Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
Soaring TV deals for Real Madrid and Barcelona have left the rest facing an ever greater struggle to compete. Phil Ball gets out his calculator and an impressive array of signal boosters and cable boxes
Just how much money does any one team need? Real Madrid’s projected deal with Telemadrid, timed to run from 2009 until 2013, would earn them across five years the equivalent of the gross national product of Mali. Who needs an Abramovich?
Ian Plenderleith goes in search of some serious football journalism and after reading a series of exposés of FIFA shenanigans finds some unintended laughs in the governing body’s code of ethics
For all the thousands of sites about football, very few are devoted to old-fashioned investigative journalism aimed at exposing the greedy and corrupt. One such rarity is Play The Game, a Denmark-based and funded site that calls itself “home for the homeless questions in sport” and covers in depth many stories neglected elsewhere.
Cameron Carter bemoans Sky 3's obsession with Manchester Utd
Digital television, if it were a person, would register at a high point on the autistic spectrum – nervous as it is of any change, limited in imagination and happiest when repeating its behaviour. Sky 3 is a very digital channel. Their latest big documentary idea was George Best – Football Genius, first shown on October 24 and which is certain to run and run.
Julius Bergmann looks at the alarming recent rise in racism at German matches
Long before Anton Ferdinand and Micah Richards made allegations of verbal abuse from opponents during England Under-21s’ recent win in Leverkusen, German football had been shaken by a series of racially motivated incidents. Werder Bremen striker Patrick Owomoyela was branded as “non-German” by an extreme right party when he was being considered for the 2006 World Cup and Schalke’s Gerald Asamoah, another Germany player, was subject to abuse during a cup tie in Rostock. In Aachen a referee threatened to abandon a Bundesliga match unless offensive chanting stopped. For many, the real low point came when Germany fans sang discriminatory songs during the Euro 2008 qualifier in Bratislava in October.
Sunday 1 “We have something to hold on to now,” says Sir Alex as Man Utd go top, two Solskjaer goals beating Newcastle. Blackburn’s sub keeper Jason Brown saves a penalty and a rebound in his side 2‑1 win over Wigan. Mido is left on the bench as Spurs beat Portsmouth 2‑1; referee Chris Foy apparently apologises to Harry Redknapp for the dubious penalty that gives Spurs the lead: “The ref has gone home knowing people will be saying what a giant ricket he has made.” West Ham lose again, 1‑0 at home to Reading. Nigel Worthington is sacked by Norwich after a third successive defeat, 4‑1 at home to Burnley.