Gareth Ainsworth
Gareth Ainsworth (born 10 May 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Queens Park Rangers. A former youth player at Blackburn Rovers, the midfielder, who was known for his crossing ability, moved to Preston North End in 1992 after impressing at non-league Northwich Victoria. He signed for Cambridge United, who in turn loaned him back to Northwich, and returned to Preston in 1993, establishing himself in the first team during his second spell. Sold on to Lincoln City in 1995, his performances earned him a place on the PFA Third Division Team of the Year in 1996–97, resulting in a £500,000 move to Port Vale. After being named as the Port Vale F.C. Player of the Year in 1998, Ainsworth was sold to Premier League club Wimbledon for £2 million. He was dogged by injuries at the club, and following loan spells with Preston and Walsall, he moved to Cardiff City in March 2003. He signed with Queens Park Rangers in June 2003, w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-northwest of Manchester. Blackburn is the core centre of the wider unitary authority area along with the town of Darwen. It is one of the largest districts in Lancashire, with commuter links to neighbouring cities of Manchester, Salford, Preston, Lancaster, Liverpool, Bradford and Leeds. At the 2011 census, Blackburn had a population of 117,963, whilst the wider borough of Blackburn with Darwen had a population of 150,030. Blackburn had a population of 117,963 in 2011, with 30.8% being people of ethnic backgrounds other than white British. A former mill town, textiles have been produced in Blackburn since the middle of the 13th century, when wool was woven in people's houses in the domestic system. Flemish weavers who settled in t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundaries, with mobility and passing ability, they are often referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box midfielders, or holding midfielders. There are also attacking midfielders with limited defensive assignments. The size of midfield units on a team and their assigned roles depend on what formation is used; the unit of these players on the pitch is commonly referred to as the midfield. Its name derives from the fact that midfield units typically make up the in-between units to the defensive units and forward units of a formation. Managers frequently assign one or more midfielders to disrupt the opposing team's attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cheltenham Town F
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the most complete Regency town in Britain. The town hosts several festivals of culture, often featuring nationally and internationally famous contributors and attendees; they include the Cheltenham Literature Festival, the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the Cheltenham Science Festival, the Cheltenham Music Festival, the Cheltenham Cricket Festival and the Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival. In steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup is the main event of the Cheltenham Festival, held every March. History Cheltenham stands on the small River Chelt, which rises nearby at Dowdeswell and runs through the town on its way to the Severn. It was first recorded in 803, as ''Celtan hom''; the meaning has not been resolv ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National League (English Football)
The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the "Alliance Premier League" from 1979 until 1986. Between 1986 and 2015, the league was known as the "Football Conference"." Most National League clubs are fully professional (only three are not in the 2022/23 lineup), while a growing number of National League North and National League South clubs are also professional. Some professional clubs were previously in the English Football League (EFL), as opposed to clubs that have always been non-League. The National League is the lowest of the five nationwide professional football divisions in England, below the Premier League and the three divisions of the EFL, and is the top tier of the National League System of non-League football. The National League North and National League South form t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Don Mackay
Donald Scrimgeour Mackay (born 19 March 1940) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. Managerial career After a spell coaching the Bristol City youth team between 1974 and 1978, where he was part of the backroom staff that won promotion to the then English First Division, he began his management career in Denmark with Nørresundby managing the local side Norresundby, gaining promotion in his first season there. He returned to Scotland in 1980 when he was appointed manager of Dundee, winning promotion to the Scottish Premier Division with the club, again in his first season in charge. After several high-profile departures from the Dundee first team, Mackay eventually left the club in 1983. After a short time away from the game, Bobby Gould approached him to be his assistant at Coventry City. Bobby was sacked after a poor run of results and Don was asked to take charge, where the club staved off relegation by famously winning their last three games of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peter Thorne (English Footballer)
Peter Lee Thorne (born 21 June 1973) is an English retired professional association football, footballer, who played as a forward (association football), striker. He played for a number of clubs in his career scoring just short of 200 goals. He started his career with Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers, but failed to make a single league appearance in four years before he left to join Swindon Town F.C., Swindon Town. He went on to play for Stoke City F.C., Stoke City and Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City, making more than 100 appearances for each. In 2005, he moved to Norwich City F.C., Norwich City where he scored just one goal in two seasons and was on the verge of retiring until he moved to Bradford City A.F.C., Bradford City. In two seasons, he was top scorer with Bradford, before leaving before the end of his third season and deciding to retire at the age of 36. Career Early career Thorne was born in Urmston, Lancashire and started his career at Blackburn Rovers F.C., ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Billington, Lancashire
Billington is a village in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies between the villages of Whalley and Langho. It forms part of the Billington and Langho civil parish and contains the schools St Augustine's RC High School, St Leonard's Primary and St Mary's Primary. The village population at the 2011 census was 1,409. The 16th century Chapel of St Leonard is a Grade I listed building. According to local tradition, the chapel was constructed using materials taken from Whalley Abbey following the dissolution of the monasteries in the Tudor period, but this has never been conclusively proven. History In 798, early in his reign, Eardwulf of Northumbria fought a battle at Billington Moor against a nobleman named Wada, who had been one of those who killed Æthelred I of Northumbria. Wada was defeated and driven into exile. A charter written in 1308 mentions a hermitage by the rocks on the eastern side of Billington.Farrer, W. and Brownbill, J. (editors) (19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League. The league is contested by 24 clubs. Introduced for the 2004–05 season as the Football League Championship the division was previously known as the Football League Second Division ( 1892– 1992) and Football League First Division ( 1992– 2004). The winning club of the Championship receives the EFL Championship trophy, the same trophy that was awarded to English First Division champions from 1892 until 1992. As in other divisions of professional English football, Welsh clubs can be part of the division, making it a cross-border league. Each season, the two top-finishing teams in the Championship are automatically promoted to the Premier League. The teams that finish the season ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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EFL League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football League and the third tier overall in the entire English football league system. League One debuted for the 2004–05 in English football, 2004–05 season. It was previously known briefly as the Football League Second Division and for much longer, before the advent of the Premier League, as the Football League Third Division. At present, Fleetwood Town F.C., Fleetwood Town hold the longest tenure in League One, last being out of the division in 2013–14 season when they were promoted from League Two. There are currently eight former Premier League clubs competing in League One, namely Barnsley F.C., Barnsley (1997–98), Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers (1995–96, 1997–98 and 2001–12), Charlton Athletic F.C., Charlton Athletic (1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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EFL League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football League (EFL) and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system. Football League Two was introduced for the 2004–05 season. It was previously known as the Football League Third Division. Before the advent of the Premier League in 1992, the fourth-highest division was known as the Football League Fourth Division. As of the 2022–23 season, Mansfield Town and Newport County hold the longest tenure in League Two, having promoted to the division in the 2012–13 season. There are currently two former Premier League clubs competing in League 2: Bradford City (1999-2001), and Swindon Town (1993-94). Structure There are 24 clubs in League Two. Each club plays each of the other clubs twice (once at home and once away ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier became known as the Football League Second Division. After the rebranding of the Football League in 2003–04, it became known as Football League One. Early history In 1888, Scotsman William McGregor a director of Aston Villa, was the main force between meetings held in London and Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ... involving 12 football clubs, with an eye to a league competition. These 12 clubs would later become the Football League's 12 founder members. The meetings were held in London on 22 March 1888. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |