Gerry Francis and Bristol Rovers
Mention Gerry Francis to football fans of a certain vintage and they will tell you of two spectacular goals – in England’s famous 5-1 humbling of Scotland in May ’75, and his Goal of the Season for QPR...
View ArticleArsene who? Back to square one for Wenger
In April last year – a long time ago I admit – a story emerged from a desperately slow news day. And the headline was….”Is Jose really a boring manager?”. Pundits and journos alike breathed audible...
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Park life – Bradford’s battle for survival in England’s sixth tier
An insolent speck of youth Being taken for a walk So tightly by the ear That he can hardly talk The opening lines of Yesterday’s Men by Madness could describe Bradford (Park Avenue) FC, a revived club...
View ArticleCovid-19 and the lower leagues in England
Bradford was eerily quiet. No manic driving; no half-cut characters in pub doorways. Even Neros coffee house was half full. Covid-19 was in full effect. St. Patrick’s Day was an afterthought until the...
View ArticleCOVID-19 and a new norm for lower league football
It’s Saturday, September 26 at Horsfall Stadium in south Bradford and Bradford (Park Avenue) v Farsley Celtic makes a pleasant distraction for local fans. The preseason friendly is the clubs’ second...
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FA Vase up and running as non-league football gets back to business
Liversedge Football Club is one of those places that you can’t find unless you know where it is. with the sort of directions that will confuse you completely if delivered by a local. Oh, Clayborn, it’s...
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Desperately seeking…Kettering Town, 1976
November 1st 1975 was a Saturday. I know this because I have the programme from Kettering v Boston United in the FA Cup. It was a 4th qualifying round tie, and as a 12-year-old, I knew little about the...
View ArticleBreath of fresh Aire in the Yorkshire Trophy
At first sight, the tournament has the look of the Magic Weekend, rugby league’s artificial made-for-TV event, where testy-looking derbies are transplanted to the no-mans land of Edinburgh or...
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When Spanish giants Barcelona visited Thackley FC
For Barcelona, the 1974/75 season was one of unfulfilled promise. Beaten by Leeds in the European Cup semi-finals, they finished a distant third in the League behind Real Madrid and Zaragoza and – in...
View ArticleSupport the club
First thing’s first, a confession. West Ham United are not my only footballing distraction on a Saturday afternoon. Since moving north 20 years ago, I have followed local football in my adopted home of...
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