Manchester 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 we’re talking about Manchester City Football Club’s history in this video. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Man City is located in the eastern-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 the Etihad Stadium, which was originally built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and Manchester City moved in a year later. It holds 55,097 people.

Origin

In 1880, the St. Mark’s Church Cricket Club formed a soccer team for the club. Shortly after the formation, the cricketers became upset with the soccer team tearing up the cricket pitch. Within a few years, the soccer club split from the Cricket club and merged with another soccer club to become Gorton AFC. The Gorton name came from an area in Manchester where the team played.

In 1887, the club moved its headquarters to Hyde Road and changed its name to Ardwick AFC. By the 1893-1894 season, the club experienced serious financial trouble after a very poor season in the 2nd division. Most of the board of Ardwick AFC resurrected & restructured the club in April 1894. Along with the resurrection, the board changed the club’s name to Manchester City Football Club to appeal to all Mancunians (or people from Manchester).

Nicknames

The club has 4 nicknames, all of which are pretty self-explanatory. They are the Blues, the Sky Blues, The Citizens, or simply City

Both the nicknames of the Blues or the Sky Blues come from Man City’s home kit color. The club has worn shades of Sky blue dating back to 1894 when it changed its name from Ardwick AFC.

The other 2 nicknames (the Citizens and City) come from the club’s official name of Manchester City FC. Though lots of clubs use the word city in their official name, due to Man City’s rise to power in the global soccer world over the last decade, many people nowadays will associate Man City as the club you’re referencing if you just say City.

Crest

Man City’s current crest was debuted in the 2016-2017 season but shares a lot of similarities previous crests in the club’s history.

Manchester City FC’s crest

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

The red flower is a red rose of Lancashire which is the historic county that Manchester is located in. Quick redistricting history for you: In 1974, there were changes to local governments in the UK that removed the cities of Liverpool and Manchester from the Lancashire county government, but Manchester still remains in the historic boundaries of Lancashire county hence the rose. Back to the crest.

The diagonal stripes in the crest come from the Grelley family coat of arms. The Grelley’s were the feudal lords of Manchester and the Manchester city coat of arms includes many elements of the Grelley family crest.

The crest includes the name of the club, Manchester City, and the year of 1894 when the club was formed in its current iteration.

The crest used directly before the current one included the Latin phrase ‘Superbia in Proelio’ meaning ‘Pride in Battle’ and is sometimes still associated with the club.

Important Events

On April 23, 1904 City won the FA Cup 1-0 over Bolton Wanderers. It was the club’s first ever major trophy and first ever major trophy for a club from the city of Manchester. Flash forward about 100 years to the next 2 events I want to discuss.

One of the most important days in the club’s history actually took place off the field. On September 1, 2008 Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Abu Dhabi United Group officially purchased Manchester City. City were acquired only the year prior by the former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra. He became caught up in corruption charges and had his assets frozen, which forced the sale to Sheikh Mansour’s group.

The Sheikh’s group has since pumped billions of dollars into the club, purchasing players, building infrastructure and purchasing satellite clubs all around the world to change the way English and dominant global soccer clubs behave. Incredibly, the ownership has been able to maintain some semblance of the club’s core values rooted in the community, even as they’ve built City into a global empire. Without the forced sale of the club, none of their current success would be likely.

On May 13, 2012, Manchester City and Manchester United were tied for 1st place in the Premier League heading into the last match of the season. City held a 8 goal tie-breaker difference, so simply needed to match Manchester United’s result in order to win the league. The matches happened at the same time with Manchester United playing at Sunderland and City hosting Queens Park Rangers. City entered stoppage time down 2-1 but scored a dramatic header in the 92nd minute through Edin Dzeko to draw the match. United’s match ended with them winning 1-0.

They began celebrating, thinking they won the title, but City miraculously scored a second goal in stoppage time, this one in the 94th minute by Sergio Aguero to win the premier league. It will likely forever be the most dramatic title conclusion in Premier League history. And if you haven’t seen it, you should watch the YouTube video here:

Supporters

The song Blue Moon is the club’s anthem sung by supporters.  It’s a relatively new tradition with it reportedly beginning in 1989. The ’80s were a time when many supporters changed from solely using chants to also singing songs during matches. Blue Moon was apparently first sung after City played Liverpool in the opening match of the 1989-1990 season as the supporters were waiting for the Liverpool home crowd to disperse and it’s since become the passionate anthem for City supporters.

Another even newer tradition for city fans is the Poznan. In 2010, City were in the same Europa league group as Lech Poznan. When Poznan’s fans came to City’s home ground, they demonstrated great support, including this strange move where the fans turned their backs to the match, put their arms around each other’s shoulders, and jumped up and down. City fans were confused at first but began doing it at their own matches in the weeks after and have been doing it ever since as a celebration.

Noteworthy Players

City have had many great players in their storied history so apologies that we’re not going to cover all of them here.

Bert Trautmann has a fascinating story. He was a German paratrooper captured during WWII and transfered to a Lancashire prisoner of war camp. After the war, he signed for City in 1949 and played for the club for 15 years. Most famously, he broke his neck during the 1956 FA Cup final but continued to play because there were no substitutions allowed at that time.

Colin Bell had probably the greatest Man City career prior to the one experienced by the current generation of players. He played with city from 1966-1979. He won the first and second division titles, FA Cup, 2 League Cups, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup with City during his tenure. There’s a stand at the Etihad named after him.

Sergio Aguero is City’s record goal scorer. He joined the club in 2011 and scored arguably the most dramatic goal in Premier League history to win City the 2011-2012 title. He’s had a fantastic career and is poised to win many more trophies with City in the coming years.

Recent or still current players worth mentioning here are David Silva, Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne, and many others since it is City’s most successful period in the club’s history.

Noteworthy Managers

Wilf Wild beyond having an awesome name was City’s longest ever serving manager from 1932 to 1946. He won the 1934 FA Cup at Wembley. He also won city’s first ever league title, leading the team on a 22 match unbeaten streak to end the 1936-1937 season as champions. Unfortunately, he holds a dubious record as City were relegated the following season, the only English team to ever be relegated as defending champions.

Pep Guardiola is the club’s current manager. He is a revolutionary manager and widely regarded as the best manager of his generation. Largely credited with inventing the tiki-taka, high press, possession style of soccer made famous by the dominant FC Barcelona team in the late 2000s. He’s taken that style and imposed it on the current Man City squad who are scoring tons of goals and on a record setting pace in the league. At time of recording, they are still alive to win a treble having already won the League Cup, look to be winning the Premier League comfortably and are one of the favorites to win the Champions’ League..

Roberto Mancini, who was manager as city won their first title in 44 years, and Manuel Pelligrini, who was the first manager from outside of Europe to manage a team to the English Premier League title, deserve mention here as well.

Rivals

City’s 2 biggest rivals these days are Liverpool and Manchester United.

There is a natural rivalry between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool which dates back to the 19th century when the Manchester Ship Canal was built to bypass the city of Liverpool and their control of trade/commerce in the area. That rivalry is more expressed on the soccer pitch between Liverpool and Man United, but there’s definitely an element present in this rivalry. Additionally, with City’s recent rise to perennial title contenders, the two have met in some epic clashes in recent years. City also came from behind in the title race to steal the 2013-2014 Premier League title from Liverpool’s grasp which helped intensify the rivalry. Nowadays, Man City manager, Pep Guardiola, and Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, are two of the most offensive oriented and widely considered as two of the best managers in the world, which makes for exceptionally entertaining matches when the two clubs play.

Manchester United is Man City’s unquestionably biggest rival. The two clubs play in the same city. The two sets of fans haven’t always been exactly fond of each other, but things turned violent in the hooligan days of the 1980s. The 1980s also coincided with United’s rise to domestic dominance while City really struggled. The fans maintained hostilities, but it became less violent in the early 90s and 2000s. When Sheikh Mansour and his ownership group took over City in 2008, he turned them into overnight title contenders. The rivalry has taken on a new angle as both clubs compete for players and trophies. Also, city’s dramatic 2012 Premier League title at the expense of Manchester United has made this one of the best derbies in the league.

Stats & Records

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

City have spent 89 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 15 major trophies including:

  • 4 first division/premier league titles (looking likely to be 5)
  • 5 FA Cups
  • 5 League Cups (including this year’s)
  • 1 European Cup Winners’ Cup

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Alan Oakes with 668 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Sergio Aguero with 199 goals at time of recording & counting.

Man City’s record transfer purchase was Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao in Spain on January 30, 2018. for about £57M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Kelechi Iheanacho to Leicester City on August 3, 2017 for about £25M.

One last interesting fact about the club: Man City are the most recent and likely last ever English club to win a European final fielding an all-English team, which they did in the 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Manchester 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.

Liverpool 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 Liverpool Football Club. I’m joined in this video by the biggest Liverpool fan I know, my brother Christian. Christian, welcome to the Soccer Tavern. You ready to talk some Liverpool?

Hey Dave, you know I’m ready. So, pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Liverpool FC is located in the northern part of the city of Liverpool. Liverpool 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 Anfield, which opened in 1884 but Liverpool have been using it since 1892, which we’ll discuss in our next section. It holds 54,074 people.

Origin

On March 15, 1892, John Houlding was voted off the board at Everton FC. Houlding owned the stadium of Anfield, and did the logical thing when you own a stadium but don’t have a team, he formed a club. He called the club Everton Athletic at first, but after the Football League refused to recognize the club name due to Everton FC already existing, the club name was changed to Liverpool Football Club. Liverpool FC was formally recognized by the Board of Trade on June 3, 1892 making it Liverpool’s officially recognized birthday.

Nicknames

The club has 2 nicknames and both nicknames are pretty simple to explain. The Reds & Pool.

The club’s main color is red, so they’re called the Reds.

And the Pool nickname comes from the last part of the city of Liverpool’s name.

Both are super creative we know.

Crest

Liverpool FC’s modern crest

The modern crest is a simplified Liver Bird with a piece of seaweed in its beak that makes it easy to identify in the digital age. I love more intricate crests, so instead let’s talk about one of the club’s most recent crests.

Liverpool FC’s more intricate crest

This crest is based upon the city’s coat of arms where the Liverbird is prominent. The Liver bird is not a real bird and actually comes from the 1600s when an artist had to redesign the city’s crest. The artist combined an eagle and a cormorant, which is a common bird in the Liverpool area. In the bird’s beak is a piece of seaweed due to Liverpool’s relationship with the sea, as it’s a port city.

At the top of the crest is the Shankly Gate which was erected in 1972 at the entrance to Anfield’s main car park. It’s since been moved to a symbolic place outside Anfield and no longer serves a practical purpose but still holds plenty of significance for the club and its fans.

The club’s famous anthem of You’ll Never Walk Alone is included in the crest along with the founding date of 1892.

The two torches on either side of the logo are justice flames honoring the memory of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, which we’ll share with you in our next segment.

The green color does not appear to have any known significance other than it has been used with Liverpool FC dating back more than 50 years.

Also, you’ll sometimes see a version of the Liver Bird crest in Yellow, which is a nod to the city’s official colors of red and yellow.

Important Events

Liverpool has many important events in its history but the three events we’d like to discuss here are the Heysel Disaster, Hillsborough Disaster and the Miracle of Istanbul.

Heysel Disaster: On May 29, 1985, Liverpool played Juventus in the European Cup Final (Champions league equivalent) in Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. Before the match, there were calls from both clubs not to play the match due to the stadium’s dilapidated condition but the match went ahead.

During the match, a section of Liverpool fans rushed a section of Juventus fans on the terraces, which was a common practice at the time, but the rush of people forced the stand to collapse. The collapse and crush of people caused 39 deaths, mainly Juventus fans. Inexplicably, the match actually continued as officials claimed that they believed stopping the match would cause more problems and Juventus won 1-0. The fallout from this tragedy led to all English clubs being banned from European competitions for 5 seasons.

Unfortunately, that is not the only disaster in the club’s history. On April 15 1989, 96 Liverpool fans were killed at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield at Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final match with Nottingham Forest. It is still the worst stadium-related disaster in English sports history. For years, police blamed fans for causing the crush as the match got underway. However, Liverpool fans have always maintained it was the police and other authorities responsible for safety on that day who were at fault for the disaster.

Finally in April 2016, a jury ruled that the victims had been unlawfully killed following failures by police and ambulance services. Six people were charged in June 2017 for crimes related to the disaster and there was finally some justice for the 96. If there’s any positive to be taken from this tragedy it’s that it forced increased regulation and standards for stadiums and crowd behavior that has led to vastly increased safety for supporters. ESPN has a fantastic 30 for 30 on this; you can watch it here.

The final event we want to discuss is a happy one & comes from 2005. It’s called the “Miracle of Istanbul.”

On May 28, 2005 Liverpool played AC Milan in the final of the Champions League in Istanbul. It was Liverpool’s first top tier European Cup final since the Heysel Disaster. The club was down 1-0 within 53 seconds and trailed 3-0 at halftime. But against all odds and expectations, the club scored 3 goals in a 6 minute span from the 54th to 60th minute and the two clubs remained level through the rest of the match, going to penalties. Most memorable from the penalties was Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek’s antics before AC Milan shots. He danced and behaved ridiculously. It worked though as he saved Andrey Shevchenko’s penalty to win the match 3-2 on penalties to Liverpool. It remains one of the most dramatic and improbable Champions League comebacks in history. This is actually one of the main reasons why I became a Liverpool fan.

Supporters

There’s no real formal nicknames for local fans, but international fans usually incorporate a place name combined with some variation of Red or Reds. Such as the Bay Area Reds.

The most passionate fans stand in the Kop behind the goal Liverpool generally attacks in the 2nd half. The Kop name comes from a battle in the Boer war where 300 people lost their lives, many from the city of Liverpool.

And we can’t talk about Liverpool fans without mentioning the song, You’ll Never Walk Alone (YNWA). The song comes from a 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical called Carousel with the most famous version from Gerry and the Pacemakers which were a band from Liverpool.

The song was first reported to be sung in the stands by supporters in 1963. By 1965 Liverpool fans could be heard belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone at Wembley during the FA Cup Final win over Leeds, which is when it became nationally known as the club’s anthem.

Finally, this was the song my mother and I chose to dance to at my wedding, so it holds a special place in my life.

Noteworthy Players

A successful and storied club like Liverpool is sure to have many amazing players throughout their history, but for the sake of time, we’re only going to highlight 3 of them here.

Kenny Daglish joined Liverpool for, what was at the time, a transfer record between 2 British Club’s of £440K from Celtic. He led Liverpool to 3 European Cups, 5 First Division titles, and 4 League Cups solely as a player. He then took over as player manager and won 3 more first division titles, and 2 FA Cups. Liverpool recently dedicated a stand at Anfield to King Kenny.

Michael Owen deserves mention because although he didn’t have the longest or greatest career, he remains the only Liverpool player to have ever won the Ballon D’or, which is given to the best player in the world. He won the award in 2001 as a 21-year old but that was unfortunately the likely pinnacle of his career.

And finally, Steven Gerrard, aka Stevie G, aka Captain Fantastic. He is from the city of Liverpool and joined the club when he was 9 years old. He made his first team debut in 1998, was captain by 2003 at 23 years old, and captained the club for 12 more years until he left in 2015 to join the LA Galaxy for a handful of seasons. He won many trophies, though painfully was never able to win the Premier League in his career. Gerrard was captain for the Miracle of Istanbul and scored stunning, timely goals for the club throughout his tenure.  He’s an absolute legend for the club.

Noteworthy Managers

Bill Shankly took over in 1959 & is largely credited with turning the club’s fortunes around from the second division into a perenial trophy contending club. He won 3 first division trophies, 2 FA Cups, and a UEFA cup. He also established Liverpool’s ‘famous Boot Room’ where he would have detailed discussions on tactics with his coaching staff, which was seen as revolutionary at the time.

Bob Paisley took over directly after Bill Shankly in 1974 and made Liverpool a powerhouse domestically and internationally. He led the club to 6 first division titles, 3 European cups, 1 UEFA Cup, 3 League Cups, and personally won the Manager of the year award 6 times.

Also, current manager Jurgen Klopp is recognized as one of the best managers in the world and plays heavy metal, attacking soccer that makes for truly entertaining matches.

Rivals

Liverpool’s biggest rivals are Everton and Manchester United.

The Everton & Liverpool rivalry dates back to the founding of Liverpool FC, which we discussed earlier. Matches between the sides are called Merseyside Derbies in reference to the county that the city of Liverpool resides in and the local river. The clubs play in stadiums less than 1 mile apart, which definitely helps this rivalry as proximity is a great ingredient for a rivalry. Though the clubs have always been rivals, the rivalry didn’t really heat up until the 1980s when both clubs became very successful in England and Europe. The two clubs have played each other over 230 times but this rivalry is definitely peculiar. Matches are incredibly intense on the pitch and in the stands, but there is no real hatred or much violence between the fans. It’s common to see families made up of both Liverpool and Everton fans, which makes this quite a unique rivalry.

The rivalry with Manchester United stems from the natural rivalry between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool. That dates back to the 19th century when the Manchester Ship Canal was built to bypass the city of Liverpool and its control of trade & commerce in the area. From a soccer perspective, Liverpool became dominant in the 1970s and 1980s, so when Manchester United hired Sir Alex Ferguson and he started to build a squad that repeatedly won trophies, Liverpool was the natural target. The combination between the cities being rivals and the two most successful clubs in England has helped make this the fiercest rivalry in England today.

Stats & Records

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

Liverpool have spent 103 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 41 major trophies including:

  • 18 first division titles
  • 8 League Cups
  • 7 FA Cups
  • 5 European Cups/Champions Leagues
  • 3 UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues

The Reds have won the European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa league and the League Cup more than any other English side.

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Ian Callaghan with 857 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Ian Rush with 346 goals.

Liverpool’s clean sheet record holder is Ray Clemence with 323 clean sheet.

The club’s record transfer purchase was Virgil van Dijk from Southampton FC on January 1, 2018 for about £75M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Philippe Coutinho to FC Barcelona in Spain on January 8, 2018 for about £145M.

One more interesting fact about the club: Liverpool have not finished below 8th in the First Division/Premier League since they were promoted back to the top flight for the 1962-1963 season. That’s 55 consecutive years and counting at time of recording.

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

Christian, thanks for being here and thank you for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.

Leicester 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 we’re talking about Leicester City Football Club’s history in this video. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Leicester City FC is located in the south central part of the city of Leicester. Leicester is located in the central part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground is called the King Power Stadium, which opened in 2002 and holds 32,262 people.

Origin

The club was founded in 1884 by former students mainly from the Wyggeston school who wanted to keep playing soccer outside of the academic institution. The group met in a garden shed behind the Fosse Road House and established the club’s name as Leicester Fosse Football Club. In 1919, after the end of World War I, the club was in financial trouble and were overtaken by new owners. The new owners dropped the Fosse from the name and added city to appeal to a wider fan base. The club became Leicester City FC and have been so ever since.

Nicknames

In the club’s early days, it went through a number of different nicknames including The Fossils, The Royal Knuts, Hunters, Sockers, and Tanners but none of them really stuck.

In 1948, the club introduced a fox into their crest to be worn on match day kits due to the region’s association with fox hunting. Though this happened in the late 40s, the club didn’t officially adopt and embrace the foxes nickname until the 1980s. But they’ve been using it ever since.

Crest

The club has more or less used the same crest since 1991 with some slight branding updates over the years.

Leicester City FC Crest

It’s a relatively simple crest with a fox head in the middle of a cinquefoil flower surrounded by the club’s name in a circle.

The flower comes from the city of Leicester’s coat of arms. And it can actually be traced back to the middle ages with the first Earl of Leicester, Robert De Bellomonte, using the cinquefoil in his coat of arms.

And the fox comes from the strong hunting tradition in the area for centuries.

Pretty straightforward.

Important Events

I’d like to discuss 3 important events in the club’s history, all of which have occurred in this millennium.

First – on October 21, 2002 Leicester City officially went into administration or bankruptcy. The club had recently built a new stadium, been relegated from the Premier League and was over £30M in debt. On that same day however, a consortium of investors led by former player Gary Lineker and local businessman David Ross agreed to buy the club out of administration. After 4 months of negotiations, the club came out of administration on February 13, 2003. The club has since changed ownership 2 more times but without this intervention to bring the club out of administration, the club may not exist today.

The next event happened a little over a decade later. On April 3, 2015, the Foxes sat at the bottom of the Premier League table, 7 points from safety with 9 matches to play. The club picked up a win the next day to climb into 19th and proceeded to go on an incredibly improbable run of 7 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw to end the season in 14th place and maintain its place in the Premier League. After the run, the club was hit with a scandal that summer that saw the removal of Nigel Pearson as manager and Claudio Ranieri appointed as the new manager in July 2015. Ranieri had tons of experience, managing at many big clubs but was considered old and incapable of winning domestic league titles after many second place finishes from his squads.

And that brings us to our third event I’d like to discuss. Leicester began the 2015-2016 season as 5000-1 odds to win the title. With the poor performance the previous season and the turmoil the club experienced in the offseason that we just discussed, even the loftiest of fan expectations had the club finishing mid-table at best. Incredibly, all the stars aligned as Leicester rode a wave of undiscovered or underappreciated players along with nearly every player hitting peak form and limited injuries to win the Premier League title. The story is still insane to believe but on Monday May 2, 2016 Chelsea FC drew 2-2 against Tottenham, which meant Leicester City Football Club were Premier League champions. The club was presented with their trophy and honored at a ceremony that included Andrea Bocelli singing before their match on May 7, 2016. A date which will forever remain in club folklore.

Supporters

For decades, the club has run onto the pitch while the Post Horn Gallop has played. The song was originally used to announce the arrival of mail coaches in the 19th century. The tune as it relates to the club, dates back to at least the 1930s when a man played the song on a lone bugle.

This tradition has continued over the years and makes for a unique entrance to the field for the club and its players. And it was all started by a supporter almost a century ago.

Noteworthy Players

I’d like to highlight 4 players in this section.

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 by that point he was no longer on Leicester.

Gary Lineker – started his career with Leicester City having graduated from the academy. He went on to have a great career and is a famous pundit for the Premier League.

Riyad Mahrez – currently on Leicester city at the time of recording was the first African player ever to win the Pro Footballer’s Association Player of the Year award and remains the only Leicester player to have won the award.

Jamie Vardy – joined Leicester in 2012 from Fleetwood Town. Vardy’s story is one of perseverance and determination as he played non-league soccer in England into his early 20s. Most people in England are written off by that age, but he kept working, got his move to Leicester and has gone on to score boatloads of goals in the Premier League, as well as play for the English National team.

Also, quick shoutout to N’Golo Kante who was only with Leicester for a season but I love his work ethic, professionalism, and his overall game. I think he’s one of the best defensive midfielders in the world right now, so special bonus 5th player.

Noteworthy Managers

I’d like to discuss 4 managers in this section.

(1) Matt Gillies is the club’s longest ever serving manager and guided the club to its first ever major trophy (the 1964 League Cup). He also led the club to their most ever cup finals.

(2) Martin O’Neill won 2 League Cups and reached another final as he managed the club in the late 90s and early 2000s. It was one of the best run’s in the club’s history.

(3) Nigel Pearson helped guide the club through the 2nd division and kept them in the Premier League against all odds in that 2014-2015 season we discussed earlier. He was fired that summer after a scandal and was replaced by the next manager I wanted to discuss.

(4) We couldn’t end without mentioning Claudio Rainieri. He was manager for the club’s most historic and triumphant season. He took over a club likely to be battling relegation and with 5,000 to 1 odds of winning the premier league. He shocked everyone and managed the club to be Premier League champions in one of the most unlikliest of stories in sports history. Still unbelieveable to this day.

Rivals

No rivals currently in the premier league, but Leicester’s biggest rivals are: Nottingham Forest, Derby County, & Coventry City

All 3 clubs are from the Midlands, which is where Leicester is located as well.

Nottingham Forest are Leicester’s biggest rivals. Beyond just being in the same physical area, the rivalry goes all the way back to a match from 1909 when Forest won 12-0 over Leicester. That remains Leicester’s worst ever defeat but can be explained a bit as reportedly most of the players were hungover from a player’s wedding the night before. The clubs have played over 100 times in their existence and are intense rivals.

Leicester’s rivalry with Derby was also aided in recent decades with big victories for Leicester in the 1990s in the Promotion playoffs and Premier League. This was followed in the mid-2000s by big victories for Derby. The rivalry has faded a bit with Leicester becoming a stable Premier League club and Derby slogging it out in the Championship. The fans still keep the rivalry going though, especially when the clubs meet in cup competitions.

And Leicester’s last rival is Coventry City. In the first decade of the 2000s, the two clubs played in the same division and had a number of fierce matches against one another. The two towns are separated by less than 20 miles and the rivalry is called the M69 Derby in honor of the road connecting the two towns. The reality is both clubs consider other clubs as their main rivals, so this rivalry isn’t quite as intense as others. But it’s still worth mentioning.

Stats & Records

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

Leicester have spent 51 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 4 major trophies including:

  • 1 Premier League title
  • 3 League Cups

The Foxes’ record first team league appearance holder is Adam Black with 528 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Arthur Chandler with 259 goals.

The Leicester’s record transfer purchase was Islam Slimani from Sporting Lisbon in Portugal on August 31, 2016 for about £29M .

And the club’s record transfer sale was N’Golo Kante to Chelsea FC on July 16, 2016 for about £30M.

One last interesting fact about the club: Leicester have won the 2nd division title an English record 7 times in their history.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Leicester 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.

Huddersfield Town 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 we’re talking about Huddersfield Town A.F.C.’s history in this video. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Huddersfield Town A.F.C., which stands for Association Football Club, is located in the northeastern part of the town of Huddersfield. Huddersfield is located in West Yorkshire in the northern part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League (the video was recorded in February 2018 when the club was still in the Premier League) and its home ground is called John Smith’s Stadium, which opened in 1994 and holds 24,500 people.

Origin

Huddersfield Town’s history begins in 1906 at a meeting in the Imperial Hotel in Huddersfield. There members of the Huddersfield & District Football Association and other interested parties discussed starting a professional soccer club in the town. Over the course of the next 2 years, local soccer enthusiasts acquired land for a ground in Leeds Road, and finally after a meeting in the Albert Hotel in June 1908, the local woollen manufacturer and main benefactor for the club, Mr. J Hilton Crowther, invested capital in the club, allowing them to form as Huddersfield Town AFC.

Nicknames

The club has a bunch of nicknames I’d like to highlight here.

Addressing the old nicknames first:

  • The club’s first ever kit color was red and earned them the nickname of Scarlet Runners.
  • The club’s original and current home ground is directly next to the river Colne, and the club was nicknamed the Colnesiders.
  • And the club entered the Football League in 1910, which was later than a lot of clubs and earned them the nickname of the Babes for a bit because they were new.

Now their more current nicknames are The Town and The Terriers

  • The Town is self-explanatory as it comes from the club’s official name.
  • The Terriers nickname was first introduced by the promotions manager named Bill Brooke for the 1969-1970 season. It came from the club’s terrier-like qualities of fitness and tenacity at that time. Also of note for the Terrier nickname, the very first Yorkshire Terrier to be registered with the Kennel Club in 1880 was named Huddersfield Ben. See how it all ties together?

Crest

The club’s current crest has been used since 2002, but can trace its roots throughout the club’s history.

Huddesfield Town AFC’s first crest

The club’s first crest was inspired by the coat of arms for the Ramsden family who previously owned the land that Huddersfield is located on today.

Huddersfield Town AFC’s modern crest

Today’s crest is a redesign of that Ramsden family crest and incorporates other elements from the club’s history. The 3 stars at the top of the crest represent Huddersfield’s 3 consecutive first division titles from 1924-1926. At the top of the shield is a Yorkshire terrier – a reference to the club’s nickname adopted in 1969 – with the dogs paw on a soccer ball. The knight’s helmet that the dog is standing on and the decorative blue and white leaves on the side of the crest both come from the Ramsden’s family coat of arms.

Right underneath the knight’s helmet are blue and white vertical stripes, which are the club’s colors that they’ve been playing in for about a century. Directly under that is a black Chevron representing the river Colne (Kone) – the local river – with 2 white roses in the middle of the Chevron. The white roses of Yorkshire represent Yorkshire pride. And the tower in the crest is the Victoria Tower or Jubilee Tower. It’s one of the most recognizable local landmarks. And obviously the text of Huddersfield Town in the scroll is a reference to the club’s name.

Additionally, sometimes the club will have the Latin phrase of ‘Juvat impigros Deo’, meaning ‘God aids the diligent’ which comes from the Ramsden’s family motto.

Important Events

I’d like to discuss 2 important events in the club’s history in this section.

On April 12, 1926 Huddersfield Town became the first English club ever to record 3 consecutive first division titles. They beat Bolton Wanderers 3-0 on this day to secure the title with 2 matches remaining. The club set many records that season including most away goals scored (42) and most undefeated consecutive away games (18). While 3 other clubs have equaled Huddersfield’s record of 3 consecutive first division titles, no club has been able to beat this record.

The other event I’d like to discuss is a recent one. On Monday May 29, 2017, Huddersfield beat Reading FC in dramatic fashion of the Championship (2nd division) playoff final. The match ended 0-0 with Reading taking a 3-1 lead in penalties before Huddersfield made a dramatic comeback and prevailed 4-3. The result saw the club qualify for the Premier League for the first time in their history. Their last top flight action took place in 1972, a full 20 years before the Premier League was created.

Supporters

There is no official nickname for supporters but most people generally go by Town supporters. The most famous fan is Sir Patrick Stewart who most people know as professor X from X-Men films or Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek.

Noteworthy Players

Denis Law is likely Huddersfield’s most talented player ever. He made his debut as a 16 year-old and starred for a few years before he was sold for a then record British fee to Manchester City. He went on to have a world-class career and is in both the English and Scottish Football Hall of Fames.

Other players of note are Andy Booth, Frank Worthington and Ray Wilson who all had great careers with the club and deserve mention but none can really match the talent or career of Denis Law.

Noteworthy Managers

I’d like to discuss 2 managers in this section: Herbert Chapman and Bill Shankly.

Herbert Chapman joined Huddersfield in 1920 and took over as manager in the spring of 1921. He went on to win 2 first division titles and an FA cup before departing for Arsenal in 1925. At Arsenal he revolutionized the manager position and was an absolute visionary in a lot of what he did. Though most people remember him for his time at Arsenal, he led Huddersfield during the greatest period in the club’s history.

The other manager, Bill Shankly, was appointed Huddersfield manager in November 1956 with the club having been relegated the season before. Shankly led the team to 3 consecutive mid-tables finishes in the 2nd division before Liverpool tempted him away from Huddersfield in December 1959. He has a place in Huddersfield history as the man who unearthed and developed the prodigious talent of 16 year-old Denis Law. Shankly went on to become a legendary manager with Liverpool.

Both managers went on to become more famous with other clubs but certainly made their mark in Huddersfield history.

Rivals

The Terriers have no rivals currently in the Premier League with the club’s main rivals being Leeds United and Bradford City.

Matches between these 3 clubs are called West Yorkshire Derbies due to all 3 clubs playing in… surprise… West Yorkshire.

The rivalry with Leeds has only heated up in recent years. Huddersfield enjoyed their greatest successes in the 1920s while Leeds’ greatest times came in the 1960s and ’70s. Only recently have the two clubs been in the same lower divisions consistently. There’s a natural rivalry due to the proximity of the two clubs and fanbases.

The rivalry with Bradford City is a bit more robust. Both Huddersfield and Bradford have been in the lower divisions of the English league for decades with the exception of Huddersfield’s recent promotion to the Premier League. One of the most notable matches between the clubs happened on February 1, 1997. Huddersfield defender Kevin Gray, broke the leg of Bradford City striker Gordon Watson with a horrific sliding tackle. Watson never really recovered and actually won a lawsuit against Gray for damages as a result of this negligent tackle worth £900K. This certainly helped stoke the rivalry flames which still continue.

Stats & Records

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

Huddersfield have spent 31 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 4 major trophies including:

  • 3 first division titles
  • 1 FA Cup

The club’s record first team league appearance holder is Billy Smith with 520 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is George Brown with 159 goals.

The Terriers’ record transfer purchase was Alex Pritchard from Norwich City on January 12, 2018 for about £12M initially with potential £2M in add-ons.

And Huddersfield’s record transfer sale was Jordan Rhodes to Blackburn Rovers in August of 2012 for about £8M.

One last interesting fact about the club: Huddersfield’s home ground has blue and claret seats. The blue is for the soccer club and the claret is for the Rugby team that also shares the stadium.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Huddersfield Town Association 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.

Everton 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 we’re talking about Everton Football Club’s history in this video. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Everton FC is located in the northeastern part of the city of Liverpool. Liverpool is located in the northwest part of England in the United Kingdom. Everton currently play in the Premier League. The club’s home ground is called Goodison Park, which was opened in 1892 and holds 39,572 people. Goodison was the first major soccer specific stadium built in England with stands and proper turnstiles. It’s also worth noting the club is planning to build a new stadium a couple miles west at the Bramley Moore Dock, set to open in 2022.

Origin

Everton FC’s history begins with St. Domingo Methodist Church, which was located in the Everton district of the city of Liverpool. In 1877, the church started a cricket team for young people in the parish. Because cricket can only be played in the summer, they started the St. Domingo Football Club one year later in 1878. It quickly became popular and people outside of the church’s congregation wanted to join. 

So in November 1879, the club’s name was changed to Everton Football Club at a meeting in the Queen’s Head Hotel, near Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House, which we’ll discuss in our next section. The Everton name was a reference to the neighborhood where the church was located, but interestingly, the club has never actually been based in the district of Everton in Liverpool.

Nicknames

The club’s has 2 nicknames (1) the Blues and (2) the Toffees.

The ‘Blues’ nickname comes from Everton’s kit, which is primarily blue. It’s only really used locally to differentiate the club from Liverpool FC, who wear primarily red.

The Toffees nickname originates from the club’s association with two local Toffee Shops. ‘Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House’ which we mentioned in our previous section, and ‘Mother Noblett’s Toffee Shop’. These two shops were rivals and competed for Everton fans as customers before and after matches in the 1890s. Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House actually invented the famous Everton Toffees and were kind of the first candy shop on the scene at Everton.

Mother Noblett’s Toffee Shop then invented Everton Mints to compete. The mints became a huge success, which prompted Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House to strike up an innovative deal with the club to hand out Everton Toffees before the match kick-off. The club allowed it and the Everton Toffee Lady has become a tradition at the club handing out candy before the match. Funny enough though the “toffees” thrown before matches these days are usually “Everton Mints” since they were more popular.

With the history of these Toffee shops and their close affiliation with the club, the nickname came about and has stuck.

Crest

The club crest used today can be traced back to a design from 1938 when the Club’s Secretary, Theo Kelly, was asked to design a crest which would be used on official Club neck-ties. The crest didn’t make it onto kits until 1978 and versions of it have been used ever since.

Kelly’s design incorporated the Everton Tower, also called Price Rupert’s Tower, which is in the heart of the Everton district of the city. The Tower was originally a lock-up generally used to house criminals who committed smaller crimes for a night until they could be brought in front of the magistrates (or judges).

It’s a local landmark and is located very close to the Queens Head Hotel, where the club officially changed their name to Everton FC in 1879. At the bottom of the crest are the latin words “Nil satis nisi optimum” which translates to ‘nothing but the best is good enough’ and is the club’s motto. The year 1878 is a reference to the year the club was founded and the two laurel wreaths represent the Olympian sign of success.

Important Events

Obviously, the meeting in 1879 that changed the club’s name was very important in the club’s history, but since we’ve already discussed that, I want to highlight 3 other important events/time periods in the club’s history.

(1) Everton FC was one of the founding members of the Football League on April 17th, 1888 at the Royal Hotel in Manchester. This league would grow and evolve into the English football pyramid and over 100 years later, eventually become the Premier League.

(2) In the 1927-1928 season Everton forward Dixie Dean scored a record 60 League goals in 38 matches in the English First Division. This is still a record that stands today. Remarkably, he needed 7 goals in his final 2 matches to reach this record. He scored 4 against Burnley in the 2nd to last match of the season before scoring a hattrick on May 5, 1927 against Arsenal in a 3-3 draw. His record setting 60th goal came in the 82nd minute on a header from a corner kick. It’s unlikely that this record will ever be broken.

(3) The 1984-1985 season for Everton FC was truly remarkable. The Toffees crushed many teams along the way and went through multiple runs of many matches without suffering defeat. The club won the league by 13 points that season, securing the title on May 6, 1985 against Queens Park Rangers in a 2-0 victory with 5 matches remaining in the season. Everton amassed 90 points, scoring 88 goals and going unbeaten from January to May over the course of 28 matches. The club was utterly dominant and also won the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup that season, beating Rapid Vienna 3-1 on May 15, 1985.

There are many other important events in the club’s history but for the sake of time, let’s keep this thing moving.

Supporters

There is no official nickname for supporters, but they often take on the nicknames of either Toffees or Evertonians and the name of their city around the world. I.e. the New York Evertonians or the Toronto Toffees.

Most interestingly, Goodison Park claims to be the only stadium in the world with a church in one corner of the stadium (St. Luke’s).

Noteworthy Players

Everton have had a lot of great players but I’m only going to highlight a few of them here.

  • Dixie Dean – Everton’s record goalscorer and has a statue outside Goodison Park.
  • Gary Lineker – Only with Everton for a few seasons, but won the 1986 Golden Boot (given to the tournament’s top scorer) at the World Cup while still an Everton player before he was sold to Barcelona. Most people know him nowadays as a famous pundit for the Premier League.
  • Kevin Ratcliffe – was captain for Everton in the 1980s while the club enjoyed one of their best ever spells, winning multiple trophies.
  • Wayne Rooney – began and looks to be ending his career with his boyhood club of Everton. In between, he became Manchester United and England’s all-time record goalscorer.

Noteworthy Managers

I’d like to discuss 2 managers in this section: Howard Kendall and David Moyes.

Howard Kendall took over as player manager in 1981 and managed Everton to the highest heights in the club’s history. He led the club to the 1983-1984 FA Cup, 1984-1985 First Division title along with the European Cup Winners’ Cup that season. And he concluded his trophy run with the 1986-1987 First Division title. He moved abroad for a few seasons before returning to Everton on two separate occasions in the ’90s but couldn’t replicate his success from the ’80s. He remains the club’s greatest and most successful manager.

Another manager who I’d like to mention here has fallen on hard times recently but had a great run with the club for over a decade. That is David Moyes. Moyes became Everton manager in the spring of 2002 and turned the club from perennial relegation battlers into a stable Premier League club that still to this day can compete for spots in the European places in the table (meaning finishing in the top 7 clubs of the Premier League). Though he left in 2013 having won 0 trophies in his 12 years with the club and hasn’t enjoyed much success managing other clubs, Moyes was instrumental in building Everton into the stable Premier League club we know today.

Rivals

Liverpool FC are Everton’s biggest rival with matches between the sides being called Merseyside Derbies in reference to the county that the city of Liverpool resides in and the local river. It’s a local rivalry as the 2 clubs play in stadiums less than 1 mile apart and the rivalry dates back to Liverpool FC’s founding. Everton actually played at Anfield, which is Liverpool’s home ground, but there was a rift between the ownership group and the club left Anfield. The owner of Anfield then left the Everton board and started his own club, Liverpool FC.

Though this happened in the 1890s, the rivalry didn’t really heat up until the 1980s when both clubs became dominant both in the English first division and European competitions. The two clubs have played each other over 230 times. Interestingly, matches are incredibly intense on the pitch and in the stands, but there is no hatred between the fans seen in other rivalries. It’s common to see families made up of both Liverpool and Everton supporters, which makes this one of the most unusual derbies in England.

Stats & Records

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

Everton have spent 115 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 15 major trophies including:

  • 9 first division titles
  • 5 FA Cups
  • 1 European Cup Winners’ Cup

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Neville Southall with 750 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Dixie Dean with 383 goals.

The Toffee’s all-time clean sheet record  is held by Neville Southall with 269.

The club’s record transfer purchase was Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea City on August 16, 2017 for about £45M.

And Everton’s record transfer sale was Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United on July 10, 2017 for about £75M initially.

One last interesting fact about the club: Everton have spent more seasons in the top flight than any other English club (115 seasons). They have only had 4 league seasons outside the top flight since it began in 1888.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Everton 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.

Crystal Palace 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 series of videos, we’re discussing the history of soccer clubs around the world. In this video, we’re talking about Crystal Palace Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Crystal Palace FC is located in the southern part of the city of London. London is located in the southern-central part of England in the United Kingdom. Palace currently play in the Premier League. The club’s home ground is called Selhurst Park, which was opened in 1924 and holds 26,309 people.

Origin

Crystal Palace FC were officially formed in 1905, but the club can trace its origin to a club formed in 1861. Palace’s story begins with a famous glass and iron palace nicknamed the Crystal Palace that was built for the Great Exhibition of Hyde Park in 1851 in London. It was moved to South London a few years later and converted to a theme park/tourist attraction. Employees of the Crystal Palace formed a team by that name in 1861. That club competed for 15 years including in the inaugural FA cup competition in 1871 but that club dissolved in 1876.

Matches were still played at the Crystal Palace grounds even after the club’s dissolution including all FA Cup finals from 1895 to 1914. By 1904, the Crystal Palace ground owners decided to form a club. When they applied to join the FA, they were rejected on the basis that they’d have an unfair home advantage in the FA cup.

The owners formed a separate company and club that would lease the Crystal Palace ground for its home matches, which for some reason was good enough for the FA. Not sure why that solved the homefield advantage issue, but the FA accepted Crystal Palace in 1905 into the 2nd division of the Southern League.

Nicknames

The club’s nicknames are (1) Palace, (2) The Glaziers, and (3) The Eagles.

The Palace nickname is derived from the club’s name.

The Glaziers nickname was a reference to the actual Crystal Palace structure that the club played near. The building was a giant iron & glass structure that often required maintenance. Glaziers are glassworkers and these workers often attended Palace matches. Additionally, the original Crystal palace formed in the 1860s had actual Glaziers as players on the squad, hence the nickname sticking.

The Glazier nickname was used from the early days of the club up to 1973. In ’73, Malcolm Allison took over as manager and wanted to change the nickname and culture of the club. He chose the Eagles as a nickname in reference to Benfica, the Portuguese club who was one of the most successful clubs in Europe at that time. Palace have been called the Eagles ever since.

Crest

With the nickname change to Eagles, the club updated its crest in 1973.

Prior to 1973, the club used various crests that usually included the initials CPFC, the words Crystal Palace, and/or an image of the Crystal Palace building.

Crystal Palace FC crest

The crest since the nickname change to Eagles in the 70s has been fairly similar to the current crest.

Today’s crest is an aggressive looking Eagle landing on a soccer ball in front of the Crystal Palace building and its famous towers that have since been destroyed by fire and WWII. The words Crystal Palace FC are in a scroll at the bottom.

It’s a pretty straight forward crest.

Important Events

I’d like to talk about 3 important events in the Eagles’ history.

We’ve already mentioned him, but Malcolm Allison’s appointment in April 1973 was instrumental in shaping the modern branding of Crystal Palace that we know today. He changed the kits/jerseys from the Aston Villa inspired colors that the club had worn for nearly all of its existence to FC Barcelona inspired colors due to Barcelona’s European success at the time. We’ve already discussed the nickname change to Eagles which has shaped the club’s modern Crest. Allison didn’t have much on field success, but was instrumental in shaping the branding of Palace that we know & recognize today.

Skipping ahead a few decades, the next event I’d like to discuss happened on June 1, 2010. On this date, Steve Parish led a consortium of 3 other investors who were all lifelong Palace fans to rescue the club from administration (bankruptcy) and potential liquidation. Earlier that year, Palace actually went into bankruptcy and were issued a 10 point deduction in the table. The team fought valiantly, and dramatically retained their place in the Championship (2nd division) on the final day of that season. Buoyed by remaining in the Championship and being on solid financial footing, the club stabilized and qualified for the Premier League in 2013, where they’ve remained.

Speaking of 2013, the last event I’d like to bring up is that Championship playoff final from 2013 that qualified Palace for the Premier League. On May 27, 2013, Palace beat Watford 1-0 in the Championship playoff to gain promotion to the Premier League. Wilfried Zaha earned a penalty that Kevin Phillips converted in a match that was said to be worth £120M. Palace has enjoyed a nice run in the Premier League since 2013, which has only been less than a decade after potentially being liquidated.

Supporters

Palace supporters don’t have a formal nickname, but Selhurst Park is known for having one of the best atmospheres in the Premier League. The Eagles’ most passionate fans stand during matches in the Holmesdale Stand and can be heard throughout the match. I actually was fortunate enough to attend a match in person with my brothers in 2014 and we all left very impressed by these fans.

Noteworthy Players

Palace has had rather limited top flight success, so I’m only going to highlight a few players.

Geoff Thomas is a club legend who captained Palace through their greatest period in the late 80s and early 90s.

Ian Wright really exploded on the professional scene and bagged loads of goals for Palace before being sold to Arsenal for a record fee at the time. He went on to win many trophies with Arsenal and is still regarded as one of the greatest goal scorers in Arsenal and the English National Team’s history.

And lastly, I’d like to mention Wilfried Zaha who is an incredibly talented player on today’s Crystal Palace squad and Julian Speroni who is a modern legend for the club, making 400 appearances for the club over 14 years.

Noteworthy Managers

Palace aren’t exactly known for stability at the manager position with many managers having multiple stints with the club over the clubs existence. I’ve already mentioned Malcolm Allison & his contributions to the club.

Other managers include:

Terry Venables who had 2 stints with the club and was a famous player from the 60s and 70s.

Edmund Goodman is Palace’s longest serving manager as he managed the club from 1907 to 1925.

Also, current manager Roy Hodgson has had a long, storied managerial career all over the world and deserves mention here.

Rivals

Palace’s main rival is Brighton & Hove Albion. The two clubs played each other many times over the years in the lower divisions and the rivalry, really kicked off in 1976.

In the summer of ’76, Palace appointed Terry Venables as manager with Albion naming Alan Mullery as their new manager. Those two individuals were already rivals, stemming from their time as teammates at Tottenham. Both clubs targeted gaining promotion out of the 3rd division at the start of that season. The clubs then met 5 times over the course of the season with the 4th meeting (an FA Cup replay match on December 6, 1976) really setting things off.

After a controversial ending to the match, a Palace fan poured hot coffee on the Albion manager. Mullery responded by throwing change from his pocket on the floor, screaming “That’s all you’re worth, Crystal Palace”, and giving some “none too polite signs” with his fingers to the fans. The combination of both sides gunning for promotion, meeting so many times in one season, and the incident with Mullery created a fierce rivalry that continues to this day.

It’s been helpful that the two sides have met in many meaningful matches since that December 1976 FA Cup match. With the most important recent match being a 2013 playoff promotion match that involved Palace advancing over Albion.

Palace’s other rivals include lower division clubs Charlton Athletic, Millwall and AFC Wimbledon. All are based in south London and location often breeds rivalry.

Millwall and Palace have played against each other since 1906 including over 130 times which helps stoke the rivalry.

Charlton views Palace as their main rival but the feeling isn’t quite reciprocated as I’ve already described Brighton & Hove as Palace’s main rival.

And Wimbledon has gone through a relocation and rebirth, so though Palace and Wimbledon are local rivals, each consider another club to be the main rivals.

Stats & Records

The stats and records I’m about to mention are as of February 2018 when I am recording this video.

Crystal Palace have spent 18 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has no major trophies but do have a handful of lower division titles. Palace also have 2 FA Cup runner’s up medals from 1990 and 2016.

The club’s biggest trophy ever came in 1991 when the club won the Zenith Data Systems Cup. What the heck is that? It was a competition created by English clubs after they were barred from European competition in the late 80s and early 90s. It was played between English clubs in the top 2 divisions and Palace won it once.

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Jim Cannon with 660 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Peter Simpson with 165 goals.

Currently Nigel Martyn holds the club’s all-time clean sheet record with 111, but Julian Speroni, who is the club’s current 2nd choice keeper, has 109 career clean sheets and could break the career record at some point in the future if he gets any more opportunities to play. (UPDATE FROM NOVEMBER 2019: Speroni left Crystal Palace with 112 clean sheets and is the club’s all-time clean sheet record holder)

The club’s record transfer purchase was Christian Benteke from Liverpool FC on August 20, 2016 for about £27M initially plus up to £5M in add-ons.

Palace’s record transfer sale was Yannick Bolasie to Everton FC on August 15, 2016 for £25M initially and a potential £5M more in add-ons.

One last interesting fact about Crystal Palace FC: the club is the only team in Premier League history to have been relegated after finishing fourth bottom. This happened at the end of the 1994/95 season, when the Premier League went from 22 to 20 clubs.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Crystal Palace 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.

Chelsea 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 series of videos, we’re discussing the history of soccer clubs around the world. In this video, we’re discussing Chelsea Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Chelsea FC is located in the southwest, central part of the city of London. Funny enough, the club’s home ground is actually in the Fulham neighborhood, not Chelsea proper. London is located in the southern-central part of England in the United Kingdom. Chelsea currently play in the Premier League. The club’s home ground is called Stamford Bridge, which was built in 1905 and holds 41,623 people.

Origin

Chelsea’s founding story begins in 1904 when Gus Mears bought the London Athletics Club and some property surrounding it. His goal was to build a soccer stadium and lease it to a local club. Mears began building Stamford Bridge and invited Fulham FC to move into the stadium once it was completed, but they declined.

Mears considered selling the property but was persuaded to consider starting his own soccer club by Frederick Parker. Mears was an amateur soccer player in his youth and loved the game, so took to this idea. On March 10, 1905, at the Rising Sun Pub, Mears along with a handful of other founding directors started Chelsea FC as a way to utilize Stamford Bridge.

They still needed to find a league to play in and on the back of their new, state of the art stadium, plus strong player signings, they were admitted to the Football League’s Division Two. Chelsea were the first and only club to have ever been admitted to the Football League without ever having kicked a ball.

Nicknames

Chelsea have two nicknames that I’d like to discuss (1) “The Pensioners”, which is their old nickname and (2) “The Blues”, which is their current nickname.

Chelsea were called The Pensioners until the mid-1950s because their home stadium is in close proximity to the famous Royal Hospital Chelsea. The hospital houses British war veterans – who’re known as Pensioners. The club adopted the crest of the pensioners in 1905, which we’ll show in our next segment, and carried the nickname of Pensioners until Ted Drake became manager in the 1950s.

Drake was strongly against the nickname due to his belief it made the club seem old. Since Chelsea played in blue kits, fans began calling them the blues, which has been the club’s nickname ever since the mid-50s.

Crest

As we just discussed, Chelsea’s original crest was that of a pensioner.

Chelsea FC’s original crest

It looked like an old war veteran with a hat, beard, and war medals on his chest. This was used from the club’s founding until 1952 when Ted Drake insisted on a change.

A simplified, temporary crest with just the letters CFC intertwined was used for 1 season before the club debuted a new crest in 1953.

Chelsea FC’s crest first used in 1953

In the new crest, a blue lion holding a golden staff was in the middle of a circle.

The lion was a reference to the family coat of arms for the club’s first president, Earl Cadogan. The golden staff or crozier is a reference to the Abbott of Westminster, who was the leader of the church in Westminster Abbey, the famous nearby church in London.

Around the outside of the circle were 3 roses and 2 soccer balls. The roses were a reference to England and the 2 soccer balls were obviously a reference to Chelsea playing the sport of soccer. Chelsea Football Club is written at the bottom of the crest.

This crest was changed in the ’80s due to trademark complications before the current crest was implemented in the 2004-2005 season to celebrate the club’s 100 year anniversary.

Chelsea FC’s modern crest

The club went back to the crest created in 1953 with a couple minor tweaks including making the lion and crozier blue and dropping one of the roses to create symmetry in the logo.

The crest used today is more or less the same crest created in the 1950s but is able to be trademarked.

Important Events

A historic club like Chelsea has many important events in their history and I’d like to discuss four of them now.

On April 23, 1955, Chelsea FC beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 to secure their first ever 1st division title. The title was a shock as most people expected Chelsea to finish in the bottom half of the table that season, but Ted Drake was able to lead the club to claim their first ever top flight championship in their 50th year of existence.

The next event happened about 3 decades later. On April 2, 1982, Chelsea was sold from the founding Mears family to a businessman named Ken Bates for £1. The club had been underperforming on the pitch for years and were about £1.5M in debt. They were in danger of going bankrupt until Bates came to the rescue. Bates wasn’t exactly loved by all Chelsea fans throughout his ownership but he did steer the club back to stability and built a competitive squad over his 20 years of ownership. Then, Roman Abramovich entered the picture, which brings us to the next most important event I’d like to highlight.

Roman Abramovich officially bought the club from Ken Bates on July 1, 2003 for £140M. That was a record sale for an English club at the time. With Abramovich’s ownership came a huge influx of money and a changing of the way the Premier League and its clubs did business. Abramovich has attracted some of the best players and managers, which has seen Chelsea’s rise to become one of the most successful club’s in English soccer history. Abramovich’s culminating achievement is the last important event I’ll cover in this section.

On May 19, 2012, Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the Champions League final at Bayern’s home ground of the Allianz Arena. Bayern took a lead late in the match, but Chelsea was able to level in the 85th minute through club legend Didier Drogba. The match ended 1-1 with Chelsea winning 4-3 on penalties after 7 rounds. It was a wonderful redemption for the club who had lost painfully on penalties in the 2008 Champions League final to Manchester United. Chelsea remains the first and only London based club to have won the Champions League/UEFA European Cup.

Supporters

There are no nicknames for Chelsea fans but the most passionate fans in the stadium are located in the Shed End and Matthew Harding Stand behind each goal at opposite ends of Stamford Bridge.

Also fans who’re overseas or in other areas will generally adopt their city’s name plus Blues for an official supporters’ club.

Noteworthy Players

Chelsea have had many great players in their history. Two modern legends I’d like to highlight are Frank Lampard and John Terry.

Frank Lampard is the club’s all-time record scorer as a midfielder and was a model professional in every way during his long career with Chelsea.

John Terry on the other hand was notable for both onfield and off field exploits of which there were many of both. He was club captain for many years and nearly spent his entire professional playing career with the club.

Peter Osgood, Jimmy Greaves, Ruud Gullit, Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard, and many others are worth mentioning here as well but for the sake of time, we need to keep moving.

Noteworthy Managers

Chelsea have had a slew of great managers in their history.

I’ve already mentioned Ted Drake who managed from 1952-1961. In addition to changing the club’s nickname, Drake managed Chelsea to their first ever first division title and changed the club’s philosophy with regards to training, as well as scouting lower leagues for unidentified talent.

Jose Mourinho is the other main manager I wanted to discuss here. He managed at Chelsea in two separate stints from 2004-07 and 2013-2015. His self-appointed nickname of the “Special One” is known to most of the soccer world at this point. He lived up to the nickname almost immediately and won a Premier League title in his first season with a then record 95 points for the season. In both his stints combined he won 3 Premier League titles, 2 League Cups, and an FA Cup with Chelsea. He has also won League and European titles at other clubs and is one of the most decorated managers in Chelsea history.

I also wanted to mention Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte as two of the most respected & well-known recent managers who’ve done well at Chelsea and elsewhere.

Rivals

Chelsea have many rivals.

Fulham & QPR are Chelsea’s historic and closest geographical rivals. But those rivalries have faded a bit with Chelsea’s rise to the top of English soccer and those clubs’ struggles. So, We will focus on Chelsea’s 3 main Premier League rivals in this section: Arsenal, Tottenham, & Manchester United.

Like we discussed in our Arsenal video, the rivalry between Chelsea and Arsenal has really heated up in the last 3 decades. There were consequential and fiery matches prior to the 90s, but the rivalry really started gaining traction during this time period. Chelsea gave Arsenal their only loss in the 1990-91 season. And there were a handful of other intense matches in the 90s. When Roman Abramovich became owner of Chelsea in the early 2000s, things were taken to another level. Chelsea became immediate title contenders and with the competition between both clubs for trophies and top players over the last 2 decades, the rivalry has grown into something more tangible. The rivalry was also stoked by Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger’s managerial feuds in the media and on the touchline.

Chelsea’s Tottenham rivalry can be traced back to the 1967 FA Cup final, which was the first 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. Spurs won that 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. None more so than in 2016 with the match dubbed “The Battle At the Bridge.” Tottenham was chasing Leicester City in the league and needed to win at Stamford Bridge to keep their 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.

Lastly, Manchester United is considered a Chelsea rival due to Manchester United’s role as the most decorated English club at least as far as domestic titles and brand value is concerned. Under the Roman Abramovich ownership, anything less than championships are unacceptable, which means the two clubs are constantly competing for players and in the table. The rivalry has been helped by larger than life managers in Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. Nowadays, Jose Mourinho is on the Manchester side and trading words in the press with Antonio Conte. This rivalry doesn’t feel quite as heated as the rivalry with the two London clubs, but the two clubs are definitely still rivals.

Stats & Records

The stats and records I’m about to mention are as of February 2018 when I am recording this video.

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

The club has 22 major trophies including:

  • 7 FA Cups
  • 6 First Division/ Premier League Titles
  • 5 League Cups
  • 2 UEFA Cup Winner’s Cups
  • 1 Champions’ League
  • 1 Europa League

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Ron Harris with 795 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Frank Lampard with 211 goals.

Petr Cech holds the club’s all-time clean sheet record with 227 clean sheets in starts, plus 1 additional clean sheet where he played part of the match.

The club’s record transfer purchase was Álvaro Morata from Real Madrid on July 21, 2017 for about £58M initially plus up to £12M in add-ons.

And Chelsea’s record transfer sale was Diego Costa to Atletico Madrid on January 1, 2018 for about £57M. The Costa deal was agreed in September 2017 but due to Atletico’s transfer ban, it didn’t process until January.

One last interesting fact about Chelsea FC: the club currently holds the record for the highest ever points total for a league season (95 points – this has since been broken by Manchester City with 100 points in 2017-2018) and the fewest goals conceded during a league season (15 goals). Both those records occurred in the 2004-2005 season under the management of Jose Mourinho.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Chelsea 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.

Burnley 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 series of videos, we’re discussing the history of soccer clubs around the world. Next up is Burnley Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

(Title Slides)

Burnley FC is located in the eastern part of the town of Burnley. The town is located in the Northwestern part of England in the United Kingdom. Burnley currently play in the Premier League. The club’s home ground is called Turf Moor, which opened in 1883, and holds 22,546 people.

Origin

Burnley traces its roots back to the 1870s with rugby clubs playing in the area but officially switched to a soccer club in 1882. The story is management for Burnley Rovers met at the Bull Hotel on May 18, 1882. At this meeting, management voted to change from playing under the rugby rules to playing under the FA rules (which were the rules of soccer). In the report from the meeting, the proposal for change was proposed by a man named Harry Bradshaw and the proposal obviously passed, otherwise I wouldn’t be telling you about the club right now.

The main driver for the change was not sporting related, but rather was motivated by monetary incentives. The club had run a deficit the previous year and thought there was more financial opportunities in the world of soccer. By that summer, the ‘Rovers’ name was dropped and the club became Burnley Football Club. They then moved into Turf Moor in the Spring of 1883 and have been there ever since.

Nicknames

The club is nicknamed ‘The Clarets’.

This nickname refers to the club’s colors of claret and blue.

Burnley didn’t always play in those colors. The club changed colors a handful of times in their early years, but in 1911, they changed to the colors of claret and blue to emulate Aston Villa, who was the most successful club at the time. Burnley have been those colors ever since.

Crest

Now let’s discuss the crest.

Burnley FC’s crest

Current crest has been used since 2010.

The stork at the top is a reference to the Starkie family who were a prominent family in the area. In the stork’s beak, it is holding the Delacy knot, which is the badge of the Delacy family who were the ruling family in the Burnley area dating back to medieval times. The stork is standing on a hill surrounded by cotton plants which was the main industry for the town of Burnley.

The hand represents the town motto of “Hold to the Truth.”

The bees on either side of the hand reference the town’s hard working attitude and derive from the saying, “Busy as a bee.” The Bees also are in reference to Turf Moor’s old end of the ground, which was nicknamed the Beehole.

The weird wavy looking arrow in the middle of the crest represents the local river Brun.

The lion in the bottom middle of the shield represents royalty as Burnley were the first club to have someone from the monarchy visit their ground. This occurred in 1886 when Prince Albert attended the first half of their match against Bolton.

The ribbon at the bottom, which now says Burnley Football Club, used to have a Latin saying which I will now butcher the pronounciation, “Pretiumque Et Causa Laboris”. This translates as “the prize and the cause of our labours.”

Important Events

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

First up, Burnley 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 would evolve into the Premier League a century later.

The next event happened on April 25, 1914. On this date, Burnley won their first and only FA cup trophy, beating Liverpool 1-0 in the final. Burnley’s goal was scored by Bert Freeman, whose father travelled 13,000 miles from Australia to see his son score & win the cup for Burnley. That must have been one hell of a trip. In addition to Burnley winning the cup, this final was significant for a couple other reasons. (1) It was the first final to be played with the current reigning monarch in attendance – who was King George V. (2) It was the last FA Cup final before WWI put all soccer on hold for a few years.

The next event happened in the 1920-1921 season when Burnley won their first top flight title. Along the way, the club had a 30 match unbeaten streak in the league. This remained an English record until Arsenal broke it in the early 2000s.

The second to last event I want to discuss happened on July 25th, 1955 when Burnley opened Gawthorpe training grounds. The facility was the brainchild of Manager Alan Brown. His concept was to have a training ground away from the stadium where players could be properly trained and young players could be schooled and developed. It was one of the first facilities of its kind and provided the blueprint for the way modern clubs operate today. Very progressive thinking from the club.

And finally, the last important event I’ll cover in this video came on May 9, 1987. Burnley was in the 4th division and was in danger of being relegated out of the Football League (meaning they would become semi-professional, which is largely seen as a death sentence for professional clubs). The club needed to beat Leyton Orient on this day. If Burnley lost the match, they would have been the first of the 12 founding clubs for the Football League to drop out of the pyramid through sporting merit, which was obviously something they wanted to avoid. Burnley scraped together a 2-1 victory to remain in the Football League and began their rise up to the Premier League where they are today.

Supporters

No official supporters group nicknames for Burnley fans. Something interesting though is that Burnley’s most famous fan is Prince Charles who is the current heir to the British Throne.

Noteworthy Players

Now let’s talk about some of Burnley’s most famous players.

Jimmy McIlroy is widely regarded as the greatest player in the club’s history. He made almost 500 appearances for the club, scoring 131 goals between 1950 and 1963. He won a first division title with the club in 1960 and was recognized as a world class player during his playing career.

Jimmy Adamson was captain of the 1960 1st division title winning squad. He spent his whole 17-year playing career at Burnley, also managing the club for 6 seasons after he retired.

While those first 2 are legends at Burnley, these next 2 are definitely famous, but more so for their time spent elsewhere.

Paul Gascoigne is famous for his on field performances early in his career, but by the time he joined Burnley on the downside of his career, he was not the same player. Still very famous throughout England, he’s not known for his time at Burnley, though does deserve mention here due to his immense fame.

Ian wright played for Burnley in the last half of his final season in 2000. Wright was and still is one of the most prolific goal scorers in both the English National Team and Arsenal’s history.

Noteworthy Managers

Now let’s discuss some of Burnley’s famous managers.

John Haworth was manager of the club from July 1910 to December 1924. He was instrumental in changing the club’s colors to claret and blue. He also led Burnley out of the second division and won the FA Cup in addition to their first 1st Division title. He was the manager that oversaw Burnley’s record 30-match unbeaten run. He unfortunately contracted pneumonia while still manager of Burnley and passed away in December 1924.

Another famous manager was Alan Brown, who I mentioned earlier. Brown was only in charge for 3 years from 1954-1957, but he was instrumental in getting the training ground built and was adamant about youth development rather than buying players. He established Burnley as a great defensive squad and went on to many other managerial jobs throughout England. Many managers cite him as an influence for their careers including Brian Clough.

It’s also worth pointing out that Burnley’s current manager, Sean Dyche, has been making a name for himself as a great defensive tactician and is leading Burnley to great things given their small budget and profile when compared to most of the other Premier League clubs. So keep an eye on him.

Rivals

Now it’s time to talk about rivalries.

Burnley’s biggest and most passionate rivalry is with nearby East Lancashire neighbors Blackburn Rovers. Both clubs were founding members of the Football League in 1888 and only 8 miles separate the 2 towns. There were a handful of incidents in some matches over the course of about 80 years but the rivalry was by most accounts pretty tame until the 1970s. With the rise of hooliganism in the 1970s and the proximity between the two towns, the rivalry turned violent. This was aided by the two towns sharing the same rail line. While the violence isn’t quite as prevalent these days, the animosity between the two sets of fans and players is still felt today.

Given the distance between the towns, almost 130 years of matches being played against each other, and the hooligan history, this makes for an intense rivalry.

Stats & Records

Time to talk about some stats & records as of February 2018 when we are recording this video:

Burnley have spent 55 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has 3 major trophies including:

  • 1 FA Cup
  • 2 First Division Titles

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Jerry Dawson with 522 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is George Beel with 187 goals.

The club’s record transfer purchase was Chris Wood from Leeds United on August 21, 2017 for about £15M.

The club’s record transfer sale was Michael Keane to Everton FC on July 3, 2017 for about £26M.

And one last interesting fact about Burnley FC: the club is one of only three clubs to have won all four professional divisional titles in the English Football league pyramid.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Burnley FC. 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.

Brighton & Hove 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 series of videos, we’re discussing the history of soccer clubs around the world. Next up is Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Brighton & Hove Albion FC is located in the far northeastern part of the town of Brighton. It is located in the city of Brighton & Hove, which are 2 separate towns that have since become recognized as one city. The city is located directly south of London on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. Albion currently play in the Premier League. The club’s home ground is called the American Express Community Stadium, which opened in 2011, and holds 30,750 people.

Origin

Albion were officially formed in 1901, but their history starts a few years before then. In 1897, the first professional club to form in the area of Brighton & Hove was called Brighton United. That club folded in 1900 and in its wake, an amateur club briefly formed and dissolved within a year called Brighton & Hove Rangers.

After Rangers dissolved, the former Brighton United manager, John Jackson, organized a meeting on 24 June, 1901 at the Seven Stars Hotel pub on Ship Street in Brighton. At that meeting a new club, Brighton & Hove United was formed and soon changed their name to Brighton & Hove Albion. No one really knows why they changed to “Albion” as the new suffix. West Bromwich Albion were doing well at the time, but there were no known connections between the two clubs.

Side note: in researching the word Albion, I discovered that Albion is actually the earliest known name for the island of Britain, used by Ancient Greeks as early as the 4th century BC. So, it’s possible this is a reason the club included it in the name, but I found nothing to support that theory.

Nicknames

The club has 2 nicknames, ‘The Albion’ and ‘The Seagulls’.

(1) The Albion nickname is rather self-explanatory as that is the last part of the club’s official name.

(2) Now, the other nickname has a murky origin story. Brighton & Hove is located on the southern coast of England and has many seagulls given its proximity to the water. There is an unconfirmed story that on Christmas Eve in 1975, some supporters stumbled into Crystal Palace fans at a pub. The Palace fans were chanting “Eagles! Eagles!” to which the Brighton & Hove fans replied “Seagulls! Seagulls!”. Whether that’s true or not, in February 1976, the Albion fans were definitely chanting Seagulls as a response to Palace supporters during a league match. Regardless of where the nickname came from, the Seagull was officially incorporated into the club’s crest in 1977 and the nickname has stuck.

Crest

Speaking of the crest, let’s talk about it.

Original Brighton & Hove Albion FC crest

The original Albion crest was simply the coat of arms of the two towns with the team’s colors of blue and white. The blue was a “fisherman’s blue” obviously in reference to the two town’s being on the water. This crest was used until 1974.

Brighton & Hove Albion FC crest from the 1970s

Between ’74 and ’77, the club experimented with a few different crests before settling on a simple blue & white crest with a seagull. Over the years, they’ve updated the colors including adding red for a few years, but this same basic logo is what’s used today.

Brighton & Hove Albion FC modern crest

The seagull has flipped to be facing east instead of west and colors have been slightly updated but it’s more or less the same logo. We’ve already discussed where the seagull comes from and the colors, so this is one of the more simplified backstories regarding club crest in all of the Premier League.

Important Events

Now let’s talk about three of the most important events in the club’s history.

(1) On May 5, 1979, Albion made the 350+ mile trip to Newcastle United for the final match of the season in the English 2nd division. Albion needed all three points to guarantee their promotion. Newcastle’s bitter rivals Sunderland were hoping to snatch a promotion spot at Albion’s expense. Albion got first half goals from Brian Horton, Peter Ward and Gerry Ryan and only conceded a late consolation goal to the hosts. It was a weird dynamic in the stadium as Newcastle supporters were also cheering for Albion because of Sunderland’s involvement and over 10,000 Albion supporters made the trip. At the final whistle, everyone celebrated, which carried over into an absurd train ride home for all the away fans.

(2) The next most important event in Albion’s history happened on May 3, 1997. The club had gone through years of financial mismanagement and was in danger of being relegated out of the Football League (meaning they would become a semi-professional club). This is often seen as a death sentence for professional clubs. On May 3, the club were playing Hereford United and both clubs were tied on 46 points with the Seagulls ahead based on goal difference. Albion needed to win or draw the match to remain a fully professional squad. Albion went down 1-0 in the first half after an own goal and were fortunate to only be trailing 1-0. Hereford dominated the match, but in the 62nd minute, Robbie Reinelt scored to bring the Seagulls level. Albion held out the rest of the match against Hereford’s unrelenting pressure and remained in the Football League.

(3) The final most important event is a recent one. The Seagulls have steadily climbed the divisions over the years since that dramatic day in 1997 before finally gaining promotion back to the first division (now called the Premier League) on April 17, 2017. On this date, the club beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 with goals from Glenn Murray and Solly March to secure promotion.

Supporters

Now let’s discuss the club’s supporters. There’s no official nickname for Albion supporters beyond Albion or the Seagulls.

Supporters do sing the song Sussex by the Sea as their club anthem. Singing this song started in 1910 when the song was popular. It still remains the club’s traditional theme song over 100 years later. It’s played as the team runs out, and is sung with passion by fans.

Noteworthy Players

Given Albion’s relatively limited top flight history, there’s not many well-known players to choose from that I usually highlight in this section.

Bobby Zamora, who most modern fans will know from his time at Fulham, was voted the club’s greatest ever player in 2014 and is likely the most well-known Albion player.

Noteworthy Managers

Now let’s talk about two of the club’s most famous managers.

(1) Charlie Webb, was the club’s longest serving manager. He was an Albion player for 275 matches between 1908-1915 before managing over 1,200 matches from 1919 until 1947. A true club legend in its early days.

(2) The other manager is definitely the most high profile manager in the club’s history, Brian Clough. Clough was one of the most famous and volatile managers of his era. He started managing Hartlepool United in the English 4th division in the 1960s and had won the first division title with Derby County by the early 70s. He had a falling out with Derby County management and was appointed as Albion manager in November 1973. Given that Albion were in the 3rd division at the time, this was an astonishing appointment.

Even though Clough had experience in the lower divisions, he struggled to adapt to the 3rd division with the Seagulls. He lasted just one season with Albion, finishing in 19th place before leaving for his infamous 44 days as manager of Leeds United in July 1974. He went on to win more first division titles, European Cups, and other trophies after his time at Albion but is definitely the most famous manager in the club’s history.

Rivals

Now it’s time to talk about rivalries. The Seagulls consider AFC Bournemouth and Crystal Palace as rivals.

The Bournemouth rivalry appears to be because both clubs are along the south coast. It’s not much of a rivalry but fans and players tend to get up for matches involving other clubs in the vicinity. So Bournemouth can be considered a loose Albion rival.

Albion’s main rival though is Crystal Palace. The two clubs played each other many times over the years in the lower divisions with Palace often being Albion’s closest geographical league opponent. The rivalry, really kicked off in 1976.

In the summer of ’76, Palace appointed Terry Venables as manager with Albion naming Alan Mullery as their new manager. Those two individuals were already rivals, stemming from their time as teammates at Tottenham. Both clubs targeted gaining promotion out of the 3rd division at the start of that season. The clubs then met 5 times over the course of the season with the 4th meeting (an FA Cup replay match on December 6, 1976) really setting things off.

After a controversial ending to the match, a Palace fan poured hot coffee on the Albion manager. Mullery responded by throwing change from his pocket on the floor, screaming “That’s all you’re worth, Crystal Palace”, and giving some “none too polite signs” with his fingers to the fans. The combination of both sides gunning for promotion, meeting so many times in one season, and the incident with Mullery created a fierce rivalry that continues to this day.

It’s been helpful that the two sides have met in many meaningful matches since that December 1976 FA Cup match. With the most important recent match being a 2013 playoff promotion match that involved Palace advancing over Albion.

Stats & Records

Now let’s discuss some stats & records as of February 2018 when we are recording this video:

Albion have spent 5 seasons in the top flight in their history.

The club has no major trophies though they do have:

  • a handful of lower division champions trophies
  • 1 FA Cup runner up in 1983
  • Biggest trophy ever came in 1910 when they won the FA Charity Shield, which we now know it as the Community Shield and were crowned “Champions of England”

The club’s record first team appearance holder is Ernie “Tug” Wilson with 556 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Bert Stephens with 174 goals.

The club’s record transfer purchase was Jürgen Locadia from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven on January 18, 2018 for about £14M.

The club’s record transfer sale was Leonardo Ulloa to Leicester City FC on July 22, 2014 for about £8M.

And one last interesting fact about the Seagulls: The club kept playing throughout the Second World War and never failed to fulfill a fixture, but it was a struggle to survive. Under the wartime regulations, manager Charlie Webb often called upon players of other clubs serving with the Army in the area. And on some occasions he even had to draft soldiers from the crowd to complete an eleven.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Brighton & Hove Albion FC. 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.

Arsenal 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 series of videos, we’re discussing the history of soccer clubs around the world. Next up is Arsenal Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Arsenal FC 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. Arsenal currently play in the Premier League. The club’s home ground is called the Emirates Stadium, which opened in 2006, and holds 60,432 people.

Origin

Arsenal FC was founded in late 1886, when a group of workers from the Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory in South London decided to form a soccer team.

They called themselves Dial Square as a reference to the sundial atop the entrance to their factory. The club name was soon changed to Royal Arsenal, though when the club turned professional in 1891 the name changed again to Woolwich Arsenal.

The club didn’t have an established home ground & bounced around the Plumstead area of South London for 27 years. In 1913, the club was relegated to the 2nd division and was suffering financial issues. At that time, Sir Henry Norris came to the club’s rescue. Sir Henry acquired Arsenal and decided there was greater potential for the team in North London. He moved them to the Highbury section of London where Arsenal still plays to this day although they moved stadiums in 2006. The Woolwich was dropped from their name in 1915 and the club became Arsenal Football Club.

Nicknames

The club’s nickname is ‘The Gunners’. The first mentions of the Gunners in reference to Arsenal were actually from opponent newspapers in the late 19th/early 20th century. The nickname was possibly used to describe the Arsenal fans who carried explosives that they would set off during matches. Being that they worked at a military production facility this makes some sense.

The club was actually more commonly nicknamed the Reds in its early days for playing in red, but over the years, the fans & club names became synonymous and the club was referring to themselves as The Gunners by 1910 at the latest.

Crest

Now let’s talk about the club’s crest.

Arsenal crests have more or less always included some type of cannon or cannons dating all the way back to the very first Arsenal crest in 1888. The cannons come from the military influence in the Borough of Woolwich, which we’ve already discussed is where Arsenal began.

Arsenal’s Victoria Concordia Crescit crest

In 1949, Arsenal revealed their most well-known crest, the Victoria Concordia Crescit (VCC) crest. ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’ is Latin for ‘Victory grows out of harmony’ and was written by Harry Homer, the program editor, in 1948.  The Club liked the motto and officially adopted it by 1949 along with launching a new crest. The new crest featured ‘Arsenal’ in a gothic style typeface, had a westward facing cannon, the Borough of Islington’s coat of arms (where the club’s home stadium was located) and ermine (which are those weird looking snowflake things all over the crest). The club more or less used this same crest from 1949 until 2002 with some slight variations over the years.

Arsenal’s modern crest

In 2002, the club was constructing a new stadium (the Emirates) and transitioning into the modern world of soccer, which includes a heavy business/commercial focus. The club wasn’t able to trademark the VCC crest that they had been using for the past 50+ years and not being able to trademark a crest or logo is near financial suicide. So, the club changed to this really simplified logo of Arsenal with the cannon that we see still being today.

Arsenal’s Art Deco Crest

One last point of note is the Art Deco Crest you will sometimes see. This includes the intertwined letters A & C with a soccer ball in the middle. The A referencing Arsenal, the soccer ball representing football (which is what England & most of the rest of the world calls soccer), and C representing club. So, Arsenal Football Club. It was created by Herbert Chapman, who we’ll talk about in a bit, and a man named Claude Waterlow Ferrier in 1925 to rebrand the club and usher in a new era for Arsenal.

Important Events

Arsenal have had many important events in their club’s history but I’d like to discuss two of them now. Tottenham fans may want to mute this segment.

(1) In the 1914/15 season, which was the final season before the First World War, Arsenal finished in fifth place in the Second Division. The professional leagues stopped for the War. Play resumed in 1919 with the First Division being extended by 2 clubs to 22 teams. Most people expected the 2 clubs that would have been relegated to the Second Division (Chelsea & Tottenham) to remain in the First Division along with the top two teams from the Second Division being promoted (Derby & Preston).

At the Football League’s Annual General Meeting on March 10, 1919, league chairman, John McKenna, made a speech to the election committee recommending Arsenal’s promotion ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, even though Arsenal finished 5th in the Second Division in the 1914/15 season. His speech concluded that Arsenal deserved a higher standing having joined the Football League in 1893, 15 years before Spurs. The Gunners won the election by 10 votes and it’s still not known to this day whether Arsenal’s owner at the time influenced McKenna’s speech or not. Whatever the truth, more than 90 years later, Arsenal are the only club to have remained in the top flight of English soccer every season since the Football League resumed after WWI – and also the only club during this time not to have been promoted based on playing merit.

(2) The next most important event that I’d like to discuss happened in the 2003-2004 Premier League season. That season, Arsenal won 26 matches and drew 12 in the Premier League to finish the season undefeated. They were the first English team to finish undefeated since the 1888-1889 season and were thus nicknamed ‘the Invincibles.’ The club clinched the title with a draw on April 25, 2004 at White Hart Lane, home of you guessed it, rivals Tottenham Hotspur. For their achievement, they were awarded a special Gold Premier League trophy and their unbeaten run actually stretched a record 49 matches from May 7, 2003 to October 24, 2004. The Invincibles were a legendary team of the modern era.

Supporters

Now let’s discuss Arsenal supporters. Arsenal supporters are called Gooners, which is not actually a play on the club’s nickname – at least not completely. Back in the 1970s when hooliganism was prevalent in England, the Arsenal hooligan firm was called by some opposing firms as the Goon squad in a derogatory manner.

The Arsenal firm decided to adopt it as their own as a source of pride. Naturally as the Goon squad was closely associated with the team nicknamed the Gunners, this evolved into the firm being called Gooners. As hooliganism died out, all fans have adopted the nickname of ‘Gooners’.

Noteworthy Players

Arsenal have had many incredible players throughout their history that there’s too many to really give details about. Here are some of their names and I’m going to skew a bit more modern in naming:

  • Thierry Henry – club legend and record goal-scorer for the club
  • Dennis Bergkamp – inventive striker who had impeccable control and scored amazing wonder goals.
  • Tony Adams – nicknamed Mr. Arsenal because he spent his entire 22-year playing career with the club.
  • Patrick Viera – combative center midfielder who was an astounding physical presence that combined incredible technical skills on the ball.
  • Ian Wright – lethal goalscorer who helped the club win many trophies.

And like I said, there’s many others, we just don’t have time to discuss them here.

Noteworthy Managers

The club’s 2 most important managers in its history are Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger.

Herbert Chapman was the very first modern manager in the world of soccer. He was a revolutionary and was the first person to control all aspects of running a soccer club from player signings, training, match day tactics, and running the club as a business. He was also one of the first tactical pioneers in the world of soccer, inventing the W-M formation. He was hired in the summer of 1925 and set Arsenal on a path of dominance in the 1930s after winning their first FA cup in 1930. Unfortunately, he caught pneumonia in January of 1934 while watching an Arsenal 3rd team match and passed away soon after. Chapman’s leadership enabled Arsenal to continue their domination after his death until WWII stopped the league.

Arsene Wenger is the other most important manager in the club’s history. He is a divisive figure for Arsenal fans these days but his resume is incredibly impressive. He was appointed manager on October 1, 1996 from the awesomely named Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight where he was a fairly unknown entity to English fans. He was a tactical pioneer although not quite the level of Chapman, he did usher in a new age of possession based, beautiful passing, and flowing attacking soccer to the Premier League.  He guided Arsenal to their first Premier League title in the 1997/98 season (his first full season in charge) and won the title in the 2001/02 season before making history in 2003/04, as he managed the Invincibles. He has won 7 FA Cups – the most of any manager – and was voted Manager of the Year 3 times. He’s Arsenal’s longest ever serving manager and doesn’t always get recognized for his efforts in managing the club’s transition to a new stadium and into the modern age of soccer as big business.

Rivals

Now it’s time to talk about rivalries. Arsenal has 3 main rivals.

(1) Arsenal’s rivalry with Chelsea dates back many years, with each squad going through cyclical success but the modern rivalry has really heated up. This is due to 3 things. (1) Both clubs are in London. (2) Chelsea’s other historic rivals of Fulham & QPR have faded from prominence. (3) Roman Abramovich’s acquisition of Chelsea in 2003 and subsequent influx of billions into the club turned them into a rival title contender almost overnight.

(2) Manchester United and Arsenal each have a glorious history in English soccer, but it was always one or the other winning titles while the other faded to mid-table non-competitiveness or worse. That was until Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996 and built the club into title challengers. Manchester United were the dominant squad in those early Premier League years and continue to be a perennial title challenger. Famously, Roy Keane, Manchester United’s combative center midfielder and Patrick Viera, Arsenal’s own combative center midfielder, had some epic battles over the years that made this the fiercest rivalry in the Premier League in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

(3) Finally, Arsenal’s third and most intense rival is Tottenham Hotspur. The rivalry began when Arsenal moved to Highbury in 1910, which was only about 5 miles from where Tottenham played at White Hart Lane. The rivalry escalated with the famous vote in 1919 that we already discussed where Arsenal was added to the First Division at the expense of Tottenham. Years of animosity between the clubs and important matches played only a few miles apart have helped this North London Derby grow into one of the most intense in the Premier League today. It’s also helped that Spurs have been building a more formidable squad the last 5 years or so.

Stats & Records

Time to talk some stats & records as of February 2018, which is when we are recording this video.

Arsenal have spent 101 seasons in the top flight in their history, including more than 90 consecutive seasons.

The club has 30 major trophies including:

  • An English record 13 FA Cups
  • 13 1st division/Prem trophies
  • 2 League Cups (currently in the final of this year’s cup)
  • And 1 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup

The club’s record first team appearance holder is David O’Leary with 772 appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Thierry Henry with 228 goals.

The club’s record transfer purchase was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from German club Borussia Dortmund on January 31, 2018 for about £56M.

The club’s record transfer sale was Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain to Liverpool FC on August 31, 2017 for about £35M could become close to £40M if certain clauses are met.

And one last fun fact about Arsenal FC: the club has only been relegated 1 time in its history, which was after the 1912-1913 season when they dropped from the 1st to 2nd division.

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

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