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The Times publicises my biography on John Goodall, due out on 30 March 2026

Meet Football League’s first genius: Preston striker who kept pet foxes Taken from ‘The Times’ online on 28 March 2025 He captained England, penned a football manual and found time to tame wild animals. Discover the untold story of John Goodall, a true pioneer of the game It took three off-duty Royal Hussars on commandeered cab horses to control the crowd when Aston Villa and Preston North End first locked horns in the FA Cup in 1888. The attendance had swelled to 25,000 at Villa’s Perry Barr ground and the chaos disrupted play three times as fans spilt on to the pitch. With Villa a goal to the good, the Preston captain, Nick Ross, requested that the game be made a friendly owing to the circumstances. Of course, this was not agreed to by the home side and so the tie continued. Preston went on to win that match 3-1, but could proceed to the next round only when the referee had insisted the match remained competitive, despite contrasting recollections by two umpires and t...
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125 years ago today, Bury and Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 in the FA Cup semi-final

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  1900 FA CUP SEMI- FINAL Saturday 24 March 1900 Played at  the  Victoria Ground, Stoke     NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 (Capes 26) Allsop, Peers, Iremonger, Cole, McPherson, Norris, Capes, Calvey, Beveridge, Morris, Spouncer   Bury 1 (Pray [pen] 12) Thompson, Darroch, Davidson, Pray, Leeming, Ross, Richards, Wood, McLuckie, Sagar, Plant Half-time 1- 1 Attendance 18,000   Forest, formed 1865, played a major role in football’s development. Forest player Sam Widdowson is recognised as having invented football shin guards in 1874. Forest were the first to introduce the whistle during games. This was done in 1878 in a game with Sheffield Norfolk and when the experiment was successful it led to the replacement of the white flag. Forest is also credited by some with being the first club to play with 2 backs, 3 half-backs and 5 forwards.    As Cup fighters, Forest entered this semi-final with a better...
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Great goals - Fred Spiksley's match winning goal at the 1896 FA Cup Final

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  Fred Spiksley’s second of the game and match winning goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1896 FA Cup Final   Fred Spiksley has a strong claim to be the finest ever Sheffield Wednesday player of all time. He played for the club between 1891 and 1903 and during which time he not only scored the Sheffield club’s first at Hillsbourough but won the First and Second Division titles and the FA Cup in 1896 when he scored both the Wednesday goals in the 2-1 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final.   His first came within 30 seconds but was equalised by David Black.   Wednesday, though, were determined to restore their lead. They did so on eighteen minutes with what Fred Spiksley agreed at the end of his long career, in which from outside left he averaged a goal in every three games, was the best goal he ever scored.   The initial movements were almost identical to those of the opening goal with the ball being crossed into the centre from the right wing. ...
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65 years ago today Turf Moor is packed with 54,000 fans who witness a dramatic East Lancs FA Cup tie like no other

  12 March 1960 54,000 pack out Turf Moor for an FA Cup battle royal with Blackburn Rovers Dramatic comeback Talen from a 2010 book by Mark Metcalf called the FA Cup: Fifty Years On. Not surprisingly, the Blackburn encounter captured the imagination of the east Lancashire public – the two clubs still have a rivalry that matches any from Glasgow, the North East or north London. It was all-ticket with the capacity set at 54,000 and tickets with a face value of 3 shillings exchanged hands for at least treble that outside the ground beforehand. Mick McGrath recalls the excitement: “After the Spurs game I felt we had a chance and when the draw came out and we would play Burnley if they won their replay then the whole town was abuzz. People were asking for tickets, and ‘Do you fancy your chances?’ “In those days teams like Burnley and Blackburn had a chance of keeping hold of their good players because the maximum wage meant that someone moving still got paid the same, althou...
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125 years ago today Bury FC had a double reason for celebration

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                Article from 1st March 2025 programme Bury v Litherland REMYCA match at Gigg Lane.                       Bury won 7-0 to move closer to winning the North West Counties Premier Division. 
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The Sheffield Wednesday player hated by rioting Sunderland fans

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 With £5,000 having been raised amongst Wednesdayites then a new headstone to Ambrose Langley, Wednesday’s first captain when we moved to Hillsborough in 1899, will be unveiled in Burngreave Cemetery at the start of next season. Sheffield Wednesday v Sunderland programme for 28-02-2025  Whilst Ambrose was loved by Wednesday followers his no nonsense aggressive style as a full back was not welcomed by opposing fans and especially amongst Sunderland supporters. He’d helped Wednesday eliminate ‘The Team of All the Talents’ at Olive Grove in 1896 where along with Tom Crawshaw and Jack Earp he blocked out Sunderland goal scoring legend Johnny Campbell as the home side advanced 2-1 against the bookies favourites in the FA Cup as Wednesday moved forward to become the first Yorkshire side to win the most famous trophy in the world. The sides met again in the competition at Newcastle Road two seasons later. Home fans were in a confident mood and a 17,893 crowd, including a strong away ...
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GOLDEN BOOT 1925 - FRANK ROBERTS OF MANCHESTER CITY

  ROBERTS, FRANK (MANCHESTER CITY) Season: 1924/25 Goals scored: 31 (out of 76); 19 home, 12 away Percentage: 41 per cent Runner-up: David Jack (Bolton Wanderers), 26 goals Manchester City finished tenth When Frank Roberts insisted on becoming a pub landlord in October 1922, he was placed on the transfer list by Bolton Wanderers for breaking club rules. It was Manchester City who acted quickly to secure his services, paying a fee of £3,400 for a player who had notched 80 goals in 168 Trotters appearances either side of the First World War, in which he served in the North Lancashire Regiment. Roberts opened his City account at Hyde Road in his fifth match, as his former colleagues were beaten 2-0. Not that Bolton lost out too much on his departure, as come the season’s end they’d picked up the FA Cup after beating West Ham in the first Wembley final. Initially Roberts failed to hit the net with the same regularity as before, and he started the 1924/25 s...
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