Alan Shearer has a penalty shootout against Brian Clough
There's a headline I didn't expect to be writing this morning! What with Big Al now retired and Old Big 'Ead now sadly departed, you probably thought the chances of a penalty shootout between the pair was fairly unlikely. And you would be right!
The other Brian Clough is the pie-loving goalkeeper of West Jesmond AFC, BBC Sport's adopted part-timers. The 22-year-old Sunderland fan couldn't resist the opportunity to face a few Shearer penalties when the Newcastle legend joined them for a training session.
[Rob Parker]
March 1, 2007 in Funny old game, Newcastle United, Non League | Permalink | Comments (1)
Big Ron back in football
Ron Atkinson is back in football after a spell out after he made some very unpleasant comments about Marcel Desailly. No, he hasn't been appointed as the manager of the KKK's Five-a-side team. He 's now the director of football at non-League Kettering Town.
The orange faced manager/pundit is returning to the Conference North club, where he started his managerial career in 1971. Atkinson went on to manage Cambridge, West Brom, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Coventry and Nottingham Forest. After parting company with ITV after his on-air comments and did not find offers to return to football or the media forthcoming, although recently he spent very brief spells at Swindon and Peterborough as a consultant, for the benefit of a television programme. [Mof Gimmers]
January 23, 2007 in News balls, Non League | Permalink | Comments (0)
Free travel to football matches
Fans who have experienced the thrill of an away match will know how addictive it is. The trip down, the pre-match pints in a strange pub, being in a strange ground. It's like a holiday with a football match stuck in the middle of it! However, loads give it a wide berth because they can't get a lift down to the games. Well, you needn't fear that any more.
A website called WeWillfollow aims to stop all that worry and hassle by allowing you to offer and request lifts to games home and away, and it’s completely free. Added to that, the site also has a ticket exchange for fans with a spare. It's all rather nice isn't it? To add to the community feeling, WeWillFollow also have a unique 'Exile List' for each club, so if you've drifted away from your club (geographically speaking) you can register as a member on the site and talk to other exiled supporters of your club. With a list of 1000+ supporters clubs too, you need never feel lonely and exiled again! Have a look and sign up with the site now!
January 22, 2007 in Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, League One, League Two, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Non League, Portsmouth, Reading, Scotland, Sheffield United, The Championship, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic | Permalink | Comments (0)
It's a kit of an animal: Sausage snack firm supplies new gear for renamed Peperami FC
A London part-time outfit has secured a new kit after deciding to change its name to Peperami FC. Wandsworth FC, of the Wimbledon and District League, decided on the new tag after being inspired by an advertising campaign for the spicy sausage snack.
When Peperami's manufacturers Unilever heard about the situation they sensed a good photo opportunity and, well you can see the rest for yourself! You know what level of football we're talking about here when the Peperami mascot is the healthiest looking bloke on the team photo! Unilever also supplied The Artists Formerly Known As Wandsworth FC with a brand new kit, and delusions of grandeur too it seems.
Peperami FC boss Joe Ladd said: "We are extremely excited by this move and glad that our friends at Peperami can see that this club is going places." [Via 4TheGame]
[Rob Parker]
December 28, 2006 in Funny old game, Non League | Permalink | Comments (0)
Bolton plough on through Headington's snow
These days, it's perfectly fine to wish for a white Christmas with all this undersoil heating and such. It wasn't always like this though... didn't stop the tough nuts of the Bolton side in 1954 when they took on non-league Headington in the FA Cup 4th Round. As it's the week of giant killing, did Headington manage to beat Nat Lofthouse's Wanderers?
December 22, 2006 in Bolton Wanderers, Classic Moments, Cult Heroes, Non League, Video clips | Permalink | Comments (0)
Barrow James Cotterill admits FA Cup punch
Barrow defender James Cotterill has pleaded guilty to causing grevious bodily to Bristol Rovers' Sean Rigg during an FA Cup match. Rigg was left with a double fracture of the jaw after being punched by Cotterill in an off-the-ball incident.
Cotterill admitted the charge at Barrow Magistrates Court. He will be sentenced at Lancaster Crown Court in January. Rigg told the court that he had been forced to drink through a straw and eat using a teaspoon. [Via BBC]
[Rob Parker]
November 30, 2006 in News balls, Non League | Permalink | Comments (0)
Bayern boss attacks Abramovich
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge claims Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's spending power is stifling competition in European football. The former West German striker told Kicker magazine: "Given what Abramovich does every summer in the transfer market, how can German clubs stay competitive?" Rummenigge also accused Europe's G14 group of top clubs of being "selfish" and dropped a hint that Bayern may quit the group. Rummenigge outlined his concern about the financial firepower of clubs outside Germany as he said: "I doubt whether in the next 10 years there will be a German club in the final of a European competition. If Werder Bremen get past Barcelona in the Champions League, that would be the eighth wonder of the world. Bremen earn 23m euros from television rights and Barcelona get 143m. I just hope the European Union puts a stop to these excesses of Abramovich and foreign television."
Rummenigge said Bayern, one of the founder members of G14 - which includes Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United - are now contemplating pulling out of the group altogether. He added: "Everybody in the G14 thinks only about themselves. I will say it absolutely clearly - Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon and his colleagues only fight for themselves. So do the Italians and the English. In football it is pure selfishness that rules. There is little common ground among the clubs. The way it is at the moment, we would have to think if it is still worth staying in G14. I am very unsatisfied with the way it is developing. There is no communication with Fifa, none with Uefa and there are too few common projects." [Mof Gimmers]
November 28, 2006 in Chelsea, European football, Non League | Permalink | Comments (0)
Barrow's James Cotterill charged with GBH over on-field punch
Barrow defender James Cotterill has been charged with grevious bodily harm for allegedly fracturing the jaw of Bristol Rovers striker Sean Rigg during an FA Cup first round clash. Cotterill is accused of punching Rigg in an off-the-ball incident which was missed by the referee but caught by BBC Match of the Day cameras.
A statement issued by Cumbria Police read: "As a result of an incident in the recent FA Cup tie at Holker Street, James Cotterill, a player of Barrow AFC, has been interviewed and subsequently charged with causing GBH to Sean Rigg, a player from Bristol Rovers Football Club. This follows extensive enquiries and consultation with the various football authorities and the Crown Prosecution Service."
Ben Thatcher can consider himself a lucky boy.
[Rob Parker]
November 23, 2006 in News balls, Non League | Permalink | Comments (0)
Crossbow bolt fired onto pitch in non-league game in Stockport
It seems coin-throwing is yesterday's news. A police investigation has been launched after a crossbow bolt – yes, a frickin' crossbow bolt! – was
fired into a stadium during a non-league match in Stockport yesterday,
prompting the game's
abandonment.
The incident occurred during the Unibond First Division game between Woodley
Sports and Alsager Town, which the home side were leading 3-0 at the time.
With 13 minutes of the match remaining, the referee noticed something had been
launched into Woodley's Lambeth Grove stadium and was embedded in the
artificial pitch.
Alsager chairman Graham McGarry, who was at the game, said: 'This was a serious incident and could have been a tragedy. It whistled past the left-back of Woodley Sports. All the players were in agreement with the referee, you could not carry on. After one was fired they may have been set up outside the ground to fire more. It wasn't just the players, you don't know where they could have landed. There were children watching the game.'
First a spate of coin-throwing and now this… What sort of deranged hooligan would do something like this? The label 'mindless idiot' is far too good for whoever fired the bolt. I just hope this doesn't lead to copycat incidents.
[Via ESPN]
November 21, 2006 in News balls, Non League | Permalink | Comments (0)
King's Lynn FC warming up with the Scissor Sisters
The players of non-league King's Lynn are probably ruing the fact that the Scissor Sisters' I Don't Feel With Dancing being blasted over the PA system coincided with their warm-up on Saturday and that a fan with a sense of humour was there to capture it on his mobile phone. Turns out the King's Lynn boys do feel like dancing after all!
[Rob Parker]
November 20, 2006 in Non League, Video clips | Permalink | Comments (0)