Book reviews

While many Manchester United fans were greatly exercised by Alex Ferguson's battle over Rock of Gibraltar, Adam Brown argues that the stallion belonged in a sideshow and that the real contest is only just beginning

Doom-laden predictions of the end of a footballing epoch are treated with some disdain at Old Trafford, but recent events off the pitch have generated far greater concern. Two Irish racehorse tycoons and an American sports businessman have entered the stage left vacant by BSkyB’s failed bid in 1998-99. But what of the reaction of fans and shareholders?

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John Charles was arguably Wales's greatest ever sportman. Huw Richards remembers the career of a footballer who could have traded his boots for boxing gloves

Last year John Charles said: “Only grandfathers remember me now.” How wrong he was was shown by well observed minutes’ of silence at venues as diverse as Kidderminster (playing his home town Swansea), Manchester United (v Leeds) and Bologna (v Juventus) and the tribute, moving in its unexpectedness, from Leeds’ extremely ungrandfatherly Alan Smith.

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The word ‘Judas’ has been heard a lot lately, but  Adam Powley refuses to ignore a fundamental difference between fans and players

The issue of loyalty is a bit of a bête noire for football supporters. While fans readily display their de­votion to the cause, players rarely match such selflessness. That discrepancy was sharply illustrated by three high-profile moves during the recent transfer window. The deals involving Scott Parker, Jermain Defoe and Louis Saha accounted for an aggregate outlay of over £30 million – not bad going for three young players, none of whom is yet to make a significant impact at full international level. But while the purchasing clubs glowed in the satisfaction of being seen to splash cash in sup­posedly depressed times, at the clubs they departed from there were bitter recriminations.

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In spite of the fierceness of the clubs’ rivalry, there has been a remarkable amount of transfer activity between Newcastle and Sunderland.  Joe Boyle examines the history

“A massive error of judgement” was how Lee Clark described the actions leading to his exit from Sunderland in 1999. Many in the north-east would go further. The error was not the infamous T-shirt he was pictured in bearing the anti-Sunderland slogan “Sad Mackem Bastards”. The error was his decision to move to Sunderland from Newcastle in the first place.

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Newspaper rumours of a Manchester United bid for Steven Gerrard set Ashley Shaw thinking about just how rare transfers involving Liverpool have been in  the modern era

As transfer stories go, Steven Gerrard’s recently ru­­moured move to Old Trafford would seem about as likely as an Osama Bin Laden peace mission to Washington. But why should this be? If Manchester United and Liverpool were ordinary businesses and a key member of staff spotted an opportunity for lucrative promotion at a rival company, then there would be few bars to a “transfer”.

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