History.

Ramsgate began as a fishing and farming hamlet.  The Christian missionary St Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory the Great, landed near Ramsgate in 597AD. The town is home to the Shrine of St Augustine.  The earliest reference to the town is in the Kent Hundred Rolls of 1274-5, both as "Remmesgate" (in the local personal name of ‘Christina de Remmesgate’) and "Remisgat" (with reference to the town). The names "Ramisgate" and "Raunsgate" appear in the parish of St. Laurence records circa 1290. These are all derived from late Anglo-Saxon ‘Hremmes’ from earlier ‘Hræfnes’ (raven’s) and ‘geat’ (gate), with reference to the gap in the cliffs. In 1357, the area became known as "Ramesgate".  Ramsgate was a member of the Confederation of Cinque Ports, under the 'Limb' of Sandwich, Kent.  The construction of Ramsgate Harbour began in 1749 and was completed in about 1850. The harbour has the distinction of being the only Royal Harbour in the United Kingdom. Because of its proximity to mainland Europe, Ramsgate was a chief embarkation point both during the Napoleonic Wars and for the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.  "The Official Illustrated Guide to South-Eastern and North and Mid-Kent Railways" (June 1863) by George Measom from describes Ramsgate thus: 'It is impossible to speak too favourably of this first rate town, its glorious sands, its bathing, its hotels, libraries, churches, etc. etc. not forgetting its bracing climate...The streets of Ramsgate are well paved or macadamed and brilliantly lighted with gas.'  The architect A W Pugin and his sons lived in Ramsgate and built several important buildings there, including St Augustine's Church, The Grange, St Augustine's Abbey, and The Granville Hotel.  The artist Vincent Van Gogh moved to Ramsgate in April 1876, at age 23. He boarded at 11 Spencer Square, which is identified by a blue plaque. He obtained work as a teacher at a local school in Royal Road, where he received his post. In one of his letters to his brother Theo, he described his surroundings: "There’s a harbour full of all kinds of ships, closed in by stone jetties running into the sea on which one can walk. And further out one sees the sea in its natural state, and that’s beautiful."  In 1901, an electric tram service, one of the few inter-urban tramways in Britain, was introduced on the Isle of Thanet. The towns of Ramsgate, Margate and Broadstairs were linked by 11 miles of track.  In 1915–1916, early aircraft began to use the open farmland at Manston as a site for emergency landings. The location near the Kent coast gave Manston some advantages over the other previously established aerodromes. During the First World War, Ramsgate was the target of bombing raids by Zeppelin airships. By 1917 the Royal Flying Corps was well established and taking an active part in the defence of Britain. As RAF Manston, the aerodrome played an important role in the Second World War. It is now called Kent International Airport, but is currently not operational.  As the Second World War approached, Ramsgate Borough Council embarked on plans to create a network of Deep Shelter tunnels linking to a former railway tunnel which would provide shelter for 60,000 people. The tunnels were opened on 1 June 1939. 75 years later, in 2014, a part of this network was opened to visitors.  In October 1939, the Royal Navy established a Coastal Forces base at Ramsgate called HMS "Fervent", which operated Motor Torpedo Boats, Motor Gun Boats and Motor Launches until September 1945. From 27 May 1940, Ramsgate harbour was the main assembly point for the build-up of small craft needed for Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk. Once the evacuation was under way, Ramsgate became the second-busiest port after Dover, and just under 43,000 men passed through the port, transported onwards by 82 special trains.

Geography.

Ramsgate is located 78 miles from central London in an east south-easterly direction at one of the most easterly points of the United Kingdom (the furthest point east is Lowestoft in Suffolk).  The town is an amalgamation of two settlements: a fishing community on the coast in the shallow valley between two chalk cliffs, and an inland farming community that is now the Parish of St Lawrence. The cliffs are known as the East Cliff and the West Cliff and are predominantly residential areas. There are promenades along both cliff tops with parks at either end and sandy beaches on the coast.

Climate.

Ramsgate has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfb") as is typical in the United Kingdom; the nearest Met Office weather station for which data is available is Manston Airport, about two miles west of the town centre.  The highest temperature ever recorded is 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) in August 2003, though typically the warmest day of the year averages 28.5 °C (83.3 °F) and 8.8 days will record a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.  The lowest recorded temperature is -14.5 °C (5.9 °F), in February 1986, though typically the coldest night of the year averages -6.2 °C (20.8 °F). A total of 26.9 days of the year should record an air frost.  Rainfall averages around 600 mm per year, a figure similar to that for the driest parts of England. Over 1 mm of rain can be expected on 106.6 days. Averages refer to a mixture of the 1971-2000 and 1981-2010 climate periods.  Being close to the coast, and in Southern England, sunshine compares favourably with most of the United Kingdom, at over 1800 hours a year. Only the Sussex coast tends to be notably sunnier, although much of the remainder of the south coast receives a similar amount of sunshine as Ramsgate.

Governance.

Ramsgate is in the parliamentary constituency of Thanet South, which is represented by Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay. He won the seat in the 2015 general election, representing a Conservative hold after Laura Sandys won the seat for the Conservatives in the 2010 General Election.  Before 6 May 2010, the MP for Ramsgate was Stephen Ladyman, a Labour minister; he was preceded by Jonathan Aitken.  Ramsgate was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1884. This was abolished in 1974, since when Ramsgate has been part of the Thanet local government district. The town is made up of seven electoral wards: Central Harbour, Cliffsend and Pegwell, Eastcliff, Nethercourt, Newington, Northwood, and Sir Moses Montefiore. These wards have seventeen of the fifty-six seats on the Thanet District Council; since the 2019 local elections eleven of those seats have been held by Labour, three by Thanet Independents, two by the Conservative Party and one by the Green Party. Currently the council is run by a Conservative minority.  Following a successful campaign by local activist Gerry O'Donnell, a town council was established for Ramsgate in June 2009. The Town Mayor of Ramsgate is currently Councillor Raushan Ara.

Economy.

Ramsgate's main industries are tourism and fishing. The town has a thriving marina with over 800 moorings and a range of marine-related businesses that operate in the renovated arches under Royal Parade. Colleges in the town also cater for students of English as a foreign language.  Although Ramsgate has the most valuable fish landings in Kent (~£700,000 in 2003), the fishing industry is in decline.  The Port of Ramsgate has provided cross-channel ferries for many years. Previously, Sally Ferries UK provided a passenger and car ferry service to Dunkirk. Until April 2013, Transeuropa Ferries operated a freight and car ferry between Ramsgate and Oostende.  Unemployment in Thanet stands at 4.1%; this is higher than the national average (2.5%).  There is some light industry in the town. An emerging industry is power generation, with 800 jobs expected to be created by the Thanet offshore wind project, a wind farm just off the coast.  Ramsgate market is held in High Street, King Street and Queen Street every Friday and Saturday.  Ramsgate has a LETS scheme (RAMLETS) which was set up in 2014 enabling residents to trade goods and services using the virtual currency RAMs. It is working with the Newington Wellbeing Network to improve the lives of people living in the Newington ward of Ramsgate.

Demography.

According to the 2001 UK census, Ramsgate has a population of 39,639.  The ethnicity of the town was 98.0% white, 0.8% mixed race, 0.3% black, 0.3% Chinese, 0.4% other Asian and 0.1% other ethnicity.  The place of birth of residents was 95.6% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 0.6% Germany, 0.6% other Western European countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.6% Far East, 0.5% Africa, 0.3% North America, 0.3% South Asia, 0.2% Middle East, 0.2% Oceania and 0.1% South America.  Religion was recorded as 71.6% Christian, 0.3% Muslim, 0.1% Hindu, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.1% Sikh and 0.1% Jewish. 17.9% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 7.1% didn't state their religion.  For every 100 women, there were 91.2 men. The age distribution was 6% aged 0–4 years, 16% aged 5–15 years, 5% aged 16–19 years, 31% aged 20–44 years, 24% aged 45–64 years and 18% aged 65 years and over.

Culture.

Tourism.

Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline, particularly Ramsgate Main Sands, which was awarded a Blue Flag in 2015.  Ramsgate's wartime deep shelter tunnels are open to the public for tours, which have been running since 2014.  Ramsgate town has a small population of feral rose-ringed parakeets. The story about them appearing in Ramsgate still remains a mystery. According to some sources they may have run away from the trading ships coming from British India in 1800s.  The local council publishes a website specifically aimed at tourists visiting Ramsgate and neighbouring towns.  There is an annual regatta event based at Ramsgate during the summer.  Ramsgate carnival is an annual parade that takes place during the summer. Other events include the annual Addington Street Fair and the French Market.

Sports.

Ramsgate’s main football club, Ramsgate FC, plays in the Isthmian League Division One South. The local rivals of the club are Margate FC, situated 4 miles away. When the two teams meet, it is known as the Thanet derby. Ramsgate FC run a reserves team, which plays in the Kent Football League Second Division, and a women’s team, which plays in the South East Counties Women’s League Kent County Division. Ramsgate FC run five youth teams; the under-13 to under-18 teams compete in the Valley Express Kent Youth League, and the club also runs Ramsgate Youth U7 to U16, which play in the Molten East Kent Youth League. Two other youth teams in Ramsgate are Trinity and Hugin Vikings; both play in The Molten East Kent Youth League.  Thanet Wanderers is the island’s only rugby team and has played at London Division 1 level, achieving its best result by defeating Doncaster at Twickenham in the final of the Intermediate Cup in 1997. The club runs five senior sides and many junior teams, all of which play at St Peter's.  Cliftonville Hockey Club plays its home matches at St Lawrence College and has a clubhouse that it shares with Broadstairs Cricket Club.  Thanet Galaxy is a Pan Disability Football Club that provides structured coaching for male and female footballers of all ages who qualify within the nationally and internationally recognised Pan Disability categories. The club trains at Chatham House Grammar School and plays in Kent Disability Football League in three age bands: U-11, U-16, and 16+. In their first season (2008/2009), the adult A team won the Kent Disability League Adult Championship.  Ramsgate’s sports facilities include a public swimming pool, and a fitness centre with a gym and sports hall. Tennis clubs can be found at Spencer Square and St Laurence. Ramsgate has three golf clubs: St Augustine's, Stonelees, and Manston. There is also a sailing club, the Royal Temple Yacht Club, which is steeped in yacht-racing history and hosts racing throughout the year for a variety of historic trophies. The highlight of the season is the annual international sailing regatta, known as 'Ramsgate Week', which is usually held in August.

Arts and local media.

The Gallery IOTA (Isle Of Thanet Arts) was based on the towns west cliff but is now on the harbour front. Ramsgate Maritime Museum near the harbour quayside has exhibits showing the evolution of Ramsgate Harbour and east Kent maritime history. One of Ramsgate's cinemas and theatres is the Granville Cinema, situated on Victoria Parade, in the town's Eastcliff area. The King's Theatre is situated near the town centre and offers shows, community events and a seniors' club every Monday. Talks on Ramsgate's history are frequently held there.  Ramsgate has two paid-for newspapers, the "Isle of Thanet Gazette" and "Thanet Times", both of which are owned by Northcliffe Media. Free newspapers covering the town include the "Thanet Extra", part of the KM Group; and "yourthanet", belonging to KOS Media.  The local radio stations are KMFM Thanet, owned by the KM Group, community radio station Academy FM (Thanet), and the county-wide stations Heart Kent, Gold and BBC Radio Kent. Thanet Community Radio (TCR offers an online arts- and features-based service for Thanet District and the surrounding area where people can listen to podcasts of local interest. The service works closely with Dover Community Radio.

Landmarks.

The Hugin is a reconstructed Viking longship located at Pegwell Bay in Ramsgate. It was a gift from the Danish government in commemoration of the 1500th anniversary of the legendary arrival of conquering brothers Hengist and Horsa to England in the year 449.

Architecture.

There are many Regency and Victorian buildings in Ramsgate. In all, there are 900 listed buildings in the town with more than 200 in the vicinity of the harbour. One of the town's most notable buildings is the 18th century Townley House designed by Mary Townley.  The town has three notable churches. The first building used for worship in the Thanet parish of 'St Lawrence' was at St Laurence-in-Thanet; it was built in 1062 and rebuilt during the following centuries with the most significant changes made in the 16th century. Note the difference in spelling between the village of St Lawrence and its church, which is dedicated to the Roman Martyr Laurence.  The second notable church is St Augustine's, which is situated on the town's West Cliff. It was designed by Augustus Pugin in 1847 in the Gothic Revival style. Its dedication commemorates Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, who landed at Ramsgate in AD 597 bringing Christianity to Britain. In March 2012 the church was designated a shrine to St Augustine of Canterbury; this ended a five-century absence of a shrine to St Augustine, as the original (at St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury) had been destroyed during the Reformation.  Thirdly, the town's parish church of St George is situated just off the High Street. Its lantern tower was added at the request of Trinity House as a navigational aid to passing ships and looks over the town. The ground was consecrated on 23 October 1827.  St Augustine's is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, whilst St Laurence and St George are both Church of England and serve the Anglican community as part of the Diocese of Canterbury. Christ Church, built in 1847, also serves the Anglican community.  Ramsgate library was originally built and paid for by Andrew Carnegie in 1904. On the evening of Friday 13 August 2004, it was destroyed by fire just two months short of its 100th anniversary. Though suspicions were raised about the causes of the fire, due to a similarly timed fire at the town's registry office, an investigation was unable to establish how the fire had started.  Shortly after the blaze, planning permission was granted for a new library. The library has now been fully restored, and was officially re-opened on 20 February 2009.

Transport.

By sea.

The Port of Ramsgate has a 700 berth marina, "Royal Harbour Marina", and a ferry terminal built on reclaimed land. The harbour provides shelter from the effects of storms. The Goodwin Sands are nearby. In 2005, the marina had 12,000 visiting boats. Transeuropa Ferries passenger (with vehicle only) and freight ferries sailed until April 2013 to the Port of Ostend in Ostend, Belgium. The Port of Ramsgate has its own road access tunnel from outside the town, avoiding town centre congestion. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution's Ramsgate Lifeboat Station is in Ramsgate Harbour.

By road.

Ramsgate is connected to the national road network primarily through the A299 Thanet Way, which continues on to the M2/A2 for the M25 (approx 1 hour) and London. The A256 provides a link to Dover and onwards to the A20 for the Channel Tunnel.  Bus services are provided by Stagecoach South East and also serve Broadstairs, Canterbury, Sandwich and Margate.

By rail.

Ramsgate railway station is situated at the top of the town near the parish of St Lawrence.  A new high-speed service to London St Pancras started in December 2009, running on High Speed 1, the UK’s first high-speed rail line, between London and Kent. The journey time from Ramsgate to St Pancras is 76 minutes.  In March 2015, it was announced that journey times between Ramsgate and London St Pancras are expected to be reduced to 63 minutes in 2019, due to infrastructure enhancements.  Other trains run from Ramsgate to London Charing Cross and London Victoria. Commuting time to the capital on these lines is approximately 1 hour 50 minutes.  Trains from Ramsgate are routed via Margate, Chatham and Bromley South, or via Canterbury West or Dover Priory and Ashford International. Ramsgate railway station is operated by Southeastern who operate all services.

By air.

A municipal airport was opened on 1 July 1935, operating until World War II broke out in 1939. Following a short spell as a satellite of RAF Manston, it closed in 1940. The airport was re-opened in 1952 and operated until closure in 1968.  The town is situated directly under the flight path of Manston Airport. From September 2004 to August 2005 a low-cost airline EUjet operated frequent flights to many European destinations, replacing a large freight operator. However, flights were suspended after the collapse of its parent company, PlaneStation Group plc.  Manston was sold to Infratil on 26 August 2005. Until May 2014, KLM Cityhopper operated two daily passenger flights from the airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands. The airport was regularly used by freight operators such as Cargolux and Meridian.  The airport was sold to Ann Gloag in November 2013. She was reported to be seeking a buyer, but her spokesman reported that a buyer had not been found, and the airport closed on 15 May 2014.

Education.

Secondary schools  Colleges and further education

Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. Ramsgate’s main attraction is its coastline, and its main industries are tourism and fishing. The town has one of the largest marinas on the English south coast, and the Port of Ramsgate provided cross-channel ferries for many years.

Ramsgate je město a přístav v Anglii. Nachází se ve východní části hrabství Kent na břehu Severního moře. Administrativně patří do okresu Thanet. Mezi přístavem a Oostende v Belgii je pravidelné trajektové spojení. Podél pobřeží se u města táhnou písečné pláže. V roce 2001 mělo město 37 967 obyvatel. Hlavním ekonomickým příjmem města je rybolov a turistika, která sestává převážně z příjmu studentů do letních jazykových škol.


History.

The early years.

Wales played its first competitive match on 25 March 1876 against Scotland in Glasgow, making it the third oldest international football team in the world. Although the Scots won the first fixture 4–0, a return match was planned in Wales the following year, and so it was that the first international football match on Welsh soil took place at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, on 5 March 1877. Scotland took the spoils winning 2–0. Wales' first match against England came in 1879, a 2–1 defeat at the Kennington Oval, London, and in 1882, Wales faced Ireland for the first time, winning 7–1 in Wrexham.  The associations of the four Home Nations met at the International Football Conference in Manchester on 6 December 1882 to set down a set of worldwide rules. This meeting saw the establishment of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to approve changes to the rules, a task the four associations still perform to this day. The 1883–84 season saw the formation of the British Home Championship, a tournament which was played annually between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, until 1983–84. Wales were champions on 12 occasions, winning outright seven times whilst sharing the title five times.  The FAW became members of FIFA, world football's governing body, in 1910, but the relationship between FIFA and the British associations was fraught and the British nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928 in a dispute over payments to amateur players. As a result, Wales did not enter the first three FIFA World Cups. In 1932, Wales played host to the Republic of Ireland, the first time they played against a side from outside the four home nations. One year later, Wales played a match outside the United Kingdom for the first time when they travelled to Paris to play France national football team in a match drawn 1–1. After World War II, Wales, along with the other three home nations, rejoined FIFA in 1946 and took part in the qualifying rounds for the 1950 World Cup, the 1949–50 Home Championships being designated as a qualifying group. The top two teams were to qualify for the finals in Brazil, but Wales finished bottom of the group.

1958 World Cup.

The 1950s were a golden age for Welsh football with stars such as Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones, Alf Sherwood, Jack Kelsey, Trevor Ford, Ronnie Burgess, Terry Medwin and John Charles.  Wales made its only World Cup finals tournament appearance in the 1958 edition in Sweden. However, their path to qualification was unusual. Having finished second to Czechoslovakia in qualifying Group 4, the golden generation of Welsh football managed by Jimmy Murphy seemed to have missed out on qualification, but the politics of the Middle East subsequently intervened. In the Asian/African qualifying zone, Egypt and Sudan had refused to play against Israel following the Suez crisis, while Indonesia had insisted on meeting Israel on neutral ground. As a result, FIFA proclaimed Israel winners of their respective group. However, FIFA did not want a team to qualify for the World Cup finals without actually playing a match, and so lots were drawn of all the second-placed teams in UEFA. Belgium were drawn out first but refused to participate, and so then Wales was drawn out and awarded a two-legged play-off match against Israel with a place in Sweden for the winners. Having defeated Israel 2–0 at the Ramat Gan Stadium and 2–0 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales went through to a World Cup finals tournament for the first time.  The strong Welsh squad made their mark in Sweden, drawing all the matches in their group against Hungary, Mexico and Sweden before defeating Hungary in a play-off match to reach the quarter-finals against Brazil. However, Wales' chances of victory against Brazil were hampered by an injury to John Charles that ruled him out of the match. Wales lost 1–0 with 17-year-old Pelé scoring his first international goal. The goal made Pelé the youngest World Cup goalscorer and Brazil went on to win the tournament.  Wales' remarkable campaign in Sweden was the subject of the best-selling book "When Pele Broke Our Hearts: Wales and the 1958 World Cup" (by Mario Risoli, St David's Press) which was published on the 40th anniversary of the World Cup and was also the inspiration for a Bafta Cymru-nominated documentary.

1970s.

Wales failed to qualify for the first four finals tournaments of the UEFA European Championship from its inception in 1960; in 1976, the team – managed by Mike Smith – reached the quarter-finals of the competition, having finished top of qualifying Group 2 ahead of Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg, but this was not considered part of the finals. Prior to 1980, only four countries qualified for the finals tournament, and Wales were drawn to play against the winners of Group 3 – Yugoslavia – in a two-legged, home-and-away tie. Wales lost the first leg 2–0 in Zagreb and were eliminated from the competition following a 1–1 draw in a bad-tempered return leg at Cardiff's Ninian Park, which was marred by crowd trouble. This initially led to Wales being banned from the 1980 tournament, but this was reduced on appeal to a four-year ban on qualifying matches being played within 100 miles of Cardiff. Yugoslavia went on to finish fourth in the 1976 tournament.  The following year, Wales defeated England on English soil for the first time in 42 years and secured their only victory to date at Wembley Stadium thanks to a Leighton James penalty. Another notable achievement came in the 1980 British Home Championship, as Wales comprehensively defeated England at the Racecourse Ground. Goals from Mickey Thomas, Ian Walsh, Leighton James and an own goal by Phil Thompson saw Wales defeat England 4–1 just four days after England had defeated the then-world champions, Argentina.

1980s.

In the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the Wales team – managed by Mike England – came extremely close to qualification; a 3–0 defeat against the Soviet Union in their final match meant they missed out on goal difference, but the real damage had been done by their failure to beat Iceland in their last home match, the match eventually finishing 2–2 after several hold-ups due to floodlight failures.  Mark Hughes marked his debut for Wales by scoring the only goal of the match as England were defeated once again in 1984. The following season, Hughes was again on target, scoring a wonder goal as Wales thrashed Spain 3–0 at the Racecourse during qualification for the 1986 World Cup. However, despite defeating Scotland 1–0 at Hampden Park, it was again Iceland that wrecked Welsh hopes by defeating Wales 1–0 in Reykjavík, and for the second World Cup in a row, Wales missed out on goal difference. Wales had to win their last match at home to Scotland to be guaranteed at least a play-off, but were held to a 1–1 draw in a match marred by the death of Scotland manager Jock Stein, who collapsed from a heart attack at the end of the match.

1990s.

Under Terry Yorath, Wales attained what was then their highest position in the FIFA World Rankings on 27 August 1993. Again Wales came close to qualifying for a major championship when they came within a whisker of reaching the 1994 World Cup. Needing to win the final match of the group at home to Romania, Paul Bodin missed a penalty when the scores were level 1–1; the miss was immediately followed by Romania taking the lead and going on to win 2–1.  Following the failure to qualify, Yorath's contract as manager of the national side was not renewed by the FAW, and Real Sociedad manager John Toshack was appointed on a part-time basis. However, Toshack resigned after just one match (a 3–1 defeat to Norway) citing problems with the FAW as his reason for leaving, although he was sure to have been shocked at being booed off the pitch at Ninian Park by the Welsh fans still reeling from the dismissal of Yorath. Mike Smith took the manager role for the second time at the start of the Euro 1996 qualifiers, but Wales slipped to embarrassing defeats against Moldova and Georgia before Bobby Gould was appointed in June 1995.  Gould's time in charge of Wales is seen as a dark period by Welsh football fans. His questionable tactics and public fallings-out with players Nathan Blake, Robbie Savage and Mark Hughes, coupled with embarrassing defeats to club side Leyton Orient and a 7–1 thrashing by the Netherlands in 1996 did not make him a popular figure within Wales. Gould finally resigned following a 4–0 defeat to Italy in 1999, and the FAW turned to two legends of the national team, Neville Southall and Mark Hughes, to take temporary charge of the match against Denmark four days later, with Hughes later being appointed on a permanent basis.

2000s.

Under Mark Hughes, Wales came close to qualifying for a place at Euro 2004 in Portugal, being narrowly defeated by Russia in the play-offs. However, the defeat was not without its controversy, as Russian midfielder Yegor Titov tested positive for the use of a banned substance after the first qualifying leg, a scoreless draw in Moscow. Notwithstanding, FIFA opted not to take action against the Football Union of Russia other than instructing them not to field Titov again, and the Russian team went on to defeat Wales 1–0 in Cardiff to qualify for the final tournament.  Following a disappointing start to 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6, Hughes left his role with the national team to take over as manager of English Premier League outfit Blackburn Rovers. On 12 November 2004, John Toshack was appointed manager for the second time.  In Euro 2008 qualifying, Wales were drawn in Group D alongside Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and San Marino. The team's performance was disappointing, finishing fifth in the group with expected defeat at home to Germany yet an unexpected draw away, a loss away and a goalless draw at home to the Czech Republic, a loss away and 2–2 draw at home to the Republic of Ireland, a 3–0 home win and uninspiring 2–1 away win against minnows San Marino, a 3–1 home win and 3–1 away defeat against Cyprus, and a spectacularly mixed performance against Slovakia, losing 5–1 at home and winning 5–2 away. However, better performances towards the end of the competition by a team containing – of necessity because of injuries and suspensions of senior players – five players who were eligible for selection for the under-21 squad was viewed as a hopeful sign of future progress for the team.  In 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4, Wales made a promising start, winning 1–0 and 2–0 against Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein, respectively. However, they lost their next match against Russia in Moscow, 2–1, after Joe Ledley had briefly drawn them level. The qualifying campaign showed signs of promise when the team managed to prevent Germany from scoring for 74 minutes of their match in Mönchengladbach, although Wales ultimately lost 1–0. Two 2–0 home defeats by Finland and Germany in Spring 2009 effectively put paid to Wales' hopes of qualification.  Wales were drawn in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group G with Montenegro, Bulgaria, Switzerland and close rivals England. Wales lost 1–0 away to Montenegro in their opening match and, on 9 September 2010, John Toshack stood down as manager after being disappointed at previous results in 2010 against Croatia and the opening Euro 2012 qualifier.  Wales under-21 coach Brian Flynn took over from Toshack as caretaker manager with a view to a possible permanent appointment, but a 1–0 home defeat to Bulgaria and 4–1 away loss to Switzerland prompted the FAW to pass over Flynn.

2010s.

Gary Speed was appointed as permanent manager on 14 December 2010. Speed's first match as manager was 8 February 2011 in the inaugural Nations Cup, which the Republic of Ireland won 3–0. Speed's first competitive match was the Euro 2012 qualifier at home to England on 26 March 2011, and Speed appointed 20-year-old Aaron Ramsey captain, making him the youngest Wales captain. Wales lost to England 2–0 and in August 2011 Wales attained their lowest FIFA ranking of 117th. This was followed by a 2–1 home win against Montenegro, a 1–0 away loss to England, a 2–0 home win against Switzerland and a 1–0 away win against Bulgaria. Consequently, in October 2011, Wales had rapidly risen to 45th in the FIFA rankings. A 4–1 home win in a friendly match against Norway on 12 November 2011 proved to be Speed's last match in charge of Wales. The match was a culmination of Speed's efforts which led Wales to receive the unofficial award for biggest mover of 2011 in the FIFA rankings. His tenure as manager ended in tragic circumstances two weeks later when he was found dead at his home on 27 November, having apparently committed suicide.  Due to London's successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, a Great Britain team would qualify as of right of being the host nation. However, the FAW stressed it was strongly against the proposal. Despite this, Welsh players Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale expressed their interest in representing the Great Britain Olympic football team. Bale was ultimately omitted due to injury, but Ramsey was joined by four other Welshmen in Stuart Pearce's 18-man squad: Swansea City's Joe Allen and Neil Taylor, while Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Liverpool's Craig Bellamy were included as over-age players, with Giggs being made captain.  Chris Coleman was appointed Wales team manager on 19 January 2012. For 2014 World Cup qualification, Wales were drawn in Group A with Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia. They lost their first match 2–0, against Belgium. Their second match, against Serbia, was even worse, finishing 6–1, Wales's worst defeat since the 7–1 reversal to the Netherlands in 1996. In October 2012, Ashley Williams was appointed captain of Wales by Coleman, replacing Aaron Ramsey. Wales won at home against Scotland 2–1, lost away to Croatia 2–0 and won away against Scotland 2–1, but a 2–1 loss at home to Croatia ended Wales hopes of qualifying.  Wales were placed in Group B for qualifying for Euro 2016 alongside Andorra, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Israel. In July 2015, following four wins and two draws, Wales topped the group.  In July 2015, having attained their then highest FIFA ranking of tenth, Wales were placed among the top seeds for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification draw. Wales were drawn in Group D with Austria, Serbia, the Republic of Ireland, Moldova and Georgia.  In September 2015, England dropped to tenth in the FIFA rankings, making Wales – in ninth position – the highest ranked British team for the first time in its history. In October 2015, Wales attained their highest ever FIFA ranking of eighth. On 10 October 2015, Wales lost 2–0 to Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, Wales' qualification for Euro 2016 was confirmed after Cyprus defeated Israel that same evening.

Euro 2016.

Wales qualified for Euro 2016 in France, their first European Championship tournament, and were drawn into Group B with Slovakia, Russia and England. On their Euro debut, on 11 June against Slovakia at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, Gareth Bale scored direct from a free-kick to give Wales a 1–0 lead, and Hal Robson-Kanu scored the winner in a 2–1 victory that put them top of the group. In their second match, against England in Lens, Wales led 1–0 at half-time through another Bale free-kick, but lost 2–1. Against Russia at the Stadium Municipal in Toulouse, Aaron Ramsey, Neil Taylor and Bale scored in a 3–0 win that made them win the group.  In their round of 16 match at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Wales played Northern Ireland and won 1–0 after Bale's cross was put in as an own goal by Gareth McAuley. In the quarter-final against Belgium, Wales went behind to a long-range effort from Radja Nainggolan, but captain Ashley Williams headed an equaliser before Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes confirmed a 3–1 victory for Wales. This victory advanced Wales to their first major tournament semi-final and also made them the first British nation to advance to the semi-finals of a major tournament since England did so at Euro 1996 as hosts.  The first half of the semi-final against Portugal in Lyon went goalless, but goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani early in the second half saw Portugal claim a 2–0 win. Wales were welcomed back home on 8 July with an open-top bus parade around Cardiff, starting at Cardiff Castle and going past the Millennium Stadium before finishing at the Cardiff City Stadium.

2016–present.

In September 2016, Wales opened their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign with a comfortable 4–0 home win against Moldova. However, they followed this with a run of five consecutive draws away to Austria, at home to Georgia, both home and away against Serbia and away to the Republic of Ireland. That run came to an end with a 1–0 home victory over Austria on 2 September 2017, followed by a 2–0 away victory against Moldova on 5 September and a 1–0 away win over Georgia on 6 October. Wales finished third in their group due to a 1–0 loss to the Republic of Ireland on 9 October and failed to qualify for the finals in Russia. Chris Coleman resigned as Wales team manager on 17 November 2017 and was appointed team manager at Sunderland.  After nearly two months of managerial vacancy, former Wales national player Ryan Giggs was named Wales' new manager. Giggs, who signed a four-year contract, led Wales for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League campaign and Euro 2020 qualification. Giggs successfully led Wales to qualify for their second UEFA European championship, following a 2–0 win over Hungary in their final match on 19 November 2019.

Home stadium.

From 2000–2009, Wales played most of their home matches at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The stadium was built in 1999 on the site of the old National Stadium, known as Cardiff Arms Park, as the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) had been chosen to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Prior to 1989, Wales played their home games at the grounds of Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham, but then came to an agreement with the WRU to use Cardiff Arms Park and, subsequently, the Millennium Stadium.  Wales' first football match at the Millennium Stadium was against Finland on 29 March 2000. The Finns won the match 2–1, with Jari Litmanen becoming the first player to score a goal at the stadium. Ryan Giggs scored Wales' goal in the match, becoming the first Welshman to score at the stadium.  With the opening of the Cardiff City Stadium in 2009, the FAW chose to stage most home friendlies there, with other friendly matches played at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea and the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. Qualifying matches continued to be played at the 74,500-capacity Millennium Stadium until the end of 2009, which was typically only around 20–40% full amid poor team results. This led to calls from fans and players for international matches to be held at smaller stadiums. For the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, the FAW decided Wales would play all of their home matches at either the Cardiff City Stadium or the Liberty Stadium, with the exception of the home tie against England, which was played at the Millennium Stadium. The 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign saw four home matches at the Cardiff City Stadium and one at the Liberty Stadium. Cardiff City Stadium's capacity was increased to 33,000 in 2014 and all home matches for Euro 2016 qualifying were scheduled at the stadium and Wales subsequently qualified for the finals tournament in France. All five home qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) were held at the stadium as well as both of the team's home 2018–19 UEFA Nations League games. All home games in the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign are also scheduled to take place there. A friendly against Spain took place at the Millennium Stadium on 11 October 2018, which was Wales' first match at the stadium in just over seven-and-a-half years, finishing in a 4–1 defeat. A friendly took place at the Racecourse Ground on 20 March 2019 against Trinidad and Tobago which was Wales' first match at the stadium since 2008.

Players.

Current squad.

The following players were called up for the Euro 2020 qualifying match against Hungary on 19 November 2019.  "Caps and goals updated as of 19 November 2019 after the match against Hungary".

Recent call-ups.

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Most-capped players.

(players still active in bold):

Players with 50 or more caps.

Wales present a Golden Cap to players attaining 50 international caps.  See: List of Wales international footballers."

Top goalscorers.

(players still active in bold):

Managers.

Prior to 1954 the Welsh team was chosen by a panel of selectors with the team captain fulfilling the role of coach.

Team image.

Media coverage.

Live television broadcast rights are held by S4C (Welsh language commentary) and Sky Sports (English language commentary) until 2022.

Colours and logo.

The primary kit has long been all-red. The crest of the Football Association of Wales features a Welsh Dragon on a white shield surrounded by 11 daffodils on a green background, and, since 1951, the Welsh-language motto "Gorau Chwarae Cyd Chwarae" ("The best play is team play").

The Wales national football team () represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales and the third-oldest national football association in the world.

Velšská fotbalová reprezentace reprezentuje Wales na mezinárodních fotbalových akcích, jako je mistrovství světa, nebo Evropy. Své domácí zápasy většinou hraje na Millennium Stadium v Cardiffu.


Creation and casting.

Leonard is named after actor/producer Sheldon Leonard, and Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate Robert Hofstadter. Johnny Galecki was originally asked to play the role of Sheldon Cooper, but thought he would be "better suited" for the character of Leonard. Leonard is one of four characters to appear in every episode of the series, along with Sheldon, Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothrappali.

Characterization.

Personality.

Originally from New Jersey and a graduate of Princeton University, Leonard works as a Caltech experimental physicist, mainly working with lasers, and shares an apartment with colleague Sheldon Cooper in Pasadena, California. He is usually seen wearing his characteristic black thick-framed glasses, low-cut black Converse All Stars sneakers, pastel hoodies or neutral-colored sweat jackets (i.e. jackets with integrated hoodies) or a combination of the two, brown or red trousers, or (less frequently) jeans and physics-themed T-shirts, at night Leonard wears a white t shirt and a maroon robe with white socks. His various girlfriends have tried to change his outfits: Penny had no success while Stephanie got him to wear dress shirts and sweaters (which he found uncomfortable), and Priya got him to briefly switch to dress shirts, waistcoats and dark slacks; he reverted to his original outfits after she left for India, but started eschewing his hoodies in favor of button-down shirts and non-hooded jackets towards the end of the seventh season, a trend that continued into successive seasons.  Although Leonard feels at home with his geek colleagues, he wants to be more social. Among the main characters, he is the one who has almost no difficulty interacting with "non-geek" individuals. He is instantly captivated by Penny, and from the beginning sets out to date her.  In early episodes, Leonard is reluctant to let Penny know about his recreational activities (such as "Klingon" Boggle), as he does not want her to see him as a geek. While certainly a geek by most definitions, he is far less socially inept than Sheldon (who is unable to grasp social norms and is often even dismissive of them), Raj (who was unable to talk to women unless he was under the influence of alcohol or anti-anxiety prescription drugs, and even after getting over his handicap still tended to speak inappropriately), and Howard (who was often seen as "creepy" when flirting with women, including Penny).  Leonard is also musically inclined, as he can play the cello. As seen in the season 1 episode "The Hamburger Postulate", he and Leslie Winkle practice their instruments and then leave to have sex, which Leonard calls "a little musical foreplay".  Despite his attempts to not appear to be a geek, Leonard owns, among other things, "Star Wars" hygiene products, a prop of the One Ring, Star Trek and officer's uniforms, an expansive Superman comic book collection and a "Battlestar Galactica" Colonial warrior's flight suit. Early in the series, Leonard tried to get rid of his collectables to impress Penny with his maturity. However, he changed his mind when he saw that Penny was already dating another man.  Because he has lived with Sheldon for several years, Leonard knows him better than his other colleagues: this has led Sheldon to believe (slightly erroneously) that Leonard is his best friend. Nevertheless, Leonard often finds himself explaining Sheldon's behavior or serving as a mediator between him and other people in many situations. For instance, when Penny and Sheldon engaged in a fierce dispute, Leonard gave Penny Sheldon's mother's phone number so she would call her son and scold him for his behavior, thus ending the fight. "The Staircase Implementation" features a flashback to when Leonard first moved in with Sheldon. Leonard explains to Penny that he moved in despite the difficulty of living with Sheldon because the rent was so reasonable. Shortly after moving in, during a rocketry experiment Leonard, Raj and Howard conducted, Sheldon observed miscalculations Leonard made in mixing the rocket fuel and managed to avert disaster by grabbing the fuel and placing it in their apartment building's elevator. The resulting explosion disabled the elevator, thus explaining why the elevator is out of order for the duration of the series. Leonard explains that Sheldon, despite his tendency to alienate others, kept quiet about Leonard's destruction of the elevator. (Leonard cites: "He didn't rat me out to the landlord, or the police... or Homeland Security.")  Despite Leonard's reasonable and friendly personality, he occasionally demonstrates a mean streak. These include deliberately triggering Sheldon's obsessive compulsive problems, mocking Howard and Raj whenever they slip up, and making sniping comments when Penny's commitment issues flare up. He is also prone to jealousy, often feeling insecure and defensive whenever Penny interacts with other men, and on one occasion trying to frighten off a British college student she was doing a project with, because Penny commented positively on his accent.  Leonard's primary health concern is his lactose intolerance: his consuming melon or any dairy products (and according to the pilot episode, even corn) results in flatulence. Leonard wears eyeglasses because of myopia, and cannot see without them. On one occasion, when his glasses were broken at the movie theater, he had to surreptitiously return to his apartment and retrieve his backup glasses. In order to avoid detection by a sick Sheldon and Penny, who was nursing him, Howard and Raj helped him to navigate through the living room by using a helmet camera. Leonard also states in one episode that he suffers from sleep apnea. During his relationship with Leslie Winkle, he tells her that many members of his family have died from heart disease and thus he has a genetic disposition to the condition.  Leonard plays the cello. He claims that his parents made him take cello lessons when he was young.

Family.

All of the members of Leonard's family are accomplished scientists, except for his younger brother Michael, who is a tenured law professor at Harvard University.  Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist. She has a personality almost identical to Sheldon's, including strict speech patterns, lack of social conventions, and attention to detail, and she is principally responsible for Leonard's difficult childhood. Sheldon and Beverly have a friendly relationship where they share details of each other's lives, with Sheldon often failing to pass on significant information to Leonard such as Leonard's parents divorcing and the family dog Mitsy's death. Leonard is upset with the fact that she tells Sheldon more than she tells him, but later decides it's okay. After a night out of bonding and drinking with Penny in which she notices an attractive busboy, Beverly kisses Sheldon but realizes she "would rather have the busboy".  Due to his mother's views, Leonard never celebrated his birthday or Christmas when he was a child, and when she visited him she was not impressed with his unoriginal research. Leonard revealed to Penny that he built a "hugging machine" when he was young in order to compensate for the lack of affection from his mother. He further stated that his father used to borrow it. Beverly also belittles Leonard by pointing out that his brother and sister are more successful in their respective fields than he is. Leonard's brother, Michael, is a Harvard law professor and is engaged to the youngest appellate court judge in New Jersey history (and has since gone on to work with a Habitat for Humanity-esque organisation), and his older sister, whose name is unknown, is a cutting-edge medical researcher working with gibbons to cure diabetes. However, Beverly admits in season 11 that Leonard married the best out of his siblings, after she develops a genuine friendship with Penny. Leonard also dislikes his memories of Christmas, not just because he never celebrated it, but also because instead of gifts the Hofstadter kids had to turn in papers to "Santa" which were graded the next day. Over the course of six years he never got over a "C minus", which according to Sheldon was a true gift, because by Sheldon's lights he never deserved anything better. It is implied that at the end of the episode "The Peanut Reaction", Leonard begins to celebrate his birthday after Penny decided to throw him one after hearing that he had never had one; And one implication is at the end of the episode "The Russian Rocket Reaction" when Leonard asked Brent Spiner to come to his birthday party. As for Christmas, Leonard has learned and come to love it as an adult, unlike Sheldon. Leonard had two childhood pets, a cat named Dr. Boots Hofstadter and a dog named Mitsy. Near the end of season 12, in "The Maternal Conclusion", Leonard's mother seem to be more supportive of her son's new job as co-lead of the University's Photon entanglement project, even spending time with Leonard as he shows her around his new laboratory. However, she reveals that she is doing research for her new book that highlights her parenting technique although difficult most of the time, directly resulted in the success of her children. This deeply upsets Leonard and Penny who thought that Beverly was making a genuine effort in bettering their mother-son relationship. Leonard finally confronts his mother, telling her of the many ways she has hurt him. After calming down, Leonard tearfully forgives his mother and himself for the emotional toll he has carried for most of his life. Beverly thanked her son for forgiving her and hugged him thus seemingly repairing their relationship.  Leonard's father, Dr. Alfred Hofstadter is an anthropologist. Sheldon reveals that Leonard's middle name, "Leakey", comes from famed anthropologist Louis Leakey, with whom Leonard's father had worked. Leonard is embarrassed by his middle name and its humorous connotations, and rarely mentions it, as the name is an obvious embarrassment. Apparently his father was not very affectionate towards him either; he mentions that he had to compete with the bones of an Etruscan boy for his father's attention, but this was likely because his father was away from home a lot for work and wasn't able to get to know his children well. However, they seem to have developed a good, affectionate rapport by the time of Leonard and Penny's impending second wedding ceremony in the season 9 finale.  Though little is known about Leonard's extended family, a few references to it have been made. In the first episode, Sheldon and Leonard discuss Leonard's grandmother, who had visited them on Thanksgiving the year before. She has Alzheimer's disease and apparently "had an episode" during her visit, which resulted in her stripping off her clothes and carving the turkey. On Beverly's first visit, she tells Leonard that his uncle Floyd has died, which greatly upsets him (according to him, Floyd was the only family member he really liked and of whom Leonard has warm memories from his childhood). Leonard also has several other uncles, whom Sheldon says are all very bald; when they gather together, they look "like a half carton of eggs." Leonard describes his aunt, however, as "one of the hairiest women you'll ever meet". He also mentioned an Aunt Nancy, apparently a "crazy cat lady" who had 25 cats, died, and was eaten by them.

Work.

Leonard has an IQ of 173, and was 24 years old when he received his PhD from Princeton University. Leonard also received a dissertation of the year award for his doctoral paper on experimental particle physics.  Leonard has been established to have been a child prodigy, and a gifted scientist with an impressive knowledge of theoretical physics. His work as an experimental physicist often includes the use of lasers, such as a helium–neon laser or free-electron laser, and his research topics have varied from Bose–Einstein condensates and foundations of quantum mechanics to soft cosmic rays at sea level and development of novel rocket propellants. Leonard designs experiments in order to test theories but, according to Sheldon, his work is mostly derivative and thus unimportant.  Although Leonard's attempts to disprove the existence of dark matter were made moot by the work of another physicist, Leonard helped to solidify proof of the hypothetical matter's existence with a photomultiplier, and was invited as keynote speaker to a topical conference by the Institute of Experimental Physics for his successful research on super solids.  From the season 6 finale, "The Bon Voyage Reaction" Leonard heads to the United Kingdom to work on a physics project seeking the hydrodynamics equivalent of the Unruh effect, sponsored by Professor Stephen Hawking, for three months on a ship in the North Sea.  In season 8, Leonard has a revelation about Superfluid Vacuum and with Sheldon's help was able to come up with a paper that impresses the scientific community including Stephen Hawking. This theory was later used as a foundation for a Quantum Guidance System that Sheldon, Leonard and Howard develops for the US Air Force in Season 10.  Near the end of season 12, Leonard was given the co-leadership of the University's Photon Entanglement project.

Relationships.

Leonard became interested in Penny almost immediately after seeing her for the first time. His infatuation with Penny becomes the major force that drives the series during the first few seasons. By the end of the first season, Leonard finally manages to ask Penny out, and they have their first date. Subsequently, they don't go on any future dates because Penny felt she was not as smart as Leonard would like.  Besides Penny, Leonard has been involved with only a few other women. One of Leonard's former girlfriends who is mentioned on several occasions is Joyce Kim, who did not appear until the third season. Leonard's friends recalled on many occasions that they were together for only 27 days, after which Joyce, later revealed to be a spy, defected to North Korea.  Initially, after feeling that Penny was not for him, Leonard turned his attention to fellow scientist Leslie Winkle. The first time Leonard asks Leslie out, she rejects him, and his further relationships with her proved to be only short-lived casual sexual encounters that only happened to satisfy Leslie's libido. Leslie briefly started dating Leonard in Season 2, but when he failed to back her up in an argument with Sheldon, she dumped him.  In the second season, Leonard began a stable relationship with a physician named Stephanie Barnett (Sara Rue). Although the relationship went well, even earning Sheldon's approval, Leonard felt uncomfortable with Stephanie moving in with him, and the relationship ended.  On another occasion, when Leonard's mother was visiting, he and Penny came very close to having sex, but Leonard ruined the moment by suggesting that they were burying their lifelong issues with their parents by doing so, which offended Penny. In the second-season finale, when Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj were due to leave for a three-month scientific expedition to the North Pole, Penny privately expresses sadness, and wishes that he would not leave.  In the third season premiere, Leonard and Penny finally started a romantic relationship and had intercourse for the first time. However, the relationship ended after eight months, after Leonard told Penny he loved her and took umbrage at her inability to reciprocate, which led to friction that was exploited by guest star Wil Wheaton who appeared as a fictionalized version of himself, who observed and exacerbated it in order to break them up in the middle of a bowling match Wheaton's team was having against Leonard, Penny, Sheldon, Howard and Raj.  Shortly after his breakup with Penny, in "The Plimpton Stimulation", Leonard has a one-night stand with Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton (Judy Greer), a physicist he admires, when Sheldon invited her to stay in their apartment for a brief visit. This encounter causes some tension between Leonard and Penny, who is somewhat judgmental of Leonard's doing so. However, the two later resolve their feelings and their friendship continues.  In the third-season finale, "The Lunar Excitation", after Penny's failed attempts to move on from her relationship with Leonard, she becomes intoxicated and has sex with him. In the morning, Leonard believes that their relationship has resumed, though Penny tells him that the previous night was a mistake. This causes a strain on their friendship; at the end of the episode, Leonard becomes intoxicated and tries to have intercourse with her, prompting Penny to push him out of her apartment, to which Leonard suspects a double standard. He immediately makes the same advances towards Leslie Winkle, who replies, 'Let me think about it" and slams the door in his face.  Throughout the fourth season, it becomes obvious that Penny is still in love with Leonard. It is unclear whether or not Leonard has noticed this, though he clearly is still interested in Penny. In "The Benefactor Factor", an older rich woman (Jessica Walter) propositions Leonard in exchange for a large donation to the physics department; he initially resists and she admits that she planned to make the donation anyway, after which they engage in a one-night stand. Leonard arrives home the next morning, whereupon Penny recognizes his "walk of shame" and Sheldon thinks Leonard has a future in becoming a gigolo to rich ladies in exchange for donations.  Leonard also has an affair with Raj's younger sister Priya (apparently every time she comes to town), despite a pinky swear with Howard that neither of them would attempt to make a move on her, and Raj giving his strong disapproval. When Priya returns, she and Leonard begin a relationship. Raj strongly opposes this, and Penny is secretly uncomfortable with Leonard dating someone else, eventually breaking down and crying while talking with her friend Amy Farrah Fowler. Once again, Leonard is unaware of Penny's true feelings. Subsequently, Priya pressures Leonard into ending his friendship with Penny, which he attempts with extreme reluctance. Penny complies, though it is clear that she does not want Leonard out of her life. Penny eventually resolves to stay in Leonard's life by ingratiating herself to Priya.  In the Season 4 finale, Leonard runs into Penny and Raj as they come out of his room in the morning after having slept together, just after Leonard and Priya appear to break up upon Leonard's learning that Priya is soon moving back to India. At the start of Season 5, it's revealed Raj and Penny didn't actually sleep together. Leonard and Priya try to maintain a long-distance relationship via Skype (including a failed attempt at cybersex) with Priya continuing to treat Leonard like a submissive partner. Despite being the most eager to have sex, Leonard proves he is quite awkward in these situations. Leonard later goes to a wedding with Amy, and they seem to take a liking to each other, though Sheldon disapproves, karate-chopping Leonard and saying, "She's not for you...not for you!". Later, despite feeling that he and Priya were in love and might get married, Leonard finds himself attracted to a comic book artist named Alice. The attraction is mutual, and they even share a kiss. Right when they are about to have sex, however, he tells Alice that he has a girlfriend, thus ending the relationship. Leonard then decides to confess his behavior to Priya via Skype, but he is shocked to learn that Priya has also betrayed him, sleeping with her former boyfriend; Priya defends that they both slipped up a little, but Leonard corrects her saying that he slipped a little, while she slipped a lot, bringing the conversation to a strained end. In the next episode, Leonard tells Sheldon that he is single, implying that he and Priya have broken up; his actions since then have confirmed their split occurred.  Through the fourth and fifth seasons, Penny was still single and dating, however it's evident she still loves Leonard, as she confesses drunkenly that she regrets breaking up with Leonard. In "The Ornithophobia Diffusion", Leonard and Penny go to the movies as friends. Leonard decides that since they are no longer dating, he can be honest and does not have to pay for everything or do whatever Penny wants. The two bicker all evening and sabotage each other's attempts to chat up people in the bar. Penny admits that she likes the new, more assertive Leonard. Leonard sees this as another opportunity to grovel and try to get Penny to sleep with him, so she leaves.  On the spur of the moment in "The Recombination Hypothesis", Leonard asks Penny out on a date after he imagines what getting back with her might be like. Their real date ends successfully and they agree to take their relationship slow in "The Beta Test Initiation." During their renewed relationship Penny has dismissed comments about him ever leaving or dumping her or about worrying about his unfaithfulness around other women and strippers as in the episode "The Stag Convergence". After Penny suggested having sex in "The Launch Acceleration", Leonard breaks the mood by proposing to her accidentally. They later meet and Penny does have the courage to tell him "no" and not break up with him as she did two years previously when he told her that he loved her. However, their relationship is still obviously strained. In the season 5 finale, Leonard and Penny watch Howard being launched into space while holding hands to comfort each other. With the start of season 6, he wants a reluctant Penny to define their relationship in "The Date Night Variable".  In the "Higgs Boson Observation", Sheldon hires grad student Alex Jensen to review his childhood journals for any potential ideas that might win him a Nobel Prize. After Amy and Penny observes Alex and Leonard in the Caltech cafeteria talking, Penny, although having reservations with her relationship with Leonard is bothered with the thought of him with another woman. Later that day, Alex comes home with Sheldon to work in apartment 4A where Leonard and Penny are. Penny introduces herself to Alex (subtly implying that Leonard is hers) and drags Leonard to her apartment to have sex. Penny finally does admit her love to Leonard, in "The 43 Peculiarity". Penny and Leonard awkwardly stare at each other before running off in opposite directions. Leonard, though, is buoyed by optimism over Penny's admission. Alex Jensen asks Leonard out to dinner in "The Egg Salad Equivalency", which boosts Leonard's ego because two beautiful women are interested in him, however, Alex's interest makes Penny insecure. Leonard later confirms his commitment to Penny and reassures her that nothing will happen between him and Alex. After another dispute with Sheldon, Leonard tries to move in with Penny in "The Spoiler Alert Segmentation", however she is not ready. During their Valentine's Day dinner in "The Tangible Affection Proof", Leonard again tries to propose to Penny and she cuts him off quickly. She admits that she is very happy with him, but she also admits to commitment issues and the thought of being married forever really "freaks" her out. Leonard then tells her that when she is ready to get married, she can propose to him. In the season finale, Leonard leaves for an overseas job for four months and Penny is confident enough in their relationship to wait for him. In "The Gorilla Dissolution", Leonard and Penny become engaged. Throughout season 8, a running gag is their reluctance to decide upon a wedding date. In the season 8 finale, Penny asks Leonard to marry her that night in Las Vegas. Leonard happily accepts, but during the journey, after Penny expresses happiness that they will get married while knowing everything about each other, Leonard confesses to having shared a drunken kiss with another woman while on the boat in Europe, though he adds that the woman started it and he rejected her. Penny becomes hurt by the revelation, and even though she claims to forgive Leonard, there is clearly tension between them, leaving the season ending in a cliffhanger as to whether or not they will go through with the wedding.  At the beginning of season 9, Leonard and Penny marry, although not without some initial problems. They both reveal that they were subconsciously trying to sabotage their relationship, feeling unworthy of the other. Leonard, concerned that he was trying to sabotage his relationship with Penny, meets with the woman he kissed on the boat. She barely remembers the incident and quickly grows bored with Leonard's ramblings, taking a sarcastic and dismissive tone toward him. From that meeting Leonard comes to terms with his insecurities and he and Penny are able to become more comfortable in dealing with their mutual fears about their relationship. Leonard seriously tries to move into Penny's apartment though Sheldon has serious objections and makes them compromise to spend multiple nights a week in Leonard's old room. Early in season 10, the couple is very happy to be finally living alone after Sheldon moves in with Amy.  In season 11, Leonard, Howard and Raj are trying to recover the bitcoin they mined years ago (now worth thousands of dollars). It is revealed that the bitcoin is in Leonard's old laptop which he gave to Penny while they were dating in Season 3. Penny then said that she gave the laptop to Zack after her breakup with Leonard. After retrieving the laptop from Zack, he shows the couple a video in the laptop that Penny made after her breakup with Leonard showing a drunk Penny apologizing to Leonard and regrets breaking up with him. Leonard is touched by the video and realizes that Penny genuinely loves him and not just out of desperation or pity.  In season 12, Penny announces that she doesn't want to have any children which Leonard somewhat reluctantly supports her decision. Later Penny's old boyfriend Zack Johnson and his new wife wants Leonard to be a surrogate father to their kid since Zack is infertile. Penny reluctantly agrees to let Leonard do it until Leonard finally changes his mind not wanting a child in the world that he can't raise. At the end of the season; however, Penny accidentally gets pregnant with Leonard's child, and changes her mind about wanting children.

Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, Ph.D., is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", in which he is portrayed by actor Johnny Galecki. Leonard is an experimental physicist, who shares an apartment with colleague and best friend Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). For his portrayal, Galecki was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 2011.

Dr. Leonard Leakey (Čurila) Hofstadter je hlavní postava amerického sitcomu "Teorie velkého třesku", ve kterém ho ztvárnil herec Johnny Galecki. Leonard je experimentální fyzik, který bydlí spolu se svým kolegou a přítelem Sheldonem Cooperem. Leonard a Sheldon byli pojmenováni po herci Sheldonu Leonardovi a po laureátech Nobelovy ceny Robertu Hofstadterovi a Leonu Cooperovi.


Controversies.

Product positioning controversy.

In 2009, a number of US companies decided to repackage sphere magnets and sell them as toys. Despite existing toy regulations at the time, Maxfield & Oberton, maker of Buckyballs, told the New York Times that they saw the product on YouTube and repackaged them as Buckyballs.

Recalls.

Buckyballs launched at New York International Gift Fair in 2009 and sold in the hundreds of thousands before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall on packaging labeled 13+. According to the CPSC, 175,000 units had been sold to the public. Fewer than 50 were returned. Buckyballs labeled "Keep Away From All Children" were not recalled.  Subsequently, Maxfield & Oberton changed all mentions of "toy" to "desk toy", positioning the product as a stress-reliever for adults and restricted sales from stores that sold primarily children's products.  Further investigation by the CPSC published in 2012 found an increasing trend of magnet ingestion incidents in young children and teens since 2009. Incidents involving older children and teens were unintentional and the result of using the magnets to mimic body piercings such as tongue studs. The commission cited hidden complications if more than one magnet becomes attached across tissue inside the body.  Another recall was issued for Buckyballs in 2012 along with similar products marketed as toys in the US. Recalls and administrative complaints were filed against other similar US companies. Maxfield & Oberton refused the recall and continued selling their desktop toys. The company launched a political campaign against the CPSC, and Craig Zucker, the company's co-founder, debated the safety commission on FOX News. On December 27, 2012, Maxfield & Oberton filed a Certificate of Cancellation with the Secretary of State of Delaware, declaring that the company no longer exists.

New standards.

In the absence of an existing standard for magnetic products outside of toys, the CPSC issued a new rulemaking proposal in 2012 that purports to ban all loose high-powered magnet sets from being sold across the United States, regardless of their application. The CPSC continues to push forward with the topic despite strong consumer opposition, actively lobbying medical associations, consumer associations, the press and health agencies outside of the US for support.  On November 22, 2016, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacated the CPSC's 2012 rule in favor of Zen Magnets LLC, rendering the sale of small neodymium magnets once again legal in the United States. At this time it is unclear whether the CPSC will push for the promulgation of a new rule to address the inadequacies in the 2012 rulemaking process.  On October 6, 2017, the CPSC posted a new petition for magnet safety rulemaking brought forth by Zen Magnets LLC of Colorado. The new magnet safety rule requests that CPSC promulgate a mandatory safety standard that includes the following:  The CPSC was unable to agree on a new rule, and some manufacturers started selling the products without a warning against use by children. As of 2019, manufacturers are working on a similar voluntary standard at the ASTM.

Safety controversy.

The swallowing of small magnets such as neodymium magnetic spheres can result in intestinal injury requiring surgery. The magnets attract each other through the walls of the stomach and intestine, perforating the bowel. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported 33 cases as of 2010 requiring surgery and one death. The magnets have been swallowed by both toddlers and teens (who were using the magnets to pretend to have tongue piercings). Defenders of the toy say that the rate of injury is approximately 1 injury per 100,000 Buckyball sets and less than 1 injury per 21.5 million individual magnet pieces. The magnets are marketed to adults, with labels warning of their danger to children.  As a result, Amazon and other retailers agreed to not sell the magnets. As of 2017, however, the magnets were once again available on Amazon.

United States.

In June 2012, due to a letter by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission filed administrative complaints, attempting to ban the sale of Buckyballs and Zen Magnets. Zen Magnets LLC is the first company to ever receive this sort of complaint without record of injury. In November 2012, Buckyballs announced that they had stopped production due to a CPSC lawsuit.  In March 2016, Zen magnets (a manufacturer of neodymium magnet spheres) won in a major 2014 court hearing concerning the danger posed by "defective" warning labels on their spherical magnets. It was decided by a DC court (CPSC Docket No: 12-2) that "Proper use of Zen Magnets and Neoballs creates no exposure to danger whatsoever."  As of January 2017, many brands of magnet spheres including Zen Magnets have resumed the sale of small neodymium magnet spheres following a successful appeal by Zen Magnets in the Tenth Circuit US Court of Appeals which vacated the 2012 CPSC regulation banning these products and thereby rendered the sale of small neodymium magnets once again legal in the United States. It was the CPSC's first such loss in more than 30 years.

Australia.

In November 2012, following an interim ban in New South Wales, a permanent ban on the sale of neodymium magnets went into effect throughout Australia.

New Zealand.

In January 2013, Consumer Affairs Minister Simon Bridges announced a ban on the import and sale of neodymium magnet sets in New Zealand, effective from January 24, 2013.

Neodymium magnets, usually small spheres, have been manufactured as educational toys, stress relief products, and an artistic medium. In the United States, as a result of an estimated 2,900 emergency room visits between 2009 and 2013 due to either "ball-shaped" or "high-powered" magnets, or both, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is actively trying to ban them through rulemaking.

Magnetické hračky z neodymu využívají ke své funkci vlastností neodymových magnetů (velká síla při malém objemu). Obvykle fungují tak, že z jednotlivých drobných částí (magnetických kuliček, krychliček apod.) lze sestavovat nejrůznější tvary.


Strawberry Alarm Clock.

King was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, California. He was one of the founding members of the LA-based Strawberry Alarm Clock, a mid-1960s pop psychedelic rock band. The band's largest success was with the 1967 single "Incense and Peppermints", which reached No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. While with the band he played both electric guitar and bass guitar. The band's popularity waned considerably in the early 1970s. Faced with the loss of their recording contract with Uni Records and with internal conflicts over musical direction, Strawberry Alarm Clock disbanded in early 1972. King opted to remain in the South, inspired by an up-and-coming band called Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Lynyrd Skynyrd.

King met the members of what was to become the Jacksonville, Florida-based Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd when an earlier incarnation of the band known as The One Percent opened for Strawberry Alarm Clock in early 1968. King was so enamoured with the band that he told vocalist and leader Ronnie Van Zant that if they ever needed his services, he would be happy to join. It was not until 1972 when bassist Leon Wilkeson left the band that Van Zant took King up on his offer and asked him to join Skynyrd as the band's new bassist. Wilkeson soon regretted leaving and rejoined the band, and King switched to lead guitar, creating with Allen Collins and Gary Rossington the triple-guitar attack that became the band's signature sound. The band referred to this unique new setup with King as the "Three Guitar Army".  King's guitar playing and songwriting skills were an essential element of Lynyrd Skynyrd's first three albums: "(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)", "Second Helping" and "Nuthin' Fancy". King co-wrote one of the band's most recognizable hits "Sweet Home Alabama", and his voice counted the "one, two, three", before he launched into his famous riff to start the song. Other songs that King wrote or co-wrote for Lynyrd Skynyrd include "Poison Whiskey", "Saturday Night Special", "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller" and "Workin' for MCA". Guitarist Rossington noted years later that King was the most business-minded member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, relating a story of how King would stock up on food items during stops on tour and then re-sell the items to his bandmates at a 300–400% markup when they later got hungry on the bus.  Band biographer Mark Ribowsky wrote that King was an outsider in Lynyrd Skynyrd to some extent, as he was from Southern California and the only non-Southeasterner in the lineup, but that it was King who brought a level of professionalism to the fledgling band. King detailed his initial exit from the band in the documentary "If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd", saying "Ronnie [Van Zant] and my guitar roadie who changed my strings were thrown in jail in Ann Arbor. They didn't arrive...until 10 minutes before we went on. I had to play on old strings and I broke two strings during "'Free Bird"'. After, Ronnie was riding me, and a lightbulb went off and I said, "That's it." I went back to my room, packed up my stuff and left." King referred to himself as a peaceful "Southern California hippie" and the band's predilection for drunken brawling never sat well with him; the incident which led to his departure was merely the final straw.  King's departure in 1975 happened during a particularly difficult tour that the band dubbed the "Torture Tour", a tour that also claimed drummer and founding member Bob Burns weeks earlier due to a mental breakdown. The band continued with only two guitarists for a few months before discovering Steve Gaines in 1976. Gaines was killed in a plane crash along with his sister Cassie Gaines and Van Zant on October 20, 1977.  King was one of the guitarists in the reunited Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987, and played a major role. He had to leave the band again in 1996 because of congestive heart failure.  King, along with all pre-crash members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. His guitar playing influenced many subsequent musicians, including Metallica bassist Cliff Burton.

Personal life.

In 2011, King underwent a successful heart transplant. In 2017, he appeared as a customer in the Discovery Channel docudrama "Moonshiners", buying US$30,000 worth of premium gin.  According to a Nashville news station WTVF, King had been battling cancer in the months prior to his death. King died in his Nashville, Tennessee, home on August 22, 2018 at 68 years of age. His death was announced through his personal Facebook page. Following King's death, former Lynyrd Skynyrd bandmate Rossington released a statement saying, "Ed was our brother, and a great songwriter and guitar player. I know he will be reunited with the rest of the boys in Rock and Roll Heaven. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

Edward Calhoun King (September 14, 1949 – August 22, 2018) was an American musician. He was a guitarist for the psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and guitarist and bassist for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1987 to 1996.

Edward Calhoun „Ed“ King (14. září 1949, Glendale, Kalifornie, Spojené státy – 22. srpna 2018 Nashville) byl americký hudebník, nejvíce známý jako kytarista psychedelické rockové skupiny Strawberry Alarm Clock a jižanské rockové kapely Lynyrd Skynyrd. V roce 2011 mu bylo transplantováno srdce. Ke konci života bojoval s rakovinou. Zemřel v roce 2018 ve věku 68 let.


Radio electronics.

"Radio electronics" is concerned with electronic circuits which receive or transmit radio signals.  Typically, such circuits must operate at radio frequency and power levels, which imposes special constraints on their design. These constraints increase in their importance with higher frequencies. At microwave frequencies, the reactance of signal traces becomes a crucial part of the physical layout of the circuit.  List of radio electronics topics:

Duties.

Radio-frequency engineers are specialists in their respective field and can take on many different roles, such as design, installation, and maintenance. Radio-frequency engineers require many years of extensive experience in the area of study. This type of engineer has experience with transmission systems, device design, and placement of antennas for optimum performance. The RF engineer job description at a broadcast facility can include maintenance of the station's high-power broadcast transmitters and associated systems. This includes transmitter site emergency power, remote control, main transmission line and antenna adjustments, microwave radio relay STL/TSL links, and more.  In addition, a radio-frequency design engineer must be able to understand electronic hardware design, circuit board material, antenna radiation, and the effect of interfering frequencies that prevent optimum performance within the piece of equipment being developed.

Mathematics.

There are many applications of electromagnetic theory to radio-frequency engineering, using conceptual tools such as vector calculus and complex analysis. Topics studied in this area include waveguides and transmission lines, the behavior of radio antennas, and the propagation of radio waves through the Earth's atmosphere. Historically, the subject played a significant role in the development of nonlinear dynamics.

Radio-frequency (RF) engineering is a subset of electronic engineering involving the application of transmission line, waveguide, antenna and electromagnetic field principles to the design and application of devices that produce or utilize signals within the radio band, the frequency range of about 20 kHz up to 300 GHz.

Radiotechnika je jeden z hlavních oborů elektrotechniky zabývající se přenosem informace pomocí elektromagnetického vlnění - radiových vln. Za vznik radiotechniky lze považovat vynález vysokofrekvenčního LC oscilátoru netlumených elektromagnetických kmitů Heinricha Rudolfa Hertze ke konci 19. století. K průkopníkům v radiotechnice rovněž patří ruský fyzik Alexandr Stěpanovič Popov a italský fyzik Guglielmo Marconi. Radiotechnika je využívána v obrovském množství lidské činnosti. Radiotechnická zařízení lze spatřit každodenně v běžném životě. Typickým příkladem využití radiotechniky v běžném životě je mobilní telefon, autorádio, televizní přijímač. Radiotechnika je využívána ke komunikaci v armádě, v telemetrii, k ovládání zařízení na dálku, v modelářství atd. K základním prvkům radiotechniky patří vysílač a přijímač. Hodně lidí se zabývá radiotechnikou ze záliby. Takový člověk se nazývá radioamatér. Po celém světě existují spousty zájmových radioamatérských sdružení provozující kolektivní radioamatérský sport.


Biography.

Early career.

Daisley began playing guitar at age 13 and went on to bass at 14. His rapid progress won him local acclaim especially through his work with guitarist Dennis Wilson with The Powerpact and Mecca; Mecca's only single release "Black Sally" became an underground hit and was covered by Human Instinct on their "Stoned Guitar" album. Daisley and Wilson then formed Kahvas Jute with Tamam Shud members Tim Gaze and Dannie Davidson. They released one album, "Wide Open", on Infinity Records in 1971.  Daisley came to international notice as a bass player and member of the English blues band Chicken Shack in 1972, before going on to play with Mungo Jerry in 1973 and on their 1974 album "Long-Legged Woman Dressed in Black". After this he co-formed Widowmaker, contributing to two albums – 1975's self-titled debut and "Too Late to Cry" in 1977. The same year he joined Ritchie Blackmore's band Rainbow and later played on tracks of the "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" album. He remained with Rainbow until 1979 when he was replaced by Blackmore's ex-Deep Purple bandmate Roger Glover.

Ozzy Osbourne.

In October 1979, Daisley met Ozzy Osbourne at a venue called the Music Machine in Camden Town, and Osbourne soon suggested they form a band with former Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads, whom Osbourne had recently met in Los Angeles. The trio hired drummer Lee Kerslake and settled on the band name "The Blizzard of Ozz", though a record company billed the act simply as "Ozzy Osbourne".  Daisley contributed bass and backing vocals as well as songwriting and co-production on the group's first album, "Blizzard of Ozz", and co-wrote all of the material on the follow-up album "Diary of a Madman" but both he and drummer Lee Kerslake were fired before the album was released. Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge appeared in their place in the artwork and credits of that album. Daisley and Kerslake successfully sued Jet Records and Don Arden in 1986 for performance royalties and to have their performance credits added to "Diary of a Madman". Litigation with regards to these albums continued in 1998 when Daisley and Kerslake sued the Osbournes (who unknown to Daisley and Kerslake had purchased the early albums' publishing rights) for unpaid performance royalties and accreditation. However, the Osbourne management responded to this by deleting the original recordings and re-issuing new CD versions with the bass and drum tracks re-recorded by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin in 2002. In 2003, Daisley and Kerslake's lawsuit was dismissed by the United States District Court in Los Angeles. This dismissal was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2011, Sony Legacy released both first albums with the bass and drum parts by Daisley and Kerslake restored.  Daisley continued to write and record for Osbourne throughout the 1980s, playing on and/or writing for "Bark at the Moon" (1983), "The Ultimate Sin" (1986), and "No Rest for the Wicked" (1988). He maintained his working relationship with the Osbournes up until 1991's "No More Tears" album, which featured his bass playing on all tracks. Mike Inez (who later joined Alice in Chains) appeared in the album's promotional videos.

Uriah Heep.

After leaving Osbourne's band the first time, Daisley joined the reformed Uriah Heep in 1981 alongside Kerslake and remained with them until the following year, recording two albums, "Abominog" and "Head First", both of which helped to rekindle some interest in the band.

Gary Moore.

During his on-off involvement with Osbourne, Daisley also recorded many albums with Gary Moore and toured extensively with him.

Black Sabbath.

In 1986, he was approached by producer Jeff Glixman to play on the Black Sabbath album "The Eternal Idol", as the band's actual bass player Dave Spitz had personal commitments to attend to. However, Spitz was credited on the final release along with him. Daisley was offered the bassist's spot in Black Sabbath but turned it down due to his commitment to Gary Moore, whom he continued to work with from time to time until the guitarist's death in 2011.

Other contributions.

Since the 1980s, Daisley has contributed to a wealth of recordings as bassist, lyricist and producer, including albums by Yngwie Malmsteen, Takara, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath and Jeff Watson of Night Ranger. Daisley and Watson teamed up again and formed Mother's Army with vocalist Joe Lynn Turner and drummer Carmine Appice. In 2003, following his second and unsuccessful suit against Ozzy Osbourne, he teamed up with Lee Kerslake, Steve Morse of Deep Purple and Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes to record an album under the name Living Loud. Six of the album's eleven tracks were covers from "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman". Don Airey played keyboards on the Living Loud album. On 7 February 2003 Daisley recorded a live show at The Basement in Sydney with Australian blues band The Hoochie Coochie Men, for a live DVD and CD release. Featured were former Deep Purple organist Jon Lord and Jimmy Barnes. In 2007, The Hoochie Coochie Men released the studio album "Danger: White Men Dancing", also featuring Jon Lord. In September 2014, Daisley was hired to produce the debut album of Adelaide-based hard rock band Cherry Grind.

Book.

Daisley's autobiography "For Facts Sake" was published in August 2013.

Gear.

Daisley uses Mark Bass heads, and Picato Strings since 1972. He recorded Ozzy Osbourne's solo debut "Blizzard of Ozz" with a white Gibson EB-3 from 1960 or 1961, through one of Randy Rhoads' Marshall stacks, and continues to use a red 1960 EB-3 to this day. However, the follow-up to "Blizzard", "Diary of a Madman," (and most of the other albums he recorded on) was recorded with a Fender Precision Bass. "No More Tears" was recorded with a P-bass as well, but an early '50s model with a single coil pickup (in sunburst).

Discography.

Session and guest appearances Video – VHS edition

Robert John Daisley (born 13 February 1950) is an Australian musician, songwriter and author. Daisley is perhaps best known for working with English musician Ozzy Osbourne, for whom he contributed bass, backing vocals, co-production and songwriting. He has also worked with prominent rock acts including Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Gary Moore and Uriah Heep, amongst others.

Robert John "Bob" Daisley (* 13. února 1950, Sydney, Austrálie) je australský hudebník, baskytarista a textař, který spolupracoval s Ozzy Osbournem, Uriah Heep nebo Gary Moorem. V současné době hraje se skupinou Living Loud.