challenge cup

Australian bookmakers SportsAlive and Sportingbet Australia appear to have been caught unawares by the scandal that has rocked sport, and rugby league in particular, Down Under. NRL champions Melbourne Storm, hot favourites to retain their title again this season, have been effectively disqualified from this year’s competition after being found guilty of breaking the rules with regards to wage-capping and stripped of all points currently accrued and the ability to amass any more this term. The Storm were found to have paid some of their top players outside the agreed limits over a number of years and, as well as forfeiting this season’s championship, have also been stripped of the titles they won in 2007 and 2009. The punishment seems harsh and Aussie layers certainly didn’t see Melbourne‘s demotion coming and had already laid several bets on the Storm finishing bottom of the league in 2010 at odds of 250-1 before news of the ruling broke – one-nil to the punters I think! Skybet, meanwhile, are to refund all bets on Melbourne in the NRL markets and have reformed their Grand Final betting, installing St George Illawara Dragons as 3-1 favourites ahead of 5-1 shots Manly Sea Eagles.

Back on the other side of the world, Leeds Rhinos are now into a best 9-4 to win the Challenge Cup after they overpowered Hull in round four to set up a fifth-round home tie against minnows Blackpool (1500-1 with bet365, Blue Square and 888sport). St Helens and Wigan Warriors are next best at a general 7-2 but there’s also been money for our 16-1 advice the Huddersfield Giants, who are now no bigger than 8-1. Whoever wins their 2009 Final rematch with Warrington Wolves (9-1 with sportingbet and bet365) may well be a good bet to reach Wembley again. After their electric start, Wigan are currently the 7-5 favourites (sportingbet) to top the regular Super League season for the first time in 10 years with champions Leeds out to 9-1 with extrabet.

The history of football (part 2)

The second half of the 19th century saw football (soccer), beginning to emerge as a game on it’s own. Until then many versions of the game allowed players to run with the ball. Probably the most noticable step forward was in 1863 when two rule changes took place. Until this time players were allowed to catch and run with the ball. When this happened the opposition was allowed to…..charge, hold, trip or hack him. (No change there then). After some half dozen meetings with long and  bitter debate, the changes were agreed. A Mr Campbell, then the F.A. treasurer objected loudly to the changes, claiming that hacking an opponents shins was true football. He promptly resigned his post. These changes finally split "football" into it’s two codes, which up until now were open to dispute. We now had Soccer and Rugby. Each with it’s own inviolate rules. (Well, at least until the likes of F.I.F.A. began to stick their oars in).

With soccer having got itself fairly well grounded a number of inter-club games, (friendlies) and minor league games took place on a fairly regular basis. Until July 1871, when at a meeting of the F.A. in the offices of The Sportsman it was decided that something of a more competitive nature was needed. It was proposed that clubs within the association would be invited to take place in a  competition for the CHALLENGE CUP.
iT WAS AN INSTANT SUCCESS. The trophy itself cost the princely sum of £20.
The first winners were The Wanderers, composed of ex-public schoolboys and University players. 2,000 spectators paid one shilling each at the Kennington Oval.
The F.A. Cup is the oldest National Competition in the world.

Forward to 1888 when the Longest Running League was formed, the Football League, as we know it, today. True there were only twelve clubs in the initial season. None from the South of England. Preston North End were the first League Champions, going thru’ the season without losing a single game. Finishing 11 points clear.
That season the twelve clubs amassed a total of 586 goals between them.  There were some mind -boggling scores. Villa  9  Notts County 1.— Blackburn  5 Accrington Stanley 5. Throw in a couple of 4 -4 ‘s a handful of 6 – 2 ‘s plus a few games of seven or more goals and you can see that the spectators certainly got their monies worth.
Preston were the team to beat, but other clubs were making headway. Preston won the league for the second year running but this time by only 2 points. The following season they  had to give way to Everton, by 2 points.
The league was expanded to fourteen teams 91/92 season. Increasing by two again the following season, when it was also extended to two divisions.

In 1893 Woolwich Arsenal joined the league to become the first team South of Birmingham
Two years earlier there had been a big advance, thanks to a Liverpool engineer, one James Brodie who "invented" goal nets. Thereby putting paid to many many arguements that were rife in  those days.     From here-on it was all systems go. Teams added to the league make-up  are names to conjure with. Liverpool, Newton Heath, Northwich Victoria, Middlesborough ironworks, Glossop North End, Bootle, etc, etc.

There was not any automatic promotion. Each of the bottom two in the first division had to play a "Test Match" against one of the top two in the second division. The winners prizes were a place for two teams in the top division.

A rather unsettling feature of the times was that a team would often "fall off the radar",Having been relegated it was not unknown for them to disappear for a number of years. This happened to Accrington Stanley in 92/93, when they finished next to bottom. They didn’t reappear in League competitions until the Third Division North was formed in 1921/22 season.
I will take an in depth look at the composition of the League from the turn of the century and some "firsts", next time.