The Archive

While the tabloids are busy 'celebrating' the England manager's 'infidelity' when it came to speaking to other clubs, perhaps we should stop and realise that the fact that Sven-Göran Eriksson is in demand can only be a good thing for the national team

Sweden 1 Wapping 0. The tabloids had been so certain of victory in this grudge match that they began celebrating a bit too early. Sneaky Sven was the Sun front-page headline on a Saturday morning as it revealed that he had had a secret meeting with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon two nights before. Stupid said the same day’s Mirror, equally confident that he was about to leave England in the lurch.

Read more…

Rio might be complaining, but it could have been far worse: just ask Russia's Yegor Titov, Dan Brennan says

Compared to the “Titov Affair” the furore surrounding Rio Ferdinand’s drug test fiasco and subsequent ban has been all too mild. Like Ferdinand, Yegor Titov will be watching Euro 2004 from the comfort of the VIP box. The Spartak Moscow midfielder, who tested positive for traces of bromantan – an anti-fatigue drug developed by the Soviet military – prior to Russia’s play-off against Wales in Moscow last November, is now seeing out a 12-month ban from domestic and international football.

Read more…

When two rivals come together to build a new stadium, the potential for disaster is huge – as Bayern Munich and Munich 1860 are finding out, as Mathias Kowoll reports

On March 9, 2004, more than 50 men in suits and uniforms entered TSV 1860 Munich’s headquarters. “I first thought they were from a fan club and wanted some autographs,” said the receptionist. The fan club turned out to be a delegation from the prosecutor and the police, who had come to confiscate files and arrest club president Karl-Heinz Wildmoser and his son.

Read more…

The terrorist attacks in Madrid led to the election defeat of the Spanish government and left football uncertain when to play and how to pay its respects, writes Phil Ball

It’s not often that sport takes second, even third, place in the ranking of things in Spain, but the deaths of almost 200 people in Madrid on Thursday March 11 reduced football’s normal role as the country’s protagonist to the status of awkward bystander.

Read more…

Matthew Brown looks at what London clubs, particularly Arsenal and Chelsea, do for their local communities

As a lifelong Arsenal fan there’s a certain downside to Desmond McDonald’s job as a drugs and youth worker in Wandsworth, south-west London – he has to wear a Chelsea kit every day. But even he will admit it’s a small price to pay for the Blues’ involvement in his organisation’s work with young people on three of the most deprived wards in Battersea.

Read more…