Football Nostalgia

The 1974 World Cup was staged in West Germany and as luck would have it, their neighbours, East Germany, had qualified for the finals and were drawn together in the same group. They were scheduled to meet on Saturday 22nd of June 1974. This would be their first encounter in the days of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. The West Germans were well fancied to win the cup and few gave their neighbours any chance of upsetting Helmut Schoen's apple cart, with the likes of Beckenbauer and Muller onboard. However, Jurgen Sparwasser and his East German team mates had not read the script. By clicking on the link below, you can read an interesting article relating to this historical encounter. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47456049

Here's an article I wrote back in 2015 with British clubs eliminated from the Champions League prior to the semi-final stage. One wonders if Manchester City or United, Liverpool or Spurs can restore some British pride? British Soccer Leaves the Euro Zone! With this being election year and much talk about the possibility of Britain leaving the Euro zone in the wake of a Conservative victory, it seems that British football clubs have stolen a march on the politicians! Despite the Premier League’s huge revenue generating capacity for the privileged few, some would say at the expense of the interests of the English national team and lower leagues, the English and indeed the British teams have once again been found wanting at the top table of European football! As I reflected upon this sad state of affairs while devouring ITV’s latest helping from the Champions League at the semi-final stage, courtesy of the old lady of Juventus and the Galácticos of Real Madrid, my wandering m...

David Williams Cancer Appeal In November 1988, Ceredigion and beyond was shocked by the sudden death of David Williams of Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, who was only 39 years old. He was the Headmaster of Llanfihangel y Creuddyn Primary School, but it is fair to say that he was famous across the whole of Wales, as a highly talented footballer and one of the best ever strikers of all time in the country. Everyone knew him as ' Dias ', named after a famous Brazilian footballer who starred in the 1960 World Cup. ' Dias ' was a faithful supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers. One of his dreams was realised a few months before his death, when he had the opportunity to watch Wolves play in a final at Wembley, beating Burnley to win the ' Sherpa Vans Trophy. Unfortunately this gifted, popular and generous character was lost in a devestatingly sudden manner, as a result of pancreatic cancer, leaving a remarkable void in so many people’s lives. It is now 30 years since ...