They won’t like this but David Beckham’s retirement from football this week put me in mind of a bunch more readily associated with the other half of Manchester, Britpoppers Oasis. Both came to prominence in the mid to early 90s; Oasis at Glasgow’s King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and Beckham at Preston North End’s Deepdale ground. Initially, the characteristic that united them can be broadly defined as swagger. Beckham would hurtle down the right flank on buccaneering runs before angling in impossibly delicious crosses while Oasis would brandish their guitars like totems; Liam Gallagher’s snarled vocals and Noel’s lofty hauteur…
Great Football League Teams 43: Preston North End 2000-1
Last week, it was announced that a certain Scotsman would take the reins at England’s biggest club come August. David Moyes’ record at Everton has been called into question by the more arrogant among Red Devils’ fans but his supposed unfamiliarity with real achievement can be further rebuffed with recourse to his astonishing six year sojourn at Preston – taking a club that had been recently in danger of relegation from the 92 to regular contenders for Premier League football. Here, Jo Breen looks back to a pivotal season in that famous period. … As the 2000-1 season began, Preston North End…
Getting AFC Wimbledon Fit for The Football League
Today, we are delighted to welcome back Chris Lines, curator of the long established Narrow The Angle, one of the best football websites in business. Chris is a season ticket holder at AFC Wimbledon and in between mops of his brow with a handkerchief following fellow Two Unfortunates’ contributor Jack Midson’s nerveless spot kick against Fleetwood, he took time to reflect on Neal Ardley’s impact at Kingsmeadow. … When the full-time whistle sounded at Kingsmeadow on April 27 and brought Wimbledon’s 2012-13 campaign to a close, the wave of elation that saw thousands spill onto the pitch to mob their…
Book Review: Promised Land: A Northern Love Story
Promised Land: A Northern Love Story by Anthony Clavane Published by Yellow Jersey Press 2011, £8.99 Growing up in the 90s, Leeds were a permanent top flight fixture and played at one of the country’s showcase grounds yet – unlike many other sides – I cannot remember coming across a single Whites supporter in my youth. Granted, it was spent hundreds of miles away from Elland Road in Plymouth but whereas the sight of Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs colours was about as common as coming across a green shirt, Leeds just didn’t figure. Considering the size of this single-club…
Great Football League Teams 42: Hull City 1965-6
These are heady days indeed for Hull City, back in the Premier league after a short absence, even their capture of the wiles of Steve Bruce saw few tip the Tigers last August. But this current purple period for the East Riding is by no means the only high point in the club’s history. Here’s Matthew Rudd of Amber Nectar with a look back to a famous World Cup year. … If attack really is the best form of defence, then few sides have realised this cliché as ruthlessly as the Hull City side of the 1960s. Under manager Cliff Britton, it…
Ben: Harsh on Beckham, I feel - but then I've long been a fan. People talk ...
Craig G Telfer: The Holy Bible's OK. Yes and Faster are excellent but the majority is ...
Tim Vickerman: Seriously? Blur and Pulp ahead of the Manic Street Preachers? I sugges...
Jo Breen: Oh look! The two biggest football stories of the past week both involv...
