The new WSC is out now, available from all good newsagents or dispatched on the day of order from the WSC shop. Including: How Chester's demise is an indictment of the football authorities. Media reaction to the Ashley Cole and John Terry sagas. The folly of Champions League play-offs, and why they failed in the Netherlands. Why it's never boring at Brunton Park. The last 1930 World Cup survivor turns 100, and other international centurions. How to create a football news story out of nothing. East Africans denied a chance in the UK by mad administrators and nonsensical immigration law.
Also in this issue:
Flicks to kicksWhy football action footage just can't be recreated on the big screen "Lord knows they've tried. Ricky Tomlinson as England manager. Sean Bean tanking around in a Sheffield United strip. Sylvester Stallone between the sticks. Even Adam Faith as pint-sized proprietor of – oh yes – Leicester Forest (from a script by Jackie Collins, no less). All of them as inept, unconvincing and downright embarrassing as each other. So just why is it that films about football never work? Certainly not through lack of an audience. It's a sport, lest we forget, adored by millions the world over, one with its own in-built dramatic arc. A ready-made fantasy in which slumdogs really can become superstars. Never mind Mike Bassett or Jimmy Grimble. Where's our Raging Bull, our This Sporting Life? Even a Seabiscuit would do." Buy here to read the full article
Spread the wordThe top clubs eye new overseas markets "Manchester City's ambitions to break into the Premier League's top four may still be in the balance this season, but their determination to mix it with the elite in the online world continues apace. Since their takeover by the Abu Dhabi Group, City have relaunched their website to critical acclaim and become the kings of social media with popular feeds on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. Soon after the takeover, City also launched an Arabic version of their website and now they've enhanced this offering by adding an Arabic Twitter feed (@CityArabia)." Buy here to read the full article Friends reunited Luton meet Wimbledon in the Conference "How did we end up here? The last time many of the 1,000-odd Wimbledon fans who made the trip to Luton on February 20 visited was back in April 1992. The home side that day won 2-1 but failed to stave off relegation from Division One, while the visitors went onto become founder members of the Premier League a few months later. Supporters over 30 on both sides will still have vivid memories of 1988’s FA Cup semi-final at White Hart Lane, when Dennis Wise’s late winner (a rare example of the studs-up finish) sent Bobby Gould’s side through to Wembley to face Liverpool, in the same year Luton were also victorious in a final there – against Arsenal in the Littlewoods Cup." Buy here to read the full article
Grimsby Town 2, Lincoln City 2An unsatisfactory day for the home side "You can tell it's a Lincolnshire derby day: there are five people in the pub instead of four. Alright, I'm exaggerating a bit, but as local rivalries go Grimsby against Lincoln is a fairly polite and respectful one all round. Though knots of giddy schoolboys do their best to keep the police busy, it's the charity fundraising fixture between fans' teams that typifies the tone. For most, out here on the far, featureless tangent of the Humber estuary, the football is as distant a distraction as the low tide that recedes a mile from Cleethorpes seafront. Right now the Mariners are at their lowest ebb in more than 130 years of history. Neutrals seem perplexed by Town's abrupt decline – until 2003 we'd barely left the second tier since George Kerr took us up in 1980. Let's get it out of the way then." Buy here to read the full article
Plus Views of the West Lancs Football League The importance of "silverware"; Keith Alexander remembered; Durham City's losing run; charging for online content A difficult debut season for the Europa League High emotion at Old Trafford in 1958 Strange case of... Jan Sorensen, Walsall's enigmatic manager Scotland's trail-blazers Commemorating a European final in 1967 Montpellier confound critics; Prague's battle of the Bohemians; Roma fans unite Solidarity with Spartak; Devon drama; Macpherson's TV tales; a South Wales hero. Season in brief Bundesliga 1991-92.
Availability WSC is the only nationally available independent football magazine in the UK, and you can get it monthly for a very reasonable £2.70. You should be able to find a copy in your local newsagent, otherwise outlets that stock WSC include WH Smith, mainline train stations plus selected Tescos. If you're having trouble finding the magazine, you could do one of the following: