Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
Tim Springett explains why the FA's widely publicised anti-booze campaign is doomed to fail.
A mere day after Tony Adams owns up to an alcohol problem comes the announcement by the FA that they are to intensify their programme of random breath-tests of players. Such testing, so it seems, has already been taking place for three years. Apparently there have been no positive tests so far: for the FA’s sake, this is just as well.
Kevin Bartholomew looks at how Brighton ended up being at the bottom of the Football League
On a Thursday evening in May 1983, Brighton lost 4-0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup Final replay. The outstanding memory of that day for many Brighton followers was the support the team received. Despite the result, by the end of the match Albion fans were, incredibly, outsinging the Red Army. This was in recognition of the Seagulls’ achievements in the FA Cup that season: the campaign had included victories over Newcastle, Man City and Liverpool, and we had come agonizingly close to beating United in the first attempt at the Final. But it also demonstrated the affection held for a club that had risen from being a mediocre lower division outfit to a side able to do battle with the best teams in the country.
Alex Horsburgh explains why Cowdenbeath have particular cause to be grateful for the intervention of the motor car
There’s an old Scottish saying “it takes a long spoon to sup with a Fifer”. Meaning people from the ancient kingdom of Fife, once the stomping ground of Robert the Bruce, are hard to know, suspicious to the point of paranoia.
Following Alan Ball's resignation, Steve Parish looks at the problems at Man City
Dave Bassett woke up screaming in the night and we reached the end of the month with Manchester City still desperately seeking a new manager. Well, not that desperately. All sorts of rumours abound, most about whether having an ex-pro as chairman was putting people off. Cobblers: if people would come and manage for Peter Swales, I don’t believe Francis Lee is that fearsome, nor that he is merely, as Simply Red’s manager Elliot Rashman reckons, “Swales with charisma”. Lee denies “interference” in team matters, though a simple thing like having the chairman on the new team photo may suggest otherwise.
Peter Taylor's appointment as England Under-21 manager caught many people off guard. Mark Winter explains why Dover's loss could be England's gain
If I were a follower of a moderate Premiership club, I might have expected it. I’m en route to an away game, listening to Radio 5 Live, when the bombshell is dropped. We’ve just lost our manager, on the eve of a new season, to the FA, where he'll be taking over responsibility for the England U-21 side.