Football wages are a ridiculously easy target – whether it’s the high wages paid by Chelsea and then Manchester City, the astronomical wage bills of Barcelona and Real Madrid fueled by unequal TV deals or the retirement homes that front as football clubs in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, football wages have steadily increased in the last 20-25 years.

But by how much? And is the growth spread evenly across all tiers of the game or concentrated at the highest level? You may already know the answer to that question, but even then the numbers below are eye-opening.

The data is taken from sportingintelligence.com (who have used their own research + an official PFA document detailing basic wages for the last 25 years) – here are some highlights:

The text below is taken from sportingintelligence.com – see source articles here and here:

• In 1984-85, top division players in England earned a basic average of £480 per week (£25,000 a year), which was more than double what the average worker earned, and which was three times as much as players earned in the Fourth Division. Today the difference is 30 times as much.
• In 1984-85, according to the PFA’s data, the average basic wage in the First Division – as the top division was then called – was £24,934 a year, or about two and a half times the average working man’s salary. With bonuses, it would have been around £36,000, perhaps more.
• In 2009-10, the average basic Premier League wage was £1.16m and the average take-home pay was £1.76m.
• In the Premier League, double-digit annual growth has been the norm in most years of the competition’s history. The biggest single leap was the 28.52 per cent year-on-year growth between 1996-97 and 1997-98. This was due to a new TV deal kicking in.
• TV cash has fueled players’ pay rises in the Premier League era. The first Premier League deal was over five years (1992-97), then next over four years (1997-2001), and the deals have been three years each since then (2001-04, 2004-07, 2007-10 and 2010-13 currently).
• The average annual basic salary in the Championship in 2009-10 was £211,068, in League One it was £73,320 and in League Two it was £38,844.
• Top division footballers now earn 46 times as much as they did in 1984-85
• Those in the Championship earn only 14 times as much as their counterparts.
• In League One the figure is six and a half times as much. In League Two the figure is 4.6 times as much.
• The average working man earns about three times as much.

Image from sportingintelligence.com.

Note: The numbers represent basic pay; wages typically increase by 50 to 100 per cent with appearance money and bonuses.

On the other hand, football ticket prices have increased by almost as much as 30 times in certain cases (looking at cheapest tickets / season tickets at Manchester United and London clubs).

And if you look at the commercial revenues generated by US sports, it’s evident that football, a more global sport, has still some way to go before it can reach it’s financial peak. So expect the TV deals, player wages and ticket prices to keep rising.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Like myself, all English football fans have been let down in recent years by our regularly under achieving international side. I would like to share my views on why this is the case, and on why I don’t see any reason to expect success in the near future.

The fact that us English created the beautiful game often gives fans a false sense of belief that we are also the best at it, trouble is, we aren’t. Nor are we close for that matter. When you look at the truly great international sides of today, such as Spain, Brazil, or Holland, you will note that they play a different style of football to our inferior England.

While our game is based on being fast paced, hard tackling and extremely competitive, other nations dedicate their attention to the finer things in football, pass and move, retaining possesion, creativity and flair. These are now proving to be far more valuable traits to learn and this is the sole reason England shall never be able to match top nations when they meet in major competitions.

In England we have teams like Arsenal – who try to play attractive football, coming up against the likes of Stoke City – a rough team that dedicate time to set pieces and often try to bully their way to a win. How can this possibly be of benefit to our national side? When a manager selects a squad of players to work together as a team, they all need to have the same philosophy of how to play the game, they need to be synchronized and understand exactly what each other are going to do.

Little use is it picking a player who often attempts, and fails, to make forty yard passes such as Gareth Barry, to sit alongside a very talented individual in Jack Wilshere, who likes to get the ball down and play the sort of football that has recently propelled the Spanish to become world and european champions. These two men are only an example, however there are many players in the England camp which have a complete different understanding of the game to one another, and that can only mean one thing, failure.

Although it will never happen, my suggestion would be that clubs in England follow in the lead of teams such as ‘catalan giants’ Barcelona, and begin to invest more money and time in developing youth prospects at academy level, which would benefit the nation as a whole, and less money on bringing in foreign exports to play football in the way we can only dream of. Until this happens, my prediction is that there will be no future success at international level for our country, and the already endless amount of excuses and apologies, from managers and players alike, will continue for many years to come.

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

When first examining scoring stats, we found there were big differences between how reliant individual leagues were across Europe on one player.  After some more digging, we found there are significant differences between how important individual players are between Leagues across Europe: in Italy and Germany, in particular, it is important to have a spearhead – one pivotal player who’s chiefly involved in creating, or finishing goals. In Spain, and particularly England, there isn’t this same predilection for one player contributing more (by way of Scoring Stats – goals and assists) than any other particular player.

But how does this compare across the tiers of football in one country? It’s because of the Premiership’s mathematical preference for a balanced attack that England was chosen for this analysis – aiming to see if this balance is reflected throughout the lower levels of football. Defined briefly, a Team Leader is the player who has the greatest number of combined goals and assists for his team, which displays the number of goals they have directly contributed to their team’s cause.

To summarise, there is very little difference in the average contribution made by a club’s team leader across the four divisions. However in the lower leagues, the contributions are much less consistent – rather than having most team leaders contributing around the average for their division, there is a much wider spectrum for how much a certain player contributes to their team.

Where range shows the lowest and highest contributions by percentage by a Team Leader.

What this shows is that there isn’t really a large difference at all between how much a team scores on average across English Football. What is obvious is the considerably smaller range in which the Premiership operates – when subtracting the outlier Tevez, range drops from 26.32 to 16.32 and the average contribution by a team leader descends to 31.63%. There aren’t the stark outliers in the three lower tiers meaning no further adjustments are possible. This allows us to assume that EPL clubs need to fit into a much tighter band – their top scorer needs to contribute to nearly 24% of their goals, but defences and tactics are such that involvement in over 40% is both unlikely and risky. Having one player generating so much of their scoring also makes a club much easier to stop.

Aside from the Statistical Wonder Tevez, the greatest difference between leagues was generally which way these figures “trended”. In the Premiership, Championship and League Two there was a slight decline in how reliant each club was on their team leader as their league position worsened – ie. a higher-placed club tended to have their team leader contributing to a higher percentage of their goals. In League One, this trend is reversed as lower ranked clubs appear increasingly more reliant on their spearheads. This, as we will see, is primarily due to the efforts of Will Hoskins at Bristol Rovers, Danny Green of Dagenham & Redbridge and Craig Westcarr of Notts County.

What we also found was that in almost every case – except League One – one of the clubs in the Top Seven had the highest contribution by a team leader per League. That is, Carlos Tevez leads the Premiership in goals he’s contributed to for his team, providing a goal or assist to 50% of City’s scores. In the Championship, the leaders are Adel Taarabt of leaders QPR, Danny Graham of Watford (12th) and then Grant Holt of Norwich (2nd) and Reading’s Shane Long (5th). It’s a similar story in League Two as the three highest contributors by percentage play on teams ranked third, seventh and ninth.

English League clubs with greatest contribution to scoring by Team Leader

English League clubs with least contribution to scoring by Team Leader

The message best understood from these figures is this – although QPR boast a player with sublime skills in Adel Taarabt and Norwich City operate according to the rebirth of Grant Holt, it’s possible they are too reliant on their star men. The Welsh sides chasing their Premiership dream are perhaps best equipped to function in the top division. The Bluebirds are especially gifted as they boast a number of scoring options including England international Jay Bothroyd, loanee Craig Bellamy, Michael Chopra and last year’s division top-scorer Peter Whittingham. Should QPR or Norwich – tighter defences or not – gain promotion, they could well find themselves in a Blackpool situation: unable to balance attack with defence due to their reliance on one player.

This is perhaps the defining dichotomy of the Championship – a strong Team Leader is needed to progress to the Premiership; but then to spread the wealth offensively when you get there. It’s a very fine line and coaches can be easily forgiven for wanting to persist with the tactics that achieved them promotion. But, to paraphrase the most tried of cliches: nothing ventured, only parachute payments gained.

A complete list of European Scoring Stat leaders, team-by-team, can be found at Balanced Sports Scoring Stats page.

For more analysis and opinion, shoot across to Matthew Wood’s blog, Balanced Sports.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Whereas I have to admit that Liverpool’s ongoing takeover saga has provided good copy since their boardroom civil war broke out nine days ago, it’s probably fairly safe to say that we (that is, those of us that have no real vested interest in the outcome of  chronicles) are now heartily sick to the sodding molars of it.

The fact that even the most insignificant of minutiae has been poured over by all and sundry has led to unprecedented levels of over-saturation, which in turn has led to a kind of nationwide apathy – which is the last thing that a football club in dire straights should be generating.

There have been lengthy reports drafted to cover all the ins-and-outs of every little bit of desperate refinancing and legal skullduggery owners Hicks and Gillett have undertaken, minute-by-minute updates from the High Court hearings, detailed examinations of the accounts of even the most hopeless of potential buyers, soapboxes given to various supporters’ groups to voice their ire, doomsday headlines aplenty and even .pdf copies of legal writs released to the public.

All of which must be pretty galling to fans of teams like Sheffield Wednesday, Cardiff City and Chester, who saw their clubs dragged through the mire with barely a murmur from the national press.

You could perhaps argue that Liverpool have received such unfettered attention due solely to their brand name’s prominent standing within the global game. Never before has such a high-profile English club flirted so publicly with becoming financially comatose, so tales of administration and points deductions are bound to fuel the imagination of the masses.

Liverpool co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks

The scare-mongering has been rife during the ordeal. It’s a safe bet that Liverpool won’t be put into administration as that particular ball is entirely in creditors Royal Bank of Scotland‘s court and, seeing as though it is they who are also being dragged through the courts by Hicks and Gillett (and with a £300 million bid waiting in the wings), you can imagine that a certain amount of empathy will be forthcoming regarding their imposed debt deadline.

Even upon the remote chance that Kop Holdings are placed into receivership, it is highly likely that the Premier League will grant special dispensation and waive the nine-point deduction, as it was only the continued rankling of the baseless court proceedings brought about by Hicks that prevented the Liverpool board (and, by proxy, the club itself) from hammering out the deal with New England Sports Ventures that would have seen the outstandings paid off in full with time to spare.

All this melodrama served to promote Liverpool’s campaign to have their cancerous moles lopped off onto the national stage, but must have rung oh so hollow to fans of clubs that have actually witnessed their teams come within hours of liquidation – or have had to watch them wiped from the realm of existence altogether.

For example, last month League One side Sheffield Wednesday narrowly avoided going into administration by the skins of their collective teeth after seeing their relatively piffling £700,000 tax bill settled by the Co-operative Bank, after having a winding-up order placed upon the club by HRMC three months prior.

Entering administration would have meant that Wednesday would’ve faced a ten-point deduction by the Football League, and would have also seen their plans to host World Cup matches in 2018 (should England’s bid be successful) ruined.

The Owls are still looking for a buyer (although a takeover bid is currently in the offing), but you wouldn’t know it if you didn’t know where to look, and over the past few years it’s been a similar story for Cardiff, Accrington Stanley, Bournemouth, Darlington, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Luton…etc, etc and we all know what happened to Chester City not so very long ago..

Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou

The closest we’ve ever come to the levels of hysteria currently surrounding Liverpool’s financial turmoil is when Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to officially enter administration last February.

It caused a low-level stir when Pompey were docked nine points and rather confusingly fined £1 million by the Premier League board for ‘breaching rules and regulations’, but the interest soon waned. The fact that their crippling levels of debt have ensured that they are still in administration eight months down the line is seemingly neither here nor there.

The critical lesson that the Premier League need to take from Liverpool’s judicial and financial torments of the past few days/weeks/years (delete as you see fit) is that, if things continue in their current unsustainable vein, then the bottom is going to fall out of English football – and, given the plights of so many of our lower league clubs, you could feasibly argue that the terminal rot has already well and truly set in.

Sh*t always rains from the top and pools at the bottom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Ian Holloway seems to be scouring the lower tiers of English league football. After missing out on Brett Pitman, who opted to move to Bristol City, the Blackpool manager has completed the signing Matty Phillips from Wycombe.

The 19 year old moved to the Premier League new-boys for an initial fee of £325,000 but this price will rise to £700,000 if Blackpool maintain their Premier League status at the end of the season.

The young winger has already represented Wycombe 78 times, scoring 8 goals for ‘The Chairboys’ in the process. Phillips has also played for the England U19 squad 5 times in his career and scored a memorable goal that meant the team progressed to the semi finals of the recent U19 European Championships.

Matty Phillips has landed a dream move to the Premier League.

Wycombe manager Garry Waddock stated:

“It’s a great opportunity for Matty to play in the Premier League and we couldn’t stand in his way. He’s an outstanding prospect and I’m sorry to lose him, but it’s a great move for him and excellent business for the football club.”

Ian Holloway was also delighted with the transfer of one of the hottest properties in the lower leagues saying:

“Matty has been on our radar for some time, he did well in the European Under-19 tournament for England in the summer and has played almost 80 league games for Wycombe, which at 19 is a real achievement.”

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

We’ve moved into the third week of the campaign and an interesting match day was in store and what a match day of League Two football it turned out to be. After 5 0-0′s the previous week, fans were treated to an amazing 42 goals in 12 fixtures this week. Comebacks and thrashings were at the plenty and it is a testament to the league the quality which was on display.

As ever we start with the League Two news:

• John Rooney, the younger brother of Wayne, has received more interest state-side and shall now be undertaking a trial with the Portland Timbers as he aims to gain a place on the Major League Soccer draft system. The opportunity comes after he had already been trialled at Seattle Sounders.
• Torquay plan to decrease their capacity by 250 due to health and safety reasons. The Plainmoor club have recently applied for planning permission to build a new main stand and replace the existing grandstand which has been in place since the 1920′s.
• A tribunal has told Hereford they will be paid, a possible, £100,000 by Bournemouth for the transfer of winger Marc Pugh. An initial payment of £60,000 will be made at first and then a further £10,000 for every 15 games he plays up to 60. The deal also includes a 10% sell on clause.

So to this weekend’s games and we start with two teams with aspirations of promotion Southend and Port Vale.

Southend 1-3 Port Vale

A game which shaped to be even on paper was anything but as Vale strolled to success. From kick off Southend were on the back foot and within five minute were behind. Justin Richards was fantastically picked out by Marc Richards and the striker converted the header with consummate ease.

Vale were rampant and unlucky to go in at the break only one to the good but nine minutes into the second half got the second they deserved. Louis Dodds had the easiest of tap ins after Sean Riggs had seen his effort blocked. Marc Richards then made it three with a long range effort before a Gareth Owen on goal gave the home team a consolation they scarcely deserved.

Next fixture – Southend: Bradford(a), Port Vale: Torquay(h)

Accrington Stanley 3-0 Macclesfield

A Sean McConville hat-trick was the catalyst for an easy win, as Stanley strolled to success. The first goal came in the 29th minute as McConville added the finishing touch to a Ray Puterill cross, it was a sign for things to come as nine minutes later a smart turn and finish in the box gave him his second.

Macclesfield rarely pressured throughout and their normal ‘up in your face’ attitude was distinctly missing and the only surprise was it took until the 72nd minute for Accrington to score a third and McConville to complete his hat-trick as he blasted in from 25 yards. Macclesfield boss Gary Simpson offered few excuses for the performance and made it clear he expects a lot more from his players.

Next fixture – Accrington Stanley: Oxford Utd(a), Macclesfield: Chesterfield(h)

Burton Albion 3-2 Morecambe

A five goal thriller saw Burton secure their first win of the season after coming back from 2-1 down. A goal hadn’t been seen in a Burton league game all season after previous 0-0 draws and so it was with great surprise that after 1 minute the deadlock was already broken.

Aaron Webster superbly heading home from a Andy Corbett cross. Albion didn’t lead for long as on the ninth minute Andrew Fleming provided an equalizer with a neat finish. The same player then grabbed Morecambe’s second as he was first to react to a saved Phil Jevons shot. The Morecambe second only seemed to inspire Burton as they began to dominate and were rewarded with their increased threat on the 75th minute as Webster finished following a Lewis Scott corner.

Burton then searching for the winner came up with it six minutes later. Greg Pearson was fouled by Paul Scott in the area and Pearson himself scored the penalty. The remaining nine minutes were frantic but no clear cut chances were created by either side and Burton held on for victory.

Next fixture – Burton Albion: Cheltenham(a), Morecambe: Gillingham(h)

Bury 1-1 Northampton

Northampton earned their second point of the season as they produced a solid defensive performance to hold Bury to a single goal. The first half was an even affair with both teams showing a desire to score without risking a great deal defensively. The scores didn’t reflect this evenness however, as Northampton however had the lead going into the interval with Steve Guinan picked himself up after being fouled to fire in a penalty on the 33rd minute.

It was a timid start to the second half but it wasn’t long before Bury slowly began to increase pressure on the defence of Northampton and the increasing pressure told on the 69th minute as David Worral tapped home a rebound of the post.  The goal was signal for Bury to lay siege to The Cobblers goal but they held firm and anything that breached the defence was easily dealt with by Northampton stopper  Oscar Jansson.

Next fixture – Bury: Barnet(a), Northampton: Wycombe(h)

Chesterfield 4-0 Hereford

Chesterfield registered an easy victory as Danny Whitaker helped himself to a hat-trick. Hereford were weakest in every department and the defense was best described by Hereford manager Simon Davey ‘as at six and sevens’. Whitaker’s first was from a penalty awarded after Jack Lester was fouled.

The second came from a Lester through ball which Whitaker took very smartly and he completed a hat-trick on the hour having the completing the simplest of finishes. Simon Ford grabbed the fourth from a corner and left Hereford wondering what might of been had Ryan Valentine not missed a penalty at 2-0.

Next fixture – Chesterfield: Macclesfield(a), Hereford: Rotherham(h)

Crewe 7-0 Barnet

Barnet were completely routed by Crewe, as the home side registered their first win of the season. Clayton Donaldson and Shaun Miller notched braces with Joel Grant, David Artell and AJ Leitch-Smith completing the scoring. Barnet were terribly poor and I think the best way to describe this game is with the words of Mark Stimson, Barnet manager:

”I’m more than shell-shocked, I’m very disappointed, we put a performance on that was nowhere near what was expected. All I can do is apologize to the supporters who traveled and spent a lot of money to watch the team.”

Lots of credit to Crewe as they never relented on the strangle hold they held on the game but Barnet were terribly poor and it cannot be ignored.

Next fixture – Crewe: Lincoln(a), Barnet: Bury(h)

Gillingham 0-1 Lincoln

My betting prowess came to show again as a much improved Lincoln side got their first points of the season in a thoroughly deserved away win. Cian Hughton was the scorer of the goal in the ninth minute producing a cool finish when Gills keeper Alan Julian had parried a Albert Jarrett shot.

Gillingham were awful throughout and barely tested Imps keeper Joe Anyon. Akinfenwa did have an effort hit the post but the experience of Jamie Clapham and Ian Pearce helped Lincoln see the game out with a degree of comfort.

Next fixture – Gillingham: Morecambe(a), Lincoln: Crewe(h)

Rotherham 6-4 Cheltenham

An extravaganza of football took place at the Don Valley stadium this afternoon and its only a shame i wasn’t personally there myself to witness it. The first of the ten goals came from Jeff Goulding to give Cheltenham the lead before Adam Le Fondre scored from 18 yards to equalize.

Cheltenham then took charge and scored twice to lead 3-1, after 36 minutes, thanks to Wes Thomas and Shane Jeffers . It still wasn’t the end of the first half scoring as Danny Harrison curled a shot into the corner to send the teams in at the break with the score at 2-3.

Cheltenham then had a nightmare 10 minutes at the beginning of the second half as 2-3 turned into 5-3. Le Fondre grabbed his second through a header and completed his hat trick after being quickest to a rebound after a missed penalty. Ryan Cresswell grabbed Rotherhams fifth and ended the 10 minutes of madness.

Le Fondre grabbed his fourth and Rotherhams sixth on 66 minutes, the Robins then missed a penalty before the scoring was finally completed in the last minute by Keith Lowe.

Next fixture – Rotherham: Hereford(a), Cheltenham: Burton Albion(h)

Shrewsbury 1-1 Aldershot

Shrewsbury failed to keep up their 100% record with the visit of Aldershot only yielding a draw. Captain Ian Sharpe had given the Shrews the lead on 29 minutes heading home a Mark Wright’s cross. The lead didn’t last long as within two minutes, Anthony Charles found himself unmarked to add the finishing touch to a Marvin Morgan flick on.

The game continued evenly and the only difference in the stalemate of the teams at the end was the number of players. Matt Harrold getting himself sent off for his second booking almost on the final whistle.

Next fixture – Shrewsbury: Stockport(a), Aldershot: Stevenage(h)

Stevenage 3-1 Stockport

Stevenage grabbed their first win of the season and in the football league as Stockport wilted once falling behind.  Stockport were comfortable and looking increasingly dangerous until Charlie Griffin headed in from a Ronnie Heary cross. Heads dropped all over the pitch and it was no surprise when Micheal Bostwick made it two on 43 minutes.

The Hatters tried to galvanize themselves but Stevenage were now rampant and Griffin made it three with a close range finish and meant that George Donelly’s late header was nothing much more than a consolation.  

The victory was very much deserved and a historic moment for the football club achieved.

Next fixture –  Stevenage: Aldershot(a), Stockport: Shrewsbury(h)

Torquay 2-0 Bradford

A club record 10th successive clean sheet was the foundation for a routine victory over Bradford.  Things didn’t start well for Bradford as Danny Stevens 25 yard effort on 2 minutes gave the Gulls the lead and it was only ten minute later that Bradford were reduced by a man.

Robbie Threlfall was given his marching orders after a deliberate handball on the line, the resultant penalty was saved however and Torquay had to wait until the 66th minute to make things safe as Chris Zebroski was hit by a goalkeepers clearance and the ball flew in.

The visitors hardly threatened and it was only down to Jon McLaughlin in the visitors goal the scoreline wasn’t higher. Plenty of chances went begging but Torquay march on and if they continue like this not many teams will finish above them.

Next fixture – Torquay: Port Vale(a), Bradford: Southend(h)

Wycombe 0-0 Oxford Utd

Both keepers were on form as a string of wonderful stops kept both strike-forces at bay. Wycombe dominated the beginning of the game and the closest they come was from a Andy Sadell free kick but was pushed wide by Ryan Clarke in the Oxford goal.

As the game wore on Oxford grew in confidence and it took two fantastic saves from Nikki Bull to keep Wycombe level. The first from a James Constable header, which he tipped on to the bar, and the second a one-on-one opportunity where he denied Matt Green. Both teams had their moments of ascendacy and in the end both gained a point they truly deserved.

Next fixture – Wycombe: Northampton(a), Oxford Utd: Accrington Stanley

Thats the round up complete and I can only reiterate what fantastic entertainment was put on from all the teams this week.

To next week now and the obvious stand out tie between Port Vale and Torquay as the pace setters of the division face each other. Vale’s off the field activities didn’t effect them this week and as the takeover fallouts continue it will be worth seeing whether it starts to effect the team.

Torquay will arrive full of confidence and will take a fantastic performance from either team to grab the 3 points.

For the gamblers, choices this week are Northampton to win at home and Rotherham to continue scoring at Hereford.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

You’ll find the summer 2010 League Two Transfers listed here. Archives for older transfer seasons are at the end of this page. For the latest transfer rumours and transfer lists for other leagues, see our transfer news column.

If you find a transfer not listed here let us know and we’ll add it.

Last Updated: 3 September 2010

Accrington Stanley

In: Terry Gornell (free, Tranmere Rovers)

Out: Darran Kempson (free, Grimsby Town), Michael Symes (free, Bournemouth), Bobby Grant (260k, Scunthorpe United), John Miles (free, Fleetwood)

Aldershot

In: Darren Jones (undisclosed, Hereford United), Jack Randall (free, Crystal Palace), Jamie Vincent (free, Walsall), Manny Panther (unattached), Damian Spencer (unattached), Glenn Little (unattached), Ross Kitteridge (unattached)

Out: Kirk Hudson (undisclosed, Brentford), Lewis Chalmers (free, Macclesfield)

Barnet FC

In: Ricky Holmes (unattached), Glenn Poole (free, AFC Wimbledon), Glen Southam (free, Histon), Sam Cox (free, Tottenham), Danny Kelly (free, Norwich City), Anwar Uddin (free, Dagenham & Redbridge), Darren Dennehy (unattached), Mark Byrne (loan, Nottingham Forest), Steve Kabba (unattached), Matt Heywood (unattached), Phil Walsh (loan, Dagenham & Redbridge), Charlie Taylor (undisclosed, Sutton United)

Out: Albert Jarrett (free, Lincoln City), John O’Flynn (free, Exeter City)

Bradford City

In: Robbie Threlfall (free, Liverpool), Jake Speight (25k, Mansfield), Shane Duff (undisclosed, Cheltenham Town), David Syers (unattached), Scott Neilson (undisclosed, Crawley)

Out:

Burton Albion

In: Darren Moore (free, Barnsley), Adam Legzdins (undisclosed, Crewe Alexandra), Adam Bolder (unattached), Jack Dyer (unattached), Garyn Preen (unattached), Lewis Young (unattached)

Out: Guy Branston (free, Torquay United)

Bury

In: Joe Skarz (free, Huddersfield Town), Peter Sweeney (free, Grimsby Town), Andrew Haworth (free, Blackburn Rovers), Steven Schumacher (unattached), Kyle Bennett (unattached), Tom Lees (loan, Leeds United), Phil Picken (unattached), Damien Mozika (unattached)

Out: Stephen Dawson (free, Leyton Orient), Paul Scott (free, Morecambe), Ryan Cresswell (undisclosed, Rotherham United), Andy Morrell (free, Wrexham), Tom Newey (free, Rotherham United)

Cheltenham Town

In: Jeff Goulding (free, Bournemouth), Danny Andrew (free, Peterborough United), Daniel Lloyd-Weston (free, Port Vale), Keith Lowe (free, Hereford United), Steve Elliott (unattached), Shaun Jeffers (loan, Coventry City), Robin Shroot (loan, Birmingham City), Marlon Pack (loan, Portsmouth)

Out: Lee Ridley (free, Grimsby Town), Shane Duff (undisclosed, Bradford City)

Chesterfield

In: Simon Ford (free, Kilmarnock), Jack Hunt (loan, Huddersfield Town), Scott Griffiths (loan, Peterborough United), Dean Morgan (unattached)

Out: Martin Gritton (loan, Torquay United)

Crewe Alexandra

In: Steve Phillips (free, Bristol Rovers), Rhys Taylor (loan, Chelsea)

Out: James Bailey (undisclosed, Derby County), John Brayford (undisclosed, Derby County), Adam Legzdins (undisclosed, Crewe Alexandra)

Gillingham

In: Stefan Payne (free, Fulham), Andy White (free, Reading), Danny Spiller (unattached), Lance Cronin (unattached), Adebayo Akinfewa (unattached), Matt Lawrence (unattached)

Out: Simon Royce (free, Brentford), Stuart Lewis (undisclosed, Dagenham & Redbridge), Adam Miller (free, Cambridge), Rashid Yussuff (free, AFC Wimbledon), Simeon Jackson (undisclosed, Norwich City)

Hereford United

In: James Kovacs (free, Luton Town), Sean Canham (unattached), Stuart Fleetwood (undisclosed, Charlton Athletic), O’Neil Thompson (loan, Barnsley), Sam Malsom (unattached), Michael Townsend (unattached), Dan Stratford (unattached), Lee Morris (unattached), Mike Williams (unattached), Joe Colbeck (free, Oldham Athletic)

Out: Marc Pugh (undisclosed, Bournemouth), Darren Jones (undisclosed, Aldershot), Gavin McCallum (undisclosed, Lincoln City), Keith Lowe (free, Cheltenham Town)

Lincoln City

In: Gavin McCallum (undisclosed, Hereford United), Albert Jarrett (free, Barnet), Delroy Facey (unattached), Jamie Clapham (unattached), Ben Hutchinson (loan, Celtic), Adifane Noussoura (unattached)

Out: Rob Burch (free, Notts County), Danny Hone (loan, Darlington)

Macclesfield Town

In: Lewis Chalmers (free, Aldershot), Sean Wedgbury (unattached), Matthew Hamshaw (unattached), Jason Beardsley (unattached)

Out: Jonny Brain (free, Yeovil Town)

Morecambe

In: Paul Scott (free, Bury), Phil Jevons (unattached), Andy Fleming (undisclosed, Wrexham), Chris McCready (free, Northampton Town), Stuart Hendrie (undisclosed, Atherstone Town, Lawrie Walker (unattached)

Out: Scott Davies (free, Fleetwood)

Northampton Town

In: Nathaniel Wedderburn (free, Stoke City), Tadhg Purcell (free, Darlington), John Johnson (undisclosed, Middlesbrough), Marcus Hall (unattached), Oscar Jansson (loan, Tottenham)

Out: Chris McCready (free, Morecambe)

Oxford United

In: Matt Green (undisclosed, Torquay United), Simon Heslop (free, Barnsley), Mitchell Cole (undisclosed, Stevenage Borough), Jake Wright (free, Brighton), Leigh Franks (loan, Huddersfield Town), Danny Philliskirk (loan, Chelsea), Josh Payne (loan, Doncaster Rovers), Tom Craddock (undisclosed, Luton Town)

Out: Jamie Cook (free, Crawley)

Port Vale

In: Gary Roberts (unattached), Abdulai Bell-Baggie (loan, Reading)

Out:

Rotherham United

In: Marcus Marshall (free, Blackburn Rovers), Ryan Cresswell (undisclosed, Bury), Luke Ashworth (free, Leyton Orient), Tom Newey (free, Bury), Johnny Mullins (unattached), Tom Elliott (loan, Leeds), Exodus Geohaghon (loan, Peterborough United), Dean Holden (loan, Shrewsbury)

Out: Ian Sharps (free, Shrewsbury), Pablo Mills (free, Crawley)

Shrewsbury Town

In: Ian Sharps (free, Rotherham United), David Raven (unattached), Matt Harrold (unattached), Sean McAllister (unattached), Ben Smith (unattached), Lionel Ainsworth (undisclosed, Huddersfield Town)

Out: Kelvin Langmead (undisclosed, Peterborough United), Dean Holden (loan, Rotherham United)

Southend United

In: Mohsni Bilel (unattached), Craig Easton (unattached), Ryan Hall (undisclosed, Bromley), Blair Sturrock unattached), Sofiene Zaaboub (unattached), Sean Clohessy (free, Bath), Glenn Morris (unattached), Graham Coughlan (unattached), Rhys Evans (unattached), Louie Soares (unattached)

Out: Damian Scannell (free, Dagenham & Redbridge), Steve Mildenhall (free, Milwall), Simon Francis (35k, Charlton Athletic), Franck Moussa (free, Leicester City), Stuart O’Keefe (free, Crystal Palace), Chris Barker (free, Plymouth Argyle)

Stevenage Borough

In: Luke Foster (unattached), Peter Winn (free, Scunthorpe United), Robbie Sinclair (free, Salisbury)

Out: Mitchell Cole (undisclosed, Oxford United)

Stockport County

In: Barry Conlon (unattached), Mark Lynch (unattached), George Donnelly (loan, Plymouth Argyle, Mansour Assoumani (unattached), Jamie Proctor (loan, Preston North End)

Out: Michael Rose (free, Swindon Town)

Torquay United

In: Billy Kee (free, Leicester City), Lloyd Macklin (free, Swindon Town), Guy Branston (free, Burton Albion), Martin Gritton (loan, Chesterfield)

Out: Matt Green (undisclosed, Oxford United)

Wycombe Wanderers

In: Nikki Bull (free, Brentford), Danny Foster (free, Brentford), Ben Strevens (free, Brentford), Kieran Murtagh (free, Yeovil Town), Scott Rendell (undisclosed, Peterborough United), Alan Bennett (free, Brentford), Marvin McCoy (undisclosed, Wealdstone)

Out: John Mousinho (free, Stevenage Borough), Craig Woodman (undisclosed, Brentford), Matt Phillips (325k, Blackpool)

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Welcome to the review of this weeks League Two action. After a fantastic opening weekend featuring 25 goals and plenty of action it was a more sombre second weekend in League Two featuring only 15 goals. The fixtures this weekend seemed to be matching teams of very similar ambitions and calibers and it showed, especially in the five 0-0’s which will be covered in more detail later.

As for now lets look at a few stories to be learnt in league two this week.

The idea behind this blog is to allow football fans to have one place to go to find a report on all of League Two’s fixtures and a place where League issues can be discussed by fans!

It was Carling Cup time midweek and League Two clubs had many successes, eight teams all beat higher opposition with a special mention to Shrewbury town who were 3-0 down against Charlton only to come back and win 4-3.

We have also had the Johnston Paint Trophy draw made and it is as follows

Northern section (west): Macclesfield v Morecambe, Oldham v Shrewsbury, Port Vale v Rochdale, Tranmere v Accrington.
Northern section (east): Hartlepool v Northampton, Rotherham v Lincoln, Sheffield Wednesday v Notts County, Walsall v Chesterfield.
Byes in northern section: Bradford, Burton, Bury, Carlisle, Crewe, Huddersfield, Peterborough, Stockport.
Southern section (west): Aldershot v Oxford, Bournemouth v Torquay, Southampton v Swindon, Yeovil v Exeter.
Southern section (east): Brighton v Leyton Orient, Charlton v Dagenham & Redbridge, Southend v Gillingham, Stevenage v Brentford.
Byes in southern section: Barnet, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham, Colchester, Hereford, Milton Keynes Dons, Plymouth, Wycombe.

This competition is a chance for a great day out and Wembley and I wish your club every success!

Right now to this weeks action and we start with the game of the week on paper between 2 of my promotion favorites

Port Vale and Chesterfield
Port Vale 1-1 Chesterfield – Port Vale learnt the lesson of not taking their chances as Chesterfield snatched a point with a 79th minute close range finish from Dwayne Mattis. It could of been even worse for Vale as Stuart Tomlinson had to be at his supreme best to deny Drew Talbot 5 minutes later.

This was all in stark contrast to the opening seventy minute with Vale running riot, McCombe had already seen a shot cleared off the line before the 12th minute opener from Marc Richards and Vale then proceeded to miss a host of good chances with both Marc Richards and name sake Justin both hitting the woodwork further times.

Next fixture – Port Vale: Southend United(a); Chesterfield: Hereford(h)

Aldershot 1-0 Southend United
An even contest was eventually decided by a mistake from keeper Glenn Morris which allowed Marvin Morgan to score an 81st minute winner. Southend didn’t have a shot on target for the whole 90 minutes but this was more down to wasteful finishing than lack of chances.

Louis Soares was one of the guilty party missing from close range in the second half but to mull over missed chances would be doing Aldershot an injustice as they worked hard for this victory and got the result they wanted.

Next fixture – Aldershot: Shrewsbury(a); Southend United: Port Vale(h)

Barnet 0-0 Burton Albion
An awful game saw Barnet earn their first point of the 2010/2011 season. The game had two highlights, the first being a great turn and shot from Ricky Holmes forcing Ledzdins, in the Burton goal, into an excellent save. The other being a disallowed goal from Burton’s Darren Moore for a, rightly given, foul on the keeper. This was certainly a fixture better missed.

Next fixtures – Barnet: Crewe(a); Burton’0-0′Albion: Morecambe(h)

Bradford 1-0 Stevenage
A 32 minute penalty from Gareth Evans was enough to subject Stevenage to their first ever league defeat. This however was a grave injustice on the visitors who not only deserved not to lose but deserved to win at a canter but as it was Stevenage paid for Yemi Odubade, John Mousinho, Scott Laird and substitute Peter Winn to name just a few for spurning chances.

A sign of Stevenages dominance was their 17 total shots to the home sides 3.

Next Fixture – Bradford: Torquay(a); Stevenage: Stockport(h)

Cheltenham 3-2 Crewe
Cheltenham overcame the setback of conceding early to win a thoroughly entertaining fixture. Patrick Ada’s fantastic early volley was cancelled out by an alert Wesley Thomas who was first to react from a save and then the same player reacted quickest again to give Cheltenham a deserved half time lead.

Within 5 minutes of the second half Calvin Zola had rocketed in an equalizer but Jeff Goulding from a sharp turn let loose a low drive which proved to be a winner for Cheltenham. Crewe pushed and pushed late on but a fine point-blank save by Scott Brown from a Miller header and an attempted cross from Westwood hitting the post denied them the equalizer they chased for and gave Cheltenham a deserved win.

Next Fixture – Cheltenham: Rotherham(a); Crewe: Barnet(h)

Hereford 0-0 Gillingham
An entertaining fixture where both teams will feel they could of won but at the same time will admit a draw was a fair result. The most notable chances were Chris Palmers’ two long range shots for the visitors, with one being tipped over and the other rattling the woodwork.

The home teams best chance fell to their captain, Jason Kovacs, who will think he should of done better when receiving a flick on from Bulls striker Sean Canham.

Next fixture – Hereford: Chesterfireld(a); Gillingham: Lincoln City(h)

Lincoln 0-2 Torquay
871 minutes have now passed since Torquay United last conceded a league goal and in truth had very little scares of that ever being at threat in this match. Torquay started the better and were rewarded with Elliot Benyon heading in a goal from a free kick by Kevin Nicholson.

Lincoln had a goal disallowed for offside but it was just a matter of time before Torquay scored again and it was no surprise to see Elliot Benyon score his second, converting a Chris Zebrowski cross. Delroy Facey made Scott Brown earn his clean sheet bonus late on but this was a comfortable win for the early table toppers.

Next fixture – Lincoln: Gillingham(a); Torquay: Bradford(h)

Macclesfield 0-1 Shrewbury
Matt Harolds third minute goal was all that was needed to beat a spirited but lacking Macclesfield Town. After the goal Shrewsbury sat back and soaked up all the pressure Macclesfield threw at them. Macclesfield lacked the creation of an experienced professional to undo the defense right until the death where Hamza Bencherif had a shot cleared off the line.

Macclesfields youngsters will gain from this experience and to the crowds credit they never once went against there team. All that said Shrewsbury were impressive and after there amazing cup performance during the week Graham Turner will be very happy.

Next fixtures – Macclesfield Town: Accrington Stanley(a); Shrewbury: Aldershot(h)

Morecambe 0-0 Rotherham
An engaging match was played out in front of 3,258 fans who right till the very end weren’t sure if their team would win lose or draw. Morcambe had good first half chances wasted by Phil Jevons and Adam Rundle and also hit the woodwork through Chris McCready, Rotherham had 9 shots in target and out of those 9 the closest they came to winning was late on when Barry Roche became Morecambes hero keeping out a superb Kevin Ellison effort!

Next Fixture – Morcambe: Burton Albion(a); Rotherham: Cheltenham(h)

Northampton 0-0 Accrington Stanley
Accrington’s plan of playing for a point frustrated Northampton Town, who couldn’t reproduce the form which saw them beat Brighton during mid-week. Accrington didn’t have any effort at goal of any note and for the most denied Northampton of any.

Northampton did break the Accrington defense down on one occasion where Bill McKay was sent through one on one with the goalkeeper but he wasted the opportunity. A game quickly forgotten by everyone who watched and I think everyone in attendance was glad for the final whistle to go.

Next fixture – Northampton: Bury(a); Accrington Stanley: Macclesfield(h)

Oxford United 1-2 Bury
Last seasons top scorer Rob Lowe was the hero for Bury as the Shakers gained their first win of the season. After United’s 6-1 victory midweek expectation was very high but both teams failed to gain a foothold early on and it wasn’t till Bury took the lead through Tom Lees did the game spark into any life.

Within two minutes Oxford were level through Jack Midson. Half chances then began to ebb and flow for either side with the feeling that Oxford were slightly on top but when it seemed both teams were just starting to settle for the draw Lowes 79th minute winner was scored.

Next fixture – Oxford United: Wycombe(a); Bury: Northampton(h)

Stockport County 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers
The fifth 0-0 of in the division out of this weeks fixtures was one sided and should of resulted in a Stockport victory but unfortunately what seems a common theme this week it didn’t materialize. Stockport wasted a a host of glorious chances and a goal was the only thing that lacked from a strong home performance.

George Donnelly had the home sides best chance being sent clean through but failed to put the finishing touch to a good move. Wycombe rarely threatened but John Paul-Pittman had a half chance with a header which would of been strongly against the run of play.

As it was 0-0 it finished.

Next fixture – Stockport: Stevenage(a), Wycombe Wanderers: Oxford United(h)

So there we have all that has happened over this weekend in League Two. My personal pick for next weekends action is Southend at home to Port Vale. I look forward to seeing a goal in a Burton League game this season. I also look forward to Accrington attacking next week.
For the betting people out there next weeks certainties are Gillingham, Lincoln are real relegation candidates on this form and will struggle to improve enough to win away from home at Priestfield stadium.

For the people who like outside bets, I would stick a small amount on draws in the games involving Southend, Shrewsbury, Bury and Burton.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

With the World Cup in the rearview mirror, that means that new seasons are within sight, and it also means that the summer transfer season is in full swing. And as has been the case in each transfer window over the last few years, Soccerlens is here with daily coverage of the summer transfer window, so even while you’re busy following the goings-on in South Africa, you can still get your transfer kicks.

Along with transfer roundups through the week and on the weekends, we have regularly updated transfer lists from several of Europe’s top leagues.

English Premier League Transfers (Updated: 27 August)
English Championship Transfers (Updated: 27 August)
English League One Transfers (Updated: 27 August)
English League Two Transfers (Updated: 25 August)
La Liga Transfers (Updated: 27 August)
Serie A Transfers (Updated: 27 August)
Bundesliga Transfers (Updated: 27 August)
Ligue 1 Transfers (Updated: 27 August)
Scottish Premier League Transfers (Updated: 27 August)

These lists are updated on a regular basis with all of the latest confirmed transfers, so when your favorite club wraps up signing, whether it’s an expected one or a surprise one, you can count on it being in there.

Your assistance to make these lists as accurate and in-depth as possible is appreciated and encouraged, so if there are any transfers that we miss (or any specifics, like type and amount), don’t hesitate to let us know.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

If we took Chelsea’s wins over Sunderland, Aston Villa and Stoke City in isolation, we would be amazed that the Premier League title race should be alive in the final 90 minutes of the season. Carlo Ancelotti’s side have been thrilling to watch on occasion, but an apparent vulnerability in routine games and a tendency to slip up where they shouldn’t has allowed the competition to continue for much longer than perhaps it might have.

Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba, along with one or two others, have been in phenomenal form. Lampard has quietly gone about being world class this term, chipped in with the usual prolific goalscoring, and yet somehow escaped the hype which has surrounded himself and Steven Gerrard throughout their careers. It points to a player that is, finally, comfortable with his own brilliance. Malouda has been a revelation, contributing so well that his many critics – myself included – are queuing up to praise his abilities.

Chelsea, though, haven’t been able to streak away from their rivals. Inter aside, their focus in high-pressure matches is machine-like. Sometimes, as they did against Stoke, they demolish lesser teams. Others, teams are contained efficiently and then sucker-punched. And yet it just seems as if Chelsea sometimes let matches pass them by when the pressure is off.

That has allowed Manchester United and Arsenal to stay in touch. Arsenal must be cursing their injury record and lack of a goalscorer, having fallen away with a few weeks to spare. United, arguably still being rebuilt into a team which can collectively replace Cristiano Ronaldo, have relied heavily upon Wayne Rooney and veteran midfielders Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Had Chelsea been at their best more often, United would have been seen off weeks ago.

For my money, Chelsea are easily the best team in England. They must beat Wigan Athletic, one of the teams that has caught them napping this season, at home to win the title. United host Stoke and both title hopefuls should win on Sunday, handing Chelsea the trophy.

Further down the league, Peter Crouch’s late goal on Wednesday gave Tottenham Hotspur a win at Manchester City and they are now assured of fourth place. Securing a Champions League qualifying spot is some achievement for Harry Redknapp, but Liverpool and Man City will be gunning to take them down a peg next season.

In the pod this week, we’re joined by Tim Morgan, the CEO of Picklive, to discuss all of the goings on in the Premier League, as well taking a quick look back at Fulham’s Europa League semi-final win over Hamburg and Liverpool’s exit. There’s our usual look at Major League Soccer, in which I acknowledge the midweek results and then proceed to forget that they happened when predicting this weekend’s results, and “middle to top to bottom” look at the final weekend in the Football League. Can Exeter City stay up? Only time will tell – come on you Grecians!

Finally, are you a football blogger in or near London? Do you like pies and beer? Then allow me to point you in the direction of the Socrates football bloggers meetup. Sponsored by Tim and Picklive, the event was founded by TFT alongside The Onion Bag and Some People Are On The Pitch. Our fourth get-together will take place next Wednesday, 12th May, in Vauxhall. We’ll be talking football and watching Fulham take on Atletico Madrid in Hamburg. Click on the link to sign up.

Please leave your comments below, follow us on Twitter, be our fan on Facebook and send your questions and comments to twofootedtackle[at]googlemail[dot]com – we also want audio contributions to the show, so feel free to get in touch about that.

Have a great week.

You can listen to this week’s episode below:
Download link (mp3, 44mb, 65 mins)

From Soccerlens.com - Football News