The interview was conducted by my good friend Scott Johnston for his excellent site TheFootyBlog.net

CHECK OUT THE EXCELLENT INTERVIEW HERE

So if there is a game on, why not invite a bunch of friends over, whether they are your Party Poker pals, your mates from the gym or your football friends, to play fantasy football, have a catch up and test your knowledge with the quiz below.

How long did the Yorkshire League exist and which teams made up the original League? 

It was a very short league, lasting just two years. It contained ten teams, with The Sheffield United reserves and Wombwell winning the league. The original ten teams were Barnsley, Bradford, Doncaster Rovers, Huddersfield, Hunsley, Leeds, Mexborough, Sheffield United reserves, Sheffield Wednesday reserves and Wombwell.

Where did the team name Sheffield Wednesday come from? 

Sheffield Wednesday are based in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield. They are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world, ranking the fourth oldest in the English League. However, it was in 1929 when they altered their name and added in ‘Sheffield’.The team name is an unusual one because they are the only English team with a day of the week in their name. They used to play on Wednesdays due to the butchers who formed most of the team, having a half day on Wednesdays.

Osset Albion was of course my choice for Non League Day. An excellent opportunity to support a local Yorkshire team, tick another ground off the list and meet some friends for a beer. Oh and there may be some football too.

Recently moving to Sheffield has meant the transport situation isn’t as easy as last season. Luckily my good friend Matthew McKeith, editor of Right in the Gary Kellys still had my Dictaphone and arrangements were made to meet him at Wakefield train station and he’d take me down to Osset.

I did actually need the Dictaphone because on Friday while making arrangements for drinking some beer I got chatting to Osset Albion winger Doran Jordan and after declining a pre-match beer he did agree to a post-match interview.

Matthew and I arrived at “The Tap” a highly recommended pub, part of the local Osset Brewery and quickly found John Dobson sat alone at a table. “Where’s Dave?” “He’s making his own way?” Dave was of course David Hartrick from In Bed With Maradona and all round top man. The beers and the chat began to flow. I started with a Becks Vier but quickly got into the lovely Veltins that they had on tap.

After a quick check on twitter it seemed that fellow blogger Nick or @BeatTheFirstMan was also in the pub. What followed was some strange tweets about location and colour of t-shirts, all that was missing was the pink carnation or a rose between my teeth. The threesome became a foursome and there was plenty of geeky football talk to be had.

Dave still hadn’t arrived when he headed towards the ground, only fifteen minutes to kick-off as we sauntered down past the residential houses. Screaming round the corner came Dave in his white fiesta baby mobile (Loads of excuses, including prams etc were offered up by Dave, he lost us at pram).Now I’ve seen plenty of cricket grounds next to football stadiums but I’ve not seen many that have the cricket scoreboard integrated as part of a football stand, a great use of space management.

A decent £7 to get in, no one grudges that price for an FA Cup tie on Non League Day. We got ourselves in place just in time to see the teams come out. Osset Albion in their fetching Orange and Black kits and Witton Albion in their Sheffield United-esque red and white stripes. To this moment I still don’t actually know where Witton is…hold on…Ah ok so it’s between Manchester and Chester, that explains the half scouse half manc accent.

It was a balanced start from both sides, each team looking to put a foothold into this FA Cup tie. With a great attendance of 215 crammed into the WareHouse Systems Stadium (formerly Queen’s Terrace) there was a great atmosphere around the ground. Witton must have brought about 70/80 away fans and they made up most of the vocal support.

Slowly the away team took control and Osset’s chances were hindered when they lost top striker Richard Treacy to a hamstring injury. Their defence looked shaky and it was no surprise when the Osset’s offside trap was breached, Jon Hancock had only the keeper to beat when he unselfishly squared the ball to Liam Newman to find the empty net. Witton made it 2-0 before half time and the chances of a comeback looked slim.

Half time brings about that special moment when you get to try the local cuisine. Steak pie, chips and gravy was on the menu. “No Steak left, only pork!” Disappointment soon turned to delight as I tucked into the delicious pie, made from a local Osset farm apparently. It was superb, the gravy and chips just added to experience.

Out came the teams for the second half and from the Osset Albion players body language you could tell they had already lost. At 2-0 down the game is never over but the fight was gone. The Witton players sensed this and went for the kill. Four goals followed and Osset’s frustration grew, a few nasty tackles started to fly in and Osset were lucky to keep all 11 players on the pitch.

They may have avoided a few red cards but they did suffer a second injury. Early in the second half Doran Jordan went down near the corner flag, as we were far away from the action, doing a walk around the ground we didn’t see what happened. Doran had to be stretchered off the field.

As if to add insult to injury the referee added four minutes time while Osset were 6-0 down. No one would have minded if the game had ended on 90 minutes. Eventually the whistle went and we made our way round to the changing rooms. My interview with Doran was planned for after the match but it turned out he had fractured his cheekbone and had left to go to the hospital.

My first post-match interview postponed due to a bad injury. I hope I’m not a jinx!

Now showing what a top guy Doran is, when I contacted him later on in the evening and he was gracious enough to answer my questions. So to finish off this chapter of Yorkshire Football Weekends here is Osset Albion winger Doran Jordan.

Unlucky with the result today. Beaten by Witton Albion. What do you think went wrong?

- I don’t think we did much wrong, that sounds ridiculous because we lost so heavily, but alot of credit is due to the way Witton played today, we tried to make it hard for them but in the end I think their class shone through and I’m sure they will be up there this season.

You were in the reserves last year and you’ve broken through this season. How do you think the season has gone so far?

I broke through at the end of last season and was delighted to get my chance to prove myself at this level of football. It does take a while to adapt to the speed and standards of the game and I think we’ve got alot of players who are still adapting to it. All we can do is keep working hard and earn the right to get something against these teams and hope for that bit of luck aswel.

Today was Non League Day around the country. What does it mean to the players to see fans getting behind their local team?

- Its always good to see a good attendance at a game your playing in and when the crowds are growing like they are here at Ossett it shows we’re doing something right. The fans here are brilliant as they showed today, even when we were 6-0 down they were still getting behind us and it doesn’t go unnoticed from the players on the pitch.

The attendance today was 215 is that good for Albion?

It is good, yes. I think we normally average around 100 at Albion so to see more than double that was brilliant. A massive thank you to both sets of fans today, I thought they all did their teams proud.

What are your ambitions for this season, and in the future?

- For this season, I set out from the beginning to establish myself in the team and be a regular starter, I also set myself a goals target of 15 aswel and I’ve only got 1 so far so I need to get a move on!

I don’t look too far into the future and try to just take each game as it comes, I’m happy to be at Albion and it’s a privelege to pull the shirt on every week, Hopefully the future brightens up and we earn a respectable position in the league come the end of the season.

@jacko2254 is going to Poole Town.@19danbrown is off to his new adopted side Kidderminster away to Wrexham. @twofootedtackle and the guys from @non_league_day and many others have chosen Dulwich Hamlet. Sheffield United fan @thefootysphere is going to the derby between Askern Villa and Rossington Main.

It’s great to see so many people going to different games. Where am I going? Ah that is the question.

I was hoping to get an enticing offer to go see a game, which I did. Just most of the offers came from that there London. Too far for me. My conditions were, somewhere new and somewhere I wasn’t standing by myself. Frickley Athletic and Wakefield where quickly ruled out. Possibly could go watch Askern Villa. Then @Beatthelastman told me about the lovely pub beside Osset Town’s ground…DEAL!
So I think I’m off there. Tried to rope in @dobsonp and In Bed With Maradona star @Hartch to keep me company. However wherever I go it will be for a great cause and a fantastic day for everyone.

Hope everyone enjoys the day and well done to everyone who made it possible.

Now more from the people who made this day happen….

Following the success of last year’s campaign, the Non-League Day (NLD) team are delighted to announce that this year’s event will be held on Saturday 3 September when there are no Premier League or Championship fixtures.

NLD is a celebration of the semi-professional and amateur game, and a chance for fans of bigger clubs to experience football at a level they may be otherwise unfamiliar with. Moreover, it is a chance to shine a light on the
hundreds of clubs in this country who are almost exclusively volunteer run, and do so much good for the local community, be it through coaching, fundraising or providing opportunities for local people.

This year we aim to make the day bigger and better than ever. Macmillan Cancer Support have come on board as our official charity, ex-England international Chris Waddle is our official ambassador, and we have now secured the backing of the All Party Football Group in Parliament.

We want to make September 3rd a celebration of football and a celebration of community spirit. Grassroots football is the bedrock of our national game: let’s all get behind it.

Further information can be found on our newly launched website:  www.nonleagueday.co.uk

My Father-in-law and long time Sheffield United fan Richard Aisthorpe brings us the latest update to the Blades League One campaign…funny thing is, it’s going pretty well.

Here I am again, the Sheffield United ‘cup half empty’ merchant. OK, before the season started I wondered how things would go and pointed out some of the pitfalls that might await us in the ‘league one minefield’. Well… six games gone, five wins and a draw later… time to reflect I think.

On day one we were 0 – 0 at half time away to Oldham. “Shit!” I thought, same old story, no attacking punch. By full time we had won 2 -0 but from all reports Oldham were awful! Next up was a league cup (Am I supposed to call it something else these days?) tie at Hartlepool. Now ‘those who know us know’, we always lose at Hartlepool! Well, well, well. We won on penalties after extra time. OK, Hartlepool played the whole of extra time with ten men but, given our history, (the great SUFC ‘bottlers’ would usually have lost on pens in those circumstances) the omens began to look good.

Our first home game was Brentford. A 2 – 0 win looks comfortable but I can assure you it wasn’t. Having said that we did win and there were signs that we intended to play the ball out of defence rather than just hump it up the park. Also, the blend of young players and ‘old sweats’ might turn out to be a good formula. A crowd of 17,769 was also encouraging. This season I have changed my seat to H block in the main stand. Some woman approached me and asked if I was a season ticket holder. She said “It’s only that I had those seats last year and we were too late in renewing them” What did she want me to say? “Sorry love, I’ll go to the ticket office and ask to be moved so you can have them back!” I don’t think so!

So, the following Tuesday was another home game, this time Walsall. Sadly the gate was down by over a thousand to 16,443, so much for people watching a winning team! By half time it was clear that Walsall were a much better side than Brentford and they were unlucky not to have scored in the first 45. It was therefore no surprise when they did score early in the second half. It was slightly more surprising when they went two up soon after. For those who watched us last season it was unsurprising that both goals were soft and our keeper looked at fault. Unrest began to grow in H block. “Get rid of that useless twat!” (Aimed at the keeper) and slightly more worrying, “See what you get with a fuckin Wednesday pig bastard as manager!” shouted some ‘Neanderthal’. How disappointed they must have been when we rallied after 60 minutes and scored three quick goals. A close run thing – yes, but winning is a good habit to get into. We played some good stuff, exciting too!

Our next game was away at Tranmere. It seems our 1 – 1 draw was a bit of a battle against a team that ‘dig a bit’, ask Stephen Quinn’s shins! Amazingly Nick Montgomery scored a ‘screamer’ for us. Now that is a turn up! Ask any united fan.

If you are going to lose a game, lose one you are not expected to win. Everton away in the league cup was never going to be a likely success, so our midweek 3 – 1 defeat was not such a blow even though we took the lead! To improve matters, the ‘unmentionables’ from Hillsborough also lost 3 – 1 away at Blackburn.

So on to Yeovil today. A long trip to a team that have a habit of ‘turning over’ so called ‘big clubs’. Chris Porter scored the only goal to briefly put us on top of the league. If you had asked me at the start of the season if I thought we would be top after 5 games I would have laughed at you. So off we go to Burton Albion next week in the illustrious Johnson’s Paint Trophy (Editor: Sheffield United won 2-1). Not important?  Well, if we lose, our next home gate might be down to 15,000. It will all be the fault of that ‘pig bastard’ no doubt!

What a great player Micky was!!!!

Arsene Wenger and the club have been very quiet. Wenger dismissed reports of a £6m bid for Bolton’s Gary Cahill and nothing else was reported. On Thursday night French website Mercato 365 released a “story” that Hazard had agreed terms with Arsenal and a deal would be done for around €35m. Now let’s get a few things straight, Mercato365 is not a respected media outlet, to be honest it’s actually worse than talkSPORT.

Arsenal fans unaware of this went crazy and the rumours wet round twitter with less class than a girl from Geordie Shore. After the Champions League draw in Monaco, Lille president Michel Seydoux rubbish any rumours that his young Belgian star would be going:

“No one will leave,” Seydoux told French radio station RMC yesterday. “Eden is worth much more than [Nasri]- at least twice as much. Our team is built around him, so we are not about to sell him now.”

Seydoux added that there had been no contact from Arsenal about his player.

General manager Frederic Paquet did his best too, stating that:

“Our players are not on the market for Arsenal or any other club,” he confirmed.

“I have also spoken with the players and they are willing to stay here. They are very excited to play in the Champions League.”

Then on Friday reports in France suggested that Monaco forward Park Chu-Young would be having a medical in Lille and would possible sign for Les Dogues this weekend. The deal would be worth around €3m and €2m more if the Korean doesn’t have to partake in military service.

Arsenal fans jumped on this story: “Replacement for Hazard?” In a word…NO. Park is more of a central striker and has been a Lille target all summer. He is in no way a replacement for the 19-year old winger.

Every ten to fifteen minutes another Arsenal fan suggests Hazard is on his way to London. If you believe twitter it’s a done deal merly escalating from a rumour posted by a rubbish French website.

Now to Saturday morning, amidst the rumours of Hazard arriving in London for a medical or contract talks his current team-mate Aurelian Chedjou pretty much destroyed these rumours with the use of a simple picture.

From his twitter account the Cameroonian defender posted this:

“Avec mon gars sur en direct du vestiaire après la séance de ce matin”

Which roughly translated means “Live from the locker room with my guys after the morning session.”

Doesn’t quite look like St Pancras station does it. Hoepfully this will calm some of the rumours down, but that doesn’t look likely. It is fantastic though that in this social media age that transfer rumours can get completely shot down just by a simple picture.

Eden Hazard…..One more year!

But it’s the performance of champions Viktoria Plzeň in Europe which is the big story. Having won their first title last season Plzeň have made the most of the opportunity by sealing a place in the group stages in highly impressive fashion.

Landmark victory in Copenhagen

The 3-1 victory away to FC Copenhagen in the first leg of the third qualifying round was a landmark one. Copenhagen have become a difficult team to beat even for some of Europe’s biggest teams so this result has shown just how far Plzeň have come since their weak Europa League showing 12 months ago.

It was Viktoria’s fifth consecutive victory in the qualifying campaign, wins home and away against Rosenborg following a comfortable 9-1 aggregate jaunt against Armenian champions Pyunik.

This success was followed up by a sixth win in the home leg, the 2-1 win giving them a 5-2 aggregate triumph. The “home” crowd of over 19,350 compares to an average league attendance of just 4-5,000, though the game was played in Prague whilst the required ground grading improvements are carried out at Štruncovy Sady.

With confirmation of their group stage opponents Plzeň can reflect on a job well done and look forward to money-spinning clashes against Barcelona and Milan. The third opponents, Belorussian champions BATE Borisov, will be challenging opponents for third place entry into the Europa League.

More than just a flash in the pan?

The financial bonanza that this brings to Viktoria gives them a great opportunity to establish themselves as more than just a flash-in-the-pan success. With Slavia weakened, Czech football needs a club that can challenge Sparta consistently and Plzeň currently are that team.

As if to emphasize the fact, Plzeň’s next match is the small matter of a title rivals clash at home to Sparta. Defeat will see the champions eight points off the pace after just five games so it’s a crucial fixture for both clubs.

Both promoted clubs – Dukla Prague and Viktoria Žižkov – were granted their licenses without undue problems. Dukla picked up four points from their first two matches but then lost to the two Viktorias, Plzeň and Žižkov. Managed by the magnificently-named Martin Pulpit, Žižkov lost their other three fixtures but sit clear of the relegation places for now.

The only managerial change of the summer came at Banik Ostrava, where Pavel Malura replaced Karol Marko. Four straight defeats and bottom of the table do not represent a good start.

Another great piece by Mark Chalcraft - Editor of the fantastic website 2nd Yellow. If you enjoyed Mark’s work please visit his superb website 2nd Yellow - where he looks at the dirty side of football.

First up is my piece on Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila for WhoScored.com – It is a stats based piece but gives you a pretty good idea about the player and what you can expect from him.

YANN M’VILA – Mr DEPENDABLE

Next is my weekly Ligue 1 column for MirrorFootball – This week is a bit of a round-up, a doffed cap towards Montpellier for being the only team to win all three games. And a little bit on Javier Pastore’s debut.

MirrorFootball – Ligue 1 Blog

And lastly this week we have my preview for all ten Ligue 1 games this weekend. Highlights include Toulouse v PSG and Lille v Marseille. All written for the wonderful WhoScored.com

LIGUE 1 PREVIEWS – WEEK 4

More coming next week…. Toulouse, more on M’Vila, maybe something on a Europa League team of my choosing.

Have a good weekend everybody!

I don’t personally believe he will leave the Stade Lille Metropole this summer, with only eight days left in the window it doesn’t make sense for Lille to part with the Belgian forward regardless of the price offered. However as I’ve always said…..you never know.

When you look back at the Gervinho deal and how long that took the two parties to agree it would be amazing to see Lille do a quick deal with Arsenal and allow them time to bring in 2/3 replacements.

Anyway enough of that, take a look at a few posts about Hazard.

First up is a profile I wrote back in December – it was written for my gibfootballshow website and was well received.

Next up is a piece I wrote when the Arsenal interest first appeared back in April before the transfer window opened. It explained the situation with Eden in regards to his new contract in Lille and why I didn’t think he would move.

Finally a little follow up piece when the rumours grew stronger with regards to Hazard moving away from Lille, and some more reasons why I thought he wouldn’t move.

As I said it would be a massive surprise if Wenger and Arsenal managed to convince Lille to part with their prize asset, days before the window closed and meant Lille would be heavily weakened for their Champions League assault.

It is very important for the Champions to secure a place in next seasons Champions League with the opening of the new stadium planned for the 2012/13 season.

The transfer window clock is ticking down and it would be surprising if he wasn’t in a Lille shirt come September 10th when Les Dogues travel to Saint-Etienne