Single, double, bull and treble
Straight in, and finish on a double
First off ninety-eight
In the contest a lead we take
One hundred and eighty next
Down to earth then with twenty-six
Better next throw back on track
Seventy-two and seventy-six
Forty-nine to go, nineteen first
Then a miss, then in the double
For Henman fans Andy Murray
Doesn’t
do it for them
And
for his on-court aggression
They
criticize him
But
if you remove his aggression
You’re
left with Tim
Much of my childhood was spent playing football whenever possible the whole year round, in all weathers and for as many hours as my parents would allow.
I
wasn’t fussy who I played with or where for that matter.
We
would play with any size ball and use jumpers for goal posts, and we would play
for hours.
Having
said that I would play anywhere and with anyone I still had a favorite venue
and a favorite bunch of fellow footie fanatics.
The
venue in question was the park bordering St Michaels terrace in north London in
the shadow of Alexandra palace.
The
park had roads bordering on three sides and the railway line on the fourth.
The
top road was St Michaels Terrace with the Starting Gate pub at the main road
end, a small parade of local shops and a row of terraced houses.
To
the left was the main wood green to Muswell hill road so the pitches stopped
well short of that side and the bottom road led to bounds green and to the
right was a wooded area which separated the park from the railway.
The
park had at its center a man-made semi-circular hill with a small round hill its
peak was adorned by a weather worn totem pole and around this center piece were
our three improvised pitches which we rotated depending on the weather
conditions.
The
pitches were arranged as follows.
A,
the top pitch which ran parallel to St Michaels terrace and was as the name
suggests the highest of the three and subsequently the most used.
B,
the bottom pitch which ran parallel to the first pitch and again as the name
suggests was the lowest and least used although was a favorite summer pitch due
to the shade from the trees on three sides.
C,
the third pitch ran from top to bottom parallel to the railway and was referred
to by the grownups as the safe pitch as even the most wayward shot had little
chance of reaching a road.
The
most hardened footballers amongst us played all year round regardless of the
weather with the exception of a two- or three-week period in the summer when we
had to bow to pressure from the less committed participants who wanted to have
a cricket season.
The
hard core of the St Michael Terracers apart from myself were The Neal brothers
Dave, Ken and Michael, Brian Gallagher who was also a distance runner, Lois
Deeks, who lived in Palace Gates road, Richard and Clifford Morgan, Mick, whose
surname escapes me, who was a Chelsea supporter and Colin, whose surname also
eludes me, was our best goalie until his untimely transfer to Diss.
On
Sunday afternoons we were normally joined by some of the parents the most regular
oldies being Mr. Neal and Mr. Morgan and you would have expected a rise in good
behavior and a reduction of bad language but normally the reverse was true.
We
also had an almost endless list of transient players who used to turn up
periodically.
It
broke my heart when we moved away from North London the five years, I spent
with the Terracers have never been bested.
Buck or George Daniel Weaver
Born in the state of Pennsylvania
Eighteen ninety the town of Stowe
And died aged sixty-six in Chicago
He loved baseball as much as life
All most as much as Helen his wife
He spent his entire career as a pro
Playing with the sox in Chicago
As one of the eight men caught
But the only one not to be bought
Punished with ringleader Gandil
Innocent in the black sox scandal
The only player to be free of blame
The rest of his life lived in shame
A great third basemen of his time
Banned for life for others crime
He gave his life to clear his name
He should be in the hall of fame
They travel east
With Gaelic pride
Nowhere to run
Nowhere to hide
It’s said pride comes
Before a fall
They fell from high
Against Senegal
The next game a win
Or wonder why
A draw this time
With Uruguay
The final game
They have to win
Their cup defence
Must now begin
Will they play
Them off the park
They lose again
Against Denmark
So, France crash out
And exit early
Perhaps they’ll miss
The hurly burly
No broken hearts
They leave behind
Were glad they’re gone
To be unkind
So what’s the reason
France are out
We demand to know
The Frenchie’s shout
The answer is in
My firm belief
They should have eaten
British Beef
(Poem written after the early exit of Cup Holders France from 2002 World Cup, at a time when the French were refusing to accept Beef shipments from the UK)
Born in eighty seven in Brandon mills
A mill town in the South Carolina hills
Joseph Jefferson Jackson was named
But as shoeless Joe he would be famed
Joe started as a pitcher on the mound
In the minor league on the mill
ground
But Joe didn’t last to long at
pitching
Though his speed had batters
twitching
One day on the Brandon mill league
team
He threw so hard he made a man scream
Because he had broken the catchers
arm
They put him in the outfield out of
harm
Then he often played first base after
that
"Black Betsy." Joe named
his favorite bat
His nickname "shoeless"
came after playing
In socks
because his feet were blistering
He batted as a left hander when at
the plate
But threw right handed at an alarming
rate
Over six feet tall and two hundred
pound
He was incredibly quick across the
ground
A deadly hitter and a great
outfielder who
Is known more now for the lack of a
shoe
He named his glove and you can guess
why
Calling it "the place where
triples go to die,"
His career began in nineteen-oh-eight
Well as a professional then at any
rate
It was with the Athletics in
Philadelphia
But he only played ten games while
here
Traded to Cleveland Naps after three
years
Joe left Philly to explore new
frontiers
Here he showed just how he was able
Slugging his way to lead the league
table
With the Naps Joe burst onto the
scene
They became the Indians in nineteen
fifteen
With the Naps Joe came into his prime
But after four years it was trading
time
In august
of fifteen Jackson was traded
To move to Chicago, he was persuaded
With the Sox he continued his great
career
And the White Sox were the team to
fear
In nineteen seventeen Jackson and
Chicago
Won the biggest honor baseball can
bestow
And Chicago accomplished their
greatest feat
Winning the series as the Giants they
beat
Two years later they found themselves
again
Competing in a World Series title
campaign
This time pitted against the reds of
Cincinnati
There was no glory this time for
Black Betsy
During the following year of nineteen
twenty
While batting well and still scoring
plenty
Jackson was suspended from the league
After the fixing the World Series
intrigue
During the long running trial in
Chicago
One fan asked of Jackson “Say it
ain’t so”
The jury acquitted the black sox and
Joe
Jackson and the others were free to
go
But Landis the commissioner of
baseball
Wasn’t impressed with this decision
at all
Going against the ruling he gave a
life ban
All eight men, Jackson and every man
If Joe was in on the fix it was hard
to tell
He fielded and batted exceptionally
well
Ranked third in the all-time batting
list
A very sad day when he was dismissed
Black Betsy, raised over half a
million
When Joe legendary bat, sold at
auction
More money than Joe saw in all his
days
Playing for owners with grasping ways
He never played pro baseball ever
again
But his great achievements still
remain
So home to South Carolina with his
wife
To run a store there for the rest of
his life
In the year after the war to end all wars
In nineteen, nineteen the White Sox scores
A pennant winning season for old Chicago
But the players never get any extra dough
The owners pocketed all the rich rewards
In grand palatial homes living like lords
The players lived more down to earth
And left to ponder their value or worth
So as the World Series was to be contested
The Chicago White Sox were then expected
To beat the Cincinnati Redlegs quite easily
Making them targets for a crooked bookie
The bookies went to work bribing players
They had Cicotte and Williams the pitchers
Gandil, McMullin and Risberg infielders
Hap Felsch and Joe Jackson the outfielders
Only Buck Weaver refused to be in on the fix
And Joe Jackson reneged to leave only six
Despite this they managed well on their own
And any chance of winning had been blown
It fell apart when more cash failed to appear
And another betrayal was the player’s fear
When the Black Sox tried to win in the end
They found it was too late to make amend
The eight men were charged for their crime
But they were found not guilty at the time
The commissioner of baseball had other ideas
Banning all eight from professional careers
They never played in the big leagues again
And in dishonor their names still remain
Those really guilty for losing the series
Are greedy owners and crooked bookies
Korea have had a great World Cup
They’ve
beaten Italy with a golden goal
How
will they celebrate the victory?
They’ll
be eating dog tonight in Seoul
Poem written after Italy v South
Korea match at 2002 World Cup
The
first time I became aware of Nobby Stiles I was a young boy of ten and it was
the world cup finals of 1966.
It
would probably seem odd to many football fans that out of all the talent on
show in England that summer, players like Pele, Beckenbauer or Eusabio, I was
most impressed by the diminutive Manchester man, Nobby.
I
have often wondered myself and I think that the great players had been much
heralded in the lead up to the finals and they merely did what was expected of
them but Nobby I had not heard of before he was different.
He
tackled hard and was a tough no nonsense player who could read the game so well
being blessed with great tactical awareness but my most enduring image’s of him
was the toothless grin and his jig of joy after England won the world cup.
It
was that victory dance showing his excitement and obvious love for the game.
It
was seeing Nobby play that led me to support United as I still do today.
Norbert
Peter Stiles was born in Collyhurst Manchester 18th may 1942 and he
stood at the Stretford End like many a young lad and dreamt of playing for
United but for him it came true.
For
eleven years he played his Club football for Manchester United making his debut
for them away at Bolton on 1st of October 1960.
Apart
from winning the world cup with England in 1966 he won two League Championship
medals with United and as In the 1966 World Cup Semi-Final against Portugal it was
his job to stop Eusebio “the Black Panther” when united met Benfica in the 1968
European Cup Final which he did and added a European Cup winner's medal to his
collection.
Nobby
Stiles was and still is Man United through and through he returned to United in
the 80’s as youth team coach were he brought on the likes of Giggs, Beckham and
the Neville’s.
In
2000 his contribution to the game was finally recognized when he received an
O.B.E. along with his other previously unrecognized England teammates from
1966.
Not
before time.
It’s
difficult sometimes amidst the glitz and glamour of the premiership to remember
that the vast majority of clubs have more red ink on their bank statements than
black.
Many
teams, some of them once big names in the game and in the case of Accrington
Stanley a founder member of the league, fall from grace and from time to time
they drop out of the league all together or even go to the wall.
My
first experience of the unglamorous side of professional football was in 1970
when I was fourteen years old.
Bradford Park Avenue who although not ever one of
the big boys was once a well-known name in the game heard the final whistle
blown for the last time as a league club.
They
began life as Bradford Association Football Club forming in 1907 but in order
to distinguish themselves from another football league team, Bradford City AFC,
and rugby leagues Bradford Northern RLFC they incorporated the name of their
ground, Park Avenue, into the team name and so were Bradford Park Avenue born.
Association
football as well as the handling game of Rugby league had been played at Park
Avenue since 1895 but with “soccer” already being successfully played at
Manningham, by Bradford City, on April 15th, 1907 a meeting was called off the
club members to decide the best course of action for the future.
After
much debate, a vote was called and by a narrow margin the decision was made to
follow the path of association football.
The
club applied for membership of the Football League on 31 May 1907 but were
unsuccessful and so they contented themselves with entering a team in the North
Eastern League instead, However in February 1908 Tottenham Hotspur resigned
from the league and Park Avenue were accepted into the Second Division in their
place.
Once
they had been accepted into the football league The Park Avenue club became a
limited company and they played their first Football League game at home to
Hull City, winning 1-0.
In
1909 international football came to the Park Avenue ground with a match between
England and Ireland and it was in that match that Irishman, Sam Burnison,
became the first player to win an international cap while at the Bradford club.
In the 1912-13 season the club reached the FA Cup Quarter-Final and then they
finished as runners-up in division two that season beating Arsenal on Goal
Average to win promotion to the topflight.
At
the end of 1914-15 season Bradford Park Avenue finished in 9th
position which was to be their best ever.
Following
the First World War Avenue reached the FA Cup Quarter-Final again in the 1919 -
20 campaign but were relegated at the end of the next season.
The
season following that saw the club’s fortunes taking a further turn for the
worst with immediate relegation to the 3rd Division (North) narrowly failing to
bounce straight back being beaten into second place by Nelson.
In
the 1924-25 season they finished as top scorers with 84 goals and the season
after they again finished as runners up.
Bradford Park Avenue set a Football League record they
still hold today while in the Third Division (North), in the 1926-27 season the
Avenue won 25 consecutive home games.
A
change of fortunes came however at the end of the 1927-28 saw them promoted to
division two again as champions were, they remained until the Second World War
intervened.
One
of the players that graced the Avenue side was Jack Crayston who went to
Arsenal in 1934 were he became an England international and after his career
was cut short by a serious injury, he turned his hand to management eventually
returning to Highbury as manager.
Undoubtedly
the greatest player ever to have worn an Avenue shirt was Len Shackleton, who
scored a club record 171 goals he went on to play for England in 1946 and was
transferred to Newcastle United the same year, scoring six goals on his
Newcastle debut.
Another
notable Avenue player of the early postwar years was Ron Greenwood, later to
become manager of west ham and then England.
When the full league program resumed after the second world war in the 1945-46
season Avenue reached the FA Cup Quarterfinal for the third time and despite
notable successes in the competition in 1948 when they beat Arsenal 1-0 at Highbury,
and they drew with the eventual winners Manchester United at Maine Road only
losing after a second replay it actually proved to be there swan song.
The
1949-50 season ended with them again relegated to the third division and the
beginning of the long slow decline.
At
the end of the 1955-56 campaign, they had reached rock bottom literally and had
to apply for re-election to the league and Two seasons later after having
finished in the bottom half of division three (north) the club became unwilling
founder members of the new 4th Division for the 1958-59 season.
It
was in their third season of fourth division football when they put in a
dazzling run of six consecutive wins to finish fourth and earned themselves promotion,
but the revival was short lived as two seasons later they went down again.
It
was at this time that Kevin Hector arrived at the club and claimed a regular
place in the side, and it was to be his goal scoring which was to sustain the
club over the next few seasons until his move to Derby County.
while Kevin hector had gone on to greater things Avenue ended the next season
bottom, a position in which they were to remain for two more seasons until the
league turned down their application for re-election and replaced them with
Cambridge United.
So,
after 62 years in the football league, it was now to the Northern Premier
League that the club turned to for its salvation and with virtually a complete
squad of professionals they were hoping for a quick return to league status but
it was not to be.
After
three years of poor results and mounting debts they had to sell Park Avenue in
April 1973 to a property company.
Avenue then moved in to ground share at Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground
but with results not improving the board announced the club would stop playing
at the end of the season.
On
3 May 1974, the shareholders agreed to liquidate the company and Bradford Park
Avenue were no more - or were they.
The
supporters registered the name as a company and began again in the Bradford
Amateur Sunday League Division Four.
Over
the last thirty years Avenue have slowly clawed their way via a procession of
minor leagues to reach the Premier Division of the Unibond League and as a
result the club has regained the position it occupied when it first ceased
playing professional league football in 1974.
How
long will it be before Bradford Park Avenue again take their rightful place and
play in the football league?
Crossed from the wing
By Alan Ball
He picks out Hurst
Who’s standing tall
He takes control
A turn and shot
Its hit the bar
Was it in or not?
It crashes down
Onto the line
Has it crossed?
It must this time
It’s not a goal
The Germans say
Where’s the ref
He’s gone away
He even asks
The linesman too
He nods his head
England three - two
I have regrets
About that day
We did not win fare
The Germans say
Nearly forty
Years of doubt
Was the ball in?
Or was the ball out
But if Hunt had only
Knocked it in
We would not have
All the arguing
