Posts Tagged ‘Easter Road’

How to see the most league grounds

Trainspotting meets football trivia: welcome to the Knowledge’s very own perfect storm of nerdvana. Click here for our all-singing, all dancing interactive map of the route. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk

“During train journeys I always keep an eye out for the tell-tale sign of a football ground in the distance: the sight of floodlights,” wrote Peter Newbitt two weeks ago. “I wonder, on which single railway journey (no changes!) in the UK can you see the most league football grounds?”

Trainspotting meets football trivia: welcome to the Knowledge’s very own perfect storm of nerdvana. It has prompted a deluge of emails in our direction, detailing journeys from every corner of the Great Britain and throwing up counter-claim and controversy. Can Saltergate be seen from the elevated section of track over the A617? Is Easter Road hidden from view by Calton Hill? Do Millmoor and Feerhams still count?

Fortunately we had an epic missive from Robin Foot of First Great Western, who revealed that Arriva Cross Country still runs a direct service from Plymouth to Aberdeen. Using Robin’s in-depth knowledge of all things track-related, and with help from a bevy of other readers, we’ve concluded that the £180, 11-and-a-half-hour journey takes in 20 league grounds:

• Click for our all-singing, all dancing interactive map of the route

“There are also some recently defunct grounds that can be seen,” adds Robin. “Eastville (Bristol Rovers), the Baseball Ground (Derby) and Feethams (Darlington – you used to be able to see the floodlights, not sure now). If that wasn’t enough, looking at the engineering notices, over the past year the train has been diverted at various times to include the following grounds: Barnsley, the Durham Coast (Sunderland and Hartlepool) and Perth (St Johnstone, Stirling Albion, Falkirk, East Stirling). I know the original request was for league grounds, but if you pardon my insouciance towards the rules, then there are also these Blue Square Premier grounds: Gateshead International Stadium (Gateshead), the Lamb Ground (Tamworth) and KitKat Crescent (York).”

James Mackenzie’s days at Durham University led him to suggest the East Coast Mainline route from London to Aberdeen, which we reckon heads past 14 different grounds. In addition to all 10 grounds from Darlington northwards, as shown on the map, he suggests:

• Highbury and Emirates Stadium, Arsenal – both are visible on the right

• Lamex Stadium, Stevenage (admittedly non-league) – on the left at the top of a hill just before the station

• London Road, Peterborough – on the right of the station as you pull in, very close to the tracks

• Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster – on the right about two minutes before the station

“On the London Euston to Carlisle train you can catch a glimpse of the Wembley arch, then Vicarage Road as you pull in to Watford Junction, Gresty Road from Crewe Station, the JJB as you pull out of Wigan North Western and Deepdale from a distance as you pass through Preston.” writes Stephen Campbell. “You can even see Lancaster City as an added bonus.” As Kieran Corr points out, the route continues up to Glasgow via Motherwell passing Fir Park, possibly Parkhead and possibly with Ibrox visible: “Being a native of the city I’m actually horrified that I can’t remember if you can see Ibrox when crossing the Clyde outside Central Station.” All three would bring the total of grounds visible to eight.

With the coveted “Most Grounds From One Journey” title pretty much sown up, a few of you have offered suggestions for the “Grounds Per Mile” champion. Amir Arezoo suggests the Buxton to Blackpool service which, between Stockport and its final destination, passes “Edgeley Park (bang next to the train station), the City Of Manchester Stadium (on the way past Ardwick), Old Trafford (a glimpse, look to the left coming out of Deansgate), the Reebok Stadium (down the road from Horwich Parkway) and Bloomfield Road (just a glimpse again).” Five stadiums in just under 60 miles, or 12 miles per stadium.

Richard Scrimshaw, though, can top that with the service from East Croydon to Milton Keynes Central. “In 1hr 51mins [and just under 70 miles] the train passes Selhurst Park, Stamford Bridge, Loftus Road, Wembley Stadium, Vicarage Road, Berkhamsted Town and stadium:mk.” That’s 10 miles per stadium, though the presence of the non-league ground of Broadwater in Berkhamsted and Wembley do raise doubts over its legitimacy. Though Broadwater must be deserving of extra praise for the ability of wayward shots to threaten waiting passengers on the station platform.

So we’ve established two champion train routes, but now we want your help once more. One flashy interactive graphic route isn’t enough. We want to plot a map of the entire country listing every ground visible from the railway tracks so we can create a resource for groundspotters. When planning a journey we want travellers to think “I won’t bother watching that DVD or reading that book, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for Sincil Bank”. So send in your suggestions, and preferably how they can be seen, to the usual address – knowledge@guardian.co.uk – with the subject title ‘Groundspotting’. We’ll publish the results in the next few weeks.

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

“What is the longest run without a win at the start of the season in the top flight?” asked Irfan Hussain back in 2004.

The Sheffield United vintage of 1990-91 lead the way. Having been promoted the season before, Dave Bassett’s side looked totally out of their depth, picking up just five points from their first 16 games before beating Nottingham Forest 3-2 on December 22. After that win, their star midfielder Vinnie Jones said that finishing fourth from bottom would be like winning the championship.

Yet United finished safely in 13th – 12 points off relegation. In fact, they finished the season showing Championship form: 10 wins and three draws from their last 16 games, including seven straight wins.

Close runners-up are John Gorman’s hapless Swindon side, who, in 1993-94, only managed a win at the 16th time of asking. They beat QPR 1-0 despite playing most of the game with 10 men after Luc Nijholt was sent off. This tale did not have a happy ending, however: Swindon finished ten points adrift at the bottom, having conceded the small matter of 100 league goals.

Archive update: This answer is clearly a English-top-flight-centric one, and as Knowledge reader Oliver Farry points out: “Grenoble have started the Ligue 1 season off rather badly, with 11 straight defeats. It’s most likely far from being the worst ever start to a campaign. But what is?” Answers to the usual address – knowledge@guardian.co.uk.

Can you help?

“LA Galaxy and Chivas USA just played a very entertaining 2-2 draw in the opening leg of their two-game Western Conference semi-final series,” writes Colin Smith. “The two teams share the Home Depot Centre. Are there any other clubs who have played home-and-away series in the same ground?”

“This week Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn faced Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough midweek in the League Cup and then faced Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the Premier League in the weekend,” notes Vikram Vasu among others. “Meanwhile, Barnsley played Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the League Cup and then Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough in the Championship. Surely this is the first time that two different teams have faced teams managed by father and son in consecutive matches in the same week?”

“Just wondering about something which has been bugging me for a few days now,” writes Cormac O’Malley. “In 1963 the year of the ‘Big Freeze’, the coldest winter since 1795 or thereabouts, Manchester United won the FA Cup in the shortest time ever, but I am wondering where they played their sixth-round tie against Coventry? I heard somewhere it may have taken place outside England because of the state of the grounds due to the weather?”

“If Pedro Rodríguez from Barcelona manages to score in the Club World Cup, he will be the first Barça player to score – inside the same season – in every competition the club can qualify to play in the same year (domestic cups, domestic league, one of the European competitions, European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup),” writes Isaac Sastre. “My question is, what players have achieved this record so far?”

“A few years back, I saw a match at my adopted team Northampton abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch with just 22 minutes left on the clock,” writes Jamie Shoesmith (an apt name for a fan of the Cobblers). “Opponents Millwall weren’t happy one bit, as they had been leading 1-0 for the most part of the game, but the Cobblers faithful were delighted with the ref’s late call after it started teeming with rain at Sixfields. At 68 minutes, is this the latest ever call for an abandonment, or have there been instances of games which have been called off with seconds to go?”

“Watching the Birmingham v Villa match on TV, at the end of the game I noticed the time was about 2.45pm,” writes Dave Tovey. “What would happen if, say, a player broke his leg in the second half causing 20 minutes of injury-time, leading to the game still being played past 3pm on a Saturday. With the rules in this country about showing football on a Saturday after 3pm, would the rest of the game still be shown and has this ever happened?”

Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk

Rangers 4-1 Hamilton

Rangers strode virtually unchallenged back to the top of the Scottish Premier League and, barring a wide-margin victory for either Hibernian or Celtic when those two meet at Easter Road today, the champions are likely to remain there.

The Ibrox side’s ascendancy was made on the back of goals from Steven Whittaker and Kris Boyd, each having delivered a brace, but their general superiority over largely hapless Hamilton Academical made the contest something of a mismatch. By the time Mark McLaughlin scored a consolation with a late header from a corner kick, the stadium was almost empty.

Visits to venues such as Ibrox by teams like Hamilton almost invariably carry undertones of damage limitation, and this latest example of the genre conformed precisely to the convention.

The Lanarkshire side demonstrated hardly any inclination to operate in the vicinity of the home goalkeeper, Allan McGregor, seemingly preferring to swarm in numbers in front of their own, Tomas Cerny, in an attempt to minimise Rangers’ score.

It was an approach that simply encourages champions to flex their muscles, and Rangers had bullied their opponents into submission before a third of the match had been completed. What is also common to these occasions is that the odds-on favourites will get their goals cheaply. The two with which Whittaker and Boyd sent the Ibrox side on their way could be called complimentary.

David Weir began the move for the first with a pass to Steven Davis in the inside-right position and while the midfielder’s low through ball to Whittaker was admirably measured, the full-back did not meet a challenge as he strode into the area on the right and drilled the ball low into the far corner.

If the Hamilton defenders were guilty of lethargy then, they were quite shocking in the way they conceded the second. Kenny Miller tried to raid on the left, but was dispossessed by Martin Canning. In his pathetic attempt at a clearance, the right-back simply passed the ball straight to Stevie Naismith. His cross was headed into the air and looped towards Boyd, who did not even have to jump as he sent a free header dropping over Cerny.

In truth, Rangers should have been even further ahead, but a number of players, notably Miller and Davis, had squandered earlier opportunities. This failure to convert their superiority during that oppressive period seemed to encourage Hamilton in a second half in which they were appreciably more ambitious.

There was only the occasional moment of menace in the Rangers defence, but it was enough to create a pleasing difference in the visitors’ performance and give their small coterie of supporters something to cheer.

James McArthur tested McGregor with a drive to the goalkeeper’s near post from the left side of the box after he had coasted past Madjid Bougherra with some slick footwork. That moment came soon after Derek Lyle had forced the goalkeeper to scramble a save at the same post with a low, curling free-kick from the left.

While those episodes might have lifted the spirits of the visitors, however, they also prefaced a raising of tempo and pressure by the home side, who would double their advantage within a few minutes, as Boyd and Whittaker each grabbed a second goal.

Boyd’s came from a powerful left-foot drive after Naismith had bolted down the left and played a perfectly-measured cut-back, and Whittaker played a 1-2 with Davis before beating Cerny with a curling, left-foot drive from 22 yards.

Mowbray to be confirmed as Celtic boss

• Tony Mowbray beats Mark McGhee and Owen Coyle to the role
• West Brom boss played for Celtic for four seasons

Tony Mowbray is expected to be confirmed as the new manager of Celtic on Monday, the Guardian can reveal.

The West Bromwich Albion manager had been linked with the post vacated by Gordon Strachan, who resigned at the end of the season after four years at Parkhead, and sources close to the club have now confirmed that the move will go ahead.

The Scottish Premier League side will now unveil the 45-year-old as the new boss after the weekend. He beat competition in the form of Burnley’s Owen Coyle and Motherwell manager Mark McGhee, who had also been considered possible successors to Strachan.

It was known that Celtic’s board held Mowbray in high regard. He played for the club between 1991 and 1995, and is credited with suggesting the player ‘huddle’ which is still employed before every match. He also earned plaudits for the style of his Hibernian side when in charge at Easter Road between 2004 and 2006.

Mowbray took the reins at West Brom in 2006, and the Championship side narrowly missed out on promotion at the end of his first season. Mowbray chose to sell some high-profile players to restructure the playing staff, and the result was a victorious Championship campaign in the 2007-08 season.

West Brom return to the Championship next season after finishing last in the Premiership, and Mowbray will now be in the unusual position of taking one of the highest profile managerial posts in Britain having presided over a relegation season at his previous club.

Celtic target Mowbray as Strachan quits

• Scot takes a break after six trophies in four years
• Replacement a matter of urgency at Parkhead

West Bromwich Albion are braced for an approach from Celtic for their manager, Tony Mowbray, following Gordon Strachan’s resignation after four years at Parkhead. Mowbray is highly regarded by Celtic’s board, having played for the club, and he earned plaudits for the style of his Hibernian side when in charge at Easter Road between 2004 and 2006.

The Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell, held talks with Dermot Desmond, the majority shareholder, with the name of Mowbray understood to be featuring significantly in their thoughts. Burnley’s Owen Coyle, a lifelong Celtic supporter, is also in the frame, though he says he is staying at Turf Moor, with the club having secured a place in the Premier League by winning their Championship play-off final against Sheffield United.

Mark McGhee at Motherwell, Wolver­hampton Wanderers’ Mick ­McCarthy and the out-of-work Alan Curbishley have been suggested as possible replacements for Strachan but are outsiders. The Celtic board would like to move for David Moyes but cannot afford him. “We aim to appoint a new manager as soon as possible,” said the chairman, John Reid.

Strachan’s resignation was confirmed as he arrived in La Manga for a golfing holiday. His departure had been widely foreshadowed, regardless of whether he guided Celtic to a fourth Scottish Premier League title in a row. That prospect ended yesterday, when Rangers were crowned champions.

“I have enjoyed my time immensely at Celtic and clearly I will be sad to leave this great club,” said Strachan, who secured six trophies inside four years. “It is just disappointing we did not manage the fourth championship. However, the players can hold their heads high in terms of what they have done for the club in recent years.”

Despite his success Strachan was never fully embraced by Celtic’s supporters. One of his former players, John Hartson, even said tonight that the 52-year-old was “hated” by those fans. Desmond praised the “remarkable” job done by Strachan, who is tipped now to take his second self-imposed exile from football.

Speculation in Scotland over the weekend had linked Strachan with what is now the vacant managerial position at Sunderland but that notion has been dismissed in the north-east.

Ferguson trains alone on Rangers return

• Barry Ferguson trains alone after two-week suspension
• Allan McGregor returns to train with rest of goalkeepers

Barry Ferguson endured an inauspicious return to Rangerstoday, the deposed captain finding himself excluded from first-team training following his two-week suspension.

Ferguson, along with Allan McGregor, was punished by his club for making v-signs from the bench while on recent international duty with Scotland. The pair had been left out of the side following a late-night drinking session. McGregor, also banned from Rangers’ Murray Park training complex for a fortnight, returned to train as normal with his fellow goalkeepers while Ferguson worked alone.

It now seems likely that Ferguson, tipped to leave Ibrox in the summer, will face a serious fight to win his place back in Walter Smith’s team. However ­McGregor has a strong chance of being named among the substitutes for tomorrow’s trip to Hibernian.

Smith admitted on Wednesday that he had reconsidered his initial stance of not being willing to select either of the duo for Rangers again. His subsequent assertion that the U-turn “does not automatically mean they will get in the team” was borne out by eventstoday.”I don’t know what I will do yet, I will wait to make up my mind,” was the manager’s guarded response to whether or not either of the pair will feature at Easter Road.

One player glad to see them return was Christian Dailly. “It’s nice to have them back,” he said. “They have served their punishment and that’s it done. As a club, we would have preferred that we’d had them all the time and hadn’t ended up in the situation that we were in.”

Unlike Ferguson and McGregor, there is little doubt about the starting claims of Kris Boyd. The striker is on the verge of a significant milestone, having notched 99 goals in 109 starts for Rangers, and according to Smith his all-round game improvement this season has been just as vital as his scoring contribution.

“There has been a realisation from him that goals alone are not the be all and end all these days,” Smith explained. “The game today means that you have to contribute with the goals you score. There has to be a willingness to do a bit more for the team and that has shown in his play.”

Smith is bemused, therefore, that Boyd is not among the nominees for this season’s players’ player of the year award having scored 28 times so far. “When you have a player who is top goalscorer in the country, you at least think he would be short-listed,” he added. “People always have opinions on who is best or who is most consistent but he has shown he is the most ­consistent goalscorer.

“It is a great return but his performances have been better. In the past eight or nine games, even when he was not scoring, he has played far better. Do not ask me why, he just has. I thought he would at least have been among the nominees.”