Wales World Cup Qualifying Preview 2010...

Typically it would seem that Wales found them selves in a hard World Cup qualification group. The group they were in contained Wales, Germany, Finland, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan and Russia. John Toschack and the youthful Welsh have to bout with Germany. So then who are the other teams Wales needs to worry about when they start up on 6th September with Azerbaijan?

The biggest threat excluding Germany is Russia. The Russian players make great money playing football in the Russian league. Its unsure if manager Gus Hiddink will remain in the helm when the qualifications start, but this extremely talented team can win against any team. After Germany and Russia is Finland. They have some great youthful players that mix well with the seasoned professionals.

There is a rising feeling in Wales that the youthful generation of footballing talents could give the Wales national team a boost. The two teams remaining are Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein . If Wales is to make it to the finals it will be important that they make good points against these smaller teams. The Russian playmaker, Andrei Arshavin, is earning great reviews in the Euro 2008, and for Germany, the usual well known players will catch the attention and Welsh fans will be counting on their captain, Craig Bellamy to motivate the Welsh team.

Liechtenstien, Azerbaijan and Finland all have very good players, and there will be new talent that comes from these teams. Wales will need to rise above their norm in order to make it to the South Africa World Cup 2010. Welsh fans will be hoping for a successful campaign.

Football League and Premier League of 1888-2009...

The Football League has professional football clubs from both Wales and England. Created in 1888, its the worlds oldest. The Championship, League One, and League Two have 72 clubs in total that are evenly divided into these 3 divisions.

After 4 years of arguments, The Football Association finally allowed professionalism. Before that most clubs just made unlawful payments to their players to raise the competitiveness of the teams.

William McGregor, the Scottish director of Aston Villa, was the first one to bring order where clubs set up their own stuff. In March of 1888, he wrote to Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion and the secretary of Aston Villa regarding the creation of a league.

Anderson’s Hotel located in London the night before the FA Cup Final in 1888 was the first meeting and they named the Football League was chosen at another meeting held at Manchester’s Royal Hotel.

They played one another two times, one time at home and one time away. Two points were given for a win and one for a tie. The points system was not agreed on until after the season had already started; the alternative was one point for a win only.

When you look back through the history of the league, you’ll find that each football league has one relegation somewhere in their history but other countries like Ireland, Scotland and Spain do not. However, the fact remains that the English Football League is one of the most admired in the world.