In this blog series – “What Happened Today”, we are going to revive some of the moments from past which will revive moments of the golden history of the league.
[hr]
Monday’s newspapers covered the solitary game in the Premier League played on Sunday where Leeds drew with Aston Villa 1-1.
Leeds United 1 Aston Villa 1
Substitute Steve Hodge rescued Leeds United’s unbeaten home record with a dramatic 85th minute equaliser against Aston Villa. The former England midfielder gave Howard Wilkinson’s champions the boost they desperately needed just three days before they launch their first European campaign for 13 years.
Two years ago Dave Beasant was part of England’s squad in the 1990 World Cup finals. That day morning he was about be told by Chelsea manager lan Porterfield that be had, in effect, no job at Stamford Bridge after making two dreadful mistakes which helped Norwich come back from 0-2 to win 3-2 on Saturday. That was the last straw for Porterfield, for this was the third game this season in which Beasant’s errors cost Chelsea valuable points. Porterfield said: “I’ve tried to be as fair as I can to be fair to Dave, but this has to be was the turning point. He’s made too many mistakes in recent times. I’ve got to make a change. We can’t go on this way ”
EVERTON manager Howard Kendall was looking on next night’s game at Blackburn Rovers as the BIG one in terms of assessing his side’s progress to date. Disappointed by Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against in-form Manchester United, Kendall was returning to one of his old clubs with a clear message to his players. He said: “This is the biggest game to date for me. If we win, we can still talk about a reasonable start. Anything less will be a disappointment in terms of points gained. We’ve got nine at the moment from seven games. Aston Villa have got ten from eight and people are talking about them being a threat following their 1- 1 draw at Leeds yesterday.”
The players who had taken Norwich to the top of the Premier League were among the poorest paid in English soccer’s top flight. The TV documentary Standing Room Only which was to be shown on BBC 2, claimed that Blackburn Rovers’ Alan Shearar earned more then the entire Canaries’ squad. According to the programme, the Carrow Road club has imposed a maximum wage of £1000 a week and only two of the squad are on that ceiling. The Canaries are one of the few dubs to have reduced admission prices for supporters this season while others, the programme says such as Blackburn and Manchester United have increased gate prices by over 60 per cent. Chase argues that the “windfall” money from the Premier League TV deal should have been used to reduce the burden on supporters in the recession.
Everton’s crowd for the Manchester United game was a disappointing 30,002 way below the Goodison capacity that would have been automatic for such a grudge game a few years ago. Bad news for the ‘Blues but they are far from alone. The Everton crowd was the biggest of the day, with Newcastle in the First Division next. Why? Because prices are too high, because the Saturday afternoon habit is being broken by TV deal greed, and because the game is aimed at the fat cats and not the ordinary fans, who are the true supporters who provide the passion.
[hr]
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