Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
Ken Gall talks to the MPs whose intervention over Danny Wilson's management of Sheffield Wednesday drew so much flak
Managers at struggling clubs quickly become inured to criticism from the media, fans and directors. Few, however, will experience a public call for their removal from a cabinet minister – the fate which befell Danny Wilson as Sheffield Wednesday’s season made the dreadful journey from bad to worse.
George Best's illness wasn't so much a news story as an excuse to revisit some familiar haunts. Football needs to kick its obession with Best's drinking and womanising, says Dave Hill
Perhaps the People got the nearest to the truth. Lacking a bedside interview or a hack who could recall getting legless with good old Bestie, the boy who could always sink a few bottles more, they chatted up a fellow drinker at his local.
The north-east produces the players, but it is a cause for wild celebration when one of their own clubs signs them. Harry Pearson looks back on the history of the hotbed
Hackneyed ideas surround north-east football as midgies do a busy picnic site. If you find them too irritating it’s best not to go out. On August 6, 1996, two of the more bloated cliches collided with a resounding splat in the Leazes car park at St James’ Park, where 15,000 fans awaited a glimpse of their new signing, Alan Shearer.
One works, the other doesn't. Joe Boyle reflects on the gulf between Sunderland and Newcastle when it comes to the way they treat their supporters
So, Alastair Campbell is worried that new Labour aren’t getting their message across. There is a simple remedy: speak to Lesley Callaghan, press office supremo at Sunderland. Callaghan could teach Campbell a thing or two about communication. In fact, she could probably tell him a thing or two about politics too. “Social inclusion,” she told me, “is at the heart of everything we do. Everybody at the club has to buy into that ethos.”
When Kosovo and Millwall are in the same sentence, it can only mean trouble. Lance Bellers explains how a non-existent racist incident ended up in the press
Last month, for the third year running, Millwall set aside one of their fixtures to act as a focus for the efforts the club makes to combat racism and to encourage all sections of the south London community to come to the ground. This year, 1,500 local school kids were given free tickets to visit The New Den for the Blackpool game. The day was backed by Southwark and Lewisham councils and the Metropolitan Police.