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For any soccer fan, a visit to the new Wembley Stadium is a must. Not only is it one of the world’s most outstanding modern stadiums, but is host to the best of English football and features a veritable ‘footie-fest’ of the nation’s leading cup finals and Football League play-offs every season.
The Football Association – the sport’s governing body – is planning a £12million move of its administrative headquarters from Soho Square to the new Stadium during July 2009. As Wembley is also the home venue for all of England’s international fixtures – including the qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup Finals – the move will firmly establish the stadium as the ‘home of English football’.
As the English football season progresses towards its climax in May, Wembley hosts a number of prestigious finals including the traditional finale to the football season – the FA Cup Final. But, before that the cup final season begins in either late February or early March with the staging of the Carling Cup Final. This show piece cup competition of the Football League will celebrate its 50th anniversary at Wembley in 2010.
Next up is the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final played at Wembley in early April. This competition is exclusively for clubs that compete in League One and League Two of the Football League. The 2009 final was an absolute thriller with Luton beating Scunthorpe 3-2 after extra time in front of a substantial lower league football crowd of 53,378.
In May the games come thick and fast at the Stadium, starting with the FA Trophy Final and FA Vase Final, played on successive days on the second weekend of the month.
Next, and still in May, the Football League hosts the Play-off finals when the last promotion spots for The Championship, League One and League Two are decided. Indeed, The Football League Championship play-off final – normally played on late May Bank Holiday Monday – is billed as football’s most lucrative ‘one-off’ game. The winners will be promoted to the Barclays Premier League and with that comes access to lucrative TV money.
Finally, the last weekend in May sees the traditional season finale; the FA Cup final. This is one of the few ‘protected’ games to be televised live on terrestrial channels and is the daddy of all football competition finals. As you can see, May is also the month when the owners of London hotels – particularly those situated around Wembley – rub their hands in glee at the glut of ‘no vacancies’ signs, as they accommodate the thousands of football fans travelling to the capital to watch their teams in action.
But, fans of football that can’t get a ticket to a game at Wembley needn’t despair. They can still access the stadium and sample its marvellous features at first-hand by buying a Stadium tour ticket.
Paul McIndoe writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
English Soccer History – Early Days
It’s hard to determine exactly how soccer became so popular in England in the 19th century, but the truth is that in the mid 19th century, almost every major town had a semi-professional soccer team. These teams were usually associations of workers from the same factory or institution or simply students at a local University.
Matches between those teams were played occasionally, with little to no prize, but only for competition’s sake. However, these matches were played without any rules or a referee and as soccer isn’t necessarily a sport that’s completely clean of violence, all it took was a harsh tackle or an argument about a particular rule to start a bloody fight between the two teams and their supporters.
But the year 1863 marked an extremely important chapter in English soccer history, as several soccer clubs from all over the country (prominently from London) met up in the English capital and set up a sort of “soccer constitution” called the Laws of the Game (a modified version of the original rules are still in effect today and are still called as such).
That was also the birth certificate of the Football Association, or simply FA that is still ruling over English soccer nowadays and had a tremendous importance throughout the history of soccer in England and the way it evolved.
English Soccer History – Important Milestones
With England being rightfully considered the inventors of modern soccer, one would expect them to be amongst the most successful national squads in the World. However, despite having some world class soccer players throughout time and despite always being favorites for the competitions they start in, the English national squad only achieved few important milestones throughout the entire soccer history in England.
The apogee of English soccer and the most important chapter ever to be written in the entire history of soccer in England was definitely the successful World Cup run in 1966, a competition that was held on English ground, giving them the advantage to grasp their long-awaited trophy.
The 1966 team, captained by legendary Bobby Moore and with other key components such as Jackie Charlton or Geoff Hurst playing regularly, remains the best national squad in the entire English soccer history, especially since their success has not been equaled ever since.
English Soccer History – Modern Era
England is still a top team in Europe and throughout the World and has some players that are considered having world class quality, but the national team still has moderate success, despite being star-studded.
Recently, the form of English clubs overshadowed the poor performance of the national team, as Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal continue to be heavy contenders for each year’s European Champion’s League, the most prestigious club competition in the World.
Despite being happy with the respect English clubs impose in Europe, fans are still yearning for that long awaited European or World Cup which could mark a new important chapter in the English soccer history.
The Premier League has swung firmly back into action and spread bettors up and down the country have already enjoyed some tremendously exciting games. All eyes will be on Old Trafford on Saturday evening, but having already previewed that game we’ll take a look at some of the slightly less fashionable contests. Bolton have made a slow start to the season and those spread bettors getting against the Trotters have made healthy profits from the
Since it’s establishment in 1992, the F.A Premier League has long been regarded as the best football (or soccer – depending on where you reside) league in the world. It is seen as the best stage for the professionals that play the game to ply their trade in front of millions watching across the globe. Backed by flocks of passionate fans, young and old alike, the Premier League boasts a support base unprecedented by any other competitive league
