Mirko Bolesan 1995

2008-08-02T20:47:00.004+01:00

Summer Czech

It’s not long before “Western” Europe’s leagues swing back into action (the Czech league begins today!) so I felt it was about time I had another look at what’s happened in the world of Czech football over the summer.

Karel Bruckner left his job as Czech Republic coach after his side were knocked out in incredible fashion at Euro 2008. The Czech players were victims of a robbery in their own hotel (cash and three match tickets) and on the field as they were one of Turkey’s victims. 2-0 down with 15 minutes left Turkey somehow managed to score three! Despite the obvious defensive frailties you can’t help but feel that they really missed a player like Nedved (retired) and Rosicky (injured) to run the midfield.

Players that came out of the tournament with their reputations enhanced included the Czech’s right winger Sionko, who at 31 and playing in Copenhagen is unlikely to attract many bids from Europe’s elite. Sverkos, who scored the opening goal of Euro 2008 was linked to a move to the spectacularly excellently named Saturn. A fee was agreed with his club Banik Ostrava but the player opted against the move.

Bruckner has popped up as the new manager of Austria, who continue their trend of appointing ageing coaches. After considering the likes of Carlos Alberto, Klaus Toppmoller and Slavia manager Karel Jarolim the Czechs have opted for Petr Rada who will begin his international managerial career against Fabio Capello’s England.

A Czech player who is moving to Russia is giant striker Jan Koller who joins Jiri Jarosik at Krylia Sovetov Samara. Another famous Czech international Jiri Novotny, 38 has joined one of the most famous Czech sides Dukla Praha in the Druha Liga. As Novotny winds down his career, one of his former international teammates Radek Bejbl has called time on his. The former Slavia Praha and Atletico Madrid midfielder who starred for the Czechs in Euro 96 has announced his retirement
from football.

Czech U19 international Tomas Necid

Despite a disappointing Euro 2008 Czech fans did have something to cheer about as the European U19 Championships came to the Czech Republic. A difficult group containing Italy, England and Greece faced the Czechs but a win against England, a draw against Greece and an exciting 4-3 loss to Italy was enough to take them through to the semi finals where they eventually lost to Germany. Tall centre forward Tomas Necid of Jablonec (on loan from Slavia) caught the eye for the Czechs and ended the tournament as overall top scorer. I'm sure the Czechs will be hoping they have finally found a long term replacement for the almost irreplaceable Jan Koller.

2008-05-31T18:49:00.001+01:00

Non-Europeans

Euro 2008 begins in a week time, oddly there are 42 players who were born outside of Europe who will be competing in the competition. Here's the list..

Portugal
Deco - Brazil
Boswinga - Congo
Pepe - Brazil
Nani - Cape Verde

Switzerland
Gelson - Cape Verde
Vonlanthen - Colombia
Djourou - Ivory Coast

Turkey - mostly eastern Turkey
Rustu Recber
Tuzluca
Mehmet Topal
Semih Senturk
Gokdeniz Karadeniz
Tumer Metin
Tolga Zengin
Ugur Boral
Emre Asik
Tuncay Sanli
Ayhan Akman
Sabri Sarioglu
Mehmet Aurelio - Brazil

Croatia
Josip Simunic - Australia

Germany
Kevin Kuryani - Brazil

Poland
Roger Guerreiro - Brazil

France
Patrice Evra - Senegal
Lilian Thuram - Guadeloupe
Claude Makalele -Congo
Patrik Vieira - Senegal
Jean-Alain Boumsong - Cameroon
Steve Mandanda - Congo

Italy
Mauro Camoranesi - Argentina

Russia - all three Eastern Russia
Sergei Semak
Dmitri Sychev
Dmitri Torbinski

Spain
Marcos Senna - Brazil

2008-05-29T20:15:00.006+01:00

Mill No More

Awful news from Rotherham United today that confirms that they will not be playing at Millmoor next season. Instead the club will play their games in Sheffield at the Don Valley Stadium.

The Don Valley Stadium is normally used for athletics and rugby league. It has also been used for concerts and gameshows (Channel 4's "The Game") in the past as well. It looks totally unsuitable for Rotherham. Wrong city, not big enough and has an athletics track around it - which never helps the atmosphere as anyone who has been to the Withdean will tell you!

I have only ever visited Millmoor once. It was on the first day of the season in Cardiff City's first game back in the second flight about five years ago (the game ended 0-0). It was almost certainly the hottest game I have ever been at. Standing in the away end at Millmoor (it is seated but Cardiff fans aren't sitters) under a corrugated iron roof was akin to being in an oven.

Good luck to Rotherham United. Things can surely only get better now. Surely!

2008-05-24T00:58:00.007+01:00

Big Yellow Bus

All hop on the NK Domzale bus, new Champions of Slovenia.

Slovenia is a young country and so has a young football league. NK Domzale's title win is the first in their history and they are only the third club to win the championship after NK Maribor and NK Gorica.

Other first time winners of their respective leagues are Llanelli of Wales and CFJ Cluj of Romania (who not content with winning the league for the first time also won the cup!).

To round off this shortish article on league title winners here's a list of all of the leagues that have been decided over the past few weeks. (Note - many of the ex-Soviet countries and Scandanavia & Ireland have league programmes that run over the summer so are not included in this list).

Albania: Dinamo Tirana
Austria: Rapid Veinna
Belguim: Standard Liege
Bosnia: FK Modrica Maksima
Bulgaria: CSKA Sofia
Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb
Czechia: Slavia Prague
England: Manchester United
France: Lyon
Georgia: Dinamo Tblisi
Germany: Bayern Munich
Hungary: Debrecen VSC
Italy: Inter
Luxembourg: F91 Dedelange
Macedonia: Rabotnicki Skopje
Malta: Valletta FC
Moldova: Sheriff Tiraspol
Montenegro: Buducnost Podgorica
Netherlands: PSV
Northern Ireland: Linfield
Poland: Wisla Krakow
Portugal: Porto
Romania: CFR Cluj
San Marino: SC Faetano
Scotland: Celtic
Serbia: Partizan Belgrade
Slovakia: Artmedia Bratislava
Slovenia: NK Domzale
Spain: Real Madrid
Switzerland: Basel
Turkey: Galatasaray
Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk
Wales: Llanelli

2008-05-14T23:46:00.006+01:00

Swiss Super League

Continuing on from the article down the page on Austrian football I felt a piece on Swiss football would be appropriate as

FC Thun are probably known to most people in England as the side who played in the Champions League against Arsenal a few years ago (2005). They acquitted themselves well, only losing by the odd goal in both ties to Arsenal and finishing above Ajax in 3rd place. The current season has ended in relegation, they now have a mountain to climb to get back into the Swiss elite... The oldest club in the country and the second oldest on continental Europe is FC St Gallen. They are managed by Krassimir Balakov who was a member of the Bulgarian national team who made the semi finals of the World Cup in 1994. They finished 2nd bottom of the Super League this season and lost out to Bellinzona of the second flight in a two legged playoff. Incidentally Bellinoza qualified for the UEFA Cup as losing finalists.

Bellinoza's marvellous change kit.

The exotically named Neuchatal Xamax won the league twice during the 1980s. Blackburn Rovers defender Stephane Henchoz played almost 100 matches for the club at the beginning of his career. Their major recent success was winning the Swiss Cup in 2003. The club is quite a breeding ground for African players, Papa Bouba Diop, Henri Camara and Thimothee Atouba all played for the Neuchatal club before moving on to the Premier League.

A little known fact is that the ex-Crystal Palace striker Mark Bright spent a few months at FC Sion in Switzerland near the end of his career, he made very little impact in his short time there! Like many Swiss sides they were founded very early in the 20th Century (in 1909). They were one of the Swiss entrants to the UEFA Cup this season, falling at the first hurdle against Turkish side Galatasaray. An exceptional 3-2 victory at home was followed by a disappointing 5-1 result in Turkey.

One of the more famous names in Swiss football Ciriaco Sforza is now managing midtable side FC Luzern. He played for the national team on 79 ocassions and spent most of his career in Germany (winning the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2001). [official site of Sforza here] "Supersub" David Fairclough played for FC Lu

zern during the mid-80s and scored a goal in the club's SRS Cup win in 1984 against Borussia Dortmund.

The first team in the dictionary: FC Aarau. They have a Wimbledon-esque badge. Last year they had a player by the name of Mark Fotheringham playing for them (he's currently at Norwich). He is famous for the "Fozzy Flick", it's not quite a Cruyff turn but is worth a look.

Probably the most famous Swiss club are Grasshoppers Zurich (their nickname apparently coming from the way their players celebrated in the early days of the club - but that's far from certain). They are also notable to many football fans in the UK as they shared a subbuteo side with Blackburn Rovers, or at least that's why they are notable to me.. They have won the Swiss title more than any other club (27). City rivals FC Zurich finished two points ahead of Grasshoppers, they ended the season in third and made the last 16 of the UEFA Cup this season where they lost to Hamburg.

The title was contested between FC Basel (who are managed by ex-Spurs boss Christian Gross - I believe this reference is obligatory when writing about Basel) and Young Boys of Berne (who really DO play at the Wankdorfstadion - or at least that's what it used to be called - it is also the largest solar power plant in the world incidentally).

FC Vaduz flying high

As mentioned earlier Bellinoza won the promotion playoff against St. Gallen and so will compete in the Swiss superleague next season. The team who won the second division were FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein. It's obviously quite odd for a team from a different country to play in the top flight of a league of a different country but there are examples ranging from Derry City, Monaco and Swansea City in the early 80s. What is less clear is European qualification. Vaduz currently enter the Liechtenstein cup and normally win it (as they are by far the strongest side in their country). It is likely that they wouldn't be allowed to represent Switzerland in European competition should they qualify. In 2006/2007 FC Vaduz were actually eliminated from the UEFA Cup by FC Basel (of Switzerland).

2008-05-11T01:17:00.003+01:00

A Nicely Written Match Report

I'm currently reading Eddie Hapgood's autobiography (he captained Arsenal and England during the 1930s). It's a pretty good read. As you can imagine a lot has changed in the game since then.

Hapgood

This excerpt from a match report that Hapgood was involved in is included in the book. (Hapgood's Arsenal are playing Hapgood's previous club Kettering Town). See if you can work out what the reporter is moaning about before the end of the article...

"The next time I go to see a match on the Rockingham Road ground at Kettering, I shall insist on being accompanied by Sherlock Holmes, the 'Big Four' from Scotland Yard, and a leading member of the British Magical Society. Though I have no intention of causing any undue alarm in the camp of the faithful followers of the Poppies, I feel it incumbent upon me to warn them, at the close of a thrilling season, that the green patch which covers the playing area conceals a treacherous quicksand, wherein players disappear and are never seen again.

Kettering were entertaining the Arsenal in a friendly fixture, and, with the exception of a goal or two that happened along in the first half, all went well (though I believe the diminutive Mitchell had some difficulty with his shorts - they seemedto fit too tightly around his ankles). It was after the referee blew the whistle for the refreshment interval that the tragedy happened. Two strapping Arsenal players - David Jack and 'Happy' Hapgood - vanished into thin air. Presumably, the quicksands had swallowed them up, not even a tuft of hair could be traced, and the crowd stood aghast when the Arsenal re-started. No David Jack; no Happy-go-Lucky Hapgood.

In their places appeared two substitutes, mysteriously recruited from some sort of Arsenal 'pool' held in reserve (like a battalion in billets) somewhere behind the grandstand. People wondered; they whispered in queer undertones. What happend to Jack? Where was Hapgood?

If there had been anotehr adjournemount before the end of the match, I should not have been surprised to see the Arsenal team re-enter the arena with a brandnew forward line, three halves borrowed from the Scottish League, two backs from West Bromwich, and a goalkeeper on loan from Newcastle United.

I was beginning to wonder wheter the police had authorised the issue of the usual £500 Reward notices, when a powerful voice nearby informed the world that Jack andhis friend had merely dropped out to give two other Arsenal men a chance to kick the ball!"

2008-05-07T21:12:00.008+01:00

Austrian Bundesliga

With Euro 2008 being jointly hosted by Austria I thought it was time to look at the domestic leagues of the two countries, starting with Austria.

The top division (Bundesliga) is a relatively small division containing only ten teams. Clubs play each other twice at home and twice away.

SV Ried are another club in Austria who have accepted the "corporate dollar", the full title of their side is SV Josko Fenster Ried, the logo of the firm is even featured on their badge, something that makes me quite uneasy. Saying that the picture in their gallery from the Innsbruck game made me feel quite uneasy too. SCR Rheindorf Altach are another club who have incorperated their sponsors logo (CASHPOINT) onto their badge, it's one thing allowing a company to sponsor your ground or kit but on the badge? Step too far perhaps?

SV Rien vs Innsbruck.

Wacker Innsbruck are one of many sides (almost half) that play in green in the Bundesliga. They see themselves as the continuation of the Tirol Innsbruck club who won the Austrian title three times earlier this decade. However, Tirol went bust in 2002. Wacker Innsbruck had Liverpool defender Besian Idrizaj on loan this year, a player who has also had spells at Crystal Palace and Luton Town.

Carsten Jancker, remember him? The man who scored "the Germans" only goal against England in their humiliating 5-1 defeat? The man who used to terrify defences all over Europe with his aerial ability? Well, he's now at SV Mattersburg who finished 5th in the Austrian Bundesliga this season. The Champions League winner (really!) has scored a decent 14 goals for the club this term and seems to have got his career back on track after a poor spell in China. Despite Mattersburg being a town of only 6300 people they had one of the highest average attendances in the Bundesliga.

Carsten Jancker

Franchise football is unsurprisingly present in Austrian football. SK Austria Kamten were only a couple of years ago known as ASKO Pasching (a club who once beat Werder Bremen in Europe) - they were the club who were called FC Superfund for a while as sponsorship in Austria ran amock amongst their football clubs. They finished second bottom of the Bundesliga this season, saving themselves from relegation as only one club is demoted each season.

One of the more famous names in Austrian football are Sturm Graz. They made the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup in the early 80s, beaten by Nottingham Forest by a dubious penalty (or at least that's what the wikipedia page says - I suspect it was written by a still angry Sturm fan!). Their European exploits didn't end there however. In the 99/00 season they won their group in the Champions League above European giants Galatasaray, Rangers and Monaco. Times have been a bit harder on the Graz club recently. Financial problems have blighted the club and they've been unable to repeat their European successes.

FC Red Bull Salzburg are probably the most controversial side in the division. On April 6, 2005 Red Bull purchased the club and rebranded it under their Red Bull name. Not only did they change the name of the club they also changed the club colours from violet (there is no violet on the kit at all now) and stated "this is a new club with no history". It's a pretty brutal way to run a football club. Fans of the club obviously weren't happy so set up their own club as SV Austria Salzburg (Red Bull Salzburg's old name) and joined the seventh tier of the Austrian pyramid and began playing at the start of the 2006/2007 season. They won the championship in their first and second seasons as a football club and are now only four promotions away from playing the Red Bull horrors (who incidentally were Austrian champions in the same season). Their official website is very violet and has a basic English version. Definitely worth a look, though the club shop is only in German at the moment.

SV Austria Salzburg fans decked out in violet

LASK Linz are a breath of fresh air in a smog of commercialism in Austrian football. They have never allowed a sponsor to sully their club name in their entire history. LASK Linz were the first club outside of Vienna to win the Austrian title (1965 - they won the cup in the same year) but have never got near to repeating this feat.

The two Vienna clubs dominate the footballing landscape in Austria. 'Rapid' and 'Austria' have won the Austrian title on a remarkable 55 occasions. Austria Vienna play in lovely violet and white and have won the Austrian championship 23 times and the cup 26 times. Their best modern European performance (Austria Vienna won the Mitropa Cup twice in the 30s) saw them lose 4-0 to Anderlecht in the Cup Winners Cup Final in 1978.

Rapid Vienna (who sport a green and white strip) have never won a European trophy, but have made two Cup Winners Cup finals. Once against Everton in 1985 and once against Paris St Germain in 1996, a youthful Carsten Jancker (now at SV Mattersburg as described earlier) played in Rapid's 1-0 loss. Despite these European "failures" the club has an impressive list of honours that include a German championship and cup victory! They are the current Austrian champions having won the title by six points from Red Bull Salzburg.

Overall I find the league quite depressing. Massive commercialism (some of the players look like Formula One drivers with sponsor logos stuck on every part of the body) and many clubs moving from city to city.

2008-05-04T22:07:00.005+01:00

Division Four Relegation: Mansfield Town

Long gone are the days where a club would finish bottom of the league and be automatically "re-elected" or would stay up due to the club winning the Conference not meeting certain "regulations" with regards to their stadium. If you finish in the bottom two than you will be relegated.

There is still a huge stigma associated with exiting the Football League. This is despite clubs such as Doncaster Rovers, Carlisle United and Hereford United being relegated to the Conference and rebounding with style. Also, it is worth noting that the Conference currently looks a lot like a Division Four from the 1970s. Aldershot Town, Cambridge United, Torquay, Exeter City, York City and Halifax Town. It also contains clubs such as Kidderminster Harriers and Rushden & Diamonds, both of whom have been in the football league very recently.

Mansfield Town entered the Football League in 1931. So next year will be their first out of the league in 77 years. The club were formed in the 19th Century as Mansfield Wesleyans; taking their name from a local church.

It was in 1910 that the club began using their current name, Mansfield Town. The change angered another local club Mansfield Mechanics - who quickly disappeared into obscurity. Nine years later the club adopted its current colours, wearing a yellow and blue halved kit.

Much of the blame for Mansfield Town's current plight is, not unreasonably, laid at the door of owner Keith Haslam. How a club such as Mansfield who have decent enough attendances, have had some very good moneyspinning cup ties in recent years: Live on BBC1 vs Middlesbrough in the cup earlier this season and an away tie at Newcastle a couple of years ago. This should have left the club with enough money to finish above the paupers of the division such as Accrington Stanley and Dagenham & Redbridge.

Mansfield Town ended their long stay in the Football League on Saturday with a two-nil loss at Dagenham & Redbridge. It will be a long journey back, one hopefully that their fans will try and enjoy, a chance to win a few games and win some silverwear. You get the impression that they will first have to get rid of a certain Mr Haslam before the club can progress..

2008-04-29T14:52:00.004+01:00

Cardiff City FA Cup Final Songs

The FA Cup Final song is one of my favourite FA Cup traditions, Chas and Dave's effort in 81 being a personal favourite of mine. Unfortunately it is something that has fallen by the wayside in recent years but thankfully followers of Cardiff City have thrown themselves into it.

BLUEBIRDS FLYING HIGH (5/10)
The official song, Bluebirds Flying High, is sung by ex-Fame Academy, Eurovision entrant James Fox. It's very middle of the road, innoffesive stuff. Describing the quality of Tony Capaldi's long throw and Enckelman's ability at saving "spot kicks". The most cringeworthy moment in the song comes near the beginning where Fox sings "at the helm is Peter Ridsdale". Singing about a football chairman is always wrong, but I suspect it was the best way for James Fox to convince the club (i.e. Peter Ridsdale) to endorse the song as the official song - it was Fox who approached Cardiff City with the song. The most interesting part of the video is City fullback Kevin McNaughton dressed in a Dangermouse suit, something I am yet to get to the bottom of.

DO THE AYATOLLAH (2/10)
A week or so later a few Cardiff City fans created a musical monstrosity in "Do the Ayatollah" - is a song based on the dance floor hit "Do the Macarena". (The ayatollah is wonderfully described on wikipedia as "Performing the Ayatollah is done by having both hands flat pointing towards each other raised above your head and repeatedly moving them up and down in a patting motion".) It is as bad as it sounds and it only gets worse when you watch the video. Being a huge fan of rather poor jokes I do like the 1927 (just before half past seven) gag at the start but it goes downhill after the Call to Prayer. Awful. Although, in fairness it is only meant to be a bit of fun and not taken too seriously. However, they have massacred a perfectly bad song!

CARDIFF CITY SUPERSTARS (9/10)
Sitting head and shoulders above "Bluebirds Flying High" and "Do the Ayatollah" is the excellent "Cardiff City Superstar" by Helen Love and a few members of the Super Furry Animals. A previous version of this song (written to the music of 70s kids TV show Banana Splits) was written a decade or so ago. I like this, the lyrics are far more fan-centric than the other two songs and include the excellent lines: "Alan Green and the BBC, we're the team you didn't want to see" and "Ninian Park will always be my home, not the IKEA stadium across the road".

It also has the marvellous line "Directors leave and players go.", something that James Fox would do well to remember after featuring Publicity Pete in his song.

2008-04-27T00:25:00.006+01:00

North Korea 1966: World Cup Qualification

Most football fans with any interest in the World Cup knows all about North Korea's amazing run during the 1966 World Cup. They were the first Asian side to make it to the quarter finals of he competition and beat Italy by a goal to nil on the way there. However, what is less well known is their qualification campaign.

For the 1966 competition FIFA decided that only one nation would go forward from Africa, Asia & Oceania. The 16 African nations were understandibly upset by this so withdrew from the tournament en masse, as did the South Koreans.

This left North Korea and Australia as the only two entrants and with Australia not recognizing North Korea as a country a neutral venue of Phnom Penh in Cambodia was decided upon.

The Australian team was largely made up of Brits, with only one of the side actually born in Australia. The Australian sides only competition in these years came against touring sides from Europe or infrequent matches against amateur sides in Australia. This World Cup qualifier in Cambodia was their first international match in 6 years.

And it showed. The North Koreans ran out 6-1 winners in front of 60,000 spectators. Pak Seung Jin scored two, Han Bong Jin also scored twice with the other goals coming from On Seung Hwi and Pak Do Ik (the man who would in the finals score the winner against the Italians).

The second leg, played three days later in the same city, was a formality with the Koreans winning by three goals to one. The Australians, comprehensively beaten, had to wait until 1974 before they finally made the last stages of the World Cup Finals.

The North Koreans travelled to England as rank outsiders and shocked the world with a creditable draw against Chile and a remarkable win against Italy. Unfortuantely the dream ended in the quarter finals as despite going three goals up in twenty five minutes the Eusebio inspired Portugese fought back to win an enthralling match 5-3.

North Korea (like England!) have failed to emulate their 1966 successes but they are finally on the road to recovery with some very good performances at youth and full international level.

NORTH KOREA QUALIFICATION CAMPAIGNS
1970 - Withdrew, refused to play Israel.
1974 - Failed to win preliminary group, finishing behind Iran and Syria.
1978 - Withdrew.
1982 - Despite winning preliminary group and knocking out Japan, North Korea knocked out by China 4-2 (aet)
1986 - Failed to win preliminary group, finishing behind Japan.
1990 - Reached final round but finished bottom of the final group (last six countries)
1994 - Reached final round but again disappointingly finished bottom of final group (last six countries)
1998 - Did Not Enter
2002 - Did Not Enter
2006 - Won preliminary group but lost out in second stage to Iran and Japan.
2010 - Currently second in the second group stage after beating Jordan away and gaining a creditable draw against South Korea.

2008-04-26T18:49:00.003+01:00

Slough Town FC

Slough Town ended their season today with relegation. A 1-0 loss at Fleet Town secured their fate and they join the (also relegated) Newport Isle of Wight in the 9th tier of English football (or at least I think it is, working out the pyramid that far down is quite difficult).

In the 97/98 season Slough Town finished in 8th in the Conference table, ahead of Yeovil Town (now of League One), they held this year's cup finalists Cardiff City to a 1-1 draw at Wexham Park and only narrowly lost at Ninian Park in the replay.

Those days are long gone for the Rebels. A series of financial calamities and the closure of their Wexham Park ground (that now lies in ruins) has led them to play in Windsor and now Beaconsfield. The town of Slough is almost certainly the largest town in the UK without a football side in its environs.

Despite all of the bad news of this season there have been some positives. Three of Slough's squad were involved in World Cup qualifiers (see here) and there has been quite a lot of talk about the club moving back to the town.

2008-04-17T21:48:00.000+01:00

Gambrinus Liga

Most leagues in Europe have only a few powerhouse clubs who dominate the league. The Czech Republic is no exception with Slavia and Sparta from the capital city Prague dominating the league since its inception in 1993. Since then only Slovan Liberec and Banik Ostrava have broken up this dominance.

And this season with only five games to go the Championship title in the Czech Republic has yet to be decided. The usual suspects Sparta and Slavia are currently 1st and 2nd in the table with only a handful of matches left.

Sparta currently sit atop of the division having played a game more than Slavia. Sparta are the most successful club in Czech footballing history having won the Czech league ten times and the Czechoslovakian title on twenty four occasions. (They have also won the Mitropa Cup three times, only Vasas Budapest of Hungary have won more) They have only ever once been outside the top flight, this occured in 1975, it's a subject they obviously don't like to talk about as their official website talks about the "black year" and the reason for their relegation "due to a number of circumstances".

Both Sparta and Slavia look like they will qualify for the Champions League. Sparta were knocked out in the qualifying round by Arsenal, a club that Sparta share an interesting trait. In 1906 a Sparta director made a trip to England, he liked Arsenal's redcurrant kit so much that he brought some shirts back to Prague. Since that day Sparta have worn the colour and made it their own. (Arsenal later changed to red shirts with white sleeves, although they did bring back the redcurrant kit for their last season at Highbury).

Slavia are currently three points behind their city rivals with a game in hand. Prague's second club play in red and white halves, the red symbolising the heart and the white the fair play of the Olympic ideal. They are currently in the progress of moving ground to the delightfully named "Eden" stadium. Some idiots reported that Slavia would be playing Oxford United in the first game in their new ground - despite reports supporting this - it turns out it that Slavia's first opponents will actually be Oxford University - Slavia's first ever match was against Oxford Uni back in 1899.

Battling it out for third place, the UEFA Cup spot, are Brno, FK Teplice and Banik Ostrava. All three have experience in European competition. Brno made the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup in the 79/80 season, FK Telpice knocked out Kaiserslauten and Feyenoord in the 03/04 compeition while Banik Ostrava's Cup Winners Cup semi final in the late 70s is as far as any Czech club has ever gone in European competition.

FC Brno fans taunt Slovan Liberec...

Currently lying in mid-table place are Mlada Boleslav who, like a lot of teams who played behind the iron curtain, have undergone many name changes in their history. In the 1960s they were known as the Skoda Mlada Boleslav (the town contains a Skoda Museum), but even more bizarrely they were known as "Aston Villa Mlada Boleslav" for almost thirty years. Their official site mentions the name change but frustratingly never actually explains it.

Onto the sides battling for relegation and we come across Bohemians Prague (currently known as Bohemians 1905). They are probably the third most successful side in the capital and have one of the most lovely badges in world football. A kangaroo. A club tour of Australia in 1927 led to the adoption of the kangaroo as club badge and mascot, they were even given two kangaroos - both of which were donated to Prague zoo. For the strangely interested you can even buy kangaroo soft toys in their club shop. It's marvellous, but perhaps far too cute.

To give a British slant on the Czech top flight there is an odd story of Byron Webster. A 21 year old footballer born in Leeds who currently plays for SIAD Most (a club situated 70km north of Prague). With the globalisation of football continuing at pace we perhaps shouldn't be surprised, however I can't help but think that we in the UK have got the better end of the deal, losing the battling qualities of the "ex-York City star defender/midfielder" but gaining the Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky....

2008-04-13T23:02:00.001+01:00

Welsh Premier Chairmen vote for two divisions

The much rumoured split of the Welsh Premier League will happen at the start of the 2010/2011 season. This will match the Scottish Premier Division with clubs playing each other four times (twice at home and twice away). The idea being that the better players will eventually drift to the top division improving the overall quality of the league, hopefully improving the performances of the Welsh clubs in Europe. [The Welsh Premier teams are also looking to move to a summer league which again could help performances in Europe]

I feel this is a positive move. I've always been sceptical of a Welsh league that doesn't feature any clubs from the three biggest cities in Wales (Cardiff, Swansea & Newport) being able to maintain an 18 team league. As a Cardiff City fan I'd love to see the league clubs and the exiled non-league sides get more involved in Welsh football but unfortuantely I don't see any way this could be possible currently.

A couple of ways the Welsh clubs playing in the English system could get more involved are as follows... Cardiff City don't have a reserve side - something that I feel hasn't been helpful at all to the development of fringe players such as Darcy Blake - so Cardiff could create a reserve side and field it in the Welsh League setup. However, I'm not sure how welcome the Welsh Premier clubs would make Cardiff City Reserves. It would surely devalue the competition somewhat to have a reserve sides in a Welsh Premier Division, I also don't think UEFA would be particularly impressed and European qualification for these reserve sides would simply be impossible.

The only other alternative is to set up clubs in the bigger cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and parachute them into the Welsh Premier Division. This thought is almost too terrible to contemplate and stinks of franchising. However, I do feel that Cardiff City and Swansea City may have the support/finances to run a side each in the Welsh league system that is totally separate from their "full" side.

I feel that getting the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport involved in the Welsh Premier League is important to make the league more popular, but we have to be careful not to let the league lose any of its soul. Parachuting clubs into the Premier isn't fair, entering reserve sides into the league devalues the competition and Cardiff City, Swansea City and Newport County will never play in the League of Wales.

Anyway, overall, I feel that the 10 club top division is a positive move. For the record the current clubs who would qualify for the "elite" division are: Llanelli, The New Saints, Rhyl, Port Talbot, Bangor City, Carmarthen Town, Neath Athletic, Haverfordwest County, Welshpool Town and Aberystwyth Town. It would leave Caernarfon Town, once of the English pyramid, in the second flight of Welsh football.

2008-03-24T21:39:00.000Z

Roker Park

I read a few weeks ago that on the site where Sunderland's old ground Roker Park once stood. Like so many old grounds a housing estate replaced it. Unlike so many other ex-grounds someone actually had the good idea of naming the streets in a lovely way.

2008-03-16T22:08:00.000Z

SLAVIA PRAGUE

Interesting story coming out of Prague this week concerning Slavia's new stadium.

NEW SLAVIA STADIUM TO OPEN IN MAY
The official opening of Slavia Praha's new stadium in Prague
10-Vrsovice is due to take place at the beginning of May.

Alexandr Kliment of E Side Property, the company overseeing
construction, told reporters today that work on the ground is almost
complete, with nearly a third of the new Eden's 21,000 seats already
installed.

According to iDnes.cz and SportovniNoviny.cz, Kliment also revealed
that Slavia's opening game in the new stadium is likely to be a
friendly against fifth-tier English side Oxford United.

[Slavia's first game against British opposition was against an Oxford
University team in 1899.]

---

Interesting in that reading Oxford United messageboards they don't seem to know anything about it! Anyway, searching around there are a few good pictures of Slavia stadia old and new at this link:
Slavia Stadia

2008-03-13T23:38:00.000Z

Cardiff City ease into FA Cup Semi Finals

It's very, very, very strange. I never, ever, ever, ever thought I would see the day when my club made the FA Cup Semi Final.

Cardiff City beat Middlesbrough last Sunday. It is now Thursday and the magnitude and utter nonsenscial nature of the event still hasn't sunk in. I'm not even sure it will have sunk in when I'm walking down Wembley way watching the famous blue and white of the Cardiff City support bob up and down alongside the red of Barnsley.

Incredible.

2008-03-01T00:21:00.000Z

Turkish Names

I read the following piece on an internet forum, but I've lost the name of the person who wrote it, a quite interesting read concerning naming of Turkish players....

----

There's not a single standard but a more general one. we usually refer to them by first names.. (tuncay sanli as tuncay, semih senturk as semih, ugur boral as ugur, selcuk sahin as selcuk, etc..). in almost all occasions, fans, match commentators and the press/media will refer to them this way as well, other than sometimes referring with full name.

one exception is when there are other significant players with the same first name.. such as mehmet topal (gs), mehmet topuz (kayseri), mehmet yozgatli (besiktas) and so forth who are all significant players in turkey one way or another.. or 3 players first named ibrahim in besiktas (ibrahim toraman, ibrahim uzulmez, ibrahim kas)..in this case, they are usually called either mostly by full names or sometimes just by last names. (in the past, they used to be tagged with "buyuk" or "kucuk" before their names meaning big or little, kind of similar to the way brazilians add "inho" to their names as in ronaldo vs. ronaldinho.. not very common anymore). hakan sukur is also one of these players, as there were in the past and again currently are two hakans in galatasaray.

another exception is some high profile players, like hakan sukur, tuncay sanli, mehmet topuz being referred by full names.. that's more the case in players like hakan sukur and mehmet topuz whose first names are common among players, and less the case with tuncay who's mostly referred as tuncay. hasan sas was one of those players also, who is more often referred by full name than just by his first name.

as for current turkish players in fenerbahce, we usually refer to all of them by first name except kazim richards, who is usually referred as colin kazim, kazim richards, colin kazim richards, and sometimes kazim. (his name seems to create a lot of confusion everywhere, as he's also listed as kazim kazim in european games after he got his turkish passport under that name, which is hilarious).

good thing brazilians also use first names, middle names or nicknames as there is a "de souza mafia" in fenerbahce squad. (deivid de souza, alex de souza, eduardo de souza).

2008-01-03T23:04:00.000Z

1st January 2007 - Cardiff City 1 Plymouth Argyle 0

The M4, New Years Day, 8.30am. Racing in my Korean built Kia Picanto at 70mph – any faster and the steering wheel shakes and the CD skips, listening to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, read by the simply magnificent Stephen Fry. Ron Weasley, what a card. Hogwarts, a death trap, why haven’t the inspectors haven’t closed it down? Very few National Curriculum subjects taught. The kids may know what the “Were” in “Werewolf” means but I dread to think how poor their mathematical and English skills must be.

I pull over into Leigh Delamare Services, the car park is deserted. I am tired, not from revelling in Bracknell’s bustling town centre’s new years festivities the night before but from staying up late reading. I am not rock and roll. I buy an espresso, £1.69, it tastes and looks like tar. A few miles after these Services, if you keep your eyes peeled, you can sometimes see a fantastic bird of prey (I think it’s a buzzard), sitting majestically on the fences alongside the motorway. Again, continuing the ornithological theme the game is the Bluebirds against the Pilgrims. Neither bluebirds or pilgrims can be found on these Isles. The Pilgrims set sail from home to the new world while there are no bluebirds on the British Isles, their natural habitat being in the Americas. So, we had two very American concepts coming head to head under the guise of the Welsh capital versus the Cornish capital.

The Bob Bank terrace was full. One man wearing a blue, white and yellow bobble hat entered the ground holding aloft a Toblerone like a knight of the round table (a Christmas present from a loved one no doubt), I think it was one of those new fruit and nut ones. A gentleman beside me had prepared a small packed lunch, two cheese (grated) sandwiches, a scotch egg and a flask of tea. There was nothing left of the sandwiches before kick off.

The Bluebirds started neatly, their almost exclusively left-footed midfield giving their right footed Plymouth counterparts the runaround. After a less than satisfactory decision from the man in black the frustrated Sylvian Ebanks-Blake hoofed the ball away (much to the chagrin of the Cardiff support). The offence went unpunished. Had this not been a one o’clock kickoff with more drinking time in the pubs in Canton, the surly Ebanks-Blake could have expected a triangular shaped piece of chocolate to whistle past his head. Instead the comatose Cardiff support watched blearly eyed as the ball was returned via three ballboys, a steward and a Cardiff full back.

And then, one-nil, a midfield move, a saved shot from Tony Capaldi (his first foray into an opposition box this season), a save from Argyle’s French keeper, the crowd sighed, then Everton-bound Joe Ledley swoops into the box and fires home! Fulham-bound Joe Ledley was by far Cardiff’s best player, he’s improved markedly from last season and is looking more and more like a Premiership player. I have no doubt he’ll be banging the goals in for Bolton in a few weeks and doing that “A” celebration that is so in vogue for Wigan players at the moment.

The second half was a scrappy affair. Even Sunderland-bound Joe Ledley failed to shine in a half of poor quality. Cardiff’s normally frangible injury time defence held on, Loovens – alert, Johnson – takes no prisoners (unlike Azkaban) and the Welsh capital ended the game as victors over the Pirates of Penzance. Cardiff’s keeper Kasper Schmeichel, devilish, debonair, direct, driven, dexterous, Danish, clapped each corner of the Ninian Park ground as a final goodbye. It was his last game for the Welsh club. We will miss him. Not least because there is something very comical about a goalkeeper called Schmeichel hoofing the ball up for Hasselbaink to flick on to Fowler.

But this is the Champsionship, no laughing matter, another victory for the boisterous Bluebirds.

As I have no picture of yesterday I'll leave you with this one from the 1914 Cup Final:

2007-12-28T15:05:00.000Z

The 100 Cap Club
There are now an astounding 141 players that have broken the century barrier.

The top ten are below:

1.Mohamed Al-Deayea [Saudi Arabia] 181 (1990-2006)     
2.Claudio Suárez [Mexico] 178 (1992-2006)
3.Hossam Hassan [Egypt] 169 (1985-2006)
4.Cobi Jones [USA] 164 (1992-2004)
4. Adnan Kh. Al-Talyani [UAE] 164  (1984-1997)
6.Sami Al-Jaber [Saudi Arabia] 163 (1992-2006)
7.Martin Reim [Estonia] 156 (1992-2007)
8.Lothar Matthäus [(West) Germany] 150  (1980-2000)
9.Ali Daei [Iran] 149 (1993-2006)
10.Iván Hurtado [Ecuador] 146 (1992-2007)

As the number of international matches increases more and more players break into the 100 cap club. If Fabio Capello selects David Beckham in his first England team then Beckham will win his 100th cap. His performances for England in the last few games should be enough to see him included in that side. It's a damning indictment on the current England side that a player who is in the twilight of his career playing in MLS still looks a class above the likes of Lampard, Gerrard and Cole when pulling on an England shirt.

2007-12-27T00:53:00.001Z

Kunishige Kamamoto

Yanmar Diesel (pictured at the end of this post) won the Japanese Premier Division in 1971. Yanmar are the precursor to Cerezo Osaka who currently play in the J League 2 and in the late 60s and 70s had one of the most famous Japanese players of all time playing for them.

Kunishige Kamamoto was a centre forward and probably one of the most successful Asian players in the world in the 60s and 70s. His high point came in the 1968 Olympics when the Japanese were drawn against Spain, Brazil and Nigeria. They began the tournament with a very impressive 3-1 victory over the Nigerians, all three goals were scored by Kamamoto. They followed this up with a 1-1 draw with Brazil and finished the group with a goalless draw against the Spaniards that sent Japan into a quarter final with France.

The French had won a tough group including hosts Mexico yet this didn't frighten the Japan side who ran out 3-1 winners! It was in the semi finals that the Japanese dream was to end. A 5-0 loss to eventual winners Hungary sent Japan into the bronze medal playoff against the Mexicans. In front of 40,000 people Japan emerged victorious with a 2-0 win. Kamamoto ended the competition as top scorer with 7 goals.

An extended trial at FC Saarbrucken in West Germany followed but Kamamoto decided that he preferred to stay in his job at Yanmar Diesel as an administrator rather than play professionally in Germany. Speaking in 1971 he said: "I am sure we will have professional football here within 10 years and maybe then I can earn a living as a coach or manager." It was 20 years later (1992) that the professional J-League was set up and we've now seen players such as Inamoto and Nakata grace some of the best clubs and leagues in Europe. If Kamamoto was born in a different era maybe we'd have seen a lot more of him.

Kamamoto played 61 matches for Japan and scored 55 goals. A quite remarkable record (17th in the all time international goal scoring charts - level with Romario!).

2007-12-17T22:23:00.001Z

Hellas Verona

In England we have Leeds United, a side that in recent memory have walked off with the league title yet now are "plying their trade" in the third flight. In Italy we see a similar tale, this time with Hellas Verona, champions of Italy in 1984/1985, which was interestingly the only ever season where the league randomly assigned referees to matches. But they have recently fallen on hard times. If a few seasons in Serie B wasn't bad enough, last season they lost in a "play-out" to Spezia and find themselves in Serie C1/A.

A side that in recent years has had the likes of Camoranesi, Raduciiu, Martin Laursen, Sebastien Frey, Craig Davies (*cough*) and Liechtenstein's most successful ever export Mario Frick wear their colours are now rooted to the bottom of the division with over half a season gone. They have only managed two wins all season and face a real battle not to be relegated into what can only really be described as footballing oblivion. (Even the marvellous soccerway.com website doesn't cover Serie D!)

Like Leeds United they aren't a particularly well liked club, with many fans of a right-wing persuasion shall we say? They have also experienced some awful money troubles and are currently undergoing failed takeover after failed takeover.

Overall it hasn't been a great year for Veronese football with Chievo Verona also relegated, though they are currently in the top half of Serie B. Hellas Verona fans famously said that "Donkeys would fly before Chievo make it to Serie A". Well, it looks as if Hellas need a miracle of those sorts of proportions to maintain their Serie C status.

2007-12-10T20:24:00.000Z

CECAFA Cup 2007

An international football tournament has just begun featuring 11 nations. All of which come from the eastern and central regions of Africa. It is unlikely to get much media coverage outside of Africa but it is a tournament that has been full of interest and intrigue over its 80 year history. Yes, that's right, it's 80 years old. Older than the European Championships, older than the African Cup of Nations and older than the World Cup itself. When you read through the history of the CECAFA Cup online you soon start to realise that it is a very curious competition with a rich history.

It all began in 1926 and was named after a soap company: Gossage. The first final was won by Kenya (after a replay) in Nairobi against the Ugandans. The very next year the tournament did not take place due to a hosting dispute. These sorts of political moves have blighted the competition ever since its inception. Uganda dominated the Gossage Cup (Kenya recieving the trophy picture - right) throughout the 30s and 40s even winning one final 13-1. The pattern of Ugandan or Kenyan victories continued throughout the 1960s. The 1960 final between Uganda and Kenya ended in a draw and it was decided that the two teams would own the trophy for 6 months. However, the cup went to Kenya and disappeared, only re-appearing before the 1961 tournament when Kenya regained the trophy. The only side to break the stranglehold of the Kenya/Uganda axis wasTanzania (known as Tanganyika in during the first half of the century).

It was as late as 1978 when Malawi became the first side outside of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to win the trophy with a last minute goal against Zambia. In the past 30 years the competition has bucked the trend of modern day football by becoming more and more open with Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia and Zanzibar all winning the trophy. (Rwanda B won the Cup in 1999 defeating Kenya who had knocked out Rwanda's A side in the semi final!)

So, a competition with a colourful history. With the 2007 edition of this competition underway I thought I'd take a look through the runners and riders in this year's competition.

Group A includes the hosts Tanzania who have appeared in 28 CECAFA Cups in their history and hosted many of the tournaments themselves. They won the opening match of the CECAFA Cup this year with a 2-1 victory over Kenya. Kenya (pictured) are a country with an interesting history in the CECAFA Cup, they are 5 times Champions of the tournament with one win coming as recently as 2002. There's a great story concerning the CECAFA Cup final of 1951 where Kenyan striker Omari Okumu lays the blame of their 2-1 loss down to witchcraft as every time he tried to kick the ball it "turned into snakes". They are joined by Burundi who can boast that Shibani Nonda (previously of Blackburn Rovers) was born in the capital Bujumbura. Unfortunately for The Sparrows (I love African nation nicknames) he opted to play for the DR Congo. Somalia complete the line-up for Group A. Like Burundi they have never won a CECAFA Cup and have had very few highlights in this competition.

Group B is headed by Uganda, a country that has dominated the tournament throughout its history. They impressively defeated Kenya by 9-5 in the 1937 final and the final of 2000 was actually competed by it's A and B side (the A side one but only after penalty kicks!). Rwanda are likely to give the Ugandans a battle for the title of Group B winners. They are one of the only countries with a pedigree outside of CECAFA having qualified for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Despite being knocked out in the first round they did record a creditable draw against Guinea and a very good victory over DR Congo. Eritrea are a very young nation having only gained independence from Ethiopia in 2000. Their greatest footballing moment so far was holding African giants Nigeria to a goalless draw in Asmara during World Cup Qualification. Dijibuti (pictured) are undoubtedly the minnows in this group and arguably of the whole competition. In November of this year they won their first ever competitive match against Somalia and have made it through to the second stages of the qualifcation tournament where they will come up against Egypt, DR Congo and Malawi. A very difficult assignment for the islanders.

Group C and the final group contains a footballing oddity. The small state of Zanzibar is officially a part of Tanzania and is thus not allowed to compete in World Cup qualification. They instead compete in the CECAFA Cup and have put in some creditable performances throughout the years, taking home the Cup on two separate ocassions. They have also played in the FIFI World Cup (a World Cup for countries that aren't countries - if that makes sense) and finished in 2nd place, losing in the final to North Cyprus. Group C is completed by Ethiopia and Sudan. Two of the three competitors (alongside Egypt) in the first ever African Cup of Nations in 1957. Ethiopia were winners of this cup in 2004 and 2005 so will be keen to regain it. Sudan are the current holders of the CECAFA Cup despite confusingly losing the final to Zambia last year (Zambia were a guest side so weren't allowed to take home the trophy).

The tournament has just kicked off and the first round of games has taken place. Hosts Tanzania beat the Kenyans 2-1 in their opening match and Uganda beat Djibouti by 7 goals to 0 which is quite alarmingly the same scorline that the Ugandans beat Djibouti in the 2000 competition! Zanzibar drew with holders Sudan 2-2 and the Rwandans beat Somalia by 2 goals to 1. I'll hopefully keep you up to date with what is happening in what I consider to be a totally fascinating tournament from East/Central Africa.

Sources:
RSSF: http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/eastcentrafr.html
KenyaPage: http://kenyapage.net/

2007-12-09T20:37:00.001Z

Mascots

Mascots are seen by many as a new phenonomon, part of the American sporting entertainment business to be placed in the same bracket as cheerleading or fireworks before the big match. But as this picture from 1957 shows, mascots were part of the British footballing culture even back then.

To take the example of Midlands club West Brom in the late forties they had a lucky black cat as a mascot. In the early 50s a "boy mascot" by the name of Johnny Tromans took over.

The man you can see alongside Johnny Tromans in the picture is "Pancho". I have no idea where the Mexican link comes into West Bromwich Albion football culture, I suspect its been lost in the midst of time.

In the 60s Blackpool also experimented with small boys and animals on the pitchside. This picture depicts a young lad from Blackpool in full team colours, one sock rolled down - years before Steve Claridge was knocking around the lower leagues - and a duck in his arms.

In the early days of Blackpool FC an act called "The Atomic Boys" used to perform and a duck was part of their act. The duck became an unofficial mascot of the side and the animal became part of Blackpool folklore - even after the Atomic Boys had performed their last 'gig'. A duck even travelled to Wembley with Blackpool in 1953, a famous year for Blackpool as they took home the cup. (Incidentally in 1954 Johnny Tromans took West Brom to Wembley and brought home the cup).

Mascots aren't a new thing. They're just far more goady and commercial nowadays. I also doubt whether Pancho (or the duck) ever onced faced a penalty at half time taken by a local radio DJ.

2007-12-07T22:54:00.000Z

Russia - Tom Tomsk

The second part of my review of Wales' qualifying group (or perhaps its just a weak excuse to write about some of the more interesting aspects of the country) examines Russia, the largest nation on the planet and one with surely the most expansive footballing top division in the whole world.
Great picture of the 2007 season here

The Russian Premier League season finished on the 11th November with Zenit St. Petersburg taking the title away from the Moscow club's iron grip. Russia's capital city provides the Russian Premier Division with a third of its clubs (6/18) and at a stretch could also claim FK Khimki (Khimki lies right by the Moscow canal and is only a few miles from Moscow). The more interesting clubs in Russia (to me) are the clubs that lie outside of Russia's capital and into the wilds of this huge country. In particular, Tom Tomsk - everyone's favourite Russian club. "What do you mean?", I hear you cry! Well, let me explain....

If you were forced to choose a Russian side to follow then you'd almost certainly choose the Siberian side Tom Tomsk. Not only do they play in an incredibly exotic location, there are also very few football clubs on the planet that can boast that their club name contains the name of a womble!

Wellington in New Zealand and the Bulgarian national team are the only two I can come up with. Interestingly (again, to me) Tom Tomsk do have a Bulgarian midfielder by the name of Aleksandr Mladenov on their roster. So there is a distinct possibility - nay a certainty - that Mladenov can be described as Mladenov (Tom Tomsk and Bulgaria) in a World Cup sticker album. Marvellous.

Like most Russian sides Tom Tomsk have had numerous names during their history. Tomles, Sibelekmotor and Manometr amongst others. But the most intriguing name was probably "Buvrevestnik". While other football clubs in the Soviet Union were named after factories (steel, cars, engines) the Siberian club were named after a seabird, a storm-petrel to be precise.

The storm petrel is the smallest of sea-birds and breeds in dense colonies on cliffs (so wikipedia tells me). It's not clear from anything I've read whether there was a deliberate attempt to name themselves after a seabird unfortunately. Obviously it's not too uncommon in football clubs, especially in England, to be "nicknamed" after a seabird. I have my doubts whether Buvrevestnik were named on a purely ornithological basis, after all a lot of Russian outposts and military bases were also named after the bird. Still, it is great to hear of a softening, however slight, of the often stiff Russian exterior. The genteelness continues when you hear their nicknames of Olenevody (Reindeer Herdsmen) or Valenki (a type of winter footwear), these facts do nothing but endear me more to the Siberians. It's also worthwhile to note that their badge contains a very nice Latin phrase "Sui Generis" which means "unique in its own characteristics".. Or at least, that's what the internet says it means...

The final selling point is obviously the woman on a horse that you've been puzzling over whilst reading this post. The only person sat astride a beast like this on matchdays in England is likely to be a police officer. At Tom Tomsk it's a rather fetching young lady who parades herself (and the horse) around the pitch before matches.

Do easyjet fly to Tomsk?.... I'm sold.

2007-12-04T00:22:00.000Z

Australian A-League

I was lucky enough to acquire some highlights of the Australian A-League this week. So rather than watching Match of the Day I took in some Aussie footballing action.

The first thing that strikes you is the sheer garishness and over the top nature of the intro sequence. Balls on fire, crazy music, silly celebrations, you get the picture.

The first match on offer was Adelaide United vs Perth Glory. Glory were coached by ex-Millwall striker Dave Mitchell (above) who is always my favourite answer to the ubiquitous "Footballers with beards" question that gets asked on internet forums all around the land every week - or at least it does in the places I frequent. He was serving a touchline ban for kicking a bottle onto the pitch.

Another familiar face with suspension issues was another ex-Wall player Kevin Muscat who was lining up for Adelaide after a short suspension. He didn't last long, two bookings in a minute and he was walking. A wonderful kick of the Samsung sponsorship later and he was down the tunnel. As someone with a Samsung phone I can only praise Muscat for his exemplary taste.

Other interesting features for a British football follower were that ex-West Ham and Blackburn midfielder Robbie Slater is working as a co-commentator for Fox Sports in Australia (he even has a website: look - http://www.robbieslater.com/). Other notable aspects about the game were that both goalkeepers sported a number 50 on their backs - surely one of the first times ever this has happened - especially when one of the keepers has as excellent a name as Tommy Tomic!

A creditable mention must go to Melbourne Victory who sport a wonderful chevron kit (think Brescia) and to Aurelio Vidmar for having a large a nose as his brother.

The A-League is an odd beast, 7 teams from Australia and one from New Zealand. 8 teams never seems enough for a league. Especially when you consider that means only four games every matchday - the goal of the week at the end of the show was barely good enough to be called goal of the game. But its a slow learning curve that the MLS have already ridden out to become a decent standard league. Only time will tell if "soccer" can stick in Australia, the 80,000 crowds at Sydney this week will help - albeit caused by the David Beckham circus.

For those interested the final score was Adeilade United 1 Perth Glory 1...