Vesselin – Football Journey

47 – 20

2	2. Egri Dózsa SC	34	19	8	7	52 – 23	51
3	Oroszlányi Bányász SK	34	18	6	10	58 – 39	49
4	Kecskeméti Dózsa	34	13	14	7	40 – 29	47
5	Győri MÁV Dunántúli AC	34	13	12	9	35 – 26	44
6	Békéscsabai Előre Spartacus SC	34	13	10	11	40 – 37	42
7	Zalaegerszegi TE	34	12	11	11	39 – 33	40
8	Pécsi Bányász	34	8	14	12	33 – 51	39
9	Debreceni VSC	34	13	10	11	44 – 37	38
10	FŐSPED Szállítók SE	34	9	10	15	30 – 42	37
11	Várpalotai Bányász SK	34	9	17	8	43 – 33	36
12	Budapesti Spartacus SC	34	8	12	14	32 – 41	36
13	Szolnoki MTE	34	10	11	13	38 – 42	35
14	Ganz-MÁVAG SE	34	7	16	11	37 – 51	34
15	Ózdi Kohász SE	34	10	9	15	34 – 48	32
16	16. BVSC	34	10	9	15	41 – 55	30
17	17. Székesfehérvári MÁV Előre SC	34	7	12	15	26 – 40	28
18	18. BKV Előre SC	34	6	12	16	20 – 42	27

November 15, 2025

England the Cups

FA Cup Final

 08 May Arsenal                  2  1  Liverpool                [aet[Wembley]

Liverpool lost in overtime.

Arsenal won their 4^th Cup and a double. Significant success: their very first double and first cup after 1950!
League Cup Final

Tottenham Hotspur        2  Aston Villa              0

Too bad Aston Villa lost the final – they played in the Third Division and if they won the League Cup would had been incredible. Yet, it was great effort.

And here are the winners: the Spurs won their first League Cup.

November 10, 2025November 10, 2025

England IV Division

League Division 4
                              P   W  D  L   F   A   W  D  L   F   A  Pts
 1. NOTTS COUNTY             46  19  4  0  59  12  11  5  7  30  24   69
 2. BOURNEMOUTH              46  16  5  2  51  15   8  7  8  30  31   60
 3. OLDHAM ATHLETIC          46  14  6  3  57  29  10  5  8  31  34   59
 4. YORK CITY                46  16  6  1  45  14   7  4 12  33  40   56
 5. Chester City             46  17  2  4  42  18   7  5 11  27  37   55
 6. Colchester United        46  14  6  3  44  19   7  6 10  26  35   54

Left to right, back row: Peter Hawkins, Eric Brookes, John Clarke, Kim Brook, John Fairbrother, Frank Large, Joe Kiernan.
Front row: Keith East, Trevor Gould, Frank Rankmore, Ray Fairfax, Dixie McNeil.

 7. Northampton              46  15  4  4  39  24   4  9 10  24  35   51
 8. Southport                46  15  2  6  42  24   6  4 13  21  33   48
 9. Exeter City              46  12  7  4  40  23   5  7 11  27  45   48
10. Workington               46  13  7  3  28  13   5  5 13  20  36   48
11. Stockport County         46  12  8  3  28  17   4  6 13  21  48   46
12. Darlington               46  15  3  5  42  22   2  8 13  16  35   45
13. Aldershot                46   8 10  5  32  23   6  7 10  34  48   45
14. Brentford                46  13  3  7  45  27   5  5 13  21  35   44
15. Crewe Alexandra          46  13  1  9  49  35   5  7 11  26  41   44
16. Peterborough United      46  14  3  6  46  23   4  4 15  24  48   43
17. Scunthorpe United        46   9  7  7  36  23   6  6 11  20  38   43
18. Southend United          46   8 11  4  32  24   6  4 13  21  42   43
19. Grimsby Town             46  13  4  6  37  26   5  3 15  20  45   43
20. Cambridge United         46   9  9  5  31  27   6  4 13  20  39   43
21. Lincoln City             46  11  4  8  45  33   2  9 12  25  38   39
22. Newport County           46   8  3 12  32  36   2  5 16  23  49   28
23. Hartlepool United        46   6 10  7  28  27   2  2 19   6  47   28
24. Barrow                   46   5  5 13  25  38   2  3 18  26  52   22

November 7, 2025November 7, 2025

England III Division

League Division 3
                              P   W  D  L   F   A   W  D  L   F   A  Pts
 1. PRESTON NORTH END        46  15  8  0  42  16   7  9  7  21  23   61
 2. FULHAM                   46  15  6  2  39  12   9  6  8  29  29   60
 3. Halifax Town             46  16  2  5  46  22   6 10  7  28  33   56
 4. Aston Villa              46  13  7  3  27  13   6  8  9  27  33   53
 5. Chesterfield             46  13  8  2  45  12   4  9 10  21  26   51
 6. Bristol Rovers           46  11  5  7  38  24   8  8  7  31  26   51
 7. Mansfield Town           46  13  7  3  44  28   5  8 10  20  34   51
 8. Rotherham United         46  12 10  1  38  19   5  6 12  26  41   50
 9. Wrexham                  46  12  8  3  43  25   6  5 12  29  40   49
10. Torquay United           46  12  6  5  37  26   7  5 11  17  31   49
11. Swansea City             46  11  5  7  41  25   4 11  8  18  31   46
12. Barnsley                 46  12  6  5  30  19   5  5 13  19  33   45
13. Shrewsbury Town          46  11  6  6  37  28   5  7 11  21  34   45
14. Brighton & Hove Albion   46   8 10  5  28  20   6  6 11  22  27   44
15. Plymouth Argyle          46   6 12  5  39  33   6  7 10  24  30   43

Back row (left to right): P.Madden (coach), R. Jenkins, D.Cross, P.Clarke, R.Jones, T.Godfrey, J.Ashworth (Captain), C.Parry, R. Blair, R.J.Connor (Manager)

Middle row: N. Whitehead, P.Gowans, R.Downes, T.Buck, D.Butler, H.Riley, D.Ryder, G.Smith.

Front row : A. Arrowsmith, C. Simpson, K.Williams, A. Mandzuk.

16. Rochdale                 46   8  8  7  29  26   6  7 10  32  42   43
17. Port Vale                46  11  6  6  29  18   4  6 13  23  41   42
18. Tranmere Rovers          46   8 11  4  27  18   2 11 10  18  37   42
19. Bradford City            46   7  6 10  23  25   6  8  9  26  37   40
20. Walsall                  46  10  1 12  30  27   4 10  9  21  30   39
21. READING                  46  10  7  6  32  33   4  4 15  16  52   39
22. BURY                     46   7  9  7  30  23   5  4 14  22  37   37
23. DONCASTER ROVERS         46   8  5 10  28  27   5  4 14  17  39   35
24. GILLINGHAM               46   6  9  8  22  29   4  4 15  20  38   33

November 5, 2025November 5, 2025

England II Division

League Division 2
P W D L F A W D L F A Pts
1. LEICESTER CITY 42 12 7 2 30 14 11 6 4 27 16 59
2. SHEFFIELD UNITED 42 14 6 1 49 18 7 8 6 24 21 56
3. Cardiff City 42 12 7 2 39 16 8 6 7 25 25 53
4. Carlisle United 42 16 3 2 39 13 4 10 7 26 30 53
5. Hull City 42 11 5 5 31 16 8 8 5 23 25 51
6. Luton Town 42 12 7 2 40 18 6 6 9 22 25 49
7. Middlesbrough 42 13 6 2 37 16 4 8 9 23 27 48
8. Millwall 42 13 5 3 36 12 6 4 11 23 30 47
9. Birmingham City 42 12 7 2 30 12 5 5 11 28 36 46
10. Norwich City 42 11 8 2 34 20 4 6 11 20 32 44
11. Queen’s Park Rangers 42 11 5 5 39 22 5 6 10 19 31 43
12. Swindon Town 42 12 7 2 38 14 3 5 13 23 37 42
13. Sunderland 42 11 6 4 34 21 4 6 11 18 33 42
14. Oxford United 42 8 8 5 23 23 6 6 9 18 25 42
15. Sheffield Wednesday 42 10 7 4 32 27 2 5 14 19 42 36
16. Portsmouth 42 9 4 8 32 28 1 10 10 14 33 34
17. Leyton Orient 42 5 11 5 16 15 4 5 12 13 36 34
18. Watford 42 6 7 8 18 22 4 6 11 20 38 33
19. Bristol City 42 9 6 6 30 28 1 5 15 16 36 31
20. Charlton Athletic 42 7 6 8 28 30 1 8 12 13 35 30
21. BLACKBURN ROVERS 42 5 8 8 20 28 1 7 13 17 41 27
22. BOLTON WANDERERS 42 6 5 10 22 31 1 5 15 13 43 24

November 3, 2025

England I Division

According to UEFA country ranking for 1970, England was number 1

League Division 1
                              P   W  D  L   F   A   W  D  L   F   A  Pts
 
1. ARSENAL                  42  18  3  0  41   6  11  4  6  30  23   65
 
2. Leeds United             42  16  2  3  40  12  11  8  2  32  18   64

 3. Tottenham Hotspur        42  11  5  5  33  19   8  9  4  21  14   52
 
4. Wolverhampton Wanderers  42  13  3  5  33  22   9  5  7  31  32   52

 5. Liverpool                42  11 10  0  30  10   6  7  8  12  14   51

 6. Chelsea                  42  12  6  3  34  21   6  9  6  18  21   51

 7. Southampton              42  12  5  4  35  15   5  7  9  21  29   46

 8. Manchester United        42   9  6  6  29  24   7  5  9  36  42   43

 9. Derby County             42   9  5  7  32  26   7  5  9  24  28   42

10. Coventry City            42  12  4  5  24  12   4  6 11  13  26   42

11. Manchester City          42   7  9  5  30  22   5  8  8  17  20   41

12. Newcastle United         42   9  9  3  27  16   5  4 12  17  30   41

13. Stoke City               42  10  7  4  28  11   2  6 13  16  37   37

14. Everton                  42  10  7  4  32  16   2  6 13  22  44   37

15. Huddersfield Town        42   7  8  6  19  16   4  6 11  21  33   36

16. Nottingham Forest        42   9  4  8  29  26   5  4 12  13  35   36

17. West Bromwich Albion     42   9  8  4  34  25   1  7 13  24  50   35

18. Crystal Palace           42   9  5  7  24  24   3  6 12  15  33   35

19. Ipswich Town             42   9  4  8  28  22   3  6 12  14  26   34

20. West Ham United          42   6  8  7  28  30   4  6 11  19  30   34

21. BURNLEY                  42   4  8  9  20  31   3  5 13   9  32   27

22. BLACKPOOL                42   3  9  9  22  31   1  6 14  12  35   23

November 1, 2025November 1, 2025

1971

Total football arrived. It was brewing already, but the big bang happened and the herald was Ajax. Although 1972 was the greatest year of the club, in the 1970-71 season Ajax brought the new exciting and revolutionary kind of play to the front: it was the whole package – players changing positions as the game flowed, covering the whole field, defenders attacking and scoring, all of them highly technical and perfectly fit. No wonder the Dutch became everlasting darlings, fondly remembered by those who saw them. Total football finished the stagnated defensive football of the 1960s, bringing back the sheer joy of watching the game. New heroes in every sense, for it was revolutionary team not only on the pitch: long hairs, loose manners, no suits, opinionated and even arrogant young men, looking more like hippies instead of stiff workers. Even their numbers were different – no longer following the standard 1-11 numbering, Ajax players used individual constant numbers and among them the number 14 – Johan Cruiff – was God.

Ajax and total football! 1971 was great year. And Brazil finally organized state’s league championship.

September 26, 2021

Portugal I Division

First Division. No matter how good generation Portugal had – or did not have – the championship was always a matter of 2-3 teams competing at the top, leaving all others far behind. Nothing new this season…
O Elvas – hopeless outsiders and last with 14 points. But lucky – the decision to increase the league saved them well deserved relegation.
Farense – 15th with 21 points. Also saved from relegation because of the enlargement of the league.
Salgueiros – 14th with 24 points. In the relegation zone as well and also saved from going down.
Rio Ave – 13th with 25 points, but in danger of relegation. Under normal circumstances, they should have been in danger – going to the promotion/relegation tournament with the 3 second-place teams in the Second Division zones. But those weaker than Rio Ave and normally directly relegated were saved and Rio Ave was not. Weird and unfair – luckily, Rio Ave managed to win the promotion/relegation tournament and stay in the league.
Maritimo (Funchal) – 12th with 25 points. Rules were entirely against poor Rio Ave this season: Maritimo took the safe 12th position not even on better goal-difference – their record was worse than Rio Ave’s. But rules stipulated head-to-head record to be considered first in case of teams with same points. And Maritimo escaped trouble.

Portimonense – 11th with 26 points.
Academica (Coimbra) – 10th with 26 points.
Sporting (Braga) – 9th with 26 points.
Boavista – 8th with 27 points.
Varzim – 7th with 29 points. Strong season for them, even unusually strong season.

Belenenses – 6th with 30 points. A good chance for revival, if possible – because of the strong Portuguese international record Belenenses got a UEFA Cup spot.
Chaves – 5th with 33 points. Going to play in the UEFA Cup as well.
Sporting (Lisbon) – 4th with 38 points. Stronger than most of the league, but no match to the leading teams. Standing from left: Venâncio, Oceano, Duílio, Gabriel, Meade, Damas.
First row: Fernando Mendes, Zinho, Manuel Fernandes (cap), Negrete, Mário.
Vitoria (Guimaraes) – 3rd with 41 points. Battling with Sporting only, but bronze medals were great. Also UEFA Cup participant.
FC Porto – excellent season, as the title of the poster shows. May be the European campaign took its toll on the boys and they failed to win the championship. 2nd with 46 points. They had the best goal-difference: +45 and also scored most goals and shared the best defensive record: 67-22.
Benfica won yet another title. They had strong opponent, but luck had little to do with their victory: 20 wins, 9 ties, only 1 lost match (FC Porto lost 3), 51-23 goal-difference, 49 points.

September 25, 2021

Portugal II Division

Portugal – ranked 9th. One of the greatest seasons on international club level, but domestically perhaps the messy increase of the top league was the most intriguing event. The championship was dominated by two teams and behind them another two were stronger than the rest of the league. In view of that, making the top division larger hardly made any sense. However, it was going to be 20-team strong in the next season and seemingly the decision for that was taken quite late – normally, the last three teams were relegated directly to second level and the 13th went to promotion/relegation tournament with the 3 second-placed teams from the Second Division groups and the winner in it was going to play top-league football. The 13th went to this tournament, but those at the last three positions stayed in the league – in order of increasing the First Division to 20 teams, there was no relegation. Thus, weirdly, the team above direct relegation zone was the only one in danger of going down this season.
Second Division. The usual 3 groups, winners promoted, second-place teams going to promotion/relegation tournament.
Zona Norte. The usual mix of former top-league members and little known teams.
Freamunde – one of the clubs never going higher then second level. 8th with 30 points.
Gil Vicente – 3rd with 34 points. Unable to return to top league football.
Penafiel – 2nd with 37 points and going to promotion/relegation tournament.
SC Espinho – won the group with 40 points and directly promoted. 16 wins, 8 ties, 6 losses, 52-20 goal-difference.
Zona Centro.
Est. Portalegre – 13th with 27 points.
AC Marinhense – 7th with 31 points.
Feirense – 2nd and going to promotion/relegation tournament with 37 points.
Sporting Covilha – had no rivals and won the group with 45 points. 18 wins, 9 ties, 3 lost games, 40-17 goal-difference. This was great season for Covliha – not only promoted up, but champions of Second Division too – they won the tournament of the group champions after the season.
Zona Sul. The leaders were hardly challenged in any group, but here the top team was most dominant.
Uniao Madeira – 8th with 30 points.
Olhanense – 5th with 34 points.
Estrella Amadora – 2nd with 39 points and going to the promotion/relegation tournament.
Vitoria Setubal – very strong and winning the group with 48 points. 21 wins, 6 ties, 3 losses, 57-16 goal-difference. Return to First Division was the aim and was achieved. Vitoria – by name and regular season performance – should have been the champion of Second Division and they tried, but in the mini-tournament of zonal champions they lost to Sporting Covilha – on worse head-to-head results.
The tournament of champions: Espinho took the last place with 2 points: 1 win, 3 losses, 6-8. Vitoria Setubal had the best numbers, but if goal-difference counted: 2 wins, 1 tie, 1 loss, 10-8, 5 points.
Same points for Sporting Covilha – 2 wins, 1 tie, 1 loss, 5-5 goal-difference, but better head-to-head record against Vitoria made the Second Division champions.
With zonal champions going up, the promotion/relegation tournament was slightly revised in order of completing the new 20-team First Division: the top 2 teams in it were going to play top league.
Estrella Amadora (Zona Sul) was the weakest now – last with 2 points. 1 win, 5 losses, 5-9.
Feirense (Zona Centro) ended 3rd with 4 points – 1 win, 2 ties, 3 losses, 4-9.
Penafiel (Zona Norte) won 3 games, tied 1 and lost 2. 7-7 goal-difference and 7 points. Unable to win the tournament, but strong second and thus promoted. Mission accomplished – back to First Division.
Rio Ave (13th in First Division) was way too strong for second-level clubs – they won 5 games and tied 1. 11-2 goal-difference and 11 points. Frankly, it was only fair – Rio Ave was the only top-league team in danger of relegation and they finished above direct relegation zone. If the weakest were saved by fiat, why Rio Ave should go down? But they strong enough and avoided the risk.
So: going to play in the 20-team First Division – Sporting Covilha, Vitoria Setubal, SC Espinho, and Penafiel.

Author: Vesselin

Hungary II Division

Hungary I Division