18.12.24

Who were the first 20 clubs to join the English Football League, in order of success:-

1. Preston North End Joined 1888

2. Aston Villa 1888

3. Wolverhampton Wanderers 1888

4. Blackburn Rovers 1888

5. Bolton Wanderers 1888

6. West Bromwich Albion 1888

7. Accrington 1888

8. Everton 1888

9. Burnley 1888

10. Derby County 1888

11. Notts County 1888

12. Stoke 1888

13. Sunderland 1890

14. Darwen 1891

15. Nottingham Forest 1892

16. The Wednesday (Sheffield) 1892

17. Newton Heath (Manchester United) 1892

18. Sheffield United 1892

19. Grimsby Town 1892

20. Ardwick (Manchester City) 1892.

The next 10 are:- 21. Burton Swifts 1892. 22. Northwich Victoria 1892. 23. Bootle 1892. 24. Lincoln City 1892

25. Crewe Alexandra 1892. 26. Burslem Port Vale 1892. 27. Walsall Town Swifts 1892.

28. Liverpool 1893. 29. Small Heath (Birmingham City) 1893 30. Newcastle United 1893.

12.12.24

The South Coast clashes with South London this coming Sunday, when A23 rivals BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION and CRYSTAL PALACE meet in the PREMIER LEAGUE at the American Express Stadium.

The clubs have met 111 times previously in all competitions with Albion winning 42, Palace 38 and 31 draws. Their first meeting was on Christmas Day 1920, in a Division Three South fixture. Palace snatched the present by winning 0-2 at the Goldstone Ground. All their League meetings played between 1920 and 1977 were in the third tier. Albion’s biggest win is 5-0 on 14th January 1956 at the Goldstone and Palace’s biggest win is 6-0 on 11th February 1950 at Selhurst Park. The biggest aggregate score is 7, a 4-3 Boxing Day 1950 win for BHA at the Goldstone.

They have only been drawn three times in the FA Cup. Albion won the first encounter 2-1 at Selhurst Park in November 1932. The second meeting was notorious. They met at the Goldstone Ground on 20th November 1976 and drew 2-2. The replay ended 1-1 at Selhurst, three days later. The second replay was set up for Stamford Bridge Chelsea. This turned out to be a feisty affair with disputed penalties and a massive bust up between the two managers, Alan Mullery of Brighton and Terry Venables of Palace, who had been non-friends for a while before. It was during this strange period that Brighton fans hearing Palace fans cheering their team with “Eagles”, responded by chanting “Seagulls” to encourage their players.. The nickname has been used ever since. Oh, and by the way Palace won that second replay 1-0. The rivalry began in earnest. Their final cup meeting was on 8th January 2018, which the Seagulls won 2-1 at the Amex Stadium.

Over the seasons the club have also met in the old Divisions One and Two, and the Championship. In 2017 they started to come in contact again on a regular basis, in the Premier League. Albion have not lost in any of the last six meetings. Their very last meeting was at the American Express Stadium on 3rd February 2024. Dunk opened the score for the Seagulls in the 3rd minute, followed by Albion goals in the 33rd (Hinshelwood) and 34th minute (Buonanotte). A Brighton lead of 3-0 at half time. Second half saw Mateta reply for Eagles in the 71st minute but Albion scored again in the 85th through Pedro. Final result, 4-1 to Seagulls.

Coming to Sunday’s game, both are desperately wanting a win. Albion needing a restart to beat teams in the lower half of the table to regain a top six place. Palace want a win to move further away from the relegation zone. Fabian Hurzeler and Oliver Glasner, the respective managers have a lot of planning to achieve their aims.

A fair number of players have turned out for both clubs over the decades, including Kemy Agustien, Ade Akinbiyi, Steve Claridge, Paul Dickov, Stephen Dobbie, Scott Flinders, Paul Kitson, Johnny McNichol, Paul McShane, Glenn Murray, Gary O’Reilly, Simon Rodger, Dave Sexton, Neil Smillie, Matthew Upson and Eric Young.

Lets hope for a good, competitive match.

18.11.24

Three months into the new season, how is the manager merry-go-round going? It appears some clubs keep their manager forever and others are always changing. So what is the reality? We list below the ten longest serving managers and ten newest managers in the four divisions of the League. How long before both lists have changed?

LONGEST SERVING MANAGERS

1. Simon Weaver Harrogate Town 21.05.09 15 years 181days

2. Pep Guardiola MANCHESTER CITY 01.07.16 8 years 140 days

3. Thomas Frank BRENTFORD 16.10.18 6 years 33 days

4. Mikel Arteta ARSENAL 22.12.19 4 years 332 days

5. Ian Evatt Bolton Wanderers 01.07.20 4 years 140 days

6. Nigel Clough Mansfield Town 06.11.20 4 years 12 days

7. Jon Brady Northampton Town 10.02.21 3 years 282 days

8. Andy Woodman BROMLEY 29.03.21 3 years 234 days

9. Marco Silva (Joint) FULHAM 01.07.21 3 years 140 days

9. Phil Parkinson (Joint) WREXHAM 01.07.21 3 years 140 days

SHORTEST SERVING MANGERS

83. Narcis Pelach STOKE CITY 10.09.24 0 years 61 days

84. Mike Williamson CARLISLE UNITED 19.09.24 0 years 60days

85. Omer Riza CARDIFF CITY 23.09.24 0 years 56 days

86. Scott Lindsey MILTON KEYNES DONS 25.09.24 0 years 54 days

87. Rob Elliot Crawley Town 01.10.24 0 years 48 days

88. Tom Hounsell Burton Albion 23.10.24 0 years 26 days

89. Ian Holloway Swindon Town 25.10.24 0 years 24 days

90. Rhys Carr COVENTRY CITY 07.11.24 0 years 11 days

91. Ruben Amorim MANCHESTER UNITED 11.11.24 0 years 7 days

92. Gareth Ainsworth Shrewsbury Town 13.11.24 0 years 5 days

We will check back later in the season to reveal changes.

06.11.24

This weekend sees BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION entertain MANCHESTER CITY at the American Express Stadium in a PL fixture.

The clubs have met 32 previously in all competitions, with the Seagulls winning 6, Sky Blues 21 and 5 draws. Their first meeting was an FA Cup match on 23rd February 1924. City won the tie 1-5 at the Goldstone Ground. (This fixture was also the biggest aggregate score). The biggest win for City is 0-5 in a PL match at the Amex in July 2020. Albion’s biggest win is 4-0 in a FA Cup match at the Goldstone in January 1983. They have met a total of three times in the FA Cup with Sky Blues coming out top in 3 and Seagulls once.

In 2008 Albion were playing in League One at the Withdean Stadium. On the night of 24th September City arrived in town for a League Cup match. After an excellent underdog display the home team held the PL club 2-2 at final whistle. The penalty shoot out ended with fantastic scenes as the home club ended victorious.

Their last meeting was on 25th April 2024 at the Amex Stadium. To say it went badly for the home team is an understatement, City were 0-3 up by half time with goals from De Bruyne, and two from Foden. Second half, a goal from Alvarez meant a comprehensive win of 0-4.

Coming to this coming match both managers, Fabian Hurzeler and Pep Guardiola have a lot to contemplate. Last Saturday Albion lost 2-1 at Liverpool and City also lost 2-1 at Bournemouth. Both will be trying to find the magic to improve their League positions.

Amongst the players that have played for both clubs are James Milner, Paul Dickov, Wayne Bridge, Gordon Smith, Michael Robinson and Neil McNab.

29.10.24

Carabao Cup last 16 week. Good Luck to all the teams:-

Southampton V Stoke City

Brentford V Sheffield Wednesday

Brighton & Hove Albion V Liverpool

Aston Villa V Crystal Palace

Manchester United V Leicester City

Newcastle United V Chelsea

Preston North End V Arsenal

Tottenham Hotspur V Manchester City

ALL THE ABOVE ARE CLUBS INCLUDED IN OUR CITIES & CLUBS PAGES. Check them out.

08.10.24

This coming Saturday sees MANCHESTER CITY host FULHAM. City sit comfortably in 2nd place in the PL table with Fulham in a very decent 6th.

The match will be played at the Etihad at 3pm.

The clubs have met 74 times in all competitions with the Sky Blues winning 41, the Cottagers 17 and 16 draws. Their first meeting was on 22nd February 1908 in an FA Cup tie. The match, played at Maine Road, ended 1-1 with Fulham winning the replay 3-1. Division Two was where they first met in the League. This was on 27th November 1909 at Craven Cottage, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

City’s biggest win is 5-0 in a PL match at the Etihad in March 2014. Cottager’ s biggest win is 5-1 as at 17th March 1984 in Division Two. The biggest aggregate result is 8, which is a 3-5 Division Two victory for the West London club in October 1938. They have been drawn four times in the FA Cup, with one win for Fulham as previous, and wins for the Sky Blues in 1914, 2020 and 2022. In the League Cup they have met three times, Fulham winning in1967 and City winning in 2009 and 2018.

Their last meeting was in the Premier League at Craven Cottage on 11th May 2024. Gvardiol opened the scoring for City in the 13th minute, making it 0-1 at half time. Foden doubled the score in the 59th minute with Gvardiol adding his second in the 71st minute. In the 95th minute Diop, of Fulham, was red carded and Alvarez made it 4-0 to City in the 6th minute of extra time. The season finished with the Sky Blues as Champions and Fulham in 15th. Among the players who have played for both clubs are Wayne Bridge, Andy Cole, Kit Symons, Dickson Etuhu and Michael Brown.

With both clubs making a good start to the season, Pep Guardiola and Marco Silva have a lot to plan for a win.

10.09.24

Our previewed match this week is BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION v IPSWICH TOWN at the Amex on Saturday 14th.

The clubs have met 70 times previously, with Albion winning 24, Town 31 and 15 draws.

Their first meeting was on 8th October 1938 at the Goldstone Ground in Hove, which the Seagulls won 2-0. This was the Tractor Boys first season in the Football League, Third Division Three. At the end of the 1938/39 Brighton finished 3rd and Ipswich 7th. It took until the fifth meeting before Town gained their first win between them. This was a 4-0 win at Portman Road on 11th October 1947.

Brighton’s biggest win is 6-1 on 7th May 1949 and Town’s biggest win is 5-0 on 5th September 1951. The biggest aggregate score is 8 goals, a 5-3 win by Ipswich on 15th November 1958.

They have met twice in the FA Cup, a Brighton win in November 1949 and an Ipswich win in December 1950. In the League Cup there was a win for Albion in 1976 and for Town in 1965 and 2002.

Between 2004 and 2017 the clubs meetings were sixteen consecutive matches in the Championship. Their last meeting was on 14th February 2017 at the Amex Stadium. A crowd of 26,360 saw the Tractor Boys open the scoring through Luke Chambers in the 9th minute. The Seagulls responded with a penalty in the 29th minute, scored by Tomer Hemed. The match ended 1-1. At the end of the season Albion finished 2nd and promoted to the Premier League. Town finished 16th.

Players that have had some connection to both clubs include Leon Best, Justin Fashanu, Nicky Forster, Russell Osman, Liam Rosenior, David Stockdale, Matthew Upson, Adam Webster, Chris Woods, etc.

Both managers will be most eager to get a result from this match. Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler will be aiming to keep the clubs current 3rd place and Kieran MCKenna will be desperate to keep Ipswich out of the bottom three, preferably rising a place or two. It should be an interesting match.

Brighton v Ipswich February 2017 Amex Stadium with sea on the horizon

06.09.24

Interesting to see Bromley settling into the Football League. Have you seen the film the Bromley Boys? It is a fun, light hearted comedy starring John Foreman and Martine McCutcheon. Try to see it, you’ll enjoy.

30.05.24

At the end of the 2023/24 season, the Leagues finished as follows:

PREMIER LEAGUE

Champions:- MANCHESTER CITY Relegated:- Luton Town. Burnley. SHEFFIELD UNITED

CHAMPIONSHIP

Promoted:- LEICESTER CITY. Ipswich Town. SOUTHAMPTON Relegated:- BIRMINGHAM CITY. Huddersfield Town. Rotherham United

LEAGUE ONE

Promoted:- PORTSMOUTH. DERBY COUNTY. OXFORD UNITED Relegated:- Cheltenham. Fleetwood. PORT VALE. CARLISLE UNITED

LEAGUE TWO

Promoted:- Stockport . WREXHAM. Mansfield. Crawley Relegated:- SUTTON UNITED. Forest Green Rovers

NATIONAL LEAGUE:-

Promoted:- Chesterfield. Bromley