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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Congrats to Patricia Gregory on winning the Lord Aberdare Prize, awarded by the British Society for Sports History. Its wonderful to see Patricia's work recognized in this way. Do get a copy if you don't have one If only there was a trophy to go with her @nfmofficial.bsky.social Hall of Fame one!

Book cover of Breaking the Grass Ceiling: The History of the Women's Football Association by Patricia Gregory.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Recently scanned our relatively small collection of pre-1939 copies of The Referee - the official magazine of the Referee's Association. Fascinating slice of social history from 1932- the RA trying to get the Govt to avoid penalizing unemployed refs's benefits if they took a match-fee above 3d+4d

A page from the June 1932 edition of The Referee -the official magazine of the Referee's Association. In this and the following images the magazine reproduced its correspondence with the Ministry of Labour, asking them to rescind the governments rules on removing a day's benefit payments if an unemployed referee took a match fee of more than 3 shillings, 4d.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

After an immense effort by our marketing team at @nfmofficial.bsky.social we can now accession our complete WC Panini sticker album! Whether England or other European nations will be in the shiny FIFA album for the 2030 WC remains to be seen...

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Outside Write (Chris Lee) ⚽️ @outsidewrite.co.uk · 14/08/2026

DROPPING MONDAY 🎙️ We're talking about the Cold War in ten football matches with Tony Shaw (talking) and Alan McDougall. Sub/catch up wherever you get your podcasts 🎧 #ColdWarHistory #FootballHistory

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Martin Polley @historymartin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Football City, event on London's football past and present featuring @joshbland13.bsky.social @oritgat.bsky.social and Simon Inglis @playedinbritain.bsky.social, hosted @ltmuseumfriends.bsky.social on 10 Sept: thehttps://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/talks/football-city-london-and-beautiful-game

ltmuseum.co.uk

Football city: London and the beautiful game | London Transport Museum

Join us for a panel discussion on how London shapes and is shaped by football.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Fascinating 1969 documentary on the BBC Archive youtube channel. Quick highlights: Plenty of footage of former FL club Bradford Park Avenue Arsenal players abusing the match officials after a last min loss at NUFC (35min+) Arsenal manager Bertie Mee's kitchen! www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX6Y...

youtube.com

1969: The Life of a Football Manager | Man Alive | BBC Archive

YouTube video by BBC Archive

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Saw this and thought of the various betting and horse-racing historians at @bssh.bsky.social who'd enjoy examining the content and design of this poster at Sheffield train station.

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David Turner @railwayhistorian.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

It's a poor new design and, particularly, I've a whole dataset built through examining papers in the "North East" and "Yorkshire & Humber" regions The new design doesn't group papers this way, so going back to the data and replicating my methods is harder What we actually wanted BNA was better OCR

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Anyone else finding the new BNA website rubbish to use? I was researching a topic just last week with searches that generated 100s of relevant hits. Now the same search generates just a few irrelevant hits. Is anyone else having similar issues?

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

One for @refbooks.bsky.social - article on one of the English women who passed the County FA referees examination between 1968 and 1975 but who were banned from reffing men's games) Mollie Urquhart was invited though by Halifax Town to ref a pre-season training game

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Seeing the news that Donald Trump is presenting the WC winners with World Cup Rings, brings to mind that in 1934 Benito Mussolini had his own trophy (Coppa Del Duce) made to present to the winners. Il Duce clearly missed a trick by not working with FIFA to sell limited edition copies though...

An artistic image of Benito Mussolini, fascist leader of Italy, in 1934. From the official tournament programme.

A photograph of the Coppa Del Duce. This trophy was commissioned by Benito Mussolini to present to the winners of the 1934 World Cup which was hosted by Italy, who also won it.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Contemporary collecting/documenting the pain update A shattered England wonderbawls in agony and heartache as a kanning by Messi kills the dream and sends England out

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Current mood... Back in the 1900s the mail had many deliveries per day. So a postcard was one of the quickest ways to share your thoughts on why England went too early defending a lead and why Mainoo was taken if he wasn't going to be played... (NFM Collections)

Current mood - an Edwardian postcard depicting an unhappy crowd with the message 'Our Team's lost' - to be sent to a friend with space for the score to be filled in.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

England next played Argentina in 1953 during a tour of South America. These are from an album the AFA presented to the FA. 1st was a Buenos Aires XI van FA Xi. Billy Wright leads the FA side out while referee Arthur Ellis meets President Peron. Yes, we brought our own ref!

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George Caulkin @georgecaulkin.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Going to bump this big interview with Dan Burn from the end of the season. What a special person he is - so glad he has been able to show the country what he’s all about over the last few weeks. It’s free to read.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Lets go back to the beginning - at least for official matches between #England and #Argentina. Here is the programme for the first in 1951 - a 2-1 win for England thanks to a late Jackie Milburn goal. This belonged to referee Richard Maddison, who officiated in Argentina in 1949 and 1950.

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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 13/07/2026

OTD in 1930, the first FIFA World Cup began in Uruguay. In this article from the archives, Richard Mills explores how football fixtures created meaningful ties between Yugoslavia and its African and Asian allies.

historyworkshop.org.uk

Scoring for the Non-Aligned Movement: Yugoslavia, Football and the Third World

Continuing our History Workshop World Cup series, Richard Mills explores the role football played in establishing diplomatic ties between Tito’s […]

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Museum collecting and old fashioned print deadlines

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Ahead of tonight's game between Belgium and Egypt, here here is preview of The Pharaohs in the official tournament programme for the 1934 FIFA Men's World Cup - they were the first African country to participate in the final tournament. (Courtesy of the Priory Collection)

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

@gedboy58.bsky.social - thought you might like this cartoon. From Nat Whittaker's scrapbook in @nfmofficial.bsky.social collections.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

A few snapshoots for @refbooks.bsky.social from referee Nat Whittaker's scrapbook - part of @nfmofficial.bsky.social collections. For those who don't know, Nat was also the Secretary of the Southern League and the 1907 FA Cup final referee.

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International Centre for Sports History and Culture @icshc.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Venue of Lionesses' first home game honoured. Full story - www.englandfootball.com/articles/202... #sportshistory

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

As found in the Nottingham Football Post, 2 April 1910 - issues with adults getting over involved in kids football is nothing new!

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Was sad to read recently of the death of artist Glen Baxter. I grew up with a copy of the Collected Blurtings of Baxter, so it was special to recognize one of his works when we took a loan from the Players Foundation a few years ago. A small slice of his surrealist humour.

A framed artwork by surrealist artist Glen Baxter, who died recently. It shows players and a referee wearing candles on their heads with the caption 'Despite financial cutbacks, Rovers still managed to complete all their midweek cup fixtures'

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

To accompany Sheffield Theatres production of The Ladies Football Club, they and Sheffield Homes of Football have arranged a series of talks - I'll be chatting about women's football during the First world War on Saturday at 5pm at the Crucible www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/extra-time-b...

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Loving today's documentation task. Loving it ..

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Something for @refbooks.bsky.social - a pre-printed postcard that Arthur Ellis had produced to help him respond to (presumably) the many enquiries he got. This one has been used to say thanks for being congratulated on getting the 1952 FA Cup referee appointment.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Scanned a few things last week, including magazine build up to the 1935 FA Cup. Personal favourite is the photo of George Shaw (WBA) who 'can knit a pull-over a good deal better than most women' with his wife and their wee baby in the tub.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

What would Sir Jim Ratcliffe make of all this I wonder? (From NFM Collection)

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Another page from the 1934 World Cup programme - this time showing trophies and awards. It includes the Coppa Del Duce, commissioned by dictator Benito Mussolini as an additional prize for the winners, and much larger than the Jules Rimet trophy.(Priory Collection)

Page from the mens 1934 FIFA World Cup programme showing the Coppa Del Duce, the trophy that fascist dictator Benito Mussolini commissioned for the winners of the tournament.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Another highlight from the 1934 World Cup programme - a cool but somewhat challenging infographic on the qualifiers. Courtesy of the Priory Collection.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

One @refbooks.bsky.social - guide to the match officials from the 1934 FIFA World Cup programme. (Courtesy of the Priory Collection) Includes the first African referee at a World Cup.

Visual guide to match officials at the 1934 FIFA World Cup from the tournament programme.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Some extra gloss for #Macclesfield + their amazing win - Crystal Palace were the last non-League team to knock out the Cup holders (Wolves) in 1909 Then the FL only had 2 divisions. Palace were in the 1st Division of the Southern League - a bit like the 3rd Division. They also had cup form - 1/2

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Little research snippet from today's work - a letter to the Liverpool Daily Post (3 November 1920) by a disabled ex-serviceman, describing the lack of consideration given to him and other veterans after the Merseyside derby. May interest @footballandwar.bsky.social

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Going through some research and reminded myself that I came across an artistic depiction of a Black British soldier in the 4th Manchester Regiment in April 1916. If anyone would like it and the source info, would be happy to share it. Please share with anyone who might like it. #BlackHistoryMonth

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

With it being #Railway200 this weekend, here is a potted look at what @nfmofficial.bsky.social has in its collections related to football and the railways (plus the odd bit from my own research) All aboard! 🧵🚆

media.tenor.com

a man wearing a hat is playing with a train set .

ALT: a man wearing a hat is playing with a train set .

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

It's not a glamorous job, but someone has to feed the unicorns. Behind the scenes as the NFM prepares for the launch of our new book

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Final part of the Clarice Vizard story here. Really pleased to hear the pieces have proved popular so far on the Playing Pasts website.

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Football and War Network @footballandwar.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Visit the new @fusmuswarwick.bsky.social Home and Away: Football in the British Army Exhibition that is supported by the Army FA and @footballandwar.bsky.social There are also three supporting monthly talks and you can sign up for them @ fusiliermuseumwarwick.com/explore/what...

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Playing Pasts @playingpasts.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

New on @playingpasts.bsky.social Part 4 of @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social's series The Manageress: The life and times of Clarice Vizard Link👉 bit.ly/4lEHA4G Pt 1 👉 bit.ly/41hy6VD Pt 2 👉 bit.ly/4orjqxg Pt 3 👉 bit.ly/46R0ykV #Football @bssh.bsky.social @nfmofficial.bsky.social #WomenInSport

Images of Clarie Vizard as 'Chief Commander Vizard'

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Something for @sszy.bsky.social, if you are still interested in the origins of "soccer" as a word! The Oxford Review has been digitized by the BNA. It covered the last university news during term time. This is the first mention of "Soccer" on the 7 March 1888.

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

As ever, the best finds come when searching for something else. As a big fan of Roy Ullyett cartoons, I not only enjoyed this one, but also Roy's response when Birmingham City fans got upset by it! 🧵 @garyjames.bsky.social may be able to confirm whether City fans still hold this view....

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Latest instalment in the Clarice Vizard story up now thanks to @playingpasts.bsky.social 😊 May be of special interested if you are interested in football and politics and their overlaps in 1930s elections (I know, that doesn't sound niche at all...😆)

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Dr Alexander Jackson @dralexanderjackson.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Part 2 of "The Manageress" is up now - here is the football part of the story! With thanks to @dagenhaminvince.bsky.social for their help with piecing together the history of Bolton Ladies.

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