The Archive

While fan violence may well be on the decrease, Mark Rowe says little can be read into the latest batch of arrest figures for the season just gone

In what is becoming a pre-season tradition, the government and police recently unveiled football arrest figures for 2001-02 and pro­claimed their policies are kicking hooligans out. Their headlines this time: arrests for foot­ball-related offences associated with Foot­ball League matches down by 30 per cent in the last ten years, despite bigger crowds; Premier League arrests also down; far fewer arrests at in­ternationals; the vast majority of matches troub­le-free.

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Tony Butcher pays tribute to one of the east coast's scariest spots

Now what is the professional footballer’s favourite phrase to describe the joy of playing in the Premiership? “No disrespect to the likes of Grimsby but…” It isn’t just the name, it’s the ground, the small, cold, but above all old Blundell Park, the home of the Mariners since 1899.

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Monday 1 Airdrie United acquire the rights to Clydebank’s name and seem set to replace them in the Scottish Second Division. “If this takeover goes ahead, a franchise system for Scottish football will have been validated,” says a spokesman for the Clydebank supporters group, who had been hoping to take control of the club themselves. Mick Wadsworth, who left Oldham during last season, is Huddersfield’s new manager.

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The implications of the transfer window and the Bosman ruling are forcing radical changes in the exchange of players, to the great cost of clubs lacking the resources for multi-million pound bids here and there

There were instant repercussions in Ju­ly when a Sunday newspaper quoted a lifelong Spurs fan who was up in arms about his team’s alleged lack of ambition. “We’re a million miles away from win­ning the championship,” he moaned, “because no money has been made available to buy the top stars that you need to become genuine challengers.”

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On the brink of triumph, little São Caetano are not so little anymore, and they have a lesson for Brazil's big boys. Cassiano Gobbet explains

Two years ago, when they reached the finals of the Brazilian championship, AD São Caet­ano and their supporters used to sing: “We’re on our way to Tokyo.” This was a joke about the yearly Toyota Cup match between the club champions of South America and Europe. It’s no longer a joke. Outperforming the big names of South America, many of whom are drowning in debt, the Azulão (Big Blue) have reached the final of the Copa Libertadores, the equivalent of the Champions League. At the time of going to press, they hold a one-goal lead from the away leg of the final against Olimpia of Paraguay and so are in with a great chance of travelling to Japan in December to compete with Real Madrid for the crown of world champions.

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