Random factoids about clubs not in the Premier League

Well, the football season finally got under way a couple of weeks ago, and was trawling through good old Wikipedia having a look at some random Premier League history.

Interestingly, the only League champions to have never played in the Premier League are Preston North End, champions for the first 2 editions in 1889 (when they also won the FA Cup) and 1890, and Huddersfield Town, who won a hat-trick of titles between 1924 and 1926. The rest, including, Ipswich Town, currently managed by Roy Keane, have all played in the Premier League.

Burnley, who were promoted this season after 33 years outside the top-flight, have won 2 championships, the most recent coming in 1960. They already look determined to stay up, winning 1-0 in both their home games so far, against a rather limp Manchester United and Everton.

Phew! I've finally managed to get a post up after ages!

Go United, Go!

Later today, or early tomorrow, depending on where you are, Manchester United take on Barcelona in the Champions League Final in Rome. For many, it's a dream final, as the champions of probably the 2 best leagues in Europe will be facing off. Wondering when was the last time 2 league champions faced each other in the final? It was in 1999, when United again, were up against German champions Bayern Munich.

Anyhow, all the best Man United! Keep your heads screwed on, and play well!

Weird week for Cristiano Ronaldo

The previous week will probably have been particularly memorable for Cristiano Ronaldo. It seemed to improve almost linearly. Bad start with him crashing his Ferrari 599GTB, improving later on with Manchester United topping the table, and crowning it off with winning the FIFA World Player of the Year award. Must admit I don't feel too bad about the Ferrari, it's not one of their best-looking cars ever.

As far as the Premier League is concerned, Manchester United are in a rather familiar position, top of the table. Liverpool are finally near the top after over a decade of mediocrity. Chelsea are in 3rd, something they won't be too happy about. Arsenal, however, must be fuming, sitting in 5th place 3 points adrift of Aston Villa. The relegation battle is probably even more interesting, though. The 5 bottom teams all have 21 points, and the gap between 12th place and bottom is only 3 points!

Man U and Chelsea do battle on 2 fronts

This week has been a seriously enjoyable one in sports. In football, Manchester United make the final, a solitary Paul Scholes goal, being all that separated them from Barcelona. However, in my opinion, Barcelona, despite having the vast majority of possession, rarely managed to put pressure on a tight Man U defence. And, it must be said that United often gave the ball away all too easily. Fortunately, for Cristiano Ronaldo, his penalty miss in the first leg didn't cost United a place in the final.

In the other semi-final, Liverpool's string of luck in the Champions' League finally ran out against Chelsea, who shrugged off a sluggish second-half performance to win their second leg 3-2 after extra time. A more hard-fought game than the other semi-final, the momentum frequently swung to and fro between the 2 teams.

Interestingly, this means that the 2 teams in the final, are also the only 2 teams with any chance of winning the Premier League. Though I will be supporting the Red Devils, I do hope the Champions' League final will be a more exciting match than last year's FA Cup final.