The Archive

The MLS was formed two decades after the NASL finished. Graham Hughes reports that it's still going strong ten years on 

The long-term significance
Twelve years after the North American Soccer League (NASL) had fizzled out, a new professional league was launched in the United States. As part of the agreement to stage the 1994 World Cup, FIFA had insisted on a “Division One” league being formed. Despite persistent financial losses and a failure to make a major impact in the American sports world, MLS has enjoyed far more stability than its chaotic predecessor and approaches its tenth anniversary in reasonably healthy shape.

Read more…

Cramped and a capacity of 14,000 are the characteristics of Northern Ireland's Windsor Park. Robbie Meredith reports on what the future may hold for the national stadium

While supporters of the other home nations are either looking forward to Germany 2006 or contemplating progress under new managers, Northern Ireland fans are currently engaged in a surreal debate that encompasses, among others, IRA hunger strikers, George Best and US politician and billionaire Ross Perot.

Read more…

Steve Menary reports on a conflict of opinions between UEFA and G-14

Vision Europe sounds like a new chain of opticians, but is actually UEFA’s attempt to address an increasingly short-sighted approach to football in the game’s commercial heartland.

Read more…

Ron Atkinson gets a shot at redemption reporting on the Milan derby. But, as Simon Tyers reports, it didn't all go according to plan

British television’s attitude to the continental club game used to be so simple – apart from the odd European final on Sportsnight, it would be an occasional goalkeeping error on Football Focus. But the weekend before Christmas a Sky and Setanta subscriber could have watched league games from seven different nations. Not all the coverage enjoys the greatest production standards – France’s Le Championnat goes out in Monday’s very early hours on Channel Four and features the same person on presentation and commentary, as if production company TWI had a particularly savage round of cost-cutting just before it was commissioned – but the two most obvious leagues at least have live slots with decent profiles, even if the thought put into them has not all been well directed.

Read more…

Macclesfield Town have found themselves in hot water over their new stand. Mike Whalley reports

The News of the World didn’t foresee what a traumatic time lay ahead for Macclesfield Town when tipping them to win League Two at the start of the season. But then not even the most pessimistic fan foresaw the financial penalty that has threatened the club’s existence. 

Read more…