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Stories
Going to your first football match isn't always memorable for the normal reasons, as Josh Widdicombe explains
With the exceptions of the third round of the FA Cup and the career of Stan Bowles, few things are over-romanticised by the average football fan more than their first visit to a live match. So, as a man easily won over by a nostalgic ideal, I have long bought into the received wisdom that to be a proper fan your first taste of professional football in the flesh must have been like some sort of religious conversion; rather than just sitting in a cold church hoping the monotonous service would soon be over.
“…but first, the classified football results, with James Alexander Gordon.” Generations have hung on every word of Sports Report, but Csaba Abrahall believes that the BBC is squandering its heritage
The BBC, never slow to congratulate itself on its sport coverage, devoted two hours of air time in early January to a celebration of the 60th anniversary of Sports Report, the Saturday evening results and review show currently residing on Five Live. But among the procession of presenters and personalities wheeled out to reminisce about crowding round a wireless, body tingling at the evocative theme music, there was little discussion about the challenge to the programme posed by the changing nature of the football weekend – a largely television-driven challenge that the old radio stalwart is struggling to meet.
Neil Forsyth, like millions of Scots, is still pinching himself after James McFadden’s winner in Paris gave the team a sight of Euro 2008. What will Berti Vogts make of it?
Before the memorable night of September 12, Scotland’s last visit to play France in Paris had been a friendly in March 2002. That was the first game in charge of Scotland for Berti Vogts.
Dear WSC
Are you aware of the administrative/secretarial difficulties that the English FA headquarters are currently experiencing? Over the past six months I have been attempting to apply for membership of “englandfans”, as the travel club is now known, for the period 2004-06. In July the “englandfans team” announced that packs would be out in August, but in spite of my non-membership I was invited to apply for tickets for England v Ukraine at Newcastle. Presumably, my earlier attendance and behaviour at the pre-Portugal tournament in Manchester had been monitored and found acceptable. I would like to continue to offer my support and the friendly in Madrid sounds attractive, but I am still not an “englandfan” and unlikely to be until January 2005! A letter in October explained that “the club is being restructured” (has Sven been told?) but that away tickets would for now only be available to existing members.Apart from the 76 fans arrested in Portugal, more recently in Baku a group of “englandfans” were reported to be displaying a banner saying “No Asylum Seekers”. I hope the FA find “sufficient evidence” on this occasion to create some vacancies for replacement fans.
Geoff Lord, Chesterfield