Weekly Howl 26-09-08

A small portion of despair and enlightenment delivered to your inbox every Friday
26 September 2008 ~

You may have noticed that Lewes FC are enduring a torrid time in their first Conference season, having picked up just four points in 11 games. Their cause might almost appear hopeless but help is at hand from Howl regular Dean “Midas” Maynard. Dean’s suggestion is that fans go to his website and download his lucky logo which they can take with them to games. It may be worth a goal start at least. Given that Dean is based in County Durham and runs an under-10s team called Newcastle Independent it’s surprising that he has yet to offer his help to the local Premier League club – we can only assume that he's reserving his psychic energies for a really big push.

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Badge of the week
Burnley’s badge is pretty traditional at first glance but, on closer scrutiny, we notice some mysterious and frankly loopy detail. The lions on each side of the crest look pretty fierce right up until you realise they’re carrying giant flowers. Perhaps the lions were very angry about something, went to the pub to get absolutely steaming and, while entering their maudlin stage, bought a single red rose at closing time. And then, of all the creatures in the animal kingdom to put in the centre of your crest, Burnley have opted for the wasp. The tiger, leopard, puma and ibex were all apparently turned down in favour of this flitting picnic irritant as the representation of the club’s mission statement. The wasp is really only one step up from the ant in terms of the non-threatening image. To top the whole thing off there’s a Terry Gilliam-like hand that appears to be saying “Stop!” in a stentorian voice or else “How?” in a Fred Dinenage voice. Or is it an eternal appeal for offside? Difficult to gauge. Or is it perhaps something to do with Freemasonry? That is Burnley’s crest all over – more questions than answers. Cameron Carter

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from Jason Kilby
“The WSC calendar was visible behind Juande Ramos while he was being interviewed for the build-up to the Spurs v Wisla Krakow UEFA Cup game. I’d like to be able to assume Juande uses the season planner to check when his subscription copy is going to be delivered. However, I suspect it wasn’t really his office and he doesn’t have a Spurs screensaver and this season’s three kits hung up around his desk.”

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Historic Football Websites No 23 ~ The Political Economy of Football
Our endorsement of this intelligently written site from almost five years ago still adorns its front page. Economics, business and marketing are areas that tend to interest football fans only when their club suddenly plunges into crisis, but if you want to be better prepared for the day your chairman sells the ground to Barratt Homes and absconds to Tuvalu, check out Wyn Grant’s analyses. “How will the credit crunch hit football?” begins one entry this week. Another looks at how the economic downturn is negatively affecting shirt sponsorship deals. Dry economics are not likely to cheer you up much, but at least you might feel better informed. Ian Plenderleith

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While surfing the internet we came upon this exact exchange in a football Q&A forum. Is it the lamest ever exchange of its type? Perhaps other readers have come across something just as crippled. Bet you haven’t.

Resolved Question
Justgroutit: “Why are some football crests circular and others have that pointed shape?”
Best Answer – Chosen By Voters
master king j: “Depends on the team.”
Other Answers (1)
mjvaness: “That’s just the way they’re designed. Some football crests aren’t circular nor pointed.”

And that’s where the debate comes to a natural end. Good to see the internet is still bringing people together to improve their understanding of the world through the pooling of personal knowledge. Cameron Carter

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WSC Trivia ~ No 34
You may have heard that a Daily Mirror preview of Man City’s UEFA Cup tie with Omonia Nicosia included some lies about the club from their Wikipedia entry, specifically that they have a group of fans called the Zany Ones who wear hats made from discarded shoes. The Mirror sports department has employed credulous people before. WSC 23, published in January 1989, featured an article about Clapton Orient who relocated to Leyton in 1946. The article ended with the writer claiming that he and a group of friends who still considered themselves to be Clapton Orient fans would often gather at 3pm on Saturday afternoon for a solemn ceremony at the site of the old ground. This prompted a call from a Mirror reporter who asked if we knew when the next meeting would take place as they wanted to cover it. For some reason, and there’s no good explanation for this, we decided not to string them along and instead pointed out that it was made up. We were young and foolish – but not as foolish as some.

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Stickipedia  
A mine of information constructed from sticker cards

Duncan McKenzie, Anderlecht and Roger Davies, Bruges Panini Belgium, 1977
Two of Belgium’s big three clubs began the season with English strikers who had once been signed by Brian Clough. Duncan McKenzie joined Leeds from Nottingham Forest during Clough’s six weeks in charge in the summer of 1974. He played only nine games for Anderlecht, scoring twice, moving on to Everton in the autumn of 1976. His desire to return home was mocked by the Belgian press: “McKenzie danced for only one summer” said one newspaper, while another’s headline was “What A Joke”. In addition to his playing skills, McKenzie became known for throwing a golf ball over a stadium roof and vaulting a Mini from a near standing start, although he didn’t attempt to do both at once.

Roger Davies joined Derby from non-League Worcester City in 1971 and played an important role in the club’s second Championship, under Clough’s replacement Dave Mackay, in 1974-75. Davies was much more of a success in Belgium than McKenzie, scoring 21 goals in 34 games for Bruges, before leaving midway through 1977-78 to join Leicester City. He worked as an ITV pundit when his former club played Liverpool in that season’s European Cup final.

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