General Football Thread

[Lineker]

The 100 best footballers in the world 2015

Worth checking back daily today through Thursday to see who they place where.

[Rich]

#1 THE SHOP

#2 Omar Bogle

#3 Padraig Amond

#4 WHO THE FUCK CARES?! FISH!!

[Lineker]

The Turkish football federation (TFF) has been ordered to pay compensation to a referee after it revoked his licence on the grounds he was gay, according to reports.

An Istanbul court on Tuesday instructed the TFF to pay 23,000 Turkish lira (£5,330) to compensate for its treatment of Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ, the Dogan news agency reported.

The sum was lower than the 110,000 lira (£25,500) demanded by Dinçdağ’s lawyers in a case that had become a symbol of discrimination against gay people in Turkey’s largely conservative society.

The TFF had said that since he was exempt from military service due to his homosexuality, Dinçdağ fell into the army’s classification of unfit and was unable to do the job of refereeing.

Dinçdağ had been a referee in the Trabzon region of north-eastern Turkey but had his licence revoked in 2009 after publicly coming out as gay.

[stokeriño]

(Random) Am I the only one who feels that AVB has a duty to become manager of Villa one day, just to see how many times the words 'Aston Villa Boss Andre Villas Boas' can get mixed up with one another without media proofreaders noticing?

[Lineker]

In an utterly pointless post...

"102 different Nationalities (Excluding Britain & Ireland) have played in the Premier League. Arsenal have introduced the most nationalities with 8, Newcastle 7 and Manchester City 6 (34 other teams contribute the rest)"

[Benji]

Interesting stuff, but I hate these kind of stats that pretend the top flight didn't exist until 1992

[Lineker]

If you want to go back and do this from the 1800's, be my guest  

[Benji]

I'm sure the 1800s and early 1900s were full of non-British players who I could struggle through

German Max Seeburg was the first for Spurs, I remember that for some reason.

[MDK]

44 minutes ago, Lineker said:

In an utterly pointless post...

Couldn't have said it better myself

[Matt]

No Spanish players before 98/99 is interesting though

[FestiveJack]

Some of that list are a bit iffy, surely, considering the East and West German elements both entered the Premier League after the unification of Germany. How is the list made up? FIFA registration nationality? Country of birth?

[stokeriño]

Ken Monkou (Dutch) was at Chelsea from 1989 to 1992, and is therefore neatly erased from history in this list.  

[Benji]

15 minutes ago, Mad Jack Frost said:

Some of that list are a bit iffy, surely, considering the East and West German elements both entered the Premier League after the unification of Germany. How is the list made up? FIFA registration nationality? Country of birth?

Not POB, Muzzy Izzet is just of Turkish descent.

[stokeriño]

1 hour ago, Benji said:

German Max Seeburg was the first for Spurs, I remember that for some reason.

Probably because he was the first in England, full-stop.

Quote

...Seeburg became the first European-born foreigner to play in England.^[3]

Biography[edit]

Born in Leipzig, Seeburg moved to London in 1886, at the age of two. His first professional club was Chelsea, who he joined in 1906. He did not play a competitive match for the West London side, and two years later moved across the city to join Tottenham Hotspur.

For fuck's sake, Chelsea!

[Benji]

Interesting he was the first European-born foreigner, I wonder who the very first was and where they were from.

[stokeriño]

1 minute ago, Benji said:

Interesting he was the first European-born foreigner, I wonder who the very first was and where they were from.

1892 Walter Bowman, born and raised in Canada, of Swiss heritage, becomes the first foreign player in Football League history, for Accrington.

[Lineker]

Who are they?

[MDK]

1 hour ago, stokeriño said:

1892 Walter Bowman, born and raised in Canada, of Swiss heritage, becomes the first foreign player in Football League history, for Accrington.

How about non-commonwealth player? Canada hardly counts as foreign in 1892.

[Colly]

3 hours ago, Lineker said:

If you want to go back and do this from the 1800's, be my guest  

I think that would certainly make it more interesting, bear in mind Newcastle had the first Brazilian as late as the 80s. Granted that was just Gazza going to a late night beautician on a whim after a few too many in the Bigg Market, but it still counts.

[stokeriño]

6 minutes ago, MDK said:

How about non-commonwealth player? Canada hardly counts as foreign in 1892.

I suspect it was probably Seeburg. What non-Commonwealth and non-European country is going to be producing players pre-1906?