Brief history of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo

Flamengo was founded on November 17, 1895 (although the club celebrates its founding every year on November 15, which is also a Brazilian national holiday) as a rowing club by José Agostinho Pereira da Cunha, Mário Spindola, Nestor de Barros, Augusto Lopes, José Félix da Cunha Meneses and Felisberto Laport.

The group used to gather at Café Lamas, in the Flamengo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, and decided to form a rowing team. Rowing was the elite sport in Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century. The young men hoped that forming a rowing club, would make them popular, with the young ladies of the city's high society.

They could only afford a used boat named "Pherusa", which had to be completely rebuilt before it could be used in competition. The team debuted on October 6, 1895 when they sailed off the Caju Point, from the Maria Angu beach, heading off to Flamengo beach. However, strong winds turned over the boat and the rowers nearly drowned. They were rescued by a fishing boat named Leal ("Loyal"). Afterwards, as the Pherusa was undergoing repairs, the boat was stolen and never again found. The group then had to save up money to buy a new boat, the "Etoile", renamed "Scyra".

On the night of November 17, the group, gathered at Nestor de Barros's manor on Flamengo beach, founded the Flamengo Rowing Group ("Grupo de Regatas do Flamengo", in Portuguese) and elected its first board and president (Domingos Marques de Azevedo). The name was changed a few weeks later to "Clube de Regatas do Flamengo" ("Flamengo Rowing Club"). The founders also decided that the anniversary of the club foundation should be celebrated on November 15, so as to coincide with the Day of the Republic, a national holiday.

Flamengo only embraced football when a group of dissatisfied players from Fluminense Football Club broke away from the club following a dispute with the board. The players (Alberto Borghert, Othon de Figueiredo Baena, Píndaro de Carvalho Rodrigues, Emmanuel Augusto Nery, Ernesto Amarante, Armando de Almeida, Orlando Sampaio Matos, Gustavo Adolpho de Carvalho, Lawrence Andrews and Arnaldo Machado Guimarães) decided to join Flamengo because Borgeth, who was the team's captain, was also a rower for Flamengo. Admittance of the new members was approved on November 8, 1911. A motion against the club taking part in football tournaments was defeated, and the members assembly officially created the football team on December 24, 1911.

The new team used to train on Russel beach, and gradually gained the support of the locals, who closely watched their practice games. The first official match was played on May 3, 1912 and is, to this day, the most spectacular victory of the club, as the team defeated Mangueira 16 to 2. The first intracity rivalry, the Flamengo vs. Fluminense aka Fla-Flu was Fla-Flu (which would eventually become one of the most famous football derbies in the world) was also played in that year, on July 7, and was won by Fluminense, by 3–2.

Brief history of Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club /ˈlɪvərpuːl/ is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool. Liverpool F.C. is one of the most successful clubs in England and has won more European trophies than any other English team with five European Cups, three UEFA Cups and three UEFA Super Cups. The club has also won eighteen League titles, seven FA Cups and a record eight League Cups.

Liverpool was founded in 1892 and joined the Football League the following year. The club has played at Anfield since its formation. The most successful period in Liverpool's history was the 1970s and '80s when Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley led the club to eleven league titles and seven European trophies.

The club's supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The first was the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 in which charging Liverpool fans caused a wall to collapse, killing 39 Juventus supporters and resulting in English clubs being banned from European competitions for five years. In the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives in a crush against perimeter fencing.

Liverpool has long-standing rivalries with neighbours Everton and with Manchester United. The team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home strip in 1964. The club's anthem is "You'll Never Walk Alone".

Because of its successful history, Liverpool is often featured when football is depicted in British culture and has appeared in a number of media firsts. The club appeared in the first edition of the BBC's Match of the Day, which screened highlights of its match against Arsenal at Anfield on 22 August 1964. The first football match to be televised in colour was between Liverpool and West Ham United, broadcast live in March 1967. Liverpool fans featured in the Pink Floyd song "Fearless", in which they sang excerpts from "You'll Never Walk Alone". To mark the club's appearance in the 1988 FA Cup Final, Liverpool released a song known as the "Anfield Rap", featuring John Barnes and other members of the squad.

A documentary drama on the Hillsborough disaster, written by Jimmy McGovern, was screened in 1996. It features Christopher Eccleston as Trevor Hicks, whose story is the focus of the script. Hicks, who lost two teenage daughters in the disaster, went on to campaign for safer stadiums and helped to form the Hillsborough Families Support Group. Liverpool features in the film The 51st State (also known as Formula 51), in which ex-hitman Felix DeSouza (Robert Carlyle) is a keen supporter of the team and the last scene takes place at a match between Liverpool and Manchester United. The club was featured in a children's television show called Scully; the plot revolved around a young boy, Francis Scully, who tried to gain a trial match with Liverpool. The show featured prominent Liverpool players of the time such as Kenny Dalglish. Liverpool made world headlines in Australia playing Melbourne Victory in a highly publicised pre-season friendly match, in front of over 95,400 spectators from all over south east Asia.

Brief history of Wigan Athletic F.C.

Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, who compete in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded in 1932, the club is the most recently formed club in the division.

They have played at the DW Stadium since 1999, sharing the stadium with rugby league club Wigan Warriors. They previously played at Springfield Park for 67 years. The club's nickname is Latics, derived from a contraction of the word "Athletic". They are the current holders of the FA Cup. They have also won the Second Division, Third Division and are two-times winners of the Football League Trophy, along with numerous regional football competitions from their time as a non-league club. The club embarked on its first European campaign during the 2013–14 season in the UEFA Europa League group stages.

One of Wigan Athletic's longest and recently forgotten rivalries was with Lancashire based club Chorley F.C., although the two clubs have not played a league game since 1971 when they were in the Northern Premier League. Since Wigan Athletic's admission to the Football League in 1978, the club has built up several rivalries, mainly with Bolton Wanderers, the club's main derby match. They also have a lesser rivalry with Preston North End. There is also a long standing issue with Wigan Rugby League which predates the club. This worsened when Latics entered the Football League in 1978 and was exacerbated in the mid-1980s when one of the then directors of the rugby club, Maurice Lindsay, made derogatory comments about the football club during a television interview. 

United's silent auction: Mata deal all done in writing so Chelsea can't move for Rooney

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Juan Mata transfer was that at no point did Manchester United and Chelsea engage in talks about the Spaniard.

There was no dialogue between club officials — not even when Chelsea entertained United at Stamford Bridge on January 19. Not once was Mata mentioned as officials dined in the directors’ box.

Instead United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward instructed the club lawyer to send a written transfer offer to Chelsea chairman and lawyer Bruce Buck last Thursday. Chelsea then replied, again in writing, with one or two changes and an agreement was reached.

Why? Because Woodward wanted to keep it strictly to the business of signing the 25-year-old, avoiding an exchange Chelsea would have wanted about Wayne Rooney.

United want to keep Rooney. Talks about a new contract have started and there is a real determination to secure the England striker’s services for the remainder of his career. Senior officials insist they will never sell to Chelsea and they hope Rooney’s excitement at the prospect of playing with Mata will make negotiations with his agent, Paul Stretford, that much easier.

It was the Rooney situation that prevented United from pursuing Mata last summer, when the club first became aware his days at Stamford Bridge might be numbered.

United knew Mata felt he had no future under Jose Mourinho and wanted to leave but at that stage Woodward was too busy rejecting a series of offers for Rooney from Chelsea.

Any approach for Mata would have been met with a demand to include Rooney in an exchange — a deal Woodward and new manager David Moyes were not prepared to entertain.

So United had to be patient, and leave it to Mata’s father and his English lawyer, Colin Pomford, to deal with Chelsea. By September 3, Chelsea had made a promise to Mata. If he remained professional but also on the sidelines under Mourinho, they would let him leave in January.

Still, however, United stayed quiet. They knew Mata wanted to come. They knew he had secured his promise. But not until Mata had something in writing did United want to act.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2546364/Uniteds-silent-auction-Mata-deal-writing-Chelsea-Rooney.html#ixzz2rZxn7Xqw

Manchester United agree club record £37m fee for Chelsea star Juan Mata

Manchester United have agreed a club record £37million fee for Chelsea's Juan Mata to ease the pain of their Capital One Cup KO.


Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho signed off on the deal following talks with club executives and Mata is expected for a medical in Manchester on Thursday.

United chief executive Ed Woodward agreed to break the club's transfer record for Mata as they attempt to salvage their season.

Seven defeats in the Barclays Premier League have left United six points off the pace in the race for fourth place - and Champions League football next season - but Mata's addition will cause a huge stir.


The Spanish playmaker, 25, trained alone in the fitness centre at Cobham on Wednesday as his team-mates prepared for Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge against Stoke City.

After the Sunderland defeat at Old Trafford, Moyes refused to talk about the Mata deal.

Mourinho had given his players two days off following their 3-1 victory over United in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday.

They returned to training on Wednesday to discover that Mata was ‘90 per cent sure’ that he would be leaving Chelsea, three years after he arrived in a £23.5m deal from Valencia.

He has not played for the club since he was substituted in the 53rd minute of their 3-0 victory at Southampton on New Year’s Day.

Mata was replaced by Oscar when the score was still 0-0 and he ignored Mourinho as he walked off the field at St Mary’s. Mata then kicked a plastic chair in the technical area in frustration and team-mates had to calm him down.

After the game Mourinho claimed the door was open for any player who wanted to leave and Mata was one of them.

He believes he will be given a fresh start at United and it’s a huge statement of intent by the champions after an indifferent first season under new manager David Moyes.

Mata, who was Chelsea’s player of the year for the past two seasons, will sign a lengthy contract at United when he has completed his medical.

United believe they have signed a world class player and he is expected to make his debut for the club against Cardiff on Tuesday.


Providing Mata passes his medical, he will be free to play his first game in front of 76,000 supporters at Old Trafford.

Chelsea may decide to spend the Mata money quickly, and were vying with Liverpool to sign Basle’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah on Wednesday night. Chelsea are also keen on Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa.


While Radamel Falcao at Monaco is still on the Stamford Bridge club’s list, he has suffered a serious knee injury that could rule him out for six months.

Mata is determined to push through the move and Mourinho is understood to have accepted that he wants to leave in search of first-team football.

The midfielder has concerns about his inclusion in Spain’s World Cup squad this summer if he is not playing regularly for his club side and Moyes will give him that opportunity as he starts building a team for the future.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2544274/Every-cloud-Despite-cup-KO-United-agree-club-record-37m-fee-Chelsea-star-Mata.html#ixzz2rBk9JDNk

Moyes dodges questions on Mata transfer

David Moyes refused to answer questions on Manchester United's rumoured approach for Juan Mata following their League Cup exit on Wednesday.

The Spain international, Chelsea's player of the year for the past two seasons, has been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford after falling out of favour following the return of Jose Mourinho as manager.

Media reports on Wednesday suggested a fee in the region of £35 million had been agreed between the clubs, with the Spaniard's move to be finalised swiftly.

However, Moyes was in no mood to shed any light on the situation in the aftermath of United's dramatic League Cup semi-final defeat to Sunderland - sealed in a penalty shootout.

Mata has made just 11 Premier League starts for Chelsea this term, but now has the chance to relaunch his career with the reigning champions, who are desperate to improve on their current position of seventh.

United were widely criticised for a lack of activity in the previous transfer window, when Guillermo Varela and Marouane Fellaini represented the only new arrivals at the club.

Moyes, who succeeded Alex Ferguson at the end of the 2012-13 campaign, has also come under pressure due to his side's poor league form and will hope Mata proves the catalyst for a revival in the season's remaining months.

Mata joined Chelsea from Valencia in June 2011 and has scored 33 goals in 135 appearances for the London club.


Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/moyes-dodges-mata-questions#xIyw3pcAfVEbmpOi.99