WHEN FOOTBALL BEGAN

  HOW CHARLIE HURLEY’S GOALSCORING ACHIEVEMENTS HELPED MAKE HIM ‘THE KING’ Taken from Charlie's authorised biography that sold out in 2008 but which was republished last year and is on sale at the ALS shop and Sunderland Football Museum and at the Empire Publishing website.  Following their first ever relegation from the top flight in 1957-58, Sunderland, managed by former Burnley boss Alan Brown, struggled to make an impact in Division Two and even flirted with relegation to the third in 1959-60. However, as November 1960 came to a close a young side started to rise up the table. Key to the progress was £18,000 record signing Charlie Hurley, who was not only a rock at the back but had incredible ball playing abilities. The Irish international was supreme in the air but no one had thought to use his talents in scoring situations and in his three years since signing from Millwall he had yet to score for the Roker Park side. That was soon to change. He had almost done so in Oc...

  One of Brian Clough’s close mates thought he wasn’t bothered about succeeding at Elland Road   “There is a feeling that Brian (Clough) did badly at Leeds; I’m not too sure of that.”   England international Stan Anderson who captained Sunderland, Newcastle United and Middlesbrough.   Taken from Stan Anderson’s autobiography CAPTAIN OF THE NORTH Written with assistance from Mark Metcalf   I was not at the least surprised that he became one of the great managers as he was always very sure of himself.   Having failed to sustain his recovery, Brian did exceptionally well coaching the Sunderland youth team to the FA Youth Cup semi-final.   And if George Hardwick is to believed, the board failed to extend his managers contract at the end of the 1964 65 season because he told them that Brian would be his right-hand man within two years.   That was no way those in charge at Sunderland were having that, and after the club received th...

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...

  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...

  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. ...