The Archive

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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Concerned you haven’t been giving your club enough money online? Seems unlikely, but a group of consultants have been telling clubs just that. A jaundiced Ian Plenderleith reviews their review

Do Premiership teams listen to criticism from their fans? Only if the fans picket board meetings and shout loud enough to garner coverage in the national press. Do Premiership teams listen to criticism from fans about the official club website? There’s no empirical proof, but I’d guess the answer is, “Probably not much”. However, if that criticism comes from “an internet consultancy using a holistic approach to add value to a company’s online presence”, it might be a different story.

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Wednesday 1 A David Bellion goal after 18 seconds is enough for Man Utd reserves to beat their counterparts from Arsenal in the Carling Cup. Liverpool also put out a shadow side, but still knock out Spurs on penalties after a 1-1 draw nicked through a Fredi Kanouté handball (“unforgivable” says Martin Jol) four minutes from the end of extra time.X

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Dynamo Kiev were blue, rivals Shakhtar Donetsk orange – simple enough, until recent political upheavals gave colours new meaning, as Dan Brennan explains

Sporting one’s colours is politically loaded business in Ukraine these days. Orange – the traditional colour of Shakhtar Donetsk – is also the colour of Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-Western presidential can­didate, who defied a dodgy first ballot and an alleged attempt to poison him to gain power in December at the second time of asking. Meanwhile, his opponent, current prime minister Viktor Yanukovich – the man endorsed by Moscow and outgoing president Leonid Kuchma – opted for blue, the colour of Dynamo Kiev.

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