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When Saturday Comes The half decent football magazine

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The Archive

Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.

Thursdays on channel 5

Cameron Carter looks at the stature of the Europa League’s coverage on Channel 5, while Roy Keane tries to make it as a pundit

Some job descriptions change so gradually, the subject barely notices they are being exploited. This phenomenon, known in business circles as “task curving”, explains why the ashen-faced train manager punching your ticket is also the voice telling you “carriage haitch will not platform at Dawlish” and the figure humping boxes of Carlsberg onto the buffet car at Exeter. Channel 5 make the most of their staff in the same way.

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Pause control

Piers Pennington wants half-time to be less refreshing, less entertaining and less of a drag

Of all the rule changes that FIFA have made over the years in their attempts to brighten up the game, their decision in 1995 to increase the length of half-time to 15 minutes must count as the worst. On the face of it, an extra five minutes might seem neither here nor there, but it has transformed what used to be a brief interlude in proceedings into an event in its own right. You are no longer allowed just to wait for the second half to begin. You are expected, if not obliged, to make your choice between Refreshment and Entertainment.

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Awards in absentia

John Duerden looks ahead to the Asian Player of the Year award ceremony and the controversial selection process involved to determine the winner

The annual Asian Player of the Year award ceremony held every November should be one of the highlights of the continental football calendar. While even close followers of football in the East would struggle to name the past five recipients, all know the controversial criteria that determine who can, or rather who cannot, win.

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Melting pot

Hayes and Yeading’s controversial merge has yet to have the desired affect off the pitch with fresh doubts over the financial future of the club. John van Laer looks at where it all went wrong in West London

The official statement to announce the formation of Hayes & Yeading United FC in 2007 asserted that the two major clubs in the west London suburb of Hayes would “join forces, integrate resources and bring together a community, creating a new super-club on the non-League scene”. A key part of this ambitious plan was to sell Hayes FC’s stadium and land on Church Road, and use the funds raised to redevelop Yeading’s council-owned ground to create a multi-purpose facility that meets Conference grading regulations, while also generating extra income from renting out all-weather, floodlit pitches to the local community.

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Generation game

Adam Bate explains how the launch of the NextGen Series, dubbed the teenage Champions League, will help bridge the gap between youth football and the senior level

These are exciting times to be a young footballer coming through one of Europe’s premier academies. This season has seen the launch of a new competition – the NextGen Series – pitting 16 of the continent’s major clubs against each other in a teenage version of the Champions League. Spanish football expert Graham Hunter summed up the excitement best: “I find it impossible to understand why this brilliant but simple concept hasn’t existed for years.”

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 - The Archive

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