Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
As Saltergate falls into disrepair, Chesterfield risk going under. Jonathan Westwood reports
Older than the Football League itself and currently leading the Third Division, Chesterfield are the latest club to find themselves staring extinction in the face. Home to the club since 1884, Saltergate is one of the oldest football venues in the world and it shows its age. Only the main stand has seating and the away end remains open to the elements.
Tony Cascarino's exceptional autobiography tells some harsh truths about himself and about players' lives, says Dave Hill
Oh boy. Hark at this: “It has often been said that the joy of scoring goals is greater than sex but personally I’d compare it more with masturbation. I’ve always found sex to be an absolute pleasure, but scoring goals has only ever brought relief.” The search for relief – by foot rather than by hand – and the misery of not finding it, is the key theme and metaphor of this book: a book which, at its best, is almost unbearable.
England have announced that former players such as Peter Beardsley and Alan Shearer will be fast-tracked into the national team coaching set-up. Harry Pearson assesses Bryan Robson's reign at Middlesbrough
A friend of mine sits in the North Stand at the Riverside Stadium next to a man whose already dark mood has been exacerbated in recent years by the ban on smoking in the stands. Natural pessimism coupled with nicotine deprivation has turned him into a nervous wreck. During one home match he expressed so many doubts and fears about the team’s prospects that a bloke sitting a few rows in front turned round. “Ow, mate,” he bellowed, “will you shut your face, you sound like the fucking Grim Reaper.”
Joe Boyle swallows hard and thinks back to 1993, when Terry Butcher brought his own brand of English traditions to the Sunderland hot seat
Though the recent triumph over Newcastle has created a mood of benevolence among Sunderland supporters, rancour has been a more predominant tone this season. Astonishingly, some people believe Peter Reid has taken the club as far as he can and want him out.
Terry Fenwick claims to have ejoyed his time as manager of Portsmouth. Steve Morgan and thousands of other Pompey fans did not
There is a strange no-man’s land in football, a place reserved for those who inspire a unified raising of the hackles, whether you watch at St James’ Park, Exeter, or Newcastle. In any self-respecting fan’s Room 101, there is surely a corner table set aside for Terry Fenwick. Fenwick’s appointment at Portsmouth for his first managerial post in February 1995 was symptomatic of the malaise that descended on Fratton Park after the club failed to clinch promotion to the top flight by scoring one goal fewer than West Ham in 1992-93. (Thanks to the Hammers’ 2-0 win over Cambridge on the last day which saved Terry Butcher’s Sunderland.)