When the wife was pregnant with little Goliath, she asked if I’d still find her attractive when she put on weight. “More weight,” I instinctively corrected.”

It’s perfectly understandable if a lady’s weight yo-yo’s after such a stressful event, but with the wife, it merely yo’d. There’s no excuse for a Premiership footballer to ‘tubby up’ in such an outlandish fashion, so I hope there’s no truth to the rumours emanating from Ewood Park.

It’s alleged that a number of senior pros became hooked on pie and mash during the summer break. If the word on the street is correct, the players were so fixated with this culinary abomination, they stored a substantial amount of Fray Bentos pies in the club canteen.

Mark Hughes was understandably livid when he discovered the secret stash and immediately placed a lock on the freezer.

Robbie Savage considered the manager’s act a blatant violation of his civil liberties and threatened to leave the club if he wasn’t granted immediate access to the forbidden pastries. Mark Hughes stood his ground though, and refused to release the pie-key.

The 6/4 for Middlesbrough to open their campaign with a win over Blackburn is as delicious a treat as anything locked away in Sparky’s freezer of shame.

I was quite surprised when the news broke that Robert Earnshaw had joined Derby; the little Welshman obviously misunderstood when asked if he would like to join the Rams. Earnie can help Derby take a point off Pompey at 9/4.

Roy Keane was a fierce competitor on the pitch: he went through more footballers than Gemma Atkinson. He’ll need the same fighting spirit from his team when they face a formidable Tottenham side; I’m tucking in to the Spuds at 13/10.

Newcastle have gone down the multinational road in their search for new signings. Big Sam has signed a Brazilian, a Spaniard, a Cameroonian, a Czech, an Aussie, an Englishman and a Scouser. It wouldn’t surprise me if he made a move for the promising Russian international, Ivan Terbungoutofit. The Premier League computer has mischievously sent Newcastle to Bolton for their opening fixture; Big Sam has it in the bag at 2/1.

I have a lot of faith in Andy ‘Magic’ Johnson, even though he’s yet to master the ‘staying on his feet’ trick. I’ll be making the 8/11 for an Everton win over Wigan disappear.

If given the choice to play for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge or represent a George Bush 11 in Iran, I’d probably plump for the latter as the risk of injury diminishes significantly. Jose must be cursed; I’m taking Birmingham at 11/2 to snatch a shock draw.

I’m finding it hard to pick a winner in the West Ham v Manchester City match. I asked the wife for her opinion, but she’s also sitting on the fence. I’m now praying for the draw at 9/4, as I need funds for a new fence.

Aston Villa supporters could not be happier with the progress made by Randy Lerner and Martin O’Neill. The giant may still be sleeping, but he’s being poked with a pointy stick. Villa are overpriced at 3/1 to kick the season off with a win over Liverpool.

Fulham fans must be devastated. Mohammed Al Fayed gave his manager the green light to sign established internationals; and Sanchez tucked him up on a technicality. The Cottagers have never won away at Arsenal; the Gooners are the weekend banker at 4/11.

I was disturbed to read that Wayne Rooney has outrageously had his chest waxed. There’s nothing wrong with connecting with your feminine side, but only when you’re trying to find shelter for the little beard-hunter. There’s nothing camp about the 1/4 for a Manchester United win over Reading.

I just hope Ryan Giggs doesn’t follow Rooney’s lead, as the repercussions of dwindling wax reserves could prove catastrophic for small businesses. A little accer on Tottenham, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Manchester United at 13/1 will offer a lifeline to those most under threat.

Gerry McDonnell dabbles in football odds compilation, journalism and orphan rescue.

where can I find offside statistics for premiership football teams?

In partiulcar, how many offsides do man utd and aston villa both average per game?

Answer
Try opta or skysports and look on the match prewiew on bbc sport.

I’ve never been particularly lucky in love. As a result of a severe lack of confidence, I can only approach women after a skinful of lager when the beer goggles are on. Even Kermit would have turned his nose up at some of the pigs I’ve tried my luck with.

I raised the bar marginally higher when I emailed Helen Chamberlain to ask for a date, but she just blew me off.

I did find fleeting love with a diminutive woman called Dot. But just like the unfortunate Martin Jol, I was dumped via a text message. I’m completely over her now though; I buried her under the patio. After extensive digging I’ve discovered 13/8 for a Tottenham win over Middlesbrough.

Rent-a-quote WAG Cheryl Cole claimed that her ‘husband’ didn’t enjoy his final days at Arsenal as he believed that his foreign team-mates were all ‘talking about him’. I find it amazing that a talented footballer with a loving wife could end up such a paranoid wreck; and Ashley Cole is definitely a talented footballer. The 4/9 for a Chelsea win over Wigan is convenient.

Steve Bruce is definitely feeling the pressure. The potato-headed manger couldn’t bear to watch as Birmingham played Wigan last week; although this is not necessarily an uncommon phenomenon amongst the regulars of St Andrews. Everton can be backed at 8/11 against Birmingham; that’s unusually exhilarating.

It’s no coincidence that Arsenal are producing champagne football after dropping the bitter Lehmann. I believe the morale-boosting team huddle is a major factor in the Gunners’ improved form, or it may just be an opportunity to talk about Ashley Cole. Everybody should be talking about the 6/4 for an Arsenal win over Manchester United.

Sam Allardyce will go head to head with Harry Redknapp at St James’ Park, in a match that the gutter press are labelling ‘Panorama II’. I’ve been investigating the history to this fixture and I’ve discovered that Pompey last won in Newcastle in 1949. The Toon can continue their practical ownership at 11/10.

A member of the Royal family has allegedly been caught up in a sex scandal. I just hope it’s not Charlie, as i have absolutely no interest in hippophilia. One set of Royals who won’t be going down is Reading; they’ll leave Fulham with a point at 9/4.

Aston Villa appear to be certainties at 1/2 against a woeful Derby County. The Villa have looked fearsome on their own patch this season, while the Rams are conceding almost three goals a game on the road. The only money going on Derby will be Freddie Flintoff’s.

Phil Gartside must have had a few jars when he appointed Gary Megson. I’m all for positive discrimination, but this move reeks of desperation. Luckily for Bolton, West Ham have been decimated by injuries. Bolton can sneak a fortuitous draw at 5/2.

Like most people who enjoy a swift couple of beers, I often struggle to undress when I’m the worse for wear. I’ve now patented a machine that takes your shirt off for you automatically; it’s provisionally called ‘The Carragher’. I’m all over the 11/5 for a Blackburn win over a depleted Liverpool.

Manchester City may have started the season impressively, but Sven was on the receiving end of a real spanking at Chelsea last week. To make matters even worse, his team then lost 6-0 at Stamford Bridge. I believe that result was merely a blip; City will explode into life on bonfire night against Sunderland at 8/13.

Being a persistent soul, I’ve decided to ask Helen Chamberlain to accompany me to a small fireworks display. I’ve already bought her a Catherine wheel and a rocket; I just want a banger now. Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City form a 13/1 weekend accer that will more than cover the expense.

Gerry McDonnell dabbles in football odds compilation, journalism and orphan rescue.

what year did aston villa win european cup in football?

Answer
Aston Villa won the European Cup in 1982 when they defeated Bayern Munich of GERMANY 1-0 in the final which takes place at Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands on 26 May 1982. Peter Withe scored the winning goal.

When Steve McClaren unveiled Gareth Southgate as his first signing for Boro back in summer 2001 few fans could have foreseen what an eventful eight years he would go on to have on Teesside.

The highly-rated England international’s decision to join Boro caused a stir at his former club Aston Villa given that he had always maintained that he wanted to move to a big club where he had a chance of winning honours – and then joined a club that had won nothing in it’s entire history!

Southgate proved to be an astute signing by McClaren as he went on to form a solid defensive partnership with his old Villa team-mate Ugo Ehiogu at the Riverside and took the club’s Player of the Year award in his first season.

McClaren was so impressed with Southgate’s ability he wasted no time in handing him the captain’s armband in the summer of 2002 when Paul Ince departed for Wolves.

Southgate went on to be a mainstay of the Boro side and on February 29 2004 he became the first captain of the club to lift a major trophy after Boro defeated Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the Carling Cup final at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

That monumental day in the club’s history also had the reward of European football being guaranteed for the 2004-05 campaign as Boro fans could look forward to watching teams from around the continent arriving at the Riverside Stadium and enjoy trips to see the club play competitively abroad.

Southgate led a star-studded side in that first European campaign as experienced stars such as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka were draftred in to bolster the forward line. However, after a notable 3-0 group win over Lazio, the UEFA Cup run ended on a hot night in Lisbon as Sporting defeated Boro 4-2 on aggregate in the knockout stages.

The 2005-06 campaign was to be Southgate’s final one as a player and it ended on an unbelievable note as Boro – via two amazing comebacks against Basle and Steaua Bucharest – reached the final of the UEFA Cup in only their second season in the competition.

Unfortunately Boro were well beaten 4-0 by Sevilla in the final in Eindhoven, which turned out to be McClaren’s final game in charge as he had been lined up to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson as England coach.

Boro chairman Steve Gibson revealed to the fans he wanted a top-drawer manager to replace McClaren and then stunned everyone when he announced that Southgate would be handed the reins, despite the fact he had no experience or relevant UEFA pro Licence.

Having won over the Premier League in the battle to employ Southgate as manager, he guided Boro to a respectable 12th-placed finish in his first season.

The cracks started appearing in the second season – 2007-08 – as Yakubu and Jonathan Woodgate were allowed to follow Mark Viduka out of the exit door, while another mid-table finish was overshadowed by a disastrous 2-0 home defeat to Cardiff in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Many fans felt that should have spelled the end for Southgate’s tenure given that it represented Boro’s best chance to win the trophy and the players just did not turn up!

Boro did end the season on a high note with an 8-1 win against Manchester City, but that merely handed the fans false hope for what was to come.

Cost-cutting measures and a desire of key players to leave saw veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, combative midfield duo George Boateng and Lee Cattermole, experienced right-back Luke Young and creative midfielder Fabio Rochemback lost from an already small squad.

Southgate brought in French Under-21 midfielder Didier Digard and Dutch striker Marvin Emnes for a combined fee of around £6million, while Justin Hoyte was brought in as a cheap replacement for Young and Ross Turnbull and Brad Jones were given the chance to fight for Schwarer’s place. All proved to be a gamble too far for the club.

A decent start saw Boro go up to eighth in the Premier League after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa last November.

However the season fell apart from that game onwards as Boro managed just two more wins in the Premier League, and broke club records for 12 successive away defeats, lowest number of goals in a season and they were subsequently relegated after a 2-1 defeat at West Ham on May 24.

Many fans were already resigned to the drop – with the 3-0 defeat at West Brom in mid-January my personal landmark result when I knew we would not survive if Southgate remained at the helm.

Boro’s demise came as a result of a loss of valuable experienced squad members and an over-reliance on youth to keep the wage bill down – something which Southgate could not be blamed for.

However he was to blame for squandering funds on unproven foreign players not cut out for English football, and a perceived lack of tactical, man-management and motivational skills.

Unbelievably, despite the vast majority of supporters clamouring for change, Steve Gibson opted to give Southgate the task of guiding Boro back to the Premier League at the first attempt this season.

Things looked to be going well as Boro were unbeaten in the opening four games and had not conceded a goal. However the inevitable loss of Tuncay and Robert Huth had an impact as Boro’s home form suffered.

Boro’s away form was the best in the division, but a 5-0 defeat to West Brom and 1-0 defeats to Leicester and Watford at the Riverside saw the fans vote with their feet dramatically.

Only 17,500 fans turned up for the 2-0 win against Derby County on October 20 – the lowest league attendance since the Riverside opened in 1995. And, despite Boro being just one point off the top of the table, Gibson thought the time had come for a change to get the fans back united behind the club.

The disappointing home form, the club’s inability to beat their anticipated promotion rivals, the fans’ apathy towards the club and the less-than-convincing performances even in victory had finally taken there toll on the man at the top.

Finally it was time for change; it was time for Gareth Southgate to go!

Written by Craig Smithson, a Middlesbrough FC season-ticket holder and a sports writer who blogs about football betting.

oneBoro, a leading Middlesbrough FC fansite and Middlesbrough FC Forum.

Are Aston Villa Brilliant?

Aston Villa are a top prem side – always been in the prem, 2nd longest overall stay in top flight football – 4th in the honours league !!!!

Answer
Yes

Fulham Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they celebrated their 125th anniversary in 2004, and are in the top tier of English football, the Premier League. Fulham are the oldest professional football team in London, usually considered to have been founded in 1879 (though the semi-professional Cray Wanderers F.C. are the oldest team in London still in existence).

The club spent much time in the old First Division through the 1960s but never gained any major honours. In 1975, as a Second Division team, they contested the FA Cup final for the only time in their history, losing 2–0 to West Ham United, the Fulham side that day containing former Hammers great Bobby Moore. Fulham qualified for the UEFA Cup in 2002 by winning the Intertoto Cup, beating Bologna 5–3 in the final over two legs. In the UEFA Cup, they won through two rounds before being defeated by Hertha Berlin. In the mid-1990s they had a brief spell in the former Fourth Division, but within less than a decade, they advanced into the top flight. No doubt their new millionaire chairman, Mohamed Al-Fayed played a crucial role. In 2009, Fulham had their highest-ever finish in the top-flight, coming 7th to qualify for Europe once again.

The club has produced many British greats including Johnny Haynes, George Cohen, Bobby Robson, Rodney Marsh and Alan Mullery. They play at the historic Craven Cottage, their home since 1896, a riverside ground on the banks of the River Thames in Fulham, having spent two years at Loftus Road while Craven Cottage was undergoing renovations to bring it up to Premier League standards. The club’s training ground is located near Motspur Park (and was where Chariots of Fire among others was filmed), where Fulham’s Academy is also situated, including a mini-stadium where the reserves play. Fulham currently have a partnership agreement with the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

After Fulham’s relegation escape, Hodgson spoke of the need to ensure Fulham never found themselves in such a precarious position again. He struck early during the summer transfer window to claim the signing of experienced, Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer on a free from Middlesbrough on 22 May 2008. On 28 May 2008, the club announced that captain and club legend Brian McBride would not renew his contract and would be returning to USA to play for the Chicago Fire. On 12 June Fulham added the signing of Andranik Teymourian to its summer acquisitions. The 25-year-old Armenian-Iranian defensive midfielder has played most recently for Bolton and the Iran national football team. Zoltan Gera was also added to the squad earlier in the same month, after turning down a new contract with newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. In early July, Toni Kallio, whom Hodgson had signed on loan in January, signed a full contract with the club. On 15 July, Fulham announced the joint signing of Bobby Zamora and John Pantsil from London rivals West Ham. Next followed the saga of Andrew Johnson in which it was reported in the press on 29 June that Johnson (from Premier League rivals Everton) would be joining immediately for up to 12 million pounds. The transfer eventually happened more than a week later and at fees rising to almost 13 million, he is the second most expensive signing in Fulham’s history, (after Steve Marlet), and was looking to make an impact along with the other 9 player Roy Hodgson signed in the 2008–09 season. The current captain is Danny Murphy.

Fulham’s start to the season was not fantastic: a 2-1 defeat away to Hull City. However, two home games in quick succession saw them record a surprise 1-0 victory over Arsenal, as well as a 2-1 win against Bolton Wanderers. They also beat Leicester City in the Carling Cup, but it was a nervy affair for Fulham, who won 3-2 after being 2-1 down with 7 minutes to go: Danny Murphy scored the winner in stoppage time. Four successive defeats, three of which were in the League to Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion saw Fulham slide down the table: the other defeat, away to Burnley, saw them go out of the Carling Cup. Two draws against Sunderland and Portsmouth helped to stop the rot, and a 2-0 home win against Wigan Athletic was crucial. Fulham then somehow contrived to lose away to Everton, but they rectified this by defeating both Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage. The win against Spurs was particularly noteworthy, as Roy Hodgson’s side became the first to beat Tottenham under their new manager Harry Redknapp. Two 0-0 draws away to Liverpool and Aston Villa saw them rise to 10th in the table, and they have already picked up over half their points tally of last season. Their 1-1 draw at home with Manchester City, followed by their 0-0 draw away at Stoke City mean that they are now unbeaten in six matches. Following the Stoke match, Fulham had a very comfortable 3-0 win against Boro. Despite not winning either of their next two fixtures, the Christmas period was a satisfactory one for Fulham: on Boxing Day they drew 0-0 away to Tottenham (the year before they had lost 5-1 in the same fixture on the same day), and two days later they snatched a dramatic draw at home to their local rivals Chelsea, with both goals coming from American Clint Dempsey. This saw them cement their place in mid-table, where they still remain at 9th position in the third week of March 2009, a month in which they have had mixed results, losing 1-2 to lowly ranked Blackburn Rovers and 0-1 to Hull City, but sensationally prevailing 2-0 on 21 March 2009 at Craven Cottage against Premier League defending champions and 2008-09 leaders Manchester United, who had two players, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney sent off. The goals for Fulham were scored by Danny Murphy and Zoltan Gera. Earlier in the season, the team reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup, eventually losing at home to Manchester United. Fulham finished the season in seventh place allowing them to enter the recently re-named Europa League for only the second time in their history.

The Fulham FC club official mascot is Billy the Badger who was the winning design sent in by Kyle Jackson after an online competition by the club. Billy the Badger wears the number 79 Fulham shirt, in reference to the club’s year of founding (1879). Controversy first surrounded Billy when he tried to cheer up Chelsea manager Avram Grant during a home match in front of the television cameras. Secondly, Billy was seen on television being sent off during the home game against Aston Villa on Sunday 3 February 2008, for breakdancing in the corner of the pitch after the referee had commenced the game. Billy blamed his badger hearing and eyesight for the incident, and apologised to referee Chris Foy. On Wednesday 11 March 2009 Billy walked across the goal during a match although it was not spotted by the referee. The former mascot for Fulham was Sir Craven of Cottage, the Knight. The cheerleaders were known as the Cravenettes, formerly the SW6ers.

Fulham fans consider their main rivals to be Chelsea. Despite this fixture not being played that often in the years preceding Fulham’s ascent to the top division, this is a clear local derby as Chelsea’s ground, Stamford Bridge, is in Fulham. However, it is only recently that the two teams have been competing in the same league. Chelsea supporters don’t consider Fulham to be their main rivals, sharing more intense rivalries with Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, West Ham United, Leeds, Millwall and more recently Liverpool. The reason for this is not certain but most likely owes to the fact the two clubs have spent many years in different divisions and Chelsea’s considerably larger fan base.

Fulham consider their secondary rivalries to be with QPR and Brentford. Fulham last played QPR in the 2000-01 season and Brentford in the 1997-98 season. They also have small rivalries with other London clubs, including West Ham and Crystal Palace.

Outside of London, Gillingham are still considered rivals to Fulham despite the two clubs having played in different divisions for the past eight years. Fulham and Gillingham have been involved in several high-tempered matches in the lower leagues. The death of a Fulham fan outside Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium in 1998 has only served to intensify the bad relationship between the clubs’ fans.

Fulham have a large fan base and have millions of fans all over the world and people love to watch their matches live into the play ground. Fulham fans love to enjoy and experience the thrill during the Fulham match live in the ground. Getting football tickets for Fulham Matches is really a hard task for the Fulham fans. Ticket4football.com solves this problem by offering the Fulham football tickets, easy to get and relatively at cheaper price. So Fulham Tickets are just at the distance of one click from the fans.

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Aston Villa will remain in the top division of English football throughout our entire lifetime?

They are one of the wealthiest (financial stable as well), highest earning and best supported football clubs in the country. Surely there will never be a repeat of what took place in the late 80s?

Answer
Is tgis a question or ur just boasting

Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) enjoyed a long and successful career as a Scottish striker from the 1950s to the 1970s. Law’s career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, Manchester City signed him for a transfer fee of £55,000, setting a new British record. Law spent one year there before Torino bought him for £110,000, this time setting a new record fee for a transfer between an English and an Italian club. Although he played well in Italy, he found it difficult to settle there and signed for Manchester United in 1962, setting another British record transfer fee of £115,000.

He is best known for the eleven years that he spent at United, where he scored 237 goals in 409 appearances and was nicknamed The King and The Lawman by supporters. He is the only Scottish player in history to have won the prestigious European Footballer of the Year award, doing so in 1964, and helped his club win the First Division in 1965 and 1967. Law left Manchester United in 1973 and returned to Manchester City for a season, then represented Scotland in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Law played for Scotland a total of 55 times and jointly holds the Scottish international record goal tally with 30 goals. Law is also United’s second highest goalscorer behind Bobby Charlton. Law holds a United record for scoring 46 goals in a single season.

In the 1954–55 season, he was spotted by Archie Beattie, a scout for Huddersfield Town, who invited him to go for a trial. When he got there, the manager said, “The boy’s a freak. Never did I see a less likely football prospect — weak, puny and bespectacled.” However, to Law’s surprise, they signed him on 3 April 1955. While he was at Huddersfield, he had an operation to correct his squint, which greatly enhanced his self confidence. Huddersfield’s relegation to what was then the Second Division made it easier for Law to get a game, and he made his debut on 24 December 1956, aged only sixteen, in a 2–0 win over Notts County. Manchester United’s manager Matt Busby shortly offered Huddersfield £10,000 for Law, a substantial amount of money for a footballer at that time, but the club turned the offer down. He was not picked to play for Scotland in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but scored on his debut against Wales on 18 October 1958 and quickly established himself as a first choice player. Bill Shankly was manager of Huddersfield between 1957 and 1959, and when he left for Liverpool he wanted to take Law with him, but Liverpool were unable to afford him at that time.

In March 1960, Law signed for Manchester City for what was then a British record transfer fee of £55,000, although Law’s share of the fee was “precisely nothing”. Although a First Division side, City had narrowly avoided relegation the previous season, and he genuinely felt that Huddersfield had a better team at the time. Law made his debut on 19 March, scoring in a 4–3 defeat to Leeds United. In April 1961, he scored two goals in a 4–1 win over Aston Villa that ensured City’s survival in Division One Although he had thought about leaving, he was playing well and in 1961 Law scored an incredible six goals in an FA Cup tie against Luton Town. Unfortunately for him, the match was abandoned with twenty minutes to go, so his six goals didn’t count. To make matters worse for him, Luton won the replay 3–1, and City were knocked out of the Cup.

He played but did not score in Scotland’s match against England on 15 April 1961. Scotland lost the match 9–3, and Law described it as his “blackest day”. The following November, Law represented the Football League in a match against the Italian League, losing 4–2. Although he enjoyed his time at City, he wanted to play in a more successful side and was sold to the Italian club Torino in the summer of 1961. Law’s time in Italy did not go according to plan. Another Italian club, Internazionale, tried to prevent him becoming a Torino player as soon as he arrived, claiming he had signed a pre-contract agreement with them, although they dropped this claim before the season started.

Players in the UK were not treated well at the time, and the maximum wage for footballers had only recently been abolished there, so he was pleasantly surprised to find that pre-season training was based in a luxury hotel in the Alps. However, Torino took performance-related pay to something of an extreme, giving the players bags full of money when the team won but little, if anything, when they lost. Like many British footballers who have gone to play in Italy, Law did not like the style of football and found adapting to it difficult. The ultra-defensive catenaccio system was popular there at the time, so forwards did not get many chances to score. He continued to play for Scotland while he was at Torino, although the club were not keen to release him for international matches and had put a clause into his contract stating that they were not obliged to do so. On 7 February 1962, he was injured in a car crash when his teammate Joe Baker drove the wrong way around a roundabout and clipped the kerb as he tried to turn the car around, flipping it over. Baker was almost killed, but Law’s injuries were not life-threatening. Law eventually signed for United on 10 July 1962, for a new British record fee of £115,000.

Law moved back to Manchester, boarding with the same landlady that he had lived with during his time as a City player. His first match for United was against West Bromwich Albion on 18 August 1962, and he made an excellent start, scoring after only seven minutes. The match finished in a 2–2 draw. However, United’s form had been erratic since the Munich air disaster in 1958, and because of their inconsistency they spent the season fighting relegation. In a league match against Leicester City Law scored a hat trick but United still lost. They found form in the FA Cup though, with Law scoring another hat trick in a 5–0 win against his old club Huddersfield, and they went on to reach the final against Leicester City. Leicester were strong favourites, having finished fourth in the league, but Law scored the first goal as United won 3–1 in what turned out to be the only FA Cup final of his career. He also married his wife Diana that season, on 11 December 1962.

Law scored a number of goals early in the 1963–64 season and was selected to play for a Rest of the World side against England at Wembley, scoring their goal in a 2–1 defeat. He later described this as the greatest honour of his career. His season was interrupted by a 28-day suspension for a sending off that he received against Aston Villa. The unusually cold winter forced United to play many of their fixtures in a short space of time, and their results suffered. Law later blamed this for United’s failure to win a trophy in that season.
In 1964–65, Law won the European Footballer of the Year award, and Manchester United won their first league title since Munich. Law’s 28 league goals that season made him the First Division’s top scorer. The following season, Law injured his right knee while playing for Scotland against Poland on 21 October 1965. He had previously had an operation on the same knee while at Huddersfield, and the injury was to trouble him for the rest of his career.

In 1966, Law asked United’s manager Matt Busby to give him a pay rise at his next contract renewal, and threatened to leave the club if he did not get one. Busby immediately placed Law on the transfer list, announcing that “no player will hold this club to ransom, no player”. When Law went to see him, Busby pulled out a written apology for him to sign, showing it to the press once he had done so. Law later claimed that Busby had used the incident to warn other players not to do the same thing, but had secretly given him the pay rise. Law scored in Scotland’s famous 3–2 victory over England on 15 April 1967 in the 1967 British Home Championship, less than a year after England had become world champions. Manchester United won the league that season, but Law felt that the victory over England was even more satisfying.

In 1968, United won the European Cup for the first time, but Law’s knee injury was causing him serious problems and he missed both the semi-final and the final as a result. He was regularly given cortisone injections to ease the pain, but playing while the knee was still injured was causing long-term damage. He visited a specialist in January 1968 who wrote to United claiming that a previous operation to remove the cartilage from the knee had failed and recommending that a second operation be performed, but Law was not shown the report for several years and had to continue full training.
In 1968–69, United reached the semi-final of the European Cup, playing AC Milan. United lost the first leg in the San Siro 2–0, winning the second leg at Old Trafford 1–0 with a Bobby Charlton goal. Law put the ball over the line only to see it kicked away by a Milan defender. Law claimed a goal but the referee waved play on and United went out on aggregate. Busby, who had now been knighted, resigned at the end of the season and United’s decline began.

After a poor 1970–71 season, Frank O’Farrell took over as United manager. They made a good start to the 1971–72 season and finished 1971 five points clear at the top of the league, with Law having scored twelve goals. Docherty gave Law a free transfer in the summer of 1973, and he moved back to Manchester City. He played in City’s 2–1 defeat in the League Cup final against Wolves. In City’s last game of the 1973–74 season against Manchester United at Old Trafford, Law’s back-heel gave City a 1–0 win but, thinking his goal had relegated United, he did not celebrate it (it turned out they would have been relegated even if the match had been drawn but Law did not know this at the time), walking off the pitch with his head down as he was substituted immediately afterwards. This game was the last of his professional career, as he retired shortly afterwards, not wanting to be confined to the reserve team of a City side who were bringing in younger players. Scotland reached the World Cup finals in the summer of 1974, for the first time since 1958. Although he had not played much first team football in the preceding season, Law was included in the squad and played in their first match, against Zaire. He didn’t score, but Scotland won 2–0. Law was “very disappointed” not to be picked for the following match against Brazil, and was not selected for the following match against Yugoslavia either. Although Scotland were not defeated in any of their matches, they did not qualify for the second phase and were out of the World Cup.

Law still had a contract with Manchester City but their manager Tony Book told him that he would only be playing reserve team football if he stayed. He did not want to end his career in this way, so he retired from professional football in the summer of 1974. Since then, Law has often worked on radio and television summarising and presenting games.

My Football Facts & Stats Legendary Players

Aston Villa will remain in the top division of English football throughout our entire lifetime?

They are one of the wealthiest (financial stable as well), highest earning and best supported football clubs in the country. Surely there will never be a repeat of what took place in the late 80s?

Answer
Is tgis a question or ur just boasting

Perhaps surprisingly Birmingham does have a castle and a few truly ancient buildings alongside a lot of other attractions for visitors to see. The image of Birmingham as a dull industrialised city dominated by the car is simply no longer true. Gone are the crumbling factories, warehouses and monstrous concrete blocks, which have been replaced with modern and stylish buildings and now form the bedrock of a rejuvenated and vibrant city. Birmingham has also made the most of the heritage it does owe to the industrial age, which alongside the introduction and development of exciting new attractions, gives visitors to the city plenty to choose from.

One of the countries, as well as Birmingham’s, top tourist attractions is Cadbury World, which tells the story of chocolate in the UK and the Cadbury Company in Birmingham. Cadbury World is suitable for all ages, and is both fun and educational. Part of the visit is to go on the tour of the factory, some of which is walked and for other parts you’re transported around in small vehicles along a programmed route. As well as there being a Cadbury shop to visit there are ‘free’ samples as you go around on the tour. The city has a Birmingham Railway Museum at Tyseley, which has vintage steam locomotives and a locomotive shed dating back to 1908. You can also organise a trip by steam train from Birmingham to Stratford-Upon-Avon.

The ThinkTank Museum, at Millennium Point is the location for the city’s Science museum which includes a Planetarium. The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is in the Birmingham University campus. It won the Gallery of the Year award in 2004 and apart from displaying works of art is used for musical concerts. A less likely place than Birmingham to find a Sea Life Centre is hard to imagine. However, behind the ICC, at Brindley Place is the National Sea Life Centre. Its 60 displays cover all marine life from Sharks to Jellyfish, as well as some mammals such as Sae Otters.

Owned by the National Trust, Birmingham has preserved some Back-to-Back Houses, on Hurst Street, from the 19th century showing how the workers in the early industrial revolution would have lived. The canals were the motorways of the early industrial revolution and Birmingham sits at the heart of the regions network of canals. With more kilometres of canals than Venice, there are plenty of walks and guided tours along them. The best starting point is to go to the Gas Street Basin, behind the ICC and NIA. Completely revamped in the 1990s Victoria Square, in front of the Town Hall, is now a modern piazza style meeting place in the city. The first time they’re seen, The Iron Man and the Floozie in the Jacuzzi are always certain to be the topic of conversation. Centenary Square, in front of the ICC, Symphony Hall and the Repertory Theatre on Broad Street, is the newest public space in the city centre. It is another popular meeting place and is often used as a venue for outdoor concerts and events.

The jewel in the crown of Birmingham’s museums has to be the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which is on Chamberlain Square behind the Town Hall. The Art Gallery has the largest collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings in the world, alongside Old Masters and Impressionists. The pre-Raphaelite collection includes works by: Ford Maddox Brown, Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Millais and Holman Hunt. The Museum itself houses archaeological exhibitions as well as natural and social history displays. The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is exactly as the name implies. Housed in what was the Smith & Pepper jewellery factory on Vyse Street, it provides a snap-shot of working conditions and practices around the middle of the 20th century. Many of the machinery and tools that were in use when the factory closed down pre-date the 20th century, with some artefacts on display going back 200 years.

Aston Hall is one of the city’s older buildings; it is known that a manor has been on this site since 1386. The present 400 year old mansion sits in 21 hectares of parkland next to Aston Villa football club and has some fine Jacobean plasterwork and a 120m Long Gallery decorated with 17th century tapestries. On its outside walls you can still see the marks left by bullets and cannonballs from the English Civil War. Owned by Matthew Boulton, a member of the Lunar Society, Soho House was the first centrally heated home in the country as well as being a hot-house of ideas in the industrial revolution! Sarehole Mill, in the suburb of Hall Green, is popular as a museum to show how a mill would have operated and because of its connection with J R Tolkein, author of The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.

Whilst almost hidden away in the suburb of the same name is Birmingham’s Weoley Castle. In truth not much remains of what was really more of a fortified 13th century moated manor house. However, excavations have shown evidence of an earlier 11th century castle on the site. Selly Manor and Blakesley Hall are two of Birmingham’s older buildings that visitors may well find interesting. Finally, you will need to contact the Museums Collection Centre to arrange a visit, but if you’re fortunate enough for them to have an open day when you can be there, you’ll see a fascinating collection of items that periodically appear in the city’s various museums.

Moving not too far outside of the city there are many nearby attractions. At Solihull is the National Motorcycle Museum, whilst historic Warwick Castle can be reached in about 45 minutes as can Stratford-Upon-Avon, with all its associations and history of William Shakespeare and the Shakespeare Theatre.

Susan Ashby of Birmingham Singles has travelled extensively around the United Kingdom writing articles on each of the major cities. To read more articles on Birmingham or for dating in Birmingham visit http://www.birmingham-singles.co.uk

how many team start and end with the same letter in the football leagues?

here one to get you started aston villa there are 12 i think

Answer
i think liverpool

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writer

Could David Cameron’s ‘allegiance’ with Aston Villa give him that edge in the Midland’s constituencies in 2010?

Whilst Gordon Brown probably won’t gain anything because of his support for a minor Scottish team, Cameron may have chosen wisely by pledging his loyalty to the biggest and most popular football club in the Midlands. Although he has no real links with the midlands (born, educated and resides in the South-east), the seats in the Midlands are very marginal. Good choice for Cameron then?

Answer
possibly im not sure

So many great players have represented Aston Villa in their illustrious history that putting together a list of twelve or so greats is close to impossible. Nevertheless, we’ve given it a go. With apologies the great players we’ve excluded, here is our list of Aston Villa Legends. (Current Aston Villa players are not included).

George Ramsay

Position: Forward (later secretary of the club)

Aston Villa Career: (as a player)  1976-1884
(as secretary) 1884 -1926  

The earliest of Aston Villa legends, Ramsay served the club both as player and secretary (a role that effectively made him manager of the team).

He was responsible for transforming the team from a disorganized group playing ‘kick and rush’, to an effective unit playing the passing game. And he was a skillful player himself with people coming to Villa matches just see him play.  

Ramsay retired from playing in June 1882 but took up the role of Secretary which he held from 1884-1926. During this time Villa won the League and FA Cup 6 times each, and establishing themselves as the premier club in England.

Archie Hunter

Position: Forward

Aston Villa Career: 1878-1890

Appearances: 367

Goals: 150

Villa’s first great captain, Hunter joined the club in 1878, ten years before the commencement of League football, and remained until the premature end of his career in 1890.

Ensured his status as an Aston Villa legend by being the first Villa captain to lift the FA Cup, and also the first player to score in every round of the cup during Villa’s victorious 1887 campaign.

Tragically, during a League match against Everton in 1890, he suffered a heart attack and collapsed. He would never play again, and died four years later at the age of just 35.

Billy Walker

Position: Forward

Aston Villa Career: 1920-1933

Appearances: 531

Goals: 244

Aston Villa legend, Billy Walker joined the club in 1914 and spent his entire playing career at Villa Park.

A skillful centre forward, he made 531 appearances, scoring 244 goals, and is the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.

He also stands second on the list of highest appearances and was a member of the 1920 FA Cup winning side.

After retirement Walker had a successful management career, leading both Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest to FA Cup success.

Eric Houghton

Position: Forward / Manager

Aston Villa Career: 1927-1946

Appearances: 392

Goals: 170

An Aston Villa legend who is often referred to as “Mr Aston Villa”. Houghton played for the club for two decades and scored 170 goals in 392 games. He was something of a deadball specialist with a powerful shot that yielded 58 goals from the penalty spot and 30 from direct free kicks.

After finishing his playing career at Notts County he went on to become Aston Villa manager and led them to an FA Cup win in 1957.

He then had a spell as Notts County manager before returning again to Villa Park, this time as a director.

Trevor Ford

Position: Forward

Aston Villa Career: 1947-1950

Appearances: 128

Goals: 61

A prolific striker, Ford had a relatively short Villa career, playing 128 games over 3 seasons and scoring 61 goals. Still, he was the hero of the Holte End before a British record transfer fee of £30,000 took him to Sunderland. At Sunderland he was even more prolific, hitting 67 goals in just 108 appearances before another big money move, this time to Cardiff City.

Ford retired in 1956 but returned a year later to play for PSV Eindhoven in Holland. He returned to the Football League and played his last season with Newport County in 1960-61.

Peter McParland

Position: Winger

Aston Villa Career: 1952-1962

Appearances: 340

Goals: 120

Arguably Villa’s greatest player of the 1950′s, McParland was signed from Dundalk in 1952 for a fee of £3,880. He spent 10 years at the club, making 293 appearances and scoring 98 goals.

During this time he won the FA Cup in 1957 (scoring twice in the final), the Second Division title in 1960 and the League Cup in 1961.  

He later played for Wolves and Plymouth before finishing his career in the North American Soccer League with Atlanta Chiefs.

Charlie Aitken

Position: Defender

Aston Villa Career: 1959-1976

Appearances: 660

Goals: 16

An Aston Villa legend who is the club’s all-time appearance record holder with 659 appearances spanning an incredible 17 seasons from 1959 to 1976.

He was a member of the 1975 League Cup winning team, and also won the Third division title in his time at Villa.

Spent the last two seasons of his career playing for New York Cosmos in the NASL.

Brian Little

Position: Forward / Manager

Aston Villa Career: (as a player) 1970-1979
(as manager)  1994-1998

Appearances: 301

Goals: 82

Little played his entire career at Aston Villa, making 247 appearances and scoring 60 goals, many of them in a prolific partnership with Andy Gray.

Joining on schoolboy terms when the club had just dropped into the Third Division, he was part of a successful youth setup, and after progressing through the ranks he helped Villa back to the First Division in the early Seventies.

He was also part of the League Cup winning teams of 1975 and 1977, before a knee injury brought his career to a premature halt at the age of just 26.

Moving into management he coached Wolves, Darlington and Leicester City before being handed the Aston Villa job in 1994. He led the team to fourth place in the Premiership in 1995–96 and also won the League Cup. In February 1998, with the club in the bottom half of the table he resigned after  three years in charge.

He has since held managerial posts at Stoke, West Brom, Hull, Tranmere and Wrexham with little success.  

Ron Saunders

Position: Manager

Aston Villa Career: 1974-1982

A free-scoring centre-forward during his playing career, Saunders had spells as manager of Yeovil Town, Oxford United, Norwich City and Manchester City before taking over at Aston Villa – then a second division side – in 1974.

In his first season, he guided Villa to promotion and also won the League Cup. He won the League Cup again in 1977, and in 1981, led Villa to the League title for the first time in 71 years.

In January 1982, with Villa in the quarter-final of the European Cup, Saunders surprisingly resigned due to a contractual dispute. His assistant Tony Barton took over, and guided the club to European Cup glory four months later.

Subsequent moves to rivals Birmingham City, and West Bromwich Albion do not sully his status as an Aston Villa legend

Denis Mortimer

Position: Midfielder

Aston Villa Career: 1975-1985

Appearances: 405

Goals: 36

Villa’s European Cup winning captain began his career at Coventry City, where he made over 200 appearances before moving to Villa Park in 1975. He made 403 appearances in Villa colours, scoring 39 goals and winning the League title, League Cup and, the crowning moment of his Villa career, the  European Cup in 1982.

After leaving Aston Villa, Mortimer moved to Brighton and then blotted his copybook somewhat by joining Birmingham City. Still, he remains an Aston Villa legend and one of the club’s greatest ever captains.

Gordon Cowans

Position: Midfielder

Aston Villa Career: 1976-1985; 1988-1991; 1993-1994

Appearances: 528

Goals: 59

A product of Aston Villa’s youth system Gordon Cowans joined the club as an apprentice in 1974, and was part of a successful team that won the FA Youth Cup. He signed as a professional in 1976 and made his first team debut as a 17-year-old.

Cowans had three spells with Villa broken by stints with Bari and Blackburn Rovers. During his career with the club he won the First Division title, the European Cup, European Super Cup, and the League Cup.

After leaving the club for the final time in 1994 he played for Derby, Wolves, Sheffield United, Bradford City, Stockport County and Burnley before retiring in 1997.

Peter Withe

Position: Forward

Aston Villa Career: 1980-1985

Appearances: 182

Goals: 90

Something of a late-bloomer in the game, Withe had spells in South Africa and the US before signing for Nottingham Forest in 1976, where he won the League title. He then spent two seasons at Newcastle United, and in 1980 moved to Aston Villa for a club record £500,000.

It was to prove an inspired signing as Withe and Gary Shaw delivered the goals that drove Villa to the League title in 1981.

All in all Withe scored 74 goals in 182 appearances for Villa, but his status as an Aston Villa legend is secure thanks to one strike – the winner in the 1982 European Cup final against Bayern Munich.

Paul McGrath

Position: Defender

Aston Villa Career: 1989-1996

Appearances: 321

Goals: 10

Aston Villa legend McGrath began his professional career with League of Ireland club St Patrick’s Athletic. In his first season he won the PFAI Player of the Year Award and attracted the attention of Manchester United.

He moved to Old Trafford in 1982, but his time at United was disappointing, plagued by knee injuries and an alcohol problem, although he did help the club to an FA Cup win in 1985.

In 1989, he signed for Aston Villa, where he would play some of the best football of his life, helping them to two second-place finishes and two League Cup triumphs. He also received the PFA Footballer of the Year award in 1993.

McGrath left Aston Villa in 1996, and had short spells with Derby County and Sheffield United before retiring in 1998.

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what year did aston villa win european cup in football?

Answer
Aston Villa won the European Cup in 1982 when they defeated Bayern Munich of GERMANY 1-0 in the final which takes place at Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands on 26 May 1982. Peter Withe scored the winning goal.

Amongst all the exotic names of strikers linked with Manchester City over the past few months, one of Mark Hughes’ most astute pieces of transfer business might actually turn out to be Gareth Barry – a player some fans still mistakenly think of as a ‘journeyman’ footballer.

In fact, Gareth Barry could well fall into that category of players that supporters don’t fully appreciate until he suddenly isn’t playing; someone who simply gets on with the important business in midfield and chips in with the occasional goal or two.

He’s certainly come a long way since his controversial move as a young trainee from Brighton and Hove Albion to Aston Villa in 1997. At that stage of his career, Gareth Barry was considered primarily to be a centre back, initially playing for Villa in a back three with Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu. His form was so consistent that, in 2000, he earned a call-up to the England squad and, for a while, the conjecture was that he would become the regular left back or left sided central defender. After 2003, though, he fell out of the squad altogether for four years.

During this time, Gareth, surprisingly to some, moved into midfield. However, his touch on the ball and mobility soon began to show, in addition to his excellent reading of the game, and he quickly developed into the role – becoming so much more than simply a defensive ‘minder’ for more creative midfielders. His success in the central midfield position brought him back into the England squad and also attracted the attention of Liverpool, who were very keen to sign him in the summer of 2008.

Gareth first played central midfield for England in September, 2007 against Israel and, by having two assists to his name in that match, he soon established himself as a regular in the team, combining well with both Steve Gerrard and Frank Lampard. At the time of writing, he has won 34 international caps in total, scoring twice in the process.

Despite playing in 441 games for Aston Villa and scoring 52 goals, Barry’s departure from the club wasn’t without problems. After nearly leaving for Liverpool the previous year, some of the fans had remained critical of the player’s attitude during the season and, when he left for Manchester City this summer, the accusation of going only to enhance his bank balance was a common one. Gareth Barry himself, though, always maintained that the move was for footballing reasons and for the challenge of becoming a part of the ‘new era’ at the Eastlands Stadium.

Certainly it’s clear to see why Mark Hughes would want to sign Gareth Barry. Here is a player still only 28 years old but with enormous experience who is going to help gel the team together and set a fine example, both on and off the pitch. He is the kind of player you want on your team for an away fixture on a wet and windy Tuesday evening in October as well as in those tight Champions’ League games they hope to be playing in soon.

what do you seriously think about aston villa?

me bieng a fan,i obviously think there playin some very good football and on the way up, but no one else i talk to thinks this. what do you think? honestly.

Answer
Seriously I don’t think about Aston Villa. Sorry! Though each to their own

The preparation for the start of the 2009-10 season is just starting to get into full swing and we are starting to see more transfer activity from Premiership teams. Early transfer activity has very much been dominated by Real Madrid but now that they seem to be almost finished their spending spree if is now down to the Premiership clubs to start their preparations for next season. Part of these preparations is to release the new shirts for the new season with most of the teams having now released the latest designs and what is surprising is that Umbro produces the Premiership shirts for more teams than any other manufacturer, in fact they manufacture shirts from the same number of Premiership teams as Nike and Adidas combined.

Nike and Adidas are very much thought of as the biggest brands but Umbro have shown their dominance in the Premiership by producing shirts for 6 premiership teams this year – Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham, Manchester City, Sunderland and Hull. This is a huge achievement for Umbro who also produce the shirts for the national team. This shows that they are able to offer designs that rival the top brands. This success in England is not really seen in Europe where they are still not very well represented but they will be hoping that their growing presence in England can lead to them breaking into the bigger European market. Umbro do have a presence in most leagues in Britain including Rangers in the SPL but their progress abroad has been slow.

Although Nike and Adidas individually have less Premiership teams than Umbro, they do have the biggest selling Premiership shirts in England and have the biggest teams. Adidas has Chelsea and Liverpool while Nike has Arsenal, Aston Villa, Fulham and Man Utd these 6 teams were all in the top 7 of the Premiership last season showing that although they don’t have the highest number of teams individually they do have the biggest selling and most popular Premiership shirts. Umbro had the other top 7 finisher last season with Everton who has since changed their shirt manufacturer to Le Coq Sportif.

The remaining 8 teams in the Premiership have 6 different retailers with Le Coq Sportif manufacturing three teams shirts with all other brands manufacturing only one each. The diversity of the manufacturers of the Premiership shirts has allowed us in recent years to see different designs and manufacturers that were never in the Premiership before. Portsmouth are th only team to have their shirt manufactured by Canterbury which was the first time we have really seen a brand more associated with rugby product the kit for a premiership team. Similarly Vandanel will manufacture Wiggins kit this season which is the first time they will manufacture a Premiership shirt.

Sales of Premiership shirts should really start to take off in the next couple of months as the extent of signing’s made really starts to show. Also once the season starts the interest in the new shirts really starts to spike especially if players start the season well. Nike and Adidas will again by far sell the most shirts in the Premiership this season with all their teams releasing new kits for the 2009-10 season. Adidas and Nike usually always have two teams each in the top four finishers in the league so it will be interesting to see if any other brand can break into the top four in the Premiership or indeed in Nike can turn that in their favor. Whatever happens it is sure to be an interesting season that will no doubt see good sales on Premiership shirts.

For more information on the latest Premiership football shirts to be worn in the upcoming 2009-10 season, visit myfootballkits. We provide the latest news on all the new football kits including the latest designs, release dates and special offers. We provide exclusive discounts to over 3000 soccer jerseys as well as regular competition, including kit design competitions, where you can win free football shirts and soccer merchandise.

I’m going for a job interview, what should I wear?

I was thinking Bermuda shorts, me Aston Villa football shirt, tights and Wellington boots.

What you think?

Will I get the job?

Answer
If you came to me for a job wearing an Aston Villa shirt, I’d give you the job for that reason alone.

UP THE VILLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The English Football League kicked off with its first round of matches on September 8 1888. Conceived 6 months earlier in Anderton’s hotel, Fleet Street, London twelve teams from the midlands and north began their quest to be crowned the nation’s first champions.

That first season Preston North End became the original “invincibles”, winning the competition without losing a game.  In addition to the league title they also added the FA Cup to their trophy cabinet that season as well, becoming the first side to record “the double” (It would be 73 years, during the 1960-61 season, before this feat would be repeated; by Bill Nicholson’s Tottenham Hotspur). Although Preston would retain the league championship the following season, the most successful 19th century team were in fact Aston Villa, who by the turn of the century had helped themselves to 5 titles.

No single side would dominate the early part of the 20th century, with 10 different teams having being crowned champions by 1923. However, that all changed when, starting with the 1923-24 season, Huddersfield Town recorded 3 successive championship victories. The first two of these were masterminded by Herbert Chapman, who then moved to Arsenal and built a team that would emulate this success in the 1930s. Sadly Herbert never witnessed how great his team would become; dying prematurely from pneumonia in January 1934, midway through Arsenal’s hat-trick of titles that would conclude with victory in the 1934-35 season. (Incidentally, Chapman had already guided Arsenal to the top in 1930-31).

After a 7 year hiatus due to World War II the return of the competition coincided with Matt Busby taking the reins at Manchester United and building a team forever immortalised as the “Busby Babes”. However, in 1958 having won the league the two previous seasons, tragedy struck when eight team members, plus another 15 passengers and crew, were killed in the Munich air crash. Barely surviving the disaster himself Busby eventually recovered and assembled another two-time championship winning team in the 1960s. Although, surprisingly, their 1966-67 success was to be United’s last with the league in its traditional format.

In 1970-71 Arsenal became the third “double” winning side although subsequently the 70s and 80s were to be dominated by Liverpool, who in the 15 seasons up to 1989-90, carried the trophy back to their Anfield home on ten occasions with teams guided by Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish. Dalglish’s first success, Liverpool’s own “double” winning season of 1985-86, being as player-manager. Although it should also be remembered that during this period Brian Clough, first with Derby County and then later with Nottingham Forest, became only the 2nd manager to win the<strong> league</strong> with two different clubs.

However, these decades were also the darkest times for English football. Hooliganism inside and outside the ground was rife, racism on the terraces was still prevalent and the three disasters at Bradford, Heysel and Hillsborough meant that both attendances and sponsorship levels were dwindling.

It took the onset of all-seater stadia, and England’s thrilling, but ultimately heartbreaking, World Cup semi-final run in 1990 to re-ignite the public’s love for the game. The resurgence was swifter than anyone could have imagined as a nation, inspired by Gazza’s tears, regained its love for the game; so much so that by the time Leeds United became champions in 1991-92 big business was beginning to take an interest and the game in England was about to be overhauled.

Inspired by how fashionable the game was becoming, motivated by the marketing opportunities <strong>football</strong> now presented, and financed by Sky TV’s desire to sell its new satellite dishes, a fresh competition was to come into being that would turn the Football League into a second class citizen. The Premier League was coming and it was to be “A Whole New Ball Game”….

For more detail visiting my blog created for you!

How do I make my forum popular?

Don’t worry, this isn’t an advertisement…

just seeking advice on how to get people to join. Only problem is it’s designed for Aston Villa football supporters but there’s already forums out there for them so it’s almost impossible to get members…

It’s www.talkvilla.com and I see nothing wrong with the layout.

So any advice?

Thanks

Answer
Have it optimised and advertised.
Recommend it to your friends and tell your friends to share it with others.
Have it posted to a high pr forum sites.

Football at that point in time needed a massive facelift in the UK as a sequence of disasters for the sport had been ongoing since the early 80s. While things may have been going swimmingly for the sport in other countries (think Maradona for Argentina in the World Cup in 1986) the UK had suffered with hooliganism and the 1985 Heisel stadium disaster, where in Liverpool’s European Cup final against Juventus, a retaining wall collapsed due to rioting in the stands, killing 39 people. The final blow for the game was in 1989 with the Hillsborough disaster where 96 fans died and over 150 were injured by crushing during the semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. This gave rise to a recommendation by the Taylor report that all football grounds were to be renovated to ensure the same thing did not occur again – which lead to the all-seater stadiums we have today.

Because of the crisis which English football had endured, there was no way that international players would be lured into playing for any English teams, and it was recognised that restructuring was necessary for the development of the sport in the UK. The powers that be established the Premier League, signing the Founder Members Agreement on 17th July 1991, agreeing on independence from the Football League and FA. In 1992 the first division clubs resigned from the Football League and within three months the Premier League was registered as a limited company.

One of the innovative ways that the League marketed itself was to sign up with Sky TV – a radical concept which meant that fans would have to pay to watch the new FA Carling Premiership. This proved a brilliant plan, with an initial deal of £191 million over 5 years. Carling, the new sponsors paid £12million for four years, renewed for another 4 years, before sponsorship was taken over by Barclaycard who paid £48 million over 3 years! While these sums of money sound absolutely enormous, they are vital for clubs who need substantial income for wages and transfer fees, especially if they are to compete on an international basis. In 1992 the League had just 11 non-British or Irish players: by 2007 they had over 250.

It is recognised that Manchester United are the most successful team in the League, having won 11 titles, as well as the fact that they have never finished below third since the Leagues beginnings in 1992. Having started out with 24 clubs in the League, it was narrowed down to 20 clubs in 1994/95 so as to promote high standards and competition! As well as Manchester United the other clubs in the League at present are: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, Westham United, Wigan Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

You can now buy classic old style Arsenal Retro Football Shirts from 1980s and 1990s when Arsenal crushed all teams in the English football league.

Which football team do you think has the best football kit?

I really like Aston Villa’s away kit this season. The colours are so cool. I also think and I know many are going to disagree but Hull’s home kit is pretty cool because of the colours. You can tell I like bright vivid colours.
Martin Laursen modelling it

http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~1355443,00.html

Answer
I can’t vouch for the whole side but that Martin Laursen got quite the kit! Bloody hell when he started waving the twig n berries my way I bout passed out. That wanker’s a bit twisted too wanted me to tie….
Um kit? You meant the jerseys and the like right?
Never mind.
All my Love
Posh

England are a huge footballing nation with football being the nation’s sport and so it’s no surprise that there’s a giant quantity of individuals that follow the nation’s team. The England team is due to play at the 2010 World Cup finals which is in Africa and they’re expected to do extraordinarily well although most English folks don’t have such high confidence. England qualified from their group simply winning 8 games in a row which was a massive relief to the English folks having missed out on the prior Western european finals.

As so many folks follow the national football team in England there are distribute of folks that buy the replica kits. These include the replica tshirts which are the same as those by the players and you may buy England kit like socks, shorts and coaching gear. The England shirts are popular because they’re also extremely fashionable as well as being sporty.

This year it exploits a polo shirt design that looks extremely nice and not as sporty as prior England shirts.

It has the England badge and Umbro brand on the chest of the shirt, it also has a pleasant collar and apart from that it is plain white. The official England shirts do cost more than the casual or training shirts but they look far better and they’re also a way of supporting the England team for the cup.

With the England shirts you may opt to have the away shirt or goalkeeper top and these could be a superb choice if you want something a little different. The away shirt is mostly red and the goalkeeper top changes quite distribute, naturally you may select the socks and shorts to finish that look of an England football player.

England are a top footballing country and have some of the Earth’s top flight players. These include stars like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson and many others and they also have a top boss in Fabio Capello. England have a good range of top football groups which include Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, arms depot, West Ham, Aston Villa, Manchester Town , West Brom, Everton, Spurs, Birmingham, Notts County, Derby, Sunderland, Hull, Wolves and many other football groups.

And England are also looking to host a world cup in the future and so are terribly busy in the world Cup world.

If you would like an England Football Shirt then see our web site.

who has played football for aston villa, birmingham city, west bromwich albion and wolves?

Answer
no one has played for all these clubs…………………

England are a huge footballing nation with football being the national sport and so it is no surprise that there is a huge amount of people that follow the national team. The England team is due to play at the 2010 World Cup finals which is in Africa and they are expected to do very well even though most English people do not have such high confidence. England qualified from their group easily winning eight games in a row which was a huge relief to the English people having missed out on the previous European finals.

As so many people follow the national football team in England there are allot of people that buy the replica kits. These include the replica tshirts which are the same as those by the players and you can also buy England kit such as socks, shorts and training gear. The home and away shirts are the most popular though as they are easily wearable in a casual fashion and many people wear them casually in the day as well as for playing sports or going to the England football games. The England shirts are very popular because they are also very stylish as well as being sporty.

The home England shirt is always white but changes in design from year to year. This year it uses a polo shirt design that looks very nice and not as sporty as previous England shirts. It has the England badge and Umbro logo on the chest of the shirt, it also has a nice collar and apart from that it is plain white. The official England shirts do cost more than the casual or training shirts but they look much better and they are also a great way of supporting the England team for the World cup.

With the England shirts you can also choose to have the away shirt or goalkeeper top and these can be a very good choice if you would like something a little different. The away shirt is usually red and the goalkeeper top changes quite allot, of course you can also choose the socks and shorts to complete that look of an England football player. As well as the sports shirts there are also casual shirts that you can buy and these are much cheaper but are not as sporty as they are usually made from just cotton.

England are a top footballing nation and have some of the world’s top players. These include stars like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson and many others and they also have a top manager in Fabio Capello. England have a wide range of top football teams which include Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham, Aston Villa, Manchester City, West Brom, Everton, Spurs, Birmingham, Notts County, Derby, Sunderland, Hull, Wolves and many other football teams. And England are also hoping to host a world cup in the near future and so are very busy in the World Cup world.

dose any body like aston villa football team?

Answer
NO cos they’re pants!!!!

3-0 was the scoreline on Wednesday evening and Manchester City deserved nothing against a very well organised Tottenham Hotspur outfit. Mark Hughes called it “Early days” but one suspects it may mean early doors should Manchester City not make the top 4 AND qualify for the Champions league.

The amount of players they currently have on their payroll will really require a Champions League spot next season or they will see players leaving, regardless of the bottomless pit of cash available to the manager. Hughes has spent a lot of money since taking charge and those in charge may look to Jose Mourinho to take them up to the next step.

The differences between the two are vast, with the man from Portugal having experienced life at the top of the Premiership and Serie A, he is also, by the looks of things not enjoying Inter Milan as much as one first thought he might. Mourinho also has the added advantage of being able to control top quality players with big personalities. On Wednesday night Robinho again went on a sulking mission after being substituted.

Hughes’ experience as a manager has not been anywhere near the top in his young managerial career and Wednesdays game will have more of an impact on him that it will on some of his stars. But you have to say he took defeat with dignity and shook Harry Redknapps hand at the end of the game. You can expect City to spend big again this January.

With Tottenham showing Manchester City how football is played, they now move into the very tight 5th spot with Aston Villa and Arsenal above them. The best online bookmakers now make Tottenham the favourites to win without “the big four” at 13/8 despite Villa being above them. If City fans still believe they will be Premiership Champions this season you can expect around 66/1. Dreams on the other hand cost nothing.

Ben Carso is a freelance article writer currently working on online casinos

God no!! Joey Barton to Villa!?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/09/01/exclusive-aston-villa-are-one-of-two-clubs-trying-to-sign-joey-barton-115875-20720584/

No quotes, and that ‘exclusive’ tag which suggests there is nothing in it, but..Surely it won’t happen? Will it?

Answer
LOL, Why would anyone even considering giving him another chance. He’s vile and will end up mutilating one of his team mates again.

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aston villa my bogey team on football manager?

hi i was just wondering if any 1 else has a bogey team on any fm. on fm 08 and fm 09 aston villa seams to be my bogey team. i have just drew with them 4-4 with man u and agbonlahor always tares me apart even though i tight mark him and everything. has any 1 got any oppinions on how to keep young and agbonlahore from terroriseing me.

Answer
This is a problem to in real life Young and Gabby are just so good.

In 1878 at Newton Heath, Manchester, once farmlands that turned to the industrial revolution in keeping with the times, railway men and like many formed their own football teams. Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway FC or Newton Heath L&YR FC was the beginning of a rather special moment in English football history. Their first playing ground, which in fact was nothing more than a field on North Road and shared with local cricketers before acquiring a more stadium like venue 15 years later at Baker Street, Clayton. 1 year prior to this, the club had signed up for the Football League and had amended their name to the shorter, Newton Heath FC. What was adverse for the club in 1902 and very much could have been the end was the debt they seemed to accumulate. It is believed that bailiffs closed the Baker Street ground until the some of £2.500 was paid. There is a congenial story connected to this but how factual it is remains unclear. The club captain, Harry Stafford, apparently attending a fundraiser with his St. Bernard dog was asked by a gentleman named John Henry Davies, a wealthy brewery owner, if he cared to sell the animal. Stafford refused the offer but then took the conversation to the subject of Newton Heath and the problems it faced. Regardless of how true this is, what is true is Davies did become chairmen after making a large financial donation. Davis changed the colours of Newton Heath from green and gold to red and white and furthermore decided on a new name, Manchester United FC.

 The clubs first few seasons were spent in Division 2 but they always managed to finish in the tables top half. In 1904 and for a record transfer fee at the time for United they signed the football gifts of Charlie Roberts for £750 from Grimsby Town. Roberts did have an impact on the club when in the following season they finished second and got their promotion to Division 1. Other players United signed were detrimental to Manchester City been punished for over paying players. Many players were told they could never play for City again. This is where Manchester United seized the moment, buying players like Sandy Turnbull and Billy Meredith. In 1907/08 season United finished 9 points clear of Aston Villa in the tables to win the League. The next season saw the club lift two trophies – Charity Shield and later but bigger the FA Cup. They did lift the League title again in 1910/11 season but this is where the club just lost some of its finesse. United had one last move to make during this time, to their final home – Old Trafford.

 In 1945, United’s manager’s role became available and who better to fill that slot than the football gifts of Alexander Matthew Busby better known as Matt Busby, who at the time was assistant coach at Liverpool FC. Busby was a Scottish football player who incidentally also played for United’s biggest rivals Manchester City. Before Busby accepted the job, he did request some concessions from the board at Manchester to minimise interference from them and several were granted which consisted of, Busby choosing the squad, training sessions and the signing of new players. Oddly, Busby first signing was ex football player Jimmy Murphy but his role would not be on the pitch but as Busby’s assistant. This came about when Busby heard Murphy giving a speech on football to a group of soldiers and was obviously impressed enough to offer him a job. Busby brought to the club great players and local lads like Jack Rowley and Stan Pearson who helped United finish 2nd in the tables for 3 years on the trot. In 1948 Busby, lead United to FA Cup victory beating Blackpool 4-2. One of Busby’s successful guiding principles was to get more youth players on board and even though this took time to employ, the rewards were massively beneficial in the long run. Busby’s babes as they came to be known consisted of fantastic talents such as Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton and Roger Byrne.

 In 1958, a catastrophe accident shook not just football but also the world when flight 609 crashed during take off with 44 people onboard. In total 23 people lost, their life’s and 8 of these were members of the Busby babes. Duncan Edwards was one of the fatalities; he died 14 days later in hospital through his injuries. Many hold the belief that if given the chance, Edwards would have been the best footballer in the world. The other players along with him were Liam Whelan , Tommy Taylor , David Pegg , Mark Jones , Eddie Colman , Roger Byrne and Geoff Bent.

 With Busby recovering from his injuries, Jimmy Murphy became acting manager. In spite of playing with lesser skilled players, the United team adapted and reached the FA Cup final but sadly lost to Bolton Wanderers 2-0.

 When Busby returned to the club, he had to assemble a new squad to try and recreate the desperately missed skills of those individuals that had now gone. Having gone through this ordeal most managers would not have had the resolute to of stepped inside another dressing room but with Busby the show must gone on. His task started with signings such as Pat Crerand, Denis Law and a young Irish lad named George Best. The latter was discovered by United scout Bob Bishop when best was 15 years old. Bishop sent Busby a telegram from Northern Ireland, in it, it read,” I think I’ve found you a genius.”  Football gifts like Best do not come along to often. He had it all in terms of pace, skill in his ability to out manoeuvre the finest defenders – one way then another with the ball glue liked to his feet; a joy to watch. The results that Busby wished for were not so imminent in returning but they did finally reveal a light at the end of the tunnel in 1963 when United won the FA Cup beating Leicester City 3-1. Then in 1965 and 1967, Busby’s United won the League Title and then the European Cup in 1968, making the United the first English club to win the competition. Busby had accomplished what he had set out to do and in 1969, he stepped down as United’s manager. He did however return for a short spell but that was the last whistle for him. Currently Matt Busby is still the longest serving manager of Manchester United FC.

 In the late 60’s and 70’s with many of the clubs top players leaving, saw that once bright light of United now starting to fade. United saw Several managers including Wilf McGuinness, Frank O’Farrell, Tommy Docherty axed, and Dave sexton who became another statistic before been sacked by the board. 1981 the colourful Ron Atkinson was given the chance to shine at Old Trafford and he did just that. Getting football gifts like Bryan Robson on board, one of the best midfielder’s English football has seen plus Paul McGrath and Gordon Strachan, Atkinson soon established a new stronger United that had disappeared for a long time. Within 3 years, the club was back on form, winning the FA Cup in 1983 and 1985 and were front-runners to take the League title in 1985/86 season. What happened though was the complete opposite as they ended the season unexpectedly in 4th position. The season after could not have got much worse but it did and United found themselves in the bottom half of the tables and forever drifting closer to relegation. The board had seen enough and Atkinson was promptly replaced by Alex Ferguson from Aberdeen in 1986.

 If Ferguson was looking for the best of starts out of the blocks, managing United, he certainly did not get it. For the first 3½ years, Ferguson had produced nothing that special and early on in the 1990 season, the feeling at Old Trafford was that a dismissal was looming. The sudden change in attitude came when they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley then in 1991 the squad brought back to Old Trafford the Cup Winners Cup, beating Barcelona 2-1. They had another invite to Wembley in 1992 for the League Cup final against Nottingham Forrest and walked away the winners with a 1-0 victory.

 In 1995, saw a British record transfer fee of £6 million for Newcastle United’s Andy Cole. United wrote one in the history books by becoming the first English club to have won the Double twice. More youth players were entering the squad like David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers with other players such as Paul Ince and Mark Hughes been sold on to various clubs.

 No English club had ever won the treble but United changed that and rewrote the history pages yet again in the 1998/99 season. This period is probably noted as the clubs pinnacle point in terms of success. First, they wrapped up the Premier League title then with goals from Scholes and Sheringham they added the FA Cup beating Newcastle United 2-0. To complete the treble they were up against FC Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League final. The match was played at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. Referee for the game was, Pierluigi Collina, he later revealed, it to be of his most unforgettable matches he had refereed. Throughout the game, United trailed 1-0 and it appeared that the ending was going to be doom and gloom for the English club. Subsequently injury time was added and to the amazement of all watching, United miraculously scored two goals to beat Munich and lift the trophy. This game is considered to be of the best comebacks in the game of football. The Munich players could do nothing but, and understandably sob on the pitch. Not many clubs in the world could have pulled that out of the bag at exactly the right time. Later and deservingly so, Ferguson was knighted for his services to the game of football.

 After that triumph, United were always going to struggle to go one better than the treble. Even with the club topping the Premier League in 2000 and 2001 the silverware just wasn’t flowing. In 2004 they did knockout League Champions Arsenal from the FA Cup and went on to take the trophy beating Millwall 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff with two goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy and one from Cristiano Ronaldo. The club paid £12.24 million for the Portuguese Ronaldo in 2003 after Ferguson became aware of his football gifts. Ronaldo, arrogant and cocky at times was an instant sensation at United with his ability and skill. During this time, American businessman Malcolm Glazer at the despair of fans, brought out shareholders of the club and by 2005 took full control over United, appointing his sons as directors.

 2005/06 season, United had their share of problems with Alan Smith and Ryan Giggs taking on injuries plus Van Nistelrooy and Keane leaving for different clubs. They were still a club to be reckoned with and proved it by winning the League Cup in 2006.

 The following 2007 season, United were much stronger playing a more attacking game one that they were accustomed to. There were I hopes that the club were on their way to winning another treble, however, United lost to Milan in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The FA Cup was still alive for United and they were favourites to win it but Chelsea denied them that trophy at the new Wembley Stadium beating them 1-0 in extra time.

 2008 Manchester United had no such rejections when a win over Wigan Athletic crowned them League Champions then defeating Chelsea on penalties gave them their third European Cup. Ryan Giggs was also honoured by breaking Bobby Charlton’s record in making 759 appearances for the club. In addition, they also won the FA Community Shield then in December 2008; the FIFA Club World Cup trophy was added thanks to Wayne Rooney scoring the only goal. A couple of months later in 2009 United were League Cup champions and then in May won their 11th Premier League title.

 In 2009, Ferguson signed Michael Owen, Gabriel Obertan and Antonio Valencia but in the process had to let go of the football gifts and best footballer in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo for a record transfer fee of £80 million to Real Madrid.

Does Lerner know anything about football?

If he does why did he buy Aston Villa?

Answer
On 5Live last night he said that he wouldn’t be ‘disingenuous’ about his role with Villa, seemed like an alright bloke but clearly had no real conception of football. He was asked if he thought there were similarities between the Cleveland Browns and Villa and he said ‘well i don’t want to create parallels that aren’t really there but both clubs are old industrial centres with serious fans that, for some, football is more important than life or death’.

He’s got a lot of money and a good sense of business i’d say, with a far more hands-on approach to be expected rather than the distant dwarf at Man Yoo. He seemed quite charming and enthusiastic without strutting around in Claret and Blue so seems to be aware of the fans and his role in relation to them.

His final thing that he said was ‘All i got to do is listen to Martin O’Neill and i’ll be heading in the right direction’ or words to that effect in relation to the players/coaching side of the club. Think you Villa lot have done alright, swap O’Leary for O’Neill and Ellis for Leary, sounds good when you put it like that.

Watch Portsmouth vs Aston Villa Live Online

Portsmouth vs Aston Villa Live Streaming – Portsmouth vs Aston Villa Barclay’s Premier League match on Sunday, April 18, 2010.

2010 Football World Cup

Venue: Fratton Park.

Time: 16:00 GMT

Teams:

Portsmouth: Ashdown, Finnan, Mokoena, Vanden Borre, Rocha, Boateng, Brown, Yebda, Diop, Utaka, Piquionne.

Aston Villa: Friedel, Warnock, Collins, Dunne, Cuellar, Milner, Petrov, Young, Downing, Agbonlahor, Carew

Teams Report:

Portsmouth is ready to fight against Aston Villa in the Barclay’s Premier League match on Sunday at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth is in 20th position in the Premier League table with 15 points. Portsmouth played 34 matches and won 6, drawn 6, lost 22. Aston Villa is in seventh position with 55 points. Aston Villa played 33 matches and won 14, drawn 13, lost 6.

Portsmouth is in relegation zone and have put lot of efforts to come out from relegation zone. Portsmouth’s performance in Premier League is not good. But, they reached FA Cup finals by defeating TottenhamHotspur. They will face Chelsea in the FA Cup finals. Aston Villa knocked out in the semi-finals against Chelsea. Aston Villa must win in today’s match, if they want to reach in to top four in the table.

Portsmouth midfielder, Jamie O’Hara is unavailable due to back injury. David James remain doubtful, while Hayden Mullins (hand), Tal Ben Haim (groin) and Nadir Belhadj (thigh) are all struggling for fitness. Hermann Hreidarsson and Danny Webber are long-term absentees, while Frederic Piquionne may join with team.

Aston Villa full-back Stephen Warnock is available after recovering from his knock. Nigel Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood remain lon-term absentees.

2010 Football World Cup

Similar Football strips- Aston Villa ,West Ham ,Burnley?

Could anybody tell me please if it is just coincidence or is there a reason why these 3 clubs have almost identical strips.

Answer
For Aston Villa – Nobody is quite sure why claret and blue became the club’s adopted colours.

West Ham – The original colours of the team were dark blue, due to Thames Ironworks chairman Arnold Hills being a former student of Oxford University. However the team used a variety of kits including the claret and sky blue house colours of Thames Ironworks, as well as sky blue or white uniforms.[19][20]

The Irons permanently adopted claret and blue for home colours in the summer of 1899. Thames Ironworks right-half Charlie Dove received the Aston Villa kit from his father William Dove, who was a professional sprinter of national repute, as well as being involved with the coaching at Thames Ironworks. Bill Dove had been at a fair in Birmingham, close to Villa Park, the home ground of Aston Villa and was challenged to a race against four Villa players, who wagered money that one of them would win.

Bill Dove defeated them and, when they were unable to pay the bet, one of the Villa players who was responsible for washing the team’s kit offered a complete side’s ‘uniforms’ to Dove in payment. The Aston Villa player subsequently reported to his club that the kit was ‘missing’.

Burnley – Burnley changed their colours from green to their now traditional claret and sky blue for the 1910-11 season, reportedly aiming to enjoy the same success enjoyed by Aston Villa who also wore those colours

It appears as tho’ Aston Villa is the common denominator

another link thro’ strip is Notts County and Juventus.. Juve originally played in red but when the kit was washed it turned pink. A official of Juve had a friend who worked at Notts County and he asked him if they had any spare strips going. Hence Juventus now play in Black and White stripped jerseys

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Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has warned his players to keep cool in the heat of Sunday’s Barclays Premier League showdown against Birmingham. O’Neill has made it clear that calm heads are vital if Villa are to record a sixth successive victory against Birmingham to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

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Which are the most popular football clubs with the people of Wolverhampton?

List in order of popularity:

Wolverhampton Wanderers?
Wolverhampton Casuals?
Manchester United?
Aston Villa?
Birmingham City?

Answer
West Bromwich Albion!!!

Watch Hull City vs Aston Villa Live Online

Hull City vs Aston Villa Live Streaming – Hull City vs Aston Villa Barclay’s Premier League match on Wednesday, April 21, 2010.

2010 Football World Cup

Venue: KC Stadium.

Time: 19:45 BST

Teams:

Hull City: Myhill; McShane, Sonko, Mouyokolo, Dawson; Mendy, Boateng, Bullard, Kilbane; Fagan, Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Aston Villa: Friedel; Cuéllar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock; A Young, Milner, Petrov, Downing; Carew, Agbonlahor.

Referee: Mike Dean.

Teams Report:

Hull City is facing up Aston Villa in the Barclay’s Premier League match on Wednesday at KC Stadium.

Hull City is in 18th position in the Premier League table with 28 points. Hull City played 34 matches and won 6, drawn 10, lost 18. Aston Villa is in seventh position with 58 points. Aston Villa played 34 matches and won 15, drawn 13, lost 6.

Hull City is very close to relegation zone. Hull City played eleven matches at KC Stadium and scored in ten matches in the Premier League. But they lost only in three matches out of 13 at home since September. Hull City strikers scored only nine goals in this season, which is less than other teams.

Aston Villa won in last six matches against Hull City in all leagues. Aston Villa player, John Carew has scored five goals out of last nine league goals. Today’s victory for Aston Villa makes them Big Four to reach 1,000 Premier League points. Aston Villa lost only in one match out of 14 Premier League matches.

Hull City is in 18th position in the Premier League table with 28 points. Hull City played 34 matches and won 6, drawn 10, lost 18. Aston Villa is in seventh position with 58 points. Aston Villa played 34 matches and won 15, drawn 13, lost 6.

Hull City is very close to relegation zone. Hull City played eleven matches at KC Stadium and scored in ten matches in the Premier League. But they lost only in three matches out of 13 at home since September. Hull City strikers scored only nine goals in this season, which is less than other teams.

2010 Football World Cup

Has Emile Heskey made the right move in joining Aston Villa?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/7846748.stm

Wigan have Mido now, will that make Wigan better or worse?

Answer
YES

He will be excellent. Mainly because John Carew has a back problem, and Agbonlahor is much more effective with a big strike partner alongside him. Young will also benefit with Heskey as a target man.

I think we’ll see Heskey starting to get on the scoresheet more now!!