The Archive

Spartans FC have overcome two Scottish second division clubs and have garnered much media coverage since the draw sent Livingston to City Park, but  Spartan's Cup campaign has also highlighted Scotland's chaotic non-league situation, as Neil Forsyth writes

Unless their Scottish Cup fourth round tie against SPL outfit Livingston is postponed, Spartans Football Club are unlikely to be in the competition as you read this. If the lopsided clash ends with victory for Goliath, it will have done little to demean the most celebrated Scottish Cup story of recent years.

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Some unexpected names are shining in the FA Youth Cup these days. Gavin Willacy  explains why lower-division teams are suffering hammerings as the result of an educationl initiative

Anyone who glanced at the FA Youth Cup results this winter might have wondered just what was going on. Second Division Hartlepool lost at home to Ches­ter-le-Street, who then put five past Port Vale; Stevenage Borough thrashed Oxford United 6-1 away; Hayes beat QPR; Crawley Town won at Bristol Rovers

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The falling cost of satellite technology has combined with an increase in broadcasts of live English games. Bruce Wilkinson examines modern football's global accessibility to televised matches 

The international popularity of the Premiership has given rise to an ever growing demand for broadcasts of English football around the world. What began as a few Scandinavian coun­­tries beaming back live games has grown into scores of television companies from Los Angeles to Uzbekistan paying to show live transmissions, delayed broad­casts and highlights packages.

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Team Bath made headlines with their FA Cup run in 2002 and now the university  side are racing up the non-League pyramid. Matthew Brown explains how they do it

Last season a football club called Team Bath FC gen­erated a vast swathe of media coverage when they became the first university side for 122 years to play in the latter stages of the FA Cup. As they progressed through five qualifying rounds to the first round proper, the Bath stu­dents spawned a rash of nostalgic features about the long-ago, pre-professional days when footballers were educated gentlemen and uni­versities were at the hub of the national game.

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Friday 2 Martin O’Neill denies being approached by Liverpool – “I’m going to try and remain calm and say that story is totally and utterly untrue” – while Lazio coach Roberto Mancini is the latest to be linked with the Spurs job. The transfer window opens with a creak: Leicester sign Nikos Dabizas from Newcastle and turn down a Blackburn bid for Muzzy Izzet; Wolves sign Romania striker Ioan Ganea on a short-term deal; Eyal Berkovic may take a wage cut to leave Man City for Portsmouth.

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