football rambles

Last night I went to Peterborough V MK Dons in the League 1 play-offs semi final second leg. The first match had ended 3-2 to MK Dons with the Posh remaining in the tie with a controversial last minute penalty. Therefore the stage was set for an exciting game that didn't disappoint. The game was a sell-out, well apart from a few tickets that MK Dons didn't sell, and the atmosphere was electric. I have to say that I always enjoy a trip to London Road as the chance to stand on a full terrace reminds me of football gone by and last night the terrace was as full as Health and Safety allows nowadays. I think that it was the first time in ages that I have had to queue up to get into a ground in England, mainly because the games I go to at the top end are all ticket affairs with computerised tickets or are not the type of games to attract a crowd. Before the game Peterborough's owner Darragh Mac.Anthony walked around the pitch whipping the fans up; not that they really needed wind

Ranbir Marwa is interviewed after the match

Top: Clint Easton celebrates at the end of the match. Middle: The kids are on the pitch. A good natured and friendly pitch invasion mainly by Ebbsfleet's younger fans. Bottom: 'Over land and sea... and Essex.' The Ebbsfleet fans celebrate getting in the final.

Here's some first half action from Ebbsfleet v Chelmsford. The top image is the first corner, the second an early attack and at the bottom is the free kick which Michael West scored from.

On Sunday I went to Ebbsfleet United V Chelmsford City in the second leg of the Blue Square South Semifinal play-offs. The reason I was there was that I am planning to do some work with the club for a DVD for work. I have to admit I've at times been pessimistic and skeptical about the Internet ownership at Ebbsfleet, but I thought that it was as interesting subject to cover for work. After Sunday I have to say that I have a lot of respect for what they are trying to do and can't thank them enough for how helpful and open they are being. They got through to the play-off final and I really hope they can go one better at Farnborough in the final next week. I was given a lift by one of the members from Cambridge and was able to spend plenty of time getting an insight into the club and the role of My FC. Going into the match Ebbsfleet must have been feeling confident after winning 4-1 away at Chelmsford in the first leg. In the Non-league Paper though the Chelmsford manager was pret

The Holte End, luckily quite a long time before kick off.

Sean and the statue of William McGregor, founder of the Football League and Aston Villa.

I always take a few and this trip was no different a few more to follow.

The first trip of the weekend was to see Villa take on Wigan in the Premier League. Unfortunately nowadays a trip to Villa Park is a bit of a rare treat. We usually look for games to go to that Villa will probably win, however the season has been that disappointing even a game against a poor Wigan side could be a struggle. It was a good day out, but the result was a draw, which didn't do Wigan any favours but more or less made Villa safe from the drop. It seems strange that it's still basically the nucleas of a aquad that finished sixth for 3 seasons in a row and this season has flirted with relegation. The problems seem to stem from poor tactics rather than poor players and the players that looked out of sorts seemed to have been given poor instructions. Villa started off brightly enough, but went behind to a goal by Charles N'Zogbia after only 10 minutes. I don't think anybody expected it or expected that that would be the end of the scoring. It wasn's as 6 minute

Yesterday I went to see Villa draw 1-1 with Wigan and now today it's off to Ebbsfleet United v Chelmsford in the Second Leg of the Blue Square South Play-off semi finals. Ebbsfleet won 4-1 away in the first leg. I'll catch up with all the news from these two games when I'm not actually at the football.

When Wigan Athletic were formed in 1931 they started off wearing red and white halves, which is the same colour as the perhaps more famous Rugby League club. They didn't start wearing their more familiar blue and white strip until 1947. The reason for the change in colour being that there was a clothing shortage on at the time and the kit suppliers could only manage to provide them with blue and white. Since then they have always worn some combination of blue and white, with a special kit being manufactured in 1973 for their appearance in the FA Trophy final. At the time Wigan were in the Northern Premier League and unfortunately for them they went down 2-1 to Scarborough. One exception to them wearing blue and white came when they introduced a blue and black kit for the 1993 - 1994 season. In 1995 with Wigan close to bankrupcy Dave Whelan of JJB sports fame took control of the club and they started their climb up the divisions. He did start to make some changes to the kit too, as

For some reason the odd Premier League fixture that I have been able to attend this season has always featured Wigan Athletic. On Saturday it's Wigan who take on Aston Villa at Villa Park. Hopefully Wigan won't win, but as they have already featured in a club focus, I'm now going to have a look at the history of their shirts.