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Stories
With John Motson soon to retire, the age of distinctive commentators’ voices has ended. In their place are a group of estate agentesque safe choices
Top two for Celtic, Aberdeen to have a decent cup run and Rangers to resume “the world’s most tiresome duopoly” – what WSC contributors got right and wrong last season
Jon Spurling remembers how the FA began trialling regular games on the Sabbath in the 1970s despite protests from religious groups
Football was facing a crisis at the start of 1974. Attendances in all four divisions had been in decline for a while and floodlit matches were banned as part of the “three day week” introduced by Prime Minister Edward Heath to save on electricity consumption. Sunday football was regarded as one way to inject some life back into the flagging domestic game.
Football charities and voluntary organisations are struggling to survive in the face of austerity, writes Alex Lawson
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that by 2016 the voluntary sector will lose £911 million in public funding. The age of austerity is already having a major effect on grassroots football. The UK’s sporting charities are remarkably fragmented – the likes of the Football Foundation and Football Aid represent the larger organisations in a pyramid featuring professional clubs’ charitable arms, corporate philanthropic projects, small-scale grassroots organisations and long-standing local government initiatives.