The Archive

Around the turn of the century, individual club webzines started to sign up to broader networks that in theory offered support, money and more users. But the results have not always been pretty and since Sky took over the Rivals group disaffection has grown. Ian Plenderleith analyses a splintered market

To the indifference of a cruel and doubtless unsuspecting world, a conflict has been brewing in the hard-boiled realm of the webzine, and things are about to get dirty. No fewer than six umbrella networks are now striving to claim the mantle of that timeworn marketing tool, “the voice of the fans”, and are fighting it out for a limited share of the readership and the revenue.

Read more…

Dear WSC
Vaughan Roberts asks (Letters, WSC 251) if any of the schoolboys who took part in ITV’s Penalty Prize competition went on to become pros after their appearance in the shootout before the 1974 FA Cup final. Well, at least one did. Stuart Beavon was already on Spurs’ books at the time he put five out of six spot-kicks past Gordon Banks, no less. He made only three first-team appearances for Spurs but became a fixture in Reading’s midfield, playing almost 500 games during the Eighties. His penalty-taking prowess remained intact and in March 1988 he returned to Wembley to put Reading into the lead from the spot as they beat Luton 4-1 in the Simod Cup final. However, Stuart’s most famous penalty was a deliberate miss. Before the FA launch a belated match-fixing inquiry, Stuart’s failure came in Channel 4’s football drama The Manageress. Gabriella Benson/Cherie Lunghi’s team were based at Elm Park and had to win their last game of their season to win promotion and, 1-0 up with a minute to go, conceded a penalty. The script, of course, required the actor keeper to save the spot-kick and Stuart was asked to take the penalty. Apparently, it took ten kicks before the director was satisfied. In Reading’s next game Beavon took a real penalty, which he missed, blaming his failure on becoming accustomed to missing through his TV appearance. That miss cost Reading a win and, nine days later, it also cost manager Ian Branfoot his job, surely the only manager to be sacked because of a TV series.
Alan Sedunary, via email

Read more…

Robert Shaw reports on how Flamengo seek to change history and become 1987 Copa União champions,  beating rivals São Paulo to five National Championships

Two popular Brazilian clubs, Flamengo and São Paulo, are at loggerheads over a title. Not this year’s national championship, which São Paulo won with four games to spare, but the Copa União of 1987. Official champions that year were Sport from Recife, but Flamengo argue that the title should go to them. São Paulo were recently given a special trophy for being the first team to win five national championships – this year’s title adding to those of 1977, 1986, 1991 and 2006 – while Flamengo are still on four, years after the disputed season. The commemoration of São Paulo’s penta (fifth) by the Brazilian federation (CBF) prompted an exchange of letters, a media campaign and a plague of rival T‑shirts. One São Paulo fan spent the equivalent of £1 million extolling his team on billboards in the capital Brasilia, while Flamengo legend Zico complained: “Everyone knows that the CBF did not recognise Flamengo’s title due to political disputes.”

Read more…

Fans find their voice as 20,000 people become part of an internet revolution, reports Vince Taylor

It’s only natural that Ebbsfleet United’s supporters should feel apprehensive about the impending takeover of their team by MyFootballClub, and a visit to the organisation’s website will do nothing to allay their fears. Invited to part with £35 and in the process become the owner of a football club, would-be investors are reminded that this is no more than the cost of a computer game. With a proud history going back to the 19th century, have Ebbsfleet United unwittingly turned themselves into a real-life version of Championship Manager?

Read more…

Where did it all go wrong this time? Harry Pearson assesses the tenure of the man under the brolly and Ashley Shaw looks at why the England team fail to unite the support of the country's biggest clubs

It was hard to look at him as he wagged his left arm in some forlorn attempt to get his players to deliver a decent cross and not think of Stevie Smith: “I was too far out all my life/and not waving but drowning.” Though sadly for the poet, she was not about to pocket £2.5 million on her way to a fortnight’s holiday in the Caribbean.

Read more…