NWR General Football Thread

There was another cracking story while I remember about it being so rammed at Leeds Road in the early days that one kid jumped up to celebrate a goal and didn't touch the ground again until full time.

I've heard that story too - my dad told me that my Grandad used to lose his hat every time a goal was scored - everybody threw in the air - and often they wouldnt get back until the end of the game!
 

His name keeps coming up, but it would be a brave FA man to stick a neck out that far given what happened last time (pre-social media, of course). He seems to have plenty of cheerleaders amongst the old footballers fraternity and in Fleet Street (as did Sam), but jumping from pundit back into management after a decade out does seem a stretch?
 
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Exclusive: Harry Redknapp reveals how his players illicitly gambled on their own result: 'They'd all had a bet on the game'
 
I find myself at the start of October, feeling pleased that HTAFC is moving towards the "safety point"

Ha! Exactly my reaction David - I've banged on about Town probably belonging in the old second division for years, but now we find ourselves there I'm scared of going up and depressed about the seemingly permanent relegation worries! Bring back the days of the 4th division...

Does that mean there are 3 Town fans on the forum - unprecedented!
 
Of course, there are plenty of small local teams further down the league pyramid that are worthy of your support. You should try it. There is something about sipping a pint on the halfway line in a rain storm watching Vanarama Southern League match in December.
Certainly not much money or ego down there. Or entertainment to be fair.
There's plenty of money, and ego, down in the Vanarama leagues. Forest Green Rovers are spending almost £3 million per YEAR in trying to buy their way into the football league. That's a bigger budget than some Championship clubs! All financed by ecotricity owner Dale Vince and his ego. Eastleigh's owner has just converted £5 million worth of debt into shares as he prepares for his exit. He's spent that, and more, in 4 years. The likes of Barrow, Dover and Gateshead (and more) are all propped up by wealthy owners, spending far more money than a club of their size can generate on their own.

In the regional leagues, AFC Fylde are another Fleetwood in waiting, propped up by a wealthy Blackpool fan who can't/won't invest whilst the Oystons are in charge. Ebbsfleet are backed by a Kuwaiti investment group who have bankrolled their (rather amusing) failure to get out of Vanarama South to the tune of hundreds of thousands per year. Oxford City's ex-owner has just been convicted of fraud in the USA and now his money is no longer propping them up, they're going to be relegated. I could go on.

Football at non-league level is dominated by little clubs with wealthy owners. Fleetwood, Crawley, Stevenage, Morecambe, Newport and others have all 'made it' into the FL but at some point the wealthy owner will get bored and the club will come crashing back down through the leagues. A depressingly predictable pattern, made worse by the thought that the clubs without a wealthy backer get left behind and simply can't compete on anything approaching a level playing field any more.

I was being unclear - beer is allowed to be drunk on the terraces. In fact, in my experience this is correct for all levels of football in England. The previous 3 visits to different major grounds, during last couple of years, all served 'beer' which could be consumed in your seat.
By law, alcohol cannot be drunk in sight of the pitch at Step 5 or higher. That means clubs from the Premier League, Football League and Vanarama National. I'm pretty sure it also applies to international matches in the UK. Clubs at Step 6 or below are free to do as they please.
 
It's to limit the amount of alcohol people can drink, presumably to stem bad behaviour. So if you want to get ratarsed you have to do it before the match and can only top up at half time, which is limited as much by the queues at the kiosks as it is by the minutes available!
 
It's to limit the amount of alcohol people can drink, presumably to stem bad behaviour. So if you want to get ratarsed you have to do it before the match and can only top up at half time, which is limited as much by the queues at the kiosks as it is by the minutes available!

Follows the Sporting Events Act in the 1980s, I think (and also covers official transport to the matches) - am I right in thinking alcohol is banned in all (non-corporate) ground areas in Scotland?
 
How you can get paid off when sacked for misconduct?
He wasn't sacked. And it isn't at all clear that anything he did would amount to misconduct sufficient to justify sacking.

In fact, the whole Telegraph series was a bit of a damp squib. If what they printed was the best they can find, I'd suggest football isn't nearly as corrupt as everyone here has been making out. That said, it could just be bad journalism.
 
Personally I felt it was a big disappointment, though no more so than expected. England were poor and no positive spin by the manager, nor the pundits, will make me think otherwise. Put the game in context, Scotland put five past them away. A passionate and resurgent Scotland at Wembley is surely something to whet the appetite of Mr C, and make all of us south of the border a little fearful.
 
I didn't think England were so poor David.

Solid first half and really more goals were likely than less, some inspired goalkeeping.

Second half much less so for sure but the job was done already as alluded to by Southgate in interview.

Malta held Croatia (I think) and Italy to 1-0 scorelines in the last qualifying group.

Rooney, hmmm, I'm just not sure at the moment and the optimist in me is hoping for a
swansong - Giggs managed to change his game quietly no fuss and stay effective but I'm not sure Rooney can.

If the players support Southgate I would go with that now.
 
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