The Archive

Was League One completely unpredictable? Huw Richards reviews the 2006-07 season in what should surely be called Divisions Two

There may be somebody, somewhere who predicted this division’s outcome. If they had money on it, they’ll be very happy. Not many saw it coming. Of the teams promoted only Bristol City picked up any votes to go up in WSC’s pre-season predictions. Between them Scunthorpe and Blackpool got 12 votes for relegation. But that’s League One – wild, unpredictable and more fun than you might expect. While the yo-yo was back in fashion elsewhere, none of seven League One new entries returned whence they came.

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Would you rather have a night out in Boston or Wrexham? Pete Green reviews the 2006-07 season in what should surely be called Divisions Three

“Oooh, isn’t it a poor league this year?” This is a phrase recited annually, by supporters in every league, regardless of any real variation in standards. And so it was in the fourth division last season. True, the best weren’t half as good as Carlisle last time and poor Torquay looked set for the drop as the leaves fell from the trees. But, for the most part, the sides on the bottom rung plodded on much the same as ever. Darlington and Notts County failed again to fulfil the unreasonable expectations of sides with gates of four to five thousand, and Lincoln broke their own embarrassing record by losing in the play-offs for the fifth year in a row.

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Playing football 2,500 metres above sea level can be a shock to the system if you’re not used to it. But, argues Chris Taylor, FIFA’s ban on internationals is a victory for double standards and the major powers

You would think that FIFA’s medical department would have better things to do. Player burn-out, drug-taking, even dangerous play – all are areas where world football’s doctors might have something useful to chip in. Instead, they have provided the justification for FIFA’s executive committee to announce on May 27 that henceforward all international football above an altitude of 2,500 metres would be banned.

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Fancy buying a club for the price of a match ticket? As Ian Plenderleith reports, a website is halfway to giving its subscribers the chance to vote on team tactics. Plus, the Homeless World Cup is coming up

It is painting itself as “Football’s greatest ever adventure” – a democratic, egalitarian, online football club run by 50,000 people, all with a single vote each. My Football Club is a website now taking pledges from individuals who will put up the necessary cash to buy a single team. You will then sit back and at the touch of a few buttons help to run the club from the safety of your desk or your favourite coffee house. Who said you needed to be a megalomaniac
millionaire to own a football club?

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The 2007 Champions League final fiasco and the corporate share of tickets

Some are angry at the club for giving only 11,000 out of 17,000 tickets to fans, and the allocation arrangements. Some lionise those who conned their way in through bluff or with forgeries, though others wonder if any of them worked out what the consequences would be: either overfilled stands or some of those lucky 11,000 being excluded. But whatever the arguments between Liverpool and their fans, and among the supporters themselves, the central fact to emerge from the Athens ticket fiasco is that UEFA have lost control. They can no longer stage a major event and guarantee entry to legitimate ticket-holders.

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