The Football History Boys

To translate the article click the translate option on the sidebar! (Los equipos) “compuestos de ingleses o hijos de ingleses nunca quieren ser considerados otra cosa que británicos. Pero en la cosa que más aman, que es el sport (sic), toman nacionalidades de uruguayos y argentinos” (Pedro Varela, presidente uruguayo, abril de 1868, antes de un partido de cricket entre británicos “uruguayos y argentinos”)1. “Patria es la selección nacional de fútbol” (Albert Camus)2 Cuando el equipo nacional argentino de fútbol le ganó a los sudafricanos en Buenos Aires en 1906, el diario The Standard –de la comunidad británica- saludó la victoria como el nacimiento de “una nueva era” para la República, sin aclarar si se refería sólo a lo deportivo. La revista El Gráfico señaló en 1923 que el fútbol sería fundamental en Argentina porque permitiría a la Nación expresarse a sí misma a través de un equipo “nacional” (Archetti, 1995, 2003: 95). ¿Qué es lo que ponen de manifiesto ambos comentarios periodíst

In the modern game, we can often get swept up in the trials and tribulations of clubs in the top-flight. It has caused a divide between the bigger and 'smaller' clubs. One of such sides are Halifax Town. Notable for their remarkable FA Cup runs they would make it a habit of reaching the later rounds. Their Fourth Round tie against Stoke City on January 31, 1953 turned out to be one of the many great days the club experienced. In fact, this wasn’t even the first time they went on an impressive cup run. In 1933, they made a run to the fifth round by not seeing a side higher than their third tier status. Twenty years later, however, upon reaching the fifth round, their journey would see a number of top-flight sides succumb to the might of the Shaymen. Founded in 1911, Halifax Town's earliest days would see the club feature initially in the Yorkshire Combination and the Midland League before becoming a founding member of the Third Division North. The interwar and post-war perio

On one of our first podcasts, Gareth and I decided to dedicate the hour of discussion to one thing, the transfer window. In recent seasons, the amounts spent on players have frequently totaled well over a billion pounds with remarkable figures being put on fairly unremarkable players. "The game's gone mad", I hear you say - but is this anything new? Indeed, it is common to find twitter feeds and articles entitled 'Against Modern Football' - but what does this really mean? In this piece, we are going back to the turn of the twentieth-century as football reached crisis point. It is fair to say that the transfer window has always caused conflict and debate. The Victorian sporting revolution had promised a reintroduction of 'Christian values' to a what many saw as an increasingly immoral society. Starting in the public schools - the next leaders of the country would help to disseminate 'strength, loyalty and manly prowess' throughout the nation. Sport

10th June 1934 - Italy win the second ever FIFA World Cup 2-1 after extra-time against Czechoslovakia. The trophy was won on home soil to the immense pride of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini with a side featuring the likes of Giuseppe Meazza, Raimundo 'Mumo' Orsi and Giovanni Ferrari. In November 1934, the new 'world champions' would arrive in England to take on the self-proclaimed 'inventors' of football. Italy lift the 1934 FIFA World Cup Despite 1934 being a 'world' cup, the tournament still did not represent some of the major footballing nations of the world. As a governing body, the English Football Association joined FIFA in 1905, but refused to back or participate in the first World Cup . Charles Sutcliffe, one of the FA's key men, believed that FIFA "magnified the midgets" in giving each association an equal vote (1). This stance was agreed with by the other 'home nations' and continued in 1934 too, with Sutclif