European Super Football

Let's explore different match reports and stories from across the National League on Non League Day 2024. Click below for more @nonleaguedayuk news and stories. https://t.co/xVjh7OJN3K pic.twitter.com/EedhFvR6JE — European Super Football (@ESFootballNews) March 24, 2024 Chesterfield 3 - 0 Boreham Wood Chesterfield secured the National League title and promotion to the English Football League with a comfortable win over Boreham Wood.  Click below to read more.  Non League: Chesterfield promoted back to the EFL  Barnet 6 - 0 Dorking Wanderers Barnet thrashed Dorking with a 6-0 win at The Hive, boosting their National League play-off push despite ending their automatic promotion hopes. The home team took the lead ten minutes into the game with a penalty scored by Nicke Kabamba. Shortly after, Gatlin O'Donkor scored from 25 yards into an empty net as the Dorking goalkeeper was out of position. Callum Stead scored two goals for Barnet, one after half an hour and the oth...

Chesterfield 3 - 0 Boreham Wood Chesterfield secured the National League title and promotion to the English Football League with a comfortable win over Boreham Wood. Check out the scenes as Chesterfield were crowned champions. Footage from  Tom Pike - YouTube Jamie Grimes scored twice and Liam Mandeville scored immediately after halftime as the Spireites remain 21 points clear of nearest challengers Barnet, who defeated Dorking 6-0.  Chesterfield goalkeeper Harry Tyrer made an excellent early save from Tom Whelan's free-kick. However, the hosts took the lead in the 28th minute when captain Grimes headed home Mandeville's corner from near the penalty spot. Less than a minute into the second half, Mandeville scored to make it 2-0 after receiving a cross from Armando Dobra. The crowd of 9,907 was treated to Chesterfield's 100th league goal of the season when Grimes scored his second of the game, with Dobra providing an excellent assist. More reaction to Chesterfield...

Wrexham 3 - 1 Boreham Wood Paul Mullin was Wrexham's as they sealed the National League title and a return to the Football League in front of 10,000 jubilant fans. <Click here to find more Wrexham news and stories> Their 3-1 win over Boreham Wood sparked a mass pitch invasion, with the club's owners - Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney - tearfully hugging in the stands. Glorious scenes after the match Manager Phil Parkinson led the chanting of 'We Are Going Up' from the stands. Fans went onto the pitch with red flares at the final whistle and the rain-sodden trophy presentation had to be delayed as fans were requested to leave the field. Check out the video below showing some of those incredible scenes. One fan commented: "What an incredible moment and what an incredible journey the team has taken us all on. Thank you, Liam, for transporting me from the tip of Africa into the Racecourse grounds. Up the Reds. Up the Town. EFL, here we come!" A Holl...

 Wrexham 3 - 2 Notts County Wrexham took a huge step towards promotion from the National League with a thrilling win over rivals Notts County at the Racecourse Ground. John Bostock gave the visitors the lead with a fantastic freekick on the stroke of half-time before Paul Mullin swept home to restore parity just five minutes after the restart. Mullin then turned provider to tee up for Jacob Mendy to put the Reds in front before County came back again through Kyle Cameron's header. But a thrilling contest swung back into Wrexham's favour, and they got themselves out in front again when Elliot Lee slotted home in what appeared to be the winner. There was more late drama The visitors were handed a penalty deep into stoppage time. Up stepped Cedwyn Scott. Ben Foster got down to keep his low spot kick out and seal the three points in the most dramatic of circumstances. BEN FOSTER! 97th minute penalty save for Wrexham. 🧤 pic.twitter.com/wHFDe810ll — Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footbal...

 The weather has had a massive impact on the weekend's football. ✖️MATCH OFF ✖️ Today's Fixture 🏆⚽ Vs @BacupBoro has been Postponed, Rearranged date TBC pic.twitter.com/DHX8oNhuoU — Barnton AFC (@barntonfc) January 21, 2023 Eleven matches in the English Football League and seven National League fixtures have been postponed because of frozen pitches. Blackpool's match with Huddersfield in the Championship has been called off. Bristol Rovers v Wycombe, Lincoln's home clash with Burton, and Morecambe versus Port Vale have been postponed in League One. In the level below, matches at Bradford, Crewe, Doncaster, Newport, Northampton, Sutton and Walsall are all off. With the National League, matches at Eastleigh, Halifax, Gateshead, Maidenhead, Oldham, Solihull and Woking are off, with new dates yet to be confirmed. If your match has been cancelled, what are you doing with the weekend. Are you going for a walk? If you go further down the leagues into both the Nationa...

Let's take a look at some of the most interesting results from another fun weekend across the lower levels of the English football pyramid. Games at this level are starting to attract bigger crowds as some fans are no longer satisfied by the way football is being run at the top level of the game.  Northern Premier League: Stalybridge Celtic thrash FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester were thrashed 5-2 in a local derby against Stalybridge Celtic. This comes only a few days after they exited the FA Cup against Blyth Spartans. You can see some of the best reaction to the this game by visiting Greater Manchester Football.  National League South: Chelmsford City 0 - 2 Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamelt sealed a win against Chelmsford City following two quick goals in the opening 15 minutes at the EMG Inspire Stadium. It took just five minutes for the away side to take the lead and they doubled that not long after. Head to the Non League Paper to read more.  See belo...

Let's look at some of the best moments from the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup. Yeovil Town 2 - 0 Southend United At Huish Park, Yeovil Town defeated National League side Southend United with two superb goals. After just two minutes, Glovers took the lead through a stunning strike from Jake Wannell and despite heavy pressure from their higher division opponents during the second half, they secured their progress after Jordan Young smashed home a superb goal on 67 minutes. Southend continued to pile on the pressure after Yeovil went 2-0 up. However, the backline of the home side stood firm to keep only their third clean sheet of the season. George, a Yeovil fan from Somerset, said: "What a win, I hope we get a decent draw in the next round now." On the morning after the match, the Yeovil social media account was delighted with the result and performance. They'll be hoping for a decent match in the next round and will hope to have a good FA Cup run.  Good M...

Wrexham picked up a comfortable win at Barnet and now sit in 11th position on 16 points An article for a local Wrexham based newspaper was very positive about their performance. They were buzzing especially about Wrexham's attacking display, When star striker Paul Mullin broke the deadlock in the 24th minute, the Reds took complete control and soon scored a second goal as Aaron Hayden nodded home Ben Tozer's long throw. Wrexham, with leading scorer Mullin running the show, were completely dominating and with more chances created before the break and early in the second half, they eventually made it 3-0 after 55 minutes when Shaun Brisley netted with a free header from Jordan Davies' corner. The Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson spoke with the club's Twitter account after the victory:"Three goals and a clean sheet away from home, we couldn't be happier than that." Aaron Hayden: Solid team performance today, "Thank you to all the 900 fans that made the jo...

Notts County 5 - 1 Alfreton Town Notts County staged a comeback to avoid an FA Cup upset, ultimately securing a 5-1 win over Alfreton. Author - Sean M Despite an early setback when Liam Waldock put the visitors ahead at Meadow Lane, Alassana Jatta and Jevani Brown both scored twice in the second half to push County through to the second round. Jake Day had a chance to put National League North side Alfreton in front, but his volley was comfortably held by Alex Bass. However, the breakthrough came in the 14th minute when Day’s shot deflected into Waldock’s path, allowing him to slot it home. County responded almost immediately, levelling the score just two minutes later with Matty Platt’s long-range strike nestling in the bottom corner. The League Two side took control early in the second half when Brown crossed for Jatta, who found the back of the net. The pair linked up again in the 62nd minute, with Jatta sliding the ball under George Willis to claim his second goal. Brown added...

It's time for another big discussion. What's the point of the UEFA Nations League? Launched in 2018, this was UEFA’s bold attempt to revitalise international football in Europe.  Author - Sean M Picture of the Nations League logo uploaded by  Nazionale Calcio | Flickr With an aim to replace often tedious friendlies with competitive matches, the competition promised more meaningful games, chances for national glory, and an innovative league structure.  Opinions remain divided on whether the competition has truly improved international football. This big discussion article will examine strengths and weaknesses.  Strengths of the competition  Competitive games not friendlies One of the primary reasons for launching the Nations League was to eliminate the ‘friendly fatigue’ plaguing international football. Traditional friendlies often failed to engage fans, lacking the intensity and consequence that competitive fixtures provide. In contrast, the Nations League giv...

There has the potential to be some classic matches in the FA Cup 3rd round in 2025 Holders Manchester United face a tough test in their quest to retain the up as they have been drawn away to 14-time winners Arsenal. Author - Peter Grainger from GMCR Football Premier League leaders Liverpool have a home tie against League Two side Accrington Stanley. The famous EFL side will be dreaming about what could be one of the greatest upsets of all time. Speaking of potential upsets, Manchester City will host Salford City, the club part-owned by members of the 'Class of 92'. Co-owners Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes had some amazing and terrible moments against City. A win for Salford at the Etihad Stadium would potentially top any previous wins against the current Premier League champions.  Tamworth, one of just two non-league teams still in the competition, will welcome Tottenham to their home ground. They will still be celebrating their victory at Burton ...

Let's have a look back at one of the most controversial moments of recent history. Many of the world's biggest clubs said they were forming a new competition. The European Super League. You can read the initial report from Greater Manchester Football by clicking the link below Clubs Announce New Super League Competition (greatermanchesterfootball.blogspot.com) At the time of the announcement, the story said: AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined the new competition as Founding Clubs.   It is anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as practicable.  Proposed format of the competition Twenty participating clubs with fifteen Founding Clubs and a qualifying mechanism for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achieveme...

Coventry City 1 -1 Luton Town (Luton won 6-5 on penalties.) Luton Town completed their journey from non-league to Premier League. Both sets of fans created an incredible atmosphere during the match They beat Coventry City on penalties to win the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Away from the raucous atmosphere of the play-off semi-final at Kenilworth Road, some were concerned that Luton might struggle in the more vast space of Wembley. However, they were by far the more dominant side before the break. Aside from the one goal they did score, they had two more disallowed - and a string of other dangerous moments too. Gustavo Hamer equalised for Coventry as the game finished in a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes. Click here to find more Luton Town news and stories. Regrets for Coventry Coventry fans outside the stadium Coventry dominated in spells of the second half but extra-time seemed inevitable. Luton had the ball in the back of the net inside the first five minutes,...

Bolton Wanderers 0 - 2 Oxford United  Josh Murphy's double helped his Oxford United side stun Bolton Wanderers in the League One play-off final at Wembley. In what was a cagey first half, Oxford took the lead on the 30 minute mark. Josh Murphy curled a deflected strike home from the edge of the box. Murphy had only 11 minutes to wait for his next goal. This came via a Ruben Rodriguez pass that carved Bolton open, as he slotted the ball in at Nathan Baxter's near post. Oxford United finished the game in dreamland. For Bolton Wanderers, it's another season in League One. The scenes at the end of the match displayed those contrasting emotions.   Exciting future plans for Oxford United Joshua Murphy. Immortal. pic.twitter.com/C4k61SPybm — Oxford United FC (@OUFCOfficial) May 18, 2024 With plans for a new stadium on the horizon, Oxford will be hoping that promotion to the Championship with the backing of over 30,000 supporters at Wembley is a reason to be optimistic ...

Edward Paul Sheringham, known by most as Teddy Sheringham, is another football icon.  He played mostly as a second striker in a long and eventful professional career. Early career He began his career at Millwall, where he scored 111 goals between 1983 and 1991. The forward is the club's second all-time leading scorer. He eventually left to join First Division Nottingham Forest. A year later, Sheringham scored Forest's first-ever Premiership goal. Move to Tottenham  Not long after that goal for Forest, he was signed by Tottenham Hotspur.  Sheringham had a great start to his career at the club by being the Premiership's top goalscorer in its inaugural season, scoring 22 goals. His strike partners at White Hart Lane included Gordon Durie, Ronny Rosenthal, Jürgen Klinsmann and finally Chris Armstrong.  In 1993–94, he was the Spurs top scorer with 14 Premiership goals but only played in just 19 games due to injury. In that campaign, they finished 15th.  The f...

It's time to have another look at an icon from the history of football. This time it's Michael Ballack. A former German midfielder who played at the highest level of the game.  A summary Ballack is among the top goal scorers in the history of the German national team. During his career, he won the German Footballer of the Year award three times. The midfielder was known for his passing range, powerful shot, physical strength and commanding presence in midfield. The one negative from his career was that he never won the Champions League. He did pick up two runner-up medals in 2002 with Leverkusen and 2008 with Chelsea.  The start of his career Ballack's career started to take off when he was transferred to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1997. He won the Bundesliga in his first season at the club, his first major honour. He became a first team regular in 1998–99 season and also earned his first senior national cap for the German national side. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen for ...

One of the biggest days in the season is approaching Let's have a look at some of the key stories ahead of the weekend. Are we going to see a massive shock? Who will progress and begin to dream about a trip to Wembley in May? Chelsea v Chesterfield This is a tie that epitomises the magic of the FA Cup. It is not that long ago that Chesterfield were in the third tier but back-to-back relegations saw them spin out of the English Football League and into the National League. This FA Cup run has probably brought back some great memories for Chesterfield fans. Back in the 1996/1997 season, the Spireites went on the run of a lifetime and reached the semi-finals where they faced Middlesbrough in a memorable encounter at Old Trafford. After an enthralling 3-3 draw, they lost 3-0 to the then Premier League side in a replay at Hillsborough. Kidderminster Harriers v Reading Kidderminster are the lowest-ranked club left in the competition. Their prize is a home draw with Championship st...

 It's time to explore another football icon. This time it's Patrice Evra A brief summary He is a French football coach and former professional player. Originally a forward, he mainly played as a left-back.Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. His former manager Sir Alex Ferguson praised Evra for his leadership, also describing him as one of the best left-backs in Europe. <Click here to read about more icons> The start of Evra's career Evra was born in Senegal and arrived in Europe when he was a year old. Evra started his career with the Italian club Marsala. The following season, he joined Monza but returned to France a year later to play for Nice where he was converted into a full-back. In 2002, he joined Monaco and was part of the team that reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final.  Becoming a Manchester United legend Evra's performances for Monaco culminated in a move to English club Manchester United in January...

The second season of UEFA's third competition is about to start Clubs qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. It is the third tier of active European club football competitions, after the Champions League and the Europa League. England's representation in the upcoming season will be West Ham. They finished 7th in the Premier League. First contested in the 2021–22 season, the competition serves as the bottom level of the Europa League, which was reduced from 48 to 32 teams in the group stage. It was eventually won by A.S. Roma after an fascinating season. UECL: Roma win Europa Conference League (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) The draw for the first qualifying round of the 2022/2023 competition. Let's have a look at who will be playing who. Bala Town (WAL) vs Sligo Rovers (IRL) A relatively short trip for both of these sides will have been welcomed.  Sligo's Rovers record in European com...

The relationship between English football fans and international football can be mixed.  Some see it as a refreshing change, offering a chance to follow their national team and watch players from different clubs come together to represent their country.  Author - Liam C Others view it as an unwelcome interruption to what they care about most, causing frustration and even outright disdain. In many ways, it’s a love-hate relationship that has become a regular feature of the footballing calendar. More disruption Some fans of the big Premier League clubs might be annoyed that this current break is the 2nd one in an already-packed schedule. Some teams such as Nottingham Forest have started to build momentum. A break for these fans could feel like a real mood-killer. That same level of passion doesn’t always translate to the international stage, especially outside major tournaments.  Another major point of contention has been the risk of injuries. A couple of injuries at th...