Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
Luton kick up a fuss in Northern Cyprus, reports Neil Rose
It has been a difficult enough year at Kenilworth Road, but Luton Town found a novel way to court controversy last month by blundering into a major diplomatic incident. Their pre-season trip to Cyprus led to the postponement of what would have been the first meeting in a year between the presidents of Greek and Turkish Cyprus, under the auspices of the United Nations.
Twenty years ago, unfancied teams won the Scottish and English Cups then agreed to a home-and-away Battle of Britain. But, as Neville Hadsley recalls, Coventry and St Mirren only met the once
Dedicated fans can be very patient awaiting the next instalment of a long-running saga. Star Wars aficionados endured a 16-year gap between movies, yet there was no rioting on the streets of Beverly Hills. Similarly, followers of the whip-carrying archaeological looter Indiana Jones who silently long for more will be rewarded with another instalment in 2008 after a 19-year hiatus.
The marriages of four England players on one weekend took football’s relationship with celebrity culture to new heights – or, as Barney Ronay sees it, new depths
Footballers, even quite famous ones, used to get married in a registry office in front of three people. They took honeymoons in Whitby before setting up home with Sue/Meg/Jakki in a modern semi, where they might stand out as the only people in the street with a double-glazed conservatory or a new patio. Best of all, you wouldn’t know anything about it, beyond the odd appearance in the “at home with…” feature in Shoot!. All things considered, this seemed to be enough.
Ryan Giggs is a Manchester United legend, but did he really deserve the five-star treatment in Cardiff when he called time on his Wales career? Huw Richards doesn’t think so
John Toshack is clearly more of a sentimentalist than he looks. His decision, born perhaps of his years in Spain where such tributes are a regular feature, to take off Ryan Giggs just before the end of the European Championship qualifier against the Czech Republic allowed Giggs a solo ovation from the crowd for his last appearance for Wales. It fit with the mood of elegiac acclaim that had filled Welsh column inches and airwaves since Giggs had announced his international retirement earlier in the week.
Truro City, the Cornish big shots aim for the league. Josh Widdicombe reports
Until recently, the only time Truro City had spent outside the South Western League was when they were relegated in 1975 because their ground had been demolished to widen a road. This summer they find themselves with a Wembley victory to brag about, are odds-on favourites to win the Western Premier Division next season on the back of two successive promotions and have plans for a new multi-million-pound stadium.