The Archive

Southend have been on the up under Steve Tilson and hope to abandon their Roots in search of more success. But the visitors for this pseudo-derby also have a manager anxious to make an impression, Csaba Abrahall reports

In The Football Grounds of Great Britain, Simon Inglis paints a romantic picture of the rebirth of Roots Hall as a football stadium in the 1950s. With funding provided by the supporters’ club and labour by the players and manager, it rose out of the rubbish dump that sat on the site previously used by the club before the First World War. Fifty years on, it is not without its shortcomings. Parking’s a bugger and it has a shabby, disjointed exterior, but it’s easy to overlook these inadequacies in the light of such an uncommon history.

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Being dismissed by Brian Clough did as much harm to Harlow Town as it had done to Jan Tomaszewski. Jon Spurling recalls the Essex club's FA Cup heyday – and decline

With its modish housing estates, flourishing light industries, new-fangled dry‑ski slope, award-winning Henry Moore sculpture on the walk into the town centre and upwardly mobile football club, a 1980 government white paper cited Harlow as “one of the main successes of the New Town programme”. Twenty-three years on, the “chronically underfunded” town with its “shabby” housing estates was in serious trouble. Local youths had removed the head from one of the figures in the Moore sculpture and the ski slope was dismantled. Harlow Town FC had also fallen into serious decline; their Sportcentre ground was ramshackle and decent players were prised away by rival clubs. Rarely had the fortunes of a town and its football club been so tightly entwined.

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The Spanish aren't happy, but UEFA could soon have another member if the British territory can see off some last-minute objections. Tim Stannard reports from the sunny Mediterranean

The British territory of Gibraltar is famous for a number of things – purse-snatching monkeys, tax-dodging businessmen and a giant rock, for starters – but certainly not football. All that is about to change, as UEFA are on the brink of making the pint-sized peninsula their 53rd member, enabling a team to join the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.

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Ian Plenderleith enjoys mascots as much as the next man – as long as the next man isn't intent on practising his best costume-related moves in front of the mirror while concentrating on "the three Es"

There are a few cardinal rules for club mascots. They must be smiling, at all times. Their names must be alliterated or rhyming, like Donny the Dog or Scunny Bunny. And, in theory, they should have some sort of historical connection to the team they represent. A website that shows several dozen English club mascots on one page has, however, revealed the scandalous truth that most clubs are breaking at least one, if not all three, of these basic good-luck guidelines.

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Dear WSC
The Scotland supporters who found themselves under attack by a group of Ukraine fans on the evening prior to the recent Euro 2008 qualifier in Kiev have been praised for not retaliating but dispersing in as orderly a way as possible to avoid any escalation of the incident. Some Scots weren’t that lucky, however, about a dozen requiring hospital treatment for cuts, bruises and broken bones after the unprovoked assault by around 100 young Ukrainians in the city’s Independence Square. During the last 15 years or so, the self-styled Tartan Army has become legendary the world over for its self-deprecating humour and ability to make friends even in the most hostile of environments, as well as for swelling the coffers of local bar owners while simultaneously emptying towns and cities of supplies of beer and spirits. But in the wake of the Kiev incident, a small number of Scotland fans started to question whether being the touchy-feely, super furry animals of world football may have its downside. Indeed, it provoked an almost philosophical debate amongst Scotland fans on the streets of Kiev and later on internet forums; what would you do if we were attacked? Most who took part in this impromptu debate quite rightly condemned all violence and pointed out that Scotland fans’ hard-won reputation was at risk by even raising the spectre of the Tartan Army fighting back. A small minority put forward the thesis that Scotland have become too nice and that this translates – both on and off the field – as a soft touch. This in turn could invite trouble from determined hooligans who would attack safe in the knowledge that the Scots were unlikely to fight back. It’s unlikely, however, that this isolated event – even more shocking because it was just that – will give rise to a surge of disorder among Scots fans. Our sense of humour is unique (I still almost die laughing every time I hear people from Scotland complaining about terrible food on away trips) and can usually be relied on to defuse the odd potentially  incendiary moment.In any case, which member of the Tartan Army is seriously going to risk not being able to attend the next World Cup we qualify for? (In the words of BA Robertson’s 1982 Scotland World Cup song, I Have a Dream.)
Colin McPherson, via email

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