It will be Premier League match time again at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea get set to host Manchester City in match week 30 on Saturday, March 19.

The game will be the second of a two-legged contest; the first, hosted by Manchester City on September 26, 2010, ended 1-0 in the hosts’ favour. City’s talismanic striker Tevez scored the solitary goal of the game, on the hour, to hand the champions their first defeat of the season.

On the day City showed efficiency rather than flair; their defence was impressive as they closed out the spaces thereby preventing Chelsea from finding scoring opportunities. That said, Chelsea were off-colour, especially in midfield, where any creative move was thwarted by three holding midfielders employed by Mancini. As a result, the Chelsea forwards did not get continual service; added to that, their main striker, Drogba, was well below his best. That led Ancelotti to withdraw his star striker after the interval, a decision that would have been unthinkable, earlier in the season.

Eventually, the game turned out to much less than exciting than its billing, especially the first half, considering that it was a clash of the two richest teams of the Premiership, both overflowing with marquee names. The game was akin to two heavyweights sizing up each other. City deserves praise for dominating a midfield comprising the likes of Essien and Mikel, with Gareth Barry turning out to be the stand out performer on the day. Kompany and Kolo Toure underscored their credentials as the best centre-halves in the business, while Silva combined well with Tevez and could turn out to be the most exciting prospect for City on their campaign trail.

Head to head, Chelsea hold a 14-4 advantage in the last 20 league games played between the sides, with the remaining 2 matches drawn.

In their last 10 league games, Chelsea have registered 5 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses; Manchester City have won 5 of their last 10, while losing 2 and drawing the remaining 3. Of their 13 home games this season, Chelsea have won 9, while having drawn and lost 2 each, while Manchester City have won 6 of their 14 games on the road, while losing and drawing 4 each.

In match week 29, Chelsea won 3-2 away at Blackpool; Manchester City won 1-0 against Wigan at home. On current form, Chelsea can expect a tough fight from Manchester City, despite the Stamford Bridge squad’s home advantage.

Chelsea’s starting eleven against Blackpool had the following players: Cech, Bosingwa, David Lutz, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Zhirkov, Drogba and Torres. Kalou, Malouda and McEachran featured as substitutes.

Manchester City had the following men in their starting eleven against Wigan: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, Vieira, Barry, Silva, Y Toure, Balotelli and Tevez. Kolarov, Dzeko and De Jong were used as substitutes.

The Premier League had its earliest beginnings in an previous league, that was known as the Football League. The League first began in 1888. This league basically consisted of competitions between professional football clubs from all over Wales and England. As it began in 1888, it is considered to be the oldest competition in World Football.

The Football League was the highest football league in England from its beginning until 1992. Since 1995 until the present day, there are 72 clubs in the Football League, that break down into three divisions, League One, League Two and the Championship. One feature of the league is to give the top Championship clubs the opportunity to change places with the lowest ranked clubs from the Premiership.

It was the work of William McGregor,a director at Aston Villa, who first suggested the creation of a league competition to supply a number of fixtures for the club membership each season.

The meeting that started it all was held in London, on the very night of the Football Association Cup, in London at the Anderson Hotel, March 23, 1888. The Football League was officially formed and named at the Royal Hotel in Manchester on April 17, 1888.

By 1992, the resignation of the First Division clubs occurred when they sought to take an opportunity of a television rights deal. So then the Premiership was created on May 27, 1992. After 104 years the Football league was in for a change. A league that operated with four divisions, now was change to a Premier League and the Football League had three.

The competition format stayed the same, the regulation and promotion between the Premiership was put in place, and there was no change in competition format. The same number of teams competed in the top flight, and promotion and relegation between the Premier League and the new First Division remained on the same terms as between the old First and Second Divisions.

There have been seven steadfast clubs with membership since the very beginning of the Premiership competition for every single season. This group consists of Aston Villa, Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur.

While the League had been known as FA Premier League for many years, the name was changed in 2007 to just the Premier League. It is also commonly referred to as the Premiership.

Premiership Trivia

The record for the largest number of Premier League appearances is held by David James, beating the record of appearances made by Gary Speed in February of 2009.

Brian Deane, playing for Sheffield United scored the very first goal in the Premier League against Manchester United.

The all time record amount of transfer in the history of the sport involved a Premier League club selling Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 to Manchester United for the sum of £80 million from Real Madrid.

Last season was one of the most exciting in years, with some incredibly close battles at the top, and some nail biting matches at the bottom, with two teams being relegated on the last game of the season, with Manchester United topping the table by just two points. In terms of changes of teams, last season Derby County, Birmingham City and Reading all dropped in to the Championship, with Hull City, West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City all being promoted.

So, who is going to win the Premier League in the 2008-09 season? Well, that’s a good question, and it is probably going to be extremely close. Manchester United are the favourites to win the title again, with Sir Alex Ferguson still in charge, but Tottenham Hotspur are being marked as underdogs who may succeed, and they will certainly be pushing for a Champions League spot at the very least, following a disappointing season in the last campaign. Spurs rivals Arsenal are also looking menacing, with the possibility of striker Eduardo coming back to football after that horrific injury last season. Liverpool will also be keen to impress, after a rather uninspiring season last time round.

The teams that look most likely to face the drop are actually the teams who have just come up. West Brom are the most likely to stay in the Premier League out of the three teams, having recent top flight football experience, and having an impressive season in which they won the Championship. Hull City will probably be the team who fails, after never being in the Premier League before, with Stoke City’s last taste of top flight football being twenty four years ago in the old Division One.

We should all, as usual, expect the unexpected though, as this is football, and anything can happen.

Manchester United thrashed Blackburn Rovers 7-1 at Old Trafford in this Premier League match. Dimitar Berbatov was the star of the game as he scored five goals for United.

Berbatov joined three other players who hold the record for the most goals scored by a player in a Premier league match. Alan Shearer, Andy Cole and Jermain Defoe have also scored five goals in a Premier league match for their respective clubs.

The result puts Manchester United at the top of the Premier League for the first time this season, and United are now unbeaten after 15 games, their best start to a season since 1985.

Berbatov who had failed to score in his previous 10 matches for the Reds had come under an increasing amount of criticism; since his £31 million transfer from Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 he has rarely shown such outstanding form. The Bulgarian now stands as the Premier league’s top scorer this season with a total of 11 goals.

United took a 1-0 lead after just 71 seconds of the game, as Berbatov scored his first, and the match was over as a contest after just half an hour as he added his second goal either side of a Ji-Sung Park effort, to give the Reds a 3-0 half-time lead

Berbatov completed his hat-trick, his second of the season, just after the start of the second half, the victory now wasn’t in doubt, the only question remaining was how many they would score. The thousands of United fans who had come to watch Wayne Rooney score his first goal of the season were disappointed, but his contribution to the game was good, the understanding and linking play between the two players was obvious for all to see.

Rooney, who looked set to leave the club just a few weeks ago, was given a good reception by the fans, and they chanted his name constantly throughout the match.

Blackburn, who were poor from the outset, went from bad to worse, as Berbatov scored two more goals, and he could easily have scored six if it wasn’t for a great save from Rover’s goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Nani scored the 5th United goal and Berbatov completed the rout, with Christopher Samba scoring a late consolation goal for the visitors. The Reds scored 7 goals in a league match for the first time since the 2000 season, when they beat West Ham 7-1.

Blackburn were as poor as Manchester United were good, but the pressure is now on Chelsea, who have lost three of their last four league matches and visit Newcastle United this afternoon

In a follow up to yesterday’s account of Portsmouth’s first Championship triumph, here is the story of the retaining of the title the following season. Once again, much is taken from Colin Farmery’s account of those glory years.

There were few changes to the Championship winning team, Portsmouth’s books actually revealing a credit balance on transfers of £16,400! The Champions started the season well enough with a 3-1 win at Newcastle United, but were up and down after that. There was a defeat at home to Stanley Matthews’ Blackpool, interspersed with a 5-1 win at Middlesbrough and a 7-0 thrashing of Everton at Fratton Park. On 1st October league leaders Wolves visited Fratton Park, and for the first and only time. more than 50,000 spectators crammed into the ground for a league game. A 1-1 draw left Pompey in seventh, but only three points behind Wolves. The title race was to remain tight for the rest of the season.

Large scale merchandising was still a thing of the future in those days and in the 15th October Football Mail, Pompey Championship ties were advertised at Landports Drapery (which later became Allders). Portsmouth didn’t have a club shop until the late 1960s and the only items visible in club colours amongst the crowd tended to be scarves and rosettes. But one supporter of the time, Cyril Lucas, recalls that the absence of large scale commercialism aded to the sense of occasion on match day. ‘When I stood on the north terrace opposite the tunnel, I couldn’t wait until the players came up the tunnel. I was just so full of pride when I saw those royal blue shirts and that star and crescent badge. That shirt was only worn by the eleven players – no-one else wore it, unlike the replica shirts you see these days – and you wouldn’t see it again until the next match. It was Pompey’s pride and glory and a huge cheer went up when the players ran out.’

Even the players had to supplement their wages! Eleven of them commissioned photographers to take individual and team photos, which were then sold privately to supporters and through newspapers.

Pompey continued to be up and down, and a feature of the season was that the team was far more unsettled than in the previous campaign. More players were used, and more than one found themselves making their solitary Pompey appearance as they covered for injuries.

Portsmouth were drawn against Third Division (South) Norwich City in the FA Cup third round and underperformed in the Fratton Park tie, drawing 1-1. In another example of how similar football fans are both then and now, consider this letter to the Football mail in the aftermath of the game. ‘I think this was a disgusting show for a first division team. Almost 20 years at the Park and I have never seen anything like it…If Pompey want to make a show in the Cup or league they have to go out and buy a couple of forwards in my opinion. I reckon Pompey are the meanest club of all divisions for paying out, and may I finish up, If Pompey do not win on Thursday (the replay), my old woman will be having more of my company on Saturday afternoons in the future.’ As I said, nothing changes!

Going into March, four points separated the top seven with Pompey in fourth behind Manchester United, Liverpool, and Sunderland. Portsmouth continued to stutter, losing 2-1 at Derby with Jimmy Scoular sent off. This was a huge incident in the days when it was extremely difficult to even receive a booking, and the issue hung over Pompey for weeks before the relevant FA committee was due to meet to discuss punishment. But, it seemed to be the title that nobody wanted to win as other teams also dropped points.

Going into the crucial game against leaders Manchester United at Old Trafford on 15th April, four points separated the top six, with Pompey lying third, a point behind the leaders. Reid and Froggatt scored in the last six minutes for a priceless 2-0 win. Second placed Sunderland lost at home to Manchester City. Pompey were now in pole position with three games to go, and could become the first club to retain the Championship since Arsenal’s hat-trick of titles was completed in 1935.

Pompey won their next game against Liverpool, and results that day showed that one win from two was now required to retain the Championship. The next game was at Highbury, never a happy hunting ground. Pompey had never won there at the time, and slumped to a 2-0 defeat. But the maths still held and a win in the final match at home to Aston Villa would be enough, barring an improbable 20 goal haul by Wolves in their last match.

This was the era of goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), and Pompey’s was vastly superior. From the moment they scored after 20 seconds of the game at Fratton Park, the result was never in doubt and they ran out 5-1 winners. The Championship was retained. The next team to achieve the feat was Manchester United’s Busby Babes in 1957. Portsmouth had proved themselves the best team in the country.

Despite this, the press failed to recognise the achievement. Alex James of the Daily Express, a distinguished former Arsenal striker, reserved his choice of team of the year for Second Division Champions Tottenham Hotspur. ‘Don’t think I’m knocking Pompey,’ he said, ‘it takes a wonderful side to win the league championship two years running.’ He evidently considered it more wonderful to win the Second Division once than to win the First twice!

That reminds me, I must catch up on the latest installment of ‘Pompeygate’.

Soccer is one of the most popular sports around the world today. For many becoming a professional soccer play is a long and dedicated goal, which requires many things. One of these things is appropriate quality equipment. There are many styles of goals which can work well for the novice soccer player, all the way up to those headed for the professional leagues. Soccer is a sport that is just as versatile as its players.

For those novice players simply getting underway, many starter systems are available on the market. One example of a reputable and highly recommended system would be the Pugg training portable goal set. This system includes two four-foot goals and a carrying bag, and is ideal for use in playgrounds, parks and even backyards. The Pugg system is easy to install and set up, and can quickly break down for easy storage. This is especially beneficial quick dismantling during unexpected inclement weather.

For the player who practices in solitary and with great dedication, Goal Sport source carries a rebounding soccer goal system. The goal measures 6 feet by 8 feet and contains webbing made of elastic for ball return. This system will dismantle and fold away for easy storage, and weighs a modest fifty-eight pounds. Adults may need to assist smaller children with assembly and dismantling.

Those serious players, who have set their sights on shooting for a position on a national team, will benefit from the Samba Match Standard. This is a professional set up is 16 feet by 7 feet, and each goal weighs as much as 85 pounds. Such a system is made to be extremely sturdy and durable, so it can be left outside in all sorts of weather. It can also be dismantled in the off-season and properly stored. This system is used by Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea, just to name a few who have come to rely on its quality.

Any aspiring soccer enthusiast can find the right equipment to suit their individual needs. As soccer continues to grow in its popularity, so does the range of different types of soccer athletes. There are many on-line resources available to help each athlete learn more about what might be best for their needs, as well as many retail stores have trained staff people that can also help with the decision process.

There have been many reasons for Arsenal fans to celebrate over the years and there is usually a vintage Arsenal football shirt to commemorate these achievements. A cabinet full of trophies have been won during the reigns of George Graham and Arsene Wenger, but let us not forget the great Arsenal teams from the past, who also won their fair share of trophies as well, and did it wearing awesome looking Arsenal retro shirts.

When you think of a vintage Arsenal football shirt you will naturally imagine the red shirt with white sleeves, made famous by the likes of Pat Rice, Charlie George and the incredible Liam Brady. However, it might be a surprise to find out that many of the Arsenal retro shirts from the past were not variations of this red and white strip at all.

Below we take a look at three Arsenal retro shirts from the club’s glorious past.

Arsenal 1971 Double Winners shirt

Having won the League title by beating their North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal faced Liverpool in the 1971 FA Cup Final knowing that a victory would earn them the coveted «Double», a feat that had been achieved for the first time in 1961, by Spurs. The game was won by the Gunners, 2-1 after extra time, with Charlie George scoring the winner.

In the away colours of yellow and blue, this really is a great looking Arsenal football shirt, featuring the club’s cannon logo, which has a little picture of the FA Cup above it. These Arsenal retro shirts look cool with a pair of jeans and is a must buy for any Gunners fan.

Arsenal 1970’s long sleeve shirt

These Arsenal retro shirts are far more in the style you would expect from a vintage Arsenal football shirt. It was the red body with long white sleeves that was the home kit for most of the decade, with the only real change being the v-neck getting replaced by a round neck design.

Amongst the many legends who wore this shirt, perhaps the best loved was Liam Brady, the Republic of Ireland star who made 235 appearances for the club, between 1973 and 1980, scoring 43 goals.

Arsenal 1989 Championship shirt

These Arsenal retro shirts were of course made famous by that infamous game against Liverpool, in 1989, without doubt the most exciting moment ever in Arsenal’s history. Arsenal needed to win the game by 2 clear goals, in order to clinch the title from Liverpool and achieved «Mission Impossible» at Anfield when Michael Thomas, wearing number 4, scored in the 89th minute. Again this is a yellow away shirt, but this one has navy blue sleeves and is sponsored by JVC.

Teddy Sheringham is thought by many to be one of Manchester United’s best signings after arriving at the club in 1997. United legend Eric Cantona had just left the Reds after his shock decision to retire from football, and at 31 years of age, Sheringham certainly had a tough act to follow.

Unfortunately Sheringham didn’t make the best of starts for Manchester United, following his £3.5 million transfer from Tottenham Hotspur, it was Spurs that he faced as he made his debut for the Reds. Constantly jeered throughout the game by the White Hart Lane crowd, Sheringham took a penalty, a role he had assumed from Cantona, but he missed the spot kick, much to the delight of the home fans, although United went onto to win the game with two late goals.

During his first year at the club, the 1997-98 season finished without a trophy for United, although Sheringham scored 14 goals during the season.

At the beginning of the 1998-99 season there was much speculation that Sheringham would leave the club after United signed Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa. Although he remained at the club, his first team opportunities were limited, although he did make enough appearances to secure a league title winners medal as the Reds secured the Premier League title, Sheringham scored 5 goals despite his limited appearances.

After a mediocre season, no-one could have anticipated the impact Sheringham would make as United went onto to clinch an amazing treble. After beating Arsenal to the League title by a single point, United faced Newcastle in the FA Cup Final and although initially starting on the substitutes bench, Sheringham was called to replace the injured Roy Keane after just eight minutes. Within 90 seconds of coming onto the pitch he scored United’s first goal and they eventually won the game 2-0 to secure their second trophy of the season.

Sheringham again started on the bench for the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, after trailing for much of the game 1-0, he scored a crucial equaliser one minute into injury time at the end of the game, United went onto to win 2-1 in one of the most memorable nights in their history. As the Reds secured an amazing treble, Sheringham had secured his first winners medals of his career.

Along with strikers Ole Solskjaer, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, during the 1999-2000 season Manchester United had the most formidable strike force in the country, as they went onto to win the Premier league by 18 points and scored 97 goals during the process.

The 2000-01 season Sheringham scored 15 goals in 29 league games, as United secured their third consecutive Premier league title, even at the age of 35 his impressive form continued consistently throughout the season and he was rewarded with the Player of the year award.

The signing of Ruud Van Nistelrooy signalled the end of Teddy Sheringham’s Manchester United career and he returned to Tottenham on a free transfer, after 104 appearances and scoring 31 goals for the Reds, he had become a true United legend.

Another poor weekend for Chelsea saw them lose at Birmingham, when Lee Bowyer scored to give Birmingham a 1-0 victory and condemn Chelsea to their third league defeat in four matches.

Chelsea’s performance was a vast improvement to that against Sunderland, when they lost 0-3, and they were unlucky not to score thanks mainly to great goal keeping from Birmingham’s Ben Foster, Didier Drogba also hit the crossbar with a great header. Thanks to Foster, some resolute and at times desperate defending, Birmingham held on for their victory. Chelsea now only top the Premier League by goal difference.

Manchester United took full advantage of Chelsea’s defeat, by beating nine man Wigan 2-0 at Old Trafford. Patrice Evra scored for the first time in three years and a second half header from Javier Hernandez secured the points as Wigan had Antolin Alcaraz and then Hugo Rodallega sent off three minutes later, to ensure United’s win was a formality when playing against nine men.

Tottenham Hotspur completed an amazing comeback in their North London derby win against Arsenal. After securing a comfortable 2-0 lead with goals from Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh Arsenal looked set for victory. A rejuvenated Tottenham emerged for the second half and goals from Gareth Bale and then a Rafael van der Vaart’s penalty levelled the scores. Younes Kaboul scored a dramatic winner five minutes before the end of the game to give Spurs a 2-3 victory, and their first win at Arsenal since 1993.

Bolton climbed into fourth place, as they demolished Newcastle 5-1. Two penalties from Kevin Davies, two goals from Johan Elmander and one from Lee Chung-Yong secured the win

Blackpool continued their great premier League form by beating Wolves 2-1 with goals from Luke Varney and Marlon Harewood and Stoke easily overcame West Brom at The Hawthorns with a 3-0 victory. Which now sees Stoke in eighth place after recording three straight victories.

Liverpool enjoyed an easy 3-0 victory over West Ham, in the evening game, as goals from Glen Johnson, Maxi Rodriguez and a Dirk Kuyt penalty, secured the win, which could have been more emphatic if it wasn’t for some great saves from Hammers goalkeeper Robert Green. The result sees West Ham rooted to the bottom of the league, while Liverpool are now in ninth place.

Manchester City’s hope of winning the Premier league this season were dealt a further blow as they could only draw with Birmingham. The draw leaves City eight points behind the league leaders Manchester United, having now played an one more game than their rivals.

City started the game positively and scored after just four minutes when a speculative shot from Carlos Tevez took a huge deflection off a Birmingham defender and into the goal. Birmingham showed great determination and were not overwhelmed by the millionaires from Manchester and the home side scored an equaliser after twenty minutes through Nikola Zigic. A serious injury to City’s Micah Richards saw a long delay before Aleksandar Kolarov curled in a free kick to restore the visitors lead, however veteran defender Patrick Vieira conceded a 77th penalty, which enabled Birmingham to share the points and left the visitors pondering over more dropped points.

Tottenham Hotspur continued their pursuit of a Champions League place for next season with a 1-0 victory over Blackburn, the win sees them within three points of big spending Chelsea, who currently occupy the all important fourth place in the league.

Liverpool played their first game without Fernando Torres, which saw a dream start for newly signed striker Luis Suarez. The new striker could quickly replace Torres as a Kop hero after he came on as a substitute to score Liverpool’s second goal in a comfortable 2-0 victory against Stoke City. Liverpool’s other new multi million pound signing Andy Carroll is likely to be absent for several weeks following an injury he sustained at former club Newcastle United.

West Ham secured a much needed victory against Blackpool, who themselves are now only four points above the relegation zone. The Hammers now move off the bottom of the table after their 3-1 win, as their perennial relegation battle continues.

Newcastle, now without top scorer Andy Carroll who left for Liverpool during the week, lost 1-0 against Fulham, and more worryingly they will now be without Shola Ameobi who sustained a fractured cheekbone and is likely to be out for at least six weeks.

Wolves lost 1-0 to Bolton at the Reebok Stadium, thanks to an injury time winner from on loan Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge. The defeat now leaves Wolves at the bottom of the Premier League having lost more games than any other team this season.