24 May ~ Adam Johnson spent his formative years at Middlesbrough, deputising for Stuart Downing. Judging by Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 selection, very little has changed. Despite failing to score or provide an assist since his high-profile switch from Aston Villa to Liverpool, it is Downing that made the cut, with Johnson a mere standby. Downing's inclusion was expected as he has featured regularly for club and country this season, whereas Johnson appears infrequently for Manchester City. If anything, he is fortunate to be chosen as a back-up option, with the likes of Aaron Lennon missing out altogether.

24 May ~ Most fans accept that England are not good enough to win Euro 2012. Perhaps everyone has learned from embarrassing errors in judgement in the past. When the draw for the Euro 84 qualifiers put England in a group with Denmark, Hungary, Greece and Luxembourg, progression to the tournament was seen as a formality. In the end, the repercussions from losing out to an underestimated Danish side almost cost Bobby Robson his job. After the disastrous campaign Robson offered his resignation, suggesting that Brian Clough should take over. Steve Pye recounts the whole story on That 1980s Sports Blog.

24 May ~ It is a little-known fact that Bertie Bassett was an unused substitute in the 1984 FA Cup final. The following year he reprised his role as 12th man in the Cup-Winners Cup final. In 1986, he finally looked destined for a leading role when he scored the winning goal in the FA Cup semi-final. It was not to be. Bertie was overlooked once again, failing to make the team for that year's final. He was destined to be remembered for his role as an understudy: a willing and able replacement; a versatile character actor appreciated by his peers, but an understudy nonetheless.

The Season When ~ Adam Bushby remembers a cataclysmic run for York City, who went five months without winning 

The 2003-04 season in England is best remembered for Arsenal's Invincibles. Thirty-eight games unbeaten and a Premier League title. Twenty-six wins and 12 draws. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's impressive, if in an obvious way. But I tell you what is more impressive. Gaining just 16 points between November 22 and the end of the season. Sixteen points. From 27 games, between the end of November and May.

23 May ~ FIFA have over-ruled UEFA president Michel Platini and approved Kosovo's long-running attempt to play international friendlies. Kosovo's independence has been recognised by 90 members of the United Nations, including the UK, and FIFA's ruling now opens the way for the Kosovars to play matches against the 208 full members of the world body. The news was highlighted by the Outcasts! blog, ran by Steve Menary, who has written a book about the "lands that FIFA forgot". The decision could also affect Gibraltar, who have been petitioning for the right to join UEFA for some time.

22 May ~ My growing frustration with the mania over Lionel Messi reached a crux recently when I read an article that placed him alongside sporting legends such as Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods. A clear distinction needs to be made between legends and stars. Having grown up in North America during the era of Gretzky and Jordan, I can attest that these two were not simply the best at what they did, they redefined the criteria for what being the best was. While other sports stars were doing the same as their predecessors (only better), they did things no one had ever seen before or thought possible. For all their records – a testament to their stardom – their legends lie in revolutionising their sports.

22 May ~ Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink are three of the finest Dutch footballers of their era. Between them they have four Champions League medals plus silverware from the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese leagues. They were born in Suriname, South America's smallest sovereign state, which also could have been represented by European Championship winners Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit. Instead, a country five times larger than the Netherlands, from which it gained independence in 1975, has a population of under half a million people and a national team that languishes in 133rd in the FIFA World Rankings.

Champions League ~ Chelsea kings of Europe but uncertainty reigns
Didier Drogba won the Champions League for Chelsea with what could be the last kick of his career at the club. The 34-year-old from Ivory Coast scored Chelsea's equaliser in normal time with a powerful near-post header and followed it up by converting the final penalty in the shoot-out. The club initially refused to offer Drogba the two-year contract extension he wanted, but renewed talks are set to get underway shortly. The striker's decision may be based on who is appointed manager at Stamford Bridge, with Roberto Di Matteo strengthening his case to get the job permanently. 

21 May ~ On Friday the Italian press published extracts from the evidence given by Filippo Carobbio, one of the principal suspects in the Italian match-fixing scandal. His testimony could have devastating consequences for current Juventus coach Antonio Conte. The evidence relates to two matches played by Siena in Serie B in 2010-11. The first was Novara v Siena, played on May 1, which finished 2-2. According to Carobbio: "There was an agreement that the game would be drawn. We all knew about it and how we should bring it about. Our coach, Antonio Conte, told us during the team meeting prior to the game not to worry because they had reached an agreement with Novara."

20 May ~ Last Tuesday Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland notified UEFA that they intend to bid to host Euro 2020. So did Turkey, who appear to be the favourites, although UEFA are not happy about their recent match-fixing problems. Georgia were the only other nation to declare their interest by UEFA’s deadline, in what was originally meant to be a joint bid with Azerbaijan, who are not interested any more. Scotland and Ireland’s bid to host Euro 2008 was shambolic and the competition will have increased in size by 2020 – as requested by Scotland, Ireland and Wales – from 16 to 24 teams. So why might they succeed now where they recently failed?

The new WSC is available now, including a 16-page Euro 2012 guide and wallchart

17 May ~ It is hard not to note the cosmic irony of Kenny Dalglish being sacked on the same day that Roy Hodgson drew almost universal derision for including Stewart Downing in England's Euro 2012 squad. If the fates of Liverpool's two most recent managers already seemed inextricably linked – it being apparently impossible to talk about one without reference to the other – then this confirmed it. Like his predecessor, Dalglish is now an ex-Liverpool manager (although unlike him, for the second time). In purely footballing terms, this was hardly a surprise, following a league season of near-unprecedented poorness, which a Carling Cup victory could do little to positively balance out.

17 May ~ York City fans spent last Saturday at Wembley, where much of the crowd chatter was about how awful the ground was – all-seater, soulless and inaccessible. Today, supporters find out whether such qualities will be recreated at future home games, when the application for York's new stadium goes in front of the local council planning committee. The proposal has left many fans wondering what the purpose of a lower league football club should be.

The message here is simple and shocking – not all castles are big. The legend tells that in the Argentine port of Avellaneda, long ago, before mankind stopped making non-crime-based drama, there lived a gnome. Yes, that's right, a gnome. And the gnome is no more ridiculous a figure than a dragon or Minotaur and some gnomes are capable of breaking your arm. However, the gnome of Avellaneda was more of a passive stereotype gnome who lived on his own in a very small castle, surrounded by water and a large residential area. Because gnomes were known for their magic, some townspeople would approach the castle, rap upon the gate and ask for help from the owner. Here they would be ushered into a low hall where the gnome would regard the individual knowingly and ask a riddle before he would deign to help. Read more

My favourite match ~ Si Hawkins could not bring himself to watch much of the game, but Leyton Orient's visit to Oxford United on the last day of the 2005-06 season remains the most breathtaking day of football he has ever seen

It may be lacking sheikhs, oligarchs and handshake-fuelled feuds but only the basement division of the Football League can throw up a situation quite so achingly dramatic. It was the final day of the 2005-06 season.

Giovanni Trapattoni joins some of his players in encouraging a young Irish supporter to eat his greens. It's not clear what he's saying, but it's sure to be well-intentioned

The book reviews from WSC 303 are online now. Dietmar Hamann's autobiography, The Didi Man, shows the player to be a true romantic who is in love with Liverpool and in awe of the club's former boss Rafa Benitez. Graduation, by Richard Lee, is another promising autobiography. Lee tells the story of his lifechanging season with Brentford, in which the goalkeeper used neuro-linguistic programming to help him deal with his acute mental anxiety. David Weir's autobiography was a missed opportunity according to our reviewer: "Rather than an expansive story about a successful and well-travelled international footballer, Extra Time reads more like a cosy, wee, homespun chat around the fire with the local newspaper." Finally, Up Pohnpei is a fascinating account of a frustrated football writer's attempt to become an international manager.

I was there ~ Phil Town rarely experienced success in Reading, but his move to Portugal was rewarded when Boavista overcame Porto to win the league in 2000-01

Talk about being starved of glory. Until 2001, the only other game I had attended that had warranted a celebratory pitch invasion was in the 1965-66 season. Reading reserves drew 1-1 with Bournemouth & Boscombe in front of a delirious 5,000 crowd at Elm Park to win the Football Combination Division Two title.