League of Blogs 2013 - Roundup + Sticker Book News!

Well it's over for another year! The League of Blogs 2013 has officially come to a close and we'd just like to say what a huge pleasure it was running this again and a massive thank you to all who joined in!

This year we've had a total of 51 blogs sign up, meaning a total of 99 individual kit designs (and of course 51 badge designs) - a gargantuan effort of which you should all be proud!


Check out the good work in the gallery.

But of course, the League of Blogs doesn't end here...not while there's merch we can flog off the back of it ;-)

As with last year, we'll be creating a Sticker Book (last year's shown here), which is a loose term as the 'stickers' are actually pre-printed in the book - we considered doing one where you get the stickers as actual stickers, but the cost becomes prohibitive...unless you want to spend about £30 on it, but I know none of you are that insane ;-)

Retro Round-Up - 31 May 2013

The domestic football season may be over, but the world of football nostalgia continues to turn, as witnessed by our latest weekly selection of the best the web has to offer...

Remember the days when sponsorship of the Football League was seen as something of a novelty? Does your memory go that far back? It does for The Two Unfortunates, as shown in their excellent article on the subject...

Let's all wish Twohundredpercent a Happy 7th Birthday by checking out its account of seven matches where seven goals were scored by the winning team...

Attic Podcast 9 - Club Badges

It's podcast time again here in the Attic and this week, it's to the sound of a bandwagon being leapt upon! In the wake of the Everton badge furore, we decided to discuss the thorny subject of club badges and what they mean to a club and its fans.

Listen as Chris calls all Everton fans childish idiots (maybe) and Rich does the best Scouse accent this side of the flow of brown water known as the Mersey! ;-)

Also, Aztec Gold returns as the theme tune... cos it's freaking brilliant!

Subscribe on iTunes or download here

Retro Round-Up - 24 May 2013

Bringing you the best that the world of football nostalgia has to offer, this is The Football Attic's weekly Retro Round-Up...

Former Charlton goalkeeper Sam Bartram celebrates 500 appearances for the club by having a celebratory cake cut for him by a Portsmouth player. The 1950's presented in a single image by Who Ate All The Pies...

It's always great to remind oneself about the legend that was Robin Friday, and The Goldstone Wrap does a fine job of keeping his spirit alive here...

The Sound of Football podcast looks at England's golden generation of the late-90s and ponders how many have retired to start running a pub...

Brian Greenhoff (1953-2013)

Anyone that collected football stickers or collector cards in the late-1970s will know the name Brian Greenhoff. The former Manchester United, Leeds United and England defender who died suddenly earlier today was a competent and much admired player who started his career at Old Trafford in 1968.

In the 221 appearances he made there, he quickly became a fans' favourite, epitomising the youthful passion for the game that many of his recent predecessors at Man United were seen to be lacking.

Promoted from the youth team ranks by Tommy Docherty, Greenhoff formed a steely partnership in defence alongside Martin Buchan and was present in the Red Devils sides that won the 1975 Second Division title and the FA Cup Final in 1977.

League of Blogs 2013 Update + Prize + Sticker Books

There's only days left to book your place in the League of Blogs 2013!

This year's entries have so far been outstanding and the response has been great, with some familiar faces from 2012 alongside a whole host of new entries.

Don't forget there's also a fantastic prize on offer for the design we choose as our favourite. Worcester Subbuteo (@WRP7) have kindly offered to create the winning entry in a hand painted Subbuteo figure!

The Greatest England Home Kit Ever 1965-2013

So now we know. The new England home kit by Nike has been launched and whether we like it or not, we're stuck with it for a whole year. It can now take it's place alongside all the other England home kits from recent history where it can be judged on its merits and flaws...

...and that's why we're here - to determine the Greatest England Home Kit Since 1965. You'll have seen our recent posts reflecting on the high and low points of England home kit design, but now it's time for all of you to rate the very best outfit of the last 48 years.

What's the Worst Thing about Modern Football? - Round 2

Wow! What can we say other than WOW! The response to this has been absolutely fantastic!!!

The work continues however...we may have shed the likes of 'Modern Day MOTD' and 'The Second Commentator', but still in contention are the likes of 'Half and Half Scarves' and 'Ticket Prices'.

Round 2 has been split into 8 groups of 3 and this time, you can only choose 1 thing...that will leave us nicely with 8 things left for the 1/4 final straight knockout...wait a minute, this whole thing has turned into the same format as the Champions League!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!

How to Vote:

You can vote for only 1 choice in each group.
At the end of the round, the winner from each group will go through to the 1/4 Finals.

Voting for Round 2 closes at 23:59 on Sunday 26th May 2013

Go Go Go!

Lion comic t-shirt ad, 1972

It's the gift that every football-loving child of the early 1970's wanted - a t-shirt featuring the face of Kevin Keegan with a black eye. And yours for only 92p!

Panini: Euro Football 79

My failing memory doesn't recall Panini's Euro Football 79 being on sale in the UK when I was a kid. If that's the case, it's an almighty shame because this, for me, was one of the best Panini sticker collections ever made.

It's not just the variety and quality of the stickers inside the album that elevate it to such a celebrated plain, but the simplicity and logic of its structure. In basic terms, the album was split into three parts, one for each of the European club competitions that existed back then. Within each of those parts were five sub-sections containing a Roll of Honour, pictures from the previous season's Final, the fixtures for the upcoming season (1978/79), the teams involved in them and the players to look out for. Nothing more, nothing less... and it was all the better for it.

Retro Round-Up - 17 May 2013

After the relentless parade of FA Cup articles we brought you last week on The Football Attic, this week's been a little quieter for us post-wise, but fortunately there are lots of other like-minded folk on the interweb that have been doing their bit for the football nostalgia cause. Here's a selection of the best we could find for your viewing pleasure.

Hull City's tumultuous promotion campaign this season prompts The Two Unfortunates to remember a similarly successful time for The Tigers back in 1965/66 - read about it here...

Double Diamond works wonders - even for under-age kids! (Well it does if the double diamond in question belongs to Umbro, according to Got, Not Got...)

The Worst of Modern Football Vote - Round 1

What's the Worst Thing about Modern Football?

A while ago we asked for your thoughts on the worst aspects of modern football...and you responded with full on vitriol!

We've ended up with 48 excellent suggestions and as with the Greatest Shirt Sponsor Ever, we're gonna run it as a knockout tournament...only this time, the first round will be a World Cup like Group Stage.

How to Vote:

You can vote for 2 choices in each group.
At the end of the round, the Top 2 from each group will go through to Round 2.

Voting for Round 1 closes at 23:59 on Sunday 19th May 2013

Get in!

The FA Cup Winner's Parade - Coventry 87

We're not quite done here in the Attic with FA Cup Week. Although the Final may be over and the victors handed the cup, there's still one piece of FA Cup folklore to be examined...the winner's open top bus parade!

To this end, rather than blather on about buses and all things topless (you wouldn't believe what google throws up for that!), I thought I'd just share with you my own pictures from the day after that glorious day back in 1987, when the mighty Sky Blues showed off their well deserved silverware on a slightly overcast and rainy Sunday...

So...here they are...apologies for the ropey pics, but they were taken by the 12 year old me on a 110 camera (look it up) in a rather large crowd.

Spurs fans, look away now ;-)

The Unofficial FA Cup Championship

If any of you are aware of the Unofficial World Football Championships, you'll know about the simple unadulterated joy of considering a 'World Cup' where the reigning champions are decided on a match-to-match basis. You'll also be aware of the fact that seemingly any team can snatch the unofficial world title at any time, so long as they overcome the current holders at exactly their most vulnerable point. (If you're not sure what we're on about, visit the UFWC website and find out how the project works - it'll be time well spent.)

Anyway, it was with that working model in mind that we decided to do something similar. We wanted to find out who the Unofficial FA Cup Champions have been since the FA Cup first started in 1871, and who's won it most often.

Clive - The 'Other' 1923 FA Cup Final Horse

The 1923 FA Cup Final is remembered for many things; it was the first final at the all new Empire Stadium at Wembley, 900 people were injured due to the over-capacity crowd, Bolton's second goal was given as, in the opinion of the ref, the ball had crossed the line and rebounded off a spectator (yeah, suck that one up, Hawkeye!). Finally, there was a Horse named Billie.

Crowd estimates for the day ranged between 150-300,000, despite the official figure being just over 126,000. Due to the large number of people, mounted police had to step in and at that point, Billie the grey horse (yes, he wasn't white afterall) took centre stage, herding the masses in a manner which would now be referred to as 'bossing it'.

Due to the prominent role he played, the final became known as the White Horse Final and in 2005, the footbridge near the new Wembley would be named after him after a public vote.

It could all have been so different, however!

Retro Round-Up - 10 May 2013

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to another review of this week's best blog posts and other web-related curiosities from the world of football nostalgia.

If The Football Attic isn't enough to sustain you, let this pick of the last seven days be your saviour...

It's easy to forget what a parlous state Manchester City were in not so long ago, but Twohundredpercent is on hand to remind us about the dark days of the early '80s at Maine Road...

Footysphere has some lovely illustrations that were used to promote the venues used in the 1958 World Cup Finals...

FA Cup Final Day - ITV-style (Part 2)

The second and final part of our look at the way ITV's World of Sport created a Cup Final Day experience for all of us watching in on the box.

1976
Duration: 12pm to 5.10pm

Everyone remembers the novelty of seeing the Cup Final teams in their chosen hotels before the big game, and in 1976 World of Sport made it their first port of call on the day. "Up-to-the-minute news on the fitness, mood and morale of the finalists" was what we were promised, but if anything we were probably more fascinated by the sight of both teams sitting around in their smart Admiral sweaters and freshly pressed slacks.

Fred Dinenage punctuated the day's coverage with 'Man In The Crowd' (i.e. interviews with fans and celebrities) while Ed Stewart returned for a third successive year with 'Football Crazy.' On this occasion, he took Martin Buchan and Peter 'Rodreegs' Rodrigues to a local school to meet young fans of Man United and Southampton rather than enlist the help of ne'er-do-wells like Gary Glitter. No bad thing either, if you ask us.

Great Tracksuits of Our Time: No.14 - FA Cup Special

Not long to go now until FA Cup Final Day, so let's look back to 1978 when two rather fine tracksuit tops graced the biggest game in the English football calendar.

The scene was Wembley, the teams were Ipswich Town and Arsenal. Terry Neill and Bobby Robson emerged from the tunnel into the warm May sunshine and shortly after we got our first sight of the 22 players that would start the 1978 FA Cup Final.

FA Cup Final Programmes (1946-2012)

Continuing FA Cup Final Week here at The Football Attic, we present a video montage showing the front covers of all of the FA Cup Final match-day programmes from 1946 onwards.

Pick your favourites, pick your worst, then tell us what they are - we look forward to hearing from you!

FA Cup Final Day - ITV-style (Part 1)

With just seven days to go until the 2013 FA Cup Final, we begin a week-long series of FA Cup-themed articles here on The Football Attic..

If you heard our recent podcast called 'FA Cup Memories', you'll know that many people (ourselves included) still fondly remember the classic Cup Final Day coverage on TV.

As a child growing up in the UK, one tends to recall ITV and BBC starting their build-up to the big event well before lunchtime. Special features would be shown involving the Cup Final players, celebrities and all manner of novelty fare. This was, after all, the biggest game of the domestic season and the two main UK TV channels did all they could to make sure you tuned in to them for Cup Final Day.

While the BBC's coverage was somewhat earnest and straight-laced, ITV allowed itself to have a bit more fun in its presentation of the big event. To that end, let's remind ourselves of how World of Sport did 'FA Cup Final Day' down the years, starting here with Part 1...

Retro Round-Up - 3 May 2013

Our weekly selection of the best football nostalgia stuff on the web this week...

Make a donation and ensure Jimmy Case’s autobiography ‘Hard Case’ goes into print - details over at The Goldstone Wrap...

Which set of A&BC collector cards are the most popular among all you retro football fans? Find out by visiting Got, Not Got...

When is an Icelandic goalkeeper not an Icelandic goalkeeper?  When Panini give him the name of a Beninese defender, according to Old School Panini...

The story behind Blyth Spartans shirt from the 2005-07 season, courtesy of When Saturday Comes...

Brian McDermott scores the second goal in a 2-0 win for Arsenal, but Villa win the 1981 League Championship - just one of many clips from May 2nd ‘On This Day’...

Fancy taking ownership of 1,300 football club pin badges? Get them on eBay for just £3,200...

Plus don't forget..

You've got just over three weeks to go to submit your entries for League of Blogs 2013... full details here!