Sorry, your browser is out of date. The content on this site will not work properly as a result.
Upgrade your browser for a faster, better, and safer web experience.

Search: ' Arsenal Ladies'

Stories

WSC 381 out now

wsc381 800px

December issue available now online and in store

Read more…

Photo of the week ~ Celebrations for Arsenal Ladies against Tottenham

Arsenal Spurs Women 

Arsenal Ladies 10 Tottenham Hotspur Ladies 0, 19/03/2017, Meadow Park, Women’s FA Cup fifth round

Read more…

The Roar Of The Lionesses: Women’s football in England by Carrie Dunn

360 Roar

Pitch Publishing, £9.99
Reviewed by Catherine Etoe
From WSC 360, February 2017
Buy this book

Read more…

Letters, WSC 291

Dear WSC
My thanks to Phil Robbins (Letters, WSC 290) for pointing out the usual mistakes made about the identity of the Milan clubs. Another thing that really annoys me is the common error over the name of their shared stadium. It is not the San Siro. It is the Giuseppe Meazza. San Siro is the district it’s in. In England one would say the Boleyn Ground but never the Upton Park. That would be daft, wouldn’t it?
Gary Valentini, Leeds

Dear WSC
In his letter in WSC 290, Phil Robbins raised a good point about English commentators getting the names of the Milan teams wrong. He then went on to say that both Internazionale and Milan play at the San Siro, which is something that until recently I didn’t realise is technically incorrect. Brian Glanville put me straight in his World Soccer column. Although almost universally referred to in Britain as the San Siro, the correct term is simply San Siro, which is the name of the district the stadium is situated in. So calling it the San Siro is a bit like saying Liverpool are playing at the Anfield. On the subject of commentator mistakes, I’m sure Arrigo Sacchi would have been a little cheesed off had he known that during the recent Spurs v Milan game, Clive Tyldesley referred to Milan as Fabio Capello’s team. Although Clive is correct in recognising that Fabio enjoyed success at Milan, it was built largely upon solid foundations laid by Sacchi, who brought Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten to the club as well as winning back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990. Small beans, of course, but still relatively important if you are peddling so-called expert views on television.
Emerson Marks, Southampton

Dear WSC
Continuing the theme of daft phrases used by commentators and pundits, I’d like to point out my own personal favourite. Towards the end of each season we’re repeatedly told that the teams in the promotion frame are desperate to avoid “the lottery of the play-offs”. Like every other football contest the play-offs involve skill, pace, strength, tactics, concentration, commitment, along with a healthy slice of luck, and more often than not the best team wins. Quite often that team may not have been the better side throughout the regular league season but that’s a different issue. It’s interesting that the same term is never applied to other knockout contests. Since the two competitions use exactly the same format then surely we should also be discussing “the lottery of the Champions League semi-finals”. Unsurprisingly, I’ve never heard either ITV or Sky use that particular phrase when promoting their live coverage. However, if the pundits are right then perhaps we should seek solace in the randomness of it all. The next time England make their customary quarter-final exit, rather than descending into despair, the nation could take comfort in avoiding the lottery of the World Cup semis.
Karl Laycock, Mansfield

Dear WSC
I suspect that the concentration of youth players inw Premier League academies is already in full swing, if my club Leyton Orient are anything to go by. Currently having our best season since the late 1970s, it’s a niggling fact that none of our current first team come from our youth system. At least five mainstays of the team (Jamie Jones, Ben Chorley, Terrell Forbes, Jimmy Smith, Charlie Daniels) are youth-team products from Premier League clubs who have had to drop down the divisions to find regular football. Three current first-team players (Tom Carroll, Harry Kane, Paul-Jose M’Poku) are on loan from Tottenham, and have played vital parts in our season so far. The fact is, we and other lower-league clubs rely on youth players from wealthier teams to reinforce our squads. The issue seems to me not so much that smaller clubs are not properly reimbursed for training young players, but that the big clubs already have a powerful grip on the developing talent in this country.
Phil Laing, Chingford

Dear WSC
I found your article on British voices covering American soccer telecasts dead on (Losing the legacy, WSC 289). As a fan of the New York Red Bulls and the US national team, I can assure you that I find Red Bulls announcer Shep Messing’s Bronx accent and detailed knowledge of every player in MLS infinitely more enjoyable than hearing Steve McManaman ramble on without any knowledge of the American game whatsoever. I wouldn’t mind his accent, of course, if the former star had bothered to learn anything at all about the teams he was covering. His lack of interest in doing so showed a remarkable lack of respect for MLS, a league which draws well, is entertaining and has fuelled the development of the national team. While I certainly appreciate the game’s English history, having someone thoroughly ignorant of American soccer broadcast matches in the US is aggravating. The US is finally developing its own style of play and own systems of player development, yet it seems more determined than ever to “Anglo-cast”. Maddening.
William J Smith, Brooklyn, USA

Dear WSC
The WSC 290 Season In Brief about the Australian National Soccer League prompted happy memories of watching the Wollongong Wolves at Marconi Fairfield one winter’s night in Sydney in – I would guess – June 1998. After a goalless first half the visiting wolf mascot was doing the rounds, as mascots do, a few rows in front of me. Without preamble a man punched the wolf in the head. Even more remarkably, someone pointed out the attacker to a steward, who gave the guilty man a talking-to. Through the power of WSC, can anyone tell me what became of any of them?
Mark Rowe, Burton upon Trent

Dear WSC
I wasn’t around to see the Australian National Soccer League’s birth in 1977. But your Season In Brief brought back fond memories of the seasons that followed. For many years the NSL was a much-loved competition. It was passionately followed by those who knew what true football was, in a country dominated by other codes. We witnessed the formative years of some greats (Mark Viduka, Robbie Slater, Danny Tiatto and Brett Emerton, to name just a few). Yet as the article correctly describes, there was an inevitability about the league’s demise nearly 30 years later. It descended into a farce. Inept administrators, dwindling crowds, barren sponsorship and clubs stuck in old-world ethnic rivalries. At its nadir Peter Beardsley came out of retirement and played two miserable games for the Melbourne Knights. Sadly for some of us, the A-League is yet to fill the void. Crowds trebled in some cities and the breadth of support for the competition has clearly spread. Yet much of the substance of the game has gone. Matches are screened only on pay TV and freshly minted club supporters complain about the “touch judge”. When the A-League was launched in 2005 it was to much hope and fanfare. Since then two clubs have folded, finances have fluctuated and the games expansion has been put on hold. Now it would seem we’re not the only ones a little lost.
Dashiel Lawrence, Melbourne, Australia

Dear WSC
Like Alan Bunce (Letters, WSC 290), I too am driven to despair by the FA Cup draw. However, for me, it has become a real-life example of the proverb: be careful what you wish for, it might come true. Jim Rosenthal has taken to a new level the trend to throw in an inane comment after he reads out the team’s name when their ball number is called. I wouldn’t mind if he said something controversial, such as: “Manchester United, for whom Wayne Rooney will be available to play after getting away with a blatant elbow in the face yesterday.” What we actually get is inanities like: “Manchester United… a late winner at home yesterday.” I point the finger of blame at David Davies OBE, former executive director of the FA. I still remember how he used to add a little extra to the draw, supposedly for the benefit of the less well informed. The nadir was surely this: “Portsmouth… Pompey… from the south coast.” I’m a Southampton fan and even I was insulted, and I remember wishing they would put a trained broadcaster in his place. Well, they did. Enough said.
Tim Manns, Plymouth

Dear WSC
I must correct Dave Lee (Flood risks, WSC 290), who suggested that the FA was responsible for charging fans to watch Ukraine v England online in 2009. The FA didn’t own the rights to that fixture, they belonged to the Ukrainian FA, who originally sold them to Setanta. When they went bust, their agents Perform opted for the online model in lieu of, they claimed, any serious bids from another broadcaster. The FA have absolutely no say as to what happens with the TV rights for away qualifiers, Setanta just bought that one off their own back.
However you’re right to say that the FA did opt for online streaming of Under-21 matches, as well as additional FA Cup games, that were originally part of their contract with Setanta. The difference between the FA’s streaming and the Ukraine v England affair is that, as mentioned, the FA offers them for free.
Steve Williams, Cleethorpes

Dear WSC
In football it is an old adage that “a good player doesn’t become a bad one overnight”. This is certainly true of Fernando Torres – it has taken him the best part of a year.
Geoff Laidlaw, Newcastle upon Tyne

Dear WSC
In his letter in WSC 290 regarding who was overlooked for inclusion in the “Disappearing from view” section of Season In Brief, Tim Curtis seems to have misunderstood the inclusion criteria. As I understand it, those named are not necessarily players, teams or managers that have ended up furthest away from where they played in the season in question (like his suggestions of Barry Hayles, Andy Melville and Matt Jansen) but rather someone or something that reached the end of a glorious or noteworthy career during or around that season. Colin Calderwood was about to retire so his inclusion is entirely justified, while Tom’s suggestions all had reasonably significant careers after the end of 2000-01. Barry Hayles played three further seasons for Fulham, all in the Premier League, representing the highest level he played at before or since. Andy Melville retired in 2005 having also played in the top flight for the same three seasons for Fulham before a short spell at West Ham. Matt Jansen was only 24 in 2002 and, while a motorcycle accident in 2002 seemed to stall his promising progress, he continued with Blackburn and Bolton in the top division for a further five years. As for Ossie Ardiles, I’m pretty certain he would qualify as having disappeared from view after his sacking from Spurs in October 1994 – the following 17 years have seen short, largely unsuccessful spells at ten different clubs across the world. But he wasn’t managing in Division One in 2001 so he doesn’t really qualify for consideration for this particular article.
Fred Sullivan, Manchester

Dear WSC
Paul Knott’s praise of Ian Ashbee in WSC 290 was well merited. However, Paul should in future be more careful with his use of the word unique. In describing Ashbee’s feat of captaining his club in all four divisions, Paul would have been better advised to have used another descriptive term because it is certainly not unique. Ladies, gentlemen and WSC readers, I give you Don Masson. He not only captained Notts County in all four divisions but must surely be unique in as much as he also captained his country.
Mike Gyles, Alfreton

Dear WSC
In response to Keith Chapman’s letter in WSC 290, I can put his mind at rest. As a lifelong Newcastle fan (of the armchair variety in recent years) it pains me to say that I have reliable eyewitness accounts from St James’ Park of fans leaving the ground with the score at 4-0 to Arsenal, somehow unable to foresee the Gunners’ spectacular second-half capitulation. According to my source they numbered in the hundreds (probably about 30 or so accounting for excited exaggeration) and one hapless individual even volunteered to be interviewed by the local media in the days after the game declaring his misfortune at missing a stirling comeback by the Magpies. I can’t confirm that the individuals shown on MOTD were among those that actually left the ground, but I can with some confidence assure Mr Chapman that the BBC certainly didn’t “make it up about people leaving at half time”. Not this time anyway.
Paul Morrow, Newcastle upon Tyne

Dear WSC
While I wouldn’t want to defend the logic of splitting the SPL into two leagues after 33 games, there is certainly a logic and fairness behind preventing the seventh-placed team leapfrogging the sixth-placed team – in fact, unless there was a huge gap between the two after 33 games, you would expect it to happen. The sixth-placed team has to play against the five teams that finished above them, which is clearly a harder task than playing against the bottom five, as the seventh-placed team is required to do. I’d suggest that the SPL consider splitting the league between the top two and the bottom ten at the halfway stage, so that we can all enjoy the spectacle of Messrs McCoist and Lennon being banished to the stands on a weekly basis, but I fear they might take this idea seriously.
John Rooney, Bristol

From WSC 291 May 2011

Letters, WSC 289

Dear WSC,
Geoff Bradford’s article in WSC 288 about the suspicious betting and playing patterns in a Serie B game sparked a vague memory in me, which I confirmed by a trawl through some decades-old football books. On page 13 of his account of Brighton’s first season in Division One (1979-80), John Vinnicombe recounts the odds offered on the Seagulls getting a result against Arsenal in their opening match, but then says: “Punters could not, of course, bet on the result of a single game. They had to have their money on at least three.”
The “of course” in Vinnicombe’s statement suggests that in the late 1970s the sport was well aware of the dangers of allowing money to be made by gambling on a single result. When, then, did this rule change, and why? It would seem a sensible safeguard against the kind of manipulation Geoff believes he saw in Italy. The logistical problems with fixing three matches instead of one are immense, and suspicious betting patterns surely even easier to spot. And would the bookies lose out? Would punters be somehow less interested in betting on three games rather than one? A bet is a bet, surely.
But of course, the football associations have no authority over bookmakers. Indeed, as Geoff points out, through sponsorship and outright ownership of clubs – like Brighton – by men who have made their money in that industry, influence currently runs the other way. Global action would also be required. I, like Geoff, am not optimistic about what this means for football as a genuine sport.
Drew Whitworth, Hebden Bridge

Dear WSC
Harry Pearson’s review of the recent Tommy Lawton biography (WSC 288) was of great personal interest to me. The biographers seem to suggest that Mr Lawton’s shocking move to Notts County in 1947 was not money-driven as most people assumed, but more of a protest against draconian employment laws and the Chelsea board at the time. This makes more sense of a story I included in my recent book on the history of Fram Reykjavik FC. According to my sources, Tommy Lawton showed interest in becoming manager of Fram in 1947 and entered informal talks with the Fram board. At that time, the Icelandic championship involved only five teams that played each other on the only legal pitch in the country. The Icelandic season took place in the summer, so occasionally British footballers would spend their holidays there, earning a few bob coaching, while attracting a lot of female interest. However, the idea of a player such as Tommy Lawton even considering showing up in Iceland in 1947 seemed so bizarre that I seriously considered leaving it out, but eventually decided to trust 
my sources. Harry Pearson compares Lawton’s move to Notts County in 1947 as equivalent to Wayne Rooney signing for the Magpies, but for Lawton to Fram think something more along the lines of East Timor or Outer Mongolia. But all this makes more sense if the player mostly intended to teach his superiors at Stamford Bridge a lesson. Perhaps now we – the fans of mighty Fram Reykjavik – can stop fantasising about how great it all could have been under Tommy?
Stefan Palsson, Reykjavik, Iceland

Dear WSC
I’d like to add John Motson to the list of people often using a particular phrase repeatedly in order to make it look like a trademark… but more about that in 
a minute.
Keith Chapman, London

Dear WSC
In reply to the letter about Derek Parkin and the (No) Parkin(g) sign (WSC 288). I remember that Football League Review once printed a photo of Peter Shilton standing next to a signpost for the small town of Earl Shilton in Leicestershire with the caption saying something like: “One day that may be his title!” Shilton may also have been among the many goalkeepers who patiently posed in front of “Keep Out!” and “No Entry” signs. In fact there used to be so many of these type of photos that players’ contracts must have specified that they agree to “being depicted next to occupationally relevant signage whenever requested”.
Graham Forshaw, Uttoxeter

Dear WSC
Does Law 4 not matter any more? In the recent FA Cup replay between Manchester City and Leicester City both goalkeepers and all three officials were in black. Law 4 says, as I am sure you know: “The two teams must wear colours that distinguish them from each other and also the referee and the assistant referees… Each goalkeeper must wear colours that distinguish him from the other players, the referee and the assistant referees.” If the televised games don’t adhere to that, what hope is there for the ref on a Sunday morning? Secondly, I shall scream if I hear that dreadful baseball expression “step up to the plate” used in a football context. Or any other for that matter.
Thomas Allen, Albufeira, Portugal

Dear WSC
The Owen Amos article in WSC 288 regarding the play-offs for defeated FA Cup semi-finalists stirred memories on two fronts. Firstly, the England v England Youth game wasn’t actually billed as such in the press at the time, I can remember it always being advertised as England against Young England, who were in fact the Under-23 team. I think it became unpopular due to the players being generally unavailable through injury or tiredness (no change there then) and the better players being occupied with the following day’s proceedings.
I was a bit surprised that the third/fourth place play-off lasted as long as five years – I thought it only lasted three at most, but then again it wasn’t the most popular of fixtures even in the days when there wasn’t much televised football. The so-called mementoes made available to players to make the game more attractive were in fact tankards. The winning players got silver tankards and the runners-up received pewter versions. I can vaguely recall Bobby Charlton saying something polite about the quality of his prize but still not able to hide his disdain at having to play an extra unwanted game, a bit like the European Super Cup – but that’s another matter.
Jim McDougall, Reading

Dear WSC
When Tony Pulis proposed promotion and relegation for referees, my initial reaction was similar to that of Chris Barltrop (Letters, WSC 287) – that it was a bad idea from a grumpy manager thinking the whole world was conspiring against him. However, on reflection, I think the Stoke boss may be on to something. All the subsequent attention, of course, was on officials “facing the chop” from the Premier League – but for every relegation there has to be a promotion, and that opens up a whole world of possibilities. Chris Barltrop conceded that “the best referees should be in control of games at the highest level”, but I would go further – why not allow them to progress through the pyramid in exactly the same way as clubs do? The logical conclusion would be to give automatic promotion to the top two refs in each division, while the next best pair are judged by their ability to oversee the play-off semi-finals. Referees in danger of relegation could be given otherwise meaningless end-of-season fixtures, which might just add a little extra spice to those matches. However, I don’t agree with Pulis that this should all be based on an annual end-of-season vote. Where’s the fun in that? I’d suggest keeping the current assessor system – but let’s make the results public, so that we can see “league tables” of referees in the papers every weekend. Surely this would make the whole system more transparent – and I can’t see Sir Alex being concerned at all when the lowest-ranked official is assigned to a Manchester United game. Feel free to pass my details on to Mr Blatter!
David Emanuel, Littleborough

Dear WSC
Howard Pattison’s article on blue plaques (WSC 286) rightly pointed out that football doesn’t get its fair share of the honours. But outside London, fans can push the boat out, as he says. Even in Birmingham something is stirring, but it’s not easy. The case of the missing wall shows that determination is required. A couple of years ago the Aston Villa Supporters’ Trust together with the club erected a statue outside the new Trinity Road stand of William McGregor. This local shopkeeper was the man who thought up the idea of a league system of football clubs. Until he proposed the idea in 1888 there were only cup competitions, and a lack of a regular source of finance. McGregor’s idea was accepted and the world’s first league system was the result. But until the fans raised the issue, the only recognition of his achievement was a plaque inside the main entrance where few people ever saw it. The statue put that right, but it was still nothing that a non-footballing public was likely to clap eyes on, so the idea was floated of putting a blue plaque on his shop. Sadly, the shop had been demolished in a slum clearance scheme. Still, the local library turned up the address, 309 Summer Lane, where a factory now stands. Alas, the factory is now derelict and looks ripe for demolition in its turn. Two obstacles now remain. The first is finding out who owns the wall where the shop used to stand. The second is finding out whether the wall will be demolished before we try to put a plaque on it. Even this doesn’t end the problems, since the local civic society has to approve the actual construction and, while sympathetic, they might not see it as a priority. But if we can find a wall to hang a plaque on and get the approval of everyone concerned, William McGregor will have his plaque in due course.
Trevor Fisher, Stafford

Dear WSC
Perhaps the final word on old-fashioned things taken to the match? For about 15 years now a chap who sits very close to me in the Paddock at Anfield has come to every game with an old wooden rattle upon which is hand-painted “Every Liddell helps”, probably dating it to the mid-1950s at the latest. Sadly we need a bit more than that these days.
Nigel Power, Liverpool

Dear WSC
In the article Fact versus fiction (WSC 288), Ian Preece rightly points out that football novels are thin on the ground. May I point him in the direction of Steve Bruce? After been sacked as Huddersfield manager in 2000, and out of a job, Bruce turned his talents to writing. Three football murder mystery novels appeared, Striker, Sweeper and Defender, inspired by the work of Dick Francis. A typically enthralling excerpt reads: “The gun was level with my belly. So this was what it was like to die. There was no doubt I was going to die. And not even in Newcastle. Not even Premier League. In Halifax, of all places, with a club in the third division.” As Bruce admits himself: “They were the biggest load of crap ever written.”
Chris Olewicz, Sheffield

Dear WSC
On the subject of empty seats at games, I went to buy a couple of tickets for Wigan v Arsenal on December 29. To my surprise they refused to sell them to me. Despite the fact that I am retired, was with my wife, am Lancastrian, live in Norfolk and a lifelong Bury supporter (with a membership card to prove it) they decided I was a security risk. Their evidence was that the only time I have ever bought a ticket at Wigan before was for the game against Arsenal two seasons ago, and therefore was identified on the computer as an Arsenal fan. To be fair, when I wrote to the club I received a very nice letter from the commercial manager offering me two tickets for £20 for the game against Fulham. After some thought I declined the offer and went to watch Boreham Wood v Chelmsford instead. Mind you, as Meadow Park, Boreham Wood, is also the home ground of 
Arsenal Ladies, that is probably another black mark against me on the Wigan 
computer.
Jeff Hoyle, Kings Lynn

Dear WSC
In his letter in WSC 288 Ed Parkinson notes that my article on Partizan Belgrade’s participation in the Champions League (WSC 287) portrayed the club’s supporters – the Gravediggers – in an over-positive light. In particular, Ed 
highlighted the murder of Toulouse supporter Brice Taton by members of this group in 2009. Prior to the article in question, I also wrote about the darker side of Serbian football in an article for the WSC website (WSC Daily, October 21). This piece did indeed discuss Brice Taton’s death, among others, at the hands of Belgrade thugs, alongside the unsavoury past of football hooligan involvement in Arkan’s paramilitary force during the early 1990s. I am well aware of these links between football in the former Yugoslavia and the brutal activities of the paramilitary organisations of the 1990s, having spent the last four years documenting this subject in my work (see for example the International Journal of the History of Sport, 26:9, 2009). My motive for writing this piece with a non-violent focus was to demonstrate that there is another side to football in Serbia. Numerous articles, including my own, have gone into great detail with regards to the deplorable violence which afflicts the game across the former Yugoslavia. But so little is ever said about the game itself, about the vast majority of Serbian football supporters who do not indulge in violence and 
concentrate instead upon backing their own teams.
Hence, while I join Ed in wholeheartedly condemning the attack which led to Brice Taton’s death, I am also keen to emphasise the existence of positive aspects surrounding the Serbian game, to categorically separate the violent criminal behaviour of a minority from the passionate supporting of the majority and to prevent a situation where violent hooliganism becomes the only legitimate topic of conversation.
Richard Mills, Eye, Suffolk

From WSC 289 March 201

Copyright © 1986 - 2024 When Saturday Comes LTD All Rights Reserved Website Design and Build NaS