World Cup One Timers

After Vanuatu Under 20's secured qualification to the Under 20's World Cup in Korea, for the first time in the countries history. It felt like a good idea to have a look at some other World Cup One Timers and see how they got on.

Angola- 2006 (Germany)
The African nation made their one and only appearance in Germany in 2006. Angola finished third in their group after two credible draws against Mexico and Iran. Losing 1-0 to Portugal is also an achievement as Portugal went on to the semi finals.

Angola 2006

China - 2002 (Korea/Japan)
Despite having the Worlds biggest population China have only ever appeared on Footballs greatest stage once. They were drawn in the same group as Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica, losing all three games and failing to score a single goal.

UAE - 1990 (Italy)
The United Arab Emirates found themselves in a tough group for their only appearance at the World Cup, having to face West Germany and Yugoslavia. They were knocked out after losing all three games but did manager to score against West Germany in a 5-1 defeat.

Iraq - 1986 (Mexico)
Four years before the first Gulf War, Iraq traveled to Mexico for their first and to date only World Cup appearance. They finished bottom of their group losing all three games but only conceding four goals. They only scored the one in a 2-1 defeat to Belgium.

Iraq 1986

Kuwait - 1982 (Spain)
Kuwait's only World Cup appearance came in Spain in 1982. Drawn in England's group they would go on to finish bottom with one point, which came from a 1-1 draw with Czechoslovakia. How did they fair against England I hear you cry, well they only lost 1-0 thanks to a Trevor Francis goal in the 27th minute.

Kuwait V England

Zaire (Now DR Congo) - 1974 (West Germany)
Zaire are the most commonly known one timers as they were the first Sub-Saharan African team to qaulify. Unfortunately they were unable to provide any shocks and left the tournament after conceding fourteen goals and scoring none. They were smashed 9-0 by Yugoslavia and beaten 3-0 and 2-0 by Brazil and Scotland respectively.

Israel - 1970 (Mexico)
Israel's only appearance in the World Cup was a tough one. Drawn in a group with Italy,Sweden and Uruguay it looked like they would get walked allover, but this was not the case. They did finish bottom of the group but with two points after some very credible draws against Italy and Sweden. Their only defeat was by Uruguay who beat them 2-0.

Israel 1970

York City Continue Turbulent Season With Disappointing Defeat To Torquay

York City faced Torquay today in their longest away trip of the season and its going to be a long trip home for the fans. The poor performance added more pain to the 2-0 defeat and left many fans with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Fair play to Torquay they dominated from the start winning an early free kick that was curled over the bar. Then on six minutes Nathan Blissett (nephew of the great Luther) got on the end of a Dan Sparkes cross to head The Gulls in front. From this point on-wards Torquay were the better team and York were second best to everything. Richard Brodie had a superb effort come back off the bar, the rebound was turned in but the flag had already been raised. This provided much to embarrassment to the York fan that ran to the end of the terrace to celebrate at the home fans, which he was wildly ridiculed for.

Just before the half hour mark Blissett struck again with a superb volley on the turn after York failed to clear a cross and the following header back into the area. They never really recovered from this and were under the kosh for most of the game.

Aidan Connolly showed some bright moments before being replaced at half time for Kane Felix. The 21 year old winger showed great promise and caused problems every time he burst down the wing but nobody was attacking the crosses. York struggled in defence today seemingly failing to win any headers from the long balls pumped forward by Torquay and their strike force looked like they had used all their ideas in the 4-0 win over Solihull last saturday.

City currently sit in 16th after 9 games, which is not good enough for a team of York's size. Despite having scoring 4 twice already this season they lack consistency and against a team of any quality they struggle and seem to lose their focus. There is a long way to go but Jackie McNamara needs to get his men sorted if they want an instant return to the football league.

Footballing Brothers

As young Jonathan Benteke hopes to line up alongside older brother Christian tomorrow for Crystal Palace, lets take a look at a few other footballing brothers currently plying their trade in the beautiful game.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) & Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain (Portsmouth)
While Alex progressed through the famed Southampton academy and moved on to Arsenal, younger Brother Christian is currently with The Saints fierce rivals Portsmouth. Christian most recently had a spell on loan at Salisbury and the 18 year old will be hoping to break into the Portsmouth first team in the near future. Hopefully a tasty FA cup tie could bring the two together.

The Oxlade-Chamberlain Brothers

Will Keane (Hull City) & Michael Kean (Burnley)
This Saturday Burnley and Hull City face each other in not only a Lancashire Yorkshire derby but also a Keane family derby. The twin brothers were both formally of the Manchester United youth academy but while Will was getting all the attention but not quite living up to the hype Michael was carving out some solid performances on loan in the Championship. Michael is now an important part of the Burnley squad while Will is looking to get himself back on track and show the world the talent he has. Watch out for a tough battle between the two this saturday. Not an easy one for the parents to watch.

The Keanes At Manchester United

Victor Wanyama (Tottenham Hotspur) & McDonald Wanyama (Latina)
As Victor was trying to make a name for himself playing in Belgium for Beerschot, brother Mcdonald was at Inter Milan setting the record as the first Kenyan to play in Champions league. Things have changed round quite a bit since then, after moving to Celtic Victor joined Premier League club Southampton and now plays for Tottenham and will be competing in the Champions League this season. McDonald is now playing in Serie B with Latina after spells at Real Sociadad and Parma. The chances of these two meeting on the field seem very slim now but there is always pre-season friendlies.

International duty for the Wanyamas

Ashley Young (Manchester United) & Lewis Young (Crawley)
Both graduates from the Watford academy the Young brothers careers have gone in very different directions. As we all know Ashley left Watford and had a successful four years with Aston Villa before moving to current Club Manchester United. Lewis on the other hand left Watford and signed for Burton Albion. Having had spells with Clubs such as Northampton and Yeovil, Lewis signed for Current club Crawly Town and seems to have settled well playing in either midfield or defence. As with the Oxlade-Chamberlain borthers a cup tie would provide the Youngs with the only chance to face off against one another.

The Young's

Premier League One Season Wonders - Swindon Town

In the 1993/94 season the Premier league was still in its infancy. Swindon Town had just been promoted having won the First Division play offs. This is their only season in the top flight to date.
I have decided to take a look at their main starting eleven and manager to see what happeend after their brief stay at the top.

John Gorman - Manager

After Glenn Hoddle left Swindon for Chelsea his assistant John Gorman took over for their first season in the top flight. It took them 16 games to finally win a game and they ended the season bottom of the league with 30 points. After being sacked in November 1994 he rejoined Hoddle as his assistant for England and then again at Spurs in 2001. He spent most of his time as an assistant or caretaker manager and retired in 2012 after his spell at MK Dons.

Fraser Digby - Goalkeeper
Joined on a free transfer from Manchester United in 1986 and went on to make more then 400 appearances. After leaving Swindon Digby went on to play for various teams like Crystal Palace, QPR and Kiddermister Harriers.

Nicky Sumerbee - Right Back
After coming through the youth ranks at Swindon Nicky Sumerbee played over 100 games for The Robins. After the clubs relegation he went on to join Manchester City where has father was regarded as a legend. He followed this with spells at Bolton, Leicester and Bradford before finally finishing his career with Tamworth.

Shaun Taylor - Centre Back (Captain)
The hard tackling no nonsense centre back learnt his trade playing in the lower leagues for St Blazey. He joined Swindon in 1991 and left in 1996 when he moved to Bristol City. He joined Plymouth Argyle as a development coach in 2013.

Adrian Whitbread - Centre Back
Whitbread only spent the one season at Swindon, once they were relegated he moved to West Ham in a swap deal for Joey Beauchamp. After leaving West Ham he spent five years on the south coast with Portsmouth. His last club before retiring was Reading. He is currently the head coach at Puerto Rico FC.

Paul Bodin - Left Back
Bodin will go down in history for Swindon having scored the goal that got them promoted to the Premier League. He left in 1996 to join Reading and finished his career with Bath City. He was capped 23 times for Wales and his son Billy Bodin is a currently playing for Bristol Rovers.

John Moncur - Right Midfield
Signed from Spurs for £80,000 in 1992 John Moncur will always be remembered for scoring Swindon's first goal in the Premier League during a 3-1 defeat to Sheffield United. After over 50 games Moncur moved on to West Ham where he spent 9 years before retiring. His two sons are both professionals, George with Barnsley and Freddy with Leyton Orient.

Luc Nijholt - Centre Midfield
The Dutch midfielder was signed from Scottish side Motherwell. After spending just two seasons with the Robins Nijhlt returned to Holland with Volendam, retiring from playing in 1998. He is the current manager of Chinese side Meizhou Hakka FC.

Kevin Horlock - Centre Midfield
Joined from West Ham in 1992 and played for Swindon for a total of 5 Years. Following this he moved to Manchester City where he had his best years as a player making over 200 appearances. After leaving City he dropped down the leagues finally finishing his career with Needham Market. Horlock gained 32 caps for Northern Ireland.

Martin Ling - Left Midfield
Ling rejoined Swindon in 1991 going on to make over 100 appearances for the club, before going on to play for Leyton Orient and Brighton. He is mainly remembered for his time in management having spells with Leyton Orient, Cambridge United, Torquay and Swindon.

Jan Age Fjortoft - Striker
The Norwegian striker joined for a then club record fee of £500,000 and ended the season as top scorer with 13 goals. After a couple of seasons Fjortoft left to play for Middlesbrough and followed this up with spells at Barnsley and Frankfurt before returning to Norway with Stabaek and Lillestrom. He was capped 71 times for Norway scoring twnety goals.

Andy Mutch - Striker
After a successful partnership with Steve Bull at Wolves, Mutch made the move to Swindon for £250,000. Unfortunately he struggled to really make an impact during his three years for the club and dropped down the leagues before finally ending his career with Telford. He has management experience in the lower leagues with Vauxhall motors, Burscough, Northwich Victoria and Stafford Rangers.

Special mention for the playboy Frank McAvennie who was loaned to Swindon and played 7 times with no goals.

Premier League Record Breakers- What Happened To Them?

Records are being broken in the Premier League all the time, Jamie Vardy broke the record for goals scored in consecutive games just last season. So I have decided to take a look at a four of them and see what happened to the players after these records were broken.

Oldest Player- John Burridge 43 Years and 162 Days

John Burridge is not a name that many football fans will recognize, but he still holds the record for the oldest player to play in the Premier League. He set the record in 1995 whilst playing for Manchester City who were his twenty second club. Burridge went on to play four games in total before leaving Manchester City. He then went on to play for a further nine clubs including Darlington, Queen Of The South and Blyth Spartans before hanging up his gloves. He is currently the head coach for Global FC in the Philippines.

John Burridge for Manchester City

Youngest Player- Matthew Briggs 16 Years and 65 Days

In May 2007 schoolboy Matthew Briggs was brought on as a substitute by then Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez. It was a great opportunity for the England youth international and the future looked bright for Briggs. Since breaking this record he has been out on loan at clubs such as Leyton Orient and Bristol City. Having being released by Fulham after their relegation in 2014 he joined Millwall after a trial. Colchester United decided to sign him permanently after loaning him from Millwall and this is where he plays his football currently. After representing England at every youth level he decided to change nationality and play for Guyana. He currently has one cap.

Matthew Briggs in his Fulham days

First Premier League Goal- Brian Deane

On the 15th of August 1992 the first ever games of the new Premier League season were played. Every player was hoping to get the first goal and go down in history. That honor will forever be with Yorkshireman Brian Deane. It took five minutes into the game between his Sheffield United and eventual league winners Manchester United for Deane to score. He moved to Leeds the following season before returning to the Blades and then a move to Benfica. After his time in Portugal there were spells with a few clubs such as Middlesbrough and West Ham before a return to Leeds and a brief time out in Australia with Perth Glory. He finished his career at the club he set the record with, Sheffield United. His only managerial experience to date was with Sarpsborg 08 in Norway.

Brain Deane scores the first ever Premier League goal

Youngest Goalscorer- James Vaughan 16 Years and 270 Days

Scoring at such a young age propelled James Vaughan into the public spotlight. He took the record from Leeds Uniteds James Milner and also took the record of Evertons youngest top flight scorer from Wayne Rooney. So what became of James Vaughan? Well unfortunately he was unable to really take advantage of his impressive start with Everton after suffering a knee ligament damage whilst on international duty with England under 18's. His time at the club was blighted by injuries and he never really was able to kick on. He has spent a lot of his career out on loan but has never really been prolific enough to make an impact. He has recently signed for League One side Bury where he has made an impressive start with three goals in two games. Having represented England at various youth levels he has now expressed his desire to play for Jamaica.

James Vaughan celebrates for Everton

One To Watch - Taylor Moore

Every season a new young footballer is banded around as the 'next big thing'. The sad truth is many of them never end up living to their hyped up potential because the pressure is applied to early and to much.

Taylor Moore looks like he could be a different prospect altogether. I must admit that the first time I heard about him was when I saw him in the England under 19's on Football Manager and was interested into why he was playing in France. This spurred me to get off the computer game and research Moore myself and its quite an interesting one.

Taylor Moore was born in London but his family made the move over to France when he was just seven years old. He had been on the books at West Ham already so there was early signs of talent. After a spell of playing for the amateur youth side AS Estaples he was spotted by RC Lens who took him into their youth academy where he spent the next few years developing. He made his senior debut in May 2015 and went on to make a total of 9 career appearances for the France Club.

Taylor Moore in action for Lens

He was chased by Lyon (who had a ten million euro bid for him rejected) and was linked with moves to the Premier League with Spurs, Southampton and his first youth club West Ham. In the end he signed for Championship side Bristol City which I personally feel is a good thing. He has so much more of a chance of first team football in the Championship. There is always the chance of fading into obscurity in the reserves for a top flight club. He now has a chance to gain some valuable first team experience in English football whilst adding to his England youth caps.

Moore with new club Bristol City

There has been no over hyping by the English press as he hasn't come through an English youth academy. This has given him the chance to just just focus on his development which I think gives him a brilliant chance of reaching the top and I personally feel the defender is definitely one to keep an eye on for the future.

Super Mario's In The Last Chance Saloon

Mario Balotelli what shall we do with you? The troubled striker has cost over fifty million in transfer fees over his career so far and produced some remarkable moments both on and off the pitch, but it appears that the twenty six year old's free transfer to OCG Nice represents something of a last chance.

Balotelli putting pen to paper on deadline day

He was once courted by some of the biggest teams in the world during transfer windows but this time things were different for Mario. Jurgen Klopp had told him to find another team and every club that was linked with him quickly distanced themselves form the rumors. But Nice have taken the gamble on the Italian. They have history, taking a gamble on Hatem Ben Arfa when it seemed the former prodigy's talents had all but run out. One season later he now plays for Paris St Germain and is looking back to his best.

But can this move to the south of France be a fresh start for Balotelli? There's no denying he has talent, we've seen it in glimpses throughout the years. But its now he really needs to step up, he's 26 and time is running out for him as there is plenty of young talent hungry to fill the gaps in the Italian national side. No more silly off the field antics which made him a household name. The problem with them is they made him a 'character' and people only like characters when they are performing on the
 pitch.

The famous photo

Perhaps now that he doesn't have the media clambering over his every move he can focus on football. Really show the world his talents and get himself back on the radar on national football. He has a chance knock some goals in, impress the fans and rebuild his reputation that is pretty much in tatters.

I for one wish him all the luck and will be keeping a close eye on how he gets on.