The Archive

Sky would kill for last day dramatics like this. Bobby McMahon retells the tale of one of the closest ever title races

The long-term significance
This season brought to an end a period in which teams other than Rangers and Celtic actually won the Scottish League. In the 19 seasons after the end of the Second World War, non-Old Firms clubs took eight of the championships. In the 40 years since, that has only happened four times. After winning the domestic treble the previous season, Rangers slumped to fifth while Celtic could only manage to finish eighth.

Read more…

Sunday 1 Spurs thrash Villa 5-1 to move into a UEFA Cup spot. “Spurs have pushed on because they’ve made a big investment,” says David O’Leary, loud enough for Doug Ellis to hear. Man Utd’s 4‑0 win at Charlton (“For the last six weeks our defending has been chronic,” sighs Alan Curbishley) puts them a point behind Arsenal. Rangers are two points behind Celtic after a 3‑1 win at Aberdeen.

Read more…

Is the high stakes nature of football detrimental to the spectacle?

You may not have bought the news-paper supplements hailing the Super Reds, nor joined “all real football fans” in signing FHM’s petition demanding that Liverpool be allowed to enter next season’s Champions League. The more misanthropic among you might fer-vently wish to never again hear that song by the group known to one German TV commentator as Gary and the Peacemakers. But there are still plenty of reasons to have enjoyed the outcome of the 2005 Champions League final. One was the sight of Silvio Berlusconi, architect of the New Football, having that peculiar rictus smirk – the very definition of the coarse term “a shit-eating grin” – wiped from his face in six minutes of the second half.

Read more…

Tom Davies gives us our regular update on clubs in crisis

There will doubtless have been knowing shaking of heads in various parts of the country over recent developments at Cardiff City. Debts of around £30 million have come to light and plans for a new home on the site of the nearby athletics stadium at Leckwith have struggled to get off the ground.

Read more…

Steve Menary on the new meaning of "end to end" football

“End-to-end stuff for 90 minutes” is a fixture in cliched match reports, but may not be for much longer as some clubs are replacing crumbling grounds with stadiums that do not have the four sides.

Read more…