The new WSC is out now, available from all good newsagents or dispatched on the day of order from the WSC shop. Including:
When managers get the blame for boardroom mistakes
Man City say goodbye to Garry Cook
George Best's unsuccessful stay in Cork
Joe Cole dazzles on his Lille debut
Tales from the tabloids in Peru
Clubs unite in Sheffield
Fans being compensated after a thrashing is wrong
Hartlepool long for a League One rival

In this issue:

Canary islands Norwich City's worldwide support
"The global popularity of the big Premier League clubs is an unmistakable aspect of modern football. But one of the unwritten stories about the League's international popularity is how many of the so-called smaller teams have foreign fanbases. Locations include Norway, where Blackburn have a strong following largely cultivated in the 1990s, and Iceland, where a supporters' club for Wolves was set up in 2000. And then there's my team, Norwich City. Why would someone living in Europe or the Far East support a club that has no real international exploits to speak of – save one golden, albeit short-lived, spell in Europe – and an eccentric TV chef at the helm?" Buy here to read the full article

Gateshead 1, Cambridge United 1 Heed's rise
"It's the Saturday of the Junior Great North Run. At Newcastle Central Station the usual hordes of stag and hen-nighters in identikit Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts, nurse's uniforms and pink cowboy hats with signs saying 'sperm donor needed' have been temporarily displaced by mobs of enthusiastic tots in running gear, herded together by harassed adult helpers. ('Emma, man, if you drink any more of that pop before you set off you're gonna throw up, I'm telling you.')" Buy here to read the full article

Video games Footballers play with themselves
"On Manchester United's impeccably marketed, sickeningly luxurious and unimaginably profitable summer tour of the US the squad were kept busy. Rafael da Silva caught salmon at Seattle's Pike Place fish market, Patrice Evra and Park Ji-sung were taught how to make deep dish pizza in Chicago and the squad visited the floor of a glass-blowing factory, with Alex Ferguson the only visitor who looked remotely interested in being there. After-hours activities took a less esoteric turn, as illustrated by a number of behind-the-scenes videos showing the players relaxing. 'Relaxing' in this case took the form of footballers playing a virtual version of the sport they make their living from, often controlling sprightly digital representations of themselves." Buy here to read the full article

Age of content The future is bright
"There are five ages to being a football fan. In Age One, you are the wide-eyed innocent in your father's wake, awestruck at every kick, scream and swearword. In the Second Age, you are the young teenager at the game with his mates, gleefully and liberally squawking those same swearwords. In Age Three, in your late teens and early 20s, you are the detached, laconic observer, trying to pretend that you don't care by laughing at your team's failures, all the while hurting underneath. In the Fourth Age, now perhaps a family man in your 30s and 40s, you prefer to sit and analyse, making frequent references to players and games from the past. You have reached peak wisdom, because in Age Five, as you hit middle age and beyond, you feel that your loyalty and longevity entitle you to do and say whatever the hell you want." Buy here to read the full article

Plus
Martin Tyler silenced; scuffles in Coventry; Sion take on UEFA; ticketing trouble at Craven Cottage; Rangers in crisis; Truro City step up
Blues host Braga in Europe
Buying lower league players is good business
Resistance to a club merger in Brussels; an aggressive takeover fought off in Reading and Oxford
Victory Internationals
The fallout from industrial action in Spain
Tensions in Ireland over perceived player poaching
Lebanon on the rise; drinking culture in Brazil
Walcott grows up fast; Liverpool's birth; Robert Enke biography; Gary Neville is a Red, he tells all

Availability
WSC is the only nationally available independent football magazine in the UK, and you can get it monthly for a very reasonable £2.95. 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:

1. Ask your local newsagent to order it for you
2. This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
3. Subscribe now
4. Buy the latest issue direct from WSC
5. Sign up for our digital edition

Photo by Colin McPherson, illustration by Tim Bradford

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