000 people. Newcastle have been at St James’ Park since 1892, but soccer has been played on the land where St James’ Park is located since 1880.

Origin

Newcastle in its current iteration was founded in 1892 but the club has ties that go back to the 1880s.

In the early 1880s, two of a handful of soccer clubs playing in the Newcastle area were named Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End respectively. By 1884, both clubs had become the strongest sides in the area. By the 1891-1892 season, West End were struggling financially. In May 1892, East End took over the lease for West End’s stadium (which was St. James’ Park) and some of West End’s assets including players, which effectively meant the two clubs merged.

East End kept their name for a few months but on December 9, 1892, at a meeting of the club’s directors in the Bath Lane Hall, the club voted to change the name to Newcastle United in a bid to attract support from the whole city. The legal name of the club didn’t formally change until 1895 but 1892 is seen as the club’s founding date.

Nicknames

The club 3 nicknames. United, the Magpies, and Toon.

United clearly comes from the club’s official name.

The Magpies nickname comes from the club’s colors. Newcastle has played in black and white striped shirts since 1894. Magpies are small, black and white colored birds that are very common in the UK. Newcastle played in kits that resembled the birds, hence the nickname for the club.

The Toon nickname comes from the local pronunciation of the word town as people in Newcastle (also called Geordie’s) speak their own dialect. Even though Newcastle United doesn’t have the word town in its club name, this different pronunciation of the word has become so synonymous with the city of Newcastle that it’s been extended to apply to the city’s only prominent soccer club, Newcastle United. Most interestingly, research has shown that the Geordie pronunciation of the word town (so toon) is actually the original pronunciation of the word. The toon pronunciation dates back to 500 AD before the Great Vowel shift, which apparently is a real thing that happened in the middle of the last millennium, changed the pronunciation of lots of words.

Crest

The club’s current crest, which has been used since 1988, takes many of its elements from the coat of arms for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The castle at the top of the crest is derived from a new castle that was built in 1080 AD by Robert Curthose. That’s also where the name of the city comes from.

Coming out of the top of the castle is a lion that guards the castle and holds a flagstaff with a modified version of the St. George’s pennon flying.

The mythical seahorses on either side of the crest are a reference to Newcastle being a seaport town.

The shield comes directly from the coat of arms and the black and white stripes on the shield come from Newcastle United’s iconic colors.

Lastly, the scroll with Newcastle United at the bottom is obviously the name of the club.

Important Events

I wanted to mention 5 events in this section.

(1) On May 7, 1955, Newcastle United beat Manchester City 3-1 in the FA Cup Final. The club had also won the 1951 and 1952 FA Cups, so this 3rd FA Cup win in 5 years earned the club the nickname of ‘Cup Kings’ at that time.

(2) The next event I’d like to mention came almost 15 years later. Newcastle finished 10th in the 1st Division in the 1967-1968 season but qualified for the next season’s Inter-Cities Fairs Cup through a weird quirk in the rules. The inter-cities fairs cup was the predecessor to the UEFA Cup/Europa League. It was the club’s first time competing in Europe and they were 1000-1 odds to win the tournament. Improbably they made the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final where they played Ujpest Dozsa from Hungary. Ujpest were overwhelming favorites in the final as well, but Newcastle won both legs of the final to seal a 6-2 aggregate victory. They raised their first and only European trophy on June 11, 1969.

(3) The third event I want to discuss came at the end of the 1991-1992 season. Newcastle was in danger of being relegated to the third division for the first time in the club’s history. The club was in a bit of financial trouble at the time too and it’s not clear if the club could have survived relegation to the third tier. On May 2, 1992, the club played Leicester City in their final match. Newcastle was out of the relegation zone, but could still be caught by 3 other clubs behind them in the table, so they needed to win. After going 1-0 up, the club surrendered an 89th minute equalizing goal that put their fate out of their own hands. Only 1 minute later though, Newcastle forced a Leicester own goal, which sent the team and travelling fans into delerium as it meant the club was safe.

I also wanted to quickly mention two other matches.

(1) On April 3, 1996 Newcastle lost heartbreakingly to Liverpool 4-3 in one of the greatest matches in Premier League history. Newcastle were chasing the Premier League title that season and this heartbreaking result more or less sealed their fate as not winning the title that season.

(2) And finally, on February 5, 2011, Newcastle trailed Arsenal 4-0 after 26 minutes but the Toon scored 4 goals in the final 21 minutes of the match to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in Premier League history.

Supporters

People from Newcastle are known as “Geordies” dating back to the city’s support of King George during a rebellion in the 1740s. With Newcastle United being pretty much the only major club in town, Newcastle fans are referred to as Geordies. Geordies have their own dialect and a strong accent that can sometimes be difficult for people to understand. I can attest to this as my high school soccer coach was from Newcastle and was often difficult to understand.

Another nickname for supporters is the Toon army, which is a reference to the club’s nickname of Toon.

Noteworthy Players

I’d like to discuss 3 players in this section.

Paul Gascoigne, nicknamed “Gazza”, joined Newcastle as a youth player at 16 years old and signed for the first team in 1985. He won the Young PLayer of the Year award from the Premier League in 1988 and joined Tottenham for a then British-transfer record fee. He was an incredibly talented player who wore his hear on his sleeve every time he played. His life off the field was tumultuous, but he was incredibly talented on the pitch. Even though his time with Newcastle was brief, he’s still regarded as one of the most talented players in their history.

Peter Beardsley was nicknamed Pedro and played attacking midfield for Newcastle. He scored 119 goals in 2 different spells with the club and had tons of assists as well.

Alan Shearer is the greatest striker in Premier League history, scoring a record 260 goals in the league. He’s originally from Newcastle but didn’t join the club until 1996, 8 years into his professional career. Although he didn’t win a trophy with the club, he scored a club record 206 goals in 405 appearances and was regarded as one of the best strikers in the world during his playing career.

Noteworthy Managers

I want to highlight 4 managers in this section.

Stan Seymour managed Newcastle in 3 separate stints and is one of the most influential people in the club’s history. He played, managed and was in the boardroom for the club. He actually played on the last Newcastle United team that won the First Division title and was the first person in English soccer history to win the FA Cup as a player and manager. He led the club to 2 FA Cups as a manager and was instrumental in the boardroom for helping the club winning a third FA Cup in the 1950s.

Joe Harvey was similar to Stan Seymour as he was a former player that led the club to trophies. He took over in 1962 and led the club until 1975. He managed the club to their only European title and has the most wins as manager in the club’s history.

Kevin Keegan took over as manager for the 1991-1992 season we already talked about and saved the club from relegation. He then led the club to promotion to the Premier League and the club’s exciting, attacking style of play earned them the nickname of the “Entertainers”. They nearly won the Premier League in 1995-1996 and he is regarded as one of the best managers in club history. He left the club in January 1997 but returned for a short 2nd stint with the club in 2008. That only lasted about half a year, but King Kev still has a fond place in Newcastle fans’ hearts.

Sir Bobby Robson was born and raised in the Newcastle area. He went on to a legendary playing and managing career all over Europe, winning domestic league titles and cups, as well as European titles in addition to managing the English National team at 2 world cups. He managed Newcastle at the end of his career, managing from 1999 until 2004. Though the club didn’t win any trophies during his tenure, they did qualify for the Champions League a handful of times and it was the club’s most successful period since Kevin Keegan left in the mid-90s.

Rivals

Newcastle’s biggest rival is Sunderland A.F.C. The two cities are only 12 miles apart and have been in conflict for over 300 years, well before the modern versions of soccer were created. The conflict actually starts when the trading of coal was awarded to Newcastle traders only by the King, which left Sunderland traders in a terrible spot. The two cities have been at odds ever since. The soccer clubs first played each other in 1888 and have since played over 150 times. When the two clubs meet, the matches are called The Tyne & Wear Derby. Matches are really intense affairs with hooliganism and violence by fans common, though modern technologies have helped to quell this a bit.

Newcastle’s second biggest rival is Middlesbrough F.C. The rivalry is nowhere near as intense as the Sunderland rivalry though. The cities of Newcastle and Middlesbrough are 42 miles apart, so although they are regional rivals, fans do not encounter each other on a daily basis as much as the Sunderland rivalry. The clubs have met in meaningful matches over the years but the rivalry doesn’t seem to be much more than not liking your neighbors. Newcastle also tends to dominate media coverage in the area, which can bother Boro fans and help fuel the rivalry.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.

United have spent 86 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 11 major trophies including:

6 FA Cups
4 1st division titles
1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (predecessor to the UEFA Cup/Europa League)

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Jimmy Lawrence with 496 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Alan Shearer with 206 goals.

The Magpies’ record transfer purchase was Michael Owen from Real Madrid in Spain on August 24, 2006 for about £16M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Andy Carroll to Liverpool FC in January of 2011 for about £35M.

One last interesting fact about the club: Newcastle United jointly hold the record for the biggest scoreline in English Football League history. The club beat Newport County 13-0 on October 15th, 1946 in the 2nd division to set the record.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Newcastle United Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

Manchester United FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Manchester United Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Manchester United is located in the southwest central part of the city of Manchester. Manchester is located in the northwest part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground is called Old Trafford, which opened in 1910 and holds 75,643 people.

Origin

The club began in 1878 when workers from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company formed a soccer club called Newton Heath LYR after the Newtown Heath neighborhood of the city of Manchester and LYR was a reference to their company.

In 1892, the club was admitted to the Football League and changed its name to simply Newtown Heath. The club almost went bankrupt in 1902 before a local brewery owner John Henry Davies saved the club. With his investment, he became chairman of the board and immediately instituted changes to the club’s governing infrastructure.

In addition to these changes, he felt a name change was necessary to appeal to the greater Manchester population after being inspired by Manchester City’s name change 8 years earlier. The names of Manchester Central and Manchester Celtic were considered before the club settled on its existing name of Manchester United in the spring of 1902.

Nicknames

The club 3 nicknames. United, the Reds, and the Red Devils.

United obviously comes from the club’s name. There are many other club’s around the world with the words united in their name but Manchester United are the most famous and successful English club in the world. So chances are that when a person says United and it’s not obvious which club they are talking about, Manchester United would be your best guess.

The Reds nickname comes from the club playing in red shirts and white shorts as their main colors since the early part of the 20th century.

The nickname of Red Devils is slightly more evolved. In the 1950s, a local rugby club called Salford City Reds, also wore red and were a dominant squad. The rugby club went on a tour of France and impressed the French journalists so much that the Rugby club earned the nickname of ‘Les Diables Rouges’ which means the Red Devils in French. Apologies for the pronunciation there.

The club returned to the Manchester area with that nickname. By the late 1960s, Manchester’s manager, Sir Matt Busby, thought it would be more intimidating to opponents to use Red Devils nickname over the nickname of Busby’s Babes that journalists at the time preferred. United have been using the nickname of Red Devils ever since.

Crest

The current crest shares many similarities to the crest first used by Manchester United in the 1960s. The main similarity being the crest’s shape.

The current crest has been in use since 1998. Obviously, the words Manchester and United at the top and bottom of the crest come from the club’s name.

The ship is a reference to the city of Manchester’s famous Shipping Canal and comes from the city’s coat of arms.

The red devil was added in the 1970s after the club adopted the nickname at the insistence of Sir Matt Busby, as we’ve already discussed.

And the two historic soccer balls on either side of the crest, are a reference to the sport the club plays.

Important Events

There’s 4 important events I want to discuss here:

(1) On February 6, 1958, Manchester United was flying back from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade. The plane stopped in Munich to refuel and after 2 aborted attempts to take off, the plane crashed on it’s third attempt. Eight players, 3 staff members, 8 journalists, and 4 others died in the crash. It is the darkest day in the club’s history. Amazingly, the club’s manager, Sir Matt Busby, survived the crash and rebuilt his team over the coming years, which leads us to the 2nd event I want to discuss.

(2) On May 29, 1968 Manchester United played Benfica in the European Cup (now called the Champions League) at Wembley in London. Benfica had already won the competition twice and had one of the greatest players in soccer’s history, Eusebio, on their roster. After regulation ended 1-1, United was able to score 3 goals in extra time to win the match. Only 10 years after the club had been decimated by the Munich Air Disaster and still with Matt Busby as manager, the Red Devils became the first English club to win the European Cup.

(3) Exactly 31 years later, on May 29, 1999, Manchester United completed the first and so far only treble in English soccer history. For those that may not know, a treble is when a club wins the domestic league, domestic cup competition, and Champions league in the same season. The club had already won the Premier League and FA Cup that season. On May 29, the club was playing Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. United were trailing 1-0 heading into stoppage time. Bayern basically had one hand on the trophy, but Teddy Sheringham scored in the 91st minute before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored in the 93rd to dramatically win the title for United. It was one of the most dramatic and thrilling conclusions to a Champions’ League final in history.

(4) On May 14, 2011, Manchester United drew Blackburn Rovers 1-1 to win its 19th ever first division/premier league title. This is special in United’s history because it meant the club surpassed their arch rivals, Liverpool FC, for most top division titles in English soccer history. In 1990, Liverpool held a 18-7 margin in this department, but in only the space of about 20 years, United won 12 titles to pass their nemesis. Though the match wasn’t the greatest, this date lives in United folklore as the date the club surpassed Liverpool.

Supporters

Manchester United supporters are famous for singing the song Glory Glory Man United. The song was recorded as a motivational tactic to bring players and fans together for the 1983 FA Cup final between United and Brighton & Hove Albion.

The song was recorded by Frank Renshaw and was based on the song: The Battle Hymn of Republic which was popular during the American Civil War. It is a full anthem with lyrics specific to Manchester United and the club’s history. It’s become one of the most popular club anthems in the world sung by United fans all over.

Noteworthy Players

United has truly had too many great players in their history to get into details on their accomplishments, so I’m just going to name them here:

George Best
Bobby Charlton
Eric Cantona
Peter Schmeichel
David Beckham
Ryan Giggs
Paul Scholes
Roy Keane
Cristiano Ronaldo
Wayne Rooney
And many more who we just don’t have the time to get into here.

Noteworthy Managers

The club has had 2 absolutely legendary managers that I want to discuss in this section. Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Funny enough, during Sir Matt’s playing career, he never played for United, but did play for United’s now 2 biggest rivals of Manchester City and Liverpool. United fans definitely forgive him for that as he became manager in 1945. He greatly expanded the club’s scouting system and made a serious commitment to developing young players. That earned his team the nickname of Busby Babes due to the first team’s average age. He led the club to 5 first division titles, 2 FA Cups, and 1 European Cup. He survived the plane crash in Munich that we’ve already discussed and rebuilt the club within 5 years of that tragic event to be competing at the highest levels again. He retired after the 1968-1969 season as United’s greatest manager in their history at that time and is immortalized at Old Trafford with a bronze statue.

About 20 years later, Sir Alex Ferguson took over as manager at Manchester United in 1986. Over the next 27 years, he led the club to over 30 domestic and international trophies including 13 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups, 2 Champions Leagues titles, and the first ever treble in English soccer history in 1998-1999 season. Sir Alex is United’s most successful manager of all-time.

Rivals

With United being the most successful club in England, the club naturally has many rivals. Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal & Chelsea are the 4 rivals I want to discuss here. We’ve already discussed these rivalries in our club history videos for each of those clubs, but in case you haven’t seen those videos, I’ll recap them now.

The Liverpool rivalry comes from a natural rivalry between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool. That dates back to building of the Manchester Ship Canal in the 19th century. From a soccer perspective, Liverpool became the dominant English team in the 1970s and 1980s. When Manchester United hired Sir Alex Ferguson and he started to build a squad that repeatedly won trophies, Liverpool was the natural target considering they had the most major trophies of any English club. Combination between cities and the two most successful clubs from those cities. This is likely the fiercest rivalry in England today.

Manchester City is Manchester United’s second biggest rival today. The two clubs play in the same city and the rivalry became violent in the hooligan days of the 1980s. The 1980s also coincided with United’s rise to domestic dominance while City really struggled. The rivalry has settled down from a violence perspective. But when City got new owners in 2008, they turned the club into overnight title contenders. The rivalry has taken on a new angle as both clubs compete for the best players and trophies. Also, City’s dramatic 2012 Premier League title at the expense of Manchester United has helped make this a big rivalry.

Manchester United and Arsenal each have a glorious history in English soccer, but it was always one or the other doing well. Then, Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal as manager in 1996 and built the club into title challengers. Manchester United were the dominant squad at the time and the clubs had some epic battled. Roy Keane, Manchester United’s combative center midfielder and Patrick Viera, Arsenal’s own combative center midfielder, were the leaders in these battles. In the late 90s and early 2000s, this was the fiercest rivalry in the Premier League. Nowadays, Man United manager Jose Mourinho and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger seem to have their own rivalry, which helps keep this going even as United has more intense rivalries with other clubs.

Lastly, Chelsea is considered a rival for much the same reason as Man City’s rivalry has increased in recent years. Chelsea got a new owner in 2003 and built them into title contenders who now legitimately compete with United. The rivalry has been helped by incredible managers managing both sides over the last 2 decades or so. This rivalry doesn’t feel quite as heated as the rivalry with the three other clubs mentioned, but the two clubs are definitely rivals.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.

United have spent 93 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 44 major trophies including:

20 First Division/Premier League titles
12 FA Cups
5 League Cups
3 UEFA champions leagues/European Cups
1 UEFA Europa League
1 UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup
1 FIFA Club World Cup & 1 Intercontinental World Cup, which was the predecessor to the Club World Cup

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Ryan Giggs with 963 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Wayne Rooney with 253 goals.

United’s clean sheet record holder is Peter Schmeichel with 180 clean sheets.

The Red Devils’ record transfer purchase was Paul Pogba from Juventus in Italy on August 8, 2016 for about £89M. I also wanted to note that the club bought Romelu Lukaku from Everton FC on July 10, 2017 for an initial fee of £75M plus potential £15M in add-ons. So Lukaku could end up being more expensive than Pogba in the future.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid on July 1, 2009 for about £80M.

One last interesting fact about the club: Since October 30, 1937 (that’s over 80 years), Manchester United have had a graduate from their youth academy in the matchday 18 for every match. That’s almost 3,900 straight matches at time of recording.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Manchester United Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.

Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.