Football betting has a long and fascinating history that dates back to the early 20th century. The first organized football bets appeared in the United Kingdom, where football was already an immensely popular sport. Initially, betting was mostly illegal, which …
After a distinguished 20 year playing career Spiksley became a famous international coach and talent scout. After initially freelancing in the London area he eventually took a role coaching for the Stockholm FA where he gained his first title as …
Football historians agree that Crystal Palace’s claim to being the oldest league club in the world is unfounded!
In 2020 after completing our 1861 or 1905? document we invited football historians to complete a survey, indicating whether there were two separate Crystal Palace clubs …
After rising through the ranks of the local football teams in Gainsborough during the mid1880’s Fred Spiksley made his senior debut for Trinity against Notts Jardines on 19th March 1887. Despite a formidable goalscoring record for the Jubilee Swifts in the …
On 18 April 1896 Fred Spiksley scored a goal that could be faster than Louis Saha’s goal for Everton in the 2009 final. The Manchester Guardian reporting that the goal was scored after “scarcely 20 seconds had passed”. Other newspaper …
Fred Spiksley became the first player to score a hat-trick against Scotland in 1893. Due to reporters at the time reporting incorrectly that Reynolds had scored England’s 5th goal in the famous 5-2 victory at Richmond, Spiksley’s achievement is not …
by Mark Metcalf, RalphNicholson and CliveNicholson
Born at a unique moment in the history of the beautiful game, Fred Spiksley was amongst a new wave of teenagers who, in 1885, could aspire to be a …