Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
In the blue corner, Alex McLeish, only keeping his job because of European success; in the maroon corner, Graham Rix, in his job for reasons no one can fathom. Dianne Millen reports
Tired of the predictability of your domestic league? Hoping that more than two clubs might be in with a chance of winning it? The recipe is simple – just sell one of your clubs to a wealthy foreign businessman and watch the points (and the crowds) roll in.
As the World Cup approaches, the possibility of violence is a concern but so is the ability of the German police to tell the difference between a fan and a hooligan, writes Paul Joyce
On November 27, 53 Polish hooligans drove to a wood in Briesen in north-east Germany for a pre-World Cup fight with 45 hooligans drawn from the region’s Hell’s Angels and nightclub bouncer scene, one of whom had been involved in the assault on French policeman Daniel Nivel at the 1998 World Cup. Although German hooligans had previously been keeping a low profile at home, fears of a resurgence of organised violence had already surfaced last March, when more than 40 Germany followers were arrested after rioting during a friendly in Slovenia.
England v Trinidad, France v Togo – former imperial powers playing ex-colonies is a special World Cup theme. Phil Town reports on reaction in Lisbon to a similar game
Portugal and Angola have met just twice on the football pitch, both trouncings that went Portugal’s way: in 1989 they won 6-0, in 2001 5-1. But if you wanted evidence of the much longer links between the two countries you need only look at the latter game, and the whiff of a colonial war about it.
Rupert Lowe has seen a lot of defeats on the pitch of late, but fared rather better in court. Neil Rose examines the implications of the Times’s defeat for journalists and fans
London’s libel courts are well known as home to the rich and famous, so it’s no surprise to see the football fraternity make themselves comfortable, too.
While a site devoted to the football itself may be the best new discovery, Ian Plenderleith finds himself strangely drawn to the world of groundsmen by memories of a difficult career choice
It’s often been said that 90 per cent of the internet is a load of balls, but the “site of the month” award goes to a domain that has taken this to new and detailed extremes. Soccer Ball World is a football anorak’s long wet dream of history, stats and specifications centred around just one spherical object.