By Richard Alleyne
Telegraph Online
His songs are usually belted out from the plush red seats of the Royal Albert Hall, rather than the football terraces.
But it has emerged that Sir Edward Elgar, the composer of Land of Hope and Glory, penned the world's first football chant.
Titled "He Banged The Leather for Goal", the theme was written more than 100 years ago in honour of his beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Elgar fell in love with football in February 1898, when he was in the crowd at Molineux for a game between Wolves and Stoke City, two of the founder members of the Football League.
He was inspired by rugged striker Billy Malpass who was celebrated in newspaper headlines the next day.
The reports told of the way he “Banged The Leather for Goal” and Elgar was so taken by it that he put the lyric to a short piece of piano music.
No one knows whether the tune was ever played during his lifetime but yesterday it got its first-ever known public performance at a charity concert in the city.
The choirs of St Peter’s Collegiate Church, under the baton of Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra conductor Peter Morris, belted out the chant at a concert to raise money for the church’s organ restoration fund.
To add more nostalgia, the opera singer Rita Cullis – niece of the club’s "Iron Manager" Stan Cullis – was the featured soloist.
Elgar became a Wolves fan through his friendship with Dora Penny, daughter of the Rector of St Peter’s Church in the late 19th century.
The Pomp And Circumstance composer would cycle from Malvern to Wolverhampton to accompany her to Molineux, and immortalised the Midland lass with the tune Dorabella, from his famous Enigma Variations in 1899.
Former England women’s cricket captain Rachel Heyhoe-Flint – now a director at Wolverhampton Wanderers – helped to organise the concert.
“Over the years we have learned more and more about Elgar’s association with the club, and we’re very proud to have counted him as a supporter,” she explained.
“This was the first live rendition of He Banged The Leather For Goal.
‘‘The song was discovered by Dr Percy Young, who was the club historian back in the 1940s and 1950s, and was an expert on Elgar.
“Personally I’m delighted about this, I’ve been a Wolves fan since I visited Molineux in nappies back in the 50s, so I’m very happy that we’re celebrating our heritage in this way.”
While modern football fans are often associated with loutish behaviour and drunken singing, academics say that terrace songs are an important part of our history.
Professor Steven Mithen, author of The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body, said: “Football chants are a very sophisticated activity.
"They come from a point in our evolutionary past before language, when we used music and chanting and dance to bond as social groups.”
The Wolverhampton Wanderers FC historian Graham Hughes said Elgar “loved coming” to the area.
“He used to watch the crowd going down to the match,” he said.
“Then one Saturday he said he’d like to go down to the match, so he went and that’s how it started.”
The original article is on Telegraph Online
Sunday 26 September 2010
Coming up in the Braggers' league in October and November...
Blues fans are hoping for more than a Toby Jug from their
Staffordshire sojourn in November
But it will be more than a pint of Ansells and a ceramic Toby Jug from which to drink it that Blues hope to bring home with them from these two clashes and I for one would not want to call the result of either game right now.
With the other 4 West Midlands teams on three points a piece in the Braggers' League as it stands after 4 local derbies, Blues fans will be feeling nervous but not desperate and six points from these two games will take them straight to the top, pending Stokes visit to the Hawthorns in late November.
Baggy Bird - on a roll
Here are the big autumnal fixtures for the Braggers' League:
31st October
Aston Villa v Birmingham 12.00
9th November
Stoke v Birmingham 19.45
20th November
West Brom v Stoke, 15:00
Who do you think will come away from these matches with West Midlands Braggers' Rights?
Albion maintain top place as Heskey gives McCarthy his self-predicted slap
West Brom maintain their top position in the The Braggers' League this afternoon as Villa take the 3 points away from Molineux in spite of, it has to be admitted, a valiant fight by Wolves in which they could so easily have got the winner themselves.
Emile Heskey netted his second goal in Villa's first two matches under his old Liverpool boss Houllier, with a stunning header followed by a celebration of putting his hands to his ears in defiance of his critics - which no doubt includes large numbers of the Villa faithful. Meanwhile poor old Mick McCarthy will be feeling a large sense of deja vu as all three points are once again snatched from his grasp after Wolves bossed the game for large periods.
The result means that four of our five clubs line up with 3 points a piece after the first four local derbies of the Braggers' League season. Albion maintain their position at the top of the Braggers' League purely on goal difference. I have also awarded Albion a discretionary bonus point for their exceptional week topped by sticking it up the Arsenal at the Emirates yesterday, which I am sure every fan in the West Midlands will join me in applauding. Remember, the Bonus Points (BP) don't influence positions in the League but will go towards a special award at the end of the season.
Blues remain at the bottom of the Braggers' League but have a game in hand over everyone else, apart from the Baggies, so it's all to play for and anything can happen yet as we go head to head for West Midlands Braggers' rights!
Emile Heskey - silences the voices of vile and unjust derision
...and that's just the Villa fans
Today's big game on Braggers' League - Wolves tek on the Villa
The last time Wolves and Villa clashed was at Villa Park in March when Wolves deservedly stole a point having come from behind after John Carew's opener, with goals from Jody Craddock and an own goal from James Milner. John Carew saved the blushes of Villa fans with an equaliser 8 minutes from time.
The earlier derby of the season at Molineux also proved a tight one, with late goals from Agbonlahor for Villa and a penalty by Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
Wolves boss Mick McMarthy is anticipating another tight derby match but believes that Wolves must avoid playing well while still taking a slap:
"It's a Premier League game but it does make a difference when its a local derby, of course it does, because of the interest that surrounds the game" said Mick. "It is a huge, huge game - having played well in the last two but losing we need to get some points. We know how harsh the Premiership can be, how unforgiving it can be. You can play well in it, you can entertain in it and be the best team in it and still get slapped".
'Pin-up' Mick McCarthy - why would anyone want to slap him? Well apart from Roy Keane.
Meanwhile Gerard Houllier, who has taken a break from playing boules this weekend to come and watch the Villa, is also anticipating a tight game but expects Villa to come away with the bragging rights:
"It will be tough but we will be ready and we will be up for it. I expect they will put everything in it to win it and they must expect we will put everything in it to win as well. It should be a very good game. The players are not necessarily from the area but they know what a derby is because at other clubs they knew what a derby was like and know what the fans are like. Our aim is to make our fans happy and hopefully win the derby. It is more than three points, it is a derby".
Jean-Paul Sartre: "Pah! Ooullier should win it on philosophy alone. Ee is a genius!"
So, how does Braggley the Psychic Bingo Playing Octopus predict the scores on this one? Will the newly energised Villa take inspiration from their new continental manager and send McCarthy home with another cruel slapping? Or will the big Northern Man hold his nerve and show the prima donnas from Witton Road a bit of Black Country grit?
We caught up with Braggley at his favourite haunt the Amber Tavern on the Hagley Road, which rather aptly sits on the only sharp right turn on the road from Brummagem to Wolver-ampton.
Braggley predicts a tough game but only a 1-1 draw on this one. Goals from Ashley Young and Ebanks-Blake.
As always, good luck to both teams. Don't forget it's free on Sky Sports.
Notts County starlet Lee Hughes, unlikely to be in the hospitality suite at Molineux this afternoon
Saturday 18 September 2010
It's a funny old game ...says Braggley the bingo playing psychic octopus
Plonker
Scott Dann - equalised for the Baggies
But with just 3 out of the 20 West Midlands local derbies played so far this season, it's still early days and anything can happen.
(Note: whilst we are awarding bonus points for other factors worth bragging about, the positions in the league are only based on the final scores of matches).
Where's Houlier?
Aston Villa's new manager Gerard Houlier will not be catching the ferry from France for this afternoon's game at Villa Park against Bolton.
But Gerard will catch up on reports about the game in the foriegn sports round-up section of tomorrow's edition of Le Figaro.
The Baggies v The Blues
This is what makes local derby games so interesting, as we have seen in previous seasons, the passions of a debry game are far higher than any other games with the possible exception of cup matches. The pre-match excitement I feel this afternoon when I troop off to see Villa take on Bolton, will pale into insignificance compared with the adrenalein build up for both Blues and Albion fans as they approach the Hawthorns for their three o clock kick-off.
Ok, the Albion Blues clash will not register quite as high on the Richter scale of fan's emotions as Wolves-Albion and Blues-Villa, but even so, there is plenty of rivalry between these two teams. Of the 60 games played between these two at the Hawthorns, the Baggies have won the fixture 26 times and Blues have won 15 times. Their previous match at The Hawthorns was in March 2007, where the two sides shared the spoils courtesy of a 1-1 final scoreline in a Championship match.
“I think they will be absolutely after our scalp,” Blues boss Alex McLeish told the Birmingham Mail this week. “Roberto di Matteo said he learnt a lot from the Chelsea game. But they will see these kind of games today the way we do - bread and butter. These are the games where you’re looking to take points from your neighbours. There’s probably seven, eight teams in the Premier League that should be guaranteed OK. And then it’s a fight with the other 12.”
Albion manager Roberto di Matteo is relishing the encounter and believes his team have already bounced back from the 6-0 battering by Chelsea a few weeks ago:
"Preferably I could have done without that kind of experience. It was a slap in the face. It was hello guys you are in the Premier League now and we are the top team. It was an indication that we have to learn fast at this level. The good thing is that we have not been crushed by the defeat. We have bounced back with some good performances and we have got better with each game. I have seen an improvement in every match we have played. That is very encouraging. I have seen a reaction and that shows the team spirit that we have within the dressing room."
McLeish and Di Matteo - Friends
On Blues, Di Matteo (a close friend of Alex McLeish - they recently travelled to a Champions League match together) says:
"Birmingham have certainly given enough people a clear indication of what is possible after reaching the Premier League. They had a tremendous run last year and what they achieved was impressive."So, everything looks nicely polite and mutually respectful between the Managers, but will it transfer to events on the pitch?
I'm sorry Baggies fans but Braggley the Bingo playing Octopus predicts 1-3 to Blues with Marc Antoine Fortune scoring for the Baggies followed by a devastating reply from Gardner (2) and Zigic, the big Serbian showing his class in the second half.
That's how seriously we take things at Braggers' League.
May the best team win this afternoon - bring it on!
Wolves remain top after 2 local derbies
Following the second West Midlands local derby earlier this week, the editor (a Villa supporter), has begrudgingly dragged himself in front of the keyboard to draw up the very latest Braggers' League table. I realise we are just hours away from the next big derby between the Baggies and the Noses, but if I am going to compete for punters with the BBC, Talk Sport and Sky, the least I can do is crawl out of bed on a Saturday morning and make a pretence at enthusiasm.
One of my mental blocks during the past two weeks was the concept of our Braggers' points, which are awarded on the basis of additional factors, over and above the scores in the pitch. Obviously many of these extra points will be dependant on a degree of discretion and interpretation from my part and as a keen footbal supporter it is only natural that I am going to be biased towards Villa. I make no apologies for this as, like all true soccer fans, it is my natural disposition to genuinely and tangibly hate the rest of you and will pull every trick in the book to make sure that Villa finish top. This being the reality of the situation, it is unlikely to attract fans of the other 4 sides to the website knowing that it's ultimately going to be stitched up so Villa win the League on the basis of every abitrary bonus point I can lay my hands on.
On reflection therefore, I think that whilst the award of discretionary Braggers' points is potenially a lot of fun, the positions of the five teams in the League table should reflect the points gained from the actual matches. I am therefore keeping a column for bonus points awarded on the basis of our original list of silly regulations, but these will not count in the positions of the teams in the League which will be based on the standard points system employed by people like the Stourbridge and District, Warwickshire Leagues etc, the FA, UEFA and those other ones who run the World Cup.
It is with very mixed feelings therefore that I publish the latest League Table with Wolves remaining on top, Stoke in second place on goal difference, Villa at the bottom (for flip's sake!) and the Noses and Baggies poised to battle it out for the latest points.
The bonus points shown on the table were awarded jointly to Stoke and Villa for the highest incoming transfer fee of £8 million for Kenwyne Jones and Stephen Ireland and to Villa for players appearing in recent internationals (Ashley Young for England and Stiliyan Petrov for Bulgaria).
Monday 13 September 2010
Stoke City versus Aston Villa
Introducing the 2nd Braggers' Barclays Premiership fixture of the 2010/11 Season
Stoke City versus Aston Villa
Both teams go head to head this evening without their official manager, Stoke City manager Tony Pulis understandably absent due to the sad loss of his mother, Villa manager Gerard Houllier absent because he is French.
But Houllier does intend to watch the game on television. If he can get a dodgy Persian internet channel on his laptop.
Quick fire predictions from Braggly the Octopus:
A tough game, equally matched with a freshly bolstered Stoke side up against last season's Champions League pretenders, the Villa. Kenwyne Jones to score for Stoke in the first half, Agbonlahor to get a second half equaliser. Both teams will be happy with a point from this Monday night slog-out.
Plenty of yellow cards predicted and lost likely players to receive reds are Dunne (Villa) and Shawcross for Stoke.
Houllier most likely manager to throw his toys out of the pram though it won't count for Braggers' league point deduction as it will be because he's spilt his red wine over his laptop and no one was there to witness it, apart from his wife and the cat.
La chat, in fact.
Wednesday 1 September 2010
Gordon Banks reveals Telford sacking heartache
England football legend Gordon Banks has revealed his sacking as manager of Telford United in 1980 was the reason why he did not manage again.
The 1966 World Cup winner was boss at Telford from January 1979 to September 1980, but was sacked after just a season and a half.
"They were good days for me, I thought I'd done a good job," Banks, now 73, told BBC Radio Shropshire.
"They asked me to get them out of relegation, which I did do."
He added: "Unfortunately we lost in a cup match, to a team lower down in the division away from home, and they gave me the big boot, which I was disappointed about."
Banks was capped 73 times for England
Banks was the second England World Cup winner to have a stint managing Telford after Geoff Hurst's spell as player-manager in 1977.
The former Stoke keeper admitted that his sacking by Telford changed his mind about a career in club management.
"It broke my heart. I just couldn't believe that I'd put all that effort in and found I just got kicked in the teeth and it just disappointed me that much, that I didn't apply for another job. I did not want to stay in the game."
Telford finished 13th in the 1979-80 Alliance Premier League during his time there. They lost 17 out of 38 games.
Remembered for his heroic part in England's triumphant 1966 World Cup campaign, Banks also had a successful club career that spanned three different decades where he played for a number of clubs including Leicester City and Stoke.
Capped 73 times by his country, he retired in 1972 at the age of 34.
This article from BBC Sport
The 1966 World Cup winner was boss at Telford from January 1979 to September 1980, but was sacked after just a season and a half.
"They were good days for me, I thought I'd done a good job," Banks, now 73, told BBC Radio Shropshire.
"They asked me to get them out of relegation, which I did do."
He added: "Unfortunately we lost in a cup match, to a team lower down in the division away from home, and they gave me the big boot, which I was disappointed about."
Banks was capped 73 times for England
Banks was the second England World Cup winner to have a stint managing Telford after Geoff Hurst's spell as player-manager in 1977.
The former Stoke keeper admitted that his sacking by Telford changed his mind about a career in club management.
"It broke my heart. I just couldn't believe that I'd put all that effort in and found I just got kicked in the teeth and it just disappointed me that much, that I didn't apply for another job. I did not want to stay in the game."
Telford finished 13th in the 1979-80 Alliance Premier League during his time there. They lost 17 out of 38 games.
Remembered for his heroic part in England's triumphant 1966 World Cup campaign, Banks also had a successful club career that spanned three different decades where he played for a number of clubs including Leicester City and Stoke.
Capped 73 times by his country, he retired in 1972 at the age of 34.
This article from BBC Sport
Lowest crowd sees Walsall crash out
The Banks’s Stadium witnessed a piece of history for Walsall – but for the wrong reason.
A crowd of 1,793 watched the Saddlers’ 2-1 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat to Chesterfield, the lowest gate in 20 years at the stadium.
The previous low, if you were wondering, was 1,837 for a 2-0 win over Mansfield in December 1992 in the Autoglass Trophy.
Fast forward 18 years and the same competition attracted an even lower gate, but what can be drawn from it?
Read the full article in the Express and Star
Editor: Have you ever been to watch Walsall or any of our other lower league clubs? I saw Walsall at the Banks's twice last season and I also watched Coleshill Town against Burton Albion in the cup on a freezing cold night last winter and remember thinking "this is real football". Maybe we should all make the effort to support the smaller clubs in the region this season. Never mind your Man Uniteds and Chelseas, take your kids to watch a lower league club every now and then and help keep grass roots soccer alive.
A crowd of 1,793 watched the Saddlers’ 2-1 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat to Chesterfield, the lowest gate in 20 years at the stadium.
The previous low, if you were wondering, was 1,837 for a 2-0 win over Mansfield in December 1992 in the Autoglass Trophy.
Fast forward 18 years and the same competition attracted an even lower gate, but what can be drawn from it?
Read the full article in the Express and Star
Editor: Have you ever been to watch Walsall or any of our other lower league clubs? I saw Walsall at the Banks's twice last season and I also watched Coleshill Town against Burton Albion in the cup on a freezing cold night last winter and remember thinking "this is real football". Maybe we should all make the effort to support the smaller clubs in the region this season. Never mind your Man Uniteds and Chelseas, take your kids to watch a lower league club every now and then and help keep grass roots soccer alive.
Stoke get the point as summer transfer window closes
Stoke chairman, Peter Coates - evidence that gambling can be good for you.
Especially if you own the company.
With a rumoured consensus that the value of Stephen Ireland may have been around the 9 million pounds mark when he joined Villa from Manchester City as part of the James Milner deal, unfortunately because the real value of the transfer remains undisclosed, it means that Villa can not in fairness be awarded the Braggers' bonus point for highest local purchase.
Birmingham City arguably spent more than any the 5 West Midlands teams in the summer transfer window with the combined purchase of Ben Foster from Manchester United and Nicola Zigic from Valencia, both for 6 million pounds each. Albion's top declared purchase was 1.5 million pounds paid out for Nicky Shorey from Villa, whilst Wolves paid £6.5 million for Steven Fletcher from Burnley, £3 million for Stephen Hunt from Hull and £2.5 million for Jelle van Damme from Anderlecht.
This is the full list of the local comings and goings during the summer:
Aston Villa
Players in:
Stephen Ireland (Man City, U/D)
Players Out:
Wilfred Bouma (released), Marlon Harewood (released), Stephen O'Halloran (Coventry - free), Andy Marshall (released), Jack Dyer (Burton - free), Harry Forrester (Kilmarnock, loan) Nicky Shorey (1.5 million).
Birmingham City
Players in:
Enric Calles (NAC Breda - free), Ben Foster (Man Utd £6m), Nicola Zigic (Valencia, £6m), Matt Derbyshire (Olympiacos, loan), Martin Jiranek (Spartak Moscow, U/D), Alexander Hleb (Barcelona, loan), Jean Beausejour (Club America, U/D).
Players out:
Gary McSheffrey (Coventry, free), Gregory Vignal (released), Jared Wilson (released), Lee Carsley (Coventry, free), Artur Kryslak (Exeter, free), Franck Queudrue (released), Robin Shroot (Cheltenham, loan), Luke Hubbin (Notts County, loan), Colin Doyle (Coventry, loan).
Stoke City
Players in:
Eidur Gudjohnsen (Monaco, U/D rumoured £2 million), Carlo Nash (Everton, free), Florent Cuvelier (Portsmouth, U/D), Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland £8 million), Jon Walters (Ipswich £2.75 million), Salif Diao (re-signed), Jermaine Pennant (Zaragoza), Marc Wilson (Portsmouth).
Players out:
Andy Griffin (reading, U/D), Steve Simonsen (Sheffield United, free), Amdy Faye (released), Diego Arismendi (Barnsley, loan), Ibrahim Sonko (Portsmouth, loan), Nathaniel Wedderburn (Northampton, free), James Beattie (Rangers, U/D), Carl Dickinson (Portsmouth, loan), Salif Diao (released), Ben Marshall (Carlisle, loan), Liam Lawrence (Portsmouth), Dave Kitson (Portsmouth).
West Brom
Players in:
Pablo Ibanez (Athletico Madrid, free), Gabriel Tamas (Auxerre, U/D), Steven Reid (Blackburn, free), Peter Odemwingle (Lokomtiv Moscow, U/D), Somen Tchoyl (Salzburg, U/D), Marc-Antoine Fortune (Celtic, U/D), Boaz Myhill (Hull, U/D), Nicky Shorey (Villa, £1.5 million), Paul Scharner (Wigan, free), Craig Dawson (Rochdale).
Players out:
Andwele Slory (released), Robert Koren (released), Filipe Teixeira (released), Jonathan Greening (Fulham U/D), Borja Valero (Villareal, loan) Joss Labadie (Tranmere, free), Leon Barnett (Norwich, loan), Kayleden Brown (Tranmere, loan), Craig Dawson (Rochdale, loan)
Wolves
Players in
Jelle van Damme (Anderlecht, £2.5 million), Steven Fletcher (Burnley £6.5 million), Stephen Mouyokolo (Hull, U/D), Stephen Hunt (Hull £3 million), Adlene Guedioura (RSC Charleroi, free), Michael Macncienne (Chelsea, loan), Geoffrey Mujangi Bia (Charleroi, loan), Marcus Bent (Birmingham, loan).
Players out:
Jason Shackell (Barnsley, U/D), Mark Little (Peterborough, free), Daniel Jones (released), George Friend (released), Chris Iwelumo (Burnley, U/D), Andrew Surman (Norwich, U/D), Andy Keogh (Cardiff, loan), Same Vokes (Bristol City, loan)
Kenwyne - looks fantastic, but can he play football?
Remember, all players purchased during the season will be contenders for a special award in our Braggers' League Annual Awards next summer for the player who turns out to be the 'Biggest Flop', i.e. a high expectation signing who spends the season on the bench, fighting with the coach on the training ground, going on strike, etc). It looks like we're relying on Kenwyne to hit the booze and poker then, as there ain't a lot else to build our hopes up around this bloody shower!
The bonus point will be duly awarded to Stoke City, taking them to second position in the Braggers' League table, unless anyone shows us convincing evidence of a higher transfer fee having been paid (perhaps one of the undisclosed fees) before this weekend.
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