Book reviews

First Division defences extended the season of goodwill to Boxing Day in 1963, when 66 goals were scored. Jon Spurling reports

As Christmas 1963 approached, weathermen warned a shivering nation to expect a recurrence of what had happened 12 months previously. The winter of 1962 was the worst since the big freeze of 1946, when the snow began on Boxing Day and wiped out football for virtually the next two and a half months. The occasional game was played here and there, but most were played out in the minds of the newly created Pools Panel, who met each weekend in a secret London location and guessed what each result might have been.

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Against his instincts, Huw Richards wonders whether promotion from the Championship would actually benefit his club

Psychotic, uncontrollable, infinite envy. That is how Swansea City fans are supposed to feel about Blackpool at the moment. They usurped the final play-off place last season, then seized the prize of promotion to the Premier League. They will play Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. We’ve got Millwall, Cardiff and Bristol City. Some Swans fans, as postings on the soon sadly to be lost scfc.co.uk website make clear, do feel that way. But for others, disappointment was almost outweighed by relief that it is them, not us.

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As more Northern Irish fans look to England and Scotland for their football, Robbie Meredith stikes up for the financially challenged local game

Like their lower-division counterparts across the water, supporters in Northern Ireland will have mixed views on England’s summer struggles in South Africa. There’s always the hope that widespread disillusion with brand Wazza, Lamps and JT will lead more people to abandon the Premier League chimera and venture to their nearest club. Yet most local fans also fear that within a couple of “Super Sundays”, many potential supporters will be booking flights and tickets for Anfield and Old Trafford rather than trekking a mile or two to Seaview or Solitude.

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The immediate past is traumatic and the future as yet unclear. Portsmouth fan Leon Tricker assesses the mess at Fratton Park

As the Chelsea players went up to collect their 2010 FA Cup winners’ medals, all you could hear ringing out across Wembley was the Pompey Chimes. We had dared to dream that we really could win the Cup again, a final act of defiance from fans, players and a manager united in adversity. But what do Portsmouth now have to show for seven years in the  Premier League? We’ve got the same “stadium” we’ve always had, the same antiquated infrastructure, a shattered reputation and a mountain of debt. Fans up and down the country have expressed anger at Pompey’s predicament. But if you feel you’re missing out on something don’t worry – your club could be next.

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As Liverpool approach further financial crisis some very rich men are insulting each other. Rob Hughes is concerned

Never mind Benítez. The real shock at Anfield these past weeks was the open letter that ex-chairman David Moores sent to the Times, addressing his disastrous decision to sell to George Gillett and Tom Hicks in 2007. Moores called on the Americans to step down and save the club from further humiliation.

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