What's In A Nationailty Anyway? The Home Nations Agreement Explained

Adnan Januzaj - Subject of English international interest

To start off The Football History Boys would like to say we hope you had a Happy Christmas and wish you the very best for the New Year! However for me, whilst following the plethora of Christmas sport, there has been something that's been bugging me: as the World Cup approaches why are we having messy debates over foreign born players representing countries they reside in? It's something that needs clearing up and to do this we have to look at the Home Nations Agreement.

Now I'm not questioning the reasoning behind people being either for or against players representing neutralised countries, in fact I do think it's something that needs looking at; but what I'm not in favour of is seeing the high profile figures of the game getting the rules wrong. To understand the background of the debate lets look at some history... FIFA previously allowed a player to change his nationality, Real Madrid legends Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo di Stefano being the most notable examples who represented 2 and 3 sides respectively. Problems also existed upon the break up of former FIFA nations such as West Germany, USSR and Yugoslavia. Players were eligible to represent 2 nations which got confusing and often difficult as countries once split or united had a history of animosity toward each other.

Ferenc Puskas played for Hungary and Spain

In 2004 FIFA decided a change was needed to make its policy different as many nations, particularly in Africa and Asia were giving citizenship to footballing immigrants with no connection to the country in order to call them up to the national side. The new ruling ordered that a player must have a "clear connection" to the country they wished to play for, giving us the current state which people understand as needing a parent or grandparent to be from the country if they were not born their themselves. Added to this a player is able to play for a national side if he had lived in the territory for 5 years after reaching the age 18, all these include the ability to play for a different senior side to the one represented at youth level if the application for change was placed before a player's 21st birthday.

To add to the confusion there are a number of Non-FIFA nations who have international sides, Gibraltar (who have recently just been accepted), The Basque Country (represented by the likes of Ivan Campo) and The Isle of Wight to name a few have all played fixtures where players will not effect their status in regards to FIFA.

So, that's the rules set out by the world governing body and it is this 5 year residence rule that excites England fans at the prospect of Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj and most recently Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin being eligible to don the white strip. However, for the home nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) it is not that simple, the Home Nations Agreement exists. This is an agreement that exists to stop situations such as the one that surrounded goalkeeper Maik Taylor. Taylor was born in Germany but his English father gave him British citizenship, using this he chose to represent Northern Ireland despite not having any ties there. This is where to wording of "territory" became important meaning his (grand)parent would have had to be from Northern Ireland for him to have any chance of representing them.

 

Maik Taylor - Not even slightly Northern Irish

 

Whilst Taylor was successful there were a number of unsuccessful attempts such as Nacho Novo failing to play for Scotland and a number of Northern Irish efforts, to clear things up further a new agreement was draw up in 2009. This closed the loophole of having a British passport allowing eligibility for 4 national sides and also removed the residency clause. This was instead made an 'education clause'; therefore a player must have engaged in 5 years of educations in a territory before the ages of 18 to be considered.

These education laws are what scupper England's chance of agreeing for Schneiderlin or Januzaj to join up with the national side and these won't be the first either. You may recall England's failed attempts to call up Mikel Arteta or Manuel Almunia who would both otherwise qualify under the FIFA guidelines but fail due to the Home Nations Agreement. It's not just England who miss out though, as a Wales fan I was once excited about the prospect of Angel Rangel, Swansea's adopted Welsh full back and someone who has professed his love for the country by even doing homeless work here planning for us but this was turned down as per the agreement.

Is this something that we should be looking at though? Jordan Rhodes and Andrew Driver (who was actually only 4.5 years educated in Scotland) both turn out for Scotland despite no family ties while Ben Turner and Ryan Shawcross both turned down Wales despite eligibility because they felt no connection to the nation (something I respect immensely).

Ben Turner (Topless) turned down the chance to represent Wales

 

On the continent there are countless examples of players ignoring their birthplace to pick a new nation: Pepe & Deco Brazilian born who played for Portugal, numerous German national team players including Lukas Podolski who was born in Poland, Marcos Senna Brazilian born who won the European Championship with Spain in 2008 and Mauro Camoranesi, Argentinian born Italian World Cup 2006 winner who only qualified for the Azzurri through a great-grandparent.

The latest example of a player defecting to a new side is Diego Costa of Atletico Madrid who used the residency rule to turn his back on Brazil (to their dismay) and join Spain as the World Cup approaches. This made me personally extremely excited as the prolific goal scorer looks set to lead the Spanish line and solve the problem of a forward player that has even seen Cesc Fabregas take the 'false number 9' role in the absence of an in form Torres/Soldado/etc. This though, is because I am backing Spain, Del Bosque and Diego Costa to tear things up and make history (again)... how I feel about this type of defection in general though is much more murky.

One angry blogger for Eurosport on Yahoo's website calls for a scrapping of the Home Nations Agreement to allow England to level with the rest of the world. I do agree that this extra clause puts the Home Nations at a disadvantage on the national stage but I also want to see in an ideal world a country represented by for example, Welshmen (even if this mean harms the quality of a side). Cardiff fans sang to Wales captain Ashley Williams in the South Wales Derby "Ashley Williams, you're not even Welsh", someone who has played 230 times for Swansea but was in fact born in Wolverhampton.

The angry blogger makes the point of how do you define a nationality as it is just a legal relationship between a person and a state? Fair point, it causes plenty of arguments too, take the Boateng brothers for example: both born in Germany but while Jerome represents them Kevin Prince elected Ghana causing a family rift. Thiago Alcantara, Brazilian parentage, Italian born but chose Spain after spending most of his life there, his brother Rafinha though chose Brazil... While these two are still best of mates I don't imagine it was an easy decision for them.

The Alcantara brothers at Barcelona

Do I have a conclusion? Not really, I just thought and wrote... My opinion would be that you should represent your nation of birth/parents birth or, if you've lived there a good amount of time under 18 (or maybe 21) similar to the Home Nations Agreement that country. Grandparents is too tenuous for me which is why Ben Turner rejecting Wales on that basis despite no real chance of England selection made me very happy. I've lived in Wales to Welsh parents since the day I was born, I'm Welsh but even if my parents were English and I had a shot at both (I wish!) 20 years of living in Wales would be enough to settle it.

To the angry blogger (who incidentally doesn't think Januzaj should wait for England), stop being envious of other national sides and look at your own. St George's Park is a superb facility, one that finally compares to the great countries and with the likes of Adam Lallana (ok no Iniesta but still... you won't win the World Cup even with him!) making waves then there's no reason to look further afield. One thing is for certain, this debate will rumble on and on for years to come!

What your opinion on the matter??


Gareth TFHB (Follow me on Twitter @GJ_Thomas & @TFHBTop250 and like our Facebook)

(Pictures not owned by The Football History Boys, used with thanks)

By: Unknown On 04.42

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Paolo Di Canio: Controversial Genius?

Paolo Di Canio was an Italian footballer with a remarkable playing career which spanned 23 years and was often shrouded in controversy. He became a much debated figure and was renowned both on and off the pitch. His misdemeanors included an eleven match extended ban and a £10,000 fine for pushing a referee to the ground after being sent off for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal in 1998. What is more, he had rows with a number of his former managers, including Giovanni Trapattoni (which resulted in Di Canio leaving his then club Juventus) as well as Fabio Capello. 

Celebrating versus Everton - Mad man?

Perhaps his most noted incidents involved his political stance. His Roman salute to Lazio fans has become, for many, a symbol of Di Canio as well as his self-proclaimed Fascist status which also caused a stir amongst the footballing and political worlds. His list of incidents make Mario Balotelli look tame and this generally overshadows his footballing achievements.

Juventus, Lazio, Napoli, A.C. Milan and Celtic are just a few of the clubs that Di Canio played for during his notorious career. Some of his notable honours include a UEFA Cup, a UEFA Super Cup, a Champions League runner up and a Serie A title. Di Canio’s volley against Wimbledon whilst playing for West Ham is generally considered as one of the best goals in Premier League history and won goal of the decade in a Sky Sports poll. He proved to be a key figure for West Ham and in the 2001-2002 season Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sign him for Manchester United but his bid was unsuccessful. But in 2004 he returned to his home club Lazio where he was well received by fans. But during his second spell at the club Di Canio had a strained relationship with his teammates and coaches and created negative publicity for the club. He was subsequently released after only two seasons and retired two seasons after that. 

However, that was not to be the end of Di Canio in football and after hanging up his boots he gained his UEFA coaching license. In 2011 he was appointed manager of Swindon Town, following their relegation to League Two. Under Di Canio Swindon won League Two in style. Despite an initial poor run of results they went on a 10 match winning streak which was a new League Two record and they finished the campaign on an impressive 93 points. This meant the championship trophy and promotion straight back up to League One. What is more, Di Canio guided Swindon to the 4th round of the FA Cup beating Premiership side Wigan Athletic along the way and reached the final of the Football League Trophy where they were eventually defeated by League One side Chesterfield. 

THAT goal versus Wimbledon

Under Di Canio Swindon were sitting third in League One just one point off the top by February 2013. However, on 18 February, Paolo Di Canio resigned as manager after the club had run itself into financial difficulties. Di Canio even offered to pay £30,000 of his own money to help keep loan players at the club but this was rejected by the Football League due to the club’s financial situation. Out of the 95 games as manager of Swindon, Di Canio had won 53, drew 19 and lost only 23. With only two games remaining of the season Swindon are still in the playoff zone with a chance of claiming back to back promotion to play in the Championship next season.

 This can largely be attributed to the efforts of Paolo Di Canio, who single handedly turned the fortunes of Swindon Town around. Having left Swindon, Di Canio was appointed manager of Sunderland on March 31, following the sacking of Martin O’Neill. This instantly caused a stir. Sunderland’s vice chairman, David Milibandresigned due to Di Canio’s political alignment and his past political statements. The controversies that mark his past will always follow him around. His appointment as Sunderland manager caused a massive media storm that brought to light many of his past contentious moments. Yet Di Canio is worth all the fuss, clearly blessed with a passion and an ability for the game as a player we are yet to fully discover what awaits for Paolo Di Canio the manager.

 From the brief time we have had to watch him at work from the sidelines it seems an exciting prospect for the Premier League. Di Canio is able to instill his passion and desire for football into his teams and allows them to play with some creative freedom which is eye catching. With recent reports that he will be cutting short his players’ holidays this year, as well as his box office reaction to Sunderland’s defeat of Everton in April, it is obvious that Di Canio is competing only with Mourinho for the title of entertainment king. Football needs characters such as Di Canio in it. He wears his heart on his sleeve and ensures that there’ll never be a dull moment whilst he is about. He brings a new lease of life with him to his players and I for one am looking forward to watching him strut his stuff in the technical area at Sunderland next season.       

What does next season have in store for Di Canio?

By: Unknown On 18.38

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Football By Decade: 1900s

Football: A History

In the modern game, football can't go two weeks without controversy, be it due to diving, match-fixing or a peckish striker from Uruguay. We often hear the same remarks week in, week out, "Oh that wouldn't have happen 20, 30, 40 years ago. The game was played properly then." However in a series of blogs, we are going to look in depth at each decade of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries at football's scandals, major stories and the players which lit up the beautiful game every ten years.

To paint a picture of the beginning of the twentieth-century, Britain was still a "Victorian" country, albeit Queen Victoria coming to end of her record sixty-four year reign. The modern football game as we know it was still in its infancy with teams like Chelsea and further abroad Real Madrid had not even been established.  The major English teams at the start of the 1900-01 season being defending champions Aston Villa, Sunderland and Liverpool. The winners of the FA Cup were Bury, perhaps a surprise due to their recent history.

The English First Division consisted of 18 teams as did the Second, ranging from "Woolwich Arsenal" (Arsenal's pre-dessecor) to Glossop. The present day success story of Manchester United, being a mere Second Division team under the name Newton Heath.

Liverpool's 1900-1901 title winning team

Elsewhere around the globe, football had taken a little longer to spark into the multicultural phenomenon it is today. In Spain, Real Madrid were founded in 1902 as "Madrid FC" after being introduced to the game by travelling Oxford and Cambridge students in 1897. Their Catalan rivals Barcelona were established three years previous in 1899 again after a British and Swiss influence. The only trophy of significance however in Spain in the 1900s was the Copa Del Rey, with Madrid winning it four years in a row (1905-08). The Spanish League (La Liga) was not formed until 1929.

Genoa 1904

Further around the world, the influence of the English game could start to be seen across Europe and South America. The Italian Serie A being comprised of several round-robin leagues based in different regions. Italy itself still only a junior country of 39 years old. The initial Italian dominance being supplied from Genoa and Juventus. Genoa's full name (as it still is today) Genoa Cricket and Football Club, the team created as an English football team abroad. Like the Spanish League the Italian First Division did not take its league format until 1929, the German football association (DFB) was formed in 1900 from 86 different clubs clearly highlighting an early passion for the beautiful game. The first German team being the Dresden English Football Club, again showing the English influence abroad.

In South America it would take until the following decade for the formation of CONMEBOL and the origins of respective leagues in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Elsewhere CONCACAF and the United States national team would also have to wait ten years to be established.

The English game was not short of scandals. The story of Billy Meredith  throws up many similarities to modern day stories. Meredith was an early superstar of the British game playing for both Manchester City and Manchester United in the 1900s. Instantly recognizable by the toothpick he chewed during matches, Meredith would score over 175 career goals and play 48 times for Wales. However in 1905 Meredith became famous for the wrong reasons. A bribery scandal broke out following a FA investigation into violence in football. It was found out that Meredith had accepted bribes from Aston Villa players in order to throw the final league match in the favour of the midlands club. As a result Billy was banned from football for 18 months and resulted in his transfer across Manchester to United.

"You approve of the severe punishment administered by the Commission AGAINST ME and state that the offence I committed at Aston Villa should have wiped me out of football forever. Why ME ALONE? when I was only the spokesman of others equally guilty"
Billy Meredith after the scandal

The early 20th century is often dismissed by football fans when assessing the greatest players ever. However the first decade of this truculent 100 years is littered with quality football and players. As already mentioned outside-forward Billy Meredith lit up the English game. As well has him, other stars were Liverpool's Scottish centre-half Alex Raisbeck, Tottenham and England striker Vivian Woodward and Chelsea winger Jimmy Windridge. Around Europe the match winners could be found with Milan's Renzo De Vecchi, Genoa's player-manager James Richardson Spensley. The Spanish game was graced by players like Madrid's Manuel Prast.

"all that the opposition had to do was watch Meredith – the rest are no good"
Liverpool Manager Tom Watson

Finally, a look at the 1900s greatest match, arguably for us here at TFHB it has to be the 1901 FA Cup final between Tottenham and Sheffield United. The match being two different games due the first being a pulsating 2-2 draw. Tottenham in 1901 were actually a non-league side, an by winning the cup following a 3-1 replay became the first team outside of the Football League to win the illustrious trophy. The first match was played in front of a staggering 110,820 people at Crystal Palace, London, as well as being the first ever to be filmed by Pathé news. Goals from John Cameron, Tom Smith and Sandy Brown provided Spurs with the upset and cancelling out Fred Priest's 40th minute opener.

The 1901 FA Cup Final replay

So there you have it, the first decade of the 1900s, and a ten-year spell of fantastic football, shameful corruption and immense footballing talent, roll on the 1910s!

By: Unknown On 12.48

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Borussia Dortmund: A Brief History

The Prolific Reus and Gotze

This season’s Champions League has thrown up numerous surprises.  The most obvious being the absence of any English team from the quarter-final draw, for the first time since the 1995-1996 season. Aside from this, the presence of Borussia Dortmund in the last 8, didn’t shock too many, but their road to the quarters couldn’t have been more difficult. What’s more astounding about the rapid rise of Dortmund is that only 5 years ago, the possibility of the German club competing for major European honours seemed a fairytale. 

The City of Dortmund's Nazi past

Borussia Dortmund is another football club steeped in History. It may not be as decorated as its German counterparts Bayern Munich but it is interesting to look at nonetheless. Like with other German clubs, the club’s past is best to begin viewing after World War II. Prior to the Second World War, Dortmund had been a moderately small club founded in 1909 by 17 youths unhappy with the “trinity youth” where any sport was overlooked by a strict parish priest. After WWII the original Borussia (Lat. Prussia) Dortmund were dissolved like any other German organization by the Allies to distance the club with its Nazi past. However, before the War, Dortmund’s president was sacked due to his anti-Nazi tendencies.

“BvB” was re-established in 1948 after the original dissolution by the Allies. They would go on to reach the German Cup Final the following year, before dominating West German football for the next decade. In 1962 the Bundesliga was officially formed, the 2012-13 season being its 50^th. The club’s record in the 70s and 80s was that of a mid-table team after financial difficulties, not claiming a league title or cup until 1989 (The German SuperCup). The 70s and 80s of course remembered by Germans as the Bayern years, as Beckenbauer, Muller and Maier spearheaded the Munich revival.

The infamous Die Sudtribune

Dortmund’s recent history can be characterised in five words, “Rise, Fall and Rise again”. 1991 was the original turning point for the club as Otmar Hitzfeld took over the reins as Borussia’s manager. After narrowly avoiding the drop in 1986, Dortmund managed a second place finish by 1992 in Hitzfeld's first full season. To the Dortmund fans the mid 90s are often referred to as the "Golden Age". Consecutive league titles in 1995 and 1996 prompted the appearance of BVB in the greatest club competition of all, The Champions League." The 1996-97 season supplying the setting for arguably the greatest victory in their History.

Champions League Winners

RISE: The previous season's European Cup had been won by Juventus on penalties against holders Ajax after a 1-1 draw. It would be the side from Turin who would face BVB in the final, to be played at old rivals Bayern Munich's Olympiastadion. The road to Munich had been comfortable for Dortmund, with only one defeat in the group stages to Atletico Madrid, before beating a strong Manchester United 2-0 over two legs in the semi finals. Borussia's team consisting of the likes of Mathias Sammer, Andreas Moller and Lars Ricken would prove too strong in the final for Juve by securing a 3-1 victory. This wasn't just any Juventus team as well. Their side supplying the enviable talents of Alessandro Del Piero, Christian Vieri and the young Zinedine Zidane. This surely meaning that the 1997 victory has to go down as one of the best in modern years.

FALL: The beginning of the 21st Century proved a turning point for Dortmund after financial problems hampered a promising start. Despite the loss of Hitzfeld to Bayern Munich in 1997, Borussia managed to win the Bundesliga in 2002 and reach the UEFA Cup final (losing 3-2 to Feyenoord). However, as in the 1970s and 80s the club was crippled by financial problems due to a decline in the stock market (Dortmund being the only club to be publicly traded), needing a £2 million loan from Bayern to cover their payroll. The following seasons brought more mid-table mediocrity before even coming close to relegation in 2006/7 and 2007/8. They would need an urgent change. The answer? Jurgen Klopp.

The recent German Cup success over Bayern

RISE AGAIN: Klopp's arrival in 2008 would spearhead the rapid change to Borussia's fortunes. Klopp's early record was decent, resulting in a 5th place finish in 2010 before the 2010-11 season which brought BVB back into the international spotlight. Dortmund's youthful squad winning the league title despite an average age of just over 24 with the talents of Nuri Sahin (21), Mario Gotze (18) and Mats Hummels (21) leading the campaign. The season also including a run of 14 wins out of 15 before Christmas. Despite losing Sahin to Madrid the following season, BVB still managed to win the league and cup double. The latter being secured by a 5-2 victory over Munich with Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scoring a hat-trick.



This season has brought young attacker Marco Reus to the Westfalenstadion, forging a partnership with Mario Gotze described by Franz Beckenbauer as a "classic duo, there is no one more prolific than Gotze and Reus". Nevertheless the club has fallen behind Munich domestically, effectively conceding the Bundesliga already and being knocked out by the Bavarian club in the German Cup. However, the Champions League could prove to be the light at the end of the tunnel and possibly the perfect send off for Jurgen Klopp as speculation continues to rage on over his future. Surely the prospect of the Dortmund v Munich derby next season with Pep Guardiola should be enough for Klopp to take on one more season and show us all who really is the top dog in Germany!

Bayern's new boss, surely a reason for Klopp to stay?

By: Unknown On 18.39

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Sectarianism - The Dirty Word?

I adore competition, there isn’t much better than it. 

When it comes to sport competition become even more of a drug, even if it’s me and my brother trying to guess the attendance of the Cardiff City matches for the past 3 seasons (1-1 overall, leading 10-4 this season)! Then we look at football, the absolute height of competition worldwide. There have been days I've travelled 5 1/2 hours from Cardiff to Scunthorpe to watch us scrape a 1-1 draw with an 82nd minute equaliser, a rubbish game but superb day for one reason: the fans! There is something about a tiny attendance of 5000 of which 750 are City away fans making incredible amounts of noise that produces feelings not replicated by anything else any other sport has to offer. Separation amongst football fans is what differs us but not necessarily for bad reasons. 

A common scene - temper's flaring

For anyone who says anything other than football being the sport with the best atmosphere then they’ve never been to an away match where as a collection of like-minded supporters make up genius songs, sing your heart out and drive your team forward. I was at the Ashes 2009 first test in Cardiff when England hung on for a draw, amazing chants but nothing on football and I was at Cardiff Blues v Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup semi finals where it went to a historic penalty shootout but still nout on football! This brings us to, in my opinion, the best rivalry in British football, the Old Firm, Rangers v Celtic. This derby though, has been fraught with the ills of sectarianism from its beginnings leading us to ask when does a rivalry filled with “banter” become too much?

Lorenzo Amoruso - Rangers' first Catholic captain

 Sectarianism is the divide and hatred that exists in areas like Glasgow between Protestants and Catholics, not much now connected to religion at all but just continued as it’s all that they’ve known. Furthermore it runs deep to the roots of people, Celtic at every game display the Irish flag as most of their support is of Irish ancestry while Rangers show the Union flag for their predominately British historic support. Glasgow in the mid 1800s became a sanctuary to many Irish Catholic immigrants, they adopted Celtic as their club with early success so along with the anti-Irish feeling, anti-Celtic feeling grew. People who lived in Glasgow originally adopted Rangers as their protestant refuge and during the 20th century Rangers took on an “unwritten rule” programme of not knowingly signing Catholic players. This agreement stayed in place till in 1989 Maurice Johnston became their first major Catholic signing, it was further put in the past when in 1999 Lorenzo Amoruso became their first Catholic captain. While Rangers continually defended this standpoint, Celtic have had a number of legends who came from protestant backgrounds such as Jock Stein and Kenny Dalglish. 

 We see the clubs themselves have had some sort of an impact but to get to the heart of the issue you need to look at the fans who live and breathe for their football club. The term 90 minute bigot was coined to explain the kind of hatred between the two sets of fans. This simply means for the 90 minutes of the game they will both sing inflammatory songs, wave their inflammatory banners and in some cases throw “missiles” at each other but ultimately outside football they don’t hate on religious grounds. Vice produced a documentary on this issue in 2012 (below, excuse the swears!), it investigated violence and certain terrance chants as the Scottish government looked to enact legislation to try and curb (so called) sectarianism. During recent years the clubs have been working together with different groups like ‘Nil By Mouth’ to try and reconcile fans with Rangers in 2003 encouraging “Pride Over Prejudice” after Celtic launched “Bhoys Against Bigotry” and in 2007 Rangers issued the “Wee Blue Book” that contained a list of acceptable songs.

 So what’s the problem? Well again its the question of how far is too far. The Vice documentary met a Rangers fan who was banned from Ibrox for singing offensive songs about the Pope amongst other things. One song in question is “Billy Boys”, it originates from the 1920’s from protestant street gang called the The Brigton Boys led by Billy Fullerton. The Lyrics go: 

“Hullo, Hullo

We are the Billy Boys

Hullo, Hullo

You'll know us by our noise

We're up to our knees in fenian blood

Surrender or you'll die

For we are

The Brigton Derry Boys”

 This started as a harmless song but over time changed to include ‘Fenian’ which is a reference to Irishmen. I could’ve taken a Celtic song and looked at that too, both sides have their fair share of derogatory chants. But is this bad? Personally, and maybe I’m wrong, but I agree with those shown on Vice to laugh about them... They’re football chants, its harmless and only reflects the actual feelings of a minuscule amount of the population. Those who attend football matches weekly know that things get said and sung in jest as a unit that would never be repeated outside of the stadium. 

Celtic banners mocking Rangers' financial decline

 There of course are plenty of exceptions though where players are targeted with direct racial abuse for example. I am not condoning that in any way, it is widely accepted as disgusting in cases such as Christopher Samba having a banana thrown at him by his own fans. The issue is, what can be agreed as acceptable? Both Celtic and Rangers get wound up by the chants but when asked about it would say the Old Firm would be nothing without them. I say the same about the various sheep and Welsh references Cardiff receive, retaliation occurs but we love it really! 

 The Scottish government were saved from taking any immediate action after Rangers' forced relegation to the Third Division in the summer of 2012 after massive financial troubles. For the next few years the two sides will only meet in the cup if at all and this is perhaps a required cooling off period. In 2011 police arrested Rangers fans who sent bullets and death threats to members of the Celtic staff. Now this is definitely too far, this is where the debate stops with the same going for when a heavily policed game spills into violence and street brawls. Glasgow street violence is often blamed on the Old Frim, the Vice documentary shows some cases of it and hooliganism/football casuals is something we’ll look at in other blogs. However trouble occurs in every derby worldwide, the Old Firm is no different. Do I think football related violence/racism is wrong? Of course. Do I think historically accepted chants/banners/banter should be banned? No. Football has character and is always much better for it, that’s why it’s unchallenged as the greatest sport with the greatest fans. 

Gareth Thomas TFHB (Follow me on Twitter @GJ_Thomas)

Visit our website: www.top250.webs.com!

By: Unknown On 07.37

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FA at 150: The Birth of the Modern Game

“Success to football, irrespective of class or creed”, the toast given after the first exhibition game played using FA rules on 9 January 1864. 

This was the birth of the modern game of football as we know it. Before this point there had been no universal rules for the game, they were just formalised depending on local conditions. Different areas of the country would play the game by different rules. Evidently, this caused mayhem from time to time but most notably when the generation that had grown up playing football regularly went off to university. Although this was 150 years ago, Britain had developed significantly since the Tudor period and things were a little more civilized, Britain had become the greatest industrial power of Europe (although we still had Queen Victoria as our monarch). The intellects at Cambridge University devised a set of rules in 1848 which were known as the Cambridge Rules. These rules allowed for forward passes, goal kicks and throw ins and became widely adopted. These rules were a significant basis for the revised set of rules that later became Association football in 1863. The Cambridge Rules were notable for being pinned to the trees of Parker’s Piece (a large open park in the centre of Cambridge). These were the first formulated rules of football and are the origins of the beautiful game. 

Not quite Wembley!

The Cambridge University team is often credited with revolutionising the tactics and the way that football was played. They also played a major role in developing modern passing football which helped to establish the modern game in 1882. The Cambridge team was often described as being the first combination team whereby each player within the team was allocated a specific area of the field and the tactics were based upon passing. 

The plaque commemorating the birth of football in Parker's Piece

However, Cambridge cannot take all the credit for the birth of the modern game. Ebenezer Cobb Morley was a key figure at this time and central to the creation of modern football as well as the Football Association. Morley even drafted the laws of the game in his own home and became the FA’s first ever secretary. The first edition of the modern rules were recorded over a series of meetings in a tavern! This was far removed from todays FA meetings and discussions about such things as goal line technology. Back in the 1860s, they were concerned with whether to eradicate rules such as being able to run with the ball in hand and, being able to obstruct runs by hacking, tripping and holding. In 1871, the Rugby Football Union was formed and the term ‘soccer’ was first coined due to this split and refers to football played under association rules. The establishment of Morley’s FA represented the official creation of the modern game and the FA Cup, the longest running association football competition in the world, was established in 1871 by then secretary and treasurer, Charles Alcock.             

No copy of the 1848 rules survives but the following set of University Rules, circa 1856, still exists in the Library of Shrewsbury School.

The Laws of the University Foot Ball Club

1. This club shall be called the University Foot Ball Club.
2. At the commencement of the play, the ball shall be kicked off from the middle of the ground: after every goal there shall be a kick-off in the same way.
3. After a goal, the losing side shall kick off; the sides changing goals, unless a previous arrangement be made to the contrary.
4. The ball is out when it has passed the line of the flag-posts on either side of the ground, in which case it shall be thrown in straight.
5. The ball is behind when it has passed the goal on either side of it.
6. When the ball is behind it shall be brought forward at the place where it left the ground, not more than ten paces, and kicked off.
7. Goal is when the ball is kicked through the flag-posts and under the string.
8. When a player catches the ball directly from the foot, he may kick it as he can without running with it. In no other case may the ball be touched with the hands, except to stop it.
9. If the ball has passed a player, and has come from the direction of his own goal, he may not touch it till the other side have kicked it, unless there are more than three of the other side before him. No player is allowed to loiter between the ball and the adversaries' goal.
10. In no case is holding a player, pushing with the hands, or tripping up allowed. Any player may prevent another from getting to the ball by any means consistent with the above rules.
11. Every match shall be decided by a majority of goals.

In October 1863, shortly before the first meeting of The FA, a committee drew up a new revision of the Cambridge rules. These would be the basis for the draft rules that were then under discussion by the FA. The FA committee voted to adopt parts of the Cambridge rules (and parts of Sheffield Football Association rules).

Below are the 1863 Cambridge University Rules

1. The length of the ground shall not be more than 150 yds. and the breadth not more than 100 yds. The ground shall be marked out by posts and two posts shall be placed on each side-line at distances of 25 yds. from each goal line.
2. The GOALS shall consist of two upright poles at a distance of 15 ft. from each other.
3. The choice of goals and kick-off shall be determined by tossing and the ball shall be kicked off from the middle of the ground.
4. In a match when half the time agreed upon has elapsed, the side shall change goals when the ball is next out of play. After such change or a goal obtained, the kick off shall be from the middle of the ground in the same direction as before. The time during which the game shall last and the numbers in each side are to be settled by the heads of the sides.
5. When a player has kicked the ball any one of the same side who is nearer to the opponent's goal line is OUT OF PLAY and may not touch the ball himself nor in any way whatsoever prevent any other player from doing so.
6. When the ball goes out of the ground by crossing the side lines, it is out of play and shall be kicked straight into the ground again from the point where it first stopped.
7. When a player has kicked the ball beyond the opponents' goal line, whoever first touches the ball when it is on the ground with his hand, may have a FREE kick bringing the ball straight out from the goal line.
8. No player may touch the ball behind his opponents' goal line who is behind it when the ball is kicked there.
9. If the ball is touched down behind the goal line and beyond the line of the side-posts, the FREE kick shall be from the 25 yds. post
10. When a player has a free-kick, no-one of his own side may be between him and his opponents' goal line and no one of the opposing side may stand within 10 yds. of him.
11. A free kick may be taken in any manner the player may choose.
12. A goal is obtained when the ball goes out of the ground by passing between the poles or in such a manner that it would have passed between them had they been of sufficient height.
13. The ball, when in play may be stopped by any part of the body, but it may NOT be held or hit by the hands, arms or shoulders.
14. ALL charging is fair; but holding, pushing with the hands, tripping up and shinning are forbidden.

    

    The hardest rule for many to understand remembered by the 2012 Olympics!

    
    By Ollie Jackson  (@Ollie_Jackson)

By: Unknown On 17.29

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Jose Mourinho - Still the Special One?

Arrogant. A one word description that many use to depict Jose Mourinho. The self named 'special one' does indeed exude an aura of arrogance. Yet to term him as arrogant in a demeaning sense is to completely miss understand the man. For example, history portrays Muhammed Ali as a great and he is remembered as such. Many believed his outrageous claims and complete self belief stemmed from his arrogance. However, you would not question his position in sporting history and can he really be called arrogant if what he was saying was true? 

The same can be applied with Mourinho, although I admit he still has work to do to be as prominent a figure as Ali. The reason I compare the two is because of their personalities but more specifically their personalities in front of the media. Everything they do in front of the cameras is calculated and done for a particular reason, almost down to every syllable they utter. This is, perhaps, best displayed by Mourinho's opening press conference at Chelsea. One of the most famous quotes in the modern footballing world was said during this particular conference, "I am a special one". Could anyone really be so arrogant as to voice openly in front of the media that they truly believed themselves a cut above everyone else? I personally do not think so. Mourinho is a very clever man and, undeniably, a fantastic manager. As always, everything said or done is for a reason and this particular quote was no exception. Mourinho was demonstrating not only to the world, but to his new Chelsea players, that he was confident and believed in his abilities. He was then able to spread this confidence and belief throughout his squad. He made them believe, as he did, that they could win the English premier league. Moreover, through such speeches, Mourinho effectively told them that they would win it. 

“I remember his first press conference (at Chelsea) and I thought ‘he’s cocky, him’,” 

He was telling the players, ‘Look, I’m the Special One, we don’t lose games’…coming to England, he is only a young man and saying he is the Special One!
But what it did, it told all the players to have the belief they were going to win the league.” - Sir Alex Ferguson.

Mourinho is not often far from controversy

Mourinho, arguably, is the beginning of a new era of football managers. He is a master tactician and has a great mental strength upon which his teams are built. Furthermore, he has the ability to make players play above their level and to create a brotherhood environment within his teams whereby, on the pitch (and quite possibly off it), each player would sacrifice themselves for the next player. An obsessive winning mentality is a defining trait of a Mourinho team and is evident in his Porto, Chelsea, Internazniole and Real Madrid teams. He never possessed great skill as a footballer and there were few who had heard his name before his managerial success with Porto which launched him onto the top footballing stage. Mourinho has a good tactical awareness and an intelligence of the game that many footballers do not have. Furthermore, his linguistic talents helped him land his first job as an interpreter for sir Bobby Robson at Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona. Mourinho is, perhaps, the first notably successful manager that learnt his art through studying rather than playing the game. It is becoming more common for managers to establish themselves having not had a celebrated playing career, the most recent being Mourinho’s former colleague: Andre Villas-Boas.

“I would never think a guy who hasn’t played a game could be a top coach, but then you’ve got to look at his personality, I think his personality does it. He’s got a marvellous, strong personality and I think that bridges that gap.” - Sir Alex Ferguson. 

Modern Day Greats

“Nowadays a coach has to be multi-faceted. He has to master a lot of areas. From planning to implementation, methodology and leadership.” - Jose Mourinho.

Defensive Genius sees two football styles go to war

Many have criticised Mourinho for what they perceive to be 'negative tactics'. Apart from some of his controversial actions this, I believe, is the only area that people can find criticism of him. However, defence is just as much a part of football as attack. Take the Liverpool team of Bob Paisley, their success was built upon a solid defence as well as a lethal attack. If you do not concede then you cannot lose and this is the philosophy of Mourinho. Moreover, I don't see how you can criticise a tactic if there's a positive outcome from it. His Chelsea  side were criticised for being too industrious, they were actually being criticised for getting results. His Inter Milan team in 2010 were accused by Barcelona of playing 'anti-football'. However, in the Champions League semi final against Barcelona they scored three goals in the first leg which cannot be achieved by playing 90 minutes of 'anti-football'. (Although in the second leg Inter did all they could to hang on to the result and Mourinho himself stated that they did not park the bus, but parked the plane instead). However, in a game where the Champions League final was the prize, to be able to nullify Barcelona at Camp Nou and prevail was nothing short of a masterstroke. Furthermore, they would go on to win the treble that season (winning the Serie A crown, the Champions League and the Coppa Italia) and that sought of success cannot be criticised by remarks of unattractive football. 

“I don’t say we are a defensive team. I say we are a strong team in defensive terms” - Mourinho.

What is more, last season with Real Madrid, Mourinho broke the record for the most number of points attained in a La Liga season and the team broke the record for the greatest goal difference in a La Liga season. This is an enormous accomplishment, especially when you consider they were facing Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side, which is one of the best footballing teams in the history of the game. In addition, such success no longer heralded criticisms of negative tactics. So the one criticism people had of Mourinho had now been taken from them in the form of his free scoring blancos. 

Raining goals at the Bernabeu

However, recent reports of turmoil and a struggling Real Madrid side have cast Mourinho into the limelight once more. We do not really know what is happening behind the scenes at the Santiago Bernabeu but it appears that Mourinho is struggling not only to get results, but to maintain the backing of his players. It is not the first time that we have seen Mourinho in trouble, trying to inspire an underperforming team whilst speculation about his job security mounts. But this season could be a defining one for Mourinho, it could potentially be the first season without a trophy for him. Despite this, Mourinho has proven to guarantee success at a club. He has an immediate impact and this puts pressure on other managers in the leagues in which he has managed. Owners are more willing to sack their managers if they do not meet their clubs targets quickly enough. They can tell them that Mourinho got instant results so why can’t they? What is more, Mourinho left Internazionale as a treble winner and Rafael Benitez was installed as manager. Benitez lasted six months at Milan before he was moved on due to poor results in the league with that same team. Mourinho is on course to become the most decorated manager of all time (if he carries on at his current success rate and manages until his planned retirement age). I still believe the Special One has what it takes to truly be the special one.

One and only

“That’s incredible (his trophy haul). How old is he now? Fiftieth year. So he is 20 years behind me. At the same rate he is going to add another 42 trophies. At the current rate, (that is) amazing isn’t it?”  - Sir Alex Ferguson.  

By: Unknown On 17.10

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Nigeria's Age Old Problem

Yaya Toure and Emmanual Adebayor have been unavailable
for Manchester City and Tottenham respectively. 

In the last few weeks I've been intrigued like many by the sheer crazy and loony nature of the African Cup of Nations. Many ignore the tournament and due to the strange schedule it incorporates, some are simply unaware. Sandwiched between the Christmas period and start of the Champions League knock-out stages it interrupts most clubs schedules with leading stars jetting off and missing crucial matches. 


After every tournament some strange stories will surface, this year is no different. For example Nigerian Prostitutes offering free sexual favours if their country wins the trophy. To sum it up nicely you only need to look at just about any member of the crowd and you'll be stunned with amazement. This year the team to beat has been Nigeria, featuring an array of premier league talent and beating tournament favourites Ivory Coast. They look odds-on to lift the trophy on Sunday against Burkina Faso and this will unite an often divided country. 

African fans could give Lady Gaga a run for her money.

For many years however Nigeria has had a bit of an age problem... a simple Google search and you'll find hundreds of internet forum's, trusted newspaper articles and Youtube interviews all discussing the falsified ages of Nigerian players.

Concentrating on some players that might be a few years East of their passport ages, most of the arrows are pointing towards Nwankwo Kanu whose passport states he's 36 only retiring from Portsmouth last year. Many seem to think he's older, Avram Grant his old Portsmouth boss stated "I think he will play until he is 51. That is in two years" Avram was of course joking with the media, but many must remember that many a true word is said in jest! The guesses of his real age range anywhere from 39-52.

Taribo West, age unknown, hairstyle dreadful 

There are many more examples, Jay-Jay Okocha is now 39, retiring from Hull in 2008, rumours are he's actually 10 years older. Obafemi Martins football age is 28 his real age is closer to 35.
Most famous of all was Taribo West who was playing for Plymouth in his fifties and reportedly retired from football at 55, His passports states he's only just turned 38.  
Sadly FIFA have always struggled to keep up to speed with the true authenticity of the ages, the passports are real, they're just altered by corrupt immigration offices. The state is so extreme that some people in Nigeria even have death certificates, just incase the wrong person comes knocking.   

Pele made an interesting prediction that a nation in Africa would win the World Cup by the year 2000, he was wrong. But if you saw what he saw who can blame him. An African nation won or came runner up in every Fifa Under 17 World Cup, from its creation in 1985 to 1997 in the period of time 6 tournaments had been played! In reality its likely that the majority of these teams featured players in their twenties.

African team celebrating 2007 U17 World Cup

Fifa are doing something to tackle this however. They have finally come up with a 

foolproof way of determining real age. Ahead of the 2009 Under-17 World Cup in (well I never!) Nigeria, the governing body announced that players would be subjected to wrist scans using magnetic resonance imaging, and this would determine their true age. Surprise, surprise after the announcement Nigeria suddenly discarded 15 members of their squad, while Gambia omitted 11 of the 18 who had helped them to victory in the African Under-17 championship a few months earlier. Nigeria still came runners up in 2009, but no African countries featured in the final 4 in 2011 a feat that had only occurred twice previously. 

The truth of past players will never be known and Taribo West will continue to smile and laugh off any age questions thrown at him, but maybe FIFA are tackling the problem and in the UAE this year we might just see a clean Under 17 World Cup. But will it stop the questions?

James Cartwright (THFB) 8/02/13 , Follow me on twitter @James_H_C 


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By: Unknown On 09.11

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