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Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club () (originally, Everton Athletics in 1892) is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. They play in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club has won 6 European Cups, an English club record, 3 UEFA Cups, 4 UEFA Super Cups, 19 League titles (Including 1 Premier League), 7 FA Cups, a record 8 EFL Cups, title and 1 FIFA Club World Cup title. Liverpool is the honorest English club with 48 official trophies in total. Liverpool's anthem is "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Liverpool won their first League championship in 1901, and their second in 1906. They played their first FA Cup final in 1914, losing 1–0 to Burnley. The last domestic trophy they won was the EFL Cup in February 2012, after beating Cardiff City. They have also won the Champions League six times, the most of any British side. Their 5th success was in Istanbul in 2005. The game was won after Liverpool tied 3–3 with A.C. Milan, after being down 3–0 at half-time. The Reds then won the penalty shootout, partly due to goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek's saves. Their 6th and most recent success was in 2019 when they beat fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in Madrid. Liverpool F.C. have won England's top football league 18 times. The club won the 2019-20 Premier League title, thirty years after their last first division title win in the 1989-90 season.
Liverpool has had two tragedies in their history. The first was the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985, which led to the death of 39 Juventus fans and the second was the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which lead to the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.
Since the establishment of the club in 1892, 45 players have been club captain of Liverpool F.C. Andrew Hannah became the first captain of the club after Liverpool separated from Everton and formed its own club. Alex Raisbeck, who was club captain from 1899 to 1909, was the longest serving captain before being overtaken by Steven Gerrard who served 12 seasons as Liverpool captain starting from the 2003–04 season. The present captain is Jordan Henderson, who in the 2015–16 season replaced Gerrard who moved to LA Galaxy.
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English football club. The club is coached by Pep Guardiola and currently play in the English Premier League.
The club plays in the Premier League and is owned by a royal family from Abu Dhabi. As of 1 September 2008 they are the richest club in the Premier League. They won the 2011–12 Premier League championship, their first in the top flight since the 1967–68 season. After finishing second in 2012–13, they won the Premier League championship again in 2013–14. Their current stadium is the Etihad Stadium (noncommercial name: City of Manchester Stadium). The stadium is part-owned by Manchester City Council, and could only be built on the understanding that Manchester City would take a tenancy after the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which the club agreed to do. The owner of Manchester City Sheik Mansour bought 200 million pounds.
The following players have previously made a league or cup appearance for Manchester City and are currently on loan at other teams:
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Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club (F.C.) is a football club that plays in the Premier League. They play their home games at Old Trafford which is in Greater Manchester.
Matt Busby led the club to lots of success by using the youth players until the Munich air disaster in 1958, where many United footballers and staff died. Sir Alex Ferguson led the club to many titles, including the treble (Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League), from 1986 to 2013, when he retired. The club has 3 UEFA Champions League titles, 20 league titles, 12 FA Cups, and a FIFA Club World Cup.
Manchester United are the most successful club in England and have won 20 league titles, which is more than any other team. They have also won 12 FA Cups and 3 European Cups.
The club started as Newton Heath L&YR F.C. in 1878. All of the team worked at Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. After nearly closing in 1902, John Henry Davies took over and changed the club's name to Manchester United F.C.. Manchester United made Matt Busby their manager after World War II. Matt Busby used the youth team to get new players, and this was very successful. The club won the Football League in 1956 and 1957. The success was stopped by the Munich air disaster in 1958, when eight of the club's players died. It was thought that the club might close, but it did not. They won the Football League in 1965 and 1967, and the European Cup in 1968.
In 1986, manager Ron Atkinson was sacked by the club because they were in danger of being relegated. They brought in Sir Alex Ferguson. He did not win anything for the first couple of years.
The team won their first trophy under Ferguson, the 1990 FA Cup, against Crystal Palace in the replay after a 3-3 draw. The next season, United won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. In 1993, Manchester United won the very first Premier League. In 1999, Manchester United won the treble, made of the Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League. Manchester United won the league 7 times again until Sir Alex Ferguson retired after the 2012–13 season. From the 2006–07 season to the 2008–09 season, Man United won the league 3 times in a row. The club also won its third UEFA Champions League in 2008 against Chelsea F.C., and almost won the next season as well but lost to FC Barcelona in the final. They won their first FIFA Club World Cup in December 2008.
David Moyes was made manager in 2013. In April 2014, he was sacked by the club and club legend Ryan Giggs became player-manager (when a player is also the manager at the same time). They finished in 7th place. In 2014, Louis Van Gaal took over. He led United to a 4th-place finish. In 2015, after winning 3-0 against Sunderland, Man United reached 1st place for the first time in over two years. However, after losing 0-3 to Arsenal, they dropped to 3rd place. Van Gaal was sacked at the end of the season and José Mourinho replaced him. He then led the club to a League Cup and Europa League victory in the 2016–17 season. Mourinho was sacked in December 2018 because of poor results and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Since Mourinho was fired in the middle of the season, United brought in a temporary manager for the rest of the season. A former player, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer moved from his position at Molde to manage Manchester United. Under Solksjaer, United won 14 of their remaining 19 games that season. This good run meant they qualified for UEFA Champions League that season. United made Solksjaer their permanent manager in March 2019.
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Bold indicates a place of third or higher.
The Old Trafford became the club's home ground in 1909, and the stadium was constructed to a capacity of 77,000. In the Second World War, bombings damaged the stadium. While the stadium was being fixed, they played "home" games at Manchester City's Maine Road. The stadium was converted to an all-seater stadium in 1993 for safety reasons, but the capacity fell to 44,000. In 1995, expansions in the North Stand raised the capacity to 55,000. In the middle of 1999, the East and West Stands were expanded to give the stadium a capacity of 67,000. Then between 2005 and 2006 8,000 more seats were added to make a capacity of 75,000.
United has many rivalries including Liverpool, Manchester City, Leeds United and Arsenal. Their most intense rivalry is with "The Citizens" (Manchester City). This is because both clubs are from Manchester and each time they play against each other it is called the Manchester Derby.
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club, is an English football club. Their stadium is the Riverside Stadium.
The club plays in the Premier League. The manager is Neil Warnock.
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English football club in Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle play in the Premier League. In the 2008/09 season they were relegated after 16 years in the top flight, but won promotion back into the Premier League by winning the Football League Championship. In the 2015/16 season, they were relegated again.
Newcastle United was formed in 1892 after the two rival clubs Newcastle West End and Newcastle East End grouped together. They have played their matches at the ground St.James' Park ever since. This ground holds 52,000 people, and is one of the biggest in England. It is located just inside the centre of Newcastle.
Newcastle originally played in red shirts and white shorts. In fact, there was a kit clash in their very first League match, away to the then-named Woolwich Arsenal. The home side wore red, so Newcastle played in their change kit of black and white stripes. A permanent switch to black and white soon followed, most likely to reduce kit clashes, and perhaps as a further attempt to appease West End fans. The decision was taken in 1894, as the minutes from the club meeting reveal: ‘It was agreed that the Club’s colours should be changed from red shirts and white knickers to black and white shirts (two inch stripe) and dark knickers.’.
On the 24th day of May 2009 which was also the last day of thr season, Newcastle were relegated to the second tier of English football, the Coca-Cola Championship. They returned to the top flight of English football, winning the Championship in the 2009/10 season. In the 2010/11 season, they finished mid-table. The club then went on to finish 5th place in the 2011/12 season.
Traditionally the loudest support for the club came from the Gallowgate End - a stand in St. James' Park. This stand is where Alan Shearer once used to watch Newcastle play when he was a child.
The record transfer fee the club has paid is £17 million (around $30 million) for Michael Owen, in August 2005. Alan Shearer was the previous record transfer at £15 million, which was also the world's largest transfer fee when he signed in 1996.
The Newcastle United's number 9 shirt is one of the most famous shirts in the world. Legends such as Hughie Gallacher, Malcolm McDonald, Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer have worn the famous shirt.
2015-2016 Season
The current season has been one of great difficulty for the club.
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth F.C. is an English football club. They play in the Football League Two. Their home stadium is called Fratton Park.
Portsmouth's manager is Kenny Jackett. The most famous manager was probably Harry Redknapp who took the team to an FA Cup victory in 2008 which subsequently got the team into the UEFA Europa League (then called the UEFA Cup) for the first time. The club has since been hit with financial problems and see themselves in the fourth tier of English football.
They have a big rivalry with a team called Southampton F.C. They are also from Hampshire.
2014=- NOT RELEGATED
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is an English football club. The club plays in the Premier League. Their current stadium is The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London. The captain of Tottenham Hotspur is Hugo Lloris and vice-captain is Harry Kane. The club's most common nickname is Spurs. Other nicknames include The Lilywhites and occasionally "Yid Army".
Famous Tottenham Hotspur players include Pat Jennings, Paul Gascoigne, Glenn Hoddle, Dave Mackay, Gary Lineker, Danny Blanchflower, Teddy Sheringham and Jimmy Greaves. They have many rivals in London, but their most famous rivals are Arsenal. Tottenham were the first winners of the UEFA Cup tournament, and the first team in the 20th century to achieve the league and cup double. In the 2016–17 Premier League, they finished in 2nd position and earned a place in the European Champions League.
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football club. The club plays in the Football League Championship.
The club was formed in 1884 by players from Derbyshire County Cricket Club who wanted something to do in the winter. They started out by playing at the Racecourse Ground, Derby.
The Rams, as Derby County are known, were one of the first members of The Football League when it started in 1888. Back in 1895 the club moved to a new stadium, The Baseball Ground. It was called this because baseball had been played there much earlier beforehand, and it became their home for the next 102 years. When they moved, Derby County had changed their club colours to the black and white they still use today at matches.
In 1898, Derby got to their first FA Cup final, but lost. The same happened again in 1899 and 1903. Derby's went down to the Football League's Second Division for the first time in 1907, but they came back up to the First Division in 1911.
In 1914, they were relegated again, but won the Second Division the next year to get promoted. World War I meant that they had to wait until 1919 to play First Division football again. After just two seasons, they were relegated yet again in 1921.
After Derby's next promotion in 1926 the club got much better, and were one of the top teams from the late 1920s all the way through to the 1939-1940 season, which was interrupted when World War II broke out.
The FA Cup restarted in the 1945-1946 season. Derby got to the final again, but this time they beat Charlton Athletic 4-1 to win the Cup. Some people had thought the reason Derby kept losing in the FA Cup was that they were cursed by gypsies, as the Baseball Ground was built on the site of a gypsy camp. Some players even thought so, and before the final they asked the gypsies to lift the curse.
The Football League began again the next season, but Derby did not play well and were relegated in 1953. Things went from bad to worse and in 1955 they were relegated to the Football League Third Division (North) for the first time in their history. Derby were too good for that league though, and finished second at the first try. Then they did even better next season by finishing first, and going back up to the top division.
In 1967, Brian Clough took over Derby County with Peter Taylor helping him. Derby were back in Division Two, but Clough got them promoted to the First Division in 1969. He led them to their first ever Championship in 1972. Derby could not win the title again the next season, but they did get to the semi-finals of the European Cup, but they lost to Juventus. A lot of people in England thought after the match that the Italian club had paid money to the referee as a bribe. This was never proved. Clough left the club after an argument with Derby's chairman Sam Longson. Clough later became manager of Nottingham Forest F.C., where he went on to win a First Division championship and two European Cups.
Derby won the league again in 1974-1975, this time with Dave Mackay as manager. He used to play for the club, as captain, under Clough. When Mackay left in 1976, Derby got slowly worse until they went down in 1980.
Derby's stay in the Second Division was not a happy one and they were relegated to the Football League Third Division in 1984. It was exactly 100 years since the club formed, and just nine years after their last Championship.
The club made Arthur Cox manager. After a two-year stay in the Third Division, they were promoted to the Second Division. They won that league the next year, going back up to the First Division in 1987.
The club managed to finish 5th in 1989, but it was owned by businessman Robert Maxwell, who was having money problems. He stopped spending money on new players, and sold the club not long before his death. The club was relegated back to the Second Division in 1991 (which changed its name to the First Division a year later when the First Division clubs left to form the FA Premier League).
Jim Smith became Derby's manager in 1995. Before the end of the season, Smith took the Rams up to the Premier League for the first time.
Derby County did well in the 1996-97 season, finishing 12th in the final table with international players like Aljosa Asanovic and Igor Stimac playing well. The club moved into the new 33,000-seat Pride Park Stadium for the 1997-98 season, and went on to finish ninth. Next year they did even better, finishing eighth, but the season after that Derby struggled, and finished 16th. Another bad season followed in 2000-01, as Derby finished 17th in the Premiership - just one place clear of going down.
Jim Smith left the club in October 2001 and his assistant manager Colin Todd took over. He kept his job for just 3 months before he was sacked. At the end of January 2002, John Gregory got the manager's job. Derby started well, but then lost seven of their last eight matches and were relegated again after six seasons in a row in the Premiership.
It was a bad time to go down. Money owed to the Football League teams by the TV company ITV Digital was never paid, and Derby were one of the clubs to suffer worst. They had to sell their best players and rebuild a team with mostly very young players. They finished 18th after a difficult season. In late March, Gregory was suspended and George Burley came in as a temporary manager. At the end of the season Gregory was sacked and Burley took over fully. Owner Lionel Pickering lost control of the club and a new board of John Sleightholme, Jeremy Keith and Steve Harding came in. Derby finished 20th in the 2003-2004 First Division campaign, but did much better in the 2004-05 season and finished 4th in the Division which was now called the Football League Championship. This meant they won a promotion play-off spot, but lost in the semi-finals to Preston North End. Soon after losing, Burley left. Derby then employed Phil Brown for a short period who was then replaced by the Academy Coach, Terry Westley, who kept the club up in the 2005-06 season.
Before the final game of the 2005-06 season a local consortium led by Peter Gadsby, took over the Rams and gave the manager's job to Billy Davies, who left Preston after compensation was agreed by both clubs for his services. The new changes and fresh activity in the transfer market promise a bright future for this founder member of the football league.
Following a poor start to the 2007-2008 season which saw Derby achieve just one win in 14 matches Billy Davies has left Derby County FC.
Many people think the best Rams player ever was Steve Bloomer, one of the highest scoring players in the history of English football. He played for Derby from the late 19th century to just before the First World War. Other top players include the FA Cup winners Peter Doherty, Jackie Stamps and Raich Carter. In more recent years players like Roy McFarland, Archie Gemmill, Colin Todd, Kevin Hector, Steve Powell, Ron Webster, Alan Hinton and Dave Mackay played in the championship winning sides. More recently, the England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, Stefano Eranio and Igor Stimac all played for the Rams. Bobby Davison was also a favourite of Rams fans. Recent famous players also include locally born Matthew Debyshire who has achieved some degree or recognition at Blackburn Rovers but has expressed desire to play a more successful clubs like Tottenham Hotspurs.
Derby County's main rivals are Nottingham Forest, who are based in Nottingham, a city just a few miles north-east of Derby. Leicester City, also based in the East Midlands, come a close second. Fans from the north of Derbyshire often dislike Sheffield Wednesday or Leeds United.
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club (Ipswich Town) is an English football club. It is based in Ipswich, Suffolk county. The club was founded in 1878. The club's home stadium is Portman Road.
Ipswich Town play in League One having been relegated from the Championship in 2019, after 17 years in the division. The club has won the top division once, in 1962 and the FA Cup in 1978. They have also been successful in European football. They won the UEFA Cup in 1981. The chairman of the club is Marcus Evans. Right now, the manager is Paul Lambert. Two of the club's previous managers have gone on to manage the England national football team, and one has gone on to manage the Scotland national football team. A notable previous manager is Roy Keane, a legend for Ireland and Manchester United.
Ipswich Town F.C. was started as an amateur team in 1878 and was called "Ipswich A.F.C." The club played a lot of games in the local area and won several cup competitions. In 1936, they became a professional club and joined a league called the "Southern League" which they won in their first season. In 1938, they were elected to join The Football League and played in "Division Three (South)" until the end of the 1954 season, when they were promoted to "Division Two".
In 1961, Ipswich Town won their division and were promoted to the highest level of English football, "Division One". The club went on to win this division the next season. This let them play in European football competition, The European Cup the following season. Two years later,they were sent back to "Division Two" where they stayed for four years before being promoted to "Division One" again, in 1968. Soon after, Bobby Robson became the manager of the club and led them to success in both English and European football. In 1978 Ipswich won the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium, beating Arsenal F.C. 1–0. Further success came in 1981 when Ipswich defeated Dutch team AZ Alkmaar.
Bobby Robson was asked to become manager of the England national football team in 1982 so he left the club. Ipswich did not do well in the following seasons and were relegated to "Division Two" in 1986. They remained here until 1993 when they won the division and promotion into the new English Premier League. Two poor seasons followed, including a 9–0 defeat by Manchester United, still the biggest defeat in Premier League history. In 1995 Ipswich were relegated once again and stayed in second division of English football until they were promoted in 2000 after they beat Barnsley in the play-offs at Wembley 4–2.
In their first season in the Premier League, Ipswich finished fifth; This meant they qualified to play in the UEFA Cup the next season. Although the club played well in the European competition, they were poor in the Premier League. They finished bottom and were relegated to Division One, now called Football League Championship. Ipswich were relegated to League 1 after the 18/19 season, finishing bottom of the championship.
One of Ipswich Town's nicknames is "The Blues". This is because the traditional kit the players wear is usually mostly blue. When Ipswich play against other teams who also wear blue, they change to an alternative kit, sometimes called an "away" kit. The "away" kit has been different colours including orange, white, red and black vertical stripes and, as of 2009, plain red.
The crest which is on the shirts and shorts of the kit shows a horse, with one hoof resting on a football. Underneath the horse is a river—this represents the River Orwell which flows through the town.
Ipswich Town play their home games at a stadium called Portman Road. The club started playing games here in 1884. The stadium can hold over 30,000 people. Outside the ground there are statues of both Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey.
In 2003, England played a game against Croatia at Portman Road. England won the game 3–1. The England youth team has also played at the stadium several times.
Other sports have been played at Portman Road, including athletics, hockey and American football. The stadium has also been used for events other than sports. It has been used for concerts by Elton John, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Rod Stewart.
Local fans call the team "Town" because it is a shortened version of the team name. Some people also call Ipswich the "Tractor Boys". This nickname is used a lot by newspapers. Many Ipswich fans use this name as a joke rather than letting it be an insult.
The main rival of Ipswich Town is Norwich City who are based in Norfolk. When these two teams play, the game is called the "East Anglian derby". The derby is usually referred to as the 'Old Farm' derby, a take on the 'Old Firm' derby played in Scotland between Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers (now 'The Rangers').
Mick Mills holds the record for Ipswich league appearances. He played 591 matches between 1966 and 1982. The club's top league goalscorer is Ray Crawford, who scored 203 goals between 1958 and 1969. Ted Phillips holds the record for the most goals scored in a season, 41 in the 1956–57 season. Allan Hunter has played the most international games while at the club, making 47 appearances for Northern Ireland.
The club's widest victories in the league have been their 7–0 wins against Portsmouth in 1964, against Southampton in 1974 and against West Bromwich Albion in the First Division in 1976. Their biggest defeats in the league were 10–1 against Fulham in 1963 and 9–0 against Manchester United in 1995.
The highest number of people to watch Ipswich at Portman Road is 38,010 for a sixth round FA Cup match against Leeds United on 8 March 1975.
The largest amount of money received for an Ipswich player is £6.5 million, from Newcastle United for Kieron Dyer in July 1999. The most the club has spent on a player was £4.75 million for Matteo Sereni from Sampdoria in July 2001.
Paul Lambert is the current manager of Ipswich Town, replacing
Mick McCarthy. McCarthy was formerly the manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. who he left in 2012. McCarthy joined Ipswich in November 2012.
Two managers of Ipswich Town have gone on to become the manager of the England national football team. The first was Sir Alf Ramsey. He also won the World Cup for England in 1966. The second was Sir Bobby Robson who got England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup finals. George Burley became manager of the Scotland national football team in January 2008, for 22 months.
Ipswich Town won the top division once (when it was called Division One) in 1962. The club has won the FA Cup once, in 1978, when they defeated Arsenal F.C. 1–0. The club has also won the UEFA Cup once in 1981.
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English football club. They are from the city of Sunderland.
The club played in the Premier League in the 2005/2006 season, they finished bottom. They played in the Football League Championship in 2006/2007, but were promoted back to the Premiership for 2007/08 under manager Roy Keane.
Sunderland AFC were created in 1879 and joined the Football League in 1891. They have won the league six times. The last time Sunderland won the league was in 1936. Sunderland have won the FA Cup two times, in 1937 and 1973.
For 99 years, Sunderland played their home games at Roker Park. In 1997 they moved, and now play their home games at the Stadium of Light. The stadium holds 49,000 people.
The team's most recent promotion to the English Premier League was in 2007, and they are now, in 2015/16, in their ninth season in a row in this division. They have had three different managers in 2013. Martin O'Neill was fired at the end of March and Paolo Di Canio became manager. He was fired in September after the team had bad results, and Gus Poyet replaced him on October 8th.
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (West Brom, WBA) is an English football club. The club plays in the Championship. Their home stadium is called the Hawthorns.
Albion were one of the founding members of The Football League in 1888 and have spent the majority of their existence in the top tier of English football. They have been champions of England once, in 1919–20, but have had more success in the FA Cup, with five wins. The first came in 1888, the year the league was founded, and the most recent in 1968, their last major trophy. They also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966. The club's longest consecutive period in the top division was between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 they spent their longest ever period out of the top division. The 2011–12 season will be their sixth season in the Premier League since 2002. The Hawthorns is a stadium on a hill.
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English football club.
The club plays in the Premier League. It was started in 1895 and its home stadium is the London stadium East London. The club is also called "the Hammers" and "the Irons" because it was started in a London Ironworks. Their main rivals are Millwall and other rivals are Tottenham Hotspur, chelsea and Arsenal
West ham currently are managed by David Moyes, their former care-taker manager for the 2017/18 season in Premier League.