The Archive

Ben Lyttleton looks at the corruption scandal rocking Turkish football

Turkey’s national coach Ersun Yanal has been forced to deny allegations that he received illegal payments for fixing matches when he was Ankaragucu coach four years ago. Yanal claimed the accusations against him, made by former Ankaragucu player Cafer Aydin, were part of a plot to oust him from his current post. Yanal is under fire for poor results since replacing Senol Gunes as Turkey coach. The side that finished third in the last World Cup are looking unlikely to qualify for the 2006 tournament: they are currently fourth in Group Two, eight points behind leaders Ukraine. “It is very clear that this has been done for certain purposes,” said Yanal. “I have never been involved in any such dealings.”

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Referee Robert Hoyzer has caused chaos in Germany by admitting that he fixed matches for sex, money and high-value electrical goods, as Paul Joyce reports

Bribery scandals have rocked German football before, not least during the 1970-71 season when more than 50 players were discovered to have manipulated the outcome of Bundesliga matches. Few be­lieved, however, that the man in the middle could be involved in match-rigging until January 2005, when 25-year-old referee Robert Hoyzer admitted receiving €67,000 (and a plasma TV) for fixing the results of four matches, and attempting unsuccessfully to influence the outcome of two others.

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Ten years ago Terry Christie led a club with a century of underachievement behind them to a perfect day in Perth, beating Dundee United to delight Scott Harvie

“Remember, remember the fifth of November, Armstrong, Haddow and Sprott.” While this version of the traditional rhyme may not have much meaning outside Ochilview Park, many Stenhousemuir fans would want to rewind repeat Guy Fawkes Day 1995 as their version of Groundhog Day. Until then Stenny had recorded 111 years of footballing existence without a national trophy to their name. Giv­en their decline so far in the 21st century, you can safely speculate that even the youngest babe in arms at Ochilview won’t be around to celebrate their next such success.

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Online coverage of matches can amount to little more than the bare statistics or, worse, a sub-tabloid set of cliches. But  Ian Plenderleith finds some fan sites that still offer an original alternative to the press

While reading a match report that involves your own team, you might tolerate the lowest standards of writing just to find out the basic details of who scored when. Most web­sites realise this and skimp on all attempts at style, structure and originality in favour of short, bland, factual write-ups. The occasional more gifted writers, however, will engage the neutral and keep them reading to the end, no matter which sides are playing.

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Challenging for the title is the exclusive prerogative of a privileged few in most of Europe's leagues. But no one has told AZ Alkmaar, writes Derek Brookman

Out of the 32 million or so eyebrows in the Netherlands, the number raised when AZ Alkmaar vis­ited PSV Eindhoven two games into the Dutch season and lost 5-1 probably didn’t exceed single figures. After all, this was the natural order: big eating small, famous club and previous European Cup winner putting team from cheese-market town with an 8,390 capacity stadium in their place.

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