The Archive

The Robins have soared to new hights, but their rapid rise looks to be coming to an abrupt end. Cheltenham fan Mark Herron explains what has hampered his club's momentum

Does Cheltenham’s poor start suggest there is a significant gap in standards between the Second and Third Division?
A lot of people are saying the gap is greater than that between the Third and the Conference, but there are other reasons for our poor start, not least the loss of Steve Cotterill, whose part in our rise can never be overestimated. Also, it should be remembered that we went into the Third Division as Con­ference champions, whereas we got into the Second through the play-offs. Neither Plymouth nor Luton, the two best teams in last season’s Third, appear to be struggling.

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The North Korea team that took the 1966 World Cup by storm are returning to England, as a new film documents  their triumph. Harry Pearson has a preview

On Friday October 25 a worker from a North Korean textbook factory will return to the scene of his greatest triumph. Pak Do Ik has not been back to Middlesbrough since his goal set up what remains arguably the greatest shock in World Cup history, his country’s 1-0 win over Italy in 1966.

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Alan Wilkie, the man who sent off Eric Cantona at Selhurst Park, has just written the story of his career. He says referees are getting better, whatever the TV pundits may have you believe. Andy Lyons digs deeper

Do you believe that relations between referees and players have got worse in recent times?
I think the greater number of dismissals in the modern game is due to the emphasis on applying the laws cor­rectly, without recourse to, and I’ll use a media term, “common sense”. Per­sonally, I don’t think the relationship has deteriorated, or certainly not to a point where it can’t be reinvigorated, but there are so many ancillary problems sur­rounding referees and players at the moment. Some overseas players, for example, have a different approach to the officials. I’m not saying that it’s a worse approach, but it can be different.

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Steve Parish, an official at county league level, says many players still do not really know the laws of the game – or at least they pretend not to

When Peter Enckelman was adjudged to have got a touch (with his foot) on a throw-in from his team-mate Olof Melberg in the Birmingham derby, the chances are the referee David Elleray and his assistant really had no idea whether contact was made before the ball rolled over the line. Video evidence would have been of no help, unless Andy Gray looking at it “time and time again” before deciding there was no contact is considered to be helpful. If it was that obvious, he’d have only had to look at it once.

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Ian Farrell follows the tetchy career of a player highly rated by Johan Cruyff, but who proved to be an unsatisfactory replacement for Jason Wilcox

Depending on how sympathetic you are towards them as a species, Richard Witschge is either a ty­pical Dutch player or the sort that unfairly gives them a bad name. Arrogant, outspoken, not quite as talented as he thinks he is and ultimately destined to underachieve big time. Mix these characteristics with the flop­py hair, three-day stubble and permanent sulk of a long lost Gallagher brother, and the result is no British manager’s idea of a trouble-free pro.

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