Football History Links No4

Sing Up The River End! is well established with NCFC facts, figures, and trivia, and now we also bring you more general football history information from all eras. In an occasional series we will select the best links, news stories, sites and videos available on the net for those readers whose interest in the past times of football goes, occasionally, beyond the yellow and green

Here is a video clip from 1912, and I include it as a good example of how football grounds looked nearly one hundred years ago - the terraces packed, allowing only minimal movement even when a goal was scored. This particular match was the FA Cup Final replay and was staged at Bramall Lane, Sheffield. The ground had been used ten years earlier to stage an England v Australia Test match and was chosen here for the re-match of Barnsley and West Bromwich Albion, who had drawn 0-0 four days earlier at Crystal Palace. The match was settled just two minutes from the end of extra time when Harry Tuffnell broke from the half way line, beating the West Brom defender and captain Jesse Pennington before scoring to win the cup for Barnsley, 1-0. It was always thought that had Pennington stuck out a foot to trip the attacker, the match would have been saved. However, Pennington always maintained that he would never have done such a thing - being the gentleman that he was. The following year, Pennington was approached by the notorious criminal Pascoe Bioletti and offered £5 to help fix a league match against Everton. He played along with the idea having reported the matter to the police, and after a 0-0 draw went to collect his money from Bioletti, who was promptly arrested and given a five month prison sentence.

Note also the pitch conditions - the game was played in hot and sunny weather and was hardly conducive to a free flowing passing game! And the players seemed to do a lot of walking rather than running.

There is a small Canary connection with the match too. George Travers was the Barnsley inside forward and after World War One and late in his career, he signed for Norwich and scored the only goal in the game when City recorded their first ever Football League win, over Reading in 1920.

  

This link will take you to a brilliant site showcasing the work of Stuart Clarke. It is called The Homes Of Football and is a must for all fans who believe that the atmosphere and feeling of a football ground is every bit as special as the play on the pitch. There are some beautiful photographs to be seen here. Many encapsulate the joy, excitement and tribalism of the terraces, others the sadness of a dream factory that is allowed to grow old and eventually perish.

Allow yourself plenty of time when you visit this site because there is so much to see. And go back regularly - you won't take it all in first time around. Click on 'browse by category' to get your subject choices.

http://www.homesoffootball.co.uk/

It is believed that the football chant 'Who Ate All The Pies' has origins dating all the way back to 1894. At that time, Sheffield United had a goalkeeper named William 'Fatty' Foulke, who reputedly weighed in at 24 stone during his career. He was also 6ft 4inches tall and alledgedly once broke a crossbar whilst swinging from it. He was though no one-off side show, but in fact a keeper of high repute - during his time with Sheffield United he won two FA Cups and the English League championship playing over 300 games for them, and in 1897 he made one appearance for England. Known for his short temper - which led to him physically lifting players up and throwing them back down again if he was upset - he later played for Chelsea. Whilst at Stamford Bridge, the club would place two small boys either side of the goalposts to make him look even bigger to opposition forwards. They would retrieve the ball when it went out of play and were thought to be the first example of ball boys at football matches. Foulke finished his career at Bradford City and died in 1916 at the age of 42.





pictured : big man 'Fatty' Foulke, who also played four games of first class cricket for Derbyshire