THE BEES. THE HISTORY OF BRENTFORD – Part One
THE BEES The History of Brentford F.C. By Vince Cooper Part One 1889-1914 AFTER 74 years out of the top flight, Brentford made it back to the big...
FROM FOSSILS TO FOXES
FROM FOSSILS TO FOXES THE HISTORY OF LEICESTER CITY BY Vince Cooper PART ONE 1884-1939 Leicester City weren’t always Leicester City. They started...
FROM THE RAMBLERS TO THE BRITANNIA
FROM THE RAMBLERS TO THE BRITANNIA BY Vince Cooper HAVING first opened for business in 1878, The Victoria Ground lasted as the home of Stoke City...
FROM INTER-CITIES TO UEFA CUP
From Inter-Cities to Europa League The story of The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup BY Vince Cooper Part One. 1955 to 1962 The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup ran...
THE FIRST SKIPPER
THE FIRST SKIPPER BY Vince Cooper ON Saturday 5 March 1870 England met Scotland in an unofficial international at Kennington Oval. The game had...
TALES FROM THE SHED – THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
Last year I was asked to contribute to Tales From The She’d, an anthology of 34 Chelsea-related stories which was being published to raise money for...
THE FIRST MAVERICK
THE FIRST MAVERICK BY Vince Cooper IN the 1960s and 70s the term ‘maverick’ has come to describe those footballers who defied convention, were seen...
ENGLAND’S NUMBER ONE #1
GORDON BANKS BY Vince Cooper IT is often said that the strength of any great football team starts right at the back. A great goalkeeper not only...
JIMMY LOGAN – A TRAGIC TALE
The Strange Football Life – And Tragic Death – Of A Cup Final Hero BY Vince Cooper IN 1894 2nd Division Notts County caused a shock by...
THE LITTLE TIN IDOL
1871-72 F. A. Cup. Charles Alcock creates, then wins, The Little Tin Idol BY Vince Cooper EVERY major sporting tournament in the world owes a debt...
TRAVELLIN’ MAN
TRAVELLIN’ MAN – The Peter Withe story (part one) BY Vince Cooper IT was a long and often winding road to the top for Peter Withe, but when he...
TEN YEARS AHEAD
BY Vince Cooper In 1968 England manager Sir Alf Ramsey claimed that Martin Peters was ‘Ten years ahead of his time’. Although the comment confused...
Blue Army – John Bumstead
BLUE ARMY BY Vince Cooper John Bumstead Chelsea have had their share of ‘unsung heroes’ over the years. Peter Houseman, a hugely influential member...
THE WAR CUPS
BY Vince Cooper IT is often written that football stopped during World War Two and while it’s true that ‘official matches’ like the Football League...
FA CUP 1922-23. SUCCESS FOR WANDERERS AND THE WHITE HORSE
By Vince Cooper ON a bleak January day in 1922 a select group convened near the top of a hill in Middlesex. After a few preliminaries H.R.H. The...
RIDE TO HELL. Prisoner Of A Dubious Peace. By Paul Ride
Just over 30 years ago, an Englishman – and avid Chelsea fan – working in Kuwait as a catering manager was arrested in Iraq for...