Marco van Basten

Marcel "Marco" van Basten[2] (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑrkoː vɑn ˈbɑstə(n)] (About this soundlisten); born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and former professional football player, who played for Ajax and A.C. Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He scored 300 goals in a high-profile career, but played his last match in 1993 at age 28 due to an injury which forced his retirement two years later.[2] He was later the head coach of Ajax and the Netherlands national team.

Playing for the Netherlands, Van Basten won UEFA Euro 1988 where he was named player of the tournament, scoring five goals that included a memorable volley in the final against the Soviet Union.[2][3] At club level, he won three Eredivisie titles and the Cup Winners' Cup with Ajax, and three Serie A titles and two European Cups with Milan

Known for his close ball control, attacking intelligence, impeccable headers, and spectacular strikes and volleys, Van Basten was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992 and won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1988, 1989 and 1992.[2] In 1998, he was ranked sixth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll, tenth in the European player of the Century election held by the IFFHS and 12th in the IFFHS' World Player of the Century election.[4][5] He was also voted eighth in a poll organised by the French magazine France Football, consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century.[6] In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[7] In 2004, a poll for the 100 greatest Dutch people was held in the Netherlands: Van Basten ranked number 25, the second highest for a football player, behind Johan Cruyff. In 2007, Sky Sports ranked Van Basten first on its list of great athletes who had their careers cut short
Early years
Marco van Basten was born on 31 October 1964 in Utrecht. He began playing for a local team, EDO, when he was six years old. A year later, he moved to UVV Utrecht. After nine years there, he briefly played for another club from Utrecht, Elinkwijk.

Ajax
Ajax signed 16 year old Van Basten for the 1981–82 season after his 20 year old brother Stanley was rejected. He played his first match for Ajax in April 1982, scoring a debut goal in the 5–0 victory over NEC.

In the 1982–83 season, he competed with the European top scorer and first choice Holland international Wim Kieft for the position of centre forward, and scored nine goals in 20 league matches. After Kieft left for Italian Serie A club Pisa the following season, the 18 year old Van Basten solidified his position as his team's main attacker.

He was the top scorer in the league for four consecutive seasons, from 1983–84 to 1986–87, scoring 118 goals in 112 matches. In the 1985–86 season, he scored 37 goals in 26 league matches, including six goals against Sparta Rotterdam and five against Heracles Almelo, and won the European Golden Boot. He also scored the winning goal in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final against Lokomotive Leipzig in 1987. In total he scored 128 goals in 133 league matches for Ajax.[2] On November 1986 he scored his most famous goal in an Ajax jersey, a spectacular overhead kick against FC Den Bosch.[9]

A.C. Milan
In 1987, A.C. Milan president Silvio Berlusconi signed Van Basten, with fellow countrymen Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard joining the club in 1988. In his first season, Milan won their first Scudetto in eight years, but Van Basten played only 11 matches and was constantly troubled by an ankle injury.[2][10] In 1988–89, Van Basten won the Ballon d'Or as Europe's top footballer.[2] He scored 19 goals in Serie A and 32 goals in all competitions that year, including two goals in the final of the European Cup, as Milan triumphed against Steaua București.[2] In 1989–90, he became Capocannoniere again (Serie A's leading goal scorer); Milan also successfully defended the European Cup after beating Benfica 1–0 in the final match,[2] during which Van Basten provided the assist for Rijkaard's match-winning goal.[11]

Milan struggled in the 1990–91 season, as Sampdoria won the Scudetto. After Van Basten fell out with Arrigo Sacchi, Berlusconi sacked the manager. Fabio Capello took over the following season, and Milan went undefeated in the league to win another Scudetto. Van Basten scored 25 league goals, and became Capocannoniere again;[2] his tally from the 1991–92 season was the highest number a goals that a player had scored in a single Serie A season since Luís Vinício achieved the same tally during the 1965–66 season
In November 1992, he became the first player to score four goals in a Champions League match, against IFK Göteborg, including a picture perfect bicycle kick.[2] In December 1992, Van Basten was named FIFA World Player of the Year.[2] Milan stretched their unbeaten run into the 1992–93 season, going 58 matches over two seasons before they lost a match.[2] Van Basten was exceptional in the early part of the season. He was again voted the European player of the year, becoming the third player after Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini to win the award three times.[2]

His troublesome ankle injury[14] recurred in a game against Ancona, forcing him to endure another six months layoff, and undergo a series of surgeries. He returned for the last few matches in the season, before Milan lost 1–0 to Marseille in the Champions League final. The match was Van Basten's final match for the Italian club.[2] He came off in the 86th minute for Stefano Eranio, after a hard tackle behind from Basile Boli condemned Van Basten to the third ankle surgery of his career.[15]

Van Basten had been hopeful of playing for his country at the 1994 World Cup as well as for his club in the 1994–95 season after spending the whole 1993–94 season out of action (missing Milan's victory in the European Cup as well as their Serie A title glory),[16] but his club ordered him not to take part in the World Cup amid fear of ruining his rehabilitation.[17] He finally conceded defeat in his battle to recover on 17 August 1995, when he announced his retirement as a player after two whole years on sidelines. Van Basten made a farewell appearance to thank the Milan fans before a home game at the San Siro, with an emotional Milan coach Fabio Capello breaking down in tears.[18]

International career
Van Basten's talent was already noticed at a young age and he was called up for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship. He made his senior debut for the Netherlands national team that same year. At UEFA Euro 1988, Van Basten played a pivotal role in the victorious Dutch team. He scored a total of five goals, including a hat trick against England, the winning goal in the semi-final against West Germany,[19] and a spectacular volley from an acute angle in the 2–0 final against the Soviet Union,[20] during which he also provided the assist for Gullit's opening goal.[21] He finished the competition as the top scorer and was named player of the tournament.[2] In a 2002 UK poll Van Basten's volley against the Soviet Union was ranked #21 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.[22]

The Dutch national team exited the 1990 World Cup early, losing to West Germany in the second round. Van Basten never scored in the World Cup finals. At UEFA Euro 1992, the Netherlands defeated reigning World Champions Germany 3–1 in the first round to top their group and reach the semi-finals, where they shockingly lost to the eventual champions Denmark in a penalty shootout, with Peter Schmeichel saving a penalty shot from Van Basten.[2] Van Basten was named to the European Championship team of the tournament for a second time in 1992.[23]

After retirement
Van Basten played in the Demetrio Albertini testimonial match at the San Siro in March 2006, and headed in a goal before being substituted early in the first half. On 22 July 2006, he also returned for the testimonial match to celebrate the 11-year Arsenal career of Dennis Bergkamp, in what was the first match played at the new Emirates Stadium. He played in the second half for the Ajax legends team. He entered the match as part of a double substitution that also introduced Johan Cruyff. He took part in Tyskie's (a Polish beer company) advertising campaign with Luís Figo and Zbigniew Boniek.

Player profile
Style of play
Regarded as one of the greatest and most complete strikers and players in the history of the sport, due to his prolific goalscoring and great skill set, Van Basten was dubbed the "Swan Of Utrecht" for his elegance and intelligent attacking play, and was known for his penchant for scoring acrobatic goals.[2][24][25][26] His height and strength allowed him to excel in the air, and his technical ability and agility saw him execute spectacular strikes throughout his career, such as volleys and bicycle kicks.[24][25][27][28] A fast and opportunistic striker with quick reactions and excellent movement, he often took advantage of loose balls in the penalty area due to his ability to anticipate defenders, and was capable of both controlling fast and difficult balls well with one touch, or even shooting first time.[25][28][29][30] Possessing a powerful and accurate shot, and clinical, varied finishing from anywhere along the pitch, he was capable of scoring goals with either foot from inside or outside the penalty area, as well as with his head; he was also an accurate penalty kick and free-kick taker.[26][27][31] Throughout his career, Van Basten converted 51 penalties out of the 54 he took, with a 94.44% success rate, the third highest in history, behind only Matthew Le Tissier and Cuauhtémoc Blanco.[32] Before taking penalties, Van Basten often used to perform a characteristic hop.[33]

Although he was mainly known as a traditional attacker who operated in the penalty area as a centre-forward throughout his career,[25][26] Van Basten also possessed excellent vision and distribution, in addition to his goalscoring ability, which enabled him to play in deeper, more creative positions, as a second striker, for example, and which allowed him to participate in the build-up of attacking plays and provide assists to his teammates in addition to scoring goals himself;[31][34][35][36][37][38] one of his most notable assists was the one he provided to Frank Rijkaard for Milan's winning goal in the 1990 European Cup final against Benfica.[11] Despite his large stature, Van Basten possessed excellent technical skills and ball control, as well as good balance and a notable elegance on the ball, which inspired his nickname.[24] As such, his strong physique, combined with his close control, also enabled him to hold up the ball for teammates when playing with his back to goal.[25]

Despite his ability, Van Basten's career was severely affected by many grave injuries, which eventually forced him to retire from football prematurely at the age of 28.[24][29] Lack of protection from referees and inadequate football rules against rugged defending and tackles from behind were identified as the source of the injuries which ultimately led to his career's demise; consequently, Van Basten's early retirement due to his injuries led to widespread debate in the football world over whether rash challenges from behind should be rendered illegal in football, in order to protect talented players more effectively.[39][40] During the 1994 World Cup, an automatic red was also shown for tackles from behind or with studs showing.[41] In 1998, prior to the World Cup that year, FIFA completely outlawed the tackle from behind;[42] this ruling came to be known colloquially as the "Van Basten law" in the media.[43] Although Van Basten was known for often being on the receiving end of hard challenges from his opponents throughout his career, former referee Daniele Tombolini described Van Basten as a player who was known for his physical play himself, and who utilised his strength and committed a lot of fouls during matches.[44]

Reception and legacy
Considered by pundits to be one of the greatest and most complete players of all time,[45] in 1998, Van Basten was ranked sixth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll, tenth in the European player of the Century election held by the IFFHS, and 12th in the IFFHS' World Player of the Century election.[4][5] He was also ranked eighth in a poll to determine France Football 's "Football Player of the Century."[6] In 1999, Van Basten was named the ninth greatest player of the twentieth Century by World Soccer magazine.[46] In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100, his list of the world's 125 greatest living players,[7] and also placed fourth in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, celebrating the best European footballers of the past fifty years.[47] He was also ranked 25th in a poll for the 100 greatest Dutch people. In 2007, Sky Sports ranked Van Basten first on its list of great athletes who had their careers cut short.[8] In 2016 Van Basten was included in UEFA's All-time Euro XI,[48] while in 2017, he was named the 13th greatest player of all time by FourFourTwo magazine.[26]

"It is between Romário and Van Basten."
— Diego Maradona on who was the best player he ever saw.[49]
Numerous players, managers, and other footballing figures have also lauded Van Basten as one of the greatest players of all time. Giuseppe Bergomi described Van Basten as the strongest player he ever faced in 2018, commenting: "The best player of all time for me [...] is Maradona, but the strongest player I ever faced was Van Basten because at least I could beat Maradona to the ball with my head."[50][51] In 2019, Van Basten's former Milan coach Fabio Capello described Van Basten and Ronaldo as the best players he ever coached.[52] His predecessor at Milan, Arrigo Sacchi, described Van Basten as the best striker of all time in 2014, commenting: "Marco van Basten remains for me the best striker of all time. No other forward has worked as hard for the team as Marco did at Milan. I above all remember him for his elegance, his grace and his incredible quality. I remember well when he first arrived at Milan: he was very young with great talent. It was a big change for him and Ruud Gullit to come to Italy from Holland. Marco was very enthusiastic, but unfortunately played very little in the first season due to an ankle injury. In successive years he won the Ballon d’Or three times [sic] and I am still so proud of him for that. Van Basten had a big influence on my first Milan adventure thanks to his goals."[53] When Hernan Crespo was asked in 2015 who was the greatest centre-forward of all time, he echoed Sacchi's views, responding: "Marco van Basten. He did everything: dribbling, shooting, headers, acrobatics. And he played with his team and for his team."[54] In 2019, Antonio Cassano described Van Basten and Ronaldo as the best forwards in the history of the game.[55] In 2017, Van Basten's former Milan teammate, Demetrio Albertini described the Dutchman with the following words "The best player I have ever played with is Van Basten, the best overall. He had elegance and strength. He stopped playing at only 28 years of age, which is truly young."[56] Another former Milan teammate of Van Basten, Giovanni Cornacchini, described the Dutch striker as the greatest player of all time in 2019.[57] Former Milan Vice-Chairman and CEO Adriano Galliani instead described Van Basten as Milan's greatest player ever in 2018.[58]

Media and sponsorship
Van Basten features in EA Sports' FIFA video game series, and was named in the Ultimate Team Legends in FIFA 14.[59] Throughout his playing career, Van Basten was sponsored by Italian sportswear company Diadora. One of the most marketable players in the world, in the late 1980s Diadora launched his own personalized football boots, the San Siro Van Basten, earning him two million dollars over 5 years.[60]

Managing career
Ajax B
Van Basten officially left Milan in 1995 and retired from football, stating he would never try management. However, he changed his mind and took a course with the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). His first stint as a manager was as an assistant to his former teammate John van 't Schip with the second team of Ajax in 2003–04.

Netherlands
On 29 July 2004, Van Basten was named the new manager of the Netherlands national team, with Van 't Schip as his assistant.[61] Van Basten’s appointment as manager of the Netherlands sparked a little controversy at the time, since he only just started his managerial career and the media argued that he did not have a lot of experience yet
As a manager, he soon established himself as a man of strong principles. Van Basten famously dropped regulars like Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids and Roy Makaay and benched Mark van Bommel, because he believed that they were either past their prime or constantly underachieving. There were also calls for Van Basten to call up Dennis Bergkamp, who had retired from the national team six years earlier, for a final "hurrah," as he was retiring that season. Van Basten then revealed to the media that he never intended to do so, despite Bergkamp's own willingness.

For probably the first time in decades, none of the "Big Three" Clubs (Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord) provided the backbone for the national team. Instead, newcomer AZ led the way with players such as Denny Landzaat, Barry Opdam, Barry van Galen, Ron Vlaar, Jan Kromkamp and Joris Mathijsen. AZ, at the time a local small football club for Dutch standards, proved to be successful in the Dutch league and in the UEFA Cup. Other unheralded choices were Khalid Boulahrouz, Hedwiges Maduro, Ryan Babel and Romeo Castelen. Van Basten had also wanted to include Ivorian forward Salomon Kalou, but was thwarted when Kalou was denied Dutch citizenship by the immigration authorities headed by Dutch Minister of Integration Rita Verdonk. Kalou eventually accepted a call-up to play for Ivory Coast.

Under his guidance, the team were unbeaten in their World Cup qualification group and made it through the group stages at the 2006 World Cup, but were eliminated in a frenzied 1–0 loss to Portugal in the Round of 16. Van Basten was heavily criticised for dropping Ruud van Nistelrooy before this match, in favour of Dirk Kuyt, who did not score throughout the entire tournament.
In November 2006, Van Basten recalled exiled Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf for a friendly against England at the Amsterdam Arena. In May 2007, Van Basten announced the end of his long-running dispute with Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had previously declared never to play for a Dutch national squad with Van Basten as its manager.[62] Other players, such as Roy Makaay, Mark van Bommel, Boudewijn Zenden and Edgar Davids, however, remained out of favour.

Van Basten had a contract with the KNVB for managing the Dutch national side until 2008. The KNVB had expressed its wishes to extend his contract to include the World Cup qualification route to 2010 World Cup in South Africa. On 22 February 2008, Van Basten signed a four-year contract with Ajax, starting from 1 July.[63] His last tournament thus was the UEFA Euro 2008, where the Netherlands surprised with a strong first round performance. They beat world champions Italy 3–0 in their first match,[64] followed by a 4–1 win over World Cup runners-up France.[65] In their third match, having already qualified for the next round, Van Basten selected non-regulars such as Maarten Stekelenburg, Wilfred Bouma and Ibrahim Afellay for the starting lineup against Romania, a match the Oranje won 2–0.[66] In the quarter-finals, Van Basten faced fellow Dutchman Guus Hiddink's Russia. With the score at 1–1 after 90 minutes, Hiddink and Russia went on to win the match 3–1 in extra-time.[67] He finished his reign with a record of 35 wins, 11 draws and six losses in 52 matches.[68]

Return to Ajax
Van Basten became manager of Ajax after Euro 2008 but resigned on 6 May 2009 after his team failed to qualify for the Champions League.[69] Van Basten started the season well, having spent millions on players such as Miralem Sulejmani, Ismaïl Aissati, Darío Cvitanich, Evander Sno, Eyong Enoh and Oleguer. However, in the second half of the season, striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar left for Real Madrid, and Van Basten started switching around his lineups. When Ajax lost 11 points in four matches, the Eredivisie title was out of sight. However, Ajax still had the chance to finish in second place, which would have ensured a place in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Two important losses against PSV (6–2) and Sparta Rotterdam (4–0), however, ensured that Van Basten's Ajax could only finish third in the league. Van Basten decided to resign as Ajax manager at the end of the 2008–09 season. Van Basten subsequently became a pundit for Sport1, but was still planning to return as a manager. He finished his reign with a record of 26 wins, 8 draws and 11 losses in 45 matches.[68]

Heerenveen
On 13 February 2012, it was announced that Van Basten would become the manager of Eredivisie club Heerenveen in the 2012–13 season.[70] Van Basten led Heerenveen to an eighth-place finish in the 2012–13 year campaign. He then led them to a fifth-place finish the following season, during the 2013–14 campaign. He finished his reign with a record of 27 wins, 18 draws and 27 losses in 72 matches.[68]

AZ
AZ Alkmaar announced on 18 April 2014 that Van Basten would replace Dick Advocaat at the start of the 2014–15 season.[71] On 28 August 2014, Van Basten took a leave of absence for the following match against Dordrecht, with multiple Dutch news outlets reporting he was suffering of stress-related heart palpitations, and was replaced by assistant coaches Alex Pastoor and Dennis Haar.[72][73][74] Later, on 3 September, AZ confirmed that Van Basten was given an extended leave of absence until 14 September.[73][74] On 16 September 2014, parties agreed Van Basten would relinquish his role as manager in order to sign a new contract as assistant coach until 2016; this was motivated by Van Basten himself, who stated the stress caused by his full-time role as head coach was causing him physical and mental issues.[75] He finished his stint with two wins and three losses in five matches.[68]

FIFA technical director
After a year at AZ, Van Basten decided to take up the vacant post of assistant coach under the new head coach of the Netherlands national team, Danny Blind.[76] Van Basten would work together with fellow assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy, whom Van Basten had initially sent away when he was head coach of the Netherlands. In August 2016, Van Basten announced he would be leaving the role to take up a position at FIFA as technical director.[76]

In March 2018 Van Basten travelled to Iran with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to mark 100 years of the Iran Football Federation. After meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani they were welcomed by the president of Iranian Football Federation Mehdi Taj at the Tehran Olympic Hotel. Attending the Tehran derby, Van Basten called for the ban on women entering sports venues to be lifted.[77]

Nazi verbal salute controversy
On 23 November 2019, while Van Basten was working as an analyst for the Dutch edition of the Fox Sports network, he was heard saying "Sieg Heil" (literally "Hail victory!" in German) on a live television broadcast, a verbal salute which the Nazis used to signal allegiance to dictator Adolf Hitler. Van Basten reportedly stated that he thought his microphone was off when he uttered those words, after his colleague Hans Kraay had interviewed Heracles's German manager, Frank Wormuth, following the team's 4–1 loss to Ajax. Van Basten later apologised, stating: "It wasn't my intention to shock people, I apologise. I just wanted to make a comment about Hans' German. It was an ill-placed joke." Van Basten's use of the salute attracted further controversy as it occurred on a weekend during which Dutch football clubs were attempting to emphasise the importance of fighting racism by observing a minute of silence prior to matches.[78][79][80] Following the incident, the network described Van Basten's comment as "stupid and inappropriate," and suspended him until 7 December

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace Football Club is an English professional football club based in Selhurst, South London, that competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. They were founded in 1905 at the famous Crystal Palace Exhibition building and played their home games at the FA Cup Final stadium, which was situated inside the historic Palace grounds. The club were forced to leave the Palace in 1915 due to the outbreak of the First World War, and played at Herne Hill Velodrome and the Nest until 1924, when they moved to their current home at Selhurst Park.

Palace joined the Football League in 1920, and have overall spent the majority of their time competing in the top two tiers of English football. Since 1964, they have only dropped below the second tier once, for three seasons between 1974 and 1977. Palace enjoyed a successful period in the top flight in the late 1980s and early 1990s, during which they achieved their highest ever league finish in 1990–91 of third place in the old First Division, now known as the Premier League. The club were denied a place in Europe at the end of that season because of the partial UEFA ban on English clubs at that time following the Heysel Stadium disaster. Palace became one of the original founding members of the Premier League. It was also during this period that Palace reached the 1990 FA Cup Final finishing runners-up to Manchester United after a replay. Palace set two unwanted Premier League records for relegation, in 1992–93 they were relegated on 49 points, which is still a record number of points for a relegated Premier League club and are also the only club ever to be relegated from the Premier League when finishing fourth from bottom in 1994–95, as it had been decided that the league would be reduced from 22 to 20 clubs for the following season. The club suffered severe financial problems towards the end of the 1990s and into the 2000s and went into administration twice, in 1999 and 2010. Palace recovered and gained promotion back to the Premier League in 2012–13 where they have remained ever since, and reached another FA Cup final in 2016.

The club's traditional kit colours were originally claret and blue, but in 1973 they decided to change to the red and blue vertical stripes now worn today. Palace have a fierce rivalry with Brighton & Hove Albion, with whom they contest the M23 derby and also share rivalries with fellow South London clubs Millwall and Charlton Athletic.
Historic origins: The famous Exhibition Palace and playing at the FA Cup Final venue (1854–1920)
In 1854, the famous Crystal Palace Exhibition building had been relocated from Hyde Park, London and rebuilt in an area of South London next to Sydenham Hill. This area was renamed Crystal Palace which included the Crystal Palace park that surrounded the site where various sports facilities were built. The original Crystal Palace team were an amateur outfit who first played here as early as 1861.[4] They competed in the very first FA Cup competition in 1871–72, losing in the semi finals to the Royal Engineers before disappearing from historical records after a 0–3 defeat to Wanderers in the second round of the 1875–76 FA Cup. In 1895, the Football Association found a new permanent venue for the FA Cup Final at the sports stadium situated inside the historic Palace grounds. Some years later the owners, who were reliant on tourist activity for their income, sought fresh attractions for the venue, and decided to form their own professional football team to play at the stadium. The owners wanted a club to play there and tap into the vast crowd potential of the area. Although the Football Association disliked the idea of the owners of the Cup Final venue also possessing their own football team and initially rejected their proposal, a separate company was established to form and own the club.[5]

Crystal Palace Football Club, originally nicknamed "The Glaziers", were founded on 10 September 1905 under the guidance of Aston Villa assistant secretary Edmund Goodman.[6] The club applied to enter the Football League alongside another newly formed London club Chelsea. Unfortunately for Palace, it was Chelsea that were accepted and the club found itself in the Southern League Second Division for the 1905–06 season. The club was successful in its inaugural season and were promoted to the First Division, crowned as champions.[6] Palace also played in the mid-week United Counties League, finishing runners-up to Watford, and it was in this competition that the club played their first match, winning 3–0 away to New Brompton.[6][7]

Palace remained in the Southern League up until 1914, their one highlight the 1907 shock First Round victory over Newcastle United in the FA Cup.[8][9] The outbreak of the First World War led to the Admiralty requisitioning the Crystal Palace and its grounds, which meant the club was forced to leave and they moved to the home of West Norwood F.C. at Herne Hill Velodrome.[6] Three years later they moved again to the Nest due to the folding of Croydon Common F.C..

Into the Football League: Early success and Wartime champions (1920–58)
The club became founder members of the new Football League Third Division in the 1920–21 season, finishing as champions and gaining promotion to the Second Division. This achievement meant they joined Preston North End, Small Heath, Liverpool and Bury as the only clubs to win a championship in their first season as a league club. Palace then moved to the purpose-built stadium Selhurst Park in 1924, which is the ground the club still plays at today.[6][10]

The opening fixture at Selhurst Park was against Sheffield Wednesday, with Palace losing 0–1 in front of a crowd of 25,000. Finishing in twenty-first position, the club was relegated to the Third Division South. Before the Second World War Palace made good efforts at promotion, never finishing outside the top half of the table and finishing second on three occasions. During the war years, the Football League was suspended, and the club won two Wartime Leagues. After the war, Palace were less successful in the league, their highest position being seventh, and conversely on three occasions the club had to apply for re-election.

The Sixties: Historic Real Madrid visit and promotion to the top flight (1958–73)
The club remained in Division Three South until 1957–58 when the league was restructured which saw clubs in the bottom half of the table merge with those in the bottom half of Division Three North to form a new Fourth Division. Palace finished fourteenth – just below the cut – and found itself in the basement of English football. Their stay was only brief. Palace chairman Arthur Wait appointed the ex-Tottenham manager Arthur Rowe in April 1960, and his exciting style of football was a joy to watch for the Palace fans. The 1960–61 season saw Palace gain promotion and they also achieved distinction in 1962 when they played the great Real Madrid team of that era in an historic friendly match. This was the first time that the Spanish giants had ever played a match in London and was only two weeks before they were due to play Benfica in the European Cup final. A full strength Madrid team beat Palace 4–3. Although Rowe resigned due to health reasons towards the end of 1962, the promotion proved a turning point in the club's history. Dick Graham and then Bert Head guided the club to successive promotions in 1963–64 and 1968–69, taking the club through the Second Division and into the heights of the First Division.[12]

Palace stayed in the top flight from 1969 until 1973, and achieved some memorable results, arguably the best was a 5–0 home win against Manchester United in the 1972–73 season. Arthur Wait stepped down as chairman during that season and was replaced by Raymond Bloye who appointed Malcolm Allison as manager in March 1973, with Bert Head moving upstairs to become general manager. Unfortunately the managerial change came too late to save the club from relegation back to the Second Division.

Bouncing between the divisions (1973–84)
After the disappointment of relegation, worse was to follow for the club. Under the management of Allison, Palace were immediately relegated again finding itself back in Division Three for the 1974–75 season. It was also under Allison that the club changed its nickname from "The Glaziers" to "The Eagles", and ended its association with claret and blue kit colours by deciding to change to the red and blue vertical stripes worn today. Palace enjoyed a run to the semi-finals of the 1975-76 FA Cup, beating Leeds and Chelsea along the way. Allison resigned at the end of the 1975–76 campaign after failing to get the club out of the third tier, and it was under Terry Venables' management that Palace were promoted back to the top flight with successive promotions in 1976–77 and 1978–79; the latter saw the club crowned as Division Two champions.

That team from 1979 was dubbed "The Team of the Eighties", and were briefly top of the whole Football League in the early part of the 1979–80 season. However financial difficulties suffered by the club caused the break-up of that talented group of players, and this ultimately led to the club being unable to maintain its position in the top flight. Palace were relegated from the First Division in 1980–81, coinciding with Ron Noades' takeover of the club. They struggled back in the second tier, and Noades even appointed the ex-Brighton manager Alan Mullery, which was very unpopular with the Palace fans.

Steve Coppell years: FA Cup finalists and League title challengers (1984–93)
On 4 June 1984, former Manchester United and England player Steve Coppell who had recently retired from the game due to injury was appointed as manager, and it was under his stewardship and rebuilding that the club achieved promotion via the play-offs back to the First Division in 1988–89. Palace followed this up by reaching the 1990 FA Cup Final, drawing 3–3 with Manchester United in the first match but losing the replay 0–1. The club were able to build on this success and the 1990–91 season saw them achieve their highest ever league finish of third place in the top flight. Palace were to be denied a European place at the end of that season because of the partial UEFA ban on English clubs following the Heysel Stadium disaster. The club also returned to Wembley and won the Full Members Cup. Palace beat Everton 4–1 (after extra time) in the final.[6] During the following season star striker Ian Wright left the club to join Arsenal. Palace finished tenth, allowing the club to become a founding member of the FA Premier League in 1992–93
The club sold Mark Bright to Sheffield Wednesday, but failed to rebuild the squad adequately, and Palace struggled for consistency throughout the season. The club found itself relegated with a total of 49 points, which is still a Premier League record for the highest number of points for a relegated club. Coppell resigned and Alan Smith, his assistant at the club, took over.

The yo-yo years (1993–98)
Alan Smith's first season as manager saw the club win the First Division title and gain promotion back to the Premier League.[14] Their stay on this occasion proved eventful. On 25 January 1995, Palace played Manchester United at Selhurst Park in which Eric Cantona was sent off. He was taunted by Palace fan Matthew Simmons,[15] and retaliated with a flying kick.[16] Cantona was sentenced to two weeks in jail,[17] reduced to 120 hours community service on appeal. Simmons was immediately banned from Selhurst Park,[18] and found guilty on two charges of threatening Cantona.[19] More was to follow in March, when Chris Armstrong was suspended by the FA for failing a drugs test.[20] On the field, Smith guided the club to the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the League Cup, but league form was inconsistent and Palace once again found themselves relegated, finishing fourth from bottom as the Premier League reduced from 22 to 20 clubs.[21]

Smith left the club and Steve Coppell returned as technical director in the summer of 1995, and through a combination of the first-team coaching of Ray Lewington and latterly Dave Bassett's managership Palace reached the play-offs. Palace lost the 1996 play-off final in dramatic fashion when Steve Claridge scored in the last minute of extra time for Leicester City to win the tie 2–1. The following season saw Coppell take charge as first-team manager when Dave Bassett departed for Nottingham Forest in early 1997[22] The club was successful in the play-offs at the second time of asking when they defeated Sheffield United in the final at Wembley.[23]

This stay in the Premier League was no more successful than the previous two, and in true yo-yo club fashion Palace were relegated back to the First Division at the end of the 1997–98 season. The club also had a new owner when recruitment tycoon Mark Goldberg completed his takeover in June 1998.[24]

In the doldrums: Two administrations (1998–2010)
Terry Venables returned to Palace for a second spell as manager and the club competed in European competition during the summer when they played in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Palace then went into administration in 1999, when owner Mark Goldberg was unable to sustain his financial backing of the club.[25] Venables left and Steve Coppell took over again as manager. The club emerged from administration under the ownership of Simon Jordan, and Coppell was replaced as manager by Alan Smith for a second time. Palace were almost relegated in Jordan's first season, in 2000–01. Smith was sacked in April and long-serving coach Steve Kember took over as caretaker manager and managed to win the two remaining fixtures that would guarantee survival, Dougie Freedman scoring the winner in a 1–0 victory over Stockport County in the 87th minute on the final day of the season. Steve Bruce was appointed manager for the 2001–02 season.[26] A good start to the season gave Palace hope for a promotion challenge, but Bruce attempted to walk out on the club after just four months at the helm to take charge of Birmingham City.[27][28] After a short spell on 'gardening leave',[29] Bruce was eventually allowed to join Birmingham,[30] succeeded by Trevor Francis, who had ironically been his predecessor at the Midlands club.[31]

Under Francis, Palace finished mid-table for two successive seasons, but he then departed[32] to be replaced by Steve Kember.[33] Kember guided Palace to victories in their opening three games of the 2003–04 First Division campaign, which put the club at the top of the table, but he was sacked in November after a terrible loss of form saw the team slip towards the relegation zone.[34] Iain Dowie was appointed manager and guided the club to the play-offs, securing promotion with a 1–0 victory over West Ham. Again Palace could not maintain their place in the top tier and were relegated on the last day of the season after drawing at local rivals Charlton Athletic.
Following that relegation, Simon Jordan was unable to put the club on a sound financial footing in the next few years, and in January 2010 the club was once again placed in administration, this time by a creditor.[35] The Football League's regulations saw the Eagles deducted ten points,[36] and the administrators were forced to sell key players including Victor Moses and José Fonte. Neil Warnock had also departed as manager in the early part of 2010. He had taken over as manager in 2007, replacing Peter Taylor who had a brief spell as manager. Paul Hart took over as caretaker manager for the final weeks of the season. Survival in the Championship was only secured on the final day of the season after a memorable 2–2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday, which was itself relegated as a result.[37]

Established back in the Premier League (2010–present)
During the close season CPFC 2010, a consortium consisting of several wealthy fans successfully negotiated the purchase of the club. They were led by Steve Parish, the vocal representative for the consortium of four that also included Stephen Browett, Jeremy Hosking and Martin Long. Crucially, the consortium also secured the freehold of the ground, and paid tribute to a fans' campaign which helped pressure Lloyds Bank into selling the ground back to the club. The consortium swiftly installed George Burley as the new Palace manager.[38] However a poor start to the season saw the club hovering around the bottom of the table by December. On 1 January 2011, after a 0–3 defeat to Millwall, Burley was sacked and his assistant Dougie Freedman named caretaker manager. Freedman was appointed manager on a full-time basis on 11 January 2011.[39] Palace moved up the table and by securing a 1–1 draw at Hull City on 30 April, the club was safe from relegation with one game of the season left. After another year and a half as manager, Freedman departed to manage Bolton Wanderers on 23 October 2012.[40]

In November 2012, Ian Holloway became manager.[41] He guided Palace back to the Premier League after an eight-year absence by defeating Watford 1–0 in the Championship Play-off Final at the new Wembley, but resigned in October 2013.[42] Following a brief spell under Tony Pulis,[43] and an unsuccessful second tenure as manager for Neil Warnock, former Palace player Alan Pardew was confirmed as the new manager in January 2015.[44] In his first full season, Pardew led Palace to the 2016 FA Cup Final, their first for 26 years, losing 1–2 after extra time to Manchester United. In December 2016, Pardew was sacked and replaced by Sam Allardyce, who kept the club in the Premier League but resigned unexpectedly at the end of the season.[45] On 26 June 2017, Palace appointed their first permanent foreign manager in former Dutch international Frank de Boer, who was dismissed after only 77 days in charge, with the club having lost their first four league games at the start of the 2017–18 season.[46] His replacement, Roy Hodgson, was appointed the next day.[47]

Colours and crest
When Crystal Palace were founded in 1905, they turned to one of the biggest clubs in the country at the time, Aston Villa, to seek advice. Villa helped the club in a number of ways, not least by donating their kit.[48][49] As a result, Palace's colours were originally claret and blue shirts paired with white shorts, socks tending to be claret. They kept to this formula fairly consistently until 1938. The 1937–38 strip saw them try vertical stripes of claret and blue on the jersey rather than the claret body and blue sleeves, but in 1938 they decided to abandon the claret and blue and adopt white shirts and black shorts with matching socks. Although they returned to claret and blue from 1949 to 1954, the 1955 season saw them return to white and black, now using claret and blue as trim.[50]

There were variations on this theme until 1963 when the club adopted the away strip of yellow jersey as the home colours. In 1964 the club adopted an all-white strip modelled on Real Madrid whom the club had played recently in a friendly, before they returned to claret and blue jerseys with white shorts in 1966. The club continued with variations on this theme up until Malcolm Allison's arrival as manager in 1973.[50] Allison overhauled the club's image, adopting red and blue vertical stripes for colours and kit, inspired by FC Barcelona.[48] Palace have played in variations of red and blue ever since, bar the centenary season of 2005 which saw them deploy a version of their 1971–72 claret, blue and white kit.[50]

The club were relatively late in establishing a crest. Although the initials were embroidered onto the shirt from the 1935–36 season, a crest featuring the façade of The Crystal Palace did not appear until 1955. This crest disappeared from the shirt in 1964, and the team's name appeared embroidered on shirts in 1967–72. 1972 saw a round badge adopted with the club's initials and nickname "the Glaziers" before Allison changed this too.[50] The nickname became "the Eagles", inspired by Portuguese club Benfica, and the badge adopted an eagle holding a ball.[50] This emblem remained until 1987 when the club married the eagle with the Crystal Palace façade,[51] and although updated in 1996 and again in 2013, the crest retains these features.[50] Since mid-2010, the club has made use of an American bald eagle, called Kayla, as the club mascot, with the bird flying from one end of the stadium to the other at every home game.[52][53]

Kit manufacturers and sponsors
Since 2018, Crystal Palace's kit has been manufactured by Puma.[54] Previous manufacturers include Umbro (1975–77), Admiral (1977–80, 1987–88, 2003–04), Adidas (1980–83, 1996–99), Hummel (1984–87), Bukta (1988–92), Ribero (1992–94) Nutmeg (1994–96), TFG Sports (1999–2001) Le Coq Sportif (2001–03), Diadora (2004–07), Errea (2007–09), Nike (2009–12), Avec (2012–14), and Macron (2014–18).

The club's shirts are currently sponsored by ManBetX, and have previously been sponsored by Red Rose (1983–84), Top Score (1985–86), AVR (1986–87), Andrew Copeland (1987–88), Fly Virgin (1988–91), Tulip Computers (1991–93), TDK (1993–99), Churchill Insurance (2000–06), GAC Logistics (2006–14), Neteller (2014–15), and Mansion.com (2015–17)

The club signed its first sleeve sponsor with All Football, a Chinese football-based social media application, in 2017[55]

Stadium
In 1905, the Crystal Palace Company who owned the FA Cup Final venue situated inside the grounds of The Crystal Palace, wanted a professional club to play there and tap into the crowd potential of the area. They formed a new club called Crystal Palace F.C., to play at the stadium.[56] When the First World War broke out the Palace and grounds were seized by the armed forces, and in 1915 the club were forced to move by the Admiralty. They found a temporary base at the Herne Hill Velodrome. Although other clubs had offered the use of their ground to Palace, the club felt it best to remain as close to their natural catchment area as possible.[57] When Croydon Common F.C. were wound up in 1917, the club took over their old stadium located at the Nest,[58] but in 1919 they began the purchase of the land on which they would eventually build Selhurst Park, their current home.[59]

The renowned stadium architect, Archibald Leitch, was employed to draw up plans, and the club constructed and completed the ground in time for the 1924–25 season.[59] It remained relatively unchanged, with only the introduction of floodlights and maintenance and updating until 1969 when the Arthur Wait stand was constructed. The Main Stand became all-seater in 1979 and more work followed in the 1980s when the Whitehorse Lane End was redeveloped to allow for a Sainsbury's supermarket, club offices and a club shop. The Arthur Wait stand became all seater in 1990, and in 1994 the Holmesdale Terrace was redeveloped, replaced with a two tier Stand. Selhurst's attendance record was set in 1979, with an official total of 51,482.[60] After all the redevelopments to the ground and safety requirements due to the Taylor Report, the ground's current capacity is 26,309.[61] Proposals were put forward to move the club back to the Crystal Palace National Stadium in 2010,[62] but after the club gained promotion to the Premier League in 2013 there has been a renewed focus on redeveloping their current home into a 40,000 seater stadium.[61][63] Revised plans for a new 13,500-seater Main Stand (extending overall stadium capacity to 34,000) were approved at a Croydon Council meeting on 19 April 2018
Crystal Palace have a fan base predominantly from the local area which draws on South London, Kent, and Surrey. Their original home, at The Crystal Palace, was on the boundary with Kent, while Selhurst Park was within Surrey's borders until the London Government Act 1963 saw Greater London encompass Croydon. The club's passionate support at home games emanates from the Holmesdale Road Stand, in which the ultras group the Holmesdale Fanatics have been based since 2005.

The fans have established at least two other supporters groups. The Palace Independent Supporters' Association was set up to raise supporter concerns with the club,[65] while the Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust was originally established to enable fans to purchase the club during the administration of 2000. The Trust remained in existence, and now lists one of its aims as building "a new state-of-the-art training ground to lease to the Club".[66]

A number of fanzines have been produced by the fans over the years. Eagle Eye launched in 1987 and ran until 1994, with a number of contributors launching the replacement Palace Echo in 1995, running until 2007.[67] The Eastern Eagles, So Glad You're Mine and One More Point were also published by fans in the 1990s.[68] When One More Point ceased publication, Five Year Plan launched in its place,[69] and maintains an online presence.[70] Supporters also congregate on two internet forums, The BBS and Holmesdale.net which the club use as channels to communicate with fans
Being a London club means they compete against a number of other local clubs for the attention of supporters but the club does have a recognisably large catchment area of 900,000.[63][72] When the new owners took control in 2010, they sought the fans' input into future decisions. They consulted on a new badge design, and when their chosen designs were rejected the club instead opted for a design based on a fans' idea from an internet forum.[73] The club are also strengthening their ties with the local community, and through the Crystal Palace F.C. Foundation they work with local London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley and Sutton to provide sports and educational programmes. Through this work the club hope to develop their supporter base and geographical base. The Foundation's work was recognised by the Football League in August 2009 with their Silver Standard Community Scheme Award.[74]

The club also maintains a sizeable celebrity support. Kevin Day and Jo Brand host an annual comedy night for Comic Relief and the Palace Academy,[75] and the club also count fellow comedians Eddie Izzard, and Mark Steel amongst their fans. The actor Neil Morrissey developed Palace Ale, a beer on sale in the ground,[76] while actor Bill Nighy is patron of the CPSCC, a Crystal Palace-based charity.[77] Radio DJ David Jensen is chairman of the Crystal Palace Vice presidents Club[78] and acted as spokesman for the CPFC 2010 consortium during their takeover bid for the club. Actor, writer and producer John Salthouse was on the books of Palace as a player from 1968 to 1970 under the name of John Lewis,[79] and was also a mascot for the club as a child.[80] He incorporated the club into his role as Tony in Abigail's Party.[81] Susanna Reid revealed her love of Palace while taking part in Strictly Come Dancing, visiting Selhurst Park for inspiration.[82]

Rivalries
Due to their location in the capital, Crystal Palace are involved in a number of local derbies, mostly across South London. They enjoy rivalries with both Millwall and former tenants Charlton Athletic. They have a fierce rivalry with Brighton & Hove Albion which did not develop until Palace's relegation to the Third Division in 1974, reaching its height when the two teams were drawn together in the first round of the 1976–77 FA Cup. The game went to two replays, but the controversy was based on referee Ron Challis ordering a successful Brighton penalty be retaken because of Palace player encroachment. The retake was saved, Palace won the game 1–0 and a fierce rivalry was born.[83]

Ownership
Due to the Football Association not wishing the owners of the FA Cup Final venue to also possess their own football team, a separate company was established to form and own the club. The first chairman, Sydney Bourne, was found by club secretary Edmund Goodman after he had examined records of FA Cup Final ticket purchasers. Goodman noted his name as one that had bought a number of tickets every year, and so met with Bourne and found him very agreeable to the idea of the new club. Bourne was invited onto the board of directors and elected chairman at the club's first ever meeting. He remained chairman until his death in 1930.[84]

Local businessman Arthur Wait established a consortium of seven other businessmen to purchase the club in 1949, and they initially rotated the chairmanship.[85][86] In 1958 Wait became the chairman, before being replaced by Raymond Bloye in 1972.[87] Bloye's ownership lasted until 26 January 1981, when property developer Ron Noades and his small consortium took control of the club. Noades eventually sold the club to Mark Goldberg on 5 June 1998, becoming the second longest serving chairman behind Sydney Bourne. Goldberg's tenure of the club was not a success and the club entered administration in March 1999. Although the fans established a group, the Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust in a bid to gain control of the club, millionaire Simon Jordan negotiated a deal with creditors and the administrator, and a new company, CPFC 2000 took control. This company entered administration in January 2010, and it was not until June of that year that a takeover was completed by a consortium of four wealthy fans known as CPFC 2010.[88]

CPFC 2010 was established by a consortium of four businessmen, Steve Parish, Martin Long, Stephen Browett and Jeremy Hosking in 2010, with each owning a 25% share of the company.[89][90] The four successfully negotiated a take-over with the administrator Brendan Guilfoyle and a company voluntary arrangement was formally accepted by company creditors on 20 August 2010.[91] CPFC 2010 also purchased the ground from Lloyds Bank after a demonstration by fans put pressure on the bank to agree terms.[92][93]

On 18 December 2015, it was announced that a new deal had been signed with American investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer.[94] The club stated that Steve Parish would continue as chairman alongside Harris and Blitzer as general partners in a new structure, and that Browett, Long and Hosking would also retain a substantial investment.[95]

Later company accounts showed that the ownership figures were: Steve Parish 18%, Steve Browett 5%, Jeremy Hosking 5% and Martin Long 2.5% with the remainder being owned by Palace Holdco LP (a limited partnership registered in Delaware) 67.5% and Palace Parallel LLC (a company also registered in Delaware) 1.5%. Both Palace Holdco and Palace Parallel have 180 preference shares each. As the Delaware companies do not have to reveal their owners the exact ownership of the club is therefore unknown but Steve Parish confirmed that each of Harris and Blitzer had an 18% share to match his own.

Statistics and records
Jim Cannon holds the record for Crystal Palace appearances, having played 660 first-team matches between 1973 and 1988.[96] He also holds the record for most League appearances, making 571.[97] Cannon joined the club as a trainee, and of his appearances only four of them were made as a substitute. His first appearance was made aged 19, scoring in a home win against Chelsea on 31 March 1973. Cannon's last game was on 7 May 1988, a home win against Manchester City.[98] Peter Simpson holds the record for the most goals scored in a season, 54 in the 1930–31 season in Division Three (South). Simpson, who signed for the club from Kettering Town, is also the top scorer over a career – 165 between 1929 and 1935.[96] Wayne Hennessey holds the club record for most international caps
Palace were inaugural champions of the newly formed Third Division in 1920–21, which was also their first ever season in the Football League and so became one of only a small group of clubs to have achieved the feat of winning a Football League Division at the first time of asking. Their average league attendance of 19,092 in the 1960–61 season and the attendance of 37,774 for the Good Friday game at Selhurst Park between Palace and Millwall the same season are Fourth Division attendance records.[102] Palace's official record home attendance is 51,482 for a Division Two match against Burnley on 11 May 1979.[103] The club's widest victory margin in the league was the 9–0 win against Barrow in the Fourth Division in 1959, while their heaviest defeat in the league was by the same scoreline, 0–9 against Liverpool in 1989 in Division One.[103]

The highest transfer fee received for a Palace player is £50 million, from Manchester United for Aaron Wan-Bissaka in June 2019, while the highest transfer fee paid by the club to date was for Christian Benteke from Liverpool in August 2016, for £32 million.

The club's highest ever league finish so far is third place in the Football League First Division, which is now called the Premier League, achieved in the 1990–91 season. Palace hold the record for the most points for a relegated Premier League club, with 49 points (although that was in a 42-game season in 1992–93).[104] They are also the only club ever to be relegated from the Premier League even though they finished fourth from bottom, as it had been decided that at the end of the 1994–95 season, the bottom four clubs would be relegated in order to accommodate the league being reduced from 22 to 20 clubs for the 1995–96 season; Palace's points total that season of 45 is also the second-highest points total in Premier League history for a relegated club.[104] Palace hold the record for the most Play-off final wins (4) resulting in promotion to the top flight. Each of these play-off final victories occurred at a different location: Selhurst Park in 1989 (the first leg of the two-legged final was played at Ewood Park in Blackburn), old Wembley Stadium in 1997, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in 2004, and new Wembley in 2013.

Black Widow

Black Widow is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be the twenty-fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Cate Shortland, written by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson, and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, alongside David Harbour, Florence Pugh, O-T Fagbenle, and Rachel Weisz. Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) and prior to Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the film sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront her past while facing a new threat.

Development of a Black Widow film began in April 2004 by Lionsgate, with David Hayter attached to write and direct. The project did not move forward and the film rights to the character reverted to Marvel Studios by June 2006. Johansson was cast in the role for several MCU films beginning with Iron Man 2 (2010). Marvel and Johansson expressed interest in a solo film several times over the following years, before Schaeffer and Shortland were hired in 2018. Benson joined and further casting took place in early 2019. Filming took place from May to October, in Norway, Budapest, Morocco, Pinewood Studios in England, and in Macon, Georgia.

Black Widow is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on May 1, 2020.
Premise
Following the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016),[1] Natasha Romanoff finds herself alone and forced to confront her past while facing a new threat.[2]

Cast
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:
A highly trained former KGB assassin, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and member of the Avengers.[3] Johansson described the film as "an opportunity to explore the Widow as a woman who has come into her own and is making independent and active choices for herself, probably for once in her life."[4] Johansson adds, "She really is in a dark place where she’s got no one to call and nowhere to go. She’s really grappling with her own self."[5]
David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian: The Russian super-soldier counterpart to Captain America, who has a history with Romanoff.[6][7]
Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova / Black Widow: A sister-figure to Romanoff.[7][8][9]
O-T Fagbenle as Rick Mason: An ally from Romanoff's S.H.I.E.L.D. past who is romantically interested in her.[10][7]
Rachel Weisz as Melina / Black Widow: A seasoned spy trained in the Red Room who is involved in a scientific experiment.[11][12][9]
Additionally, Ray Winstone and Olivier Richters have been cast in undisclosed roles.[13][14] The character Taskmaster will be featured in the film.[15] William Hurt and Robert Downey Jr. respectively appear in their MCU roles as Thaddeus Ross and Tony Stark / Iron Man.[16][17]

Production
Development
In February 2004, Lionsgate acquired the film rights for Black Widow,[19] and in April announced David Hayter as writer and director of the film, with Marvel Studios' Avi Arad producing.[20] By June 2006, Lionsgate had dropped the project and the rights reverted to Marvel Studios. Hayter and Marvel tried getting another financier to develop the project, but Hayter "never felt comfortable that we had found a place that was willing to take the movie, and the character, seriously." This left Hayter "heartbroken", but he hoped the film would be made "some day".[21]

In January 2009, Marvel entered early talks with Emily Blunt to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2,[22] though she was unable to take the role due to a previous commitment to star in Gulliver's Travels.[23] In March 2009, Scarlett Johansson signed on to play Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, with her deal including options for multiple films.[24] In September 2010, while promoting the home media release of Iron Man 2, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige stated that discussions with Johansson had already taken place regarding a Black Widow standalone film, but that Marvel's focus was on 2012's The Avengers.[25] Johansson appeared in that film as the character,[26] as well as 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier,[27] 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron,[28] 2016's Captain America: Civil War,[29] 2018's Avengers: Infinity War,[30] and 2019's Avengers: Endgame.[31] After the release of Age of Ultron, Johansson revealed that the number of films on her contract had been adjusted since she first signed to match the "demand of the character", as Marvel had not anticipated the audience's "great reaction" to the character and her performance.[32]

In February 2014, Feige stated that after exploring Black Widow's past in Age of Ultron, he would like to see it explored further in a solo film, which already had development work done for it,[33] including a "pretty in depth" treatment by Nicole Perlman, who co-wrote Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).[34] The following April, Johansson expressed interest in starring in a Black Widow film, and said that it would be driven by demand from the audience.[35] That July, Hayter expressed interest in reviving the project for Marvel,[36] and the following month, director Neil Marshall stated that he "would love to do a Black Widow film," saying he felt the character was "really interesting [given] she doesn't have any superpowers, she just has extraordinary skills, and the world that she comes from, being this ex-K.G.B. assassin, I find that really fascinating."[37] In April 2015, Johansson spoke more on the possibility of a solo Black Widow film, seeing the potential to explore the different "layers" of her depicted in the different films so far, but also stating that "right now I think this character is used well in this part of the universe".[32] While promoting Captain America: Civil War the next April, Feige noted that due to the announced schedule of films, any potential Black Widow film would be four or five years away.[38] He added that Marvel was "creatively and emotionally" committed to making a Black Widow film eventually.[39]

In July 2016, Joss Whedon, the director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, stated that he was open to directing a Black Widow film, feeling he could make "a spy thriller. Like really do a good, paranoid, 'John le Carré on crack' sort of thing."[40] In October, Johansson discussed the potential film being a prequel, saying, "you can bring it back to Russia. You could explore the Widow program. There's all kinds of stuff that you could do with it." She did caution she may not want to "wear a skin-tight catsuit" for much longer.[41] The next February, Johansson said that she would dedicate herself to making any potential Black Widow film "amazing. It would have to be the best version that movie could possibly be. Otherwise, I would never do it ... [it would] have to be its own standalone and its own style and its own story."[42] Due to the development work already done, and the public support for a Black Widow film, Marvel ultimately decided that the "best time to move forward with the project" would be at the beginning of the "latest phase" of the MCU in 2020.[8]

In October 2017, Feige met with Johansson to discuss the direction of a potential solo film, before Marvel began meeting with writers for the project, including Jac Schaeffer.[43] Schaeffer met with Feige again in December, and was hired to write a script for the film before the end of 2017.[44][45] Schaeffer and Johansson were set to discuss the direction of the film at the beginning of February 2018.[46] Marvel began meeting with female directors to potentially take on the project, part of a priority push by major film studios to hire female directors for franchises.[47] By the end of April, the studio had met with over 65 directors for the project in an "extremely thorough" search,[48] including Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Chloé Zhao—who was eventually chosen to direct Marvel's The Eternals—[49] Amma Asante,[47] and Lynn Shelton.[50] In the following months, this was reduced to a shortlist of 49 directors before the top choices of Cate Shortland, Asante, and Maggie Betts met with Feige and Johansson in June.[51] Mélanie Laurent and Kimberly Peirce were also in the "next-to-final mix".[52][3] Shortland had the backing of Johansson, a fan of the director's previous female-starring film Lore (2012), and was hired the next month.[3]

The Hollywood Reporter reported in October 2018 that Johansson would earn $15 million to appear in the film, an increase from the "low-seven figure salary" she earned for starring in The Avengers. The $15 million was equal to what Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth each earned in Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Despite The Hollywood Reporter confirming the amount from "multiple knowledgeable sources", Marvel Studios disputed the accuracy of the numbers while stating that they "never publicly disclose salaries or deal terms."[53]

Pre-production
In February 2019, Ned Benson was hired to rewrite the script,[54] and Feige confirmed the studio was not looking to have the film receive an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, which had been rumored previously.[55] The following month, Florence Pugh entered negotiations to join the cast as a spy who is "morally opposite" to Romanoff.[56] Marvel had been considering Pugh for the role since late 2018 but began looking at other actresses, including Saoirse Ronan, in early 2019.[8][57] The studio returned to Pugh for the role after she received strong reviews for her performance in the film Fighting with My Family (2019).[8] In April 2019, Pugh was confirmed to have been cast alongside David Harbour,[6] Rachel Weisz,[11][10] and O-T Fagbenle.[10] Feige likened the film to the television series Better Call Saul, which is a prequel to the series Breaking Bad, because it was "a wonderful example of a prequel that almost completely stands on its own... [but] it informs you about so many things you didn't know about before."[58]

Filming
Principal photography began on May 28, 2019, in Norway.[59] By early June, production moved to Pinewood Studios,[60] while Ray Winstone joined the film later that month.[13] The film was officially announced at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con in July, with a release date of May 1, 2020, revealed alongside roles for some of the new cast members.[7] In August, bodybuilder Olivier Richters announced that he had been cast in the film.[14] The next month, Deadline reported that Robert Downey Jr. would appear in the film in his MCU role as Tony Stark / Iron Man, despite his appearance in Endgame being considered his "swan song performance".[17] A wrap party for the film was held at the end of September,[61][62] before production moved to Macon, Georgia for the week of September 30. Filming locations in Macon, including Terminal Station, were dressed to portray Albany, New York.[62] Filming also took place in Budapest and Morocco.[63] Production officially wrapped on October 6, 2019.[64]

Marketing
With the film's official announcement at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, it was promoted by Feige, Shortland, and cast members who introduced footage from the first 30 days of production.[7]

Release
Black Widow is scheduled for release in the United States on May 1, 2020

Nish Kumar

Nishant Kumar (born 1985/1986) is a British stand-up comedian,[2] actor, and radio presenter. He hosts The Mash Report on BBC Two,[3][4][5] and has hosted BBC Radio 4 Extra's topical comedy show Newsjack[6] and the Comedy Central series Joel & Nish vs The World
Early life and education
Kumar was born in Wandsworth, south London, in the mid-1980s and attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington before reading English with History at Durham University.[1][7][8] He is of Indian Hindu descent.

Career
Kumar performed with Tom Neenan as a double act, Gentlemen of Leisure, having met while students at the University of Durham and performed in the Durham Revue.[9][10]

He has been performing as a solo stand-up performer in shows since 2013,[11] including standing in for David Trent at the Charity Chuckle at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014. He also held a regular guest spot on Josh Widdicombe's Radio X show between 2013 and 2015, where he presented the feature, "Nishipedia". He has become increasingly well known for broadcasting and podcasting on topical news programmes.

In February 2015, he was announced as the host for the twelfth series of the BBC Radio 4 Extra series Newsjack.[6]
He has been a regular co-host[12] and nude correspondent [13] of The Bugle podcast since October 2016.
His series, Spotlight Tonight with Nish Kumar first aired on BBC Radio 4 in March 2017.[14]
He was a guest on the BBC comedy show, Frankie Boyle's New World Order in June 2017[15]
He has performed solo Edinburgh shows since 2012:

2012: 'Who Is Nish Kumar?'[16]
2013: 'Nish Kumar Is a Comedian'
2014: "Ruminations on the Nature of Subjectivity".[17]
2015: "Long word... Long word... Blah Blah Blah... I'm so clever"[18] at The Pleasance Theatre, which continued as a UK tour running from October to December 2015.[19] The show was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award.
2016: "Actions Speak Louder Than Words, Unless You Shout the Words Real Loud", which received a number of favourable reviews.[20][21][22] A joke from the show was featured in The Daily Telegraph's list of the 37 funniest jokes from the Edinburgh Fringe.[23] This show continued as a national tour.
As a live performer, Kumar has appeared at a number of festivals and events, including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival,[24] New Zealand Comedy Festival, Leicester Comedy Festival and the comedy tent at Latitude Music Festival. In 2017, he competed in series 5 of Taskmaster with Bob Mortimer, Sally Phillips, Aisling Bea and Mark Watson.[25] The same year, Kumar completed a six-part travel series for Netflix with fellow comedian Joel Dommett, titled Joel & Nish vs The World.[26] In 2018 he appeared on Netflix's Comedians of the World.[27]

He has also appeared as a guest on Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week, Virtually Famous, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, Hypothetical, Russell Howard's Stand Up Central, Sweat the Small Stuff, QI, Live from the BBC, The Alternative Comedy Experience and is a frequent guest on The Bugle.

In February 2019, it was announced he would be appearing in a new Sky One sport show, Comedians Watching Football With Friends.[28]

In December 2019 Kumar performed at a Christmas charity lunch event for the Lord's Taverners. The event was notable for the crowd's mixed reaction to his routine, especially as it pertained to political jokes on Brexit.[29][30] Following the event, the Lord's Taverners released a statement emphasising the apolitical nature of the organisation and expressing that they did not support the behaviour of some members of the crowd,[31] which included booing, heckling and the throwing of a bread roll.

Kamala Harris

Kamala Devi Harris (/ˈkɑːmələ/ KAH-mə-lə;[1] born October 20, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from California since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011 and 32nd Attorney General of California from 2011 until 2017. She ran as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election, before dropping out on December 3, 2019.[2]

Harris was born in Oakland, California, and is a graduate of Howard University and University of California, Hastings College of the Law. In the 1990s, she worked in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and the City Attorney of San Francisco's office. In 2004, she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco.

Harris won the election as California's Attorney General in 2010 and was reelected in 2014 by a wide margin. On November 8, 2016, she defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to succeed outgoing Senator Barbara Boxer, becoming California's third female U.S. Senator, and the first of either Jamaican or Indian ancestry.[3] Since becoming a Senator, she has supported single-payer healthcare, federal descheduling of cannabis, support for sanctuary cities, the DREAM Act, a ban on assault rifles, and lowering the tax burden for the working and middle classes while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest one percent of Americans.
Kamala Devi Harris was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a Tamil Indian breast-cancer scientist who immigrated to the United States from Madras, India, in 1960 to pursue a doctorate in endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).[4][5] Her father, Donald Harris, is a Stanford University economics professor who emigrated from Jamaica in 1961 for graduate study in economics at UC Berkeley.[6][7] Harris has one younger sister, Maya Harris.[8][9] Her mother insisted on giving them both Sanskrit names derived from Hindu mythology to help preserve their cultural identity.[10] She is also a descendant of a slave owner from Jamaica.[11]

She identifies as black[12] and Indian, but sees her experience primarily as American.[13] Harris was raised in Berkeley, California.[14] She grew up attending both a Black Baptist church, where she and her sister sang in the choir, and a Hindu temple.[15][16]

Her mother was an upper class Brahmin[17] from the Besant Nagar neighborhood of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, whose "Gopalan" bloodline can be traced over 1,000 years.[18] Shyamala was described as a "feminist concerned that the women who did her laundry were the victims of domestic violence."[17] As a child, Harris often visited her extended family in Chennai. She was also close to her diplomat grandfather, P. V. Gopalan.[5][19]

Harris began kindergarten during the second year of Berkeley's school desegregation busing program, which adopted the extensive use of busing to attempt to bring racial balance to each of the city's public schools; a bus drove her to a school which, two years prior, had been 95% white.[20][21]

Harris' parents divorced when she was seven, and her mother was granted custody of Harris and her sister.[14][11] After the divorce, when she and her sister would visit their father in Palo Alto on the weekends, she stated that neighbors' kids were not allowed to play with them because they were black.[15]

When Harris was 12, she and her sister moved with their mother to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where she had accepted a position doing research at Jewish General Hospital and teaching at McGill University.[22][23][24] She was a popular student at Westmount High School in Westmount, Quebec.[25] As a teenager, Harris co-founded a small dance troupe of six dancers that played at community centres and fundraisers.[26]

Harris graduated from high school in 1981.[27][28] She went on to Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she double-majored in political science and economics, was elected to the liberal-arts student council, was on the debate team, organized mentor programs for local youth, demonstrated against apartheid, and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[29][30][29][17]

Harris returned to California, where in 1989 she earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.[7][31] She was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1990. Believing the world needed "more socially aware prosecutors,"[17] Harris decided to seek a career in law enforcement because she wanted to be "at the table where decisions are made".[7][32]

Early career
In 1990, Harris was hired as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California where she was noted as being "an able prosecutor on the way up."[33] She specialized in child sexual abuse trials, which she observed were a difficult type of prosecution, given juries are more inclined to accept the word of an adult over the word of a child.[17]

"Harris has a good courtroom presence, a high success rate. She is a genuinely good person and her social values will work well in San Francisco."[17] –– Tom Orloff, Alameda District Attorney

During this time, Harris also taught advocacy skills at Stanford and University of San Francisco.[34]

Harris dated then-California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown from 1994 to 1995.[35][36][37] Brown began introducing Harris to his political network, resulting in Harris being increasingly featured in local newspapers and society columns. According to Jack Davis, the manager of Brown's campaign for mayor of San Francisco, "'Brown [was] the darling of the well-to-do set... And she was the girlfriend, and so she met, you know, everybody who’s anybody, as a result of being his girl.'"[37]

In 1994, Harris took leave of her position in Alameda County when Brown appointed her to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.[38][34][37] The position paid $100,000 per year.[35] Harris served on the board for six months. Then, during a lame-duck session, Brown appointed her to a three-year term on the California Medical Assistance Commission, overseeing Medi-Cal service contracts.[39][40] The Commission reportedly met about once per month and paid commission members over $70,000 per year.[38][39][34][17] Regarding these patronage positions, Harris has said:

"These jobs were created before I was born. Whether you agree or disagree with the system, I did the work. I worked hard to keep St. Luke's Hospital open. I brought a level of life knowledge and common sense to the jobs. I mean, if you were asked to be on a board that regulated medical care, would you say no?”[17]

Harris ended her relationship with Brown shortly after his mayoral inauguration.[17] In 2003, she expressed frustration at being linked to Brown in the media; referring to him as an "albatross hanging around my neck," she said, "I have no doubt that I am independent of him [Brown] –– and that he would probably right now express some fright about the fact that he cannot control me. His career is over; I will be alive and kicking for the next 40 years. I do not owe him a thing".[17] In 2015 she referred to Brown as "a mentor and friend."[15]

San Francisco ADA
In February 1998, San Francisco District Attorney, Terence Hallinan, appointed Harris as an Assistant District Attorney.[41] She became the chief of the Career Criminal Division, supervising five other attorneys,[17] where she prosecuted homicide, burglary, robbery and sexual assault cases –– particularly Three-Strikes cases.[17] Harris was noted as having been "an excellent mentor" in the office, and had been active in Hallinan's 1999 re-election campaign through his December election. However, eight months later, Harris quit.[33][42]

Office turmoil
Harris reportedly clashed with Hallinan's new chief assistant, Darrell Salomon –– a former personal attorney to Senator Dianne Feinstein with connections to City Hall, but no criminal prosecuting experience.[33][43] Salomon was appointed in January after the previous chief, Richard Iglehart, was appointed to become a Superior Court Judge.[44]

Salomon's appointment coincided with the introduction of a state ballot measure –– Prop 21 –– which would be voted on in an election held in three months.[42] The proposition would grant prosecutors the option of trying juvenile defendants in Superior Court rather than juvenile courts. This authority was usually only granted to judges and could have had a big impact in San Francisco where drug violations accounted for nearly 70% of prosecuted crimes.[42]

Harris opposed the measure, as did Hallinan, who was the only District Attorney in the state to oppose the measure.[42] However, Harris, concerned about the possibility of nearly 40,000 kids per year –– mostly minority –– being tried in adult court, became very involved in campaigning against the measure, including attending rallies as a speaker, writing position papers and volunteering for the "No-On-21" campaign on weekends.[42] Her knowledge and commitment to the issue was such that the District Attorney's Public Information Officer at the time, Fred Gardner, would give reporters the option to interview both Harris and Hallinan. However, doing so reportedly made Hallinan suspicious that Harris was trying to usurp him in preparation of challenging him for the next election (in 2003).[42] Salomon approached Gardner and allegedly accused him of helping Harris:

"You're trying to make a star out of Kamala Harris."[42]

Gardener dismissed the accusation, noting that "she [Harris] is already a star," and was then reportedly told by Salomon to stop directing Prop 21 media inquiries to Harris as he believed Harris had "an agenda" given she was "Willie Brown's protege."[42]

Gardener confronted Harris and inquired if she was planning to run in 2003. She reportedly replied that it would be "unprofessional" to run against Hallinan if he decided to run for a third term.[42] Gardener relayed Harris' response to Hallinan. However, Gardner stated that Hallinan "did not believe her."[42] Hallinan then ordered that all calls from reporters, not only those pertaining to Prop 21, go directly to him:

"I'm the elected official. I'm the D.A. It's my office. Except for my spokesman, I don't want anybody going to the media."[42]

Hallinan then reassigned Harris, which Harris believed to be a de facto demotion, and set a canary trap to test her loyalty by divulging supposedly confidential information to her and watching to see if was leaked to the media.[42] It was, but the leaker turned out to be Hallinan himself, not Harris.[42]

Shortly after her reassignment, Harris was a part of a group of supervisors who confronted Hallinan about Salomon, seeking to "overthrow" him.[17] However, when their attempt failed, Harris then filed a complaint against Salomon and quit.[33][17]

The spokesman for the District Attorney's office called Harris' defection "a sad day [because Harris was] a good lawyer, well-liked and brilliant."[33]

Salomon resigned two weeks after Harris left.[43] He reportedly blamed Harris for "stirring up resentment towards him."[42]

City Attorney
In August 2000, Harris took a new job at San Francisco City Hall, working for elected City Attorney, Louise Renne.[33] Renne hired Harris to take the place of Katherine Feinstein, after Feinstein was appointed as a Superior Court Judge.[33][45][33] Harris ran the Family and Children's Services Division representing child abuse and neglect cases, domestic violence, building code enforcement, and public health matters.[17][33] Renne said of Harris:

"She will make the best DA this city has seen in years."[17]

2003 Campaign for District Attorney
Campaign organization
Harris was reportedly so angry about the discontent in Terence Hallinan's office that she decided to run against him.[17] She began "methodically gathering support" by attending political events, volunteering on other campaigns, assuming board memberships on nonprofits, being seen at exclusive parties, and presenting herself as an alternative to a "political has-been."[17]

In mid-2002, Harris called Mark Buell, the stepfather of her friend, Summer Tompkins Walker, and told him of her intention to run for District Attorney against the two-term incumbent –– and her former boss.[37] Buell was married to major Democratic megadonor, Susie Tompkins Buell. He was doubtful of Harris' candidacy as he had only thought of her as "a socialite with a law degree" However, Buell, impressed by Harris, offered to be her finance chair.[37]

Buell advised that to beat an incumbent, Harris would need to raise more than $150,000, the highest amount ever raised to campaign for the position. He and Harris organized a finance committee composed mostly of Harris' friends, who were "young socialite ladies".[37] The committee included Vanessa Getty and Susan Swig. While Harris, saying that the black community was "her base",[17] set up her campaign office in Bayview –– the "most isolated neighborhood" in San Francisco[37] –– the committee arranged for her to "routinely" raise money in the exclusive neighborhood of Pacific Heights, with 25% of her donations coming from Pacific Heights alone:

"The crowd seems fascinated by Harris, an intelligent woman of color who speaks their language, who knows their first names, and who understands that as liberals, they want to maintain law and order –– but with a certain San Francisco­style noblesse oblige."[17]

Harris was also seeking to run a campaign that disrupted negative stereotypes of black women:[17]

“...Black female candidates have to fight the perception that black women are not competent. When whites look at black women they see [them] as servants, maids or cooks...Being able to cross over into the white community is essential for any black, female or male, to succeed as a political figure. [They should] lay the groundwork by looking to become active on the boards of social, cultural and, charitable institutions like symphonies, museums, and hospitals. It’s the way to get respect from a world that otherwise is content to eschew or label you."[46] –– Willie Brown

When Harris announced her candidacy, she had served on the board of trustees of the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, had been a member of San Francisco Jazz Organization, was a patron dinner chair for the San Francisco Symphony's Black & White Ball, was the executive director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, led the board of directors of Partners Ending Domestic Abuse, and was a board member of nonprofit, Women Count. Harris was also documented attending exclusive events, dressing in luxury clothing such as Burberry, and dining with the heirs of billionaires:[37]

"...people wanted to be able to say they’d met her and were supporting her because of this quasi-social network that we started with, and the more she raised, and the more she got traction, the more everybody else wanted to say they heard her, they talked to her and were supportive...but they were kind of professional socialites, and they wanted to help her. They saw it as a two-way street."[37] –– Sharon Owsley, Socialite and Attorney

In 2003, Harris entered the election, running against two-term incumbent and former boss, Terence Hallinan, and defense attorney, Bill Fazio.[47][48] Harris was the least known candidate among the three, but noted to be "whip-smart, hard-working, and well-credentialed."[48][17]

Hallinan and Fazio sought to link Harris to Willie Brown, who was openly campaigning and fundraising for Harris, through a PAC –– California Voter Project –– though reportedly without her consent.[17] Harris denied financially benefitting from Brown. However, Mark Buell later admitted that he met with Brown for lunch and Brown volunteered a campaign tactic to him.[17] Buell also admitted that Brown personally donated $500 –– the individual donation maximum –– to Harris after Summer Tompkins Walker reportedly asked Brown to donate while at a restaurant.[17]

"How can Harris root out corruption if she has Willie supporting her behind the scenes? I do not care that they had a relationship, but there are legitimate questions whether or not there is payback there."[17] –– Bill Fazio

However, Harris supporters said that statements used to tie her to Willie Brown were misogynistic. Harris' sister, Maya, asked: “When a woman dates an accomplished man, why are people so willing to assume it's only because of him that the woman is successful?" [17] Harris' mother stated:

"What has Willie Brown done for her? Introduce her to society people when they dated? If they did not like Kamala on her own right, they would have dropped her after she dropped Willie. Kamala is comfortable in all kinds of social scenes. She can pull it off in high society, too. She has the manners, the eating habits."[17]

Harris' campaign later successfully lobbied the 24-member Central Committee –– including U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and then-House Majority leader Nancy Pelosi –– of the statewide Democratic party to deny their influential endorsement to either of Harris' competitors.[17] It was the first time the Central Committee had withheld its endorsement from an incumbent.

Campaign spending violation
Harris was found to be guilty, by the city's Ethics Commission, of violating campaign spending limit of $211,000, of which Harris had agreed to abide by before the campaign commenced.[48] Harris had overspent the pledged amount by nearly $100,000. The Commission's own staff was later accused of abusing its discretion, and favoring Harris, when it retroactively lifted the campaign spending limit after Harris' campaign had spent over the limit, and when Harris' campaign said that it was recognizing the Commission as the authority of the limit's forms rather than the Department of Elections.[48] The Commission denied the accusations, saying that its staff acted with its authority under local law.[48]

Harris' supporters said her campaign mistakenly violated the spending cap due to a "misinterpretation of confusing law changes" on the forms.[48] They also argued that the cap put lesser-known candidates at a disadvantage, which was unfair since Harris had to spend more to increase her profile. However, critics charged that the forms were straightforward for any attorney to understand. Critics were also adamant that Harris willfully violated the spending cap and argued that, even if Harris mistakenly overspent the cap, that doing so was indefensible under the law.[48]

Harris ran a "Notice to Voters" in newspapers stating that she never agreed to limit her campaign spending, but said her failure to file the form (to decline the campaign spending cap) on time on was "due to errors by her campaign."[49] Harris' campaign lawyer also argued that the spending cap violated the First Amendment. Harris' campaign was questioned on why she would agree to the spending limit if it was, in fact, unconstitutional. Harris' campaign responded that political candidates face political pressure "to accept rules that hinder their constitutional rights."[48]

Harris was fined nearly $35,000 by the Commission and ordered to alert voters, in her mailers, that she had violated the spending limit. The mailers, subsequently produced by her campaign, were said to have displayed her spending violation with "the smallest font in America."[48]

Harris, who the San Francisco Examiner called "a relative unknown", went on to spend nearly $625,000 throughout the campaign while Hallinan spent just over $285,000.[50] It was more than four times more than any candidate had raised in the history of running for the office.[37]

Runoff election
Harris garnered negative press from the campaign spending violation, but was said to have run a "forceful" campaign, assisted with the political and personal backing of former boyfriend, mayor Willie Brown, and connections to the city's high society.[50][37] Harris secured "an impressive array" of endorsements, including from Senator Dianne Feinstein, Sheriff Michael Hennessey, writer and cartoonist Aaron McGruder (who Harris noted was a close friend), and comedians Eddie Griffin and Chris Rock.[50][51][52]

Bill Fazio had been eliminated from the election after initial voting. Hallinan and Harris, who garnered 37% and 33% of the vote, respectively, would have a runoff.[53]

In the runoff, Harris sought to differentiate her policy positions from those of Hallinan, as it was a "problem" that they ideologically agreed on key issues such as being against the use of the death penalty.[17] Harris ran on making the sexual abuse of children her top issue.[54] She charged that, though she worked for Hallinan for two years, she left his office because it was "dysfunctional," technologically inept and was "a mess." She attacked Hallinan for promoting people in his office without merit, for his "abysmal" conviction rate for serious crimes (at just under 65%) –– over 10 percent lower than his predecessor's rate –– lowering office morale, and for his willingness to accept plea bargains in cases of domestic violence:[50][54][17]

"It is not progressive to be soft on crime."[17] –– Kamala Harris, 2003

Hallinan refuted that Harris was misrepresenting his office. For example, he stated the decrease in conviction rate was not due to the performance of his office, but because of a diversion program that he created for criminals.[17]

Harris was lauded for her campaigning skills, particularly for "listen[ing] carefully to the concerns of ordinary people."[17] She was rumored to have worked 16 hours per day on her campaign, but was charged by critics as being a "machine" candidate more concerned with conviction rates than the people who were actually convicted:[54][17]

"It's not the tradition in San Francisco to favor punishment over rehabilitation. We are not concerned with the conviction rate, we don't want to come down hard on people accused of crimes, we don't want to nail them to the cross.”[17] –– Jeff Adachi, Public Defender, 2003

Harris also accrued negative publicity. Being upper middle class she was portrayed as being out of touch with her self-described "black base."[17] She reportedly told a group of affluent blacks at Yerba Buena Gardens, along with affluent whites in Pacific Heights, "The most victimized people do not vote, so you have to act on their behalf.”[17] Also, while talking to three black men, outside of a Sunnydale housing project, who planned to protest the Muni transit system for not honoring its promise to hire young blacks to work on a new light-rail system, Harris suggested they "ask a police captain to conduct a protest training [so] you can protest safely." The organizer of the protest, Harold Kyer, was reportedly embarrassed to have to explain to Harris that her suggestion was naive:

"Our community is not police-friendly, Ms. Harris. They will not come to a meeting if the police show up."[17]

Harris faced additional criticism. Her support of Proposition M, which would increase criminal penalties for panhandling without providing funds for housing or health services for the homeless, conflicted with her liberal platform. However, the stance aligned her with Mayoral candidate, Gavin Newsom, whose campaign was supporting the initiative. Harris was also criticized, near the end of the campaign, for holding a press conference in which she vocalized a case about a woman who was tortured by her boyfriend with a hot iron, in order to attack Hallinan's record on domestic violence.[55] Harris did not talk to, or consult with, the victim prior to citing the case. However, Hallinan did speak with the victim and her family. The victim subsequently praised Hallinan for "respect[ing] her desire not to have the case become a media spectacle." Harris was accused of politicizing the victim.[55]

Harris won with 56.33% of the vote and became the first woman to lead the District Attorney's Office of San Francisco.[50]

District Attorney of San Francisco

صالح علماني

صالح علماني (1949 حمص، سوريا - 3 كانون الأول/ديسمبر 2019 مدريد، إسبانيا) هو مترجم فلسطيني مُتخصِّصٌ في ترجمة الكُتبِ والرويات من الإسبانية إلى العربية.

الحياة المُبكّرة والتعليم

وُلد صالح علماني عام 1949 في مدينة حمص في سوريا ونشأ فيها حيثُ أمضى معظم سنوات طفولته في سوريا. درسَ في وقتٍ لاحقٍ الطب في الجامعة؛ لكنّه تحول لدراسةِ الأدب الإسباني وذلكَ مع صعود تيار الرواية اللاتينية وبروزها عالميًا في أواخر الستينيات وبداية السبعينيات.

المسيرة المهنيّة

بدأ صالح علماني عملهُ في وكالة الأنباء الفلسطينية ثم أصبحَ مُترجمًا في السفارة الكوبية بدمشق وعمل في وقتٍ لاحقٍ في وزارة الثقافة السورية وبالضبطِ في مديرية التأليف والترجمة وكذا في الهيئة العامة السورية للكتاب إلى أن بلغَ سنَّ التقاعد عام 2009.

تخصص صالح منذ أواخر السبعينيات في ترجمة الأدب الأميركي اللاتيني ثمَّ زادت شهرته حينما ترجمَ لأبرز كتاب أميركا اللاتينية بما في ذلك غابرييل غارسيا ماركيز و‌إيزابيل الليندي و‌جوزيه ساراماغو و‌إدواردو غاليانو وآخرين، وتُعدُّ ليس للكولونيل من يكاتبه أول روايةٍ ترجمها صالح علماني لكاتبها ماركيز والتي حظيت بحفاوة صحافية من صحيفتي النهار والأخبار الأمر الذي شجعه – بحسبه – لأن يستمر في الترجمة.

بعدما ترجمَ عشرات الكُتب عن الإسبانية؛ طالبَ خمسةٌ من أبرز كتّاب أميركا اللاتينية الذين ترجم لهم الحكومة الإسبانية بأن تمنحه الإقامة تكريمًا لمنجزه في «نقلِ إبداعات اللغة الإسبانية إلى العربية»؛ وهو ما حصلَ حينما مُنح الإقامة في إسبانيا مع عائلته بعد نزوحه من سوريا.

حصل على العديد من الجوائز والأوسمة لعمله من مدرسة المترجمين في توليدو (جزء من جامعة كاستيا لا مانشا، 2013) ؛ وسام الثقافة والعلوم والفنون (للكتابة الإبداعية)، الرئيس الفلسطيني، محمود عباس، (2014) ؛ اتحاد الكتاب العرب في طنجة، المغرب وأبو ظبي (2015) ؛ جائزة جيرارد كريمونا للترجمة الدولية (2015) ؛ وجائزة عبد الله بن عبد العزيز الدولية للترجمة (في فئة الإنجاز الفردي، 2016).

حصلَ علماني على العديد من الجوائز والأوسمة على أعماله من مدرسة طليطلة للمترجمين عام 2013، وفي عام 2014 حصل على وسام الثقافة والعلوم والفنون (للكتابة الإبداعية) من الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس. في عام 2015 على جائزة «جيرار دي كريمونا» للترجمة، وحصل عام 2016 على جائزة الملك عبد الله بن عبد العزيز العالمية للترجمة ضمن فئة الإنجاز الفردي. شارك علماني في العديد من المؤتمرات والندوات العربية والدولية حول الترجمة. وأشرف على عدد من ورش الترجمة التطبيقية في الترجمة في معهد سيرفانتس بدمشق.

آراؤه

يرى علماني أن المشكلة أثناء الترجمة في اللهجات الأميركية اللاتينية وليس في اللغة الإسبانية بحدّ ذاتها؛ حيثُ أن تلك اللهجات تختلف من بلد إلى آخر لكنَّ «دراسته الطب ومعرفتهُ بشعوب القارة وأحوال معيشتهم وحكاياتهم وخرافاتهم وآلامهم وموسيقاهم، واطلاعه على تاريخ أميركا اللاتينية بشكلٍ عام ساعدهُ في فهمِ كل الاختلافات.»

قائمة الكتب المُترجَمة

هذه قائمة مُصغَّرة بأشهر الكُتب التي ترجمها صالح علماني:

ترجمَ للراوئي غابرييل غارسيا ماركيز

الحب في زمن الكوليرا

قصة موت معلن

ليس لدى الكولونيل من يكاتبه

مئة عام من العزلة

عشت لأروي

ذاكرة غانياتي الحزينات

ساعة الشؤم

الجنرال في متاهة

ترجم للراوئي ماريو بارغاس يوسا

حفلة التيس

دفاتر دون ريغوبرتو

رسائل إلى روائي شاب

في امتداح الخالة

من قتل بالومينو موليرو

شيطنات الطفلة الخبيثة

ترجم للروائية إيزابيل أيندي

إنيس... حبيبة روحي

ابنة الحظ

صورة عتيقة

حصيلة الأيام

باولا

ترجم كتبًا أخرى منها

كل الأسماء (جوزيه ساراماغو)

انقطاعات الموت (جوزيه ساراماغو)

مدينة الأعاجيب (إدواردو ميندوثا)

رؤى لوكريثيا (خوسيه ماريا ميرينو)

الريح القوية: (ميغل أنخل أستورياس)

أبوباباكواك (برناردو أتشاغا)

كرة القدم بين الشمس والظل (إدواردو غاليانو)

عرس الشاعر (أنطونيو سكارميتا)

بيدرو بارامو (خوان رولفو)

عبده بشور الحالم بالسفن (ألفارو موتيس)

النشيد الشامل (بابلو نيرودا)

شيء من حياتي (ترجمة)

مختارات شعرية لالبيرتي (ترجمة)

القطار الأصفر (رواية للأطفال)

الدب القطبي (رواية للأطفال)

أربع مسرحيات (ترجمة)

الوفاة

تُوفيّ صالح علماني في صبيحة الثالث من كانون الأول/ديسمبر عن عمرٍ ناهز الـ 70 سنة في العاصِمة الإسبانية مدريد، ونعاهُ عددٌ من الكُتَّاب والمترجمين بما في ذلك الروائيّة الكويتية بثينة العيسى، دلع المفتي، فؤاد الفرحان وغيرهم.