Badge(s) of the Day #104 & 105: Slavia Praha

Today featuring further valuable, irresistible additions to the collection in the form of not one object, but two, representing the mighty Slavia Praha, both of a certain ‘hauntological’ vintage, with, indeed, and commemorating the august club’s 75^th anniversary, that to the right of the picture dating from 1968.

Both are fine designs, the left again of a ‘shield’ shape, variations on the basic theme & red, white & blue colour scheme, with the club’s inverted five-point star insignia an essential component.

A previously-acquired Slavia Praha badge may be found here.

Badge of the Day #103: Spartak Sofia

Another of the latest additions to the European club collection in the form of this rather lovely vintage object representing the former Spartak Sofia of Bulgaria, the badge pre-dating 1969, when Spartak merged with Levski to become Levski-Spartak, one of the great & favourite names, the acquisition of whose badge was featured here on TOoT.

Again, the ‘shield’ form of the object is an interesting one, & of course the Cyrillic ‘Spartak’ & the red star are ever-seductive elements of the design, making the whole rather irresistible.

Badge of the Day #102: Radnicki Nis

Today featuring the second of the pair of badges freely & very kindly gifted by Tomislav via Delcampe, this one representing, in Serbian Cyrillic, Radnički Niš, a name with which TOoT is familiar & would have come to prominence in 1982, when, in the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup, the club was drawn against Dundee United & subsequently overcame a 0 – 2 first leg reverse with a 3 – 0 win in the return to progress to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Other than this, & the continuing awareness of at least their existence, I can’t say I’ve particularly considered following or favouring Radnički, but it’s a jolly nice badge of a certain vintage that invariably appeals, featuring as it does a Yugoslavian red star, with a very interesting & distinctive ‘kite’ shape, that will be welcomed into the collection.

Badge of the Day #101: NK Slaven Koprivnica

Today’s addition to the collection was by no means an intentional one, but to be welcomed into the still-expanding fold all the same, being sent as one of a pair of free gifts by Tomislav in Osijek, from whom we recently acquired a small number of international football badges via the Delcampe website, a veritable treasure trove of the exotic & obscure from across Europe.

This particular example, most unusual & striking in its octagonal form, is a fine object representing the name of Slaven Koprivnica of Croatia, featuring the red and white checkered signifier of their home nation & also our favourite red star, a noble & ‘ostalgic’, indeed Yugo-nostalgic, addition to any such design.

Of the club & its history, we must admit to having known nothing as such, but the discovery that their home is a stadium with a capacity of a mere 3,200 spectators is an instantly endearing one.

Badge of the Day #100: Karpaty Lviv #3

Yes, we here at TOoT might already be the proud owners of a pair of badges representing our beloved Karpaty Lviv/Lvov, as posted here back in December of 2013, but the opportunity to acquire this 'essential' vintage object, redolent with Ostalgie, proved too enticing to pass up, & thus it recently came to be. Again, the football & pine trees feature as in one of the previous examples, but the format of the design is a bit different, thus justifying the small investment.

This last season has, alas, not been the best for the mighty Karpaty, suffering a nine-point deduction & finishing second-bottom of the Ukranian Premier League, but they shall doubtless rise again soon, ideally to do battle with the equally fabulous Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, such gallant runners-up in the Europa League Final, for domestic supremacy.

Football - bloomin' heck!

[image from Wikipedia]

Please, this glorious morning, let’s all take a moment to appreciate & celebrate the momentous achievement of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in reaching the 2014-15 Europa League Final, prevailing 1 – 0 in last night’s semi-final, second leg against Napoli to secure a 2 – 1 aggregate victory.

In these days of Champions’ League homogeneity (even allowing for the results of the semis of that competition this season at least producing the only acceptable final possible, & we’ve certainly never been fans of Juventus here at TOoT), the Europa, following on from the UEFA Cup, continues to allow some of the continent’s less-fashionable & unheralded, unfancied clubs at shot at glory, with an unlikely name emerging blinking into the Final spotlight (dimmed though that might be in comparison to the glare of the CL) with relative regularity (think, only since the turn of the millennium, of the likes of Deportivo Alaves, Middlesbrough, Fulham, Sporting Braga, for instance), claiming a few notable scalps along the way – Dnipro, lest we forget, qualified from a group featuring Internazionale & Saint-Etienne, & then overcame Olympiakos, Ajax, Club Brugge (3 of which favourite teams would happily be amongst TOoT’s semi-finalists in either competition, of course) & now most latterly & notably, not least given their manager Rafael Benitez’s career record in winning European tournaments with numerous clubs, Napoli -  &, for that, should be fondly clasped to our football-loving bosoms for the variety & colour it provides, the upsetting of the ‘massive clubs’ narrative.

Dnipro, of course, are a team that have held a place in our hearts since the early-1980s when they were known to the world by their Soviet-era Russian name, Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, which, ineffably, impossibly romantic as it is, we still prefer in our habitual ‘Ostalgic’ fashion, & it really is fabulous to see them reach such a pinnacle, which allows us to dream on that they might actually win the trophy, stacked though the odds would seem to be against them – bring it on!

In a clear case of life imitating art, it's interesting to note that, over at the idealised football universe of 'Delusions of Randomness', Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk reached the final of last season's European Champions' Cup, there to lose narrowly to RWD Molenbeek, the third time in history they've alas fallen at the ultimate hurdle of that competition: one day, maybe.

World Cup '74 Portrait Collection: Squad #15 (Yugoslavia)

all drawings graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil, each 30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #250 (Hans-Jurgen Kreische: East Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #154 (Peter Ducke: East Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest drawing in the project represents the previously unknown (in common with most of the featured names from the time) Peter Ducke, who was selected for inclusion in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 sticker albums &, subsequently, the official East Germany squad for the Finals, where he went on to make three appearances as a substitute over the course of the East Germans’ total of six matches during the First & Second Round group phases.

World Cup '74 Portrait #139 (Wolfgang Blochwitz: East Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #138 (Manfred Zapf: East Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #119 (Eberhardt Vogel: East Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Badge of the Day #98 (Karl-Marx-Stadt)

Being the very latest addition to the European football club collection, as a tangible signifier of the former East Germany & (one of) its sporting institutions, this wonderful, hauntologically, political-philosophically rich object from the early 1960s representing the lost name of SC Karl-Marx-Stadt is, of course, irresistibly essential.

World Cup '74 Portrait #102 (Joachim Streich: East Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s randomly-chosen man-of-the-moment is a depiction of Joachim Streich, of the much-missed East Germany, who was represented in sticker form in both the FKS & Panini ‘World Cup 1974’ collectors’ albums that form the visual basis of this drawing project.

A memorable name from the televised coverage of the Finals, Streich played in four of the East Germans’ six matches during the tournament - missing the historic first-ever meeting with (& glorious 1 – 0 victory over) West Germany & the Second Round defeat to Holland - & scored twice, in their first & last fixtures, against Australia & Argentina.

An anecdotal reference to Streich’s club career can be found here, from earlier this year, amongst the football club badge collection.

Season's Review

With the kick-off of the 2014 World Cup now but a week away, bringing with it a focus on international footballing matters, it seems high time to make a brief review of how some of TOoT’s club favourites fared over the course of the domestic season across Europe.

Atlético Madrid, of course, achieved the magnificent feat of winning La Liga in Spain, a quite phenomenal team achievement in the face of the ‘financially-doped’ competition from their putrid ‘Royal’ city rivals & the resources Barcelona – who finished as runners-up in both league & cup - are able to call upon. As has been mentioned in the immediate aftermath, Atlético were also the most unfortunate beaten finalists in the Champions' League, their presence at the event further testament to the team’s talent, class & resilience in the context of distorted competition.

Other champions were Ajax in Holland, for the fourth consecutive season, who then surprisingly missed out on a Double by losing the Cup Final 1 – 5 to PEC Zwolle, &, delightfully, for the first time since 2007, breaking the stranglehold of Partizan, the mighty Red Star Belgrade in Serbia, concluding with a 3 – 3 draw at Vojvodina Novi Sad (having clinched the title in their previous match), who themselves finished fourth in the league.

Further news from the lower Serbian divisions was, frankly, disastrous, with both Smederevo, in last place of 16 teams, & Timok Zaječar, in 13^th, suffering relegation from the second-level Prva Liga, the latter losing a final fixture 6-pointer to Inđija who thus leapfrogged to safety (from bottom of the table themselves with 5 games to go, which yielded an impressive total of 11 points, so fair play to them, at least), & the lovely Dubočica Leskovac being demoted from the third-tier Srpska Liga (East) after finishing 16^th & last – for a team whose delightfully romantic name should be involved in the business end of the Champions’ or Europa Leagues, such further distancing from is a saddening blow indeed.

Elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia (during the time of which our favourites became established, of course) Hajduk Split trailed in a distant third behind perennial champions Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, whilst Velez Mostar & Borac Banja Luka finished 5^th & 6^th respectively in Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Fifth was also the thoroughly undistinguished fate of Internazionale in Italy, a desperately disappointing & forgettable season for the mighty Nerazzurri, apart from perhaps the 7 – 0 away win at Sassuolo, albeit before the hosts had properly settled into Serie A, whilst, in similar fashion, KRC Genk ended 6^th in Belgium, declining badly after early season promise had seen them keep pretty good pace with leaders Standard Liege, who themselves faltered to allow Anderlecht to claim the championship.

Things were brighter & more successful elsewhere in Belgium in the form of Westerlo, who were champions of the second division & will be joined in the top flight again next season by (Royal) Mouscron(-Peruwelz), who won promotion via the play-offs, both clubs having failed at that stage in 2012-13. Lommel (United) finished 5^th in the second tier, just outside of play-off qualification, but that was a place & 9 points improvement on last season.

Of the RWDMs, the news was less good – the ‘FC Brussels’ version being relegated from the second division, failing to gain a license to continue at that level next season, despite finishing a comfortably mid-table 8^th, & the phoenix RWDM 2003 club, born from the demise of the original, failing to complete the season at their lower regional level, & being firmly at the bottom of the table when they withdrew: a sad outcome indeed for one of TOoT’s very favourite European names from the 1970s & that time of getting into football on a continental scale.

Of other names, a new one to the instant-favourites this season, the truly wonderful Kischpelt Welwerwolz (Wilwerwiltz), achieved a most impressive 3^rd in their section of the fifth level, given their recent seasons’ history tending  towards the bottom end of the table, & further up the league structure, more delightful news as US Hostert finished second in the ‘Division of Honour’ & thus earned promotion to the top flight again.

Ferencváros’ progress continued with a third-place finish in Hungary, with reigning champions Győri ETO coming up short only on goal difference to their successors Debrecen, whilst MTK Budapest revived to end-up comfortably mid-table.

Vasas, alas, will continue at the second level next season after even good a late-season run of results achieved nothing better than a final fourth place, whilst Szolnoki MAV finished a lowly 12^th in NB II.

Saint-Etienne achieved a good 4^th in Ligue 1 in France, excellent to see their name up around the higher echelons of the table once again, & only 2 points from Champions' League qualification, so they will have the opportunity to grace the Europa League, whilst another of our green & white favourites, Sporting Lisbon, were second in the Portuguese championship, thus earning themselves a tilt at the Champions' League – how about the 2015 final being between them & Atlético Madrid? In an ideal & gloriously aesthetic world, it might be.

Sparta Praha were crowned champions of the Czech Republic once again, & completed a domestic double with an 8 – 7 penalties win over League runners-up Viktoria Plzen, following a 1 – 1 draw courtesy of a dramatic 95^th-minute penalty equaliser.

Also of our Prague favourites, Slavia & Bohemians managed to finish a point clear of the relegation places, not least as a consequence of Sigma Olomouc’s failure to win their final fixture, although Bohemians did themselves a massive favour with a last-gasp winner at Jablonec in the previous round of matches, which followed a 3 – 2 Prague derby victory over Dukla.  Bottom club Znojmo lost each of their last 3 fixtures, including a crucial 6-pointer at Sigma, which also assisted Slavia’s & Bohemians’ respective escapes, cue much relieved ‘phew-ing’.

In Germany, Werder Bremen finished a most undistinguished 12^th in the Bundesliga, the nadir of a forgettable season being the shameful 0 – 7 home defeat to the always-appalling Bayern Munich, the high point the two derby wins over Hamburg, which somehow felt like less of an achievement given the latter’s struggle in the relegation positions.

The fate of relegation alas befell both Dynamo Dresden, from the Bundesliga 2, & Lokomotive Leipzig, from the Regionalliga Nordost to the 5^th level of German domestic football, a tragic descent indeed.

Carl Zeiss Jena & FSV Zwickau, formerly the mighty Sachsenring, fared better in the Regionalliga Nordost, but not well enough to gain promotion, thus both will remain in the 4^th tier for next season, as will Rot-Weiss Essen, 9^th in the Regionalliga West, whilst at the next stage up, MSV Duisburg finished 7^th & Hansa Rostock 13^th in the 3 Liga.

Dynamo Berlin represent the success story of the season of the former East German cohort, winning the 5^th-level NOFV-Oberliga Nord & consequently gaining promotion to the Regionallia Nordost.

Panathinaikos won the Greek Super League play-off to effectively finish 2^nd & qualify for next season’s  Champions’ League, & also won their domestic Cup for a double of sorts.

Of our Ukranian favourites, Dnipro (the formerly magnificent Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, in the Soviet Russian style we remain ‘Ostalgically’ attached to) finished second, Karpaty Lviv (though we go with the old ‘Lvov’ as preference) a disappointing 10^th & Tavriya Simferopol bottom, although events in the Crimea & the uncertainty thus engendered tended to overshadow the latter situation.

Ararat Yerevan ended fourth in Armenia, a shame after they’d led the league, hopefully, in fine style at the mid-season recess, whilst Wisla Krakow also finished fourth in Poland.
Grasshoppers achieved a creditable second, & Champions' League qualification, in the Swiss league, as did Galatasaray in Turkey, also winning their domestic Cup, followed by a fourth-place finish for Trabzonspor.

Of our favourites in English domestic football, Wrexham ‘achieved’ a frankly disgusting 17^th place in the Conference, their lowest ever finish in the league structure, & a steep decline (although perhaps not totally unpredictable) after 2013’s promotion near-miss & FA Trophy triumph.
The mighty Mossley finished 15^th in the First Division North of Northern Premier League,  Blyth Spartans 8^th & Marine a lowly 20^th in the Premier Division of the NPL, Stalybridge Celtic 19^th in the Conference North, just about saving themselves from relegation, & Gainsborough Trinity little better in 16th, a disappointing decline from last season's 'almost' of promotion play-off defeat.

In the south, Marlow came 17^th in Division One Central of the Southern League, consolidation at the higher level after last season’s promotion, & Hendon finished 8^th in the Premier Division of the Ryman Isthmian League.

Badge of the Day #97 (Carl Zeiss Jena)

Picking up the threads of a recently dominant but now becalmed feature here at TOoT, we present the latest addition to our collection in the form of an historic crest representing Carl Zeiss Jena of, at the time of the badge’s obvious vintage, the then-East Germany (the previously-named ‘Motor Jena’ having being ‘re-founded’ under the company-sponsored identity in 1966, although they had also borne the ‘Carl Zeiss’ prefix twice before during their history): as ever, such an object is hauntologically rich, & can’t help but inspire a little ‘Ostalgie’ in those so inclined.

One recalls Carl Zeiss Jena being a name that came to attention early in one’s football-following days, via their domestic successes & profile frequent entrants in the European club competitions & subsequently appearing in the final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1981, losing 2- 1 to Dinamo Tblisi (another of the continent’s instantly-attractive names), eliminating Wales’s Newport County at the quarter-final stage (much to the satisfaction of this Wrexham supporter, under the circumstances not in the least seduced by the possibility of the minnows progressing, particularly beyond the stage Wrexham had once achieved themselves), with research revealing that they had previously overcome AS Roma, remarkably overturning a 0 – 3 first leg deficit to prevail 4 – 0 in the return (one of very few instances of such comebacks in the history of the European club competitions), & then the holders Valencia, before going on to beat Benfica in the semi-finals, something of an epic campaign & a tribute to the team’s qualities in achieving their place in the final: the badge will serve as suitable tribute, & to the enduring romance of the name.



World Cup '74 Portrait #20 (Reinhardt Lauck: East Germany)

Today the opposite of tomato is the coast of Nebraska 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour/30x21cm

This latest randomly-chosen portrait subject is Reinhard(t) Lauck, who was represented in both the FKS & Panini 1974 World Cup commemorative sticker albums & selected for the official East Germany squad for their first &, alas it transpired, only Finals, where he went on to play, apparently with distinction, in the historic 1 – 0 victory in the first-ever ‘political derby’ against West Germany, & the two subsequent matches, in the Second Round group stage, defeats to Brazil (0 - 1) & then Holland (0 – 2), when he was substituted, in the 64^th minute of both.

Having died young, in 1997, Lauck is one of a particular kind of ‘ghost’ of World Cup ’74 that inhabits this drawing project, intensified in this instance by the cessation-to-be of the very state he represented, even if it &/or its sporting institutions has far from disappeared from consciousness or memory, of course.

Badge of the Day #89 (Tavriya Simferopol)

 

 

 

Today featuring Tavriya Simferopol, another of those fabulously romantic football club names that probably emerged into consciousness when the Ukraine/Crimea did from behind the old Iron Curtain (the club was, indeed, the first league champions of the independent Ukraine), rendered in those ever-desirable Cyrillic characters, which communicate that suitably exotically Eastern quality, upon an object the tarnished, base metal  appearance of which suggests might well be of a Soviet-era vintage, thus brimming with hauntological promise & redolent of those Cold War days.

It’s a shame to see ‘the Tav’ currently effectively propping up the Ukrainian Premier League, a situation not helped by Sunday’s 1 – 2 home loss to Dynamo Kiev, but surely that wonderful name will prevail & the team will soon be on the rise, to safety, before the season’s end.
Interestingly, & topically, given the current political crisis in the Ukraine & Crimea in particular, an article today details Tavriya Simferopol's & another Crimean club's plans to relocate to the Russian league system for next season.
 





Badge of the Day #88 (Levski-Spartak)

 



 

This most recent addition to the still-growing collection, having arrived from Hungary, features Levski-Spartak, as they were between 1969-85, the result of a merger of Levski & Spartak Sofias, the only name from Bulgarian football that’s ever really exerted anything of a romantic attraction.

A striking presence in the European club competitions throughout the 1970s & early 80s (not least as 6 times each winners of both the Bulgarian League & Cup), & Panini’s sticker albums, one recalls the name of Levski-Spartak being summarily & tragically extinguished by the Bulgarian authorities, with the club subsequently re-presented as ‘Vitosha’, following their part in the disturbances that marred the Cup Final, versus fierce rivals CSKA, in 1985, before reverting to their original ‘Levski’ in 1989.

Levski-Spartak, however, remains THE name to be treasured, as now will be the badge representing it, a bona fide hauntological object of a particular vintage with distinct ‘Ostalgic’ properties. The halved design of the crest of course references the ‘Levski’ & ‘Spartak’ aspects of the equation, with appropriately identifying Cyrillic initial characters, in perfect modern-minimalist fashion: a classic, to be sported with pride & a certain knowing cool.

Here’s an image of the delightful envelope the badge arrived in, too, in all its Hungarian-stamped glory.

Shirt of the Day #2 (East Germany)

Of course, given the Ostalgie oft experienced here at TOoT, the acquisition, courtesy of the fine, retro-minded folk at TOFFS, of a 1970-vintage East Germany football shirt was more than something of an inevitability, & here it is represented in all its glory, with a fine DDR crest.