Book reviews

Liverpool were supposed to be world-beaters in the early Eighties. But, given the chance to prove it, all they came up with was excuses, says Cris Freddi

The move to Tokyo saved the World Club Cup – or at least that’s how Europe saw it. Now that they no longer had to travel to South America to have lumps kicked out of them by Estudiantes and Nacional, Euro­pean clubs felt it was safe to dip their toes in again. A one-off match on neutral territory – English clubs in particular had been getting good at those. So how do you explain the first half here? Try the early goal per­haps. Liverpool weren’t especially good at recovering from those. Here they were caught flat-footed at the back by a flick from Zico that caught out Hansen and sent Nunes in to score.

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Colin Mansley explains how the club stewards and Chester City fans are united in their opposition to American owner Terry Smith

As Rushden & Diamonds, their place in the League assured, embarked on a lap of honour round the Deva Stadium on May 5, an alternative attraction was staged in front of the main stand. The matchday stewards removed their fluorescent jackets, piled them into a heap on the pitch and, to rapturous applause, unfurled “Smith Out” banners. This was just the culmination of months of protest against Terry Smith, the American who acquired the club from administration two years ago.

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Two fans debate over whether Sol Campbell's controversial move from Tottenham to north London rivals Arsenal was a betrayal

Yes ~
The reaction of Spurs fans to Sol Campbell’s decision to join Arsenal has been taken as more evidence of our taste for whingeing. But I’d argue we have a point, and one that should concern all football fans. I’m not condoning the pond life who strung an effigy of Campbell up outside White Hart Lane. But while it’s important to get the reaction in proportion, it’s also vital to see why anger is a justifiable res­ponse to football’s own Shaun Woodward.

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Gillingham have enjoyed a huge transformation since 1992. But getting out of the Football League is almost certainly beyond the limit of their resources, says Haydn Parry

If you had told me a decade ago that Gillingham would finish the 2000-01 season in a comfortable mid-table berth in the First Division, I wouldn’t have be­lieved you – or I would have thought you meant the first division of the Kent League. The past decade has been a golden age for the Gills. After a century of scraping about in the lower divisions (and worse), we’ve pack-ed most of the remarkable moments in the club’s his- tory into ten years. Yet we’re not so intoxicated by our own success that we fail to recognise what is now prob­ably an unbreachable financial gap to the Prem­iership.

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In an extract from the new WSC book, Always Next Year 3, Nick House revisits Torquay's last-day ordeal at Barnet and rediscovers some home truths

On the Northern Line we reflect, yet again, on what’s gone wrong this time. Brian recalls the mood coming back from Kidderminster on day one. You, Brian, Phil, Brian’s mate Tony from Tokyo and, we assume, 700 others had travelled with optimism. We couldn’t quite explain, but we thought it was going to be our season. Best squad for years; good mixture of youth and experience; plenty of flair and enterprise. We’re on our way.

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