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Stories
After months of chaos Darlington have been relegated to the Conference. But Thom Kennedy has spotted signs of recovery
The end-of-season dead rubber is often tagged with the optimistic phrase “playing for pride”, though we’ve all seen enough insipid bore-draws played out in front of sparse crowds trying to get value from their season tickets to know there’s little pride involved. But, for an example of a last-gasp attempt to restore some semblance of dignity, Darlington’s victory at Macclesfield on the season’s penultimate weekend fits perfectly. The 2-0 win spared the 54 players who have trudged into the Darlington Arena – and in most cases back out again – during this season the shame of being part of the worst-ever Quakers team.
Forest and Derby may not be closest neighbours but time has created a twisted rivalry. Al Needham reports
The relationship between Nottingham Forest and Derby Country may seem a little strange, but it’s actually no different to the ones you see on Jeremy Kyle on a weekday morning. So many elements bind them together, but it’s those very elements that drive them apart like inverse magnets.
The traditional fanzine is making a comeback of sorts, writes Thom Gibbs
It is hard to miss Mike Harrison. Head to Valley Parade when Bradford City are at home and he’ll be standing outside wearing a retro Bantams shirt, clutching a wad of A5 fanzines. Oh, and he’s 6ft 8in. “It helps that I’m recognisable,” the editor of 24-year-old fanzine The City Gent says. “Most people know me, but I’m always badgering and cajoling new people to write and contribute, because if you don’t do that then you just won’t get anything.”
Neil Wallace on the year Bolton hit a ton, Man City managers came and went, and the players' union threatened a strike
The long-term significance
Expanding revenues from television became a source of conflict, with footballers pushed towards industrial action for the first time since the abolition of the maximum wage. In the summer of 1996, the Football League sought to reduce the share of the new TV deal that would go to the PFA. With over 90 per cent of the union’s members voting for a strike in October, the League finally agreed to their demand for five per cent of the income; the Premier League came to a similar agreement a year later. In 2001, however, strike action was threatened again before the PFA succeeded in holding on to five per cent of the next, hugely increased, Sky deal. And with the figures becoming ever greater, the strike threat of 1996 could recur again and again.X