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We Can Still Match the Class of '55.

Discussion in 'Bristol City' started by wizered, Apr 22, 2015.

  1. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    Steve Cotterill's Bristol City can still match the class of '55
    By a_stockhausen

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    Lifelong Bristol City supporter Steve Parsons (74) kindly allowed The Bristol Post to copy this photograph of the 1954-55 Division Three South title-winning team, which appeared in the Charles Buchan football magazine which appeared every month.

    Bristol City may have won a league title for the first time in 60 years, but Steve Cotterill's side still has work to do if it is to match the class of 1954-55.
    Promoted as Division Three South champions
    under
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    the management of Pat Beasley, that City side established a record of achievement that has remained intact ever since.

    Not only did a team that included the great John Atyeo equal a club record of 30
    wins
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    in a season, it also achieved a record points total for Division Three South.
    The City side of 60 years ago registered 30 wins in a 46-game season and accrued an impressive tally of 70 points, matching the record set by Nottingham Forest four seasons earlier.

    Although the current side cannot match the number of wins, they do still have an opportunity to finish with an identical equivalent points record.
    Of course, it was two points for a win
    back
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    in 1954-55 and Beasley's team reached their total courtesy of 30 wins and ten draws,
    City clinched the League One title with 93 points last weekend and, with two games still to play, they can finish with 99.
    Under the two points for a win system that was in
    operation
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    in the previous century, back-to-back victories at Chesterfield this Saturday and at home to Walsall on Sunday, May 3, would give the Robins the equivalent of 70 points and see them equal the record-breaking team of 60 years ago.

    An ever-present in 1954-55, England centre
    forward
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    Atyeo finished as top-scorer with 28 goals in a team that netted a remarkable 101 times.
    Currently with 86 goals from 44 games, Cotterill's team is unlikely to attain that particular mark. But there remain two key areas in which they can eclipse the class of '54-55.
    Back then, a side that included the late great Arthur Milton, lost just six games and conceded 47 goals all season.

    As things stand, Cotterill's side are doing better on both counts, having lost on a mere five occasions in League One this term and conceded a miserly 36 goals at a rate of fewer than one per game.


    http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Steve-...tch-class-55/story-26367379-detail/story.html
     
    #1
  2. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    Big John Atyeo in the picture and look at the crowd..
     
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  3. wings-of-a-crow

    wings-of-a-crow Well-Known Member

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    love the bloke in suit and tie(lower left), we"re so damn scruffy at games nowadays,allways remember my dad going off to games in sports jacket, collar and tie and big rosette,
     
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  4. BrightredRickster

    BrightredRickster Well-Known Member

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    This is too early even for me !
    Did they play with nets back then ?
     
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  5. banksyisourhero

    banksyisourhero Well-Known Member

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    Thats Wiz, with the blue boiler suit on..:wink:
     
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  6. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    He's got a bigger parting than me though.:emoticon-0147-emo:
     
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  7. wizered

    wizered Ol' Mucker
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    The Netting
    Goal nets were the invention of J. A. Brodie, who took out a patent for his invention in 1890. The first official use of nets date from 1891 when they were used at Crosby Cricket ground near Liverpool, then home to a section of Old Etonians playing for a club called Liverpool Ramblers AFC, and at Nottingham Forest's Town Ground. They were first used in an FA Cup Final in 1892 but it was some time before they were used regularly in International matches, which led to the odd disputed goal.
    When Jack Barton scored the ninth goal for England against Ireland in Belfast in 1890, the Irish players claimed the ball had gone over the bar and when Willie Gibson scored a very late equaliser for Ireland in 1894, England's goalkeeper Joe Reader claimed the ball went past the post. It was the first time Ireland avoided defeat against England. Finally, when Billy Bassett put England ahead against Wales in 1889, the Welsh defenders claimed the ball had gone past the post.
    But even when nets became widespread there were still disputes. The tautness of the mesh of those early nets was a particular problem, as the ball would often rebound. In the 1908-09 season West Bromwich Albion missed out on promotion by a fraction of a point after a referee disallowed a goal, thinking that the ball had hit the crossbar, and Aston Villa were relegated to the Third Division after a similar incident in 1970. Crystal Palace's Clive Allen had a perfectly good goal wiped-out against Coventry City in 1980 when his free-kick rebounded off the stanchion at the back of the net while Millwall's Paul Ifill saw a goal ruled out in 1999 during a game at Colchester United's Layer Road ground after the officials failed to realise the ball had hit the back of the netting and bounced out again.
    Worse still, there have been occasions when goals have been awarded and even disallowed because of holes in the meshing of the netting. In 2013 there were two such high-profile incidents, the first of which occurred in Germany in October when Bayer Leverkusen's Stefan Kiessling headed the ball through a hole in the side of the net in a game against Hoffenheim. Referee Felix Brych failed to spot that the striker's header had gone wide and awarded the goal that proved to be the winner as Leverkusen ran out 2-1 winners. Hoffenheim protested after the game and demanded a reply that was not forthcoming.
    The following month Wrexham thought they had pulled a goal back during their match against Kidderminster Harriers. However although Dragons striker Adrian Cieslewicz's low, hard drive flew into the back of the net it also went through a hole, leading referee Amy Fearn to believe the ball had gone out for a goal-kick. After six minutes of deliberations with her assistant and players from both sides, the goal was eventually awarded. Kidderminster went on to win the game 3-1.
    The deepest goal nets in Europe are thought to be those at La Romareda Stadium in Zaragoza, where they extend a full four metres back from the goal line.
    The first personalised nets were made by the inmates of Durham Prison, who make around 750 goal nets a year. These are sold to a number of football clubs, including Leeds United and Sunderland, and cost up to £200 a time.
    http://www.goalkeepersaredifferent.com/keepers/inthenet.html
     
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