Saturday 4th January
2020, 15:01, Preston North End FC (PNE) V Norwich City FC - I’d like to welcome PNE to our blog
Preston is a City in Lancashire in the North
West of England. Just as Chorley, in the
last round, was the place that I grew up in – Preston is the City that I was
born in (well it was a town back then).
The Town/City has a rich history and was always ‘famous’ for having the
largest bus station in Europe (not anymore); for having Britain’s first ever
KFC; and for having Britain’s first ever stretch of Motorway.
Preston has a significant amount of history in
both men’s and women’s football – the English Football Museum was originally
based in Preston before it moved to Manchester.
As already stated, the The Dick Ladies Football Team were pioneers of the
women’s game and they played their home games on PNE’s Deepdale ground.
In this part of the blog we are here to talk
about the men of Preston. PNE were
established in 1880 and were founding members of the English Football League in
1888. Preston were the first team to go
unbeaten (the invincibles) and the first to win the League and Cup double
(1889). They won the FA Cup again in 1938 and have been finalists on five
occasions (the last time being 1964).
Preston’s most famous player was England
International Super Star Sir Tom Finney (making 569 appearances for PNE). Tom was one of the best of his generation and
has often been compared to other big names of the time such as Stanley Matthews
and Bobby Charlton. Charlton as a young
school boy admired Finney and former Finney teammate Bill Shankly described Sir
Tom as the ‘greatest to ever play the game’ – high praise from a Manager who won
3 League titles, 2 FA Cups and the UEFA Cup during a 15-year reign at
Liverpool.
Sir Tom Finney will always be remembered in
Preston as he has various places named after him, including schools, a gym and
the stadium of local football team Bamber Bridge.
PNE in 2019 play in the Championship (Tier 2 of
the League system) and are in 9th Place at this midway point of the
season.
I’d like to
welcome Norwich City FC to our blog
Norwich City are also a team with a rich history as they were
formed in 1902 and have been in the English Football League since 1920. It took them until 1972 to reach the top tier
of the English Football League and have since been described by some as a ‘yo-yo
club’ - they have played 26 seasons in the top tier and 19 in the second tier –
however, the GKA sees this as a example of great strength, resilience and
tenacity to keep fighting back when other teams have crumbled following
relegation.
I remember the great side that Norwich had in the early 90s. The
team that led the inaugural Premier League Season for much of the campaign
before ending up being placed 3rd and having a decent UEFA cup run
the following year.
I’ll also never forget the infamous motivational ‘Let’s be avin
you’ speech by Delia Smith in 2005.
In the 2019 Premiership campaign, Norwich are bottom of the league at this midway point of the season.
This game will be a close one to call. Norwich are struggling in the Top Tier, whilst
Preston are competing for a playoff spot in the 2nd Tier – only
the Cup will decide.
Tickets for this game were easy to obtain as I went on the PNE
Website, registered, and bought two instantly for £15 each – easy.
The GKA will be travelling 38.5 miles from our last men’s game
at Oldham Athletic…
To Deepdale Stadium in Preston…
In the GKA official route, Northampton Town beat Notts County in
the last round, and they have a home tie against Burton Albion (winners from
the GKA’s last featured game – what are the odds on that happening).
Sunday 5th January,
13:00, Brighouse Town AFC Women V Barnsley Women’s FC
I’d like to welcome Barnsley Women’s FC to our blog
Barnsley Women’s FA are committed to junior development through
to the first team, as well as providing appropriate exit routes for players if
necessary – all girls are given an opportunity regardless of their ability or
background and this has made Barnsley one of the biggest clubs in the league,
providing opportunities for over 90 junior players.
Barnsley is in South Yorkshire, half way between Leeds and
Sheffield. It is a former industrial
town, previously centred on coal mining, glass making and textiles (like most
northern towns these industries are no longer prevalent).
The GKA has only had one trip to Barnsley in which it (I)
attended a night club called Hedonism (the pursuit of pleasure and sensual
self-indulgence). This was the late
1990s and I confirm that the club looked like this picture below.
(photo
taken inside Hedonism in 1998 from https://billstephenson.co.uk/social-documentary/celebrating-barnsleys-night-life-november-1998/)
The GKA will be travelling 49.9 miles from the Chorley game in the previous round…
To Brighouse Town Women’s FC…
It’s going to be another great FA Cup whopper of a double bonanza
weekend.
Happy new year everyone and I hope you had a great Christmas…
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