Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
An ex-Danish international turned Walsall into cup specialists in his one season as manager. Tom Lines recounts the tale
In the summer of 1997 an overweight man in his early 40s walked into the offices of the Tamworth Herald and asked to speak to the sports editor. He claimed to have played in a European Cup final and wanted advice on securing a job in local football. Accustomed to humouring eccentrics with tall tales to tell, the journalist listened patiently before sending him on his way.
Rob Hughes wonders why so many football-related dramas fail to strike the right tone, especially in their action scenesLord knows they’ve tried. Ricky Tomlinson as England manager. Sean Bean tanking around in a Sheffield United strip. Sylvester Stallone between the sticks. Even Adam Faith as pint-sized proprietor of – oh yes – Leicester Forest (from a script by Jackie Collins, no less). All of them as inept, unconvincing and downright embarrassing as each other. So just why is it that films about football never work? Certainly not through lack of an audience. It’s a sport, lest we forget, adored by millions the world over, one with its own in-built dramatic arc. A ready-made fantasy in which slumdogs really can become superstars. Never mind Mike Bassett or Jimmy Grimble. Where’s our Raging Bull, our This Sporting Life? Even a Seabiscuit would do.
Taylor Parkes sits through a British comedy about Gillingham fans on a road trip
Pre-release publicity for The Shouting Men makes much of the fact that despite being a football film, it’s not about football violence – well, that’s something I suppose. It is, however, about beery laughs and mawkish sentiment, which is surely the next worst thing. Gillingham are drawn away to Newcastle in the Cup; a mismatched band of Gills fanatics make the trip in a clapped-out minibus, with much calamity along the way. Into this hollow shell of a plot almost any kind of comedy could have been poured, but a slack script, some non-performances and too much soapy slop make this a pretty trying experience.
Scotland's lower-division footballers came close to glory in a now-defunct European competition in 1967. Steve Menary takes up the story
When Craig Levein started his new career as Scotland manager on March 3, he took on a job burdened by expectation but not success. However, Scotland did once come close to winning an international tournament hosted by their Euro 2012 opponents, Spain.
It would be unimaginable in the Premier League, but in League 1 a promoted side are challenging at the top. James Eastham reports
French football fans must have wondered what the fuss was about when Birmingham City went on a 12-match unbeaten run from October to January. In Ligue 1, there’s a newly promoted club challenging for the championship.