Book reviews

In a dark season for the game as well as Stoke, Ken Sproat saw Newcastle inflict one of the Potters’ 31 defeats of 1984-85 – but can now see it wasn't all gloom

A football team cannot get much worse than Stoke City during the 1984-85 season. There, in the all-time records for being hopeless, they skulk alongside such Victorian disasters as Darwen, Loughborough Town and Glossop. The fewest points in a season (17), the fewest wins (three – all at home), the most defeats (31) and, with 24, the fewest goals (the leading scorer was Ian Painter with six, of which four were penalties). They failed to score in 25 of the 42 league matches. They suffered mathematically definite relegation with eight miserable matches still to play.

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Conservationist Barney Ronay is worried about the squandering of natural resources by clubs such as Arsenal, whose players come in 57 varieties

When Bill Shankly said, “There are two great teams on Merseyside – Liverpool and Liverpool re­serves,” he may well have had little more than Everton-baiting on his mind. However, more than ever, Shankly’s barb reflects a tendency among clubs at the top end of the scale to accumulate alarmingly large first-team squads.

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 Chris Taylor’s dreams of watching Juan Sebastian Verón turn into an evening comtemplating has-been celebrities, at a typical reserve match

I had not expected to be discussing the members of Take That while stood on the Popular Side terrace at Altrincham’s Moss Lane ground.

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Alex Wolstenholme wonders if the introduction of age restrictions could reinvigorate the reserves in England as they have done north of the border

Watching the reserves is a journey into a world both instantly recognisable and yet strangely unfamiliar. The setting, the kits and often the players are the same, but there’s something missing that can be found at almost every other level of the game where a league title is played for. The fortunes of the stiffs are never a major cause of concern for fans. That part of the programme where one of the club’s ex-pros (and now second-team boss) gives his match report from the latest reserve game has never been required reading.

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Wolves' promotion to the top flight is going to cost them. Jim Heath explains how

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ return to top-flight English football has come at a cost. In addition to the well publicised investment club owner Sir Jack Hayward has made over the last decade, he is now having to make pay­ments to Swindon Town, Charlton Athletic, Sunderland and Coventry City – adding up to the tidy sum of around £1.5 million. Not bad for a now depressed market. This all stems from add-on clauses to the original fees Wolves paid for players, which would only be activated if and when promotion was finally achieved. So, Shaun Newton suddenly be­comes a million-pound player overnight – his original £850,000 fee from when Wolves bought him from Charlton in August 2001 has just in­creased by some £300,000. Similar increments are due to the others for George Ndah, Alex Rae, Paul But­ler and Cédric Rous­sel. Which is fair enough, as during the season they have all made a big contribution to the overall objective of promotion. Except, that is, Cédric Roussel.

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