Category: Football

Inevitably, as an England goalscorer, John ‘Jack’ Charlton is overshadowed by his younger brother, Sir Robert ‘Bobby’ Charlton, who won 106 caps, as an attacking midfielder or forward, between 1958 and 1970 and scored 49 goals. By contrast, the older Charlton brother was an archetypal, uncompromising English centre-half, but did not make his debut for the national team until April 10, 1965, less than a month shy of his thirtieth birthday. When he did so, he lined up alongside captain Bobby Moore in the centre of a back four that also included George Cohen and Ray Wilson – as it would in the World Cup Final the following summer – in an international friendly against Scotland at the original Wembley Stadium.

Jack Charlton scored his first goal for England in a 3-0 win over Finland in another international friendly at Olympiastadion, Helsinki on June 26, 1966 and his second in a 2-0 win over Denmark in a similar contest at Parken, Copenhagen on July 3, 1966, in the warm-up to the World Cup finals tournament. Later in his career, Charlton would score twice more, in international friendlies against Romania and Portugal, both at Wembley, but his two competitive goals came in European Championship Qualifying; he scored the final goal in a 5-1 win against Wales at Wembley on November 16, 1966 and the third goal of the game, but the first for England, in a 3-2 defeat by Scotland, also at Wembley, on April 15, 1967. All told, Charlton won 35 caps for England between 1965 and 1970 and scored six goals.

he Football Association Challenge Cup, popularly known as the FA Cup, was first contested during the 1871/1972 season and in its long, rich history has been held aloft by the Arsenal captain a record 14 times. Interestingly, just two of those victories came before World War II, in the Thirties, when Arsenal were the dominant force in English football. The first came under one of the most influential managers of his day, Herbert Chapman, in 1930 and the second under George Allison, who succeeded Chapman following his unexpected death from pneumonia, in 1934.

‘The Gunners’ did not win the FA Cup again until 1950, by which time Tom Whittaker, who had previously served as first team trainer under Chapman and Allison, had succeeded Allison as manager. In the Seventies, Bertie Mee led Arsenal to its first First Division – FA Cup ‘double’ in 1971, and Terry Neill guided the club to three successive FA Cup finals in 1978, 1979 and 1980, winning the so-called ‘Five-minute Final’ against Manchester United in 1978.

George Graham, who played in the double-winning side in 1971, was manager when Arsenal won the FA Cup again in 1993 but, following the appointment of Arsène Wenger – who would become the longest-serving and most successful manager in the history of the North London club – seven more victories followed between 1998 and 2017. By the time Mikel Arteta was appointed head coach at his former club in 2019, Arsenal already held the record for the most FA Cup wins, 13, but extended its lead over nearest rivals Manchester United by beating Chelsea in the delayed FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium the following August.

It is fairly well-known that Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, which has a seating capacity of 74,879, is the largest stadium in the Premier League. Indeed, Old Trafford is second only to Wembley Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 90,000, in the list of the largest football stadia in the British Isles. It’s certainly the case that Manchester, with it’s vibrant nightlife and best payout casinos, has benefited greatly from the popularity and presence of Manchester United football club. As far as the Premier League is concerned, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which officially opened in April, 2019, is the second largest stadium, with a seating capacity of 62,062.

At the other end of the scale, Dean Court, a.k.a. the Vitality Stadium, the home of AFC Bournemouth, is veritably tiny by comparison and its seating capacity 11,364 makes it, far and way, the smallest stadium in the Premier League. The second smallest stadium in the Premier League, Turf Moor, home of Burnley FC, has a seating capacity of 21,944 but, to put that figure in perspective, the entire population of Burnley is in the region of 88,000, so the football stadium has capacity for 25% of the population. Remarkably, the record attendance at Turf Moor was 54,755, but that was in 1924, long before the days of the Premier League. It’s a different world now, all online blackjack , coronavirus and health and safety regulations. Getting 1000 in a stadium right now would turn heads!

The simple answer is no, Leeds United has never won the Premier League, at least not yet. Of course, in 2020/21 the ‘Mighty Whites’ returned to the Premier League after a 16-year absence, but in their previous 12-year spell in the highest echelon of English football finished no higher than third place. They achieved that position in 1999/2000, under former assistant, and caretaker, manager David O’Leary, who was eventually appointed as permanent replacement for previous manager George Graham.

Of course, the Premier League did not start until 1992/93, when the 22 clubs in the First Division, as the top flight was previously known, broke away from the Football Association and the Football League. At that time, Leeds United was effectively defending champion of English football, having beaten Manchester United to the First Division title by four points in 1991/92. In fact, that title, under Howard Wilkinson, was Leeds’ third, following previous wins in 1968/69 and 1973/74, both under Don Revie. Indeed, following promotion from the Second Division in 1963/64, Don Revie’s Leeds finished no worse than fourth in the First Division for the next decade; Revie left Leeds in July, 1974 to succeed Sir Alf Ramsey as the manager of the England national team.