Post by sandbachhatter on Mar 19, 2017 20:29:59 GMT
Evening all
Time for Archie's first stint in charge of our anthology of football miscellany So, without further ado....
Time for Archie's first stint in charge of our anthology of football miscellany So, without further ado....
I was tempted by some bigger clubs with silly names (Orlando Pirates, Omonia Nicosia and O'Higgins) because there was plenty, almost too much, information available. However, for when this epic eventually makes it to print, I've managed to find clubs with short names to help with the budget.
We start with...
Old Boys Basel (Switzerland)
Also known as 'Basler Sportclub' or 'BSC Old Boys'.
The club was founded as FC Old Boys Basel in 1894 but became BSC Old Boys at the beginning of the 20th century. It is mainly known for its football but it also has track, swimming and tennis sections. The association's colours are yellow and black.
In 1899, 1904 and 1912, the club finished runners-up in the Nationalliga A, but in 1932, it was relegated from the professional leagues. After spending many years in the amateur leagues, Old Boys managed to climb back into the Nationalliga B in 1987, the same year that local rivals FC Basel were relegated from the Nationalliga A, meaning the two clubs would meet again. In the 1995/96 season, Old Boys were relegated again and they now play in the Second Group of Swiss 1. Liga. It would be nice to think that they played an annual charity game against Young Boys of Berne but there is no evidence of this.
In 1922, a swimming section was founded, which later merged with other clubs, and in 1927, a tennis club was founded. In 1935, it split to become Tennis Club Old Boys, today's home club of Roger Federer.
BSC Old Boys play at the Stadium Schützenmatte, capacity 8000.
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The current squad listing shows 24 players of 8 different nationalities including a Brazilian and an American which isn't bad for an amateur club. The manager, Massimo Ceccaroni, was a stalwart at professional FC Basel where he now holds the position of technical director of the youth department. He is considered a cult figure in Basel, mainly because he stayed loyal to the club for 25 years but also because he never scored a goal.
FC Oss (Netherlands)
FC Oss (Netherlands)
Not founded by Bonanza fans but by two friends from the Dutch town of Oss. They originally intended to call it Small But Brave but settled on TOP which apparently are the initials of the Dutch equivalent of Up Our Pleasure. The club was known as TOP until 1994, when it was renamed TOP Oss at the request of the town mayor and finally took the name FC Oss in 2009. They played from 1991 through to the 2009/2010 season in the Eerste Divisie (the Dutch second level), but were relegated to the Topklasse (the Dutch third level) in April 2010. In 2011 Oss became the Topklasse third Division Champions and returned to the Eerste Divisie.
The club play at the Frans Heesen Stadium which seems to be a compact little ground that would be rocking when filled to its 4700 capacity.
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Club colours are red and white striped shirts, red shorts with the second kit the classic white shirts, black shorts. The most famous name on the playing staff would be one Ronald Koeman (Jnr) who is one of the goalkeepers and is fairly easily recognisable in the team photo.
The most famous recent player would probably be Kevin Van Veen who scored 16 goals in the first half of last season and was then sold to Scunthorpe United for a club record fee. This season he has scored 11 times in 37 appearances and managed to rack up 12 yellow cards. Impressive!
Finally, while they are bigger than many clubs in CHASM, part of the remit was to find oddities, so the final 'O' just has to be...
Odds BK (Norway)
Also known as 'Odd FC', they are a familiar name to those who took part in the Norway Out competition.
Founded in 1894, Odd is one of the oldest football clubs in Norway. The name derives from Viktor Rydberg's novel Seierssverdet, where one of the main characters was a Norwegian athlete called Orvar Odd. The name of the district of Grenland was at one time incorporated into the club name but it was decided that they wanted to represent the whole county of Telemark (cue gags about heroes) so reverted to Odds BK in 2013. Club colours are the classic white shirts and socks with black shorts and they play at the Skagerak Arena (capacity 11767) in Skien.
Odd play in the Tippeligaen, the top league in Norway. They were relegated in 2007 but bounced back at the first attempt. Although they have never won the Tippeligaen, they have won the Norwegian Cup a record 12 times, most recently in 2000. They have played in the EUFA Cup/Europa League 4 times but have never got beyond the first round proper.
For those with Norwegian, there is a brief video history of Odd at this link:
www.odd.no/om-klubben
Dag-Eilev Fagermo has been manager since 2008 and the playing squad is mainly Norwegian but includes players from Kosovo, Canada, Sweden, Finland and Senegal. The most famous player is probably Jone Samuelson who, in 2011, scored a headed goal from 58.13 metres which is claimed to be a world record.
So, there we have it. From Old to Odd in the blink of an eye. Ain't life a bitch! I was hoping to find a reference to William Joseph so that I could use the Odd to Billy Joe line but it was not to be.
Over to you!
Finally, while they are bigger than many clubs in CHASM, part of the remit was to find oddities, so the final 'O' just has to be...
Odds BK (Norway)
Founded in 1894, Odd is one of the oldest football clubs in Norway. The name derives from Viktor Rydberg's novel Seierssverdet, where one of the main characters was a Norwegian athlete called Orvar Odd. The name of the district of Grenland was at one time incorporated into the club name but it was decided that they wanted to represent the whole county of Telemark (cue gags about heroes) so reverted to Odds BK in 2013. Club colours are the classic white shirts and socks with black shorts and they play at the Skagerak Arena (capacity 11767) in Skien.
Odd play in the Tippeligaen, the top league in Norway. They were relegated in 2007 but bounced back at the first attempt. Although they have never won the Tippeligaen, they have won the Norwegian Cup a record 12 times, most recently in 2000. They have played in the EUFA Cup/Europa League 4 times but have never got beyond the first round proper.
For those with Norwegian, there is a brief video history of Odd at this link:
www.odd.no/om-klubben
Dag-Eilev Fagermo has been manager since 2008 and the playing squad is mainly Norwegian but includes players from Kosovo, Canada, Sweden, Finland and Senegal. The most famous player is probably Jone Samuelson who, in 2011, scored a headed goal from 58.13 metres which is claimed to be a world record.
So, there we have it. From Old to Odd in the blink of an eye. Ain't life a bitch! I was hoping to find a reference to William Joseph so that I could use the Odd to Billy Joe line but it was not to be.
Over to you!
