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...
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 Shed, 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...
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...
KEITH WELLER – A CLASS ACT
BY Vince Cooper Keith Weller is remembered by many as ‘the footballer who wore tights’ . But beneath the undergarments there was a top-class...
The Greatest All-Rounder
BY Vince Cooper Was there anything C. B. Fry couldn’t do? The man writer Geoffrey Green described as; “A mortal who came from Olympus”, played...
Gone Grounds: Peel Park. Part One
Peel Park and the History of Accrington Stanley. When Accrington F.C. were operating as one of the Football League’s original 12 clubs another team...
WILLIAM RALPH – The Dixie Dean story
By Vince Cooper SOMETIMES one feat can take a little away from the overall performance of a player. The 60 league goals Dixie Dean scored in the...