Book reviews

On the first anniversary of the Bosman judgement, Tim Springett wonders whether English football is fully aware of what effects the case may still have

It is a year since Jean-Marc Bosman obtained judgment at the European Court of Justice to the effect that transfer fees for footballers signing for clubs in other European Union states at the end of their contracts were in contravention of European Union law. At the time there were many who predicted disaster; it was seen as a further seismic shift in the balance of power in favour of the richest clubs, placing the very survival of smaller outfits in jeopardy.

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Julie Pritchard considers the likely outcome of the power struggle at Nottingham Forest

There’s an old Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times”, and 1996 was never boring for Forest fans. We’ve gone from the hope, and humiliation, of the UEFA Cup Quarter-Final v Bayern Munich, to being everyone’s favourites for relegation, pausing only to challenge Manchester City for the title of Joke Team of British Football.

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After a few turbulent months Blackburn fans seem to have a cause for optimism again, as Phil Crossley reports

Sometime between the end of Euro ’96 and late October we were led to believe that the world had fallen apart for Blackburn Rovers. Within a matter of weeks we had contrived to part company with the ‘dream team’ which won us the title. First our talisman, Billy Bigpockets, the man to whom it does not matter who scores (as long as it’s not any of the ten makeweights in the side), closely followed by King Ken, fed up with sorting out away travel arrangements for the reserves for five grand a week. When ‘Laughing’ Ray Harford decided that enough was enough as we floundered at the bottom of the division, we were told that the game was up. 

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After over a century of hosting professional football Goodison Park may soon be facing the bulldozers, as Graham Ennis reports

During a recent edition of BBC TV’s Close Up North on December 5th, Peter Johnson, Everton’s Chairman, admitted moving away from Goodison Park was a “possibility”. He had said so before: in an interview with The Evertonian (a Pravda-esque publication printed in conjunction with the Liverpool Echo), and curiously first of all in an interview with the fanzine When Skies are Grey. The alarm bells didn’t sound then, but this time the local media leapt on the issue.

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Cris Freddi pays tribute to former England international centre forward Tommy Lawton, who died in November

Five foot eleven has got to be a misprint. Reading about the famous ability in the air, you expect something like Niall Quinn but heavier (he looks that big in photos and film clips) and instead you have to adjust to the idea of a white Les Ferdinand, which isn’t exactly the stuff of folklore.

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