In this blog series – “What Happened Today”, we are reviving some of the moments from past which restore the golden history of the league.
Thursday’s papers in the UK covered the country vs club debate that had been sparked following Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson pulled Ryan Giggs out of the international fixtures, on the other hand Bruce Grobbelaar was facing a race against time to feature for both his club & country in less than 24 hours, Leeds United still felt that injustice was done to them by UEFA as they prepare for a replay against Stuttgart in Barcelona and Alan Shearer felt that opposition were players were deliberately tackling him to stop him as tactic.
The club v country row took a new turn as Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs won his third Barclays Young Eagle of the Month award for the year. His club manager Alex Ferguson earlier pulled him out of the international fixtures citing a hamstring injury. The move had angered the Welsh boss Terry Yorath.
Defending Premier League champions Leeds United got a new lease on life their European Cup journey as they were set to face Stuttgart once again in front of an almost empty Nou Camp in Barcelona after UEFA reinstated the English team and decided to hold a replay. Leeds still felt that they were served injustice and they should have been directly sent to the next round against Glasgow Rangers, their manager Howard Wilkinson said “We were out of it last Wednesday, and now we are back in it. We must not waste this opportunity. It is our right to be there, and I feel we should have gone straight through, but there is no point talking about it.”
Bruce Grobbelaar was racing against time to be available for his testimonial match against Everton in a bizarre turn of events. His national team Zimbabwe postponed its World cup qualifier against Siera Leone so that Grobbelaar could play his testimonial match. But now they were forced to play Togo in African Cup of Nations, and now Grobbelaar opted to play for both the teams in a spate of 24 hours. He was set to fly to Harare and play for Zimbabwe before taking connecting flights back to England and line up against Everton.
England and Blackburn Rovers’ star striker Alan Shearer felt that he was getting targeted by the defenders, and it was something he had to learn to cope with. He said, “If I want to be successful for my club and the country, I will have to accept it. Defenders will mark me closely and at times, try to kick me out as well. But if I get kicked all day and the team wins, I will take that. If I score, its a bonus. The best way to shut them up is to score against them. When Kenny Dalglish brought me to Ewood park, he told me to continue playing the way I did at Southampton.”
Premier League Fans – As we promised, our vision of Premier League Museum portal is to restore the rich history of English Premier League. We want to keep alive every moment which made up the rich , entertaining and best league in the world today. How do you find our website www.premierleaguemuseum.com and podcast EPL 24×7 on youtube so far.. Please provide your feedback or comments on the youtube channel or website.
At the end, we look for 3 things from you as we launch the podcast and website portal.
- Subscribe to our youtube channel, like our facebook page or follow our twitter handle
- Join us in writing stories and articles covering rich history of the league
- Contribute your experiences as fans of the best league in the world
