December 11 – Roy of the Rangers

AS QPR make hard work of gaining promotion from the Championship, despite their owners’ billions, we thought we’d go back to the days when they were one of the main forces in football in the capital.

Today in 1990 the R’s were splashing the cash to break their record transfer as they paid £1m for American striker Roy Wegerle.

QPR have had a few big names wear the number 10 shirt during their history, such as Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles, and Wegerle was quick to establish himself as a cult hero in the same mould.

Wegerle was one of the first Americans to make an impact on the British game after he moved over the pond from the Tacoma Stars to Chelsea in 1986. He failed to impress here, but won plaudits after a move to Luton Town in 1988.

This inspired QPR to break the bank and bring Wegerle to Loftus Road as QPR entered the Premiership era in a position of rude health. This was in no small part to Wegerle’s exploits up-front, as he would finish third in the goalscoring table during his first year and also pick up the ITV ‘Goal of the Season’ gong for his mazy run and shot against Leeds United, a goal that Lio Messi would be proud of.

The next season Rangers finished fifth in the table and were the highest placed London team in the league. However, when manager Gerry Francis replaced Don Howe he Wegerle found himself on the periphery and got his journeyman-on, with spells at Blackburn and Coventry before heading back home to get involved with the newly formed MLS, turning out for Colorado Rapids, DC United and Tampa Bay Mutiny.

Wegerle’s place in US football history is secure, as he paved the way for the likes of the footballer that was hidden under Alexi Lalas‘ mounds of ginger hair to cross the Atlantic and also raise the profile of football in America.

See Roy’s aforementioned stunner against Leeds United here and also check out what else was going down in London town today here.

December 10 – Cup Winners’ Cup Abolished

WE RECKON that December isn’t a bad month for the suits at Uefa. When they’re not scoffing on the buffets at cushy award ceremonies or Champions League draws they’re probably just pen-pushing and waiting around for Christmas.

Today in 1998 though they were uncharacteristically busy though, as they set about changing the face of the various European club competitions by milking it like the cash cow it is and extending the Champions League and abolishing the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

This new bloated version of the Champions League saw an increase to 32 teams and a second group stage added, as Uefa bosses saw the $$$ signs flashing before their eyes.

In order to make up for this expansion something had to give, and it was the poor old Cup Winners’ Cup that bit the bullet. Since 1960 the competition had given some of the sides from outside Europe’s elite the chance for a bit of European glory, as the likes of Aberdeen, West Ham, Dinamo Tbilisi and even Spurs all picked up the trophy during it’s 39-year existence.

The tournament was originally conceived by a group of prominent European football journalists who jumped on the bandwagon of the European Cup and Fairs Cup, both of which had been pulling in the punters.

Ten clubs competed for the trophy in it’s first season, with Fiorentina outwitting Rangers in the two-legged final. Until it’s demise the competition was a proper, old-school straight knock-out affair with no seeded teams and no overblown group stages.

A cursory glance at the winners’ list sees some great names jump out at you: Danny Blanchflower’s Spurs side that became the first British team to win a European trophy, Joe Mercer’s attacking Manchester City team, the 1965 West Ham side that contained three of the players that would pick up the Jules Rimet a year later, Platini’s Juve team and Crujff’s vintage at Ajax that featured the likes of Van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp.

When the 1998/99 season drew to a close Sven’s Lazio took on Real Mallorca at Villa Park for the honour of being the final ever winners of the trophy and thanks to a late strike from Pavel Nedved took the cup back to Rome.

The Cup Winners’ Cup is also responsible for one half of north London’s favourite goals, when Nayim spotted David Seaman off the Arsenal goal-line in the last minute of extra time and stuck a speculative 40-yarder in the back of the net to win the game for Real Zaragoza in 1995.

See Nayim getting the Baddiel and Skinner treatment below and check out what else was going down today here. We’ll be back tomorrow with another story from the days of yore, but if you can’t wait that long then get involved in the OTFD book, available here.

December 9 – On the Ball

HE was the little tireless midfielder who will forever be remembered as the man who still had energy when everyone else was flagging through extra time in the 1966 World Cup final. Alan Ball was the man who crossed the ball for Hurst to score his controversial winner that day, and while it was probably the crowning moment of his playing career, Ball was still near the beginning of his playing days, being only 21 at the time.

In 1980 Ball took his first steps into management when he returned to his first club Blackpool as player/manager. Nearly 20 years later on this day in 1999 Ball’s career as a manager was brought to an end when he was sacked as Portsmouth manager.

He did not last long at Blackpool as the club slid down the table and his relationship with fans soured after he accused them of not backing the team. He was out within a year and the club was relegated after he left. Bally went back to what he did best, and signed for Southampton for the second time where he played alongside Kevin Keegan. He then moved to Hong Kong side Eastern Athletic, before joining Bristol Rovers in January 1983, where he remained until his retirement the following season.

His earlier brush with management at Blackpool had not put him off and the joined Southampton’s arch rivals Portsmouth as boss in 1984. It seemed like he had it cracked this time and he won promotion to the top flight in 1987. Sadly, amid financial problems the club was relegated after just one season and Bally was sacked the following season.

Unsuccessful spells at Colchester United, Stoke City and Exeter City followed as Ball threatened to ruin the reputation he had made as a player with a derisory managerial record.

As a former Portsmouth boss his salvation would come from an unlikely source and in 1994 he became Southampton manager, taking over from the massively unpopular Ian Branfoot. Saints looked doomed for relegation when he arrived but Ball’s tactic of making Matt Le Tissier the focal point of the team proved a masterstroke and the club pulled off yet another great escape.

The following season saw Saints finish well in tenth position but Ball was tempted by an offer to manage Manchester City and left in July 1995 for Maine Road. Once more he seemed to have left his managerial mind on the south coast and his reign in at City was a disaster, culminating in the club’s relegation in 1996. He resigned shortly afterwards.

In 1998 he was given one last job in the game when he once again took charge of Portsmouth, taking over from Terry Fenwick. Despite his lack of success at other clubs, Bally seemed to be able to turn it on again at Pompey and he saved the club from relegation from Division One before Milan Mandaric took control of the club and decided, on this day in 1999 that Alan was no longer required. It was his last job in management, and despite his distinctly dodgy record in many of his jobs as a gaffer, one thing he did achieve was relative popularity with both Saints and Pompey fans – something the next man to manage both clubs did not do.

Also on this day, a comedy circ… sorry football club in the north east was established, so have a read of that, and join us again tomorrow for more footie/history related type stuff.

December 8 – Keano’s Contract

JUST a few weeks ago on these very pages we were waxing lyrical about the reborn, considered and refreshing manager version of Roy Keane. ‘How brilliant he is,’ we cried, surely heading for managerial greatness and such a different figure from the feral tackling machine that roamed the midfield of Old Trafford. And then, out of nowhere, he has one of his little moods and jacks the whole thing in. Maybe we should take up a new career as a fortune-teller with such Nostradamus-like powers for predicting the future. What was that? My Lehman Bros shares are worth what? What about the Northern Ro.. oh never mind.

Looks like we’re better of sticking to writing about the past so here goes. Back in 1999 old Keano was still a humble player at Man United but he had been getting a little shirty about signing a new contract. His current one expired at the end of the season and he had been making noises about upping sticks and taking his moody stare with him to Italy or somewhere else if his contract offer was not to his liking. He said: “I was a bit annoyed with the first offer put to me. Deep down they must have known it wasn’t something I could sign. Our dealings have to be realistic. I am not naive enough to settle for anything less than a reasonable valuation of my worth.”

Time was ticking away and the United board were eager to tie up one of their most valuable assets lest he should do a McManaman and bugger off for nothing on a Bosman. It seems they must have upped their original offer quite a bit as today in 1999 Keane signed a new four year deal with the club.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted that my future with the best club in the world is now secure. I never wanted to leave Manchester United and the contract that I have now signed indicated to me United’s desire to remain at the top of world football. It is a fantastic day for me my family and the club.”

United chairman Martin Edwards was similarly pleased to have Keane’s autograph on the contract. He said: “We never wanted Roy to leave. He is club captain and a real leader of the team. He represents everything that is ambitious about United and has played a significant part in our success in winning two Doubles and last season’s Treble.”

At first everything seemed rosy, and only hours after penning the deal Keane took to the Old Trafford pitch to face Valencia in a Champions League match. True to script, he scored the first goal in a 3-0 win to underline his importance to the club. Smiles all round, but with Roy Keane, the smiling just doesn’t last.

Six months later the club hiked up their season ticket prices, and in a letter to fans explaining the rise they blamed Keano’s new £52,000 a week contract as the reason behind it.

“I’m not one for holding grudges,” he said to disbelieving sniggers, “But this was a stupid mistake, a bad public relations exercise and something that should never have happened. I’m still waiting for my apology but I could be waiting a long time.

“The board have tried to explain what they meant, that it was part of a wider picture of trying to keep the fans informed, telling them the club wanted to rebuild and strengthen, which is why prices were going up. The fact is nobody should be singled out in a letter. It wasn’t right. I felt everything was being laid at my door.” Never mind Roy, I imagine the £52,000 per week burning a hole in your skyrocket was some consolation.

As usual we will be back tomorrow, but in the mean time check out which German player was able to say with absolute confidence that he was the best player in the world on this day in 1991, or sort out that pesky Christmas shopping by buying this book.

December 7 – Scarborough Bare

IF ANYONE here in Britain has been to a football match over the last week or so, you’ll know what being cold really is. We can only assume this was the reason that so many people stayed away from Scarborough’s Division Four clash with Wrexham today in 1990, which set a record for the lowest ever attendance at a Football League game.

When the two stragglers from English football’s basement met on a Monday night on the Yorkshire coast it was never going to be a sold out affair, but only 625 brave souls showed their faces at Seamer Road in the wet, windy and wild conditions.

The stay-aways missed a decent game though, as the Seasiders won 4-2 in a match where the programme was somewhat ominously sponsored by Black Death Vodka, which was possibly the only way to have got through the 90 minutes without freezing to death.

Scarborough had only been in the Football League for three years before their record-breaking no-show in 1990 and had previously undertaken a spot of giant-killing the season before when they knocked Chelsea out of the League Cup.

After a decade spent mostly towards the bottom of the league, it was the Seasiders that were the victims of Jimmy Glass’s last-gasp goal for Carlisle in 1999, suffering relegation back to the Conference.

There was no quick return to the league for Scarborough and at the end of the 2005/06 season they were relegated to the Conference North as a sanction for their now-perilous looking financial situation.

Here they started with a ten-point deduction as they entered administration and eventually finished in 20th place in what would end up to be their final ever season. In June 2007 the club was wound up in the High Court, as debts of £2.5m engulfed the 128-year-old club.

In it’s place, however, has risen the phoenix club Scarborough Athletic, who ply their trade in the Northern Counties East League Division One, where they take on the likes of Rainworth Miners Welfare and Worsbrough Bridge Athletic.

We’ve got footage from a famous Scarborough win over Yorkshire rivals Bradford City in 1992 below and see which Yorkshire footballing legend passed away today here. We’ll be back with more footballing history tomorrow, so don’t go changing.

December 6 – Gross Misfortune

THERE’S an unwritten rule in football that a manager will always win his first game in charge. When Harry Redknapp took over at Spurs in October he duly picked up Tottenham’s first three point-haul of the season against Bolton, but today we’re looking at one of his predecessors that didn’t fair as well.

Christian Gross was left picking up the pieces today in 1997 when the first home match of his reign ended in a 6-1 defeat to Chelsea.

Public transport-enthusiast Gross was given the job at White Hart Lane after Gerry Francis resigned with Spurs second bottom in the Premier League table.

The Swiss’ introduction to English football was a brutal affair, as Spurs took on their London rivals Chelsea at home, and left Gross muttering that he was still “assessing” his new charges.

The game itself started slowly, with the deadlock not being broken until Tore Andre Flo notched an opener five minutes before half-time. Gross’ compatriot Ramon Vega equalised on the stroke of half-time as the sides went in level at the break.

However, the second half was all one way traffic, with Gianfranco Zola pulling the strings as Chelsea bagged a further five goals, and Flo helping himself to a hat-trick.

Gross managed to steady the Tottenham ship enough to beat the drop that season, but following his antics at his first press conference, the media were out to ridicule him from day one.

A poor start to the 1998/99 season was the final straw for Alan Sugar, who uttered those famous words “You’re fired!” and the Swiss was on his bike. Since then Gross has been in charge of FC Basel, where he has won four Swiss championships, four Swiss cups and was last season voted the Coach of the Year in his homeland after his side romped home to the double.

See some footage of a more recent Spurs-Chelsea goalfest below and see what was going on in another derby today here.

December 5 – The Mackems Down the Magpies

At the turn of the 20th century Newcastle United were at the height of their powers and were winning the league titles like it was going out of fashion (which of course for them, it would).

In the 1908/09 season the miserly Magpies defence conceded just 41 goals all term – the fewest of any team in the First Division. Amazingly they conceded almost a fifth of these goals in a single match, and even worse, it was a match against their hated rivals Sunderland.

Despite being near the top of the league as the winter started to set in, the team had started to attract criticism for a few lacklustre performances and the fans were baying for the first team to get a kick up the arse.

The directors agreed and replaced half the team with players from the reserves and at first it seemed to work after Nottingham Forest were dispatched 4-0. The reservists all kept their place for the Tyne-Wear derby at St James’ Park on this day in 1908.

A huge crowd of 56,000 packed into the ground looking forward to a bit of glory at the expense of their near neighbours. Unfortunately for the Toon army the reserves plan backfired spectacularly. The visitors took the lead almost immediately through their first attack when Hogg had the ball in the net after just eight minutes.

New signing Albert Shepherd equalised with controversial penalty just before half time and the sides went in at the break level, with no hint of the shower of goals that was to follow in the second half.

As the second half kicked off Newcastle had problems immediately as Shepherd and Robert Liddell were carrying injuries but, in the days before substitutions were allowed, had to carry on. Four other Newcastle players also had to receive treatment from the trainer.

Thereafter the Newcastle defence just fell apart as the Sunderland players added another eight goals before the referee finally put the Magpies out of their misery and ended the game, but not before two of the hapless Geordies had to go off injured including Adam Duncan who was carried off unconcious.

United finished the game with nine men, two of them walking wounded (Shepherd and Liddell), and looking at the wrong end of a 9-1 thrashing to their most hated rivals.

The local paper was scathing in their player reviews. Dick Pudan was described as “weak” and Liddell was called simply “ineffective”. Perhaps the most damning indictment was saved for Adam Duncan who apparently “was a failure”. The one man who escaped the local hack’s wrath was the goalkeeper Lawrence. “Few goalkeepers would have fared better under the circumstances,” apparently. Those circumstances being goals raining in like a rain forest in monsoon season.

This remains Newcastle’s heaviest ever defeat but as the clip below shows, they have not stopped losing to their red and white neighbours from up the road.

We will have more of this sort of tomfoolery tomorrow, but until then, have a look at what else was happening on this day here, or do some easy Christmas shopping by buying the OTFD book right here.

December 4 – Venables Holds Robbo’s Hand

POOR old Steve Gibson was in a bit of a bind as the 2000 season unfolded. The man who would have picked up the Golden Chequebook award for best chairman every year since 1994 had it ever been invented, had invested a lot of money in backing his manager Bryan Robson over the years at Middlesbrough, and Captain Marvel had repaid him by losing major cup finals like it was going out of fashion and even getting the club relegated in 1997.

Despite himself, Robbo had won promotion again in 1998 but by December 2000 the club was lurching dangerously towards the trap door once again. Gibson finally realised Bryan was not up to the job but seemingly did not have the heart to sack him. Instead Gibson decided to simply employ another manager to save the team from relegation and presumably just give Robson some colouring to do in the corner while the new man did all the work.

Terry Venables was the man identified by Gibson to carry out the rescue mission but wily old Terry was out for every penny he could get and wanted a fat contract from Boro and assurances that he could continue his TV ‘work’ making obvious and inane comments on matches for ITV.

These demands looked like putting the kybosh on the whole thing but today in 2000 after yet another defeat for the hapless Robson, Gibson announced Venables would be joining the club as a coach.

Despite losing his first game Venables turned things around impressively while Robson looked on impotently handing out bibs and cones in training. Boro won their first home game with El Tel on the bench, a 1-0 victory over Chelsea. Robbo watched the match from the directors box. “It couldn’t have gone any better for me,” Venables said. “It’s just what we needed in the dressing room, around the club and for the supporters.”

“Terry’s trying to instil passing and confidence in our game,” said the defender Colin Cooper after the match. “He was aware of the fear factor when we have played at home this season and he sees strength as mental as well as physical. He’s been drumming things into us and it will take repetition week after week before we are completely comfortable.”

Boro eventually finished the season safely in 14th position. El Tel’s reputation got the boost it needed for him to be offered the Leeds United job in 2002, while Robson’s was badly damaged and he was out of the game until 2003 when he had a short and ill-fated spell at Bradford City boss.

Check out what else was happening on this day here, and have a look below at Bryan Robson’s only Middlesbrough goal back in his player/manager days.

December 3 – Wrexham Wrecked

A NEW Football League rule was enforced for the first time today in 2004, as Wrexham fell into the hands of the administrators and subsequently became the first club to be docked ten points as a penalty as the Welsh side battled to save themselves from a chairman that fancied a block of flats more than a football stadium.

Since the turn of the millennium the Robins had been piling up the problems and at the route of these was, as ever, a dodgy chairman. Alex Hamilton was a property developer that took over the club in May 2004 and it soon became clear that he wanted to ditch the club and sell the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham’s home since 1872, to the highest bidder.

As is often the case when a jumped-up cowboy estate agent tries it on with a football club, the fans were not impressed and began to mobilise.

Wrexham supporters have to be credited for their originality, as instead of just chanting “Hamilton Out!”, they piled empty boxes out side his home, repeatedly ordered him taxis and one fan took this even further, buying a taxi and painting it pink and turquoise, labelling it the ‘crazy taxi for crazy Hamilton’. Death threats and stolen mail were the less big and clever actions that they also resorted to.

By September a tetchy Hamilton gave notice to quit the Racecourse Ground in a year’s time and transferred ownership to another company that was registered in his name. Hamilton tried yet more legal shenanigans, quitting as chairman a month later, but retaining his 78% share in his club, as the fan groups still fought for the future of their club.

Meanwhile, debts mounted and the Inland Revenue lodged a petition to wind up the League One side who owed them £800,000. A fans’ buyout failed in November as the club’s total debt reached £5m.

Administrators were appointed and the Football League, having re-jigged their rules following Leicester City’s financial manoeuvring that saw them exit a mountain of debt with promotion and a shiny new stadium, snatched ten points away to take the Welshmen from welcome mid-table obscurity to rock bottom in the League One table.

The administrators were quick to try and save the club, taking Hamilton to court over the transfer of ownership of the Racecourse Ground. Here they won the approval of Judge Norris, who ruled that Hamilton had acted improperly and returned the ground to the club, meaning that they could get on with saving one of the league’s oldest teams.

Although Wrexham could not beat the drop that season, a pair of local businessmen, Neville Dickens and Geoff Moss lead a successful takeover in the summer of 2005, meaning that the first game of the 2005/06 season had a carnival atmosphere as the club exited administration with a more secure future.

As in the case of York City, another club where fan power was enough to ruin one man’s desire to make a quick buck, an organised, loyal fan base had proven that they would not be moved and the good guys won, proving that despite all the sharks lurking around in the murky waters of the beautiful game, there’s still the occasional feel-good story to be had.

Relegation to the Conference has since followed for the Robins, ending 87 consecutive years in the Football League, but with Welsh legend Dean Saunders making a superb start to life in the dugout following the sacking of Brian Little, they look a decent bet to return to the league sooner rather than later.

See footage of Hamilton (boo, hiss!) squirming in front of some irate Wrexham fans below and see what another slippery character was up to today here. We’ll be back with some more footballing nuggets for you tomorrow, but if you can’t wait that long check out the OTFD book which is available here or in all good (and some bad) bookshops now.

December 2 – Power to the People!

WE’RE going all Arthur Scargill on you today at OTFD as we look at the birth of the Professional Footballers’ Association that was created today in 1907 to improve the conditions, rights and status of professional footballers and proved to be the driving force behind much of the development of the game over it’s 101 year history.

Back in the relative Wild West conditions of turn-of-the-century football, there was little to stop the Football League from enforcing whatever they wanted among it’s players.

When the league decided to slap a maximum wage of £4 on its’ players after the dissolution of the PFA’s forerunner, the Association Footballers’ Union, Charlie Roberts and Billy Meredith decided that this just wasn’t cricket and set up their new gang in Manchester’s Imperial Hotel, originally calling it the Football Players’ and Trainers’ Union.

For the next 50 years the Union would battle gamely against not only the maximum wage, but also the retain and transfer system, a way of making sure that clubs held all the aces when it came to player power and is excellently documented in Gary Imlach’s superb book My Father and Other Working Class Heroes.

Good work from Portsmouth captain and former chairman Jimmy Guthrie in his 11-year tenure that ended in 1957 paved the way for Jimmy Hill to stick his chin in and finally make the league agree to abolish the maximum wage in 1961. If you want someone to blame for Darren Bent picking up over £100,000 a week, look no further (although we can see you sneaking out Mr Comolli).

Two years later the retain and transfer system was also axed in what remained the biggest ever shake-up of the transfer system until Jean Marc Bosman’s exploits in Luxembourg in 1995.

These days, with power resting well and truly with the player at the top clubs in the country, the PFA has shifted it’s aims to broader, more inclusive targets, such as anti-racism and community football, as well as looking after ex-pros that either missed out on the crazy wages that the Sky Sports era has ushered in, or were simply not good enough to get a share of Murdoch’s cash cow. Oh, and it also give Gary Neville a reason to feel important, as he currently combines his time on the Old Trafford sideline with being on the PFA management committee with the likes of Marcus Hahnemann, Darren Moore and Clarke Carlisle.

See footage of Neville Neville’s working class hero of a son keeping it real below and have a gander at what else was going on today here.