World Cup Mexico 1970

I can truthfully say that I witnessed England winning the World Cup in 1966. However, I don't remember the occasion at all, because my twin brother and I had only just turned one year old and we spent most of the day in terylene nappies cheering each and every goal, even those scored by Herr Haller and Herr Weber. Given that our sister was in her fourth year, our older brother had only had his second birthday earlier in February (our youngest brother was not yet even a twinkle in our father's eye) and that friends and family had popped around with their own broods to witness the spectacle of England winning the Jules Rimet Trophy for the first time, it's not surprising that our house in Buckhurst Crescent was chaotic on Saturday 30th July 1966. Roll the time forwards four years and the festival of football that is the World Cup Finals saw it being hosted in Mexico. Swindon was still buzzing from the success of the Robins winning the League Cup and being promoted to Division 2 the previous year, and, with the very real expectation of England being capable of retaining the trophy, the summer of 1970 saw the children of Walcot playing out each and every game on Buckhurst Field.

Along with many of the heroes of 1966 in the England squad, Mexico 1970 was the stage for possibly the greatest ever Brazilian team to appear at the World Cup Finals; Jairzinho, Rivilino, Carlos Alberto to name but three of the Latin American stars to wear the famous yellow shirt of Brazil. But it was Edson Arantes do Nascimento whom the whole world wanted to see in his last appearance at the World Cup. This was of course Pelé and every boy who kicked a ball on the field outside our house that summer wanted to be him. We were too young to go and play football with the bigger boys of the area, but, in those days, we could play outside our house in the road using the garden fence as the goal, because hardly anyone owned a car and it was quite an event when one drove along the street.

Nowadays, any football match from anywhere in the world can be watched, analysed and dissected in real time not only on television, but also on PC's, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Computer graphics help pundits assess gameplay from each and every angle, and the match can be viewed from all sides of the pitch with goals scored being shown from over half a dozen viewpoints within the stadium. If you miss the programme, catch up using the myriad of online players available to watch modern television. Back in 1966, watching matches broadcast live was the innovation. In 1970, watching the live matches in colour was the major change to the way we could see the game, even if the picture was grainy and the only real time analysis was the Replay of the goals.


As the tournament went on, it was apparent that Brazil was going to go all the way and the group

stage win over England (0 - 1) is one of the celebrated games of all time, especially in English folklore with the Gordon Banks save from Pelé and the Bobby Moore tackle on Jairzinho. With England getting beaten by West Germany in the Quarter Finals, it is probably fair to say that most Englishmen's allegiances swapped to supporting Brazil. With this in mind, Mr.Brian Bennett hosted the 1970 World Cup Final in the sports hall of Walcot Boys' Club. I assume tickets were sold for the event which was to see the match between Italy and Brazil being shown on the biggest television that could be hired at the time. Now, today, people have huge flat screen TVs in their living rooms, some hanging on their walls making the front room seem like a cinema rather than the space where the family collects. In 1970, the television that was in the Boys' Club sports hall was large, but, as can be seen from the picture above, the gogglebox in those days was just that, a box. And, the bigger the screen, the larger the cathode ray tube and the larger the wooden cabinet required to house it, and the electrical components, which, then, were mainly valves.

As mere striplings, we often looked enviously over at the bigger boys toing and froing from the Boy's Club and wondered what it was like past those large white outer walls and inside the big white building at the end of the street. Prohibited from attending the venue at any other time by virtue of our young age, on Sunday 21st June 1970, the young boys of the Crescent had the opportunity they had been longing for when we passed through the large metal gates and took our first step inside Walcot Boys' Club. My memory tells me that we were taken pity on by Mr. Bennett and allowed to watch the match for free, but, however we were admitted entry to the event, for me, this was one of those eyes wide, jaw-dropping moments when, all agog, we were allowed to enter the inner sanctum of the pantheon that stood at the end of the road. For so long too young to gain entry to the hallowed

hall of the teenage boys, I, along with my brothers and other small boys of Buckhurst Crescent, found ourselves being escorted into what seemed to me at the time the most impressive edifice in the world - it was akin to entering Wembley Stadium for the first time having been used to the County Ground of the late 1970's/early 1980's.

The television was massive, at least compared to the Telebank TV we had back home. There was some fuss over getting the signal from the aerial, but, eventually, everyone settled down to watch the 1970 World Cup Final. Us little ones were given seats on top of tables so we could see and the excitement was palpable as the game kicked off. I remember the vivid colours of the two teams in their distinctive blue and yellow shirts and the bright Mexican sunshine was in contrast to what was an overcast English summer's day. The hall soon filled with the fug of the men smoking and I seem to remember the odd large can of Brew XI or Watneys Party Seven being handed around as the paying public settled in to watch one of the classic World Cup Finals. This was my first experience of watching football in the presence of a large crowd of men and it has remained indelible on my mind ever since. The noise of the cheers and shouts echoing around the sports hall gave a flavour of what it was like to attend a football match and, for a five year old in the company of so many elder males, it was an exciting education as to what the future had to offer.

Today, you can watch a football match every day, anywhere you want. Modern technology has both

broadened the scope for people to view football wherever they want, but it has also diminished the scope for local communities to come together to witness an event as one. The Mexico 1970 World Cup Final will always be special to me, because, for someone of so tender an age, it allowed me to experience the adult world and, for a brief spell, I and my brothers were considered "big" enough to join the rest of the male population in witnessing a true spectacle in colour for the first time. For so many small boys of the area, this was a rite of passage.

Thank you Mr. Bennett!

Swindon Town's All-Time England Team

I work with many people who, although they may have been born in Swindon and are resident in the

Wiltshire town, for some inexplicable reason choose to support football teams from elsewhere in the country. Chelsea fans with West Country accents, Manchester United fans hailing from London and "plastic" Scousers from the Midlands, all these fans, supporting teams with which they have no cultural heritage, are Glory Hunters seeking the annual thrill of a trophy win like a drug addict seeking a quick fix; some support Tottenham Hotspur so not all are in it for the honours!

It rankles when these fans talk about the "we" and "us" when referring to the particular mega-rich club to whose pole they have struck their flag when there is a perfectly good professional football club to support in their home town, and it is even more irritating when they deride the lowlier ranking of Swindon Town. Many have never been to the home of their so-called team and would probably get lost on their way to the ground if they were to venture outside the boundaries of their home borough.

This is the background to many a discussion of the beautiful game I have with others whose passion

Banner from www.Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk

is Association Football. One night, the talk got around to who could produce the best all-time England team from the ranks of their team's players, both past and present. Immediately, the Premier League snobs snorted that Swindon Town would be hard-pressed to find anyone to fill such a roster. Rising to the challenge, I asked what the criteria would be for me to come up with a Swindon Town All-Time England team. The answer came back that the players could have represented their country at any level and at any time in their career, but good luck on finding anybody eligible from the Robins squads of yesteryear! A number of players immediately came to mind, but I had to delve a bit deeper to get a full squad of eleven and substitutes. For this, I have to thank Richard Banyard and his outstanding website, www.Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk (possibly the best "fan's" website on the internet); his site is chock full of all the facts and figures that any Swindon Town fan might need to satisfy any thirst for knowledge on their football club.  

Swindon Town All-Time England Team

Goalkeeper - Fraser Digby

Fraser Digby with English Schools Cap

There were two contenders for this spot - Tim Flowers and Fraser Digby.

Whilst at Southampton, Tim Flowers spent two loan periods with Swindon Town, once in the 1986 - 1987 season (2 appearances) and once the following season, 1987 - 1988, making 5 appearances. Flowers represented England at U-21 level (3 caps) and at full international level (11 caps) and won a Premier League Champions medal with Blackburn Rovers in 1993 - 1994. He also won a League Cup Winners medal with Leicester City in 2000.


However, my choice for Swindon's England goalkeeping spot is

Fraser Digby. With 504 (+1) appearances for the club, Fraser Digby can truly be called a Swindon Town "Legend". On his day, he was equal to any other English goalkeeper playing at the time he was with Swindon and it is a credit to him that he remained a stalwart at SN1 for as long as he did when so-called "bigger" clubs were given mention in the press as in the running to sign him. His qualification for inclusion into the Swindon Town All-Time England Team stems from Fraser gaining England U-15 Schoolboy honours Youth honours and 5 appearances at England U-21 level, these last ones whilst at the County Ground.

Right Back - David Kerslake

For simplicity's sake, for my Swindon Town All-Time England Team, I have gone with a 4-4-2 formation . Therefore, some players may be in a position in the England setup which is slightly different to that in which they were employed when playing for Swindon. This is the case for my choice of Right Back. When David Kerslake was on the ball, the crowd at the County Ground always sensed that an attacking opportunity was on the cards. His favoured position was as a right wing back and it is the memories of his forays forward that stand out more than his solid defensive work. He represented England at Schoolboy and Youth levels and had one international appearance at U-21 level whilst playing for Queens Park Rangers.

Left Back - Phil King

Phil King played for the Town during the Lou Macari era featuring in the 1987 League Division 3

Play Off Final. He made 141 (+4)  appearances during his first stint with Swindon between 1987 and 1989 scoring 4 goals. He was signed by Sheffield Wednesday and won a League Cup Winners Medal with them in 1991. He is also renowned in Aston Villa folklore as the player who scored the winning goal against Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup. A second term at Swindon Town came in 1997, but he only made 5 appearances before leaving for Brighton in 1999 having spent some time on loan at Blackpool. His England qualification comes with only the one appearance at 'B' International level, but his commitment to the cause when at the County Ground earns him the Left Back role in the Swindon Town All-Time England Team.

Centre Back - Terry Fenwick

Admittedly, the role for Centre Back has only one candidate - "Oo" Shaun Taylor (no true Swindon Town fan will mention Mr. Taylor without the preceding "Oo" - I wonder if that's his title in his passport rather then Mr.?). Unfortunately, not having represented his country at any level, Shaun Taylor cannot feature in the Swindon Town All-Time England Team. So, this honour must go to other players who have worn the red shirt of the Robins. In the twilight of his footballing career, Terry Fenwick was signed from Tottenham Hotspur in 1993 to help bolster the defence for the club's only appearance in the top-flight of the Football League. Renowned for hard tackles, Terry Fenwick's 30 (+3) appearances for Swindon Town saw him notably break the leg of Blackburn Rovers' player, Paul Warhurst. Fenwick represented England at Youth International, U-21 International (11 appearances) and Full International (20 appearances) levels.

Centre Back - Neil "Razor" Ruddock

More for his previous experience of top-flight football with Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, Neil

"Razor" Ruddock is my second choice for a Centre Back role. Other than his free kick which saw him score the only goal in his debut against Colchester, his 14 (+2) appearances for Swindon Town pale into insignificance when measured against his legal dispute with the club over unpaid wages. In his day, "Razor" was a formidable defender for Spurs and Liverpool and his banter with opposing forwards could have an unsettling effect on their play. He represented England at Youth International, U-21 (4 appearances), 'B' International (1 appearance) and Full International (1 appearance) levels.

Right Wing - Nicky "Buzzer" Summerbee

Nicky Summerbee was one of the few Swindon Town players to emerge from the Premier League season (1993 - 1994) with their reputation enhanced and in demand by other Premier League teams. With a running style all his own, once on the ball, it took a strong defender to remove it from what seemed like a magnetic force keeping it at Nicky's feet. A legendary crosser of the ball, the right wing was his domain and he made 108 (+27) appearances for Swindon Town. His England credentials stem from his 1 'B' International and 3 U-21 appearances.

Left Wing - "Sir" Don Rogers 

The Ides of March 1969 will live long in the memory of those fortunate to be both old enough to

remember that day and to have had the chance to be at Wembley for the League Cup Final. I was just under 4 years old, so do not remember any pre-match excitement in the town for the Division 3 v Division 1 clash, nor any of the post-match celebrations. What I do remember is being told about the event by the older boys in our street and, in particular, the part played by the legend that is "Sir" Don Rogers (487 + 3 appearances). I've watched the match several times and apart from the heroic display from goalkeeper Peter Downsborough, the contribution by Swindon Town's left winger was the most memorable aspect of the game. The third, and last, Swindon Town goal scored by Don Rogers is, in my opinion, the best goal ever scored at Wembley, new or old. When one considers that the game was in extra time, the heavy pitch, the tired legs and Bob Wilson was in goal for Arsenal for that game, the speed with which Rogers sprinted up the field from within his own half, the ball glued to his feet, and the finish whereby he took the ball around the floundering Scottish international goalkeeper, laying in the mud like a landed carp, and slotted the ball home to end the game, winning the League Cup for Swindon, then the attacking left winger is a must for any team. When leaving the County Ground for then Division 1 Crystal Palace, Don Rogers must have seemed a dead cert for achieving full international honours for his country. Unfortunately, he was never to feature in any of the England Managers' plans, but he does qualify for the Swindon Town All-Time England Team by virtue of representing England at Youth International, League Representative and U-23 International (2 appearances) levels.  

Right Midfield - Mike Summerbee

If persons of a certain age were to asked the question "For which team did Mike Summerbee play?" most would answer Manchester City. However, his first professional club was Swindon Town and in 244 appearances, he scored 40 goals. His natural position was as an outside right, but, for the Swindon Town All-Time England Team, I've moved him further into midfield. I remember seeing him on television playing for Manchester City and England and was impressed when my Dad told me that he used to play for Swindon Town. It would be interesting to see how he would have paired up with his son on the right wing. He played at League Representative level (1 appearance) and U-23 level (1 appearance), and won 8 Full International caps.

Left Midfield - Glenn Hoddle

Up to the 1991 -1992 season, I had seen some good players wearing the Swindon Town shirt, but,

when Glenn Hoddle wore the red of the Robins, his play was a class above. As Player-Manager, he controlled the field from the sweeper's position, but he was renowned as a midfield maestro before taking over the reins at the County Ground. Pinpoint accuracy was his forte, whether a cross-field pass or direct free kick, Hoddle could pass the ball to feet or hit the top corner of the goal all the time, every time. He played 73 (+2) games for Swindon Town scoring just 3 goals, but he was finally able to lay the ghost of 1990 when the club was denied its rightful place in the top tier of the English Football League, by leading them to a 4 - 3 win over Leicester City in the 1993 Division 1 Play Off final at Wembley. He didn't stay to manage the team in the Premier League, deciding that Chelsea was where his future lay, but he will always be remembered as the man who took Swindon Town to the Premier League. He represented his country at many levels - Youth International, U-21 International (12 appearances), 'B' International and Full International (53 appearances) - and is a must for the Swindon Town All-Time England Team.

Forward - Paul Rideout

Paul Rideout is a "local boy done good". Playing 109 (+5) times for Swindon Town, his home town club, Rideout scored 42 goals and was transferred to Aston Villa in 1983. A spell with Italian club Bari saw him return to English football at Southampton. He was loaned out to Swindon Town before moving to Notts County (then in the top flight Division 1) and then plied his trade north of the border for Rangers. In England, he will always be remembered for playing for Everton, the club he moved to after Rangers. The 1995 FA Cup Final saw Everton take on Manchester United and Rideout played in the striker's role for the Toffees. A counter attack by Everton saw the ball come back off the bar and Rideout was able to head home from just six yards out. At Schoolboy level Paul Rideout notably scored a hat trick against Scotland, a game that England lost 4 - 5 and which was actually televised live. He also represented his country at Youth International and U-21 International level (5 appearances), but never found favour with the England setup to achieve a Full International cap.  

Forward - Harold Fleming

Harold Fleming is the only Swindon Town player to represent England at Full International level

whilst playing for the club; he played eleven times for his country, scoring 9 times, a strike rate of 0.82 goals per game. Part of the successful Southern League Championship winning sides in 1911 and 1914 - the Southern League was the rival league to the northern Football League, so Swindon Town were the best of all the top southern clubs - he made 336 appearances for Swindon scoring 204 goals, a strike rate of 0.61 goals per game.

Substitutes

Tim Flowers

James Milner

Michael Carrick

Mark Walters

Paul Ince

Steve McMahon

Ryan Mason     

So, there you have it, my Swindon Town All-Time England Team. What's yours?

Buckhurst Field was our X-Box

Growing up on the council estate of Walcot in Swindon was not a bad experience in the '70s and '80s.

Buckhurst Field

There were no distractions from real life by way of electronic gizmos, 24 hour television or the internet. To keep busy, the children of the estate would actually go out and make the most of their free time, which for my family meant making use of the large expanse of grass in front of our house known as Buckhurst Field. With four boys out of a brood of five children, my parents had their hands full and were no doubt grateful for the active imaginations and sporting interests of their offspring which meant that, especially during the summer holidays, our daylight hours were spent on the field.

Not Buckhurst Field

With such a large litter, the house could be crowded, particularly when our mates were round. The Madness song, Our House, described our home completely; listen to the lyrics and that was the Rivers' house back in the day. To keep ourselves amused, we would be on the field playing football, re-enacting the FA Cup Final we had just witnessed on our big box of a television kindly supplied by Telebank. Or, the Ashes, as we took it in turns to be Ian Botham playing in the middle of the field with the cobbled together stumps and other hand-me-down cricket ephemera that everyone supplied as best they could. When there was no cricket equipment to be had, we used to play in front of our house using the lamppost as the stumps. We still used to use a real cricket ball, though and play right into the night-time - the lamppost provided its own floodlight, although it took a strong will to stay at the crease whilst the dark, red ball came hurtling at you from out of the darkness - playing until midnight during the summer holidays was a regular occurrence.

The other inherent danger came from the crease itself. With the bumps and ridges any ploughman would have been proud of, if the ball hit the right divot, it would take off like a rocket in any number of directions and once went straight through the living room window...mum was not chuffed! The reason for the divots was that, when we were younger and had not yet found the pleasure of hitting leather with willow, the area in front of the lamppost was home to the street's marbles arena where many a bejewelled glass ball would be won and lost as the local children population would take each other on, seeing who could get all their marbles into the hole. Thinking back, it must have annoyed the hell out of the neighbours as the ball hit the metal cover on the lamppost and its ringing clang told the street that Geoffrey Boycott was heading back to the pavilion.

One of the abiding memories for any child growing up on Buckhurst Crescent was the regular visit of

Jennings and Edwards Funfairs. My mother's purse never contained enough money to keep her brood fed, so there was never any disposable income to spend on fairground rides. That being said, the day the field was transformed into our own Alton Towers was always an exciting one. Watching the lorries arrive and witnessing the construction of the rides was quite a thrill for the local children and we would often get told to "clear off" by the hard-pressed men trying to put together the giant kits of Meccano whilst trying to keep hold of all their fingers; having gangs of interested kids getting in the way did not help the sense of an industry devoid of any notion of health and safety.

The location of our house, no. 27, lent itself to being the locus for our rich friends (they were going to spend money at the fair, so they must be rich was our thought). Our front garden would take on the semblance of a car park, as children from all over the area dumped their bikes on us as they went off to the fair. With hindsight, a small charge for each bike would have got us to the fair as paying customers rather than interested spectators. However, when they collected their bikes and went home, the fair was still there, in front of our house. In the summer, the bedroom I shared with my three brothers would get pretty stuffy - think of eight feet and four bottoms and I think you can guess the rest. Anyway, with the choice of inhaling "eau de brothers" or having a summer breeze blow through the chamber, the windows were open throughout the summer months. This was okay most of the time, but, when the fair was on the field, the noise was incessant and went on way past bedtime. For reasons best known to the fairground folk themselves, a generator like the one pictured above, would be parked in front of our house and would make a great thumping noise most of the day and night.

The chair o planes ride always seemed to be at the edge of the fair, in line with our house and when it started up, especially if it had the tilt top, would set the generator thumping faster and louder; annoying if you're trying to sleep. More annoying was the call of the pubescent teen put in charge of the ride. Often, in order to drum up business, one would hear over the PA system the call "one more car, two more riders" as the ride had to be balanced before it could be started up. Paying customers would wait an interminable age, dangling from the ride in a chair hung from what looked like the flimsiest of chains, as the last empty positions were slowly filled.

Coupled with the Carny call were the songs played as the customers were sent on a stomach-churning five minutes of "fun". In the age of cassette tapes, the ride had a limited collection of tunes with which to entertain the riders. There were three songs in particular that seemed to be played over and over to those brave enough to trust their lives to two lengths of steel chain as they were exposed to the centrifugal force of the ride. The first song that springs to mind was I Feel Love by Donna Summer. The next in the list was the Yvonne Elliman version of  If I Can't Have You with More Than a Woman by Tavares a close third. To this day, these to me are "two more riders" songs evoking the smell of the diesel generator, hot dogs, burgers and candy floss, and the noise of the funfair.

As a child, we didn't have much, but we did have Buckhurst Field. It may not be an all singing, all dancing piece of electronics that can play videos, connect you to the internet or thrust you into imaginary, computer-generated worlds, but it was all we needed back in the 20th century and it was our X-Box.

Charlie Austin England Call Up

The announcement today of the England Squad to play against Slovenia and the Republic of Ireland in the Euro 2016 qualifier, and friendly international, in June has given vindication to my call for Charlie Austin to represent his country. I first called for his inclusion into the senior team in November 2012 when, at that time, he was the highest scoring striker in Europe (Sporting Life & Zlatan Ibrahimovic). Since then, when he was playing for Burnley FC having been first given the chance to ply his trade as a professional footballer by Swindon Town, he has proved his worth in the Premier League playing for Queens Park Rangers. Perhaps the almost three years that has passed since my call for him to receive his first cap has allowed him to mature both physically and mentally and he will be better equipped to seize the chance that he has been given? However, I believe that the debacle that was the England performance in the World Cup 2014 may have been avoided if a natural goalscorer like Austin had been included in the squad.

It is heartening to see that a player nurtured by Swindon Town has now been given the opportunity to achieve the honour of representing his country. Nonetheless, it is a shame that those responsible for choosing who is included in the squad rarely, if ever, look further than the Premier League for those they deem good enough to play for England. As a Swindon Town fan, I believe the club should take pride in being involved in the development of someone who may prove to be the prolific goalscorer the England team has been sorely missing. 

Two other new inclusions to the England squad have been selected from teams towards the bottom end of the Premier League. One is Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) and the other is Tom Heaton (Burnley FC). Their inclusion, along with that of Charlie Austin, is due to the fact that Roy Hodgson's first choices are unavailable as they are due to play in the England U21 team in the Euro U21 2015 Finals in the Czech Republic this summer. I hope that they also seize the opportunity to shine and, therefore, pave the way for other decent players from less fashionable clubs to represent their country.

Tom Heaton

As an end note, Swindon Town could tenuously claim to have helped in Tom Heaton's development as he played on loan for the club in the 2005/2006 season. His parent club was Manchester United and he played in a total of 19 games for the Robins. The other member of the full England squad who has links to Swindon Town is James Milner who played for the club 6 times in the 2003/2004 season, scoring 2 goals in his time at the County Ground. 

Charlie Austin for England

Now, I want to state quite clearly from the outset that I am not related to Charlie Austin. He once played for Swindon Town and I am a Swindon Town fan; that's as far or close as our relationship goes. However, prior to signing for Swindon Town, he used to score goals seemingly at will with an incredible 1.12 goal per game ratio (64 goals in 57 appearances) for Poole Town in the Premier Division of the Wessex League. He signed for Swindon Town, went on to play for Burnley FC and then made it to the Premier League with Queens Park Rangers. At the time of writing, his current all time goal average (including all competitions for his non-league, Football League and Premier League clubs) stands at 0.63 from 204 goals in 324 appearances. Again, at the time of writing, he is the highest English scorer in the Premier League with 5 goals (see Addendum below for a correction to this statement)


Almost exactly two years ago, I wrote  blogposts on his exploits when he was playing for Burnley FC (Sporting Life & Zlatan Ibrahimovic) and was the leading goalscorer in Europe. He broke the Lancashire club's record for being the quickest player to score 20 goals in a season and finished his time with the Clarets on a goal average of 0.50. He is now playing for Queens Park Rangers and his goal per game ratio with the R's currently stands at an all time 0.54 with a score of 0.56 for the season so far.

The point of my quoting the statistics above is to highlight the goalscoring prowess of Charlie Austin. His most recent goal for QPR (see video), a cheeky backheel into the net against Chelsea, is indicative of a natural born striker and now that he is plying his trade in the English Premier League, he must surely be in the running for an England call up. To back up this statement, I've taken the liberty of analysing the goal per game ratio statistics of the current strikers in the England senior squad (and Daniel Sturridge) versus that of Charlie Austin. All figures are taken from www.soccerbase.com and only includes the players' statistics for teams for which they have played in the Football League and Premier League. The results are detailed in the table below:

Goal per Game Ratio for England Strikers

The table shows that, of all the current and potential England Senior Squad Strikers, his goal to game ratio is by far the best for all games played in the Football League and Premier League. If England are to have any chance of progressing to a major final in forthcoming tournaments, starting with Euro 2016, a natural goalscorer playing in a striker's role for England is a must. The statistics above speak for themselves - Roy Hodgson, when are you going to give Charlie Austin the England call up he deserves?

Addendum

I have an apology to make to the West Bromwich Albion player, Saido Berahino. He is currently the top scoring Englishman in the Premier League with 7 goals from 10 games, not Charlie Austin. I have to confess, following the fortunes of the teams in the lower reaches of the English football pyramid, I didn't realise that Saido Berahino had represented England at different levels (U16 to U21) having assumed that he would have represented his native Burundi. I now realise my folly and, with a strike rate of 0.62 (8 goals and 13 appearances) so far this season for WBA, perhaps he could be the perfect partner for Charlie Austin up front for England? His overall strike rate for WBA is 0.35 (17 goals and 49 appearances) with an all time career strike rate of 0.37 (29 goals and 79 appearances), at the age of 21, he can only develop...for better or worse, only time will tell. 

The Second Amendment is an Ass!

“It was all Mrs. Bumble. She would do it," urged Mr. Bumble; first looking round, to ascertain that his partner had left the room.

Mr. Bumble

That is no excuse," returned Mr. Brownlow. "You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets, and, indeed, are the more guilty of the two, in the eye of the law; for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction."

If the law supposes that," said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, "the law is a ass — a idiot. If that's the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience — by experience.”

- Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

The law in any civilised country is open to the interpretation of a competent barrister, who may, in the defence or prosecution of a case in a court of law, direct a jury to believe that the legislators meant one thing on drafting a statute, when the complete opposite is the case. There have been criminal proceedings in recent times (one in the USA springs to mind) where the evidence pointed to an obvious outcome only for the jury to be persuaded to arrive at a very different conclusion. Thankfully, many. but not all, miscarriages of justice are corrected at the appeal hearing, whereby an objective eye is cast over the merits of the case, and Law Lords (in the UK) pass sentence by defining what the law actually intended for society. However, occasionally, ancient laws, ones drafted in reaction to necessary changes in society at that time, are found to be irrelevant for contemporary civilisation.

In the UK, until 1960, when the Gambling Act - 1960 came into force, the law requiring all men under the age of 60 to have long bows and arrows with which to practice archery was still on the statute books. This antiquated law was enacted under the auspices of The Unlawful Games Act - 1541:

CAP. IX. An Act for the Maintenance of Artillery, and debarring unlawful Games. "RECITAL of Stats. 3 H.8.c.3. & 6 H.8.c.2. Several new devised Games the "Cause of the Decay of Archery. - All Men under the Age of sixty Years "shall have Bows and Arrows for shooting. Men-Children between Seven "Years and Seventeen shall have a Bow and 2 Shafts. Men about Seventeen "Years of Age shall keep a Bow and 4 Arrows - Penalty 6s.8d." (Extract)

English Bowman

From the above, the law required every Englishman between the ages of 17 and 60 (with various exemptions) to keep a longbow and regularly practice archery. Clearly, this was a necessity in the England of the later Middle Ages when there was no standing army with which to defend the realm and the king relied on the local noblemen to raise militia in times of war.  

So, in an ever-changing, dynamic society, laws need revisiting to ascertain whether they are still fit for purpose. This being true of the UK, it should be so for any of today's civilised world which has adopted the English style rule of law with which to govern that particular country. The English Bill of Rights - 1689 has within its provisions the right for Englishmen to bear arms:

"no royal interference in the freedom of the people to bear arms for their own defence as suitable to their class and as allowed by law"

This was a basic right designed to allow all Protestant Englishmen the ability to defend themselves from 

Child with a Gun!?

Papists until the introduction of The Firearms Act - 1920 over 200 years later. Subsequent Acts of Parliament have placed further restrictions on the rights of UK citizens to carry arms until now, unless you have a valid licence and a very good reason for needing that licence, if found in possession of a firearm, you will very quickly find yourself in custody. This makes for a much safer society than one where every man and his dog can carry a Kalashnikov with impunity.

The United States of America adopted the concept of the English Bill of Rights when amending The Constitution in the late eighteenth century. Ratified on 15th December 1791, the United States Bill of Rights included The Second Amendment to The Constitution which seems like it was taken straight from the English version with a variation on the wording:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"

In my previous post America's Obsession with the Gun, I argued the case that the draftees of The Second Amendment did so from the direct experience of the War of American Independence when there was no standing United States Army. In order to maintain a force capable of deterring a foreign power from interfering in the fledgling country's affairs, it was important that every able-bodied man in the new United States of America could help defend the country. Over 200 years later, this idea is an anachronism with the United States having the privilege of being the world's remaining superpower. Therefore, the need for "the People" to keep and bear arms is irrelevant. 

The tragic incident on 27th August 2014 at the Last Stop shooting range in White Hills Arizona, when an

UZI Submachine Gun

instructor was accidentally shot by a student, was alarming news when it was revealed that the student was a nine year old girl. What was equally alarming was the fact that she was learning to shoot an Uzi submachine gun, a close quarters weapon designed by the Israelis to help their soldiers eliminate their enemies when fighting in confined spaces. This incident beggars several questions from an incredulous Briton: 

1. At what point did her parents think that this was a good idea? 
2. At what point did the shooting range staff think this was a good idea?
3. Why didn't the shooting range staff question the logic of allowing a minor to shoot an automatic weapon which members of the armed forces would have to spend some time familiarising themselves with before being allowed to fire it on a controlled range? 

With the number of people killed by gunshot wounds (intentional and accidental) running at a rate of 10.30 per 100,000 population in 2011 in the USA, isn't it time for the country's legislators to revisit The Bill of Rights to determine whether it is still fit for purpose? With no need for a "well regulated Militia" in the United States of America, "the right of the People to keep and bear arms" is no longer a need. To quote Mr. Bumble, has not the USA "had his eye opened by experience"?

The Second Amendment is no longer relevant. The Second Amendment is an anachronism. The Second Amendment is an Ass!

The Football League Championship on Football Knowledge Website

The 2014 - 2015 Football season kicked off in England with Blackburn Rovers entertaining Cardiff City on Friday 8th August 2014. The score was a 1 - 1 draw with most of the possession going to Blackburn Rovers (65% according to BBC Sport). The first game of the season is always a cagey affair, so it's no surprise when most football matches in the first week of August end up as a draw or a narrow 1 - 0 win.

Nathan Thompson
Swindon Town Player of the Year 2013 & 2014

In League 1, Swindon Town take on Scunthorpe United at the County Ground and Robins fans can only hope for a season similar to the one just gone. Mark Cooper and Lee Power seem to have the know-how to get the best out of younger players and it's heartening to see Nathan Thompson, a product of the club's youth academy and still only 23, being given the Captain's armband for the coming season. With missing out on the play-offs in May a disappointment when, at the start of the 2013 - 2014 season, relegation fears were uppermost in most Swindon Town fans' minds, the story unfolding at the County Ground this coming football year will be equally as interesting as the one told between August 2013 and May 2014.

One thing that has kept my football interest going since the end of last season, the FIFA World Cup notwithstanding, is the ongoing development of my  Football Knowledge website. All the teams for The Premier League and The Football League Championship for this season now have an entry and their histories, notable players and other facts are now just one click of a button away. The idea has always been to give football fans a brief overview of, not only their own team, but the other clubs in the world of football - it is an ongoing project with the whole of the football world to map!

Fulham's Bedford Jezzard

Sheffield Wednesday's Redfern Froggatt

The Football League Championship, for me, is going to be a more fascinating league than the Premier League this season. It is such an eclectic mix of teams whose rich histories and past glories will see ex-European Champions rubbing shoulders with teams who last saw top drawer action in their formative years when the Football League was in its infancy. The names of players such as Fulham's Bedford Jezzard (3rd Top Goalscorer) and Sheffield Wednesday's Fedfern Froggatt (3rd Top Goalscorer) evoke images of Hobbits in Tolkein's Middle earth rather than the rain and mud of a mid-week football match in the depths of  an English winter.

One of the most notable of all the Football League's former players must be Steve Bloomer of Derby County (and Middlesbrough) fame. An England international, he was interned at the Ruhleben civilian detention camp at the onset of the First World War having gone to Germany to coach Britannia Berlin 92. His story is a fascinating one and is probably deserving of more than the traditional song, Steve Bloomer's Watching, played at Derby County. I would encourage all true football fans to research his story.

The next phase in the development of the Football Knowledge website will be League 1 - the chance to discover further stories of the teams that make up the Football League makes the journey a joy rather than a slog.

"Football Knowledge" Update

Football Knowledge - England Honours Page

Most people who have looked at my "Football Knowledge" website have liked what they've seen so far. The England pages are complete as are the Premier League pages for next season's teams. I'm working through the Championship teams and would like to finish the English Football League system up to and including the Conference Premier League by the start of the new season. In between, there is the World Cup to contend with, so it would be a good idea to include the national teams on the website for those countries taking part in Brazil 2014...not a lot of work, then!

QPR - Notable Players Page

If you've previously taken the time to look at "Football Knowledge", thank you. I have tinkered with the format to a point where I'm happy with the formulaic layout of the site, but, as always, constructive criticism is more than welcome. As mentioned in an earlier post (New "Football Knowledge" Website), the idea behind the website is to give all football fans an insight into the history of not only their club, but also the teams that their club may face. It is interesting, as I construct the site, to note how some of the so-called "bigger clubs" have not really had much success in their history, relative to their current position in the football league tier. Conversely, other "lower" clubs may have been seen as the team to beat early on in the life of the fledgling football leagues at the tail end of the nineteenth century.

Dropdown Menu

Club Buttons

Accessing the various team pages is an easy process. Finding your team in the dropdown menu is one way of getting access to the team's Home Page. The other way to access the same page is to click on the appropriate title in the navbar. So, for example, clicking on The Premier League will take you to the page for that league. At the bottom of the page are the team buttons which, when clicked, will take you to the team's Home Page.

Steve Bloomer
Derby County, Middlesbrough & England

Some of the "Notable Players" (Most Appearances Top 3 and Most Goals Top 3) have led fascinating lives inside and outside of the footballing world. One player who springs immediately to mind is Steve Bloomer who played for Derby County from 1892 - 1906 and 1910 - 1914. Number three in the Most Appearances Top 3 list with 525 appearances for the club, Steve Bloomer is also the club's all time top scorer with 332 Derby County goals to his credit. On retiring from playing the game in 1914, he left England to pursue a career in coaching/management in Germany for Britannia Berlin 92, a football club formed in 1892  and a founding member of the DFB (German Football Association) in 1900. Within three weeks of arriving, war was declared between Great Britain and Germany, and Steve Bloomer, along with thousands of

other British nationals, was interned in the Ruhleben civilian detention camp near Spandau in Germany. The camp was akin to a small town and the society adopted the British way of life with its own police force and postal service. Sport was an integral part of the camp life and the Ruhleben Football Association was one of the many social aspects of the internees. A league and cup competition was organised and many ex-professional players who also found themselves interned for the duration of the war helped with the organisation of the Ruhleben FA and also played for one of the member clubs. This is an interesting aspect of the First World War which has not been widely reported, at least not in my lifetime, and is a subject I intend to research...watch this space.