Successful European debuts plus ‘It Started with a Kick’ Episode 71 – David Preece

After all the shenanigans with Uefa, Crystal Palace are now ready to take their bow in a major European competition, albeit the lesser Conference League. Palace have been involved in Europe before but only in minor competitions – three entries into the Anglo-Italian tournament and the long-forgotten 1998 Intertoto Cup campaign in which they lostContinue reading “Successful European debuts plus ‘It Started with a Kick’ Episode 71 – David Preece”

2023/24 Premier League Nuggets

29 December MW 18 & 19 HAT-TRICK HEAVEN Chris Wood’s hat-trick against his former club Newcastle was the eighth of the season equalling the number scored throughout the whole of last season. Wood’s goals came in 46th, 53rd and 60th minutes, becoming the quickest of the season so far.  This was only the fourth timeContinue reading “2023/24 Premier League Nuggets”

A brief history of top-flight points deductions

Everton’s 10-point deduction is the heaviest punishment in the history of the English top flight, but they are not the first club to have been docked points. Sunderland were the first club to be docked two points in the 1890-91 season when they fielded an unregistered player, Ned Doig. The Scottish goalkeeper went on toContinue reading “A brief history of top-flight points deductions”

The 2022 Play-Offs – Return of crowds, Records and Redemption – Part Two

  For both Nottingham Forest and Sunderland the 2022 Play-Offs finally provided two clubs recently starved of success with a reason to celebrate as they gained promotion after many years in the wilderness. However, the most heart-warming story of this year’s Play-Offs came in the League Two Final. Port Vale’s 3-0 triumph over Mansfield TownContinue reading “The 2022 Play-Offs – Return of crowds, Records and Redemption – Part Two”

The 2022 Play-Offs: Return of crowds, Records and Redemption

If any evidence of the popularity of the Football League Play-Offs was needed, it was provided this week by the Sunderland Sheffield Wednesday tie. On Friday night the record for the highest attendance of a semi-final was broken by over 4,000 as 44,724 gathered at the Stadium of Light for the first leg. An impressiveContinue reading “The 2022 Play-Offs: Return of crowds, Records and Redemption”