Fast closing in on 20 years of clubgowi ............
Feb 18, 2026
clubgowi will be 20 years old in just under six weeks time, having started life on March 31st 2006.
It began as the Gambling and Other Wholesome Interests (GOWI) blog at a time when the average shelf life of a sports betting blog was three weeks and here we are 1,034 weeks later! It is a remarkable achievement IMO and one of which I feel very proud.
We have looked previously at what the business and political landscape looked like at the time, but it is quite fun and perhaps even more startling to do the same with our main sport, football, and in particular the English and Italian leagues.
At the time I was writing the first ever notes, Blackburn Rovers (5th) , Bolton Wanderers (7th) , Wigan Athletic (8th) and Charlton Athletic (11th) were all well established in the Premier League and, as incredible as it sounds, at least three of those teams felt that their manager was underachieving! Be careful what you wish for!
Brentford, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest were all in League 1 and Brighton were shortly to join them, being bottom of the Championship.
As crazy as that all sounds, playing Serie A football in Italy were Treviso, Messina, Siena, Reggina, Ascoli, Livorno and Chievo all now consigned to third or (mostly) fourth tier football. Juventus were about to be relegated (Calciopoli scandal) and Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio survived despite each being deducted 30 points! Atalanta, Torino and Bologna were in Serie B and Napoli in Serie C!
Good luck!