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21st Nov, Matches

footiebadgebloke — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:17:45 GMT

Saturday 21st November 2009
English Premier Leagu
Birmingham City	v	Fulham	15:00
Burnley	v	Aston Villa	15:00
Chelsea	v	Wolverhampton Wndrs	15:00
Hull City	v	West Ham United	15:00
Liverpool	v	Manchester City	12:45
Manchester United	v	Everton	17:30
Sunderland	v	Arsenal	15:00
English League Championship
Barnsley	v	Cardiff City	15:00
Coventry City	v	Crystal Palace	15:00
Doncaster Rovers	v	Queens Park Rangers	15:00
Ipswich Town	v	Sheffield Wednesday	17:20
Leicester City	v	Plymouth Argyle	15:00
Middlesbrough	v	Nottingham Forest	15:00
Reading	v	Blackpool	15:00
Sheffield United	v	Peterborough United	15:00
Watford	v	Scunthorpe United	15:00
West Bromwich Albion	v	Bristol City	15:00
English League One
Brentford	v	Walsall	15:00
Brighton and Hove A	v	Leeds United	15:00
Bristol Rovers	v	Gillingham	15:00
Carlisle United	v	Swindon Town	15:00
Huddersfield Town	v	Hartlepool United	15:00
Leyton Orient	v	Tranmere Rovers	15:00
Millwall	v	Wycombe Wanderers	15:00
Oldham Athletic	v	Colchester United	15:00
Southampton	v	Norwich City	15:00
Stockport County	v	Exeter City	15:00
Yeovil Town	v	Charlton Athletic	15:00
English League Two
Barnet	v	Port Vale	15:00
Bradford City	v	Accrington Stanley	15:00
Burton Albion	v	Hereford United	15:00
Chesterfield	v	Darlington	15:00
Dagenham and Redb'ge	v	Rochdale	15:00
Lincoln City	v	Grimsby Town	15:00
Macclesfield Town	v	Bournemouth	15:00
Morecambe	v	Cheltenham Town	15:00
Northampton Town	v	Crewe Alexandra	15:00
Notts County	v	Aldershot Town	15:00
Shrewsbury Town	v	Bury	15:00
Torquay United	v	Rotherham United	15:00
English Conference Premier
AFC Wimbledon	v	York City	15:00
Chester City	v	Altrincham	15:00
Ebbsfleet United	v	Tamworth	15:00
Forest Green Rovers	v	Stevenage Borough	15:00
Gateshead	v	Grays Athletic	15:00
Hayes and Yeading U	v	Crawley Town	15:00
Histon	v	Wrexham	15:00
Kettering Town	v	Kidderminster Harr	15:00
Luton Town	v	Cambridge United	15:00
Mansfield Town	v	Eastbourne Borough	15:00
Oxford United	v	Barrow	15:00
Salisbury City	v	Rushden and Diamonds	15:00
English Northern Premier
Ashton United	v	King's Lynn	15:00
Bradford Park Avenue	v	Frickley Athletic	15:00
Burscough	v	Matlock Town	15:00
Buxton	v	North Ferriby United	15:00
FC United	v	Durham City	15:00
Guiseley	v	Hucknall Town	15:00
Marine	v	Whitby Town	15:00
Ossett Town	v	Boston United	15:00
Retford United	v	Kendal Town	15:00
Stocksbridge PS	v	Worksop Town	15:00
English Southern Premier
Bashley	v	Truro City	15:00
Brackley Town	v	Swindon Supermarine	15:00
Clevedon Town	v	Halesowen Town	15:00
Didcot Town	v	Nuneaton Town	15:00
Evesham United	v	Chippenham Town	15:00
Farnborough	v	Bedford Town	15:00
Hednesford Town	v	Oxford City	15:00
Hemel Hempstead Town	v	Rugby Town	15:00
Merthyr Tydfil	v	Leamington	15:00
Stourbridge	v	Cambridge City	15:00
Tiverton Town	v	Banbury United	15:00
English Isthmian Premier
AFC Hornchurch	v	Kingstonian	15:00
Ashford Town (Middx)	v	Cray Wanderers	15:00
Billericay Town	v	Horsham	15:00
Bognor Regis Town	v	Sutton United	15:00
Boreham Wood	v	Aveley	15:00
Carshalton Athletic	v	Margate	15:00
Maidstone United	v	Dartford	15:00
Tonbridge Angels	v	Harrow Borough	15:00
Tooting and Mitcham	v	Canvey Island	15:00
Waltham Abbey	v	Hendon	15:00
Wealdstone	v	Hastings United	15:00
Scottish Premier League
Falkirk	v	Hamilton Academical	15:00
Heart of Midlothian	v	St Johnstone	12:30
Motherwell	v	Aberdeen	15:00
Rangers	v	Kilmarnock	15:00
St Mirren	v	Hibernian	15:00
Scottish Division One
Airdrie United	v	Morton	15:00
Queen of the South	v	Dunfermline Athletic	15:00
Raith Rovers	v	Ayr United	15:00
Scottish Division Two
Arbroath	v	Alloa Athletic	15:00
Clyde	v	East Fife	15:00
Dumbarton	v	Peterhead	15:00
Stenhousemuir	v	Brechin City	15:00
Stirling Albion	v	Cowdenbeath	15:00
Scottish Division Three
Albion Rovers	v	Annan Athletic	15:00
Elgin City	v	Forfar Athletic	15:00
Montrose	v	Berwick Rangers	15:00
Queen's Park	v	Livingston	15:00
Stranraer	v	East Stirlingshire	15:00

Forum: Football talk

Reading.

Sweden1873 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:25:56 GMT

Anyone been to Reading FC lately. Is there any
badge seller at the stadium?

Forum: Collectors chat

badge help

cockneyhammer — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:43:25 GMT

hi any fulham fans on here? i am trying to find out if this was ever done on your shirt as your club crest at some point in your history?

also has it ever been done as a metal badge? any help most welcome thanks in advance ch
http://www.boleynbadges.webs.com/

Forum: Collectors chat

Serbia v South Korea at Fulham FC?

gravedigger — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:35:00 GMT

The game is on Wednesday Nov 18, kick off at 2.30.
Anyone from this forum going? I need info on matchday souvenirs/badges.

Forum: Collectors chat

Norhtern Ireland v Serbia badge any hope?

gravedigger — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:08:19 GMT

Where to look for info on souvenirs related to this game?

Forum: Collectors chat

Hello All

Pinkie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:13:23 GMT

Well I managed to do it - came off the bike about a month ago - only my arm hurt though - tendon/ligament damage, so walking about with a half gimpy arm at the moment.

What a plank!

Anyway, how are we all?

P.

Forum: The Off topic forum

FA Cup 1st Round Stourbridge v Walsall

Retro_Pins — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:20:56 GMT

Enamel Match Badge available 3.99 plus 0.99 p&p. 300 produced, handful left. Also available, traditional english hand-made 1960's style FA Cup rosettes 3.99 plus 0.99 p&p

Cant seem to post pictures here!

Forum: Collectors chat

Sandy Turnbill

footiebadgebloke — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:28:51 GMT

What happened to Old Trafford's first superstar Sandy Turnbull?

He was a Manchester United legend, the first man to score a goal at Old Trafford. But it is the mystery of his death during the First World War that fascinates us today

Almost a century ago, a new sports stadium, regarded as one of the wonders of the Edwardian age, opened just outside the city boundary of Manchester. A large crowd, "quite 45,000, perhaps 50,000" according to the Manchester Guardian, overwhelmed the municipal tramways service on the opening day and swarmed across Trafford bridge "in taxis, costers' carts, coal lorries and all strange manner of things on wheels".

Two football teams, one in scarlet shirts, the other in white, lined up on a pitch "as spick and span, as smooth, and as green as a billiard table". A few minutes into the match, a free kick was taken by the home team from close to the right-hand corner flag. A player wearing a red jersey marked with the Number 10 a powerful, stocky figure with a square head and receding hair, not unlike an Edwardian version of Wayne Rooney charged into the penalty area and scored with a diving header. The fans waved their red-and-white umbrellas and rattled the doorbells which they had removed for the afternoon from front doors all over Manchester.

The following Monday, on 21 February 1910, the Manchester Guardian carried a long report on the match, which ended Manchester United 3, Liverpool 4. Here is the first goal, described in the rousing Boys' Own style of the era. "Duckworth took a free kick ... and skilfully dropped the ball some 10 yards or more from the goal-mouth. A Turnbull rushed in with lowered head. The ball was within a foot or two of the ground by the time he got it but he met it with that extra-durable head of his and drove it hard into the goal."

Many hundreds of goals have been scored at Manchester United's ground since that day: great goals, scrappy goals, home goals, away goals, headed goals, goals scored long after the match should reasonably have ended. What follows is the story of the man who scored the first of them: the man who scored the first goal at Old Trafford.

"A Turnbull" was Alexander or Alec or more often "Sandy" Turnbull, one of the great stars of the first successful Manchester United team in 1907-11. He also scored the only goal in Manchester United's first FA Cup win in 1909. He is still, with 101 goals, the club's 19th highest scorer of all time. He appears in the record books just after Wayne Rooney, who has inherited (by way of Denis Law and others) Turnbull's Number 10 shirt. Judging by old pictures and match reports, the two Number 10s, separated by a century, were uncannily similar.

Had he lived 100 years later, Sandy Turnbull, a miner's son from Scotland, would have been a multi-millionaire and a back-page tabloid star. He would also have been a front-page tabloid villain.

Turnbull was involved in an illegal-payments scandal at Manchester City in 1905-6 and was suspended for life after a betting and match-fixing scandal at United in 1915. He was one of the leaders of a players' revolt at United in 1909, which led to the recognition of the professional footballers' union and, ultimately, to the immense salaries earned by footballers today.

On 3 May 1917, at the age of 33, leaving a widow and four young children, Sandy Turnbull was killed during a muddled, unsuccessful night attack on German lines just to the east of Arras. His body was never found and lies, almost certainly, under the fields of northern France to this day. He was not the only footballer to be killed in the Great War, but was probably the most talented and famous or notorious of them.

Turnbull's short, eventful life is emblematic of the first two decades of the last century, the era which spawned the modern age. He was a working man's hero in the time of straw boaters and cloth caps, when the rise of professional sport foretold the rise of the common man. He died an anonymous death in the time of tin helmets, in the mud of northern France, where the common man was slaughtered in uncommon numbers.

To mark Armistice Day and the approaching centenary of Old Trafford, we have tried to reconstruct Sandy Turnbull's life from newspaper and government archives. Much remains obscure, but the picture that does emerge is of a man who was, variously, a rebel, a scoundrel, a selfless team-player and a much-loved comrade in arms. Turnbull played through injury to win the FA Cup for United in 1909. He fought on, leading his platoon despite being wounded, before he was killed in France almost exactly eight years later.

Sandy Turnbull, for all his faults, was the prototype for a series of lowland, working-class Scots, including Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson, who have made the history of Britain's most popular football club. As things stand, possibly because of his stained reputation, Manchester United plan no specific tribute to Turnbull for the Old Trafford centenary. That is a shame.

Alexander turnbull was born at Hurlford, near Kilmarnock, in Scotland in 1884. His father, James, was a miner, who died young. Sandy, the second of seven children, became the main bread-earner by the time he was 16. He is listed in the 1901 census as a "coal miner". He probably went down the pit at the age of 14, while playing on Saturday afternoons for his local football club, Hurlford Thistle.

In 1902, Turnbull, aged 17, got his first big break. The English professional league was already fabulously wealthy in Edwardian terms. Young Scottish footballers were as much prized, and hunted, as young Brazilian or African players today. Turnbull left his family and signed a professional contract with Manchester City. He would have earnt a maximum of 3 a week, three times the wage of a miner then but only the equivalent of about 250 a week today.

Two years later, still a teenager, Turnbull won the FA Cup with Manchester City. The only goal against Bolton Wanderers was scored by the greatest player of the era, Billy Meredith. In 1906, Meredith admitted to taking illegal win-and-draw bonus payments from City. He was hurriedly transferred to Manchester United but an investigation showed that City had been over-paying many other players. Seventeen of them were banned from playing for City again. Three of the best, including Turnbull, were snapped up at a pub "auction", which appears to have been rigged in advance by the first great Manchester United manager, the bowler-hatted, grim-suited and extravagantly moustachioed, Ernest Mangnall.

Sandy Turnbull went on to become an important part of the first great team in Manchester United's history: the team which made United a significant club in English football for the first time. Mangnall's United, with Meredith sending over crosses for Turnbull to put into the net, won the League Championship in 1908 and 1911, and the Cup in 1909.

After the 1907-08 season, in which Turnbull scored 25 goals, the Manchester Evening News football reporter, "Wanderer", wrote: "A man of big shoulders and quick feet and active brain, 'Sandy' is a great player, and a more unselfish inside man I never saw. A great opportunist with class written all over his football."

In November of that year, the Manchester Guardian reporter, "An Old International", paid tribute to the Meredith-Turnbull partnership. "When lifts the ball across the goal there are invariably three of his partners in a line ready to receive it and generally it is 'Sandy' Turnbull who puts the finishing touch to Meredith's artistry."

There was, however, a brutal, ill-disciplined side to Turnbull. He stares out from the old team pictures, unsmiling, hair-receding, robust knees pulled together, one eyebrow quizzically raised. He looks like, and was, a bruising character (he was 5ft 7in and 12 stone). Something in his expression says: "Don't mess with me".

On 21 December 1907, a year after leaving City, he became the first player to be sent off in a Manchester derby match (after scoring two goals). Here is the outraged report in the following Monday's Manchester Guardian. "Sandy Turnbull and Eadie made themselves ridiculous early in the game by repeatedly making grimaces at each other and, in the second half Turnbull lost self-control so far as to strike Dorsett to the ground. He was promptly ordered off the field by the referee."

The United board minutes from the 1900s record that Turnbull was, on several occasions, fined by the club for being "insubordinate to directors". He appears, none the less, to have become a Mancunian folk hero, or at least a hero in the red-and-white half of Manchester. He was certainly one of the first footballers to have his own terrace song, or at least a terrace poem.

In April 1909, Turnbull was too badly injured to play in the FA Cup Final against Bristol City, but played anyway and scored the only goal. The Manchester Guardian headline was "Interesting Game at the Crystal Palace".

"Halse got the ball and kicked hard for the net ... But the ball was a couple of inches too high and hit the under-side of the cross-bar. It rebounded towards A Turnbull, who with toe kept well down, sent in a sharp 'grounder' quite beyond the reach of Clay ."

On the following Monday, the Athletic News carried a supporters' song, including the following lines:

"Why we thought you were 'crocked' Dashing Sandy,
That to fame your road was blocked, Hard Lines Sandy,
But you came up to the scratch,
Made an effort for THE match ...
When Halse hit the shiv-ring bar, Lucky Sandy.
There were groans heard near and far, Deep ones, Sandy,
But the ball was on the bound,
And your boot was safe and sound,
When the net your great shot found, Champion Sandy ..."

On the morning after the Cup Final, the lid of the FA Cup an earlier version of today's well-known trophy went missing. It was found in Turnbull's jacket pocket in what was passed off as (and may have been) a prank.

At the start of the next season, "dashing" Sandy, "lucky" Sandy, "champion" Sandy, and the whole United team were briefly banned for refusing to leave a newly formed players' union. They posed for a picture as "The Outcasts". Other players supported them. The Football League gave way.

This was the first of a series of small victories by players which led, through the abolition of the maximum wage in the 1960s and the Bosman ruling in 1995, to the fabulous salaries earnt by footballers today. The immediate impact in 1909 was limited: the professionals' maximum wage increased from 3 to 4. A full crowd at Old Trafford in 1910 brought in receipts of around 3,000 of which roughly 50 went to the players and officials. Sandy Turnbull was not the only player of the time to feel hard done-by.

He had married a local woman, Florence Amy, and they had had four children, James, Irene, Ronald and Alexander, between 1909 and 1913.

By the time the Great War started, Turnbull's career was running down. Ernest Mangnall had committed the ultimate treachery and left United to manage City. United's results began to fall apart.

On Good Friday 1915, with the war already eight months' old, Turnbull, three other United players, and four Liverpool players, "squared" (ie. fixed) the score of a United win at Old Trafford as part of a betting coup. An investigation found that at least three United players, including Turnbull, had twice met the Liverpool captain, Jackie Sheldon, in the Dog and Partridge pub in Manchester. The day before the match, they agreed that United would score a goal in each half. The players placed bets at seven to one on a 2-0 United win.

Turnbull did not play in the match but, like the others, he was given a lifetime ban later that year. Professional football was, in any case, disintegrating. Players were under pressure to show an example and "join the colours". Early in 1916, the disgraced Sandy Turnbull enlisted in the "footballers' battalion" of the Middlesex Regiment.

Soon afterwards, he sent his wife a postcard, published here for the first time, thanks to his granddaughter, Paulette Pughe. It shows Sandy Turnbull and six other recruits, in military uniform. They appear to be cooking on a beach somewhere in Britain, before being shipped to France. The red ink from Turnbull's terse message "Wishing you all a Happy Easter, best love, Sandy" has smeared eerily over to the picture side of the card. It appears, like a giant blood stain, on Turnbull's tunic.

This is the last known picture of Sandy Turnbull alive. Unlike most of his football pictures, he is almost smiling.

Why, and when, Lance-Sergeant Alexander Turnbull transferred out of the Middlesex Regiment is unclear. His army records were destroyed during the blitz in London in the 1939-45 war (and his Manchester United records were destroyed when Old Trafford was blitzed in March 1941). At some point, Turnbull moved to the 8th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. This was the battalion which, in a celebrated, romantic (and insane) gesture, dribbled footballs into the battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916.

Was Sandy Turnbull with them that day? The remaining records are silent. More likely, he was transferred to the East Surreys to fill one of the many gaps left by the slaughter on the Somme.

He was certainly with the Surreys in the spring of the following year, as they waited to join the great British offensive on the Hindenburg Line, east of Arras. The daily diary of the East Surreys 8th Battalion is available in the public records' office at Kew. There is no mention of Turnbull (or anyone else who is not an officer). But it is noticeable, and unlikely to be coincidental, that the 8th East Surreys football team swept all before them in the divisional championship that spring.

On 18 April 1917, the diary notes: "In the afternoon the Battalion football team played against the 7th Buffs in the semi-final of the divisional tournament at Boeseghem. Result 8/East Surreys 4 goals. 7/Buffs 1 goal."

Did Sandy Turnbull score his last goal that day, on a makeshift pitch within the sound of the front-line guns? The divisional final was never played. Two weeks later the battalion was decimated in a night-time offensive on the village of Chrisy.

The village probably looks today much as it did when Sandy Turnbull and his comrades in the 8th East Surreys stormed it before dawn on 3 May 1917. Red-brick houses straggle around a crossroads, 10 miles east of Arras, close to the A1 motorway from Paris to the north.

In May 1917, this was the remnants of the German front line and virtually open country with disastrous results for the 8th East Surreys, who were amateur soldiers trained only for trench fighting.

According to the official history of the East Surreys Regiment, "the men were in boisterous spirits" as they launched their attack in mist and darkness at 3.45am on 3 May. They captured Chrisy and reached their first objective on the banks of the narrow river Sense with few casualties. Unfortunately, the units on either side were not so successful. The isolated 8th East Surreys were shelled heavily and overrun within a couple of hours by a German counter-attack. Many were killed or captured; the others retreated to the positions from which they had started.

The divisional diary of the 8th Surreys is not very helpful. It consists mostly of a whiny explanation by the battalion commander, Lt-Col Irwin, of how his men came to capture their objective and then retreat. Both the British and German official histories of the war say that the British soldiers could barely use their rifles and were confused by being away from the familiar barbed wire and trenches. The British official history remarks on the "bewilderment of the British infantry on finding itself in the open and its inability to withstand any resolute counter attack."

Of the 500 or so 8th Surreys who attacked Chrisy, for no gain, 90 were killed, 175 wounded and more than 100 captured. Somewhere in this battle which lasted eight hours the luck of "Lucky Sandy" and the durability of "that extra-durable head" came to an end. There is no official record of what happened to him. The Manchester Guardian, which had faithfully followed Sandy Turnbull's football exploits, never reported his death.

Not so, the Kilmarnock Herald, now long defunct. The only surviving account of Turnbull's demise sleeps in the micro-filmed files of his home-town newspaper. On 18 May 1917, the Herald carried the headline "Former Hurlford footballer: wounded prisoner of war" attached to the following story:

"Sandy Turnbull, famous Manchester United forward, and a native of Hurlford, has been wounded and made a prisoner. He has been fighting for about a year. The information was conveyed in a letter from a comrade received by Mrs Turnbull at her home at Stretford. The message stated: 'I am writing to try to explain what has happened to your dear husband, Alec. He was wounded, and much to our sorrow, fell into German hands, so I hope you will hear from him. After Alec was wounded he 'carried on' and led his men for a mile, playing the game until the last we saw of him. We all loved him, and he was a father to us all and the most popular man in the regiment. All here send our deepest sympathy.'

"Another letter from the front says: 'Turnbull was missing during an attack on the Germans. I have very little hope of him being alive. I spoke to him when he got his first wound and asked him if he was badly done. 'No,' he said, and from all accounts he must have continued going along with us, and when last seen had four separate wounds.'

"A postcard to hand from the same source says: 'Turnbull is missing, and from all accounts very seriously wounded. I have little hopes of him being alive.' "

Allowance must be made for the exaggeration, euphemism and stiff-upper-lip of letters from the battlefield. All the same, it appears that Sandy Turnbull died because he "played the game" while injured, just as he did to win the Cup in 1909.

Most likely, Turnbull died in captivity and was buried by the Germans in a shallow grave which was obliterated in the fighting which followed. His body probably lies somewhere under the fields around Chrisy. The date of his death, 3 May 1917, would in peacetime have been the week after the FA Cup final.

Turnball's only memorial is a brief inscription on the elegant, curving colonnade of the monument to "the missing" in the large British war cemetery in Arras. Two thirds of the way along, in Bay 6, there is a section devoted to the East Surrey Regiment. The soldiers are listed in rank order. Under the section for Lance-Sergeants, there is an inscription, which is only just legible from ground level. It reads: "Turnbull A".

Yvonne Edge, now aged 68 and the oldest child of Turnbull's second daughter, Irene, recalls how in April 1958, when she was 16, her mother took her to the lying in state of Sandy's great football partner, Billy Meredith, who had died aged 83. "She took me to see the body and said, 'Remember, Yvonne, this is the man who played football with your grandfather, who was once a great player for Manchester United.' Mum was very small when Grandfather died. She had no memories of him. But she never allowed us to forget him."

Most of the other Liverpool and Manchester United footballers who were banned "for life" in 1915 were pardoned, in recognition of their war service. All but two went on to play professional football again. The first exception was the Manchester United striker, Enoch "Knocker" West, who annoyed the authorities by insisting that he was innocent. The second exception was Sandy Turnbull, who was "re-instated posthumously", three years after his death.

Manchester United are planning a series of events to mark the Old Trafford centenary next year. Descendants of the 1910 team, including Turnbull's granddaughters, have been contacted by the club about attending these events. Fair enough. But the hero and rogue who scored the first goal at Old Trafford deserves, perhaps, a belated "full" pardon in the form of a more personal tribute by Manchester United in February next year.

Forum: Football talk

Jockstrap Park

footiebadgebloke — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:26:31 GMT

Jockstrap Park needs a proper name, not an email address

A child excreting Scrabble tiles could not have come up with a worse name for Newcastle United's historic stadium

The new name for the St James' Park, the third-biggest league ground in England, defies belief and good taste.

Of all the legendary stadiums I've wanted to visit all my life San Siro, the Maracan, Fenway Park the one that always stirred the imagination most was sportsdirect.com@St James' Park Stadium. Why do I love it so? Maybe it's the history. Maybe it's the famous passion of the local support. Or maybe it's because when I type it, it automatically gets underlined and highlighted by the word processor.

Even my laptop recognises that this is no mundane stadium. This is no ordinary place. No, this is an email address. One could debate for minutes the philosophical ramifications of having your home ground floating, untethered, somewhere in cyberspace. At the very least it'll change forever one of the hoariest cliches in sports punditry. Pundit one: "I see Newcastle are playing Barcelona in the next round." Pundit two: "Well, on paper, you'd have to favour Barcelona." Pundit one: "But Newcastle don't play on paper, do they? They play somewhere on the internet. Just left of Twitter, in fact, just before you get to Facebook."

It is a terrible, terrible name. It's difficult to think of how it could have been worse, short of getting a passing toddler to crawl across the keyboard towards a rusk; unless you filled the rusk with Scrabble tiles and then nervously waited for the child to excrete them out in some sort of order. No amount of monkeys with typewriters, working for any amount of time, could come up with something clumsier.

Maybe it's all the internal punctuation. I'm trying to think of any other place name that manages to ram in a full-stop and apostrophe and that @ thing into such a small space, but the only ones that come to mind are the offices of multimedia design companies called things like bRAIN-sPL@!, as in "bRAIN-sPL@! will make your vision of a connected e-retail future work for you!" Nobody should have to play football in a punctuation nightmare like that. Apart from MK Dons, who play at stadium:MK, but then they'll do a bit of website design for you on the side. And yes, I know Arsenal play at the Emirates, and that's not a proper stadium name either, but for some reason that's never really bothered me. Mainly because it's never been called anything else; and while Highbury might now be a block of flats, it's still called Highbury Square and looks as brilliantly unchanged as it possibly could.

Mainly, though, "Emirates" isn't a word I use very often and rarely think about the meaning of. I'm sure there must be an actual Emir somewhere, now that you mention it, but he rarely turns up, trying to get his ceremonial sword past security. There are many supporters who insist on calling the ground "Ashburton Grove" and, while I admire their integrity, I've lived on the Holloway Road and, frankly, can think of few places that less fit my image of a grove. A great place to pick up some fried chicken, though. I'd be less ambivalent if I was trudging over to the Singapore Airlines Stadium every couple of weeks, or God fear, the Ryanair SportsDome. You can insert your own Ryanair joke there, about paying extra for access to scoreboards, or the toilets, or to see both teams.

This is the rule then. The more commercial the branding, the more crass and unpleasant it sounds. Coventry can get away with the Ricoh Arena because few of us are in the market for a photocopier. Conversely, it doesn't matter if Rowntree-Mackintosh were a great local company, York City shouldn't be playing at KitKat Crescent. And Newcastle play at one the great stadiums. The third-biggest league ground in the country, the largest cantilevered roof in Europe and, in the farthest corner of the Jackie Milburn Stand, the highest point above the pitch of any stadium in England. This is what a stadium should inspire. Vertigo.

It should strike fear into the hearts of opposing supporters. They should be going: "I don't care if Ant and Dec are over there, this place scares the bejaysus out of me. We'll be lucky to get out of here alive." You shouldn't approach a stadium saying to yourself: "Ah, sportsdirect.com! That reminds me. I must go online and buy a jockstrap."

Forum: Football talk

Bradford Park Avenue

Gent — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:56:45 GMT

Anyone have any Avenue badges for sale

Forum: Collectors chat

7th Nov Matches

footiebadgebloke — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:02:24 GMT

Saturday 7th November 2009
English Premier League
Aston Villa	v	Bolton Wanderers	15:00
Blackburn Rovers	v	Portsmouth	15:00
Manchester City	v	Burnley	15:00
Tottenham Hotspur	v	Sunderland	15:00
Wolverhampton Wndrs	v	Arsenal	17:30
English League Championship
Blackpool	v	Scunthorpe United	15:00
Crystal Palace	v	Middlesbrough	15:00
Leicester City	v	West Bromwich Albion	15:00
Newcastle United	v	Peterborough United	15:00
Nottingham Forest	v	Bristol City	15:00
Plymouth Argyle	v	Doncaster Rovers	15:00
Reading	v	Ipswich Town	15:00
Sheffield Wednesday	v	Queens Park Rangers	15:00
Swansea City	v	Cardiff City	12:45
Watford	v	Preston North End	15:00
English FA Cup First Round
Accrington Stanley	v	Salisbury City	15:00
AFC Telford United	v	Lincoln City	15:00
Aldershot Town	v	Bury	15:00
Barnet	v	Darlington	15:00
Barrow	v	Eastleigh	15:00
Bromley	v	Colchester United	13:00
Cambridge United	v	Ilkeston Town	15:00
Carlisle United	v	Morecambe	15:00
Chesterfield	v	Bournemouth	15:00
Forest Green Rovers	v	Mansfield Town	15:00
Gateshead	v	Brentford	15:00
Gillingham	v	Southend United	15:00
Grimsby Town	v	Bath City	15:00
Hartlepool United	v	Kettering Town	15:00
Hereford United	v	Sutton United	15:00
Luton Town	v	Rochdale	15:00
Milton Keynes Dons	v	Macclesfield Town	15:00
Northampton Town	v	Fleetwood Town	15:00
Nuneaton Town	v	Exeter City	15:00
Oldham Athletic	v	Leeds United	17:15
Oxford United	v	Yeovil Town	15:00
Paulton Rovers	v	Norwich City	12:45
Port Vale	v	Stevenage Borough	15:00
Rushden and Diamonds	v	Hinckley United	15:00
Shrewsbury Town	v	Staines Town	15:00
Stockport County	v	Tooting and Mitcham	15:00
Stourbridge	v	Walsall	13:00
Swindon Town	v	Woking	15:00
Torquay United	v	Cheltenham Town	15:00
Tranmere Rovers	v	Leyton Orient	15:00
Wrexham	v	Lowestoft Town	15:00
Wycombe Wanderers	v	Brighton and Hove A	15:00
York City	v	Crewe Alexandra	15:00
English Conference Premier
Grays Athletic	v	Chester City	15:00
English Conference North
Alfreton Town	v	Stafford Rangers	15:00
Corby Town	v	Redditch United	15:00
Eastwood Town	v	Farsley Celtic	15:00
Gloucester City	v	Hyde United	15:00
Harrogate Town	v	Hinckley United	15:00
Ilkeston Town	v	Gainsborough Trinity	15:00
Northwich Victoria	v	Corby Town	15:00
Solihull Moors	v	Blyth Spartans	15:00
Vauxhall Motors	v	Droylsden	13:00
Workington	v	Southport	15:00
English Conference South
Basingstoke Town	v	St Albans City	15:00
Bishop's Stortford	v	Eastleigh	15:00
Braintree Town	v	Bath City	15:00
Bromley	v	Thurrock	15:00
Chelmsford City	v	Maidenhead United	15:00
Dover Athletic	v	Newport County AFC	15:00
Havant and W	v	Dorchester Town	15:00
Lewes	v	Hampton and Richmond	15:00
Staines Town	v	Weston-super-Mare	15:00
Weston-super-Mare	v	Thurrock	15:00
Weymouth	v	Woking	15:00
Worcester City	v	Welling United	15:00
English Northern Premier
Ashton United	v	Stocksbridge PS	15:00
Boston United	v	North Ferriby United	15:00
Bradford Park Avenue	v	Retford United	15:00
Burscough	v	Whitby Town	15:00
FC United	v	Buxton	15:00
Guiseley	v	Frickley Athletic	15:00
Hucknall Town	v	Nantwich Town	15:00
King's Lynn	v	Durham City	15:00
Matlock Town	v	Marine	15:00
Ossett Town	v	Worksop Town	15:00
English Southern Premier
Bashley	v	Cambridge City	15:00
Brackley Town	v	Tiverton Town	15:00
Chippenham Town	v	Stourbridge	15:00
Clevedon Town	v	Hemel Hempstead Town	15:00
Didcot Town	v	Evesham United	15:00
Farnborough	v	Oxford City	15:00
Halesowen Town	v	Hednesford Town	15:00
Leamington	v	Truro City	15:00
Merthyr Tydfil	v	Banbury United	15:00
Nuneaton Town	v	Rugby Town	15:00
Swindon Supermarine	v	Bedford Town	15:00
English Isthmian Premier
AFC Hornchurch	v	Hendon	15:00
Billericay Town	v	Sutton United	15:00
Canvey Island	v	Waltham Abbey	15:00
Carshalton Athletic	v	Wealdstone	15:00
Dartford	v	Bognor Regis Town	15:00
Harrow Borough	v	Ashford Town (Middx)	15:00
Hastings United	v	Margate	15:00
Horsham	v	Cray Wanderers	15:00
Maidstone United	v	Kingstonian	15:00
Tonbridge Angels	v	Aveley	15:00
Tooting and Mitcham	v	Boreham Wood	15:00
Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen	v	St Johnstone	15:00
Hamilton Academical	v	Motherwell	15:00
Heart of Midlothian	v	Hibernian	12:30
Kilmarnock	v	Dundee United	15:00
Rangers	v	St Mirren	15:00
Scottish Division One
Ayr United	v	Queen of the South	15:00
Dundee	v	Airdrie United	15:00
Morton	v	Partick Thistle	15:00
Raith Rovers	v	Dunfermline Athletic	15:00
Ross County	v	Inverness CT	15:00
Scottish Division Two
Brechin City	v	Arbroath	15:00
Clyde	v	Cowdenbeath	15:00
East Fife	v	Peterhead	15:00
Stenhousemuir	v	Dumbarton	15:00
Stirling Albion	v	Alloa Athletic	15:00
Scottish Division Three
Albion Rovers	v	Montrose	15:00
Elgin City	v	Livingston	15:00
Forfar Athletic	v	Annan Athletic	15:00
Queen's Park	v	East Stirlingshire	15:00
Stranraer	v	Berwick Rangers	15:00

Forum: Football talk

rangers v chesterfield anglo badge

blueandwhite1867 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:55:06 GMT

heres a new one ive just had made if you are interested give me a shout
" target=_blank target=_blank>

Forum: Collectors chat

31st October Matches

footiebadgebloke — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:32:53 GMT

Saturday 31st October 2009
English Premier League
Arsenal	v	Tottenham Hotspur	12:45
Bolton Wanderers	v	Chelsea	15:00
Burnley	v	Hull City	15:00
Everton	v	Aston Villa	15:00
Fulham	v	Liverpool	15:00
Manchester United	v	Blackburn Rovers	17:30
Portsmouth	v	Wigan Athletic	15:00
Stoke City	v	Wolverhampton Wndrs	15:00
Sunderland	v	West Ham United	15:00
English League Championship
Bristol City	v	Sheffield Wednesday	15:00
Coventry City	v	Reading	15:00
Doncaster Rovers	v	Blackpool	15:00
Ipswich Town	v	Derby County	15:00
Middlesbrough	v	Plymouth Argyle	15:00
Peterborough United	v	Barnsley	15:00
Preston North End	v	Crystal Palace	15:00
Scunthorpe United	v	Swansea City	15:00
West Bromwich Albion	v	Watford	15:00
English League One
Brighton and Hove A	v	Hartlepool United	15:00
Carlisle United	v	Charlton Athletic	15:00
Exeter City	v	Brentford	15:00
Leeds United	v	Yeovil Town	15:00
Leyton Orient	v	Southampton	15:00
Millwall	v	Colchester United	15:00
Milton Keynes Dons	v	Bristol Rovers	15:00
Stockport County	v	Norwich City	15:00
Tranmere Rovers	v	Swindon Town	15:00
Wycombe Wanderers	v	Walsall	15:00
English League Two
Bournemouth	v	Rochdale	15:00
Burton Albion	v	Bury	15:00
Cheltenham Town	v	Crewe Alexandra	15:00
Chesterfield	v	Barnet	15:00
Dagenham and Redb'ge	v	Port Vale	15:00
Hereford United	v	Darlington	15:00
Macclesfield Town	v	Bradford City	15:00
Morecambe	v	Lincoln City	15:00
Notts County	v	Shrewsbury Town	15:00
Rotherham United	v	Aldershot Town	15:00
Torquay United	v	Northampton Town	15:00
English Conference Premier
Cambridge United	v	Kidderminster Harr	15:00
Chester City	v	AFC Wimbledon	15:00
Crawley Town	v	York City	15:00
Ebbsfleet United	v	Wrexham	15:00
Forest Green Rovers	v	Eastbourne Borough	15:00
Grays Athletic	v	Barrow	15:00
Kettering Town	v	Stevenage Borough	15:00
Luton Town	v	Rushden and Diamonds	15:00
Mansfield Town	v	Histon	15:00
Oxford United	v	Altrincham	15:00
Salisbury City	v	Gateshead	15:00
Tamworth	v	Hayes and Yeading U	15:00
English Conference North
AFC Telford United	v	Workington	15:00
Blyth Spartans	v	Ilkeston Town	15:00
Droylsden	v	Solihull Moors	15:00
Farsley Celtic	v	Corby Town	15:00
Fleetwood Town	v	Alfreton Town	15:00
Gainsborough Trinity	v	Gloucester City	15:00
Hinckley United	v	Stalybridge Celtic	15:00
Hyde United	v	Vauxhall Motors	15:00
Redditch United	v	Harrogate Town	15:00
Southport	v	Eastwood Town	15:00
Stafford Rangers	v	Northwich Victoria	15:00
English Conference South
Bath City	v	Bromley	15:00
Chelmsford City	v	Havant and W	15:00
Dorchester Town	v	Dover Athletic	15:00
Eastleigh	v	Worcester City	15:00
Hampton and Richmond	v	Maidenhead United	15:00
Newport County AFC	v	Basingstoke Town	15:00
St Albans City	v	Weymouth	15:00
Thurrock	v	Staines Town	15:00
Welling United	v	Lewes	15:00
Weston-super-Mare	v	Bishop's Stortford	15:00
Woking	v	Braintree Town	15:00
English Northern Premier
Bradford Park Avenue	v	Durham City	15:00
Burscough	v	Ashton United	15:00
Hucknall Town	v	Retford United	15:00
Kendal Town	v	Stocksbridge PS	15:00
Marine	v	Ossett Town	15:00
English Southern Premier
Hemel Hempstead Town	v	Swindon Supermarine	15:00
Leamington	v	Didcot Town	15:00
Merthyr Tydfil	v	Halesowen Town	15:00
English Isthmian Premier
Aveley	v	Canvey Island	15:00
Hastings United	v	Ashford Town (Middx)	15:00
Sutton United	v	Waltham Abbey	15:00
Scottish Premier League
Celtic	v	Kilmarnock	15:00
Hibernian	v	Aberdeen	15:00
Motherwell	v	Heart of Midlothian	15:00
St Johnstone	v	Falkirk	15:00
St Mirren	v	Hamilton Academical	15:00
Scottish Division One
Airdrie United	v	Ayr United	15:00
Dunfermline Athletic	v	Dundee	15:00
Inverness CT	v	Morton	15:00
Partick Thistle	v	Raith Rovers	15:00
Queen of the South	v	Ross County	15:00
Scottish Division Two
Alloa Athletic	v	Clyde	15:00
Arbroath	v	Stenhousemuir	15:00
Cowdenbeath	v	East Fife	12:00
Dumbarton	v	Brechin City	15:00
Peterhead	v	Stirling Albion	15:00
Scottish Division Three
Berwick Rangers	v	Albion Rovers	15:00
East Stirlingshire	v	Annan Athletic	15:00
Montrose	v	Livingston	15:00
Queen's Park	v	Elgin City	15:00
Stranraer	v	Forfar Athletic	15:00
Scottish FA Cup Second Round Replay
Auchinleck Talbot	v	Huntly	15:00
Buckie Thistle	v	Deveronvale	15:00
Threave Rovers	v	Whitehill Welfare	15:00

Forum: Football talk

Programme and Badge Fair, Sunday 01/11/09

Les — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:15:40 GMT

Programme, Badge, & Memorabilia Fairs

10.30am to 2pm on Sunday 01/11/09

Free admission.

At St Stephens Hall, Emperor Gate, Kensington

London SW7

Nearest tube Gloucester Road less than 10 mins walk

About 10 stalls.

Forum: Collectors chat

24th Oct Matches

footiebadgebloke — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:20:14 GMT

Saturday 24th October 2009
English Premier League
Birmingham City	v	Sunderland	15:00
Burnley	v	Wigan Athletic	15:00
Chelsea	v	Blackburn Rovers	17:30
Hull City	v	Portsmouth	15:00
Tottenham Hotspur	v	Stoke City	15:00
Wolverhampton Wndrs	v	Aston Villa	12:45
English League Championship
Barnsley	v	Bristol City	15:00
Coventry City	v	West Bromwich Albion	15:00
Crystal Palace	v	Nottingham Forest	15:00
Derby County	v	Queens Park Rangers	17:30
Newcastle United	v	Doncaster Rovers	15:00
Peterborough United	v	Scunthorpe United	15:00
Plymouth Argyle	v	Ipswich Town	15:00
Preston North End	v	Middlesbrough	15:00
Sheffield United	v	Cardiff City	15:00
Swansea City	v	Blackpool	15:00
English League One
Brentford	v	Stockport County	15:00
Brighton and Hove A	v	Oldham Athletic	15:00
Bristol Rovers	v	Yeovil Town	15:00
Carlisle United	v	Southend United	15:00
Colchester United	v	Walsall	15:00
Exeter City	v	Wycombe Wanderers	15:00
Gillingham	v	Charlton Athletic	15:00
Hartlepool United	v	Tranmere Rovers	15:00
Huddersfield Town	v	Leyton Orient	15:00
Millwall	v	Leeds United	15:00
Norwich City	v	Swindon Town	15:00
Southampton	v	Milton Keynes Dons	15:00
English League Two
Barnet	v	Darlington	15:00
Bournemouth	v	Grimsby Town	15:00
Bradford City	v	Hereford United	15:00
Bury	v	Rotherham United	15:00
Chesterfield	v	Burton Albion	15:00
Lincoln City	v	Torquay United	15:00
Macclesfield Town	v	Dagenham and Redb'ge	15:00
Morecambe	v	Northampton Town	15:00
Notts County	v	Crewe Alexandra	15:00
Port Vale	v	Cheltenham Town	15:00
Rochdale	v	Accrington Stanley	15:00
Shrewsbury Town	v	Aldershot Town	15:00
English Conference North
Corby Town	v	Stafford Rangers	15:00
Eastwood Town	v	Droylsden	15:00
Farsley Celtic	v	Vauxhall Motors	15:00
Gainsborough Trinity	v	Stalybridge Celtic	15:00
Solihull Moors	v	Harrogate Town	15:00
English Conference SouthTable
Basingstoke Town	v	Weymouth	15:00
Lewes	v	Bishop's Stortford	15:00
Maidenhead United	v	Weston-super-Mare	15:00
Staines Town	v	Bath City	15:00
English Northern Premier
Durham City	v	Guiseley	15:00
Frickley Athletic	v	Hucknall Town	15:00
Marine	v	King's Lynn	15:00
Nantwich Town	v	Boston United	15:00
North Ferriby United	v	Ashton United	15:00
Retford United	v	Ossett Town	15:00
Stocksbridge PS	v	Bradford Park Avenue	15:00
Whitby Town	v	Matlock Town	15:00
Worksop Town	v	Burscough	15:00
English Southern Premier
Banbury United	v	Bedford Town	15:00
Bashley	v	Hednesford Town	15:00
Cambridge City	v	Clevedon Town	15:00
Hemel Hempstead Town	v	Tiverton Town	15:00
Leamington	v	Brackley Town	15:00
Merthyr Tydfil	v	Didcot Town	15:00
Rugby Town	v	Evesham United	15:00
English Isthmian Premier
Ashford Town (Middx)	v	Maidstone United	15:00
Aveley	v	Dartford	15:00
Bognor Regis Town	v	Billericay Town	15:00
Boreham Wood	v	Tonbridge Angels	15:00
Kingstonian	v	Hastings United	15:00
Waltham Abbey	v	AFC Hornchurch	15:00
Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen	v	Dundee United	15:00
Heart of Midlothian	v	Falkirk	15:00
Kilmarnock	v	St Johnstone	15:00
Rangers	v	Hibernian	15:00
St Mirren	v	Motherwell	15:00
Scottish Division One
Ayr United	v	Inverness CT	15:00
Dundee	v	Raith Rovers	15:00
Dunfermline Athletic	v	Morton	15:00
Queen of the South	v	Airdrie United	15:00
Ross County	v	Partick Thistle	15:00
Scottish Division Two
Cowdenbeath	v	Brechin City	15:00
Dumbarton	v	Arbroath	15:00
East Fife	v	Stenhousemuir	15:00
Peterhead	v	Alloa Athletic	15:00
Stirling Albion	v	Clyde	15:00
Scottish FA Cup Second Round
Banks O'Dee	v	Montrose	15:00
Civil Service Str	v	Berwick Rangers	15:00
Cove Rangers	v	Annan Athletic	15:00
Deveronvale	v	Buckie Thistle	15:00
Edinburgh City	v	Burntisland Shipyard	15:00
Forfar Athletic	v	East Stirlingshire	15:00
Fraserburgh	v	Spartans	15:00
Girvan	v	Wick Academy	15:00
Huntly	v	Auchinleck Talbot	15:00
Inverurie Locos	v	Stranraer	15:00
Lossiemouth	v	Albion Rovers	15:00
Nairn County	v	Elgin City	15:00
Queen's Park	v	Livingston	15:00
Selkirk	v	Irvine Meadow	15:00
Vale of Leithen	v	Keith	15:00
Whitehill Welfare	v	Threave Rovers	15:00

Forum: Football talk