5-5

I forgot to post about this last week. Marseille and Lyon fought out an entertaining 5-5 draw (I know, the ‘entertaining’ suffix is not really required is it). Leafing through the history books here are some other 5-5 draws from history:

12/11/2008 – FC United of Manchester 5 Cammel Laird 5
04/10/2008 – FC Kosice 5 Tatran Presov 5
05/04/2003 – De Graafschap 5 Feyenoord 5
14/12/2002 – Marine 5 Whitby 5
13/04/2002 – Chesham United 5 Hitchin Town 5
13/09/1997 – Rushden & Diamonds 5 Farnborough Town 5
07/01/1996 – Racing Santander 5 Albacete 5
03/11/1992 – Oxford United 5 Portsmouth 5
20/08/1991 – Barnet 5 Brentford 5
04/05/1982 – Southampton 5 Coventry City 5
18/11/1978 – Bristol Rovers 5 Charlton Athletic 5
16/11/1974 – Eintracht Frankfurt 5 VfB Stuttgart 5
08/09/1973 – Schalke 04 5 B. Munich 5
17/12/1966 – Chelsea 5 West Ham United 5
09/04/1966 – Birmingham City 5 Derby County 5
19/03/1966 – Tottenham Hotspur 5 Aston Villa 5
24/04/1965 – Birmingham City 5 Blackburn Rovers 5
03/11/1962 – Blackburn Rovers 5 Arsenal 5
10/12/1960 – Newcastle United 5 West Ham United 5
20/10/1956 – Nairn County 5 Berwick Rangers 5
09/01/1954 – Grimsby Town 5 Fulham 5
21/02/1953 – Aberdeen 5 Motherwell 5
03/11/1951 – Leicester City 5 Sheffield United 5
18/08/1951 – St Mirren 5 Hearts 5
12/02/1949 – Luton Town 5 Leicester City 5
21/01/1939 – Kings Park 5 Babcock & Wilcox 5
21/01/1939 – Nithsdale Wanderers 5 Buckie Thistle 5
30/10/1937 – Bolton Wanderers 5 Chelsea 5
21/11/1936 – Darlington 5 Hartlepool United 5
17/10/1936 – Middlesbrough 5 Sunderland 5
10/11/1934 – Bristol Rovers 5 Exeter City 5
27/01/1934 – Barrow 5 Walsall 5
01/02/1933 – Luton Town 5 Brentford 5
07/01/1933 – Grimsby Town 5 Charlton Athletic 5
15/10/1932 – Grimsby Town 5 Preston North End 5
02/04/1932 – Walsall 5 Accrington Stanley 5
02/01/1932 – Coventry City 5 Fulham 5
03/01/1931 – West Ham United 5 Aston Villa 5
27/08/1928 – Swansea City 5 Blackpool 5
28/11/1925 – Crystal Palace 5 Plymouth Argyle 5
19/09/1925 – Tottenham Hotspur 5 Huddersfield Town 5
29/04/1922 – Halifax Town 5 Crewe Alexandra 5
10/01/1914 – Leicester City 5 Tottenham Hotspur 5
19/01/1907 – Sunderland 5 Liverpool 5
12/11/1904 – Sheffield Wednesday 5 Everton 5
15/10/1898 – Derby County 5 Everton 5
16/11/1895 – Manchester United 5 Lincoln City 5
26/10/1889 – Queen of the South Wand 5 Moffat 5
15/09/1888 – Blackburn Rovers 5 Accrington (old) 5
22/10/1881 – Bolton Wanderers 5 Eagley 5
02/10/1880 – Campsie Central 5 Campsie 5
13/02/1879 – Old Etonians 5 Darwen 5

We *never* beat them

An often used phrase amongst fans is “we never beat them”, it certainly can feel like that sometimes. However, when Chesterfield fans say it about Stoke City they are right. In twenty matches between the sides Chesterfield are yet to win. To be clear, I’m not 100% all of these figures are correct, so feel free to offer suggestions as to which ones aren’t quite right , and which are. Manchester United are in there, they have never beaten Southend United (in their one attempt)

A full list of sides who haven’t beaten each other follow. [Team - Team they haven't beat - number of attempts]

Chesterfield	Stoke City	20
Hull City	Liverpool	15
Swansea City	Everton	13
Barnet	Brentford	13
Rochdale	Swindon Town	11
Scunthorpe United	Liverpool	11
Rochdale	Fulham	11
Crewe Alexandra	Leicester City	11
Northampton Town	Derby County	10
Wigan Athletic	Liverpool	10
Wigan Athletic	Manchester United	10
Northampton Town	Sheffield United	9
Bournemouth	Leeds United	9
Chester City	Luton Town	9
Rotherham United	Manchester City	8
Crewe Alexandra	Fulham	8
Rochdale	Wolverhampton Wanderers	8
Tranmere Rovers	Tottenham Hotspur	8
Crewe Alexandra	Liverpool	8
Rochdale	Norwich City	8
Shrewsbury Town	Sunderland	8
Darlington	Bristol City	8
Reading	Arsenal	8
Brentford	Aston Villa	8
Darlington	Middlesbrough	8
Barnet	Bristol Rovers	8
Peterborough United	Stoke City	8
Walsall	Liverpool	7
Millwall	Liverpool	7
Cheltenham Town	Stockport County	7
Yeovil Town	Stockport County	7
Doncaster Rovers	Newcastle United	7
Gillingham	Birmingham City	7
Gillingham	Yeovil Town	7
Hereford United	Nottingham Forest	7
Hereford United	Portsmouth	7
Gillingham	Manchester City	7
Exeter City	Cheltenham Town	6
Chesterfield	Morecambe	6
Colchester United	Leicester City	6
Rotherham United	Manchester United	6
Scunthorpe United	Wolverhampton Wanderers	6
Accrington Stanley	Colchester United	6
Hartlepool United	Wolverhampton Wanderers	6
Macclesfield Town	Bradford City	6
Cheltenham Town	Walsall	6
Scunthorpe United	Leicester City	6
Cheltenham Town	Chesterfield	6
Bournemouth	Sunderland	6
Crewe Alexandra	Manchester United	6
Bournemouth	Manchester City	6
Crewe Alexandra	Arsenal	6
Plymouth Argyle	Arsenal	5
Accrington Stanley	Queens Park Rangers	5
Bristol Rovers	Everton	5
Crewe Alexandra	Tottenham Hotspur	5
Brentford	Cheltenham Town	5
Barnet	Burnley	5
Peterborough United	Aston Villa	5
Wycombe Wanderers	Hartlepool United	5
Southend United	Manchester City	5
Exeter City	Wolverhampton Wanderers	5
Barnet	Queens Park Rangers	5
Exeter City	Manchester United	5
Darlington	Manchester City	5
Darlington	Leeds United	5
Chesterfield	Liverpool	5
Bournemouth	West Ham United	5
Hartlepool United	Leeds United	5
Yeovil Town	Leeds United	5
Stockport County	Everton	5
Stockport County	Liverpool	5
Hartlepool United	Sheffield United	5
Northampton Town	Leicester City	5
Exeter City	Aston Villa	5
Hereford United	Leicester City	5
Wycombe Wanderers	Watford	5
Cheltenham Town	Watford	5
Dagenham & Redbridge	Rotherham United	4
Exeter City	Nottingham Forest	4
Exeter City	West Bromwich Albion	4
Wycombe Wanderers	West Bromwich Albion	4
Hereford United	Sheffield United	4
Hereford United	Bolton Wanderers	4
Hereford United	Watford	4
Hereford United	Barnsley	4
Wycombe Wanderers	Barnsley	4
Crewe Alexandra	Charlton Athletic	4
Chester City	West Bromwich Albion	4
Chester City	Blackburn Rovers	4
Wycombe Wanderers	Hull City	4
Scunthorpe United	Manchester City	4
Aldershot Town	Sheffield Wednesday	4
Exeter City	Sunderland	4
Morecambe	Carlisle United	4
Morecambe	Port Vale	4
Morecambe	Wycombe Wanderers	4
Stockport County	Aston Villa	4
Grimsby Town	Dagenham & Redbridge	4
Hartlepool United	Arsenal	4
Hartlepool United	Portsmouth	4
Cheltenham Town	Nottingham Forest	4
Barnet	Charlton Athletic	4
Cheltenham Town	Reading	4
Sheffield United	Hereford United	4
Barnet	Port Vale	4
Morecambe	Rochdale	4
Carlisle United	West Ham United	4
Carlisle United	West Bromwich Albion	4
Carlisle United	Morecambe	4
Bristol Rovers	Tottenham Hotspur	4
Ipswich Town	Peterborough United	4
Wigan Athletic	Nottingham Forest	4
Bristol Rovers	Manchester City	4
Accrington Stanley	Southampton	4
Rochdale	Portsmouth	4
Crewe Alexandra	Southampton	4
Northampton Town	Tottenham Hotspur	4
Northampton Town	West Bromwich Albion	4
Accrington Stanley	Millwall	4
Northampton Town	Manchester United	4
Darlington	Birmingham City	3
Chester City	Manchester City	3
Darlington	Ipswich Town	3
Darlington	West Bromwich Albion	3
Port Vale	Dagenham & Redbridge	3
Southend United	Chelsea	3
Southend United	Everton	3
Hartlepool United	Leicester City	3
Scunthorpe United	Birmingham City	3
Chester City	Leeds United	3
Scunthorpe United	Aston Villa	3
Chester City	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3
Hartlepool United	Ipswich Town	3
Macclesfield Town	Crewe Alexandra	3
Hartlepool United	Queens Park Rangers	3
Chester City	Ipswich Town	3
Hartlepool United	Norwich City	3
Carlisle United	Liverpool	3
Exeter City	Everton	3
Cheltenham Town	Queens Park Rangers	3
Aldershot Town	Stoke City	3
Tottenham Hotspur	Swindon Town	3
Yeovil Town	Luton Town	3
Colchester United	Birmingham City	3
Accrington Stanley	Crystal Palace	3
Lincoln City	Norwich City	3
Stockport County	Newcastle United	3
Yeovil Town	Aldershot Town	3
Northampton Town	Liverpool	3
Bristol Rovers	Arsenal	3
Accrington Stanley	Portsmouth	3
Northampton Town	Chelsea	3
Doncaster Rovers	Wycombe Wanderers	3
Bournemouth	Everton	3
Gillingham	Chelsea	3
Rotherham United	Tottenham Hotspur	3
Shrewsbury Town	Arsenal	3
Cheltenham Town	Bradford City	3
Bournemouth	Derby County	3
Peterborough United	Sheffield United	3
Gillingham	Aston Villa	3
Gillingham	Everton	3
Luton Town	Accrington Stanley	2
Lincoln City	Aston Villa	2
Crystal Palace	Yeovil Town	2
Walsall	Everton	2
Cheltenham Town	Leicester City	2
Tranmere Rovers	Liverpool	2
Cheltenham Town	Aldershot Town	2
Cheltenham Town	West Bromwich Albion	2
Cheltenham Town	Wigan Athletic	2
Peterborough United	Chelsea	2
Peterborough United	Tottenham Hotspur	2
Hartlepool United	Middlesbrough	2
Peterborough United	West Ham United	2
Cheltenham Town	Barnsley	2
Peterborough United	Norwich City	2
Peterborough United	Morecambe	2
Hartlepool United	Tottenham Hotspur	2
Scunthorpe United	West Bromwich Albion	2
Scunthorpe United	Tottenham Hotspur	2
Scunthorpe United	Blackburn Rovers	2
Aldershot Town	West Ham United	2
Aldershot Town	Macclesfield Town	2
Scunthorpe United	Everton	2
Doncaster Rovers	Chelsea	2
Leicester City	Wigan Athletic	2
Hereford United	Middlesbrough	2
Hereford United	Chelsea	2
Hereford United	Luton Town	2
Hereford United	Tottenham Hotspur	2
Hereford United	Arsenal	2
Accrington Stanley	Charlton Athletic	2
Accrington Stanley	Stoke City	2
Crewe Alexandra	Everton	2
Hartlepool United	Charlton Athletic	2
Crewe Alexandra	Aston Villa	2
Accrington Stanley	Bristol City	2
Accrington Stanley	Preston North End	2
Dagenham & Redbridge	Southend United	2
Dagenham & Redbridge	Stockport County	2
Dagenham & Redbridge	Bournemouth	2
Accrington Stanley	Manchester United	2
Dagenham & Redbridge	Charlton Athletic	2
Dagenham & Redbridge	Cheltenham Town	2
Oldham Athletic	Macclesfield Town	2
Colchester United	Manchester City	2
Barnet	Luton Town	2
Macclesfield Town	Fulham	2
Carlisle United	Manchester United	2
Yeovil Town	Hull City	2
Macclesfield Town	Wigan Athletic	2
Plymouth Argyle	Accrington Stanley	2
Plymouth Argyle	Dagenham & Redbridge	2
Macclesfield Town	Birmingham City	2
Colchester United	Arsenal	2
Chester City	Aston Villa	2
Chester City	Arsenal	2
Chester City	Chelsea	2
Barnet	West Ham United	2
Macclesfield Town	Leicester City	2
Macclesfield Town	Manchester City	2
Macclesfield Town	Tranmere Rovers	2
Macclesfield Town	West Ham United	2
Yeovil Town	Manchester United	2
Wycombe Wanderers	Yeovil Town	2
Yeovil Town	Arsenal	2
Wycombe Wanderers	Sheffield Wednesday	2
Yeovil Town	Norwich City	2
Wycombe Wanderers	Middlesbrough	2
Gillingham	Arsenal	2
Tottenham Hotspur	Peterborough United	2
Wycombe Wanderers	Aston Villa	2
Yeovil Town	Southampton	2
Yeovil Town	Sheffield Wednesday	2
Yeovil Town	Liverpool	2
Yeovil Town	Cardiff City	2
Macclesfield Town	Millwall	2
Macclesfield Town	Middlesbrough	2
Yeovil Town	Bolton Wanderers	2
Wycombe Wanderers	Norwich City	2
Yeovil Town	Leicester City	2
Wycombe Wanderers	Chelsea	2
Wycombe Wanderers	Nottingham Forest	2
Darlington	Coventry City	2
Crystal Palace	Wigan Athletic	2
Morecambe	Ipswich Town	2
Morecambe	Bournemouth	2
Rochdale	Sheffield United	2
Colchester United	Middlesbrough	2
Morecambe	Hull City	2
Exeter City	Yeovil Town	2
Exeter City	Chelsea	2
Morecambe	Gillingham	2
Barnet	Middlesbrough	2
Morecambe	Luton Town	2
Bournemouth	Liverpool	2
Chester City	Liverpool	2
Rochdale	Sheffield Wednesday	2
Rochdale	Queens Park Rangers	2
West Bromwich Albion	Hereford United	2
Chester City	Tottenham Hotspur	2
Ipswich Town	Yeovil Town	2
Aston Villa	Aldershot Town	2
Northampton Town	Everton	2
Aston Villa	Lincoln City	2
Rochdale	Leicester City	2
Barnet	Watford	2
Barnet	Chelsea	2
Nottingham Forest	Macclesfield Town	1
Accrington Stanley	Watford	1
Accrington Stanley	Everton	1
Wigan Athletic	Southampton	1
Accrington Stanley	Manchester City	1
Sunderland	Yeovil Town	1
Accrington Stanley	Leicester City	1
Coventry City	Hereford United	1
Accrington Stanley	Liverpool	1
Norwich City	Darlington	1
Accrington Stanley	Chelsea	1
West Ham United	Darlington	1
Queens Park Rangers	Hereford United	1
Watford	Accrington Stanley	1
Peterborough United	Everton	1
Barnet	Leeds United	1
Barnet	Manchester United	1
Cheltenham Town	Sheffield United	1
Cheltenham Town	Crystal Palace	1
Peterborough United	Manchester United	1
Bournemouth	Arsenal	1
Blackpool	Accrington Stanley	1
Shrewsbury Town	Liverpool	1
Morecambe	Swindon Town	1
Barnsley	Macclesfield Town	1
Manchester United	Southend United	1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Morecambe	1
Cheltenham Town	Sunderland	1
Millwall	Barnet	1
Cheltenham Town	Fulham	1
Yeovil Town	Reading	1
Cheltenham Town	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1
Yeovil Town	Middlesbrough	1
Oldham Athletic	Morecambe	1
Barnet	Portsmouth	1
Cheltenham Town	Accrington Stanley	1
Cheltenham Town	Stoke City	1
Cheltenham Town	Birmingham City	1
Barnet	Southampton	1
Cheltenham Town	Newcastle United	1
Accrington Stanley	Bolton Wanderers	1
Rochdale	Leeds United	1
Rochdale	Manchester United	1
Chester City	Southampton	1
Rochdale	Chelsea	1
Hartlepool United	West Ham United	1
Rochdale	Liverpool	1
Rochdale	Arsenal	1
Crewe Alexandra	Dagenham & Redbridge	1
Leicester City	Exeter City	1
Leicester City	Wycombe Wanderers	1
Hereford United	Manchester United	1
Macclesfield Town	Watford	1
Chester City	Manchester United	1
Macclesfield Town	Sheffield United	1
Macclesfield Town	Chelsea	1
Hartlepool United	Newcastle United	1
Darlington	Aston Villa	1
Morecambe	Sheffield United	1
Morecambe	Huddersfield Town	1
Chesterfield	Everton	1
Darlington	Liverpool	1
Darlington	Sunderland	1
Chesterfield	Ipswich Town	1
Morecambe	Hartlepool United	1
Hartlepool United	Chelsea	1
Morecambe	Oldham Athletic	1
Hartlepool United	Morecambe	1
Hartlepool United	Sunderland	1
Hartlepool United	Manchester United	1
Morecambe	Northampton Town	1
Morecambe	Nottingham Forest	1
Macclesfield Town	Everton	1
Dagenham & Redbridge	Queens Park Rangers	1
Dagenham & Redbridge	Norwich City	1
Dagenham & Redbridge	Bristol Rovers	1
Dagenham & Redbridge	Ipswich Town	1
Darlington	Arsenal	1
Colchester United	Chelsea	1
Dagenham & Redbridge	Cardiff City	1
Dagenham & Redbridge	Reading	1
Accrington Stanley	Blackpool	1
Arsenal	Peterborough United	1
Nottingham Forest	Accrington Stanley	1
Exeter City	Liverpool	1
Colchester United	Manchester United	1
Dagenham & Redbridge	Hartlepool United	1
Dagenham & Redbridge	Leicester City	1
Aldershot Town	Liverpool	1
Wycombe Wanderers	Liverpool	1
Hereford United	Birmingham City	1
Newcastle United	Colchester United	1
Wycombe Wanderers	West Ham United	1
Macclesfield Town	Coventry City	1
Macclesfield Town	Leeds United	1
Wycombe Wanderers	Sheffield United	1
Liverpool	Peterborough United	1
Aldershot Town	Everton	1
Tottenham Hotspur	Bournemouth	1
Aldershot Town	Leicester City	1
Aldershot Town	Derby County	1
Wycombe Wanderers	Leeds United	1
Burnley	Cheltenham Town	1
Gillingham	Liverpool	1

Days of the Week

OK, an odd one this one, does it matter? Well, it matters to geeks with a little too much time on their hands, so here we go. The question is: What football league side is best on each day of the week [statistics use Football League matches only - I've only included sides that have played a decent amount of games on a particular day - approx 12]

• Sunday: Bristol City
• Monday: Boston United
• Tuesday: Liverpool
• Wednesday: Wigan Athletic
• Thursday: Swansea City
• Friday: Ipswich Town
• Saturday: Liverpool
  

  What football clubs are most successful on each day of the week?

So, Liverpool take both Saturday and Tuesday. The juggernaught that normally steams through all these statistics doesn’t put Manchester United on top of any day of the week. Whilst this may seem odd, I feel it can be easily explained in that Sky often move matches, so Manchester United are now spreading themselves quite thinly across the week.

SUNDAY (1.5% of matches)

1. Bristol City – 1.86
2. Bury – 1.86
3. Arsenal – 1.82
4. Northampton Town 1.81
5. Manchester United – 1.79

Lincoln City have lost 17 of the 26 matches they have played on Sunday, Exeter City have lost 8 of the 11 they have played on the Sabbath. Manchester United have played more games than anyone on a Sunday (156)

MONDAY (7% of matches)

1. Boston United – 1.85
2. Manchester United – 1.68
3. Arsenal – 1.63
4. Wigan Athletic – 1.60
5. Wolverhampton Wanderers – 1.60

Workington played over 100 matches on a Monday, winning only 22. Port Vale have played 493 matches on Mondays, more than any other club.

TUESDAY (8% of matches)

1. Liverpool – 1.87
2. Arseal – 1.66
3. Manchester United – 1.63
4. Bristol City – 1.62
5. Rushden and Diamonds – 1.61

Hereford United have played 134 matches on a Tuesday, only winning 31. Grimsby Town are the club to have played most football league matches on a Tuesday (453)

WEDNESDAY (6% of matches)

1. Wigan Athletic – 1.88
2. Maidestone United – 1.80
3. Scarborough – 1.74
4. Reading – 1.68
5. Manchester United – 1.66

Newport County and Swansea City have had torrid times on Wednesdays throughout their history. They have both played over 100 matches on Wdnesday, Swansea winning 19 and Newport only 24. Both clubs have picked up less than a point a game on average on Wednesdays. Must be a Welsh thing. Newcastle United have played 421 matches on a Wednesday, more than any other club.

THURSDAY (1% of matches)

1. Swansea City – 1.93
2. Luton Town – 1.85
3. Tottenham Hotspur – 1.85
4. Sunderland – 1.84
5. Chelsea – 1.75

I can only assume that Swansea played a lot of home games on Thursday, this is why their ranking is so good, and probably why their points average on a Wednesday is so poor. Birmingham City have suffered a torrid time on Thursdays, only ever winning five of their twenty-nine matches on the day.

Notts County have played almost 150 matches on Thursdays, the only other clubs to have played over 100 Football League fixtures on this day are Newport County and Leyton Orient.

FRIDAY (4% of matches)

1. Ipswich Town – 1.86
2. Arsenal – 1.74
3. Tranmere Rovers – 1.72
4. Millwall – 1.72
5. Colchester United – 1.70

Accrington Stanley have picked up an average of 0.87 points per game on Fridays. Tranmere Rovers, who played many matches at home on Friday evenings to entice followings from Everton and Liverpool have an unsurprisingly high points per game ratio.

Despite Tranmere Rovers being the most famous club to partake in Friday evening matches it is Stockport County who have played most on Fridays having played in 525 matches, Tranmere have played 507, Southend United have played 420 matches.

SATURDAY (72.5% of matches)

1. Liverpool – 1.67
2. Manchester United – 1.64
3. Arsenal – 1.60
4. Yeovil Town – 1.53
5. Leeds United – 1.53

This is a little more simple than most of the stats. The best clubs come out top, Yeovil Town, who have had a few good seasons since joining the Football League also feature.

Bogey Sides

SOUTH WALES DERBY

Last weekend Cardiff City lost against Swansea, it’s now been eight matches since Cardiff City earned a victory against their South Wales rivals. Therefore, I thought it may be worth seeing who the bogey sides are of clubs in the Football League. The way I define bogey side is quite simple, it’s the team that the club has played the most times without recording a victory.

Swansea City have gone eight games unbeaten against Cardiff. But are they their true "bogey side"?

Thankfully for Cardiff City they do not face the ignominy of having their bogey side being Swansea City as they have gone eleven matches without beating either Millwall or Arsenal. It’s interesting to see both Millwall and Swansea being sides that Cardiff rarely win against, does the threat of trouble somehow cause Cardiff City players to play badly?

Oddly, Wrexham are Swansea City’s bogey club, so there is a Welsh factor to the bogey side debate!

MANCHESTER UNITED

Unsurprisingly Manchester United feature heavily on the list, most notably with Aston Villa. The Villains have now gone twenty-four matches without beating the Champions, and even that was only a League Cup victory against a youthful Manchester United side. For the record the game finished 3-0, Ian Taylor, Steve Stone and Julian Joachim scored for Villa. The likes of Michael Twiss, Danny Higginbotham and Ronnie Wallwork played for United.

Other clubs that feature Manchester United as their bogey club are the following. [Team followed by number of matches without a win]

• Birmingham City (22)
• Tottenham Hotspur (20)
• Charlton Athletic (18)
• Newcastle United (16)
• Sunderland (12)
• Reading (11)
• QPR (11)
• Middlesbrough (10)
• Luton Town (10)
• Millwall (1o) – have also gone 10 matches without beating Spurs.
• Sheffield United (6)
• Arsenal (4)

It does seem to be an odd anomaly that Arsenal & Spurs, the three major North East clubs and Villa & Brum all have the same side as their bogey side. I suppose it underlines the dominance of Manchester United more than anything else!

TWENTY SIX MATCHES

South coast club Portsmouth have gone an unbelievable twenty-six matches without beating Chelsea, the last time they recorded a victory over the London club was almost fifty years ago (1-0 in a League Cup tie) in December 1960. Everton are another club who have a dreadful record against Chelsea, going twenty-three matches without winning. However, unlike Pompey their win is relatively recently, coming  as recent as November 2000 when Danny Cadamateri and Kevin Campbell handed Everton a 2-1 victory. For the record Samuel Dalla Bona scored Chelsea’s goal in hte match.

THE REST

What is perhaps more interesting than clubs not being able to beat superpowers such as Chelsea and Manchester United are the stories from the Football League where (for example) Bristol City have failed to beat Nottingham Forest in twenty-two attempts. Rotherham United are another club who have failed to beat Forest – now running at no wins in their last fourteen matches.

Bradford City have gone sixteen matches since they had the bragging rights in their Yorkshire “derby” against Sheffield United, whilst Bournemouth have failed to beat another Yorkshire side Huddersfield in fifteen attempts. Blackpool have struggled in their orange/old gold clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers, they haven’t won the fixture in thirteen attempts (last win came in the late 60s).

Statistics follow… I hope they are correct, but there’s a lot of data to get through so there could well be mistakes.. If there are, please let me know.

Alec Forbes

I’m sure most of us are aware that many footballers in the early part of the 20th century played other sports other than football. Many of them played that very English pastime: cricket and did so at a very high level. In the late 19th century it was almost expected, the remarkable story of CB Fry (World record holder in the long jump, footballer, cricketer and even acrobat) gives a fantastic insight into the sport of that era. It wasn’t uncommon for players to play football in the winter and cricket in the winter. Denis Compton is a famous example, a man who represented Arsenal and England, at the same time played for Middlesex and earned 76 test caps in that time.

There are many more recent examples including Ian Botham playing for Scunthorpe United during the early 80s (and becoming the subject of a slightly cheeky “England captains who have played for Scunthorpe?) question. Geoff Hurst played at a decent level for Essex, whilst Steve Ogrizovic bowled at minor counties level before becoming the subject of a bizarre internet rumour in his retirement.

Arsenal's 1950 FA Cup Winning side

But, more interesting (I think) than those who have played the two most popular sports in the UK there’s the case of Alec Forbes who won an FA Cup winners medal for Arsenal in 1950 and played over 200 matches for the London club. From the age of 14-18 Alec Forbes did not play football, he instead worked at his local ice rink in Dundee. He was so good at the sport that he soon became a member of the local side (The Tigers) who were mainly made up of Canadians. During his time playing the sport he broke his collar-bone, his ankle and his leg. So it’s perhaps a blessing that he took up football at the age of 18 with Dundee North End, moves to Sheffield United and then Arsenal followed along with 14 caps for Scotland. However, the red-headed Forbes maintained even whilst playing professionally that ice hockey was his favourite sport.

It is very unlikely that a footballer will ever play at a high level in any other sport, football at the top end is so highly competitive and the training so vigorous for youngsters that it’s not particularly likely they’ll get to play any other sports than football – especially not one as violent as ice hockey.

1000 Football League goals in each division

Bury hold a couple of unique distinctions, they are the team who recorded the largest winning margin in the FA Cup Final of 1903 and they are the only club who have scored over 1000 goals in each of the four divisions of the Football League. In a time where clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea dominate the football landscape it’s important to remember the clubs who are the glue of the football league.

The clubs who have scored more than 1000 in three different divisions are Notts County, Blackpool, Chesterfield, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town and Swansea City.

The full results do not include Division 3N or Division 3S, the figures are up to date to approximately the start of 2009

Team Name	Div 1	Div 2	Div 3	Div 4
Preston North End	2701	2497	1120	341
Burnley	3163	2317	643	416
Stoke City	2651	2428	465	0
West Bromwich Albion	4188	2396	152	0
Bolton Wanderers	3997	1821	598	66
Derby County	3766	2615	80	0
Everton	6367	348	0	0
Accrington (old)	226	0	0	0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	3912	2857	153	151
Aston Villa	6246	617	139	0
Blackburn Rovers	4153	2195	299	0
Notts County	1403	2179	1273	838
Sunderland	4762	1897	92	0
Darwen	75	326	0	0
Walsall	0	785	2089	633
Sheffield Wednesday	3918	2038	422	0
Sheffield United	3531	2633	366	94
Lincoln City	0	1740	527	2264
Birmingham City	2974	2921	260	0
Port Vale	0	2208	1682	765
Burton United	0	657	0	0
Crewe Alexandra	0	572	646	1840
Grimsby Town	756	2914	1135	766
Northwich Victoria	0	72	0	0
Manchester United	5694	1433	0	0
Manchester City	4840	1847	69	0
Bootle	0	49	0	0
Nottingham Forest	3013	2783	196	0
Middlesbrough Iron	0	37	0	0
Liverpool	6053	977	0	0
Rotherham Town	0	133	0	0
Arsenal	6040	824	0	0
Newcastle United	4770	1798	0	0
Leicester City	2731	3477	43	0
Bury	1176	2396	1426	1103
Burton Wanderers	0	167	0	0
Loughborough	0	170	0	0
Gainsborough Trinity	0	718	0	0
Blackpool	1733	2545	1319	413
Luton Town	807	2116	888	362
Barnsley	37	3820	972	628
Glossop North End	31	798	0	0
New Brighton Tower	0	194	0	0
Middlesbrough	3388	2421	154	0
Chesterfield	0	1070	1720	1154
Stockport County	0	1221	852	1736
Bristol City	428	2358	1548	129
Doncaster Rovers	0	741	695	1858
Bradford City	584	1620	1107	1275
Leyton Orient	37	1970	808	930
Hull City	28	2983	1152	576
Leeds City	0	592	0	0
Chelsea	4393	1323	0	0
Fulham	1047	2986	877	189
Oldham Athletic	601	2111	1304	499
Tottenham Hotspur	4593	1253	0	0
Bradford Park Avenue	172	1448	159	647
Huddersfield Town	1874	1886	1143	405
West Ham United	2993	2091	0	0
Gateshead	0	489	0	114
Coventry City	1557	1473	403	84
Rotherham United	0	1637	1444	584
Newport County (old)	0	61	672	1167
Reading	93	931	2019	513
Portsmouth	1970	2238	412	153
Swansea City	109	2190	1200	1080
Plymouth Argyle	0	2308	1536	306
Norwich City	966	1950	215	0
Gillingham	0	274	1720	1022
Southampton	1812	2425	258	0
Leeds United	3079	1817	111	0
Exeter City	0	0	798	1822
Brentford	330	588	2129	961
Northampton Town	55	171	986	1915
Cardiff City	865	2118	593	600
Millwall	86	1970	1060	422
Bristol Rovers	0	1162	2044	308
Merthyr Town (old)	0	0	60	0
Crystal Palace	548	1820	489	284
Queens Park Rangers	974	1326	1052	0
Watford	369	1276	1057	387
Swindon Town	47	1039	1824	259
Southend United	0	375	1528	1187
Brighton & Hove Albion	182	953	1371	450
Charlton Athletic	1424	2511	274	0
Darlington	0	151	209	2603
Halifax Town	0	0	697	1387
Barrow	0	0	167	685
Wrexham	0	168	1528	1402
Hartlepool United	0	1	471	2332
Rochdale	0	0	310	2486
Accrington Stanley	0	0	128	220
Tranmere Rovers	0	648	1436	1096
Southport	0	0	219	931
Nelson	0	40	0	0
Bournemouth	0	168	2179	527
Torquay United	0	0	592	2186
Carlisle United	43	787	734	1210
York City	0	90	850	1727
Mansfield Town	0	49	1344	1730
Chester City	0	0	737	1852
Aldershot Town	0	0	289	1806
Ipswich Town	1396	1863	0	0
Colchester United	0	132	1367	1540
Scunthorpe United	0	422	569	2025
Shrewsbury Town	0	415	1611	894
Workington	0	0	180	873
Peterborough United	0	103	1397	1644
Oxford United	150	852	921	474
Cambridge United	0	389	498	1125
Hereford United	0	57	254	1122
Wigan Athletic	140	139	1014	520
Scarborough	0	0	0	697
Maidstone United	0	0	0	188
Barnet	0	0	41	736
Wycombe Wanderers	0	0	546	338
Chester	0	0	0	1
Macclesfield Town	0	0	44	583
Cheltenham Town	0	0	170	348
Kidderminster Harriers	0	0	0	249
Rushden & Diamonds	0	0	60	228
Boston United	0	0	0	268
Yeovil Town	0	0	169	160
Dagenham & Redbridge	0	0	0	96
Morecambe	0	0	0	84

4-3

With my side Cardiff City winning out as 4-3 victors over Sheffield United (the first time they had recorded this score in almost 24 years) I felt it was worthwhile taking a look at the scoreline and its history within the Football League.

At the end of the 2007/2008 season there had been almost 1500 4-3 results in Football League history. The highpoint for the scoreline was the 1889/1890 season where approximately one in twenty matches ended in that scoreline. The worst season, surprisingly perhaps, was 1910/1911 where only one of the 280 matches played that season ended in a 4-3 scoreline (a 4-3 victory for Everton over Bristol City on Christmas Eve).

Here’s the graph depicting the occurrence of the scoreline. Unsurprisingly the score has become less frequent since the free-scoring, early days of the Football League. The last time more than 1% of matches in a Football League season ended in 4-3 was the 1964/1965 season.

COSAFA Cup 2009 – Zimbabwe

African international football is separated into different confederations, COSAFA covers the southern section of the continent and includes sides such as Angola and World Cup 2010 hosts South Africa.

Dynamos FC greet the players of CAPS United.

Each individual confederation has their own cup and COSAFA’s 2009 tournament is currently being played in Zimbabwe. The tournament was due to be held in South Africa, but logistical and local governmental problems in South Africa led to its cancellation before Zimbabwe stepped in. Football in the troubled southern African nation has experienced a renaissance of sorts with the biggest club side in Zimbabwe, Dynamos reaching the semi-finals of the African Champions League in 2008 beating Egyptian giants Zamalek on the way.

Unusually, from a European perspective, the competition appears to be bankrolled by a cigarette company (Savannah) who also sponsor Dynamos FC. Tobacco advertising appears to be ubiquitous in Zimbabwe. Savannah almost pulled the plug on their sponsorship of Dyanmos when the club competed in a tournament sponsored by a rival brand of cigarette. In fact they have provided a “range of T-shirts and tracksuits, which the fans will wear during the Cosafa tournament.”

The first round of matches have already taken place with the host nation and Botswana making it through the initial group stages (with the likes of Lesotho and the Seychelles) to the quarter finals to play “the big six” of South Africa, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. (Angola and South Africa have sent U23 or U20 squads to the tournament, it’s a practice quite common in these sorts of tournaments to make the games a little more competitive).

Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola and South Africa have all won the competition on three occasions each, and it will be a big surprise if any country from outside these four wins the trophy this time around. Zimbabwe face Botswana in the Quarter Finals. in Harare. The final is on the 1st November.

Ninian Park is falling down

Cardiff City moved to a brand new soulless dome this summer so now the time has come to knock down the old home Ninian Park (unsurprisingly to be replaced by houses).

Demolition of Ninian Park

One of the more interesting aspects of the ground demolition has been the removal of the cladding from the main Grandstand, the demolition crew have exposed an old AFC CARDIFF CITY sign.

Exposed signage

It’s quite sad to see the old ground in the state it’s in, though some jokers may say “What’s changed?”, but as soon as a football team no longer plays in a ground it loses its purpose and magic. It’s just a shell.

Further pictures here:
Mike Morris
Jon Candy

Finland 2 Wales 1

Any slim hopes Wales had of finishing third were dashed with another disappointing loss in their World Cup qualification campaign. They have now played Russia, Germany and Finland home and away, failing to take even a point from six matches.

Jari Litmanen - 128 caps

As a Wales fan I do not expect us to qualify, in all honesty I don’t really expect us to get even close. However, I do expect us to show a little bit of attacking ambition. Playing three centre halves against Jonatan Johansson, a man who hasn’t currently got a club (on trial at St. Johnstone I believe?), was hard to understand, but ever so predictable from a Toshack Wales side. Further frustration was caused by multiple squad withdrawals. Wales were left in the embarrassing situation of only having three outfield players on the bench, this led to the odd sight of Toshack bringing on fullback Neal Eardley for centre-half Lewin Nyatanga when Wales were chasing the game late on. Surely the Welsh set-up has contingency plans for such situations?

Finland’s side appeared many familiar names, Jusi Jaaskalinen between the sticks, Hyypia and Tihinen in defense and Kolkka and the evergreen Litmanen pulling the strings in the Finnish midfield. It’s interesting to note that Litmanen has now won 128 caps, that’s twice as many as Ryan Giggs, it shows the differing attitudes of the two footballers to their national sides. Glen, who runs vivarovers used an excellent turn of phrase when he described Litmanen’s performance at the MillStad – “he stood us ragged”, which summed up just how inept our midfield were that day.

A wholly disappointing performance from Wales, even the normally fluent Ramsey looked out of sorts playing in a very deep role where his talents were never shown. When Wales play like this you start to think of the players who are missing, Danny Collins would be a very welcome addition into defence, John Oster and Paul Parry would be useful options from the bench at the very least. I’m even starting to think that a 34 year old Robbie Savage would be good to have around the place. That’s how bad it’s got.

The FAW in their infinite wisdom recently awarded John Toshack an extension to his contract, so we have to put up with this dirge for another qualification campaign (at least). When will he realise he’s not up to the job? The side looks low on morale and confidence, something needs to change. Sack Tosh, bring in Flynn, I don’t see how it can get any worse! Wales play Liechtenstein in Vaduz on Wednesday evening.