Comments on: Legends Of English Football: #2 Steve Bloomer

By: Nick Cook

Nick Cook — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:10:38 +0000

I asked my self the same question until i came accross this, hope it is of some help-
Although 23 caps isn’t such a large number these days, in the context of the times it was formidable. There were usually only three international matches each year, as only the four home countries were regularly playing international football. To make goal-scoring harder, keepers could handle anywhere in their own half, and the offside rule could be applied when a player was still in their own half. Bloomer’s explanation as to how he scored so many goals under these strictures was simple: “I try to get there first” he said.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:40:09 +0000

I applaud your tribute to Steve Bloomer, well written and presented. My only query is from Matthews to Bloomer? He’d be on the list but surely only after you’ve highlighted some of the all time giants:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Football_Hall_of_Fame#Players

I’d work through the 2002 inductees first as these are the big ones. When they started this, it was not who should go in, but who can we leave out, remember there was over 120 years of history already in place.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:54:41 +0000

Great article and a fitting tribute to the greatest Ram ever. I will never understand why he only represented England 28 times, although the rumour was that the FA Committee who chose the squad before 1946 were always biased towards players who played for London clubs as both they and the trainers they employed to run the team were based there.

Just goes to show bad management has dogged English national football for a very long time!