Landon Calling - Division Three 2021/22

[Nocturnal Submission]

Like I say, I support Spurs and have skin in this game.

But when I recorded a podcast about Chapman and George Allison a couple of years ago, it was originally going to be about Norris too. It turned out that it was too much to squish into one episode, but I did a lot of reading on him and, while it is strongly suggested that bribery was involved, there's no solid evidence that it was.

The overwhelming takeaway I got from reading pretty extensively about that period from 1890 to 1940 was just how corrupt it almost certainly was and how dangerous it definitely was (the 1923 FA Cup final was a whisker away from being a major calamity, with hundreds of deaths), but that the records kept were few and far between and no-one was looking very hard. Everyone focus on the white fucking horse.

Chapman is a good example of this. He was the manager at Leeds City when they went bust; he had a period completely out of football and banned from the game, but got it overturned in court.

The received wisdom is that Norris placed an advert for the Arsenal job and that Chapman saw it, applied for it, and got it. Well yeah, that might have been the formal process, but there's no fucking way whatsoever Norris didn't know Chapman. The liquidation of Leeds City in 1919 had been a major news story. Chapman didn't bother applying to get the ban after the Leeds thing lifted until he decided he wanted another job in football rather than straight away, to clear his name, which does seem strange, for a man famous for his attention to detail. It's all pretty flimsy, but there is a theme.

But I think that's just the way it all worked, then. It's just the way they did business. Under the counter deals, brown paper bags stuffed with money, franchising and match-fixing going on everywhere (the famous example being the 1915 game between Liverpool and Manchester United). And people just put up with it; no-one had the means to investigate hard, the papers had found that football sold copies, and if you look at league tables from the 1920s they're wildly tight, so consequently it just didn't register that much with fans (and yeah, it probably was a more deferential society, even if that still hasn't been fixed). You mean to tell me that the maximum wage laws weren't routinely broken? Psssh.

I mean, Chapman was the most successful manager in England during the inter-war period. It wasn't the same as today, but he had a profile. Him and Allison (who'd been a journalist beforehand) were the first to use the media to increase the profile of the a football club. And all that's known about him can be dismissed as correlation≠causation. But these things that just looked shady kept on coming up, and there's been pushback against reform from the FA since about its second meeting.

Sorry Ian, this is probably just the way that I'm reading your words, but as I'm sure you know, after the Leeds City liquidation Chapman got back into football with Huddersfield and then went to the Gooners in 1925.

[My Name Is Ian]

Yeah, I did have to kind of double back on myself, there. He went to court to get the ban lifted for the Huddersfield job (sorry, should have been clearer about that). I'm sure I've seen something about shenanigans there too, but didn't stand out so far that I remember what it was now. And like I say, I think it was likely rampant at the time.

[Tony C]

One of the rare occasions I’m happy with the use of “the beautiful game”.

[Ray de Galles]

I don't think I've enjoyed watching a player over the last decade more than Bayo, a total legend.

[NickSTFU]

Nice bloke too by all accounts. Good for him.

[Simon G]

He comes across really down to Earth, and you can just tell he's happy to give however much time is needed if kids want a photo and whatnot. One of those who seems genuinely chuffed to have got to the position he's in.

I'll be glad to see the back of him playing against us - he scored so many goals over the years, it was like we were his personal punchbag.

[Patrick Thistle]

He does feel like the last great lower league hero. I don't think there is a current player with the same level of recognition in the game.

(He won the Welsh Cup with Barry Town back in 2003, fact fans. They still chant his name at Jenner Park.)

[Kevin S]

Wonder if the free agent James Norwood fancies filling those shoes at Wycombe?

Great way for Akinfenwa to bow out, it won't be the same without him in the game.

[Ray de Galles]

Norwood is a completely different type of forward, isn't he?

That said, I don't think there are many, if any, forwards like Akinfenwa in the league - as Wimbledon found out to their cost when he left them.

[Kevin S]

Yeah, suppose they are really. Norwood's strength - when he's shown it - has been getting on the end of things: running onto a through ball, throwing himself at a cross. He's very direct. Can link up, but that's probably not really his main focus. I suppose Akinfenwa was balanced the other way - really strong at holding defenders off, knocking it down, bringing others into the play. Not that he was afraid of going direct either of course.

I think what I had in my head was that either is the sort of player you don't want to come up against as a League One defender. In Norwood's case it's because he is a proper windup merchant, which might suit Ainsworth's style...!

[ale]

Asked the question at start of season predictions when the forum unilaterally picked Sunderland to win League. Why? I got why lazy media who dont follow Third Division will default Sunderland because of history etc. But I thought you guys would know better. Having seen them at close quarters for three seasons. Without ever looking like being automatically promoted.

[Ray de Galles]

Hang on, the supporters of D3 clubs on here picked Sunderland as likely winners of the division? On this thread? I don't recall that.

Which isn't to say it didn't happen, this season has seemed the longest in my lifetime in many ways so I may well have just forgotten.

[Sporting]

Hang on, the supporters of D3 clubs on here picked Sunderland as likely winners of the division? On this thread? I don't recall that.

Which isn't to say it didn't happen, this season has seemed the longest in my lifetime in many ways so I may well have just forgotten.

I'm pretty sure they're not all fans of division 3 clubs, but 12 out of 22 people predicted they'd be promoted in this thread: https://www.onetouchfootball.com/for...e3#post2595952

[Ray de Galles]

Not really sure where to put this but it's magnificent. I always did like Ricardo Gardner :

https://twitter.com/dbwfc1/status/1525052941618581505?s=21&t=kkbAdgx81oJNgqLaPbSKiQ

[Sunderporinostesta]

It never rains until it pours. Having resigned myself to not getting a ticket for Wembley I’ve a promise of paying for one behind the goal in with our lot…..jeans and trainerstastic! Plus there’s the strong possibility of a free corporate one as well which means shoes n trousers n a sensible shirt. A mate will be hosting his company box and there’s no one going with skin in the game………I’ll be part of the entertainment won’t I? I’ve been in with his firm before and it’s always ended up with my mate, his boss and me up the west end looking for one last drink long after midnight. Nooooooo.
VAR for the first time for me as well.

[Sunderporinostesta]

I'm pretty sure they're not all fans of division 3 clubs, but 12 out of 22 people predicted they'd be promoted in this thread: https://www.onetouchfootball.com/for...e3#post2595952

I’ll tell you what they’re certifiable for starters.

[lambers]

VAR for the first time for me as well.

Wait, what? Can I get a refund for my ticket?

[Gangster Octopus]

You'll have to wait until the ref's had a look at the screen by the side of the pitch...

[longeared]

Sticking my fingers in my ears and pretending today's game isn't happening, but good luck Sunderporinostesta , hope you win.

[Foot of Astaire's]

Yeah good luck to Sunderland. Hope they do it this time but Sunderland being Sunderland....

[Patrick Thistle]

I'm horribly selfish. I didn't get to see Shrewsbury play at the Stadium of Light yet so I'm kind of hoping to get that chance next season.

[Nocturnal Submission]

I've got family in the High Wycombe area and a mate has just signed some sort of commercial agreement with the club, so come on the Chairboys!

(I kind of like Sunderland too, so I wouldn't be too unhappy if they prevail.)

[lambers]

In the stadium now, I'm mainly hoping for an entertaining match. And for them to turn the volume on the stadium tannoy down.

[Sean of the Shed]

By rights Wycombe should still be in the Championship anyway because the EFL should have had the balls to deal with Derby at the end of last season, so for that reason, and also because they beat the franchise in the semi, I will be willing them to win this. Righteous reward.

[Nocturnal Submission]

And for them to turn the volume on the stadium tannoy down.

Won't happen. It's never less than deafening.