Wrexham

Wrexham FC are the oldest football club in Wales, having being formed in 1864 by members of Wrexham Cricket Club who sought winter recreation for their members. Wrexham is the largest town in north Wales and is located close to the English border with Chester. The Welsh name for the club is Clwb Pêl-droed Wrecsam.

The 1877-78 season saw the inaugural Welsh Cup, with Wrexham winning the final against Druids. The club played friendly games apart from the cup for the next decade, lifting the trophy once more in 1883. After crowd trouble marred the game against Oswestry in an FA Cup tie in the same year, the club were disbanded. A new outfit named Wrexham Olympic took their place, but reverted to the original title three years later.

The club were playing home games at The Racecourse Ground since 1872 when meetings took place next door in The Turf Hotel. It was also used for racing and cricket. In 1881 the cricket club raised the rent so Wrexham moved out to the Rhosddu Recreation Ground for a couple of campaigns before returning, while changing their name to Wrexham Athletic for one of them.

The club joined the Combination League in 1890, where they remained until 1894 when they became members of the Welsh League. The move only lasted for two seasons, with Wrexham winning the title on both occasions, before they returned to the Combination. The club remained in that league until 1905 as they became champions four times.

Wrexham's next port of call was the Birmingham & District League, from where they won the Welsh Cup six times to take their tally to twelve. In 1921 the club were elected to the newly formed Division Three North. While success in the league was blank, Wrexham had won the Welsh Cup fifteen times by World War Two.

The 1955-56 season saw Wrexham reach the fourth round of the FA Cup and face Matt Busby's Manchester United at The Racecourse. The 5-0 defeat attracted a record attendance of 34,445 to the ground. In 1958 'The Reds' were placed in Division Three following re-organisation of the lower leagues. Three more Welsh Cup victories had been accumulated by the time Wrexham were relegated to Division Four in 1960.

After a spell of two seasons the team were promoted under the stewardship of Player Manager Ken Barnes. Unfortunately after just two campaigns at the higher level, they were once more relegated to the League's basement, even finishing in ninety second place in 1965-66. John Neal arrived at the club as manager in 1968 to oversee the clubs most successful period.

Promotion was secured in 1969-70 and after another Welsh Cup win, they reached the second round of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1971-72 after defeating FC Zurich, with Arfon Griffiths orchestrating the midfield. This enabled The Racecourse to be improved with the construction of the new main Mold Stand.

Neal's team featuring a young Mickey Thomas went all the way to the sixth round of the FA Cup in the 1973-74 season. Wrexham defeated Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham United, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Southampton before going down at Turf Moor to Burnley where 20,000 away fans travelled with them.

After the twentieth Welsh Cup victory Wrexham went all the way to the quarter finals of the Cup Winners Cup in 1975-76. Djurgardens IF of Sweden and then Polish entrants Stal Rzeszow were beaten before the Belgian giants and competition winners Anderlecht ended the run. The season ended in anti climax as The Reds needed just three points from the final four games to be promoted to the League's second tier, but they somehow failed.

John Neal departed to Middlesbrough with Griffiths taking over as Player Manager for the memorable 1977-78 season. The team were promoted as champions to Division Two while the cups also brought great reward. Wrexham reached the last eight of the League Cup before losing out 3-1 at home to Liverpool. Greater acclaim came in reaching the same stage of the FA Cup.

Burton Albion, Preston North End and Bristol City were defeated before Wrexham faced a daunting trip to St James Park to face Newcastle United. They came away with a 2-2 draw before hammering the Geordies 4-1 in the home replay. The draw for round five saw them matched with giant killers Blyth Spartans. Terry Johnson's goal looked to have put the part timers through until late drama came when a debatable twice taken corner kick allowed Dixie McNeil to fire home. The replay was played at a sell out crowd at St James Park and saw Wrexham win 2-1 to break hearts of non league fans everywhere. Arsenal ended the magnificent run with a 3-2 win in north Wales.

Highlights from this incredible era can be seen by clicking on the links below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cZgGm-M_-U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ5h1LwOQvo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUxCezzPUmM

Further successful FA Cup runs came in 1979-80 and 1980-81 which came to end thanks to Everton and then Wolverhampton Wanderers. Griffiths departed in 1981 to be replaced by Mel Sutton. Relegation followed back to Division Three a year later. Bobby Roberts was next in the managers chair, but he faced a thankless task as most of the talented playing staff, including the legendary Joey Jones were sold off owing to financial problems. A second successive relegation followed.

The twenty second Welsh Cup win came in 1986 with former goalscoring hero O'Neil in charge of team affairs. Slowly the team began to improve leading to a place in the play offs in the 1987-88 season. O'Neil moved on after a poor run of form the following season to be replaced by Brian Flynn. Things did not improve, and in the 1990-91 season in that Aldershot had already left the League, Wrexham finished rock bottom, thus avoiding demotion to non league football. Finances were extremely tight during that time.

The 1991-92 season gave cheer to the clubs loyal fans as after seeing off Telford United and then Winsford United they were rewarded with a home time with Arsenal. Goals from returning veteran Mickey Thomas and Steve Watkin won the game 2-1. 'The Red Dragons' went out at the next stage after a replay to West Ham United.

To see the Arsenal victory, click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0_udb-LsB8

Flynn made a great signing in Gary Bennett for the 1992-93 season, who's goals led the team to automatic promotion. More excitement was to follow in the season after when an FA Cup run took the team to Old Trafford in the fourth round to face Manchester United. However, the game ended in a 5-2 defeat. While the team consolidated in the league, another massive FA Cup run was to come their way in the 1996-97 season.

Wins against Colwyn Bay, Scunthorpe United, West Ham United, Peterborough United and Birmingham City set up a sixth round tie away to fellow third tier side Chesterfield. The Spireites won the encounter 1-0 and were so close to reaching Wembley after an epic semi final with Middlesbrough.

At the turn of the millennium Alex Hamilton became owner of the financial troubled club. He immediately sold The Racecourse to a separate company which he owned to free up some money, with the club paying him rent to play. Relegation came in 2002 back to the bottom tier and in 2004 Hamilton gave the club a one year notice to quit so that he could develop the land where the ground stood.

Supporters were naturally in uproar and they organised themselves and received assistance from fans of other clubs who'd suffered under similar owners. Wrexham were placed into administration in December 2004, with a sizable debt being owed to the Inland Revenue. As a consequence the team were deducted ten points. This penalty condemned Denis Smith's side to relegation. Despite all the financial concerns Wrexham won the Football League Trophy in 2005 after an extra time victory over Southend United at the Millennium Stadium.

Some respite came when Hamilton's company was found to have purchased The Racecourse illegally, so it was placed back in the hands of the Administrator, despite a High Court appeal. In March 2006 the club came out of administration and was sold to Neville Dickens and his associate Geoff Moss. Results started well but dipped badly in the following campaign leading to the dismissal of Smith in January 2007. Wrexham's League status was only saved on the final day of the season with a 3-1 home win against Boston United, which relegated their opponents.

New manager Brian Carey lasted until halfway through the new season when Brian Little was brought  in. Results were poor, so many players were signed in the January transfer window. Unfortunately the move did not work, with Wrexham sliding down the table before finally being relegated to the Football Conference after a 2-0 defeat at Hereford United in May 2008.

Little departed halfway through the clubs debut Conference season to be replaced by Dean Saunders. Things were still far from right off the pitch with Moss and Dickens looking to sell the financially scarred club, with some of the names banded around causing great concern. Local businesswoman Stephanie Booth and the Wrexham Supporters Trust became the preferred bidders, and after the two parties came to an agreement, the Trust eventually sealed an acrimonious deal after support from their local MP to become the new owners of the club before the start of the 2011-12 season.

A deal was done with nearby Glynwr University for them to become the new owners of The Racecourse Ground, with Wrexham becoming tenants at a fair price, with the university having use of the facilities. Saunders moved to take the Doncaster Rovers managers job in September 2011 to be replaced by new Player Manager Andy Morrell. He took the team to the end of season play offs, but the side went out to Luton Town in the semi final.

Improvement came once more on the pitch in the 2012-13 season as Morrell's side went all the way to the FA Trophy Final for the clubs first ever appearance at Wembley Stadium. Wrexham lifted the trophy against Grimsby Town following a penalty shoot out. They returned to the national stadium five weeks later after defeating Kidderminster Harriers in the semi finals of the play offs. Their re-appearance led to heartache as fellow Welsh side Newport County won the final 2-0 to return to the Football League.

Wrexham FC will play in the Football Conference in the 2013-14 season


My visits

Wrexham 1 Scarborough 0 (Saturday 31st October 1987) Division Four (att: 1,860)

Scarborough had reached the Football League and I along with my brother Nick had started travelling regularly to away games with our driver Jon 'Doomy' Dyer and Mick Young. We headed over to north Wales for this game after Jon and myself had both finished our early morning shifts at work. We went into a pub a couple of miles outside Wrexham as it was in the days when it was still a little dodgy as an away fan.

We were put into a small terrace behind the goal at The Racecourse with the seated Border Stand behind us. To our left was the seated Yale Stand with a terraced paddock in front, where the players emerged from and the directors box was located. The far end was taken up by The Kop, a terracing with a decent sized roof at the rear. The right hand side was a real mixture and partly closed to spectators. .........

It had changed since I first saw it on TV when the end where we stood was previously an open terrace and The Kop was roofless, but it had a strange raised stand in the middle with a seating deck, but it was deemed unsafe after the regulations became more stringent.

It was a sort of nothing game with not a lot happening. The home side scored the only goal at the far end. Boro didn't really look like equalising.

Wrexham 0 Scarborough 2 (Saturday 20th January 1990) Division Four (att: 1,756)

I decided to travel to this encounter on the Supporters Club coach with Bob Hall. It was a pleasant day and we were rewarded with a decent Boro performance. After soaking up all that Wrexham had to show in the first half, a Steve Richards goal from a set piece and an absolute beauty from outside the box from Martin Russell sent us back to the coach happy and dreaming of our first pints back in Scarborough.

Since my visits

Seating has been added to paddocks of the Border and Yale Stands and The Kop was closed to spectators from 2008. It is hoped that The Kop will be replaced by a new development led by Glyndwr University. The final side which was a collection of different areas was replaced by a fine new seated Mold Stand in 1999.


The images from this page have been taken from the internet as I didn't have my camera with me on either occasion. I hope to pop by in the future and enjoy beers with the nice fans I met the night before the 2013 Play Off Final, in particular my good friend Paul 'Hagar' Jones.

Torquay United

Torquay United FC are a football club from the seaside town which forms part of the resort of Torbay in Devon on England's south west coast, who were formed in 1899.

The club was initiated by a group of school leavers under the guidance of Sergeant Major Edward Tomney, playing friendlies at a pitch located at the top of Penny's Hill on Teignmouth Road. After a season the club joined the East Devon League and moved into a new home at the Recreation Ground, for the following four years. In 1904 Torquay Athletic Rugby Club left their Plainmoor home, with United's local rivals Ellacombe moving in. Athletic signed a lease on the Recreation Ground, with United becoming homeless.

After moving back into their original home for a spell, the club moved once again. This time they shared with Torquay Cricket Club in Cricketfield Road. In 1910 the club merged with Ellacombe to form Torquay Town FC and moved into Plainmoor with the team playing in the Plymouth & District League and sharing their home with rivals Babbacombe FC.

After rivals Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle were elected into the newly formed Football League Third Division in 1920, a campaign started up in Torquay for Babbacome and Town to merge to form a club to compete with their neighbours. A year later this happened with the new club reverting to the old name of Torquay United.

The club gained entry into the Western League and then the Southern League a year later. They won the Western Division title in 1926-27 and then gained promotion to the Football League after Aberdare Athletic lost in the re-election battle. A new grandstand was erected to celebrate the achievement, which was purchased from Buckfastleigh Racecourse. The club colours were also changed from light and dark blue to black and white stripes.

Up to World War Two, United struggled on and off the pitch with financial worries and poor results and having to stand for re-election. The goals of Sammy Collins gave the fans some joy in peacetime, and in 1954 the club colours were changed to yellow and blue to reflect the towns image of sun, sand and sea. The change brought luck as the next season United defeated Cambridge United, Blyth Spartans and Leeds United to set up a fourth round tie at home to Huddersfield Town. A gate of 21,908 crammed into Plainmoor as the visitors ended the dream with a 1-0 win.

After a near miss on promotion the following season, they returned to type and were placed in Division Four when the league was re-organised in 1958. The 1959-60 season saw Torquay's first League promotion as they went up in third place under long serving manager Eric Webber. Sadly they were relegated back to Division Four in May 1962.

The 1964-65 season saw another fine FA Cup run. The goals of Robin Stubbs had enthused the side and they reached the third round, only to go out after a replay to a fine Tottenham Hotspur side after a 3-3 draw at Plainmoor. At the end of the season Webber was dismissed to be replaced by the Weymouth boss Frank O'Farrell. In his first season he led the side to promotion and then used his contacts at his previous club West Ham United to sign John Bond and Ken Brown.

The 1967-68 season saw United come very close to winning promotion to Division Two, but they fell away at the end of the season. The club had a major consolation when their fans were voted 'The Best Behaved Supporters in the League'.  In December 1968 O'Farrell left to become manager of Leicester City and Stubbs was sold soon after. Torquay were relegated back to the League's basement at the end of the 1971-72 campaign.

Allan Brown, Jack Edwards and then Malcolm Musgrove held the managerial reigns before O'Farrell made a return fresh from appointments abroad and at Manchester United. He soon moved upstairs with Mike Green taking over team affairs. Colin Lee made an impact up front and was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £60,000. For several seasons 'The Gulls' ended around mid table with Bruce Rioch arriving as manager during the 1982-83 season. He departed after an incident with star player Colin Anderson.

In February 1984, the former Chelsea hero Dave Webb bought the club. After a decent first season they had to apply for re-election for the first time since 1928 after ending bottom of the pile at the end of the next campaign. A 'suspicious' fire also badly damaged the Main Stand. Things didn't improve as they finished bottom once more. The locals were not amused with the actions at the club, even though United were not voted out of the league. This was in a period when United would play several home games on a Saturday night.

The 1986-97 saw automatic relegation to the Conference introduced. In their final game United were losing at home to Crewe with seconds remaining, when they needed a draw to survive. Owing to the volatile nature of the day and previous games, police lined the pitch to keep supporters off. A police dog bit centre back Jim McNicol when he got close while playing, and in the time added on for the injury Paul Dobson snatched the invaluable goal to keep the club in the League.

As a consequence of visiting marauding supporters creating havoc, United decided to try a season of allowing only home supporters into games at Plainmoor and creating a members only system.

The new season saw Cyril Knowles appointed as manager to install a brighter future for the club. They missed out on promotion in the play offs to Swansea City, but beat Tottenham in the first leg of a League Cup tie. Sixteen year old Lee Sharpe was introduced to the team before being sold to Manchester United for £180,000. In May 1989 United played at Wembley for the first time, where they went down 4-1 to Bolton Wanderers in the Football League Trophy.

Webb moved on in May 1990, to be replaced by Mike Bateson who had made his fortune selling double glazing in Devon and who enjoyed playing the ventriloquist to his dummy Algernon. By now Knowles had moved on and Bateson soon sacked his replacement. Former player John Impey took over and led the team to promotion following a Play Off Final victory on penalties over Blackpool at Wembley.

However Impey didn't last long and other managers came and went with regularity as United found themselves back in the bottom tier before missing out in the play offs under Don O'Riordon. Unfortunately the form didn't last as United survived on a tight budget. The team finished bottom of the table at the end of the 1995-96 season, but were reprieved from relegation as the champions of the Confernce, Stevenage Borough, failed with their ground grading. Eddie May who had overseen the poor finish was dismissed to be replaced by Kevin Hodges.

The 1997-98 season ended in defeat at Wembley, when after an emphatic play off victory over Scarborough, Colchester United beat The Gulls in the final, in spite of the quality of Rodney Jack. Hodges took the Plymouth Argyle managers job, with former player Wes Saunders arriving in his place. In typical fashion the relative success lasted just one season before a battle with relegation came along. They survived that and improved the next campaign, but Saunders was replaced by Colin Lee in March 2001 with Torquay sat bottom on the table. They won the final game of the season 3-2 at Underhill to send their hosts Barnet into the Conference.

Leeand then  Roy McFarland had spells in charge before Leroy Rosenior took over and led the team to automatic promotion at the end of the 2003-04 season. The team's spell in their higher grade lasted just one season and ended in relegation. Rosenior, John Cornforth and then Ian Atkins all had spells in charge the following season as United narrowly avoided relegation once more.

The 2006-07 season was a disaster on and off the pitch. Three managers tried their luck without any success. Keith Curle was in charge of team affairs, with Colin Lee overseeing things as United were relegated to the Conference. Meanwhile off the pitch Bateson sold the club to Chris Roberts consortium, only for him to resign after complaints about his actions. Local hotel owner Keith Richardson stepped in, but Bateson seized back control after Roberts company failed to pay their installments for Bateson's shares in March.

The chaos continued at the seasons end as Bateson stepped aside from his role as Chairman for Marvyn Benney to take over. Curle and Lee departed. Rosenior was appointed and sacked within the same day before a new consortium bought the club and appointed Alex Rowe as Chairman. Former United player Paul Buckle was appointed as the new manager.

The 2007-08 season saw Torquay go out in the Conference play off semi finals to fierce rivals Exeter City, before losing in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley to Ebbsfleet United. However, the club dusted itself down and returned to Wembley twelve months later, this time going home victorious after defeating Cambridge United in the Play Off Final to regain their place in the Football League thanks to goals from Chris Hargreaves and Tim Stills.

After a moderate 2009-10 league season but a run to the third round of the FA Cup they improved the following campaign to reach the semi finals of the play offs where The Gulls lost out to Shrewsbury Town. Torquay did reach the fourth round of the FA Cup equalling their previous record. They went out to Crawley Town at Plainmoor and then agonised as their victors were drawn away to Manchester United in the next round.

Buckle resigned at the end of the season to move to Bristol Rovers, with Martin Ling coming in to take his place. Once again they ended the season losing out in the play offs, this time to Cheltenham Town. All this went on while a brand new Main Stand was erected to replace the old wooden structure. Ling and his side started the 2012-13 season well but he fell ill and form dipped in his absence. The board decided to replace him towards the end of the season with Alan Knill as the side secured its status once more.

Torquay United will play in Football League Two in the 2013-14 season.


My visits

Torquay United v Scarborough - Postponed (Friday 22nd February 1991)

For some reason best known to the Football League the computer had decided that Scarborough should travel to its furthest away game in the middle of winter. United decided that Friday night football worked better for them, rather than the traditional Saturday afternoon. They had tried Saturday nights in the past. I had the week off work and got talked into making the journey south.

The idea was to stay over and enjoy some nightlife over the weekend. I assembled at Keith Crowe's Trafalgar Cafe with fellow passengers Kev Laing, Dave Johnson, Gary Sweeting and our driver Andy Taylor. The weather was poor and the forecasts not very promising in Devon, but a phone call down to Torquay told us that the game was definitely on.

We set off in the days before mobile phones and the Internet, having to stop every hundred miles or so to make sure that the continuous driving rain hadn't put pay to the fixture. On we continued. It was still on when we left Gordano services near to Bristol. We found our hotel for the night and were just getting ready to go out when the local news broke it to us that the game was off!

While we weren't impressed, there was an inevitability about the situation. We still went up to the ground and had a beer in the clubhouse, with sympathetic locals. We even asked if there was any chance of playing it the next afternoon at 3pm as the weather was forecast to improve, but it was not possible. Instead we headed down town and had a big night out, even bumping into some of the United players and having a drink with them.

The next morning we decided that we would head home via the First Division clash between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa and then head to Shepshed, our old favourite of the time for a few pints. On the way we went back up the hill to Plainmoor to have a look around and buy a programme from the postponed game.

Plainmoor was a small venue. The clubhouse end had the small Mini Stand in front of it with bench seating with hard flat standing either side. The old Main Stand ran down two thirds of the right hand touchline with a small terraced paddock in front of it. A covered terrace called the Popular Stand ran a similar distance opposite, with the far end being taken up with a small open terrace, which was primarily used for away supporters.

I wrote to United's Chairman Mike Bateson after the game thanking him for their hospitality and our dismay at the postponement. In a lovely touch he told me to let him know the names of any fans who had made the journey and who would be returning when the match was rescheduled. He promised free admission to the game to them.

Torquay United 2 Scarborough 0 (Saturday 7th May 1994) Division Three (att: 3,470)

Boro were enjoying a big resurgence under new manager Steve Wicks who had taken over around the turn of the year and had led the team away from the threat of relegation to one where the play offs were an outside hope for a short while. Chairman John Russell was also extremely popular at the time, especially after Geoffrey Richmond's reign and a short spell of Dave Simpson. Things were looking up.

The Supporters Club decided to run two coaches down to Devon for the final game of the season with a couple of nights in a hotel thrown in. As a treat I took my Mum and Dad. The weather was glorious as we set off on our mini holiday south. The fans were split among three hotels on arrival. Most of my regular travelling companions were with me at our digs on Avenue Road, and I shared with Carl Ellis.

After a lively Friday night out, while watching out for the concern of Burnley fans visiting before their game at Exeter, we went for a walk early on match day. The plan was to find something to do so that we weren't drinking all day. However, the best laid plans often go wrong, especially when there's plenty of lads away for the weekend. We entered the Bull & Bush mob handed, much to the surprise of the young bar man and didn't leave until the coach arrived to take us to Plainmoor.

There was time for a drink in Boots & Laces bar at the home end, not that we needed any more before we entered the ground at the far end turnstiles.

Plainmoor had changed since my previous call. The Mini Stand had been replaced by a much larger all seated Family Stand. The Popular Stand was in the process of being demolished so was out of bounds. As a consequence, the home fans were also given the open terrace behind the goal. Boro fans were given a couple of blocks of the Main Stand and the terracing in front and to the side. An impressive turn out of around two hundred had made the journey.

Torquay were getting ready for the play offs the following week against Preston, whereas the Seadogs looked like they were already on their holidays. They put in a limp performance with the woeful on loan goalkeeper Simon Sheppard not helping matters. There was only going to be one winner.

At full time the visiting players hung around to applaud us and they threw their shirts into our section. I ended up with Simon Thompson's number three top. We returned to the hotel for a rest for an hour or so before heading out once more. It was another top night out, even if some Seadogs were showing the signs of the day. We went back to our hotel where the kind landlord allowed one or two lads in from another place as their accommodation didn't have a bar and Torquay had a policy of all night clubs closing at 1am.

I was not brilliant the next day and seemed somewhat dehydrated. We all went for a walk down around the harbour and found a pub for lunch. The landlord had put his last barrel on at half price and some of the boys helped him out. He had earned his money, keeping the bar open and then having to get up to cook breakfasts. He deserved all the money he made.

We set off back home at 2pm having had a brilliant time, which everyone enjoyed. It was so good for me to see my Mum and dad have so much fun and see my travelling pals in such good light. We got back in time for a last few drinks in the Trafalgar to round off a fantastic weekend.

A Narrow Escape

The season afterwards I arranged the mini bus to revisit for the away match. It was around late February or early March but I was really suffering with flu and had to stay off work. In the end I handed over responsibility to Crusher and Bunner and I stayed at home.

I got up and went downstairs to watch Football Focus, only for news to break that the match was off. I felt terrible for the lads, as did my Mum who was sat with me. How little I knew.

The boys had also heard the news when near Exeter. They turned around and were considering another game to visit, when someone spotted something in the paper and asked how far they were from Minehead? To cut a long story short (I've heard snippets on many happy occasions later when the beer has flowed) they ended up at a 70's weekend at Butlins and ended up having the best time away al season in a trip that has become Boro folk law. They even thanked the team a week later and sent them a postcard from Minehead which had lifted morale at training that week.

Plainmoor Since My Visits

The Popular Stand was replaced with a brand new covered terrace in readiness for the 1994-95 season. A smallish covered terrace was constructed where the open terrace once stood went up for the 2000-01 season. Finally a brand new stand replaced the old wooden construction. It was named Bristow's Bench after a late former director and opened in August 2012.


The images on this page have been taken from the Internet as I didn't have a camera on either of my visits.

Ajax (Holland)

AFC Ajax are one of the most prominent names in Dutch football since their formation in 1900 in the capital of Amsterdam. Their official title is Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax, although they are also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or just plain Ajax.

The club was named after the legendary mythical Greek hero Ajax and was formed by Floris Stempel, Carel Reeser and Johan Dade. Their first official coach was the Irishman Jack Kirwan who had enjoyed a long playing career with Tottenham Hotspur. He led the side to the highest level of Dutch football and at the same time they took up their distinctive shirts of white with a broad red stripe in 1911. At the same time they moved into a wooden arena called The Stadium. Ajax were relegated in 1914.

Kirwan's successor was Mancunian Jack Reynolds. He led the club to promotion in 1917 as well as lifting the Dutch (KNVB) Cup for the first time. National championships followed in 1918 and 1919, with the later one seeing the team go unbeaten throughout the campaign. Regional titles would follow in the 20's, with the club moving to the Olympic Stadium once it had been erected for the 1928 games.

The 30's became known as the 'golden age' as players such as Wim Andereisen and Piet van Reenen helped the team to eight regional titles as well as national championships in 1931, 1932, 1934, 1937 and 1939. This era saw the clubs big rivalry with Feyenoord spring up as both clubs battled for the major honours. The club also saw a move to their own new 'het Ajax-Stadion', which was known as De Meer after the district it was located in. Ajax's association with the Jewish community also came from the move as many resided nearby and went to games.

De Meer

The 1940's saw a period of rebuilding following Reynold's retirement, although the KNVB Cup was lifted in 1943 and another league title was added in 1947. The most remarkable game of the decade came when Ajax were 6-0 down in a game away to VUC in The Hague, but they came back to draw 6-6! A couple more regional titles came in before professional football was finally permitted in Holland in 1955, with the Eredivisie being introduced the following year.

Ajax collected the Eredivisie title for the first time and then again in 1960, as well as adding another KNVB Cup in 1961. Star players of the day were Henk Groot, Sjaak Swart and a young Piet Keiser. The team could not establish itself in European competition and several disappointing defeats were suffered as Englishman Vic Buckingham was at the helm.

However, his replacement the former Ajax player Rinus Michels took over after the 1964-65 season nearly ended in relegation. The club was about to transform into a major European powerhouse. A young Johan Cruyff had made his debut before Buckingham's departure and Michels utilised him to the full as he built his team to play 'Total Football' in which every player could swap positions easily and the emphasis was on skill and fitness.

Too see the genius of Cruyff, both at Ajax and elsewhere, click on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ButOkDsxq4

Eredivisie titles followed in 1966 and 1967 with a twenty year old Cruyff netting thirty goals in the latter, in which they completed the double. Ajax made it three titles in succession in 1968, which led to a run all the way to the European Cup Final in 1969. 'de Godenzonen' lost the match 4-1 in Madrid with skipper Velibor Vasovic netting a consolation goal.

The defeat led to the rebuilding of the squad as reserve player Ruud Krol came in with new signings Dick van Dijk, Gerrie Muhren and Nico Rijnders. The Eredivisie was claimed once more in 1970. Cruyff suffered an injury that year and when he made his comeback he wore the number fourteen shirt as a substitute. He wore the same number for the rest of his career. The team reached the semi final of the Inter Cities Fairs Cup where Arsenal ended their run.

However, the following season was to see Ajax finally arrive as a major European name. As well as lifting another KNVB Cup, they reached the final of the European Cup Final at Wembley against the Greek side Panathinaikos and went on to win 2-0 with a deflected Krol shot and a goal van Dijk sealed the win.

The Romanian Stefan Kovacs replaced Michels after the final, but the success kept on coming. Players like Johnny Rep, Johan Neeskens, Wim Suurbier and Barry Hulshoff played prominent roles as the team won the domestic double as well as retaining the European Cup after defeating Internazionale of Milan thanks to two Cruyff goals. To add to the satisfaction, the game was played at the De Kuip home of their rivals Feyenoord. After adding the Inter Continental Cup Ajax went on to win the Eredivisie once more in 1973 as well as becoming the champions of Europe for a third consecutive season. A Johnny Rep goal was enough to defeat Juventus in the Belgrade showpiece.

To see highlights of the three triumphs, click below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NuVPnksUi4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azHr7m4Z8kU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er1DatAkWXM

The concept of Total Football was taken on by Michels as he managed Holland to the World Cup Final in 1974, but Ajax were to hit a period of decline. Cruyff and Neeskens departed to be with him in Barcelona after the tournament and Ajax didn't win another Eredivisie until 1977 under Tomislav Ivic.

Another period of success followed as the league title was clinched in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1985 as well as four KNVB Cup victories. Ajax reached the semi final of the European Cup in 1980, where winners Nottingham Forest put pay to any dreams. Cruyff returned for a short spell as a player around young talent such as Marco van Basten, Jesper Olsen, Frank Rijkaard and Wim Kieft. Cruyff returned as the new manager in 1985 to install an attacking philosify.

To see a vintage display in the Olympic Stadium, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifh7FqErJTE

Cruyff led the side to glory as Ajax won the 1987 European Cup Winners Cup Final after a van Basten goal defeated Lokomotive Leipzig in Athens. Several star players began to leave as did Cruyff, but even so the club reached the final for a second successive season. This time it ended in a 1-0 defeat in Strasbourg to Belgian side Mechelen.

Leo Beenhakker led the club to the 1990 Eredivisie title as a young Denis Bergkamp began to make his mark. Louis van Gaal took over as head coach and brought a new set of tactics with him, which paid dividends immediately as the club won the 1992 Uefa Cup Final against Torino. Ajax went on to lift the 1994 KNVB Cup after Bergkamp and Wim Jonk had departed to Internazionale.

The Marco van Basten tribute in the Ajax Museum

The 1994-95 season saw Ajax win their fourth European Cup, by then known as the Champions League when a late Patrick Kluivert goal defeated AC Milan in Vienna. Brazilian side Gremio were beaten to lift the Intercontinental Cup, before Ajax failed narrowly to defend the Champions League when Juventus avenged the 1973 encounter by winning the Rome final after a penalty shoot out.

van Gaal departed soon afterwards as many star players also followed him out of the door, with some on free transfers owing to the Bosman ruling and some on large fees to help subsidise the move to the new home Amsterdam ArenA for its opening in August 1996. Players of the calibre of Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Nwankwo Kanu, Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Ronald de Boer, Frank de Boer, Edwin van der Sar, Rijkaard and Jari Litmanen all departed around that time.

New boss Morten Olsen attracted Michael Laudrup to the club as Ajax won the league and cup double as well as keeping their hands on the KNVB Cup the season after. Ronald Koeman was put in charge of the team for the 2002-03 season after a few poor seasons. He was dismissed after a few campaigns to be replaced by former skipper Danny Blind. He upset fans by abandoning the teams traditional style in favour of a 4-4-2 formation. He lasted just over a year before he was replaced by Henk ten Cate.

In 2007 ten Cate's side won the KNVB Cup after defeating AZ Alkmaar on penalties. However once more they had to sell their most promising talent at the end of the following season as Ryan Babel and Wesley Sneijder left the ArenA. Luis Suarez was brought in as a replacement from Groningen. In October 2007 ten Cate departed as the fans became more and more dissatisfied with Adrie Koster coming in as his replacement.

Following Euro 2008 the legendary Marco van Basten returned to take over as manager as new players came in. Unfortunately the club decided to sell Klaas-Jan Huntelaar at the same time, to much criticism. van Basten left after just one season. Martin Jol was appointed in his place. Goals rattled in at an amazing rate with the team ending the season with a goal difference of +86, but still finished as runners up to PSV. Solace was found in an eighteenth KNVB Cup triumph.

During the 2010-11 campaign Frank de Boer took over from Jol and led the side to the Eredivisie title after a last day win over close rivals Twente, to make up for the disappointment of a poor Champions League campaign as well as the departure of Suarez in the January transfer window. They regained their title to collect the Eredivisie for the thirty second time after winning their final fourteen games of the 2011-12 campaign.

Ajax went on to make it three in a row when a win in May 2013 against Willem II kept the championship banner flying at the ArenA, to compliment a decent Champions League effort in which Manchester City were defeated at the group stage, while the clubs outstanding youth system continued to churn out quality footballers.

AFC Ajax will play in the Eredivisie in the 2013-14 season.


My visit

Tuesday 24th October 2000

My Eurorail adventure was nearing its end and I found myself in Amsterdam. It had been a tremendous three weeks, but I was tired and ready for home. I decided that this was to be my last day before heading to Belgium the following morning to catch a ferry home and I wanted to make the most of it.

I had found a budget bed in a dormitory full of other backpackers following the overnight train ride from Berlin. After dumping my bag in the lockers I enjoyed a couple of beers before having a brief look in the city and then heading out on the train to Amsterdam Bijlmer Arena station in hope of a stadium tour. In later years I lamented the lack of PC skills as I could have visited other football venues of interest including the site of the old De Meer.

Anyway, I found the arrows pointing to the tours and museum. I was too early for the 3pm tour but I was welcome to spend the next hour in the superb club museum, which I did with gusto. It had a fine collection of memorabilia as many videos showed some of the highlights on the pitch. I was never going to get sick of seeing Cruyff or van Basten at their prime. Both had sections dedicated to them.

I headed off to join around twenty others for the tour which was conducted by youngish bloke who spoke good English. After he explained each area to the others he took the time to explain it briefly to me, which was a lovely touch. We visited the changing rooms, press room and VIP areas as well as seeing plenty of the ArenA from the stands.

The actual ArenA was a quality construction. It was a two tiered bowl with corporate boxes down one side between the levels. The upper seating deck was extremely steep to offer the best possible views, with its fully retractable roof pulled back on my visit. The seats at the front were raised above the pitch with a moat in between so that there was no need for any high fencing. In the gaps between the ends there were areas for pre match entertainment and a small five a side pitch. The ultras banners and graffiti lit up the bare walls behind the goals.

I must have been impressed as I paid for a souvenir photograph to be taken! I took the train back into town and had another walk around, even going out of my way to see Ann Frank's house. After that I thought it was a good idea to get to know the other residents of the hostel. I got very drunk and played some excellent pool, while taking in the aromas.

I seem to recall waking all the room up when trying to find my bed and clambering to the top bunk. While it was hilarious at the time, I certainly paid for it the next morning! The really rough ferry from Oostend to Dover was not a huge help to me, but I couldn't complain. I'd been a very lucky man and the visit to Ajax rounded off my trip perfectly.

Mansfield Town

Mansfield Town FC are a football club from the former mining town of Mansfield in north Nottinghamshire. The club were formed as Mansfield Wesleyans FC in 1897, like many clubs of the day through a church. Having begun playing friendlies, the club joined the local league in 1902. Four years later they turned professional, with the church abandoning them, so their title was changed to Mansfield Wesley FC.

The club took on its present title in 1910 and up until World War One, Town played their football in the Notts and District League, Central Alliance League and the Notts and Derbyshire League. After the war, Town took over Field Mill from rivals Mansfield Mechanics and became members of the Midland League in 1921.

Town were crowned Midland League champions in 1923-24, 1924-25 and after a short spell elsewhere, once more in 1927-28. Their successes paid dividends as the club were elected to the Football League Division Three South under Manager/Secretary Jack Hickling. Mansfield had a season in the North Division, but returned south until the outbreak of World War Two.

Once peace was restored Town found themselves in Division Three North, where they remained until being placed in the newly formed Division Three in 1958, following League organisation. Two years later they were relegated. Promotion came in 1962-63, but it was marred as players Brian Phillips and Sammy Chapman were banned for life after being found guilty of bribing Hartlepools United players to lose against Town.

The 1968-69 season saw 'The Stags' embark on a fine FA Cup run that went all the way to the quarter final stage. After defeating Tow Law Town, Rotherham United, Sheffield United, Southend United and West Ham United they went out 1-0 at Field Mill against Leicester City.

In 1972 Mansfield were relegated once more, but they bounced back by winning the Division Four title in 1974-75 with the goals of Dave Syrett providing the fire power. In 1976-77 Town won Division Three to find themselves in the League's second tier. However, their spell lasted just one season.

To see action from the 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in Division Two, click below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ3dsONj6s8

By 1980 Mansfield were back in Division Four, where they remained until the end of the 1985-86 season when another promotion was won under the popular Ian Greaves. In May 1987 the club made its first ever Wembley appearence when they defeated Bristol City on penalties in the final of the Football League Trophy.

The early nineties saw Town be relegated twice and promoted once to find themselves in the bottom tier for the start of the 1993-94 season. It was around that time that Keith Haslam bought the club. Andy King was in charge of team affairs as The Stags reached the play offs at the end of the 1994-95 season. They were beaten in the semi final by local rivals Chesterfield.

The defeat saw several players including Paul Wilkinson leave the club. With a depleted squad the side deteriorated and just over a season later King was dismissed to be replaced by player Steve Parkin. After several poor seasons the club were placed under a transfer embargo in June 1999. Parkin resigned, with Billy Dearden replacing him.

Nothing really improved as Field Mill was massively redeveloped over the summer of 2000. A promotion followed in 2001-02, but they were demoted after just one season. Keith Curle arrived as manager in December 2002 as he gradually built his own side including Liam Lawrence. The 2003-04 season saw Town reach the Play Off Final at the Millennium Stadium, but they were defeated by Huddersfield Town after a penalty shoot out.

Curle was dismissed after bullying a youth player the following December with Carlton Palmer taking over, much to the disappointment of fans who were beginning to get vocal in their opposition to Haslam's running of the club. Palmer lasted around a season to be replaced by Peter Shirtliff who had early signs of promise, before Dearden returned in December 2006.

The 2006-07 season saw the creation of SFFC; Stags Fans for Change, who wanted the removal of Haslam and started to arrange non aggresive protests to get their point across. Form in the League continued to disappoint as Dearden was left with a poor budget, despite the occasional good FA Cup result. He was sacked to be replaced by Paul Holland at around the same time the controversial ex York City owner John Batchelor put in a bid to buy the club. Amongst his plans was to change the club name to Harchester United after the team in Sky TV's fictional series to gain more publicity. The bid was turned down following protests.

In April 2008 Mansfield Town were relegated from the Football League, with Holland being shown the door. Billy McEwan was appointed as the new boss to begin Town's life in the Football Conference. Haslam's reign came to end when he sold the club, but not Field Mill to a consortium headed by Colin Hancock. McEwan only lasted a few months, with The Stags at the wrong end of the table. David Holdsworth took over.

After two mid table finishes Holdsworth departed to be replaced by Duncan Russell. The Stags found a new owner in John Radford. The multi millionaire lifelong Stags fan and owner of the One Call Insurance Brokers came in and despite suffering a short spell where Town were locked out of Field Mill by Haslam, the side reached the 2011 FA Trophy Final. Unfortunately Mansfield went down 2-1 to Darlington in the Wembley showpiece. The Eastwood Town boss Paul Cox was appointed as the new team manager for the 2011-12 season.

Radford supplied Cox with funds to build his side and he was rewarded as The Stags reached the play offs, but went out in the semi finals to York City. Better news had arrived on the 1st March 2012 when Radford finally bought Field Mill from Haslam.

The 2012-13 season was one of the greatest in the clubs history. An FA Cup run led to Town being drawn at home to Liverpool in the third round, in a game shown live on TV. Despite the 2-1 defeat, the team gained much admiration for their display. However, this led as a catalyst in the league as Town won twenty of their last twenty four games to lift the Conference title. Radford was so overjoyed win an 8-1 win over Barrow in the run that he gave Cox his £85,000 Aston Martin car.

Mansfield Town will play in Football League Two in the 2013-14 season.


My visits

Mansfield Town 3 Hull City 1 (Monday 3rd January 1983) Division Four (att: 4,517)

Hull City under Colin Appleton were half way what would prove to be promotion season. I was a regular at Boothferry Park at the time so I looked at this encounter around Christmas as a doable away game. My old mate Pete Walker agreed to accompany me, so we booked out train tickets to the nearest station at the time; Alfreton & Mansfield Parkway.

The journey meant that we had to change at Leeds. The train south from there was packed with United fans heading to their game at Wolves. I didn't envy them that as a day out. There was also a couple of Yorkshiremen who supported QPR and they were heading down to Derby for their Division Two encounter. We stood in the area now known as the vestibule, enjoying the chat.

On arrival at our station we thought that a bus was the only option as it was eight miles away from Mansfield. As it was a Bank Holiday the service was only running hourly. Another Tigers fan also got off the train. He was quite a bit older than us and lived in York. He said he was going to get a taxi, so we agreed to share the cost and save the mucking about. We got there early and found a pub up Quarry Lane for a couple of pints.

The walk down the lane to the ground took us past the rear of the imposing Main Stand and training pitches behind to the away fans turnstiles. Both ends curved slightly behind the goals. The Quarry Lane End was an open terrace, with the North Stand at the far end being covered for standing fans, with a clock placed in the front centre of the roof. To our right stood  the small seated Bishop Street Stand between two small open terraces. Finally to our left was the magnificent West Stand which stood behind a decent sized open terrace. It had a large seating deck with all the facilities underneath and had been purchased from Hurst Park Racecourse in Surrey when it was closed in 1962.

The Tigers faithful had turned up in large numbers, but they were subdued as the home side led up front by John Dungworth led City a merry dance in the first half in front of us, going into a three goal lead if my memory serves me correctly. This naturally subdued the atmosphere, but greatly enthused the locals. There were one or two scuffles in the paddock in front of the stand after City fans had gone in with the Town fans.

At full time we went back to the pub so that we could sort our taxi back to the station. It had been an adventure and even though the result was disappointing it must have been a good day out for me to be able to compile this report thirty years later.

Mansfield Town 2 Scarborough 0 (Saturday 9th September 1995) Division Three (att: 2,419)

Boro were regular opponents of Mansfield's for several seasons in the bottom tier of the League. My only visit came during my time while working at the awful Malton Bacon Factory. Although plenty of pals went to matches with me, those that went to every away game had rides sorted in full cars. I went to this encounter on the Supporters Club coach on my own.

I relaxed as our driver took us down the A1. I read my paper and started to get a little concerned as we continued south. I didn't want to poke my nose in. Our driver was a big bloke who had once offered to do awful things to me with his cricket bat after I bowled a couple of unintentional full tosses around his waist as a lively youth. Fortunately someone plucked up courage and went to have a word with him and thank goodness that they did.

For some reason our pilot thought that we were playing at Peterborough! By now I was crossing off the amount of beers I might get before kick off. The route back to Field Mill and then the traffic meant that we got there twenty minutes before the start. The stewards ushered us straight inside the ground.

It was a lovely day. The weather was warm and sunny and we were placed on the terrace next to the Bishop Street Stand. The Seadogs fans numbered around three hundred. We were optimistic after a reasonable start to the season under Ray McHale. The team with Andy Ritchie up front seemed to be gelling well.

However, this turned out into a nightmare afternoon. The referee was a total incompetent and gave us absolutely nothing as well as sending off Mark Todd. Our mercurial winger Jimmy Gardner turned into the invisible man, but worst of all was the conduct of the stewards.

The over numbered squad placed in front of us was run by a trouble making middle aged idiot, with several others looking for confrontation. The referee's actions was causing plenty of angst and the stewarding only added to it as at least one fan was ejected for next to nothing. I was struggling at the time with a a loss of voice owing to polyps on my vocal chord. I was losing the plot as I screeched at them as loud as I could. It was probably just as well that we didn't have time for the pub before the game.

It later transpired that the stewards were hired in from other events. We rowed all the way to being put on the coach. Luckily our driver managed to find his way back to Scarborough. He was no doubt ready for a beer, but not nearly as much as I was.

Since my visit

Field Mill undertook a massive transformation between 1999 and 2001 as new cantilevered seated North and South Stand's went up behind each goal. The final construction to open was a new two tiered West Stand to replace the wonderful old structure.


The photos on this page have been taken from the internet, as I did not have my camera with me on either visit.