billsportsmaps.com

August 26, 2022

2022-23 EFL Championship [2nd division] – Location-map, with 2021-22 attendance chart./+ The 3 clubs promoted to the Championship in 2022…Wigan Athletic, Rotherham United, Sunderland AFC.

Filed under: 2022-23 English football,Eng-2nd Level/Champ'ship — admin @ 12:44 pm

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2022-23 EFL Championship [2nd division] – Location-map, with 2021-22 attendance chart




By Bill Turianski on the 26th of August 2022; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-2022-23 EFL Championship (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, stats, attendances, etc…Summary – EFL Championship [2022-23] (soccerway.com).
-Championship 2022-23 preview: the contenders, hopefuls and strugglers (by Ben Fisher on 26 July 2022 at theguardian.com/football).

Quick clicks to the 3 promoted teams illustrations…
-Wigan Athletic – promoted in 2022.
-Rotherham United – promoted in 2022.
-Sunderland – promoted in 2022.

2022-23 EFL Championship [2nd division] – Location-map, with 2021-22 attendance.
The map here is a new template, one which I will have for the top 4 divisions in England this year. The map is a basic location-map, with inset maps of both Greater London and the West Midlands (including Birmingham). I was considering also employing an inset-map for the four nearby clubs from Lancashire (Blackpool, Preston, Blackburn, Burnley), but I was able to fit them in the main map. Also shown are small labels which point out the three promoted clubs (Wigan Athletic, Rotherham United, Sunderland). And there is an attendance chart.

The attendance chart shows 4 things for each of the 24 current Championship clubs…A) 2021-22 finish (with relegations and promotions noted). B) 2021-22 average attendance [from home league matches]. C) Stadium capacity [2021-22]. D) Percent-capacity [2021-22]. Twelve current 2nd tier clubs filled their stadiums last season to 70%-capacity or higher: just-relegated Norwich City (99%-capacity), Luton Town (95%), just-relegated Watford (93%), just-relegated Burnley (87%), Blackpool (83%), Swansea City (82%), West Bromwich (80%), Queens Park Rangers (78%), just-promoted Rotherham (78%), Huddersfield Town (72%), Bristol City (71%), Stoke City (70%).

Below are illustrations for the 3 clubs which won promotion to the 3rd tier last season (Wigan Athletic, Rotherham United, Sunderland).

Wigan Athletic: promoted back to the 2nd division after 2 years.
-Sat 30 April 2022 League One: Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Wigan Athletic (bbc.com/sport).
wigan-athletic_promoted-2022_dw-stadium_leam-richardson_e_.gif"
Photo and Image credits above – Coat of arms of Wigan, from heraldry-wiki.com. 2021-22 WAFC jersey, from footballkitarchive.com. Quotation about Wigan Pier, from penninewaterways.co.uk/[Wigan Pier]. Wigan Pier, photo by Jeffrey Patrick Webb at flickr.com. 2012-13 Wigan away jersey badge, photo from footunijapan.com. DW Stadium aerial drone image, from video uploaded by Neil Timothy at youtube.com. -Leam Richardson, photo from wigantoday.net/sport. -Will Keane, photo from wiganathletic.com/news. -Jack Whatmough, photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images via examinerlive.co.uk/sport. -James MCClean, photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images via sunderlandecho.com/sport. Goal tally from soccerway.com. 2021-22 Wigan Athletic away (red) jersey badge, photo from footballkitarchive.com. -Will Keane applauds traveling fans after scoring from the penalty spot, screenshot from video uploaded by Wigan Athletic at youtube.com. -Wigan players celebrate after the final whistle, screenshot from video uploaded by skysports.com.




Rotherham United – promoted straight back to the 2nd division after 1 year (for the third time in a row).
-Gillingham 0-2 Rotherham United [Sat 30 April 2022] (bbc.com/sport).
rotherham-united_promoted-2022_new-york-stadium_paul-warne_i_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Coat of arms of Rotherham, from heraldry-wiki.com. 2021-22 RUFC jersey, from footballkitarchive.com. Photo of Rotherham, by Getty Images/Anna Gowthorpe at t0.gstatic.com. New York Stadium in Rotherham, photo from aessealnewyorkstadium.com/gallery. -Paul Warne (Rotherham United manager), photo from themillers.co.uk/news. -Michael Ihiekwe, photo from themillers.co.uk/news. -Daniel Barlaser, photo by shutterstock.com. -Michael Smith, photo unattributed at footballleagueworld.co.uk. -Rotherham fans hold Daniel Barlaser aloft, photo by Daniel Bearham/Colorsport via thetimes.co.uk.




Sunderland AFC – promoted back to the 2nd division after 4 years.
-Sunderland soar back to Championship with playoff final win over Wycombe (by Ben Fisher on 21 May 2022 at theguardian.com/football).
-How Alex Neil has got Sunderland back on the up: ‘We’re having a real go, just differently’ (by Michael Walker on 29 July 2022 at theathletic.com).
sunderland-afc_promoted-2022_stadium-of-light_alex-neil_h_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – File:Arms of the Sunderland City Council.svg (by IndysNotHere at commons.wikimedia.org). 2021-22 Sunderland jersey, photo unattributed at footyheadlines.com. Sunderland 2021-22 jersey badge, photo from thenewkits.com. SAFC badges, from historicalkits.co.uk/Sunderland. Wearmouth Bridge, with Stadium of Light in the background, photo unattributed at news.com.au/lifestyle. Aerial shot of the Stadium of Light, from safc.com/history/stadiums. -Alex Neil, photo from twitter.com/[@SunderlandAFC] via sportslumo.com/football. -12′, Elliot Embleton scores off a partial deflection, photo by Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/sport. -79′ Ross Stewart scores from the top of the box stroking a low shot into the left corner, photo by Getty Images via dailymail.co.uk/sport. -Sunderland fans at Wembley (over 46,000), photo by Sunderland AFC via Getty Images via chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/gallery.




___
Thanks to all at the following links…
-Blank map of English Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Counties, by Nilfanion, at File:English metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties 2010.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg (en.wikipedia.org).
-Blank relief map of West Midlands, by Nilfanion (using Ordnance Survey data), at File:West Midlands UK relief location map.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Historical attendance figures, european-football-statistics.co.uk.
-2021-22 attendance figures from worldfootball.net/attendance/eng-league-two-2021-2022.
-Seasons in Football League by Club: Club League Divisional History Summary 1888-89 to 2020-21 (myfootballfacts.com);
fchd.info (Football Club History Database);
England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2018/19 (rsssf.com).
-Player-positions: transfermarkt.us.
-Distances: mapdevelopers.com/distance_from_to.php (mapdevelopers.com).
-PFA League One Team of the Year [2022] (thepfa.com).
-Football Manager EFL Team of the Season [2022] (efl.com/news).

August 18, 2021

2021-22 EFL Championship: Location-map, with League History chart./+ The three clubs promoted to the 2nd division (EFL Championship) in 2021…Hull City AFC, Peterborough United, Blackpool.

Filed under: 2021-22 English football,Eng-2nd Level/Champ'ship — admin @ 1:31 pm

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2021-22 EFL Championship: Location-map, with League History chart




By Bill Turianski on the 18th of August 2021; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-2021-22 EFL Championship (en.wikipedia.org).
-Summary – Championship (ENG): results, fixtures, table, etc (soccerway.com).
-Championship 2021-22 season preview (by Ben Fisher at theguardian.com/football).

2021-22 EFL Championship: Location-map, with League History chart
This is a new template, which features a standard location-map, plus a chart which shows the League History of all the clubs in the division. As well as showing the locations and crests of the 24 Championship clubs this season, the main map includes the 58 Unitary authorities of England, and shows the major Urban Areas of England and Wales.

The League History chart lists the total seasons that each club has played in the 1st level [Premier League], the 2nd level [EFL Championship], the 3rd level [EFL League One], and the 4th level [EFL League Two]. Alongside each column there is also listed the most recent season each club has played in each level.

The League History chart also shows the total League seasons of each club (in the dark-blue column). (Total League seasons is: all Football League seasons plus all Premier League seasons that a club has played.) 2021-22 is the 123rd season of League football in England: 1888-89 to 1914-15; 1919-20 to 1938-39; 1947-48 to 2021-22. There were 12 founding members of the Football League in 1888-89, and seeing how one of those clubs is defunct (Accrington FC), and seeing how one of those clubs has been relegated out of the Football League (Notts County), that means there are only 10 clubs in England that have played all 123 seasons of League football. Five of those clubs play in the Championship this season…Blackburn Rovers, Derby County, Preston North End, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion.

    The three clubs promoted to the 2nd division (EFL Championship) in 2021…Hull City, Peterborough United, Blackpool.

    Hull City: promoted back to the 2nd division after 1 year…

[Note: you can click on the image below to view in a separate, scrollable screen.]
hull-city-afc_promoted-2021_mkm-stadium_grant-mccann_l-coyle_c-elder_g-honeyman_m-wilks_j-magennis_k-lewis-porter_h_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – 20/21 Hull City AFC jersey, unattributed at footyheadlines.com. Victoria Square in Hull, photo by Jonathan CK Webb at webbaviation.co.uk. MKM Stadium, photo by Paul Lakin via stadiumjourney.com. -Grant McCann (manager), photo by Dave Howarth/CameraSport via hulldailymail.co.uk/sport. -Lewie Coyle (RB/RMF), photo from wearehullcity.co.uk/news. -Callum Elder (LB/CB), photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images via the72.co.uk. -George Honeyman (AMF/RW/LW), photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images via the72.co.uk. -Mallik Wilks (RW/CF/LW), photo from wearehullcity.co.uk/news. -Josh Magennis (CF/RW/RB), photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. -Keane Lewis-Potter (LW/RW/CF), photo unattributed at newschainonline.com/sport.




    Peterborough United: promoted back to the 2nd division after 8 years…

[Note: you can click on the image below to view in a separate, scrollable screen.]
peterborough-utd_promoted-2021_london-road-stadium_darren-ferguson_j-clarke-harris_s-szmodics_s-dembele_j-ward_i_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – 20/21 Peterborough Utd jersey, photo unattributed at footyheadlines.com. Central Peterborough including Peterborough Cathedral, photo by Getty Images via mirror.co.uk. London Road Stadium, image from Google Earth via video uploaded by EspritScapes – Stadionlandschaften at youtube.com. -Darren Ferguson, photo unattributed at peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport. -Jonson Clarke-Harris (CF), photo by Getty Images via examinerlive.co.uk/sport. -Sammie Szmodics (AMF), photo by Brandon Collyer via fourfourtwo.com. -Siriki Dembélé (CF/LW/RW), photo by Getty Images via grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/sport. -Joe Ward (RMF/RW/RB), photo by Joe Dent/theposh.com via peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport.




    Blackpool: promoted back to the 2nd division after 6 years…

[Note: you can click on the image below to view in a separate, scrollable screen.]
blackpool-fc_promoted-2021_bloomfield-road_neil-critchley_c-maxwell_j-yates_e-sims_s-kaikai_k-dougall_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – 20/21 Blackpool jersey, photo unattributed at footyheadlines.com. Blackpool coat of arms from heraldry-wiki.com. Bloomfield Road, with Blackpool Tower in background, photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@superbfootypics]. -Neil Critchley (manager), photo unattributed at harrogateadvertiser.co.uk/sport. -Chris Maxwell (GK), photo from Blackpool FC via ab1gk.com/news. -Jerry Yates (CF/RW/LW), photo by Richard Sellars/PA Images via gettyimages.com. -Ellis Sims (CF), photo by Paul Greenwood/CameraSport via Getty Images via tbrfootball.com. -Sullay Kaikai (LW/RW/AMF), photo by Dave Howarth/CameraSport via Getty Images via gettyimages.com. -34′ Kenny Dougall scores the first of his two goals in 2021 League One final, photo by Getty Images via bbc.com/sport. -Captain Chris maxwell accepts the trophy, screenshot from video uploaded by beIN Sports Australia at youtube.com.

___
Thanks to all at the following links…
-Blank map of English Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Counties, by Nilfanion, at File:English metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties 2010.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg (en.wikipedia.org).
-PFA League Two Team of the Year [2021].
-Historical attendance figures, european-football-statistics.co.uk.
-Seasons in Football League by Club: Club League Divisional History Summary 1888-89 to 2020-21 (myfootballfacts.com)
;fchd.info (Football Club History Database)
;England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2018/19 (rsssf.com).
-Player-positions: transfermarkt.us.
-Distances: mapdevelopers.com/distance_from_to.php (mapdevelopers.com).

September 24, 2020

2020-21 EFL Championship location-map, with 2019-20 Modified table, with attendances + Seasons-in-1st-division & Seasons-in-2nd-division (current EFL Championship clubs)./ Plus, illustrations for the 3 promoted clubs (Coventry City, Rotherham United, Wycombe Wanderers).

Filed under: 2020-21 English football,Eng-2nd Level/Champ'ship — admin @ 8:03 pm

2020-21_efl-championship_map_with_2019-20-modified-table_2019-20-crowds_all-time-seasons-in-1st-div-and-2nd-div-for-the-24-clubs_all-time-titles-list_post_b_.gif
2020-21 EFL Championship location-map, with 2019-20 Modified table, with attendances + Seasons-in-1st-division & Seasons-in-2nd-division (current EFL Championship clubs)



By Bill Turianski on the 24th of September 2020; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

    Below are illustrations for the 3 newly-promoted clubs in the EFL Championship (Coventry City, Rotherham United, Wycombe Wanderers).

    Below: the 2020 EFL League One champions: Coventry City (the homeless Coventry City returns to the 2nd tier, after an 8-year spell in the lower Leagues)…
    coventy-city_promoted-2020_ricoh-arena-dispute-with-map-of-ccfc-venues_mark-robins_matt-godden_jordan-shipley_fankaty-dabo_liam-walsh_f_.gif
    Photo and Image credits above – Blank map of UK metroploitan & non-metropolitan counties, by Nilfanion at commons.wikimedia.org. Aerial shot of Ricoh Arena unattributed at psam.uk.com. Illustrations of the three 2019-20 Coventry City jerseys: illustrations by footballshirthistory.weebly.com/[Coventry City]. Mark Robins, photo from ccfc.co.uk/news. Matt Godden, photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images via portsmouth.co.uk/sport. Jordan Shipley, photo from PA Wire via newschain.uk/sport. Fankaty Dabo, photo by AMA Sports Photo Agency via coventrytelegraph.net/sport. Liam Walsh, photo from ccfc.co.uk/news




    Below: Rotherham United: 2nd place finish in the 2019-20 EFL League One (Rotherham are promoted straight back to the 2nd division)…
    rotherham-united_promoted-2020_new-york-stadium_paul-warne_freddie-ladapo_matt-crooks_michael-smith_michael-ihiekwe_daniel-barlaser_e_.gif
    Photo and Image credits above – Aerial shot of the New York Stadium, photo from burgesscommercial.co.uk/properties. Exterior shot of the New York Stadium, from yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport. Illustrations of the three 2019-20 Rotherham United jerseys: illustrations by footballshirthistory.weebly.com/[Rotherham United]. Paul Warne, photo from rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news. Freddie Ladapo, photo from rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news. Matt Crooks, photo by JR Brailsford via facebook.com. Michael Smith, photo from themillers.co.uk/news. Michael Ihiekwe, photo from thestar.co.uk/sport. Daniel Barlaser, photo by Nigel French/PA Images via Getty Images via gettyimages.com.




    Below: Wycombe Wanderers: 2020 EFL League One Play-off Final winners (Wycombe are promoted to the 2nd division for the first time in the club’s 133-year history)…
    wycombe-wanderers_promoted-2020_adams-park_gareth-ainsworth_joe-jacobson_adebayo-akinfenwa_anthony-stewart_matt-bloomfield_i_.gif
    Photo and Image credits above – Shot of Adams Park from wycombewanderers.co.uk/news. Pre-game scene outside Adams Park (Chairboys Village), photo from twitter.com/[@wwfcofficial]. Stained-glass window at High Wycombe Guildhall, marking the end of the First World War [made circa 1919], photo by Thorskegga Thorn at flickr.com. 3 Wycombe Wanderers chained-goose crests (1930s, 1990s, 1999) from hisoricalkits.co.uk/Wycombe_Wanderers. Illustrations of the two 2019-20 Wycombe Wanderers’ jerseys, by footballshirthistory.weebly.com/w—y/category/wycombe-wanderers. Gareth Ainsworth, photo by PRiME Media Images via bucksfreepress.co.uk/sport. Joe Jacobson, photo from skysports.com/football/news. Adebayo Akinfenwa, photo from bucksfreepress.co.uk/sport. 1st goal in Play-off Final (Anthony Stewart), image from screenshot from video uploaded by EFL at youtube.com. Anthony Stewart and teammates celebrate 1st goal, photo from twitter.com/[@wwfcofficial]. Joe Jacobson scores 2nd goal from penalty spot, photo by Getty Images via bbc.com/sport/football. Post-match celebration (Captain Matt Bloomfield and Adebayo Akinfenwa lift the trophy), image from screenshot from video uploaded by EFL at youtube.com.

___
Thanks to all at the following
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.
-Club histories, from Football Club History Database at fchd.info/[index].
-Seasons in 1st division (all-time), from RSSSF at England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2018/19 (rsssf.com).
-Seasons in 2nd division, 3rd division, 4th division (all-time), from myfootballfacts.com – Club League History Summary 1888-89 to 2020-21.
-2019-20 kit illustrations from footballshirthistory.weebly.com.
-Thanks to the contributors at EFL Championship (en.wikipedia.org).

December 11, 2019

2019-20 EFL Championship (2nd division England): map w/ 18/19-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division./+ Top of the table chart (showing each of the 6 top teams’ managers & their leading scorer).

Filed under: 2019-20 English Football,Eng-2nd Level/Champ'ship — admin @ 9:47 pm

2019-20_football-league-championship_map_w-2019-crowds_titles_seasons-in-1st-division_post_c_.gif
2019-20 EFL Championship (2nd division England): map w/ 18/19-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division





By Bill Turianski on 11 December 2019; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
-2019-20 EFL League Championship (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, attendance, stats…CHAMPIONSHIP [Summary] (soccerway.com).
-Kits…Sky Bet Championship 2019 – 2020 [kits] (historicalkits.co.uk).

    EFL Championship – Top of the table as of 12 December 2019 (20-to-21 games played / ~43% of the season played):
    Shown below are each of the 6 top teams’ manager & their leading scorer…

2019-20_football-league-championship_top-6-teams_as-of-12-dec-2019_manager-and-top-scorer_leeds-utd_west-bromwich_fulham_bristol-city_nottingham-forest_preston_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Table (screenshot) from worldfootball.net/competition/eng-championship.
Leeds Utd: Marcelo Bielsa, photo by Getty Images via telegraph.co.uk/football; Patrick Bamford, photo from yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport.
West Bromwich: Slaven Bilić, photo from wba.co.uk; Matt Phillips, photo from wba.co.uk/teams.
Fulham: Scott Parker, photo by EPA via standard.co.uk/sport; Aleksandar Mitrović, photo from fulhamfc.com/news.
Bristol City: Lee Johnson, photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images via hitc.com, Andreas Weimann, photo by Reuters via sportsmole.co.uk/football.
Nottingham Forest: Sabri Lamouchi, photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images via nottinghamforest.news; Lewis Grabban, photo by James Chance/Getty Images via nottinghamforest.news.
Preston North End: Alex Neil, photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images via hitc.com; Daniel Johnson, photo by David Shipman/Camera Sport via Getty Images via hitc.com.
___
Thanks to all at the following…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.
-England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2015/16 (rsssf.com).
-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.
-EFL Championship 2018-19.

August 22, 2018

2018-19 Football League Championship (2nd division England, incl. Wales): map w/ 17/18-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division./+ 3 promoted clubs for the 2018-19 2nd division (Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers, Rotherham United).

Filed under: 2018-19 English football,Eng-2nd Level/Champ'ship — admin @ 12:02 pm

2018-19_football-league-championship_map_w-2018-crowds_titles_seasons-in-1st-division_post_c_.gif
2018-19 Football League Championship (2nd division England): map w/ 17/18-crowds-&-finishes + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division




By Bill Turianski on 22 August 2018; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
-2018-19 Football League Championship (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, attendance, stats…CHAMPIONSHIP [Summary] (soccerway.com).
-Sky Bet Championship 2018 – 2019 [kits] (historicalkits.co.uk).


A brief re-cap of the 2017-18 League Championship [the English 2nd division]…
Promoted to the Premier League…Wolverhampton Wanderers, Cardiff City, Fulham. {see this post, billsportsmaps.com/[2018-19 Premier League]}.
Relegated from the Premier League down to the 2nd division are…Stoke City, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion.
Relegated from the 2nd division down to the 3rd division are… Sunderland, Burton Albion, Barnsley.

Promoted up from the 3rd division and into the 2nd division are the three clubs profiled below…Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers, Rotherham United.
All 3 clubs relegated in the 2016-17 EFL Championship won promotion straight back to the 2nd division for 2018-19.

    Below: the 3 promoted clubs to the 2018-19 EFL Championship [England, 2nd division] (Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers, Rotherham United)…

• Wigan Athletic FC. Est. 1932. Nickname: the Latics. Colours: Light Royal Blue and White [usually with blue/white vertically-striped jerseys]. Location: Wigan, Greater Manchester, situated (by road) 41 km (27 mi) NW of Manchester; and situated (by road) 37 km (23 mi) NE of Liverpool. Population of Wigan: town-population is around 97,000; borough-population is around 318,000 {2011 census}.
Manager of Wigan Athletic: Paul Cook (age 51; born in Liverpool). {Paul Cook (leaguemanagers.com).} In the past 5 seasons, Paul Cook has gotten 3 Football League teams promoted: Chesterfield (in 2014, promoted to the 3rd div), Portsmouth (in 2017, promoted to the 3rd div), and now Wigan (in 2018, promoted to the 2nd div).

-Paul Cook commits to Wigan after promotion to Sky Bet Championship (from 8 May 2018 at skysports.com).

2018: Wigan Athletic bounce straight back to the 2nd division…
wigan-athletic_promoted-2018_dw-stadium_paul-cook_dan-burn_nathan-byrne_sam-morsy_nick-powell_will-grigg_f_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Wigan Athletic 17/18 jersey, photo from laticsstore.com. Wigan town centre, photo by Mike Blackstone at northwestimages.blogspot.com. Street-level shot of Wigan near the town centre, photo by razzmatazz at flickr.com. Rooftop-view of Wigan with DW Stadium in mid-ground, photo by graham at geograph.org. Aerial photo of DW Stadium, photo unattributed at burtonalbionfc.co.uk/getting-to-know-wigan-athletic. Interior shot of DW Stadium, photo unattributed at the72.co.uk. Nathan Byrne, photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Dan Burn, photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. Sam Morsy, photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Nick Powell, photo from wiganathletic.com. Will Grigg, photo by Reuters via saudigazette.com.sa. Wigan players celebrate promotion [21 April 2018 at Fleetwood], photo by Jonathan Hobley/Camerasport/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. Paul Cook thanks traveling fans on promotion-day at Fleetwood, photo by Clint Hughes/PA Images/Getty Images via gettyimages.com.

•Blackburn Rovers FC. Est. 1875. Nickname: Rovers. Colours: Royal Blue and White halves [usually with red trim]. Location: Blackburn, Lancashire. Blackburn is situated (by road) 33 miles (53 km) NW of Manchester; and Blackburn is situated (by road) 41 miles (66 km) NE of Liverpool. Blackburn is situated (by road) 11 miles (18 km) W of Burnley. Blackburn is situated (by road) 233 miles (375 km) NW of London. Population of Blackburn: around 117,000 {2011 census}.
Manager of Blackburn: Tony Mowbray (age 54, born in Saltburn-by-sea, North Yorkshire).

-Blackburn’s Mowbray out to crack Venky’s puzzle with passage to India (by David Conn at theguardian.com/football).

2018: Blackburn Rovers bounce straight back to the 2nd division…
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Photo and Image credits above – 17/18 Blackburn jersey, photo from umbro.co.uk. Rooftop view of Blackburn, Lancashire, photo by Ken Ford at flickr.com via this thread at skyscrapercity.com/[Towns and Cities of Lancashire]. Aerial shot of Ewood Park, photo by Franco Sanna at flickr.com. David Raya, photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Charley Mulgrew, photo by CameraSport via rovers.co.uk. Bradley Dack, photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Danny Graham, photo unattributed at skysports.com. Tony Mowbray, photo from efl.com. Blackburn 17/18 away jersey, illustration by historicalkits.co.uk. Blackburn 17/18 away jersey badge, photo unattributed at kitman.co.uk. Blackburn Rovers’ Charlie Mulgrew celebrates scoring the goal that sees Blackburn promoted [Doncaster0-3 Blackburn, 21 April 2018], photo by Rachel Holborn/CameraSport via lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/[Gallery]. Traveling Blackburn fans’ pitch invasion as Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium sprinklers go off, photo by Mick Atkins via thetimes.co.uk. Traveling Blackburn fans (during their pitch invasion) celebrating with Bradley Dack [Blackburn clinches promotion v Doncaster away, 21 April 2018], photo by Anna Gowthorpe/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock via theguardian.com/football/blog.

•Rotherham United FC. Est. 1925. Nickname: the Millers. Colours: Red-with-White sleeves. Location: Rotherham, South Yorkshire, situated (by road) 5.6 miles (9 km) NE of Sheffield city centre; and Rotherham is situated (by road) 32 miles (52 km) S of Leeds. Rotherham is situated (by road) 163 miles (263 km) N of central London. Population of Rotherham: town-population is around 109,000; Rotherham is part of the Sheffield urban area, which has a population of around 685,000 {2011 census figures}.
Manager of Rotherham, Paul Warne (age 45, born in Norwich, Norfolk).

-Richard Wood fires Rotherham back to Championship with play-off final double (by Nick Miller on 27 May 2018 at theguardian.com/football).

2018: Rotherham United bounce straight back to the 2nd division…
rotherham-united_promoted-2018_new-york-stadium_paul-warne_joe-newell_richard-wood_e_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Rotherham 18/19 jersey, photo from
rotherhamunitedshop.co.uk. Street in Rotherham, photo by Ben Sutherland at flickr.com. Aerial shot of the New York Stadium, photo by Alex Roebuck at alexroebuck.photoshelter.com. Drone-photo of the New York Stadium, photo unattributed at hullcitysupporterstrust.com. Screenshot of Richard Wood about to head in 1st goal for Rotherham at Wembley, screenshot from video uploaded by Watch Football at youtube.com. Shrewbury equalises, screenshot from video uploaded by Watch Football at youtube.com. Wood after scoring winner, photo by John Patrick Fletcher/Action Plus via Getty Images via lastwordonfootball.com. Joe Newell and Richard Wood being interviewed by Sky Sports after Rotherham’s play-off final win at Wembley, screenshot from themillers.co.uk/teams/first-team/midfielder/joe-newell. Rotherham promotion parade (29 May 2018), photo by ITV at itv.com/news. PaulWarne with trophy at promotion parade, photo by Richard Sellars/PA Images via Getty Images at gettyimages.com.

___
Thanks to all at the following…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.
-England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2015/16 (rsssf.com).
-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.
-EFL Championship 2018-19.

August 2, 2017

2017-18 EFL Championship (2nd division England, incl. Wales): map w/ 16/17-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division./+ 3 promoted clubs for the 2017-18 2nd division (Sheffield Utd, Bolton Wanderers, Millwall).

Filed under: 2017-18 English football,Eng-2nd Level/Champ'ship — admin @ 2:55 pm

2017-18_football-league-championship_map_w-2017-crowds_titles_seasons-in-1st-division_post-b_b_.gif
2017-18 Football League Championship (2nd division England, incl. Wales): map w/ 16/17-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division




By Bill Turianski on 2 August 2017; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

Links…
-2017-18 Football League Championship (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, attendance, stats…CHAMPIONSHIP [Summary] (soccerway.com).
-Sky Bet Championship 2017 – 2018 [kits] (historicalkits.co.uk).
-EFL Championship preview 2017-18 (thesetpieces.com).
-Championship 2017-18 season preview (by Ben Fisher at theguardian.com/football/blog).

A brief re-cap of the 2016-17 League Championship [the 2nd division]…
Promoted…Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Huddersfield Town {see this post [17/18 Premier League, featuring Newcastle, Brighton & Huddersfield]}.

Relegated from the Premier League down to the 2nd division are…Hull City, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland. Hull City and Middlesbrough both went back down to the 2nd tier after a one-season-spell in the Premier League, while Sunderland are back in the 2nd tier after a 10-season-spell in the Premier League.

Promoted up from the 3rd division and into the 2nd division are the three clubs profiled below…

    Below: the 3 promoted clubs to the 2017-18 EFL Championship (England, 2nd division)
    (Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers, Millwall)

Sheffield United won the 2016-17 EFL League One [3rd division], winning automatic promotion back to the Championship, after 6 seasons stuck in the 3rd division. Bolton Wanderers won the other automatic promotion, by finishing in 2nd place, thus bouncing straight back to the 2nd division on the first try. The third promotion place went to Millwall, who won the 2017 League One play-off Final, beating Bradford City 1-0 at Wembley. Millwall returns to the 2nd tier after 2 seasons in the 3rd tier.

    • Sheffield United FC.

Est. 1889. Nickname: the Blades. Colours: Red-and-White vertical striped jerseys, Black pants and Black trim. Location: Sheffield, West Yorkshire, situated (by road) 35 miles (57 km) S of Leeds; and situated (by road) 169 miles (272 km) N of London. Distance between Sheffield United (Bramall Lane) and Sheffield Wednesday (Hillsborough Stadium) is 3 miles (5 km) {sportmapworld.com}. Population of Sheffield: city-population of around 518,000; urban-area population of around 685,000 {2011 census figures}. Sheffield, along with Rotherham and adjacent towns, is part of the Sheffield Built-Up Area, which is the 10th-largest Urban Area in the UK. {Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom.}

Question: Why is Sheffield United nicknamed the Blades? Answer: Because of the large role that the steel industry and the cutlery-making industry have had in Sheffield. {see: Steel-making industry in Sheffield, a section in the illustration, further below.} Excerpt from Wikipedia…“The steel industry [of Sheffield] dates back to at least the 14th century. In 1740 Benjamin Huntsman discovered the crucible technique for steel manufacture, at his workshop in the district of Handsworth [in south-eastern Sheffield]. This process had an enormous impact on the quantity and quality of steel production and was only made obsolete, a century later, in 1856 by Henry Bessemer’s invention of the Bessemer converter which allowed the true mass production of steel. Bessemer had moved his Bessemer Steel Company to Sheffield to be at the heart of the industry. Thomas Boulsover invented Sheffield Plate (silver-plated copper), in the early 18th century. A major Sheffield steel invention was that of stainless steel by Harry Brearley in 1912, and the work of Profs. F. B. Pickering and T. Gladman throughout the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s was fundamental to the development of modern high strength low alloy steels.”…{-from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Sheffield}.
-Here is an article on Sheffield’s industrial past, and archeological research on that subject, Steel City: an Archaeology of Sheffield’s Industrial Past (hrionline.ac.uk).

Sheffield United have spent 60 seasons in the 1st division (last in 2006-07). Counting 2017-18, Sheffield United have spent 115 seasons in the Football League/Premier League. Sheffield United were created in 1889 because the cricket team who played at Bramall Lane, Sheffield United Cricket Club (est. 1854), needed to find a new renter, because their previous renter, the football club The Wednesday [Sheffield Wednesday], had moved to a new ground nearby…“Sheffield Wednesday…had vacated Bramall Lane after a dispute over rent. It was at this time that the now infamous ‘Pig’ nickname was aimed at the club by their Wednesday counterparts in reference to Pig Iron, an intermediate product in Steel production, hinting that Wednesday were there first so they were the Steel of the City and United were the Pig Iron.”…{-excerpts from Sheffield United F.C./Name origins_and nicknames, and en.wikipedia.org/History of Sheffield United F.C.}.

Sheffield United have not played in the same division as Sheffield Wednesday for five years (last in 2011-12, when both were in the 3rd division). So I thought it was a good time to post this small map (below), which shows the locations of Bramall Lane (near the Sheffield city centre), Hillsborough (in the Owlerton district in NW Sheffield), and Olive Grove. Olive Grove was the ground that The Wednesday left Bramall Lane for, and played at, for twelve years in the late nineteenth century (1887-99). Olive Grove was very close nearby to Bramall Lane, both just to the south of Sheffield city centre. So, in the late nineteenth century, Wednesday and United were playing within a half-mile of each other. Now they are a bit more separated…the distance between Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane and Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough is 3 miles (5 km).
Venues of Football League clubs from Sheffield, South Yorkshire: Sheffield Wednesday (est. 1867). Sheffield United (est. 1889).
sheffield_wednesday_sheffield-united_map-with_locations-of-grounds_bramall-lane_olive-grove_hillsborough_i_.gif
Image credit above – blank map of Sheffield by JeremyA at File:Sheffield outline map with UK.svg (en.wikipedia.org).

Sheffield United were one of the clubs which comprised the new Second Division, in 1892-93. (1892-93 was the fifth season of the Football League.) Sheffield United were elected to join the First Division for the following season of 1893-94. Sheffield United won their first and only English title in their fifth top-flight season, in 1897-98, finishing 5 points ahead of Sunderland. Here is an excerpt, about Sheffield United’s title-winning season of 1897-98, from the Sheffield Football.co.uk site’s page on SUFC…“United had become a real spectators team pulling in large audiences to not only watch the football but the characters on the pitch such as Bill “Fatty” Foulke the heavyweight goal keeper, Ernest Needham and Walter Bennett. In their first home game of the [1897-98] season against Derby a 2-1 victory drew in crowds of 2,500 and a month later 10,000 watched a 4-3 victory over Stoke. Sheffield managed a staggering unbeaten run of 14 matches until a mid season slump and a draw against rivals Wednesday in front of 37,289 fans. But after regaining form in the New Year, Sheffield United beat league rivals for the top spot Aston Villa in a monumental game in front of 43,000 spectators.” {-excerpt from History of Sheffield United (sheffieldfootball.co.uk/history-of-sufc).}

A season later (1898-99), Sheffield United won its first FA Cup title, with a 4-1 win over Derby County, before 70 thousand at the Crystal Palace in South London. Sheffield United won 3 more FA Cup titles (in 1902 over Southampton 2-1, in the replay at the Crystal Palace; in 1915 over Chelsea 3-0 at Old Trafford in Manchester; and in 1925 over Cardiff City 1-0 at Wembley). Sheffield United’s best finish in the post-War era was in fifth place, and this happened twice: in 1961-62 and in 1996-97. The Blades have not been in an FA Cup final since 1936 (losing to Arsenal 1-0). The Blades last time in the top-flight was a one-season-spell that ended disastrously in May 2007, when they needed to win their final game to secure safety, but lost to Wigan at home, while West Ham won away versus Manchester United. The way West Ham won that game was salt in the wound for Blades fans, because the winning goal scorer was Carlos Tevez, who was playing for West Ham under illegal circumstances (third-party ownership was involved in the Tevez transfer). But in the weeks that followed, the football authorities only saw fit to slap West Ham with a cash penalty – instead of the points deduction that the premeditated breach of rules deserved. So the cheating West Ham stayed up. And Sheffield United were relegated unfairly. Then Sheffield United got relegated again four seasons later, to the third division, in the spring of 2011.

Manager of Sheffield United: Chris Wilder (age 49, born in Sheffield; Wilder was a defender who played for Sheffield United from 1986-92 and in 1999).
After 6 seasons stuck in the 3rd division, it all came together for Sheffield United under Sheffield-born manager Chris Wilder. Wilder, who had made his name getting Oxford United back into the Football League (in 2010), took over the reins at Sheffield United in May 2016. This was just after Wilder had performed a stunning turn-around at Northampton Town, saving the relegation-threatened and cash-strapped Cobblers from almost-certain relegation (in 2014-15), then turning them into the 2015-16 League-Two-champions – all in a space of 16 months.

With Sheffield United, Wilder again put together an effective squad. Sheffield United ended up winning the 3rd division title with ease, finishing 14 points above Bolton, and 18 points above 3rd place. They clinched automatic promotion with 4 games to spare, on 8 April 2017, away to Northampton {see images below). Two Blades players made the 3rd division {EFL League One Team of the Year}, FW Billy Sharp and MF John Fleck. The 31-year-old Sheffield-born Billy Sharp, back in his second spell with the Blades after an uninspiring stint at Leeds United, netted a league-best 30 goals in 2016-17. The Glasgow-born John Fleck (age 25) had 17 assists (and 4 goals). That 17 assists was good enough for joint-best in the 3rd division (along with Peterborough’s Marcus Maddison). John Fleck also scored the promotion-clinching goal {see screenshots below}.

In 2010-11 Sheffield United were drawing 20.6 K when they were relegated to the 3rd tier. In the 3rd division (2011-17) the Blades drew…18.7 K, 18.1 K, 17.5 K, 19.8 K, 19.8 K, and last season 21.8 K. As they were drawing 8-and-9-years-ago, Sheffield United will probably draw in the 25-26-K range now that they are back in the 2nd division.
sheffield-united_promoted-back-to-2nd-division-2017_sheffield-steel-industry_bramall-lane_chris-wilder_billy-sharp_john-fleck_s_.gif
Photo and Image credits below – 16/17 Sheffield Utd jersey, photo from uksoccershop.com.File:Sheffield skyline.png, photo by St BC at commons.wikimedia.org. Central Sheffield, photo from sheffield-made.com. Original Bessemer Converter crucible, photo by Wikityke at File:Bessemer Converter Sheffield.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org). Mural of Harry Brearley by Faunographic/photo from creativetourist.com/articles/design/sheffield/the-making-of-a-metal-magnate-harry-brearley-stainless-steel-street-art. Painting of foundry in Sheffield, image from Sheffield Local Studies Library (Picture Sheffield Collection) via sheffieldindexers.com/SheffieldSteelWorks. Sheffield stainless steel cufflinks, photo from sheffield-made.com. Aerial shot of Bramall Lane, photo unattributed at embed.scribblelive.com/[Sheffield United/Blades Wall (message board)] jpg. Exterior shot of Brammal Lane main entrance, photo by Richard Barrett-Small [CC BY 2.0] at Wikimedia Commons via football-stadiums.co.uk/grounds/england/bramall-lane. Fans at Bramall Lane celebrating a goal [18 Feb. 2017 v Scunthorpe], photo by Simon Gill for When Saturday Comes at Photo of the week ~ Sheffield United fans celebrate against Scunthorpe (wsc.co.uk). John Fleck, photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images at zimbio.com. Billy Sharp, photo by Pete Norton at gettyimages.com. 16/17 Sheffield Utd away jersey, photo from uksoccershop.com. Promotion-clinching goal [4 April 2017 away to Northampton], 2 screenshots of video uploaded by Kezza Blade at PROMOTION AT LAST (Sheffield United seal promotion at Northampton) (youtube.com). Captain Billy Sharp and manager Chris Wilder (with trophy), photo by Tim Goode/PA Images via gettyimages.com.

    • Bolton Wanderers FC.

Est. 1874. Nicknames: the Trotters, the Wanderers, the Whites. Colours: White jerseys, often with Dark-Blue pants and Dark-Blue-and-Red trim. Location: Horwich, which is 5.8 miles (9.3 km) NW of Bolton, in Greater Manchester. (Note: Bolton is historically part of Lancashire, but is now officially part of Greater Manchester.). Bolton is situated (by road) 10 miles (16 km) NW of central Manchester; and situated (by road) 221 miles (356 km) NW of London. Population of Bolton: around 128,000 {2011 census}.

Bolton Wanderers were formed in 1874 as Christ Church FC. ‘The club left the location following a dispute with the vicar, and changed its name to Bolton Wanderers in 1877. The name was chosen as the club initially had a lot of difficulty finding a permanent ground to play on, having used three venues in its first four years of existence.’ {-excerpt from Bolton Wanderers F.C./Early history (en.wikipedia.org).} Bolton were a founding member of the Football League in 1888-89, along with eleven other clubs from the North of England and from the Midlands. Bolton Wanderers are one of 10 clubs that have played every season of League football (119 seasons as of 2017-18), meaning they were Football League co-founders in 1888-89, and have never been elected-out or relegated-out of the League. (Those ten clubs are: Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers.)

Bolton Wanderers have played 73 seasons of 1st division football (last in 2011-12). Bolton have never won an English 1st division title, but have won 4 FA Cup titles. Their first FA Cup win was in the historic 1923 FA Cup Final , aka the White Horse Final…

    Article: The White Horse Final
    (1923 FA Cup Final: the first-ever match played at the original Wembley Stadium, attendance estimated at over 200,000)
    Bolton Wanderers 2, West Ham United 0

The match was played on 28 April 1923, and was the first FA Cup final to be played at the original Wembley Stadium in London (which operated from 1923 to 2000). It was, in fact, the first-ever match played at Wembley, and construction had only been completed four days earlier. The match ended up having a fantastically huge overflow crowd estimated as more than 200,000. {See photos and captions in the illustration below.} Because of the novelty of the brand-new and gigantic 127,000-capacity venue, vast droves from all over the country turned up…without tickets. And soon there were no more tickets to be had. So vast throngs started to simply push their way into the stadium. {Here is an aerial photo from that day (twitter.com/GreatestCapital [aerial photo of Wembley during 1923 FA Cup]).}

The crush forced people already in the stands to seek the safety of the pitch. So the match could not begin until the pitch was cleared of thousands and thousands of fans. And so policemen, along with mounted police, painstakingly cleared the overflow crowd off of the pitch. The ‘White Horse’ was a grey steed named Billie. It became famous for its work helping to clear the huge crowd off the touch-lines {see caption and images further below; see this article at the FA site, Wembley’s First Ever Match}. Excerpt from that link…“One police horse called ‘Billie’ had more success than most, probably because of its colouring, and the match subsequently became known as ‘The White Horse Final’. Its rider, PC George Scorey, recalled the scene in a BBC Radio interview…
“The horse was very good, easing them back with his nose and his tail until we got the crowd back along one of the goal-lines. We continued up the touch-lines until some of them got a bit stubborn. ‘Don’t you want to see the game?’ I said. They said ‘Yes’ and I said ‘So do I. Now those in front join hands.’ Then I gave the word to heave and they went back, step by step, until they reached the line.”
It was virtually impossible to observe the laws of the game. When a player took a corner kick, for example, the crowd was so close to the touch-line that he could not take his run until a policeman had forced people away from that corner of the field”…{-excerpt from wembleystadium.com/The-First-Ever-Match-At-Wembley.}

In the aerial photo at the top of the illustration below, you can see how the process of clearing the crowd from the playing field had begun (three corners of the pitch have been cleared, while stragglers fill the other part of the field). Once the playing field was more-or-less cleared, there was basically no room between the fans and the playing-rectangle, and fans encroached onto edges of the pitch the whole game. Once the match finally started, there was a goal right away. Inside-Right David Jack scored for Bolton in the 2nd minute. (David Jack, who was born in Bolton, scored 144 goals for Bolton [1920-28] and 114 goals for Arsenal [1928-34].) The goal occurred when West Ham Half-Back Jack Tresadern had become entangled in the crowd while attempting a throw-in. Before he could get back onto the field, the ball was sent into the West Ham United penalty box, where Bolton Half-Back Jimmy Seddon won possession and then passed to David Jack. Jack feinted a pass, then dribbled close to the goal and scored with a hard shot into the right-hand-corner of the net. A spectator, who was pressed right up against the goal net, was knocked unconscious by the ball. Eleven minutes in, the crowd surged forward again, and a large number of fans were back on the pitch, leading to the suspension of play while the mounted police again cleared the pitch.

At halftime, the teams could not exit the field for the dressing rooms, and the break was only 8 minutes. Right after the second half, West Ham nearly scored. Then Bolton took a 2-0 lead, when, in the 53rd minute, Glasgow-born Bolton Centre-Forward Joe Smith received a pass from Welsh Winger Ted Vizard, and volleyed the ball against the underside of the cross-bar. The ball then slammed back down to the pitch in an almost-perpendicular way. West Ham players insisted the ball did not completely cross the line, but the referee said it did, and the goal stood. Bolton was up 2-0, and that was how the score remained, with very few scoring chances by either side in the final 30 minutes of the match…and Bolton Wanderers had won their first major title, in very remarkable circumstances. West Ham, the swifter and more attack-oriented of the two teams, were hampered by the churned up field…West Ham trainer Charlie Paynter blamed his team’s defeat on the damage the pitch had suffered before kick-off, saying “It was that white horse thumping its big feet into the pitch that made it hopeless. Our wingers were tumbling all over the place, tripping up in great ruts and holes”. {-excerpt from 1923 FA Cup Final/Summary (en.wikipedia.org).}

Only 22 people at the match were injured enough to be hospitalised, but the London Times estimated there were over a thousand who were slightly injured. Two policemen were also injured. But, amazingly, no one died. An official inquiry was considered, but the House of Commons praised the entire way the Metropolitan Police handled the incident. The FA re-imbursed ticket holders who claimed to have never reached their seats. Officials also publicly stated that had it not been for PC Scorey and his white horse, The Final might never have gone ahead that afternoon. And the FA started doing something different after that…they started selling advance tickets to big matches, beforehand.

Bolton won two more FA Cup titles in the 1920s – in 1926 (winning 1-0 over Manchester City) and in 1929 (winning 2-0 over Portsmouth). Charles Foweraker was at the helm when Bolton won their 3 FA Cup titles in the 1920s (Foweraker was Bolton manager for 25 years [1919-44]). Three decades later, Bolton won their last major title, winning the 1958 FA Cup Final, 2-0 over Manchester United. Bolton’s 1958 FA Cup title was won with Bill Ridding as manager (Ridding was Bolton manager for 18 years [1950-68]). Bolton Wanderers’ highest-ever league-placement was at 3rd place (in 1890-91, in 1920-21, and in 1924-25). Their best post-War league-finish was in the season after their last Cup-triumph, in 1958-59, finishing in 4th place. The best-1st-division-finish that Bolton have had in the Premier League era (since 1990-91), was in 6th place in 2004-05 under manager Sam Allardyce. Bolton’s last spell in the top flight was an eleven-season-spell from 2001-02 to 2011-12.

Below: Bolton’s first FA Cup title was won in the famous 1923 FA Cup Final (aka the White Horse Final)…
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Photo and Image credits above – 1923 FA Cup Final, Bolton & West Ham kits, illustrations by Historical Football Kits site at historicalkits.co.uk/English_Football_League/FA_Cup_Finals/1920-1929. Vast overflow crowd at the new Wembley (1923 FA Cup Final], photo from mirror-photos.co.uk/west-ham-v-bolton-fa-cup-final-1923. Crowd near a goal-mouth prior to being pushed back, photographer unknown/Scanned in from The History of the Wembley FA Cup Final by Andrew Thraves at File:White Horse Final1923.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org). The White Horse keeping crowd at bay, screenshot from video at youtube.com via yahoo.com/blogs; photo unattributed at dailymail.co.uk/gallery. Cops keeping crowd back with Bolton players watching, photo unattributed at sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/spectacular-images-madness-first-fa-cup-final-wembley. Action-shot, photographer unknown/Scanned in from The History of the Wembley FA Cup Final by Andrew Thraves at File:White Horse Final1923.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org). David Jack, trading card from flickr.com/cigcardpix <. Bolton crest from 1920s, from historicalkits.co.uk/Bolton_Wanderers. Bolton team (1923 FA Cup team), photo unattributed at spartacus-educational.com/WHcup1923. Joe Smith (captain) with FA Cup, photo by Bob Thomas/Popperfoto via gettyimages.com.

Manager of Bolton: Phil Parkinson (age 49, born in Chorley, Lancashire).
It might have come as a surprise to some that Phil Parkinson left the relative safety of the Bradford City set-up to take over the mess that Bolton Wanderers had gotten into. When Parkinson took the Bolton manager’s job in June 2016, Bolton had just been relegated – finishing 19 points adrift at the bottom of the 2nd division table – and there were considerable financial problems there. This cash problem later manifested itself in instances of delayed salary payments for Bolton players during the 16/17 campaign. Plus there were boardroom squabbles. And a transfer embargo. And if you think it’s not so hard for former-top-flight-/potentially-20-K-drawing clubs to get out of the 3rd division and back into the upper leagues, ask Sheffield United about that. It just took Sheffield United 6 years to get out of the 3rd division. A decade ago, it took Leeds United 3 seasons to get out of the 3rd division. But it only took Bolton Wanderers one year.

Two Bolton Wanderers players made the EFL League One Team of the Year for 2016-17: centre-backs David Wheater and Mark Beevers {see photos below}. David Wheater was voted EFL League One Player of the Year. Bolton had the stingiest defense in the 3rd division, allowing just 0.78 goals per game (36 goals allowed). They needed that solid defense, too, because Bolton only scored 68 goals (joint-5th-best), and there was not a single Bolton player who scored in double-figures…their joint-top-scorers were the following four: DF David Wheater, FW Gary Medine, MF Josh Vela, and FW Zach Clough, all of whom scored 9 league goals. Top in assists for Bolton was 31-year-old Portuguese-born/London-raised MF/Right-Winger Filipe Morais {see photo below}. Morais followed Phil Parkinson over from Bradford City, joining on 2 Feb. 2017. Then Morais caught fire for Bolton, racking up 13 assists (and 2 goals) in just 19 league matches for Bolton. He won the March League One Player of the Month award, with 10 assists and two goals in just that month. Bolton sealed their promotion campaign on the final day of the 2016-17 League One season [30 April 2017], with a 3-0 home win over Peterborough at the 28.7-K-capacity Macron Stadium (formerly called the Reebok Stadium). So Bolton clinched automatic promotion by finishing in 2nd place, 4 points above Scunthorpe and Fleetwood. Attendance on that promotion-clinching day was 22,590. Which is a good sign that Bolton will probably start to see crowds returning back toward the 20-K-range, now that the Wanderers have bounced right back to the second division. Bolton has not drawn above 20 K since their relegation from the Premier League (2011-12).

bolton-wanderers_2017-promoted_macron-park_phil-parkinson_david-wheater_mark-beevers_filipe-morais_f_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Bolton 16/17 jersey, photo unattributed at footyheadlines.com. View of Reebok Stadium [now called Macron Stadium] from Horwich, photo by Ed O’Keefe Photography at edwud.com. Phil Parkinson with League One Runners-Up trophy, photo Reuters via hitc.com. David Wheater, photo unattributed at skysports.com. Mark Beevers, photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Filipe Morais, photo from theboltonnews.co.uk.

    • Millwall FC.

Est. 1885, as Millwall Rovers, in the Millwall area of the Isle of Dogs [a small industrial peninsula on the north bank of the River Thames in East London, and part of the London Docklands]. “Millwall Rovers were formed by the workers of J.T. Morton’s canning and preserve factory in the Millwall area of the Isle of Dogs in London’s East End in 1885” {-Millwall F.C./Beginnings and relocation}. / 1889: changed name to Millwall Athletic. / 1910: club moved from East London, to south of the Thames in South East London at New Cross [Lewisham borough], and began play at the Den [now referred to as the Old Den (1910-1993)]. / 1920: changed name to Millwall FC. / 1993: moved to an adjacent borough [Southwark], in Bermondsey, and began play at the New Den [now called the Den].

Nickname: the Lions. Colours: Navy-Blue-with-White. Location: Bermondsey, London Borough of Southwark, South London, situated (by road) about 5 miles (8 km) SE of central London. Population of London Borough of Southwark: around 313,000 {2016 estimate}.

2017-18 will be Millwall’s 91st season in the Football League. (Millwall joined the Football League when the Third Division was created, in 1920–21.) Millwall have been promoted eleven times and relegated ten times. The majority of their League time has been spent yo-yoing between the 2nd and 3rd divisions. Millwall have spent 5 seasons in the 4th division, 43 seasons in the 3rd division, and 41 seasons in the 2nd division (including 2017-18). Millwall spent two seasons in the 1st division (1988 to ’90), and had their best finish, of 10th place in the First Division, in 1988-89. That season (’88/89), they also drew their highest in the modern era, drawing 15.4 K. (Millwall’s all-time best crowd-size was in 1938-39, when they had just won promotion back to the Second division, drawing 27.3 K [11th best attendance in the Football League that season] {source}.) In 2004, Millwall made it to the FA Cup final (losing to Manchester United 3-0), and qualified for the following season’s UEFA Cup, playing in Europe for the first time in their history [in September 2004, versus Hungarian side Ferencváros, losing 4-2 aggregate]. The club have reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1900, 1903, 1937, 2013. These days, Millwall averages between 9-to-11-K most seasons, and drew 9,340 last season [2017-18]. The last time Millwall got promoted back to the 2nd tier, they drew 12.4 K (in the 2010-11 League Championship).

Map below:
Millwall FC’s locations: Isle of Dogs (London’s East End)>New Cross (Lewisham, SE London)>Bermondsey (Southwark SE London).
millwall-fc_grounds_1885-2017_isle-of-dogs_east-london_south-east-london_the-old-den_the-new-den_map_the-den_neil-harris_i_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Millwall 17/18 jersey, unattributed at footyheadlines.com. Old map [ca. 1900] of Isle of Dogs in London Docklands, from Encyclopedia Britannica at britannica.com/place/London-Docklands. Aerial shots of the Old Den, photos unattributed at pinterest.com/Millwall/old English stadia]; pinterest.com/[old English stadia]. Exterior shot of the New Den, photo by Reuters via thes*n.co.uk/football. Neil Harris, photo by Brian Tonks at londonnewsonline.co.uk.

Manager of Millwall: Neil Harris (age 39; born in Orset, Thurrock, Essex). Harris is Millwall’s all-time record goalscorer, with 138 goals in all competitions (1998-2004; 2007-2011). After retiring from the pitch in June 2013, Harris joined the coaching set-up at Millwall. Harris replaced Ian Holloway as Millwall manager on 29 April 2015, one day after the club were relegated to the 3rd division. In his first season in charge, Harris led Millwall to the 2016 League One play-off Final, but Millwall lost to Barnsley 3-1. In his 2nd season in charge, Harris led Millwall back to the play-off Final, this time winning 1-0 over Bradford City, to win promotion back to the 2nd division. 33-year-old striker James Morison scored the winner in the 85th minute (see photo below). One Millwall player was selected for the 2017 League One Team of the Year, MF Lee Gregory (see photo below). The ex-FC Halifax Town striker has now scored 42 goals for Millwall in 114 league appearances (since 2014).

Below: 2017 League One play-off Final at Wembley: Millwall 1-0 Bradford City. Attendance: 53,320.
millwall_promoted-2017_millwall-1-0-bradford-city_steve-morison_lee-gregory_b_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Steve Morison scores for Millwall in play-off Final at Wembley, photo unattributed at nwemail.co.uk. Millwall fans at Wembley May 2017, photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images via express.co.uk. Lee Gregory with trophy, photo by Michael Zemanek/BPI via dailymail.co.uk.

___
Thanks to the following…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.

-England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2015/16 (rsssf.com).
-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.

Thanks to the contributors at en.wikipedia, at EFL Championship 2017-18.

August 15, 2016

2016–17 Football League Championship (2nd division England, incl Wales): map w/ 15/16-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division./+ 3 promoted clubs for the 2016-17 2nd division (Wigan Athletic, Burton Albion, Barnsley).

Filed under: 2016-17 English football,Eng-2nd Level/Champ'ship — admin @ 4:41 pm

2016-17_football-league-championship_map_w-2016-crowds_titles_seasons-in-1st-division_post_b_.gif
2016–17 Football League Championship (2nd division England, incl Wales): map w/ 15/16-crowds-&-finish + titles-&-seasons-in-1st-division





By Bill Turianski on 15 August 2016; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links
-2016–17 Football League Championship (en.wikipedia.org).
-Table, fixtures, results, attendance, stats…CHAMPIONSHIP [Summary] (soccerway.com).
-New font and logos for Football League…2016-17 English Football League [new logos and new font, with branding info] (switchimageproject.blogspot.com, from May 2016).
-New crests for Sheffield Wednesday and QPR and Aston Villa (among others)…New season, new badges: We take a look at club crests which have changed for 2016/17 (skysports.com/football).
-Kits…Sky Bet Championship 2016 – 2017 [Kits of teams in 16/17 Championship] (historicalkits.co.uk).

    Below: the 3 promoted clubs for the 2016-17 2nd division (Wigan Athletic, Burton Albion, Barnsley)

Wigan won the 2015-16 League One title and return straight back to the 2nd division, while the 3rd-division play-offs winner Barnsley return to the 2nd division after a two-season spell in the third tier. Burton Albion finished in 2nd place in the 3rd division last season, and now have won back-to-back promotions – and so Burton Albion find themselves in the 2nd tier for the first time in their 66-year history.

• Wigan Athletic FC.
Est. 1932. Nickname: the Latics. Colours: Light Royal Blue and White [usually with blue/white vertically-striped jerseys]. Location: Wigan, Greater Manchester, situated (by road) 41 km (27 mi) NW of Manchester; and situated (by road) 37 km (23 mi) NE of Liverpool. Population of Wigan: town-population is around 97,000; borough-population is around 318,000 {2011 census}.

Wigan has been, historically, much more of a rugby league town than a football town….
The rugby league (Super League) club from Wigan – Wigan Warriors – are the most-successful English rugby league club, and are one of the higher-drawing teams in Super League (drawing around 14 K per game/see this). So, like as with Hull City AFC, because of all the rugby fans in town, it has always been an uphill battle for the association football club of Wigan. In fact, before Wigan Athletic were formed in 1932, no less than 4 earlier attempts had been made to establish a Wigan-based football club (Wigan County [1897-1900/defunct], Wigan United [1890s-1908/defunct], Wigan Town [1905-08/defunct], and Wigan Borough [1919-31/defunct]).

Wigan applied 34 times for election to the Football League, until they were finally voted in, in 1978…
Wigan Athletic were almost elected in to the Football League in 1950 (when Scunthorpe United and Shrewsbury Town were voted in). Wigan would have to wait another 28 years to be allowed to join the Football League. Wigan Athletic was kept out of the 92-team Football League all that time, despite trying on 34 applications to get elected to the Football League, and despite setting the record for the largest crowd at an FA Cup match which involved a Non-League-club versus another Non-League-club [in 1954, when Wigan hosted Hereford United at their old Springfield Park, in front of 27,000]. Wigan Athletic were not voted in to the Football League until the 1978-79 season. (There was no automatic promotion to the Football League until 1986-87.) Wigan drew 6.1 K in their first season in the Fourth Division in 1978-79, which was, and still is, a very good crowd-size for a team that had just shed its Non-League status. {Wigan Athletic League-attendance history at the following link at E-F-S site, here.}.

Then in 1995, sporting-goods millionaire Dave Whelan bought Wigan Athletic, and started pumping considerable sums into the club. Eight years later, in 2003, Wigan were promoted to the 2nd division. Two years later, in 2005, Wigan won promotion to the Premier League (thus beginning their 8-season spell in the top flight). After all those decades of not being allowed in the Football League, and then having a bit of a meteoric rise in the decade of the 2000s, Wigan were never really able to grow a fan-base, as they moved up the football pyramid. Wigan were drawing 7.2 K when they won promotion to the 3rd tier in 2003. Then Wigan were drawing 11.5 K two years later when they won promotion to the 2nd tier in 2005. The next season, in their Premier League debut, Wigan drew 20.2 K, which is their peak crowd-size…so they have never drawn above 80-percent-capacity (their ground holds 25.1 K). Wigan Athletic have the unusual status of not being a very big club (I mean, they drew just 9.4 K last season), but nevertheless they are a club which has one similarity to all the big clubs and successful clubs in England. And that is the fact that Wigan Athletic have spent more seasons in the 1st division [8 seasons] than they have spent in the 2nd division [5 seasons]. {Wigan Athletic League history, here (footy-mad sites).}

Manager: Gary Caldwell (age 32).
Gary Caldwell is Scotland-born, from Stirling (in the Central Belt). Caldwell is a former defensive back who played 106 league matches for Celtic (2006-10), and finished his playing career with 102 league matches for Wigan Athletic (2010-15). Caldwell, as team captain, helped Wigan avoid relegation in 2011-12, and was voted Wigan’s Player of the Year. The following season, he jointly lifted the FA Cup [with playing-captain Emerson Boyce] after Wigan shocked Manchester City 1-0 in the 2013 FA Cup Final. But then, a few weeks later, of course, Wigan became the first-ever club to win the FA Cup title yet be relegated in the same season. So after a 8-season stint in the top flight, Wigan were out of the Premier League in May 2013. Following Wigan’s relegation, Gary Caldwell remained part of the squad, but was hampered by injuries and only played 3 matches in 2013-14. For 2014-15, he re-signed with Wigan and was given coaching responsibilities. In February 2015, Caldwell retired from the pitch and joined the Wigan coaching staff. When Wigan were stuck in the 2nd division relegation-zone in April 2015, Caldwell became Wigan’s manager, replacing the sacked Malky Mackay. Caldwell was unable to prevent Wigan from relegation a few weeks later, but he got Wigan promoted straight back to the 2nd division in 2015-16, when Wigan won the 2015-16 League One, finishing 2 points above Burton Albion and 3 points above the play-off places. The 2015-16 Wigan Athletic campaign featured a 20-game unbeaten run in mid-season.

Will Griggs, 2015-16 League One leading scorer…
In 2015, for £1 million, Wigan Athletic bought FW Will Griggs (who is a Northern Ireland international), from 2nd-division-side-Brentford. In the 2015-16 season, Will Griggs helped propel Wigan to first place and promotion, as he led the league in scoring, with 25 league goals (26 goals in all competitions). During the 15/16 season, a Wigan fan made a video – ‘Will Grigg’s On Fire’ – using an old song from 19 years ago as the backing track (the track was from the band Gala’s 1997 rave hit ‘Freed From Desire’). The video went viral in a couple branches of social media, just in time for the 2016 UEFA Euros. Every time Northern Ireland got mentioned, it seemed it was obligatory to mention “will-griggs-is-on-fire”. Northern Ireland had a great tournament, advancing to the Knockout stages. (The ironic thing is, Will Griggs actually did not play one minute, in the whole tournament.)
wigan-athletic_dw-stadium_gary-caldwell_promoted-as-3rd-div-winners_may2016_will-grigg_h_.gif
Photo and Image credits -
2016-17 Wigan Athletic jersey, photo unattributed at footyheadlines.com, 1.bp.blogspot.com. Street-level shot of Wigan near the town centre, photo by razzmatazz at flickr.com. Rooftop-view of Wigan with DW Stadium in mid-ground, photo by graham at geograph.org. Aerial photo of DW Stadium, photo unattributed at burtonalbionfc.co.uk/getting-to-know-wigan-athletic. Interior shot of DW Stadium, photo unattributed at the72.co.uk. Will Grigg, photo by James Bayliss/Getty Images at gettyimages.com.

Burton Albion FC.
Est. 1950. Nickname: the Brewers. Colours: Yellow and Black. Location: Burton upon Trent, south-east Staffordshire, situated (by road) 19 km (12 mi) SW of Derby; and situated (by road) 48 km (30 mi) NE of Birmingham. Population of Burton upon Trent is around 72,000 {2011 census}.

From the Guardian/football, by Jacob Steinberg on 5 August 2016, Burton living the impossible dream as patience and ambition stoke flames (theguardian.com/football).

Manager: Nigel Clough.
Nigel Clough is son of legendary player-and-manager Brian Clough. This is Nigel Clough’s second spell as manager of Burton Albion.

From the official Burton Albion site…”BURTON ALBION – a brief history. The formation of Burton Albion Football Club at a public meeting on 5th July 1950 brought senior football back to the town of Burton-Upon-Trent after a ten year absence. In the pre-war years Burton could proudly lay claim to three Football League sides in Burton Wanderers, Burton Swifts and Burton United. When Burton Town ceased to exist it left a void to be filled and the Brewers aimed to fill that gap.”…{excerpt from burtonalbionfc.co.uk/club/history}.

1998-99 to 2008-09 (Burton Albion in the 6th and then the 5th divisions)…
Nigel Clough’s first spell as manager of the Brewers lasted 11 years. As a 32-year-old, and still a player (MF), Nigel Clough began managing Burton Albion in October 1998, when the club was in the Southern League (which was then part of the 6th division [and is now part of the 7th division]). Four seasons later, in May 2002, following yet another Non-League re-alignment, when Burton Albion had been switched over into the 6th-division Unibond Northern League, Clough was able to win the then-52-year-old-club their first-ever promotion, into the Conference National (the 5th division). Clough then spent 6-and-a-half more seasons with Burton, with Conference finishes of 16th, 14th, 16th, 9th, 6th, and 5th [from 2002-03 to 2007-08]. Then in the 2008-09 season, with Burton Albion 13 points clear at the top of the Conference in January 2009, Nigel Clough was given the chance to manage the 2nd-division/recently-relegated Derby County (a job his father once had, when Brian Clough led Derby County to the first of the club’s two English titles [in 1972]). With Nigel Clough’s departure, caretaker manager Roy McFarland then led Burton Albion (haltingly) to promotion to the Football League in May 2009, with the Brewers winning the Conference by 2 points over Cambridge United. And that began Burton Albion’s 6-season-spell in the 4th division.

2009-10 to 2015-16 (Burton Albion in the 4th division)…
With managers Paul Peschisolido (who was eventually sacked in March 2012), and then Gary Rowett at the Brewers’ helm, from [half-way-through] 2009-10 to [part-way-through] 2014-15, Burton Albion had League Two finishes of 13th, 19th, 17th, 4th, and 6th. In November of 2014, with the Brewers doing very well in 5th place, manager Gary Rowett left the club to take over at 2nd-division-side Birmingham City. To fill the vacancy, Burton Albion hired ex-Dutch and Premier League star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as manager (Hasselbaink had been manager of the Belgian 2nd division club Royal Antwerp). Hasselbaink then guided Burton further up the table, and Burton clinched their historic first-ever promotion to the 3rd division in their third-from-final match of the season, on 15 April 2015, beating Morecambe away 1-2. Two weeks later they won the League Two 2014-15 title.

Hasselbaink continued on as Burton’s manager in 2015-16, when the club played their first season in the 3rd division. As measured by average attendance, Burton Albion were the smallest club in the 3rd division last season (they drew just 2.7 K in 2015-16). Yet the Brewers had no trouble at all adapting to the higher league-level, with a defensive style of play that shut down opposition scoring threats. In fact, in the first week of December 2015, the quasi-minnows Burton Albion were shock-League-One leaders, 2 points clear at the top of the table. That’s when Hasselbaink suddenly departed for a bigger club, signing on as manager of 2nd-division-spendthrifts Queens Park Rangers. But as the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg points out in his article on Burton Albion, …”One of Burton’s strengths has been recovering from losing managers to bigger clubs.”

Meanwhile, Nigel Clough found he could make little progress at Derby County…
In the 4-and-a-half-seasons (2009-13), that Nigel Clough managed Derby, he could not get the Rams out of mid-table (with finishes of 18th, 14th, 19th, 12th, and 10th). He was sacked in September 2013, after Derby lost 3 matches in 8 days. But a month later in October 2013, Nigel Clough got another shot at managing a decent-sized club, when he took the reins at Sheffield United, who were (and still are) mired in the 3rd division. As with Derby, Clough could not move the Blades up the league ladder. But he did get Sheffield United into the FA Cup Semifinals in 2013-14, and Clough was awarded, by the League Managers Association, the FA Cup Manager of the Season award in 2014. After finishes of 7th and 5th (when the Blades lost in the play-offs 1st round to Swindon Town), Clough was let go by Sheffield United in late May 2015. Seven months later, in December 2015, Clough got his second appointment as Burton Albion manager, replacing Hasselbaink.

Nigel Clough returns to Burton Albion, and the Brewers are promoted to the 2nd division 6 months later…
So in December of 2015, the board at Burton Albion looked to their longest-ever-serving manager – Nigel Clough – and Clough began his second spell as Burton manager. It might have been a laboured run-out of the season for Burton, one which featured several 0-0 draws (and Burton had the least goals-allowed in the 3rd tier last season, with just 37). But, on the 8th of May 2016, on the last game of the season, away to Doncaster Rovers, Clough led Burton Albion to (another) 0-0 draw, which clinched promotion. Meaning the Brewers finished in second place, and, most importantly, Burton Albion had achieved an historic first-ever promotion to the 2nd division. And then, there at the Keepmoat Stadium in South Yorkshire, a nice away-fans pitch invasion was had by the Burton Albion faithful (see it below). Burton Albion drew 4,089 per game in the 3rd division in 2015-16 (making them only the 77th-highest-drawing club in England & Wales last season). With that in mind, and as measured by crowd-size, Burton Albion are the smallest 2nd-division-club in England in 10 years (since Colchester United, in 2006-07). [Colchester Utd drew 3,982 per game in 2005-06, when they won promotion to the 2nd division, which was about 100 per game less than Burton Albion drew in 2015-16.]

Let’s hear it for minnows in the second division !
Burton Albion have sacked just one manager in the last 20 years. Burton Albion have ambition to burn, yet have never paid more than £20,000 for a player. Burton Albion play in a modern 6.9-K-capacity stadium, and are steadily growing their fanbase. Burton were drawing 3.2-K two seasons ago, drew 4.0-K last season, and now are drawing 5.0 K 2016-17 LC table, w/attendance}. Burton Albion have now achieved back-to-back promotions…and have went up 3 divisions – from Non-League football to the League Championship – in 8 years flat. Go Burton Albion !
burton-albion_the-brewers_pirelli-stadium_burton-upon-trent_back-to-back-promotions_k_.gif
Photo and Image credits –
Burton Albion 16/17 jersey, photo unattributed, from some lame site that NEVER ATTRIBUTES SOURCES. Old black-and-white photo of the early days at Burton Albion’s old ground, The Lloyd’s Foundry Ground – Wellington Street, photo by Burton Albion FC at burtonalbionfc.co.uk/club/history. Aerial shot of Burton upon Trent by Martin Handley at fickr.com, Burton-upon-Trent [Dec. 2011]. Aerial shot of the Pirelli Stadium, photo unattributed at footballtripper.com/pirelli-stadium-burton-albion-fc. Shot of Pirelli Stadium brick-work, photo from burtonalbionfc.co.uk. Street-view shot of main entrance to the Pirelli Stadium, photo by Alan Slater at geograph.org.uk.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, photo by Press Association (PA) via dailymail.co.uk. Nigel Clough, photo by Empics via bbc.com/football
Lucas Akins, photo [from March 2016] by James Bayles/Getty Images at gettyimages.com. Mark Duffy, photo by Burton Mail at burtonmail.co.uk/burton-albion-duo-pfa-league-team-year. Jon McLaughlin, photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images at gettyimages.co.uk. 1st photo of Visiting Burton fans’ pitch invasion at Doncaster on 8 May 2016, photo by Press Association (PA) via

• Barnsley FC.
Est. 1887. Nickname: the Tykes. Colours: Red and White. Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire, situated (by road) 26 km (16 mi) N of Sheffield. Population of Barnsley: town-population is around 91,000 {2011 census}.

Barnsley have played one season in the 1st division (in the 1997-98 Premier League)…
{Barnsley League history, here.}
Barnsley have only played one season of first division football, when they finished in 19th place in the 1997-98 Premier League, and went straight back down to the second division. But…Barnsley have played more 2nd division seasons than any other club in England – Barnsley have played 77 seasons in the English 2nd division (last in 2013-14). {See this article I wrote 6 years ago,
The English 2nd Level (currently known as the Football League Championship) – All-time 2nd Level…the clubs that have spent the most seasons in the 2nd Level, which has been called…the Second Division (1892-93 to 1991-92) / Football League Division One (1992-93 to 2003-04) / Football League Championship (2004-05 to 2010-11). Also included is a chart of All-time 1st Level.

Barnsley have 1 major title – the 1912 FA Cup title…
In the 1911-12 season, Second Division side Barnsley FC, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, became the 4th team from outside the First Division to win the FA Cup title. (Note…All-time [1872 to 2016], there have been eight clubs from outside the 1st division who ended up as winners of the FA Cup that season…{See this, FA Cup Finals/ look for green-shaded winners in italics… [Notts County/1885, Tottenham/1901, Wolverhampton/1908, Barnsley/1912, West Bromwich/1931, Sunderland/1973, Southampton/1976, West Ham United/1980].}

Barnsley won the 1912 FA Cup title on Wednesday the 24th of April 1912, when they beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0, in a Cup final replay at Brammall Lane in Sheffield, before an over-flow crowd of 35,888. (The replay was necessary because of the rules of the day and because, four days previously it had went: Barnsley 0-0 West Bromwich Albion, at Crystal Palace in south London, before a full-capacity crowd of 54,434.) The lone goal in the replay was not scored until the 118th minute, when Barnsley Inside Right Harry Tufnell, at the half-line, received a pass from Half Back George Utley, then Tufnell went on a breakaway after he executed a proto-nutmeg on WBA captain and full-back Jesse Pennington (bypassing Pennington by kicking the ball ahead to his right, and then running to his left around the defender). It was a footrace to the West Brom goal now, and Tufnell’s pace allowed him to speed clear of the last defender, and then he rounded the Goalkeeper and rifled a low shot that found the left corner. The Barnsley squad held on for the final few minutes, and the second-division side were FA Cup champions. The Barnsley team then took the trophy, travelling the sixteen miles up the road back to Barnsley, in a new-fangled motor car coach (see it below). As they entered Barnsley, the streets were packed with joyful residents, and they held the Cup up, to show the cheering crowds, as they made their way to the Barnsley town centre. To claim the Cup, Barnsley had beaten Birmingham City, Leicester Fosse, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City [in the fourth replay], Swindon Town [in a semi-finals replay], and then West Bromwich Albion [in the replay of the final].

Below: Second Division team Barnsley FC – the FA Cup champions of 1911-12…
1912_fa-cup-replay_barnsley_1-0_west-bromwich-albion_brammall-lane_harry-tufnell_e_.gif
Photo and Image credits above –
1912 FA Cup finalists’ kits from historicalkits.co.uk/English_Football_League/FA_Cup_Finals/1910-1915.
Screenshots from 1912 FA Cup Final Replay – Barnsley Victorious (4:13 video at youtube.com uploaded by glavino4).

Barnsley go from last place (on 28 November 2015) to play-offs winners (in May 2016)…
-From the Observer, from 28 May 2016, by Nick Miller, Conor Hourihane at heart of Barnsley’s rise from bottom of table to Wembley (theguardian.com/football).

Barnsley’s Manager: Paul Heckingbottom, (age 39), born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and grew up in suburban Barnsley (in Royston). Heckingbottom had a long career as a Defender in the Football League and the Premier League, including winning the Player of the Year for Bradford City in 2004, and a two-season stint with his hometown team Barnsley from 2006-08, where he helped Barnsley win the League One play-offs final over Swansea City in May 2006 (scoring in the penalty shoot-out win). After retiring in 2011, Heckingbottom went into coaching, and then became part of the Barnsley set-up, becoming the U-21 team coach in 2012-13, then the senior development coach the following season. During this time, Heckingbottom had two separate spells as caretaker-manager of Barnsley. Heckingbottom had taken over as caretaker-manager when Danny Wilson was sacked in February 2015; and one year later, Heckingbottom was also installed as caretaker-manager in February 2016, after Lee Johnson left to take over at Bristol City.

As mentioned, Barnsley went from last-place to the play-off-places in a six-month span in 2015-16…first under Lee Johnson, then not missing a beat when Johnson moved on to a (marginally) bigger club (Bristol City), and so Heckingbottom took over as caretaker again. The Barnsley squad of 2015-16 was notable for their relative youth (averaging about age 23). Their switch over to a 4-4-2 ended up allowing a key player to shine – the Ireland-born MF and captain Conor Hourihane (age 25). Hourihane was involved in about one-third of the Tykes’ goals last season (10 goals and 11 assists in league matches). From New Year’s Day to the season’s close, Barnsley went 18 wins in 23 games…which, as it happens, was exactly what two other successful lower-League clubs did in the same time period (Wigan and Northampton). After Barnsley won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final in April 2016 (over Oxford United), their confidence was unshakable. Then they squeaked into the play-offs, edging out Scunthorpe United for 6th place, on goal-difference. And in the League One play-offs 1st round, Barnsley crushed Walsall 6-1 aggregate. Then, on 29 May 2016, at Wembley Stadium, Barnsley defeated the heretofore play-offs-finals-lock Millwall 3-1, before a crowd of 51,277. So after two seasons in the third tier, Barnsley had returned to their longtime level, the second division. As Heckingbottom told BBC, “If I hadn’t been on the bench I’d have been here watching.” And just over a fortnight later, Barnsley gave Paul Heckingbottom a well-deserved full-time contract.

barnsley_oakwell_sam-winnall_conor-hourihane_c_.gif
Photo and Image credits above –
Barnsley 16/17 jersey, photo by Barnsley FC at barnsleyfcdirect.co.uk/replica/home-kit. Barnsley town centre [view to the north], photo by alamy.com via thesun.co.uk. Aerial view of Oakwell, photo unattributed at community.sigames.com/topic [Barnsley FM 2016 thread]. 1st street-level view of Oakwell, photo by red92 at redrumpo.blogspot.com. Street-view shot of Oakwell, photo unattributed at espnfc.com/blog/barnsley-fan-has-a-day-to-forget. Photo of Oak Stand, photo by red92 at redrumpo.blogspot.com.
Sean Winnal, photo unattributed at rudysroundup.com. Conor Hourihane, photo by Keith Turner/Rex/Shutterstock via theguardian.com/football. Barnsley squad with cheering supporters, at Wembley, following an early goal by Ashley Fletcher – the first of 3 goals by Barnsley in their 3-1 win over Millwall in 2015-16 League One play-offs Final, photo by Matthew Ashton/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com.
___
Thanks to the following…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.

-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.

Thanks to the contributors at en.wikipedia, at 2016–17 Football League Championship.

July 25, 2015

England: 2015-16 League Championship [2nd division], location-map with 14/15 attendances, all-time seasons in 1st division + major titles listed.

Filed under: 2015-16 English football,Eng-2nd Level/Champ'ship — admin @ 9:21 pm

Please note: to see my most recent map-and-post of the English 2nd division, click on the following: category: Eng-2nd level/Championship.
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2015-16_football-league-championship_post_b_.gif
England: 2015-16 League Championship [2nd division], location-map with 14/15 attendances, all-time seasons in 1st division + major titles listed.




Links…
Teams…2015–16 Football League Championship (en.wikipedia.org).
News, fixtures, results, table, etc…Football League Championship page at BBC.com.
Table, fixtures, results, stats, etc…soccerway.com/national/england/championship/20152016/regular-season/r31555/.
Kits…Sky Bet League Championship 2015 – 2016 [home, away & alternate kits] (historicalkits.co.uk).

By Bill Turianski on 25 July 2015; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.com.

Promoted to the Championship from League One for 2015-16:
-Bristol City
This is the club’s first appearance back in the 2nd division in 3 years [last in 2012-13].
-Milton Keynes
This is the franchise’s 1st appearance in the 2nd division since Milton-Keynes-&-Winkleman stole Wimbledon’s place in the League (May 2002) [/and then were relegated out of the 2nd division in 2003-04]). Excerpt from the Milton Keynes Dons page at Wikipedia…”The result of Wimbledon F.C.’s relocation to Milton Keynes from south London in September 2003, the club officially considers itself to have been founded in 2004, when it adopted its present name, badge and home colours.” So, bearing that in mind, this [2015-16] can be considered Milton Keynes’ first season in the 2nd division.
-Preston North End
This is the club’s first appearance back in the 2nd division in 5 years [last in 2010-11].

-Relegated to the Championship from Premier League for 2015-16:
Hull City (after a two-season spell in the Premier League, Hull City are back in the 2nd division).
Burnley (a yo-yo club, going up then back down).
Queens Park Rangers (a serious yo-yo club, going up then down then back up then back down once again).
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Thanks to all at the links below…
-Blank map of UK historic counties, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:United Kingdom police areas map.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Blank relief map of Greater London, by Nilfanion (using UK Ordnance Survey data), at File:Greater London UK relief location map.jpg.

-Attendances from E-F-S site, european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.
-2013-14 stadium capacities (for league matches) from soccerway.com, us.soccerway.com/national/england/championship/20152016/regular-season/r31555/.

-League histories of clubs:
-England – First Level All-Time Tables 1888/89-2013/14.
-Footy-Mad sites’ League History pages, such as Hull City-mad, here, http://www.hullcity-mad.co.uk/league_history/hull_city/index.shtml.

-Titles…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_football_champions.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FA_Cup_finals.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Football_League_Cup_finals.

August 11, 2014

England & Wales: the highest-drawing football clubs within the English football leagues system (all clubs [74 clubs] that drew above 4 K per game in the 2013-14 season) / Plus a short illustrated article comparing English and German attendances last season, by division.

(Note – to see my latest map-&-post of the Premier League, click on the following: category: Eng>Premier League.)
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England attendance map 2014 (all English & Welsh clubs drawing above 4,000 per game in 2013-14 [74 teams])



This continues my new category of European football leagues attendance maps. This map is for England, including the Welsh clubs within the English football leagues system – of which there are 6, with 2 clubs from Wales on the map here/ {see this post I made from 2011 on Welsh clubs within the English system} [There are 2 Welsh clubs on this map - Premier League side Swansea City, and just-relegated Championship side Cardiff City]).

The map & chart here shows all football clubs in the English football leagues system which drew over 4,000 per game in the 2013-14 season (from home domestic league matches). The larger the club-crest is on the map, the higher the club’s attendance. The chart at the right-hand side of the map page shows 2013-14 average attendance, stadium capacity, and percent capacity. Also shown at the far right of the chart are: each club’s English titles (with year of last title), seasons spent in the English first division (with last year in the top flight listed if applicable), and FA Cup titles (with year of last title). [Some data found at Premier League/Clubs (en.wikipedia.org).]

In addition to the main map, there are 3 inset maps on the map page…for Greater London and Surrounding Area (12 clubs from Greater London on the map plus Watford in Hertfordshire); for the West Midlands including Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton (5 clubs on the map from the West Midlands [but not Coventry City]); and for a section of Northwest England, including Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester (4 Lancashire clubs, 3 Merseyside clubs and 5 Greater Manchester-based clubs on the map). I added an extra detail of listing the historic counties of England on the map(s).

    A brief comparison of English and German attendances by division (2013-14 figures)

england_and_germany_football-leagues_attendance_2013-14_by-division_c_.gif

{Note: 2013-14 English leagues football attendance [top 4 levels] can be seen at the following link, by clicking on “England” on the left-hand sidebar at: http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm}.

There were 74 clubs in the English system which drew over 4,000 [4 K] per game last season – all 20 Premier League clubs; all 24 Football League Championship clubs; 20 of the 24 Football League One clubs; 9 of the 24 Football League Two clubs; and 1 Non-League/Conference club. As far as clubs which draw over 4,000 go – that is the most in Europe (and in the world). Second-most is Germany, which had 52 clubs that drew over 4 K last season.

However, the German first division, the Bundesliga, draws much higher on average than the English Premier League does – over 6.5 K higher in 2013-14 (Bundesliga averaged 43,499 per game in 2013-14, versus 36,670 for the Premier League last season). Of course, the Bundesliga is the highest drawing association football league in the world. But Germany’s preeminence in crowd sizes changes as you go down the pyramid in their league system, especially below the second division. Before I get to that I should point out that while last season [2013-14], the second division in Germany outdrew the second division in England (by about 1.2 K), in the two seasons previous, the second division in England – the Championship – drew slightly higher than the second division in Germany – by about .2 K in 2012-13, and by about .5 K in 2011-12. That drop in League Championship attendance last season (down by about .8 K in 2013-14 compared to 2012-13) can mostly be attributed to the temporary inclusion of a rather small club into the second tier, the now-relegated Yeovil Town, combined with the temporary expulsion of a somewhat large club, the now-promoted-back-to-the-second-tier Wolves (switching Yeovil for Wolves in the second division was the equivalent to a -.63 K drop in Championship attendance, when you subtract 2013-14 Yeovil Town crowds [6.6 K] from 2012-13 Wolves’ crowds [21.2 K] and divide by 24).

The third division in England – League One – outdrew the third division in Germany – 3.Liga – by about 1.4 K in 2013-14, while two seasons ago [2012-13] England’s third tier outdrew the third tier in Germany by about .2 K, and three seasons ago [2011-12] England’s third level outdrew Germany’s third level by 1.7 K. So the average for the past three seasons is about +1.1 K more in England’s third division than in Germany’s. Below the third division, it is impossible to compare the two countries’ leagues on a like-for-like basis because Germany’s system is national for only the top 3 divisions and becomes regionalized from the 4th level on down, while the English system stays national all the way to the 5th division. Nevertheless, you can compare the two sets of lower leagues in this way… Germany’s 4th level (90 clubs within 5 regional leagues) could be compared with England’s 4th-through-6th levels (92 clubs in 3 levels [4th level /League Two/24 clubs + 5th level/Conference/24 clubs + 6th level/Conferences North & South/22 clubs in 2 regional leagues making 44 clubs]).

Generally, below the 3rd level, the German football system starts to be full of clubs drawing in the 1 to 2 K range (only 10 of the 90 clubs in the five German Regionalliga [4th level] drew above 2 K last season, and just 6 drew above 3 K, and a mere 4 of those 90 clubs drew above 4 K last season) {2013-14 German leagues football attendance can be seen at the following link, by clicking on “Germany” on the left-hand sidebar at: http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm}. Meanwhile, below the third tier, the English system has, usually, a plethora of clubs drawing above 2 K (there were 28 last season, with 21 League Two clubs drawing above 2 K last season, and a somewhat impressive 7 clubs in Non-League drawing above 2 K (all in the Conference/see these figures at soccerway.com}. Also, England’s fourth tier boasted a majority of clubs drawing above 3 K (16 clubs above 3 K in League Two last season). And, as alluded to two paragraphs above, last season those two divisions in England (4th and 5th levels) included 10 clubs drawing above 4 K (9 League Two clubs plus the now-promoted Luton Town).

So, Germany is king of big-league football attendance, but England’s league system has significantly more substantial support in the lower levels of the Football League and the in the top tier of Non-League football.


In case you are wondering, below are the clubs which came closest to being on this map…
(Below are all clubs in the English system that drew in the 3 thousands in 2013-14)…
York City (3.7 K per game in 2013-14 in League 2), Colchester United (3.7 K in League 1), Hartlepool United (3.7 K in League 2), Exeter City (3.7 K in League 2), Grimsby Town (3.5 K in 5th level/Conference), Wycombe Wanderers (3.4 K in League 2), Crawley Town (3.4 K in League 1), Mansfield Town (3.3 K in League 2), Bury (3.1 K in League 2), Cambridge United (3.0 K in 5th level/Conference).
-Attendance data sources – Premier League and Football League, European-Football-Statistics.co.uk; Non-League, http://us.soccerway.com/national/england/conference-national/20132014/regular-season/r21458/.

Finally, here are the winners of each of the top 5 divisions in England last season (with each club’s average crowd size).
1st division, 2013-14 Premier League, 36,670 per game (winner: Manchester City at 47.7 K).
2nd division, 2013-14 League Championship 16,609 per game (winner: Leicester City at 24.9 K).
3rd division, 2013-14 League One, 7,476 per game (winner: Wolves at 15.4 K).
4th division, 2013-14 League Two, 4,351 per game (winner: Chesterfield at 6.2 K).
5th division, 2013-14 Conference National, 1,864 per game (winner: Luton Town at 7.3 K).
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Thanks to the contributors at ‘Premier League‘, ‘Football League Championship‘, ‘Football League One‘, ‘Football League Two‘, ‘Conference Premier‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

Thanks to European-Football-Statistics.co.uk, for attendance figures.

Thanks to the Footy-Mad sites [http://www.footymad.net/premier-league-news/], for club League Histories, such as http://www.derbycounty-mad.co.uk/league_history/derby_county/index.shtml

July 24, 2013

England, 2nd division: Football League Championship – 2013-14 Location-map, with attendance data & 2013-14 home kit badges.

2013-14_football-league-championship_location-map_attendance2012-13_2013-14-kit-badges_post_h.gif
League Championship – 2013-14 Location-map, with attendance data & 2013-14 kit badges



Note: to see my latest map-&-post of the English 2nd division, click on the following, category: Eng-2nd Level/Champ’ship.

Football League Championship – Fixtures, Results, Table (soccerway.com).

From bbc.co.uk, from 19 June 2013, ‘Championship fixtures 2013-14: QPR start against Sheff Wed‘ (bbc.co.uk/sport/football).

From bbc.co.uk, from 31 July 2013, by Phil Maiden, ‘Championship 2013-14 season: Club-by-club guide‘ (bbc.co.uk/sport/football

From Historical Football Kits site, ‘Sky Bet Championship 2013 – 2014 [Kits of all 24 Championship clubs in the 2013-14 season]‘ (historicalkits.co.uk).

From The Two Unfortunates, from 24 July 2013, by Lanterne Rouge, ‘TTU GO PREDICTING: A CLUB-BY-CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW‘ (thetwounfortunates.com).

From Guardian.com/football, from 27 July 2013, by Sachin Nakrani, ‘Twenty things to look out for in the Football League this season
How will Brighton fare without Gus Poyet, can Yeovil’s incredible rise go on and can Gianfranco Zola stir up the Hornets again?
‘. (guardian.co.uk/football).

    League Championship – 2013-14 Location-map, with attendance data & 2013-14 home kit badges.

Facsimiles of each clubs’ home jersey badges for the 2013-14 season are shown, in alphabetical order, across the the top of the map page. Below that, at the lower left, is a location-map of the clubs in the 2013-14 League Championship. Included on the map, this time, I have listed which historic county or metropolitan-area each club comes from. At the lower right of the map page is attendance data from the 2 previous seasons. Last season, of these 24 clubs which comprise the 13/14 Championship, Brighton & Hove Albion drew best at 26,236 per game (and with an impressive 85 percent-capacity at their excellent new two-year-old venue, the Amex at Falmer).

Meanwhile, the lowest-drawing club that is in the 2013-14 Championship is, of course, second-tier-debutantes Yeovil Town, of Yeovil, Someset (population of around 52,000 {2002 figure}). Yeovil Town drew 4,071 per game last season in League One. 72 other clubs in the Premier League or the Football League (the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divisions) or the Conference (the 5th Level) drew higher than Yeovil Town drew last season {note: you can see each club’s 12/13 attendance-rank at the center of the attendance-data-chart on the map page]. Yeovil Town, nicknamed the Glovers, tried for years and years to get elected to the Football League back when you couldn’t play your way in (pre-1986-87). They found other ways to get their foot in, by turning into a Cup-specialist club (once beating Sunderland in the 4th Round of the FA Cup [in 1949]). 11 seasons ago, in 2002-03, Yeovil Town finally got into the League, winning the Conference National, led by a young Gary Johnson during his first spell (2001-05) as Yeovil’s manager. Then when Gary Johnson got them promoted to the 3rd tier, in 2004-05, folks were saying this little club from the West Country were punching above their weight. Now, a season after Johnson’s return and another promotion, the Glovers are REALLY punching above their weight. One usually does not see such a small club in the English second division…certainly not in the last 25 years. We haven’t seen such a small club from such a small town as Yeovil in the 2nd tier since current-4th-division-side Scunthorpe United were relegated from the Championship in 2011 (and Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire is a bit bigger – it has a population about 20,000 larger than Yeovil, at around 72,000 {2010 figure}). Before that, Crew Alexandra of Crewe, Cheshire were in the second division from 2003-04 to 2005-06 (Crew has a population of around 65,000 {2011 figure}). Before that, Bury FC of Bury, Greater Manchester were in the second division for a 2-year-spell from 1997 to ’99 (Bury has a borough population of around 60,000 {2001 figure}). Before that, Shrewsbury Town, of Shrewsbury, Shropshire were in the second division for a couple of spells, last in 1988-89 (Shrewsbury has a population of around 70,000 {2011 figure}. Before that, Carlisle United, of Carlisle, Cumbria were in the second division for a 4-season-spell from 1982 to ’86 (Carlisle has a population of around 71,000 {2001 figure}. So that is going back 30 years, and all these towns just listed above are all bigger than Yeovil. You have to go all the way back to 1982-83 (31 years ago) to find a second division club from a city smaller than Yeovil – and that is Wrexham, North Wales, home of the current-Non-League-side Wrexham FC (Wrexham, Wales has a population of around 42,000 {2001 figure}).
[sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Championship ;
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Second_Division_Tables_1946-47_to_1991-92.html; http://www.footymad.net.]

For Yeovil Town FC and their supporters this season, there will be good times in store at the 9,565-capacity Huish Park, there in south Somerset… even if the green-and-white hooped Glovers, led-by ex-Latvia and ex-Bristol City gaffer Gary Johnson, go straight back down (please don’t).

As to the kit badge facsimiles I have assembled, one club – Bolton Wanderers – have a new design for their official crest and their kit badge. It is actually a re-working of an older design, with those silly streaming red-and-blue ribbons now gone, and a more traditional horizontal-red-ribbon-with-red-rose-of-Lancashire device added, see this, ‘The Rose returns: Bolton Wanderers’ brand new badge is real‘ (lionofviennasuite.com [SB Nation]). Another club, the just-promoted AFC Bournemouth, have re-vamped their official crest {see it here at their Wikipedias page, but have kept the old one on their 13/14 kits. With the Cherries’ new crest, gone is the ribbon-banner that contained the club’s name, and gone are the red/white vertical-stripes. With the new crest, the shield is larger and contains the club’s name, which is now at the top of the shield and in a modern gold sans-serif font; also there are now some red/black vertical-stripes (to reflect the home jersey-style of recent years). Bournemouth’s main crest element – the player’s-head-with-stylized-motion-streaked-hair-who-is-heading-a-ball – remains, but now the red in the crest is darker and very slightly more raspberry-reddish – to reflect the shade of red that the Dorset-based club has been wearing the past few years {see this, http://www.afcb.co.uk/news/article/2013-06-01-cherries-launch-championship-kits-851694.aspx}.

Not counting background color or colors, this season, the League Championship has 9 clubs which sport home kit badges that are different from their official crest – here they are…
-Barnsley: a dark-red-bordered shield device frames the distinctive crest of the Tykes of South Yorkshire.
-Blackpool: the usual color-reverse for the text elements on the outer-rim of the Seasiders’ crest.
-Derby County: like last year, the Rams sport just the minimalist-ram-in-profile, shown larger and without the framing disc or the text elements. With black collars on their traditional whites, its a great look.
-Huddersfield Town: as with the last couple of seasons, the Terriers of West Yorkshire have a shield framing their crest, plus a three-star device at the top (the stars are for the cub’s 1923, 1924, and 1925 English titles); this year the shield has a dark blue border and the stars are gold (last season both were black).
-Ipswich Town: like last year, the Tractor Boys of Suffolk, East Anglia have a white three-star device at the top of their work-horse-in-crenellated-shield crest (the stars are for the cub’s 1962 English title, their 1978 FA Cup title, and their 1981 UEFA Cup title).
-Millwall: celebrating 20 years at their Bermondsey, South London home of the New Den, the Lions have a disc encircling their rampant-lion-crest, with the words [in all-caps] ‘Twenty Years At The New Den – 1993 -2013′; plus the home jersey features a nice double-thick-pinstripe effect in white-on-navy-blue.
-Nottingham Forest: as the club did last year, atop their singular modernist-tree-on-river crest [which is a color reverse of their official crest], there are 2 white stars for Forest’s two European titles (won in 1979 & 1980 when the legendary Brian Clough was their manager).
-Watford: here is the club’s announcement on their new kits: ‘Watford’s new kits for 2013/14 will feature stylish monochrome club crests – although the official club crest will remain absolutely unchanged’. So, this season, for the Hornets of Hertfordshire, in their home kit there is no red trim (besides sponsor logo), and in the club’s head-of-Hart-of-Hertfordshire-in-a-polygon crest their home kit badge has no red – only black-and-yellow. Why? Maybe their Italian owners think the stag on their crest looks more stylish this way.
-Wigan Athletic: this is the second straight year Wigan have featured a gold-disc-outline on their Wigan-Tree-in-crown badge. The disc-outline of the Latics’ official crest is in their ‘electric blue’ color; but actually, Wigan are sporting a darker shade of light royal blue this season, and have a thinner-vertical-stripe-pattern on their nice-looking home jersey {see this from (laticsshop.net) – old school style, harking back to Wigan’s late ’70s/early ’80s-first-years-in-the-Football-League era.

The just-relegated Wigan Athletic, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, have now become the only club in the history of association football to have won the FA Cup title and to have been relegated in the same season. Manager Roberto Martinez has moved on to a bigger club nearby (Everton), and ex-St. Johnstone, ex-Burnley, and ex-Bolton manager Owen Coyle is at the helm. Maybe another new arrival, burly-but-deft-touch-striker Grant Holt, will power Wigan right back to the Premier League so they can reclaim their 4-out-of-8-seasons’-status as the lowest-drawing top-flight club (QPR were the lowest-drawing club in the Premier League last season and in 2011-12, while in 2005-6 it was Portsmouth, and in 2010-11 it was Blackpool).

From en.wikipedia.org, ‘2013–14 Football League Championship‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
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Thanks to Football League site for 2012-13 attendance figures, football-league.co.uk//DivisionalAttendance. Thanks to European-Football-Statistics.co.uk, for the 2012-13 attendance figures of the 3 relegated teams (QPR, Reading, Wigan), european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm.

Thanks to Derby County online store for the photo segment of the 2013-14 home kit, dcfcmegastore.co.uk/item/mens-replicakit-homekit_1314-home-shirt.

Thanks to garibaldired for uploading a photo of the 2013-14 Nottingham Forest home kit at forestforum.co.uk/thread [image later scrapped, see comment #1 & 2 below]. / Thanks to nottinghamforestdirect.com for the Nottingham Forest 13/14 home kit badge photo, http://nottinghamforestdirect.com/stores/forest/products/kit_selector.aspx?selectorid=302&CMP=KNC-Google2&portal=nottppc&cur=USD..

Thanks to bogdan at lufctalk.com/forums for uploading a photo of the Leeds United kit badge at lufctalk.com/forums/index.php?topic=5589.

Thanks to FootyHeadlines.com for this gallery of the new Middlesbrough kits, http://www.footyheadlines.com/2013/05/middlesbrough-13-14-2013-14-home-and.html.
Thanks to FootyHeadlines.com for the photo of the Millwall 2013-14 badge, http://www.footyheadlines.com/2013/06/millwall-13-14-2013-14-home-and-away.html

Thanks to QPR shop, http://www.shop.qpr.co.uk/gb/item/adult-pre-match-jacket-102508.

Thanks to Footballkitnews.com, for photo of Watford 2013-14 kit badge, http://www.footballkitnews.com/9112/new-watford-kit-2013-2014-puma-watford-fc-home-shirt-13-14-138-com-sponsor/.

Thanks to htafcmegastore.com at htafc.com for 2013-14 Huddersfield Town kit badge.

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