Book reviews

Darlington's chairman is going to unfounded lengths in a bid to break free from football. Jon Lymer reports

It used to be said that the north east was a hot­bed of football talent. These days it’s equal­ly true to say that it is a hotbed of eccentric foot­ball chairmen. In recent times the region has enjoyed a series of revelations about its chairmen, including brothel visits, cocaine abuse, High Court action and even (if you stretch the geographical parameters a bit) an alien abduction or two. But the prime mover throughout all this fuss has been Darlington’s convicted safecracker-cum-business magnate, George Reynolds.

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Cambridge United's terrible season might have been even worse, but for the LDV Vans Trophy. Andrew Bennett gives thanks for a much maligned competition

As far as the family of cup competitions goes, it would be fair to say that the LDV Vans Trophy is the runt of the litter. But for the supporters and staff of Cambridge United, it has been nothing short of a life­line in a season spent tossing on the choppy seas of relegation. And not even a decisive and bubble-bursting 4-1 defeat at the hands of Blackpool in the final could spoil the occasion as a welcome, if all too temporary, relief from all the ills of a season that has lurched from the merely dismal to the disastrous.

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Former professional footballer Dai Thomas is given a custodial sentence in Cardiff v Leeds FA Cup fall-out, reports Paul Ashley-Jones

The aftermath of the Cardiff v Leeds FA Cup tie has seen the conviction of a number of Cardiff fans including one hooligan, David (Dai) Thomas, who received a custodial sen­tence for his part, which included throwing an advertising hoarding at Leeds supporters. What has made Dai Thomas the subject of media attention is that he was a former professional footballer with Cardiff City. It was also not his first offence.

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Stephen Wagg reflects on the achievements of the first man to manage England in a World Cup finals and how he cultured a generation of managers

Walter Winterbottom lived until he was nearly 90, so a lot of English football lovers below a certain age have probably never heard of him. Still fewer among the club’s global “fan base” will have known, until this month’s obituaries, that he played for a season in Manchester United’s first team. He coached England when the team was no more than a series of grainy and occasional black and white images on the nation’s TV screens and he was gone before the medium got seriously involved with Eng­lish football.

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Ken Gall tries to unravel the preposterous chain of events that has turned the affairs of Dundee FC into something akin to the plot of a TV gangland fantasy

Of all the weird and wonderful tales associated with British football, can any boast a cast as varied and a storyline as fantastic as that of Dundee FC?

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