Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
The papers say something nice about an up-and-coming star, for once
It’s been quite a month for Micah Richards: a couple of good games for England, a new contract offer from Manchester City and a chorus of unwavering approval from every sports desk in the land. A certain level of ubiquity is nothing new: Ashley Cole, David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand have all had the treatment in recent times. What makes Richards’ case unusual is the papers are saying nice things about him.
Football has more female fans than ever before but Simon Tindall wonders if they are to likely to take an interest in the women’s game
I’ll watch any kind of football from sons and dads on the beach, pub teams in the park to the Masters tournaments on Sky. But the words “women’s football” get me reaching for the remote as fast as if the continuity man had said Formula One or Open golf. The Women’s World Cup was an opportunity to reassess this position. The manner of the coverage on the BBC and in quality press obliges you to be interested, to view this as a “good thing” – like five fruit and veg a day – as opposed to a “bad thing” to be media‑ignored like speedway, greyhounds or most boxing.
Racist incidents in games between Serbian and British sides have rightly led to condemnation – but not always of the right people, argues Jonathan Wilson. Some of the outrage is counter-productive, too
There is no subject more certain to set forth tidal waves of sanctimony than racism. Discussion has become impossible, largely because British football has been so successful in its campaign against racism that it now feels compelled to lecture the rest of the world on the subject. It isn’t helping.
Dear WSC
Who made the biggest blunder on the second weekend of the Premier League season? Rob Styles gave a dodgy penalty for Chelsea against Liverpool, but was this the worst example of a paid professional making a basic error that affected the outcome of a game? What about Jens Lehmann’s rubber wrists against Blackburn? Tony Warner at Fulham flapped at a daisy-cutter, while in the same game Clint Dempsey missed a gaping net from six yards out, a goal even Styles could have scored. Yet these players weren’t endlessly lambasted by the pundits and will not be forced (by their professional body at least) to sit out a game or two until they’ve learned their lesson. This strikes me as a double standard that fans and managers alike should be ashamed of. Either that or Carlos Tévez should be made to sit in the naughty chair at next week’s game for missing a simple far-post header in the derby game
Mark Lewsey, Glasgow
Villa and Ipswich battle it out for the title. By Josh Widdicombe
The long-term significance
The new decade brought the first signs of a new England team. West Brom captain Bryan Robson made his international debut, becoming Captain Marvel for club and country for a decade before taking to management like a duck to oil. Terry Butcher also established himself at the centre of the England defence, becoming the youngest England player at Spain 1982. Gary Lineker made his first appearance in the top flight for Leicester, often playing out wide, while Chris Waddle, Peter Beardsley and Mark Wright were also starting out. After this campaign the rule of three points for a win was introduced, replacing the system that had operated since the Football League’s formation in 1888-89.