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2 unusual facts about 2003 Enyimba International F.C. season


2003 Enyimba International F.C. season

Back home in Aba and Abia state, the club financier and state Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu declared a public holiday in honor of The Peoples Elephant.

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo honored the golden boys of Enyimba with a state banquet.


1886–87 Argyle F.C. season

The inspiration for the name Argyle is thought to have come from Argyle Terrace, a local street in a suburb of Plymouth called Mutley.

1886–87 St. Mary's Y.M.A. season

The club played their "home" games on Southampton Common although a practice match on 2 October 1886 was played in the grounds of the Deanery, opposite St.Mary's Church.

1888–89 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 'Invincibles' from Lancashire also ended Villa's bid to win every single home game, with a 2–0 win at Perry Barr in Villa's last home fixture.

1889–90 St. Mary's F.C. season

C. William "Bill" Measures was a soldier who played for the Geneva Cross team from Netley Hospital, although, as an amateur, he was also able to play for St. Mary's.

1890–91 St. Mary's F.C. season

Canon Basil Wilberforce remained as Honorary President although Dr. Russell Bencraft, the senior committee member, was responsible for the running of the club.

1896–97 Thames Ironworks F.C. season

"The Irons" had not yet played London Welsh and as a result, and probably thanks also to Arnold Hills' presidency of the league and Francis Payne's drafting of the rules, Thames Ironworks F.C. were awarded two wins by default and finished the revised league as runners up.

1897–98 Thames Ironworks F.C. season

On 11 September 1897, in their first game of the new season of the London League and also at their new ground, Thames beat Brentford F.C. 1–0.

1904–05 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

Manager Sam Gleaves stepped down at the of the season, and was given the position of director, his replacement was former player Tommy Clare.

1915–16 Blackpool F.C. season

With a large number of British Army personnel based in the town, many of the Blackpool players during the four seasons of wartime football were soldiers.

1916–17 Blackpool F.C. season

Staff and recovering patients from the King's Lancashire Medical Convalescent Hospital (KLMCH) and staff from the Royal Army Medical Corps Depot (RAMC), both based at Squires Gate, provided players throughout the season.

1920–21 Burnley F.C. season

After the match, the Athletic News described Burnley as the best team in the country.

1920–21 Gillingham F.C. season

Only five players who had represented the club in non-league football went on to make appearances in the Football League: Jock Robertson, Jack Branfield, Joseph Griffiths, Donald McCormick and Arthur Wood.

1921–22 Torquay United F.C. season

Crad Evans, Torquay Town's star striker, was installed as player-manager and the new team adopted a black and white strip which soon earned them the nickname of 'the Magpies'.

1923–24 Atromitos F.C. season

The 1924–25 season of Atromitos F.C. was the 1st in the club's history, thus they did not participate in a league, but they played a friendly game.

1923–24 Cardiff City F.C. season

In a goalless draw for most of the game, Cardiff were awarded a penalty and leading scorer Len Davies stepped up to take it, but missed and the game resulted in a goalless draw meaning Cardiff wouldn't win the title and would instead finish as runners-up.

1923–24 Nelson F.C. season

Six matches were played during the trip, two each against Real Madrid, Racing de Santander and Real Oviedo.

1930–31 Blackpool F.C. season

They competed in the 22-team Division One, then the top tier of English football, finishing twentieth and conceding a record 125 goals.

1931–32 Stoke City F.C. season

In March 1932 away at Bury, 17 year old Stanley Matthews made his professional debut and he would go on to become one of the greatest players in English football.

1952–53 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1952–53 season was Manchester United's 51st season in the Football League, and their eighth consecutive season in the top division of English football.

1955–56 Blackpool F.C. season

They competed in the 22-team Division One, then the top tier of English football, finishing second, their highest finish in the English league system to date, despite losing their final four League games.

1957–58 Birmingham City F.C. season

The only goal of the game was scored after 82 minutes by Kubala, who saw Gil Merrick off his line and neatly lobbed him.

1972–73 West Ham United F.C. season

Bobby Moore also marked his 100th England cap in the same month.

1978–79 Birmingham City F.C. season

Jim Smith, in his first full season as Birmingham's manager, brought Argentina's World Cup-winning full-back Alberto Tarantini to the club.

1978–79 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

Peter Houghton was the team's top goalscorer with a total of 13 league goals (14 in all competitions).

1979–80 West Ham United F.C. season

Winning the Cup for the third time, West Ham manager John Lyall tactically outsmarted his Arsenal counterpart Terry Neill by paying a 4–5–1 system, stifling Arsenal's creative midfield that included future West Ham signing Liam Brady and the steely Brian Talbot.

1984–85 Newcastle United F.C. season

Hopes of success were high due to the emergence of local youngsters Chris Waddle, Peter Beardsley and Paul Gascoigne.

1989–90 Arsenal F.C. season

The 1989–90 season was Arsenal's 70th consecutive season in the top division of English football.

1990–91 Port Vale F.C. season

All of the money raised from Jepson's sale went on bringing Dutchman Robin van der Laan to Burslem from Wageningen.

1991–92 Cambridge United F.C. season

Fujitsu retained their sponsorship for away kits and, following the end of Cambridge's sponsorship deal with Howlett, became the home sponsors too.

1992–93 Manchester City F.C. season

City retained the previous season's kit, manufactured by English company Umbro and sponsored by Japanese electronics manufacturer Brother.

1992–93 Sheffield United F.C. season

At the end of the season, the newly formed League Managers Association presented its "Manager of the Year" award for the first time, specifically designed to recognise "the manager who made best use of the resources available to him".

The kit was manufactured by British apparel company Umbro and sponsored by English timber merchant Arnold Laver.

1992–93 Wimbledon F.C. season

Wimbledon's kit was manufactured by English company Admiral.

1993–94 Colchester United F.C. season

United used six keepers again and Steve McGavin moved to Birmingham for £150,000 in January with no funds made available.

1993–94 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

Both were manufactured by the club's own "Molineux" label and sponsored by Goodyear.

1995–96 Blackpool F.C. season

They competed in the 24-team Division Two, then the third tier of English league football, finishing third, their highest league finish since the 1976-77 season.

1996–97 Middlesbrough F.C. season

The club's officials insisted that manager Bryan Robson had been unable to field a team due to a severe injury and illness crisis among his players, but this did not prevent the Football Association from docking the club 3 points.

2000–01 Gillingham F.C. season

Former Gillingham captain Andy Hessenthaler was appointed player-manager, having previously served as player-coach and led the club to a satisfying 13th place finish in the Gills' first ever season in Division One.

2002–03 Stoke City F.C. season

With Gudjon Thordarson failing to gain a new contract the Stoke board moved to appoint Steve Cotterill from Cheltenham Town.

2003–04 Luton Town F.C. season

January began with Luton beating Bradford City 2–1 in the FA Cup, ensuring the club reached the fourth round of the competition for the first time since the 1994–95 season.

On 13 February, preferred bidder Bill Tomlins stated that he hoped Luton would be out of administration within a week, assuming the handover of the club went smoothly.

2005–06 Derby County F.C. season

Former coach Terry Westley stepped up as caretaker manager; despite no wins in his first five games, he was named as caretaker manager for the remainder of the season - Westley promptly won his first game two days later, 1-0 at home to Plymouth.

2006–07 Barnsley F.C. season

During the early stages of the season, Ritchie was approached by Sheffield Wednesday about their vacant manager's position, following the sacking of Paul Sturrock in October 2006.

2008–09 Stevenage Borough F.C. season

Just after the half hour mark, Borough doubled their advantage after some poor defending by the FA Trophy holders; with Scott Laird capitalising on a loose pass to send Lee Boylan in on goal to clinically finish past Lance Cronin.

2010–11 Stevenage F.C. season

Joey Barton pulled a goal back for Newcastle in injury-time with a long range effort that dipped over Chris Day, but Stevenage replied instantly with Peter Winn neatly finishing past Krul after good work from John Mousinho.

2011–12 Luton Town F.C. season

On 11 August, it was confirmed that Luton's first game of the season against AFC Telford United would be postponed due to stretched police resources in the wake of the 2011 England riots and a planned English Defence League march in Telford that same day.

2011–12 Stevenage F.C. season

Two minutes after the interval, the home side were level, substitute Harry Arter scoring from Marc Pugh's squared pass.

2012–13 Greenock Morton F.C. season

Kevin Rutkiewicz and Jordan Halsman were released from their contracts to join Carolina RailHawks and Fram respectively.

Luka Modrić

In the Champions League, Modrić participated and helped the club reach its first involment with the competition.

Tony Sealy

He helped Gordon Milne's side to avoid relegation out of the top-flight by a single point in 1985–86, however the "Foxes" were relegated in 1986–87.


see also