Surely a foul even back then, by the way it was a golden period for midlands football in 1957 local teams Blues, Villa and West Brom reached the semi-finals.

1956 runners up Blues
1957 winner's Villa (Boo)
1959 winner's Forest
1960' winner's Wolves
Also in that period Villa, West Brom and Forest all were champions and Wolves considered unofficial European champions with Blues reaching successive Inter-City finals the forunner of the Uefa cup.

Where did it all go wrong?
 
At least the Midlands have a golden period to look back on. I mentioned in another post that I used to watch Wolves playing mid week friendlies on the telly. Pre European Cup they were regarded as deciding the unofficial champions of Europe. In the autumn/early winter of 1954 Wolves beat both Moscow Spartak and the great Hungarian team Honved at Molineux before 50,000-plus crowds.

I remember watching both as a schoolboy on our tiny 12-inch tv screen. We had a huge magnifying glass strapped in front of the screen which increased the picture size a bit.

https://www.tvhistory.tv/TV-Lens.htm

I love the 'stagey' comments of the narrator - Bob Danvers-Walker at this period of Pathe News history.


All we have in the West Country is Bristol City finishing second in the old First Division in 1906/1907 (Newcastle were champions), with short stays in that division between 1906 and 1911 and between 1976 and 1980, with an FA Cup Final appearance against Manchester United in 1909 which they lost 1-0. Bristol Rovers have never been higher than the second tier.

Swindon Town is the only other West Country club to have played in tier 1. They should have been promoted to the First Division in 1990 having won the play-offs but an admitted series of illegal player payments and breaches of league rules saw their promotion annulled. Initially they were to be relegated to tier 3 but on appeal were allowed to remain in tier 2.

Glen Hoddle then became manager and got them promoted to tier 1 (by then called the Premier League) in 1993. He then left prior to the commencement of the 93/94 season and his assistant John Gorman was put in charge of the team but was unable to prevent their relegation after the one season at the top level.

Looking further afield to the wider South West, none of the other clubs has managed to rise above tier 2. It really is a football backwater when it comes to the professional game at the top level.
 
It really is a football backwater when it comes to the professional game at the top level.
Yet in rugby it's generally been a rugby stronghold with Bath and Gloucester nearly always in the top tier. Exeter recently becoming Champions and Bristol rfc also being a founder member of the Premiership and always being on the verge of promotion back to it when not actually in it and even Plymouth rfc and the Cornish pirates spending a lot of their time in the Championship.
 
Actually my dad was an a apprentice at the Blues in the 1947/8 but didn't make the grade and was told he was been sold to Torquay United, he wasn't happy about that and became a plumber instead and played non league and works footbal at times under an assumed name as clubs could and did retain your registration.
I still have his contract at home signed by the then manager Harry Storer, basic wage £3 and a bit per week plus win bonus if play for the firs team, how times change.
 
Actually my dad was an a apprentice at the Blues in the 1947/8 but didn't make the grade and was told he was been sold to Torquay United, he wasn't happy about that and became a plumber instead and played non league and works footbal at times under an assumed name as clubs could and did retain your registration.
I still have his contract at home signed by the then manager Harry Storer, basic wage £3 and a bit per week plus win bonus if play for the firs team, how times change.

Even the top players only officially earned no more than £20 a week until the pay cap was declared illegal in the early 60s. My view is that things have moved from one extreme, when one of England's greatest players Tom Finney - later Sir Tom- still worked as a plumber whilst playing for England and first division football for Preston North end, to the other where even average Prem players are earning millions a year. And don't get me started on the parasites of the game - the agents.

Yet in rugby it's generally been a rugby stronghold with Bath and Gloucester nearly always in the top tier. Exeter recently becoming Champions and Bristol rfc also being a founder member of the Premiership and always being on the verge of promotion back to it when not actually in it and even Plymouth rfc and the Cornish pirates spending a lot of their time in the Championship.

Yes, the South West does a lot better with rugby union than with football at the top level. Interestingly and unlike football, the top Premiership clubs are often from relatively small towns and cities across the country: Bath, Exeter, Gloucester, Worcester. Even Northampton and Leicester are not amongst England's largest cities. Perhaps that's why the South West does better although in Cornwall and cities such as Bath and Gloucester rugby is probably more popular than football. It would be marvellous if Cornwall could get itself a Prem club. They are as passionate about the game there as people are in Wales. Even one of my favourite comics, the Cornishman, Jethro, (Geoff Rowe) was a top Cornish prop in his younger days. He played for Penzance & Newlyn along with future England player 'Stack' Stevens.

Some people believe this to be true about Bristol but it's a myth. You only have to see the amount of time and print devoted by the local news and sports media to the Bristol football clubs compared with the rugby club to realise this. There are also many, many more amateur and semi-pro football clubs in the Bristol area than rugby clubs albeit the oval ball game is extremely popular. Many people are like me and follow both codes. The famous Bristol Combination was a constant supply of almost ready-made first-team rugby players when Bristol RFC was one of the top clubs in the pre-professional ('shamateur') era.

Until the late 80s when there were no leagues in English rugby union - only the knock-out cup that started in 1972 - the two major clubs in the South West were Bristol and Gloucester. In football parlance I always describe them as the Manchester Uniteds and Arsenals of rugby at that time with Bath and Exeter more akin to the Stoke Cities and Southamptons. In those days Worcester were pleased to get a game against Bristol United (the secondXV). Many of Bristol's (and Gloucester's) club matches were against traditional Welsh opponents such as Cardiff, Swansea, Llanelli, Newport, Aberavon etc.

In 1987 the first league began (Courage League) which over time developed into the Premiership we know today.

When professionalism officially entered the game in the early 90s Bristol, for some unfathomable reason, was unable to find a sugar daddy unlike smaller clubs at the time such as Bath and Worcester. Although Bristol has in fact spent 20 seasons in the top flight at various times since the league's inception, it has struggled for success and never matched its pre-eminet status of the 'shamateur' era.

In recent years local billionaire Steven Lansdown, another round ball/oval ball fan, has taken Bristol RFC into his Bristol Sport stable and invested many millions of pounds into the club. Some of the Bristol players are paid more than some Prem players and it was a huge shame when Bristol were relegated last season after one season back in the Prem. There were reasons, not least the fact that the play-offs meant that Bristol weren't confirmed as the promoted club until nearly mid-summer by which time it was difficult to find any unattached decent Prem standard players. This year with no play-offs Bristol ought to be confirmed as a Prem team again by March.

With Pat Lam at the helm they have a top coach whose aim is winning the Prem and being European Champions within five years. If he stays at the club and with Lansdown's money and the crowd support that the club gets at the revamped Ashton Gate which they share with Bristol City, another of Lansdown's teams, I would not bet against it.
 
With Pat Lam at the helm they have a top coach whose aim is winning the Prem and being European Champions within five years. If he stays at the club and with Lansdown's money and the crowd support that the club gets at the revamped Ashton Gate which they share with Bristol City, another of Lansdown's teams, I would not bet against it.
Exeter became Champions on a much more modest budget so does show if Bristol get it right they could achieve the same thing.
 
Exeter became Champions on a much more modest budget so does show if Bristol get it right they could achieve the same thing.

Exeter certainly did and they have achieved fantastic things since reaching the Premiership. They beat Bristol in the Championship play-offs in 2009 after Bristol had won the regular league season as they did year after year before losing out in the play-offs each time.

I was reading an article about Exeter and the Premiership recently and the 'experts' reckon that even in the nine years since Exeter win promotion it's far harder these days for the team promoted from the Championship to survive the first season in the top division. It's partly due to the lateness of the promoted club being decided because of the play-offs but mainly because of the increasing gulf between the Championship and the Premiership. With the odd exception the relegated team bounces straight back to the Prem the following season but then has the huge task of staying there.

London Irish came down, went up and look as if they are coming back down - all in consecutive seasons.

Bristol have already signed All Black Charles Piutau for next season (presumably with the caveat that they gain promotion) and the rumour mill has been in overdrive in recent weeks with other names mentioned including Ben Youngs from Leicester.

Bristol have a wealth of current internationals, mainly from the Pacific islands, as well as the likes of All Black Steve Luatua and Wallaby Luke Morahan and former England wing Tom Varndell. They are set to lose some of their Welsh contingent though with Rhodri Williams, Ryan Bevington and Jordan Williams moving to Dragons next season so will need to recruit heavily and wisely for season 2018/2019.
 
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/heres-what-bristols-brand-new-1058720

After two years and another year to come of major traffic disruption in the central areas of Bristol for MetroBus as well as in some suburbs, the traffic nightmare might not be over if this development goes ahead.

Much of the post-war tired old Broadmead (when it was built in the 50s it was hailed as the way ahead for shopping and remained in the forefront of regional shopping for 25 years) is likely to be demolished with a 21st Century development put in its place, next door to Cabot Circus/Quakers Friars whose proximity further contrasts the old and the new. Even the Galleries Shopping Centre has been improved over the years and that's not nearly as old as Broadmead.

The central area shopping has to keep on its toes as plans are afoot to greatly increase the size of the regional shopping complex at Cribbs Causeway.
 
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-arena-decision-delayed-again-1069755

Final decision on the Bristol Arena has been postponed yet again. This saga has been running on and off for about 15 years. When the previous Independent city mayor was elected in 2012 one of his major promises was the provision of an arena before his three and a half year term of office was up. To that end he re-invigorated the process and the site in the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone next to Temple Meads Station that had lain dormant saw a huge amount of preparatory work including a linking bridge that cost over £10 million. Costs mushroomed and the project slowed despite builders and operators being identified.

When the current Labour city mayor took office in 2016 he had a root and branch re-look and during the time this took costs rose further. He says he is committed to an arena but the decision day is continually put back. The latest should have been 23 January but this week has been moved again - to April.

A new factor has arisen: building the arena on the edge of the city instead of at the partly-prepared Temple Quarter site. Then old Brabazon hangar at Filton (the part of the Filton airfield site that lies within the city boundary) is now a contender and could be adapted with private money instead of the cash-strapped city council having to find the money at Temple. A larger 15,000-seat arena could be put in place at Filton instead of the 12,000-seat Temple arena.

Car parking is an issue in the central site at Temple albeit it is next door to the city's main railway station. Filton is close to the M4/M5 motorway junction but parking would still be an issue.

Bristol is the largest UK city without an arena but in true Bristol fashion having had no arena for so many years it might well finish up with two. Bristol Sport owner Stephen Lansdown (Bristol City and Bristol Rugby are in the Bristol Sport stable) wants to build a 3,000-seat arena near Ashton Gate to house his Bristol Flyers basketball team that currently plays in the British Basketball League at the 750-seat WISE arena not far from Bristol Parkway Station. Billionaire Lansdown has the money to build his arena which would also be used for other events.
 
Towards the sky

Looking at the Manchester and Birmingham urban threads they are both in a whirlwind of new developments, many of them reaching high towards the clouds. The new buildings are impressive in the main and these cities are by no means the only ones in the UK embarked firmly on this route.

Little old Bristol has always had its face set firmly against such aerial edifices - its highest building is the spire of an ancient parish church much admired by Elizabeth 1, with two other church spires included in the city's ten highest buildings. So far as I can discover, the highest 'modern' building is but 19 floors high.

That's not to say that Bristol has not joined in the feverish building activity of the last decade - it certainly has with many new office and apartment blocks and hotels built and being built all around the central districts, some of which are quite striking to my eye - but they are all relatively low level with none exceeding the 19-floor 'record'. There are some proposals for higher buildings of which two would exceed the height of the current parish church record holder, but none would be above 26 floors.

Although Bristol is often seen as an 'edgy' and quirky city it is also a conservative one when it comes to its cityscape. It's partly because of its topography - it's draped across many hills - but also because of its long history which begat many ancient buildings that are still extant despite the best efforts of Adolf Hitler, although sadly he did achieve more than a little success in demolishing some of Bristol's ancient treasures (arguably it was the second English city after London in the Middle Ages and into the 18th Century although Norwich and York might throw their hat into that particular ring, but neither of those has grown to the size of Bristol).

For a long time I considered the Bristol fetish for low-rise buildings a touch provincial in outlook but, who knows, in one hundred years' time Bristol might be the only UK city of any size to boast a skyline unadorned, or uncluttered depending on point of view, of any giants.
 
Well tonight's the night for the Robins so from one B.C.F.C. supporter (a bluenose one) to the red ones best of luck and I hope your team gives it a proper go and doesn't die wondering, the fans would have a great day at Wembly as any Birmingham fan will tell you especially if you win the final.

I'm looking forward to watching the match tonight and actually Man City are a favorite team of mine as they play really good football these days and spent many years as underdogs in Manchester until the money arrived.
 
Well tonight's the night for the Robins so from one B.C.F.C. supporter (a bluenose one) to the red ones best of luck and I hope your team gives it a proper go and doesn't die wondering, the fans would have a great day at Wembly as any Birmingham fan will tell you especially if you win the final.

I'm looking forward to watching the match tonight and actually Man City are a favorite team of mine as they play really good football these days and spent many years as underdogs in Manchester until the money arrived.
It's been an enjoyable romp for the supporters but it does seem that the Championship promotion bid might have suffered a bit. The Bristol City squad has been decimated with injuries to important players for much of the season and all the games played over the holiday period took their toll.

In some ways I won't be sorry if Man City win so long as it's not a bloodbath. At least then Bristol City's players won't be sidetracked for the next few weeks with thoughts of a League Cup final and can focus all their attention on trying to get into the Prem.

The Bristol clubs have had several trips for play-off and EFL Trophy (Checkatrade the current sponsors but there have been many down the years) finals. Bristol City have won the Trophy at least three times (I forget how many exactly because I regard this competition as a distraction and it's only useful for the finalists) and have been losing finalists two or three times as well. All matches were at Wembley except one which was at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium when Wembley was being re-built. Bristol City's worst final nightmare was the 2008 Championship play-off final at Wembley when they lost 1-0 to Hull City thanks to a Dean Windass wonder goal - he would try it 100 times and probably only succeed once. Since then Hull have been up and down from the Prem like a yoyo.

The odd thing about these finals is that clubs invariably take at least twice the number of supporters than their average home gate - the archetypal fair-weather 'supporter'. The pair of Bristols always seem to find over 40,000 supporting them at the match when they reach one of these lower level Wembley finals.
 
Local Yokel, a pair of Bristols, blimey can administrators get band.
Lol
I'm glad you liked it.:giggle: They do need support.
 
Pep Guardiola taking no chances tonight. He's fielding pretty well the strongest eleven available to him.
 
Monumental effort but Man City just too good in the end. Ironically they scored two very late goals in added-on time in both games. Without them we'd be into extra time this evening, but it's a 90-minute game plus added-on time.

If Bristol City could carry their League Cup form into their league matches every week they would be odds-on to reach the Prem in May. I suppose the difference is that the Prem teams will attack them giving them space, whereas in the Championship many teams come to Ashton Gate looking for a point and are sometimes very hard to break down. Recently Bristol City have paid the price in going on all-out attack to win in league matches and have twice fallen to sucker-punch late goals.
 
BBC live West has an article about plans for a "Super-Gloucester" that merges Cheltenham and Gloucester and ..

Plans currently include:
  • building an international airport in the Cotswolds

Not entirely sure there's a need for another international airport when both Bristol and Birmingham (and Cardiff) are not that far away. Hard to know how serious to take this anyway, if it's not just a hot idea by some interest groups.
 
BBC live West has an article about plans for a "Super-Gloucester" that merges Cheltenham and Gloucester and ..



Not entirely sure there's a need for another international airport when both Bristol and Birmingham (and Cardiff) are not that far away. Hard to know how serious to take this anyway, if it's not just a hot idea by some interest groups.
Probably linked with this. One of ‘six big ideas’ by the Gloucestershire 2050 organisation, alongside creating a ‘super city’ out of Gloucester and Cheltenham. It's aspirational and doubtless that's how it will remain.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/plans-third-severn-bridge-unveiled-1153621
 
The South West has missed out on another national event.

In 2020 the England and Wales Cricket Board is to launch a brand new 20:20 competition based on city franchises. It will feature the world's top cricketers and will be similar to the phenomenally successful Indian Premier League and other competitions such as Australia's Big Bash that were inspired by the Indian league.

The cities selected as bases for the franchised teams are:
London (Lords and The Oval)
Leeds
Manchester
Nottingham
Birmingham
Cardiff
Southampton

Bristol, Taunton and Durham also bid but were unsuccessful. This means that the North East and the South West are left out in the cold.

I don't know the population of the North East but the South West is home to over five million people and they will have no team to watch or support. Cricket Info suggests that the choice of venues is correct as they are the largest cities who bid. Unless I'm missing something Bristol is larger than Nottingham, Cardiff and Southampton.

I'm a huge cricket fan and was a member of Somerset CCC for many years. I'm not a great fan of 20:20 cricket though - I'll watch it on the telly and have been to a couple of county 20:20 matches - but I liken it to five-a-side football versus the eleven-a-side game. Nevertheless, I realise that today's generation wants instant action and results, and that a three-hour 20:20 cricket match with a positive result is preferable to watching a four or five-day county championship or test match that might even end in a draw.

Peripheral regions of England seem to miss out on all sorts of things.
 

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9 trips in 9 days done 70 miles walked and over 23-00 photos taken with a large number taken at 20mph or above. Heavy rain on 1 day only
5 trips done and 45 miles walked,. Also the RAF has had 4 F35B Lightning follow me yesterday and today....
My plans got altered slightly as one of the minibus companies had to cancel 3 trips and refunded me but will be getting nice discount when I rebook them.
wondering why on my "holidays" I choose to get up 2 hours earlier than when going to work. 6 trips in 6 days soon coming up with 3 more days to sort out

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