September
2001 News
News of other stars from the 1970-71
season.
29 September
Sir Alf's Sale
Sir Alf Ramsey's (England manager) football memorabila
has been sold for 80,000 pounds at Christies on Thursday
27 September.
Here's how it is reported at BBC SPORT FOOTBALL Ramsey
collection nets tidy sum
A collection of
football memorabilia that once belonged to World Cup
legend Sir Alf Ramsey has fetched more than £80,000
at auction.
International caps,
championship medals and other items from his playing
and managerial career went under the hammer at
Christie's in London.
Sir Alf, who was
the manager of the 1966 World Cup winning side, died
in 1999 aged 79.
The collection was
offered for sale by his family.
Two of Sir Alf's
former clubs, Tottenham Hotspur and Ipswich Town,
acquired items at the auction.
Spurs, with whom he
played for much of his career, bought an
international cap won in 1950 when England played
Portugal.
Ipswich, where he
started his managerial career, bought three gold
championship medals.
The medals were won
for the 1956/57 Division Three (South) Championship,
the 1960/61 Division Two Championship and the 1961/62
Division One Championship.
During Sir Alf's
time at Ipswich, he took the club from the old Third
Division (South) to the Division One crown in just
seven years.
Ipswich chairman
David Sheepshanks said the club were delighted to
secure the medals. He said they would be put on
display in Ipswich's new Hall of Fame, which is due
to open later this year.
A spokesman for
Spurs said: "Sir Alf Ramsey was such an
important player for this club, and such a large part
of its history, that we just had to be
interested."
He said the club
was actively trying to buy more items from its
history.
However, a silver
gilt medal that Sir Alf won with Spurs for their
triumph in the 1950-51 Division One Championship was
bought by a private bidder for £7,050.
The bidder also
paid £4,935 for the cap Sir Alf received on his last
England appearance in 1953 against Hungary at
Wembley.
15 September
'Svengali'
Such was the heading in
'The Times' features on 5 September 2001 following the
two Sven-Göran Eriksson (Karlskoga) inspired England victories
this month. When one recalls the anger that appointing a
foreign coach to the post of England manager caused, the
decision has been more than vindicated.
Demoralised and
tumbling down the International table, England looked to
be out of the World Cup following Kevin
Keegan's
departure as manager. English fans could not understand
how a country with arguably one of the best Leagues in
the entire World, could have such a mediocre National
side. Was it all the 'foreigners' strangling the
development of the youth at the senior level ? In this
light appointing a Swedish coach just seemed to be adding
insult to the injury.
But Sven-Göran brought
with him his approach dependant on large doses of Sports
psychology. The painfully dated approach of 'try until
you die for the lads' approach may work in Division 3 on
a wet Wednesday, but at International level belief in
yourself, your ability, and achieving your goals is what
it takes to make the best players in the country even
better !
No-one would have
predicted the 1-5 victory on German soil even as recently
as a month ago. Three times World Cup winners - six times
Finalists - humbled in their own backyard. But the real
psychological wizardry was to ensure that the team could
beat Albania just days later. One recalls Euro 2000 where
Keegan's England beat the Germans, the nation rejoiced,
and then the team threw away the final match from a 2-1
lead to lose 3-2 to Romania rendering the German victory
pointless.
For me the 1-5 victory
is one of the great moments in English football, but the
Algerian victory revealed even more of the difference
that Sven-Göran has brought to the English side. From
being no-hopers, England now lead their group and if they
win their final game at home to Greece will qualify
barring a 20 million-nil victory by the Germans at home
to Finland.
As an old cynic who
grew up watching England not qualify for the World Cup
Finals throughout the Seventies, I expect nothing but a
draw against the Greeks with the Germans winning to
qualify - but I've not been psychologised by Sven-Göran,
let's hope the players continue to be.
See the following pages
from the BBC website Eriksson makes it simple
Eriksson amazed by Munich
triumph
How England sent Germany
crashing
England edge out Albania
Eriksson's relief at victory
Sing When Your Winning
Some could call this
high English spirits, some could call it cashing in but BBC SPORT Sven Goran Eriks-song reports ...
Sven Goran
Eriksson's dream of being number one could be about
to come true.
But not quite in
the manner he thought.
Sven's Song,
written as a tribute to England's sensational win in
Germany, is tipped to rocket straight to the top of
the charts when it is released.
It's also being
suggested as a possible replacement for Three Lions
as the unofficial anthem of England supporters.
The song was
written as a tribute to the England coach and has
taken off in the wake of England's sensational win in
Munich.
It was penned by
songwriting duo Bell and Spurling, who now have some
of the big record companies chasing them after
thousands asked where to buy the single when it got
an airing on London's Capital Gold radio station.
The hook is a
catchy chorus line which goes;
"Sven, Sven Sven Goran Eriksson.
"He's a lovely geezer, but don't forget that
he's from Swe-den."
And there are other
fine lines, which deserve to stand alongside such
rock and pop classics as: "I see a little
silhouetto of man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche will you
do the fandango."
Look no further
than: "Seaman your hair is a right old state,
All you need is a Mark One Escort and a sovereign
ring, mate."
Co-writers Martin
Bell and Johnny Spurling are established song-writers
and session musicians and have worked with the likes
of Go West, Tony Hadley and Rick Astley.
They are regular
performers at celebrity parties, including those for
top football personalities.
"We did a
party only a couple of weeks ago for Andy Gray,"
said Martin who admits the pair have been surprised
by the demand for the record and their time.
"We've done
television before, ranging from Live and Kicking to
MTV but never anything on this scale before.
Martin continued:
"All the biggest labels have been chasing us,
Warner, Universal.
"It's typical.
You spend all your life writing great songs and then
you write one football song like this and it
catches."
The song contains
snatches of commentary from Jonathan 'Motormouth'
Pearce and is aptly dubbed; 'The Euphoria Mix"
by the pair who say they will tweak the lyrics and
produce another mix if England beat Greece to clinch
their place in the 2002 World Cup finals.
"I think this
could be the new Three Lions. It's a great little pop
song in its own right. It's got a great catchy tune,
and the lyrics are making everyone laugh."
But Martin is aware
that success for their single could come at a price.
If it denies
Victoria Beckham's new single top spot, they risk
upsetting her hubby.
"That's all
right," laughed Martin. "He knows us and I
don't think he would be too upset."
14 September
Addison Returns !
Colin Addison (Sheffield United) has returned as manager with Swansea City.
Colin was sacked as manager of Yeovil Town of the
Conference League at the end of last season - even though
he had helped them to the highest place the club had ever
been.
He fell out of favour
because he had taken over following David Webb's (Chelsea) departure to Southend United
and when the club led the League. To blame Colin could be
considered unfair, though, as the Champions were Rushton
and Diamonds, who had begun the season as firm
favourites.
Colin takes over from
John Hollins (Chelsea) who was sacked earlier in the
week.
See BBC SPORT SWANSEA CITY
Swansea split with manager
Swansea City Football Club
Swansea City FC
See more September 2001 news at the
following ...
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