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Search: ' Kenneth Wolstenholme'

Stories

Referees’ tolerance of foul play annoyed fans and blighted 1950s matches

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Restrained use of yellow cards by officials meant any caution was headline news but that attitude was not always for the good of the game

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It’s time to ditch the clone army of commentators and hear something new

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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

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Overpowering crowd noises are a rare thing of beauty

It requires extremes of timing to drown out PA systems but nothing beats those roof-rattling, full-throated roars forced out by penalty box drama

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Boys Of 66

352 BoysThe unseen story behind England’s World Cup glory
by John Rowlinson
Virgin Books, £20
Reviewed by David Stubbs
From WSC 352 June 2016

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One of the recurring themes of this volume to commemorate the 50th anniversary of England’s sole international triumph is how relatively little was made of it at the time. Kenneth Wolstenholme’s famous “They think it’s all over; it is now” line epitomises the phlegmatic, English reserve that prevented too much of the sort of histrionic reaction that would prevail nowadays. Were England to win the World Cup today, you suspect Jonathan Pearce’s head would, literally, explode. Not then.

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Holy commotion

wsc324Jon 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.

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