Tag: Premier League

Unique UK Fotball League - Bristol

England: The 120-Year-Old Bristol Downs Football League – Every Game a “Home” Match! (7.11.2024)

How many football leagues can count a former England cricket idol, an England football captain, an EFL referee, and a serving councillor among its past and present players?

Dating back almost 120 years, the Bristol Downs League, in many ways, is just like every other amateur Saturday afternoon league played up and down the country.

But it is unique in that all four divisions play on the same set of pitches at 14:00 every Saturday afternoon. Every game is a home game.

The sprawling 442-acre open parkland of the Clifton Downs on top of the city’s Avon Gorge hosts 41 teams, more than 1,500 players, and over 400 matches a season.

BBC Radio Bristol spent the 2023-24 campaign there to find out about the people, players, officials and teams that make the league so special and part of the sporting fabric of the city.

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FIFA - Legal Action - Vote

Football: Leagues to Sue FIFA Over “Abuse of Dominance”! (23.7.2024)

This is the nuclear option. It is the red button the unions and leagues hoped not to press but they feel they have been left with no alternative.

Unions, by reputation, do not need to be asked twice to fight for the rights of their members but that fact the leagues – including the Premier League – are backing this action makes it significant.

The threat of legal action has been spoken about in football circles for over a year and there is now a united front, one the Professional Footballers’ Association wanted to ensure before progressing.

Fifa’s response and argument against accuses some clubs of hypocrisy – taking their players around the globe on summer tours – while also saying Fifpro is consulted over the calendar so expect a strong defence from the world governing body.

Yet there is a determination from all the complainants to follow both cases through if a resolution outside the courts is not found. Unions and leagues want to see a change from Fifa and, if not, this will go the distance.

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