WSC 353 out now

July issue available online and in stores

wsc353The new WSC is out now, available in all good newsagents or to order from the WSC shop.

– Hibs’ first Cup win since 1902
– Edinburgh City break new ground
– Controversial League shake-up
– Who won the unofficial World Cup?
– Spain’s withdrawal from Euro 60
– WSC writers’ competition winners

Final thoughts Hibernian’s Scottish Cup win
Hibernian have a long history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. So much so that a neologism has been coined, to #HibsIt. With ten minutes left in last month’s Scottish Cup final – a competition the club had not won since 1902 – they were a goal down and Hibsing it. The man in the seat next to mine buried his head in his hands, muttering ‘We’ve ballsed it up again’.” Buy here to read the full article

353 MOTMBarnsley 3 Millwall 1
League One play-off final
“On the train to Wembley. There’s been little evidence that a match is taking place in London thus far, except for a small claque of Barnsley fans emitting beer odours, tottering perilously on the edge of the platform on the Metropolitan Line at King’s Cross. But then, as we trundle two stops down the line, two beery, low jeers can be heard from opposite sides of the platform.” Buy here to read the full article

Slimming exercise Football League restructure
“The driving force behind the proposal to extend the Football League to four divisions each of 20 clubs is the over-crowded 24-team Championship. It needs to slim down by losing two or four clubs but there is nowhere sensible or easy to put them. Hence this latest proposal for ‘full consideration’ by clubs which could well assimilate the top half of the National League into the Football League for the 2019-20 season. Buy here to read the full article

353 WritersCompI am the ref Writers’ competition winner
If my school PE teacher had wanted to inspire and motivate me he couldn’t have done a better job. When I asked to join the referee’s class being arranged for the First XI players he made a derogatory comment and laughed in my face. That was in 1965. A year ago, returning late from an assessing assignment, I decided that 2015-16 would by my last season. The persistence needed to get on to that initial ref’s course had led me into a 51-year career that became a way of life. Starting at school and the local Sunday League I refereed for 30 straight seasons, rarely missing a weekend. I served time on the Welsh League and was known as ‘the Cockney ref’ in the Rhondda because of my Home Counties accent.” Buy here to read the full article

Plus
Euro 1976 settled by a famous penalty
Complex non-League rivalries in Sussex
Rostov: the Leicester City of Russia
The other national team in Iceland
Allan Clarke’s rise from spindly striker
Wembley’s non-League double
The evolution of England’s travelling fans
A guide to football’s new Laws
Newcastle owners hand back control
India’s latest Super League plans
Off with the cuffs at Met Police
Shot! photos: North Ferriby v AFC Fylde
Players need skills off the pitch too
When the US decided to import teams
Book reviews ~ Hillsborough memories; Euro 96 nostalgia; England;s global influence; Chuck roast

Availability
WSC is the only nationally available independent football magazine in the UK, and you can get it monthly for a very reasonable £3.50. 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. Subscribe now and also get access to the complete digital archive
2. Buy the latest issue direct from WSC 
3. Sign up for our digital edition and apps for iPhone, iPad and Android
4. orders@wsc.co.uk">Email us 
5. Ask your local newsagent to order it for you

Photo by Simon Gill, illustration by Matt Littler