The Archive

Anyone making rash predictions about the internet risks looking silly. So to avoid that possibility we asked four people invovled in football websites to do it for us

1. What has been good about football on the web so far?
AP: The original philosophy behind the internet was to open up a brave new world of communication. It’s fallen short of that, but in the case of football, there has at least been an extension of the supporter’s voice and the principle that first inspired fanzines.
PC: It has got the readers so much more involved than they have been before, outside fanzines – but web­sites reach far more people, far more often. We publish as much as 3,000 words of letters a day. You can look at the readership figures for different sec­tions, too, and assess what works and what doesn’t in an objective way rather than on a hunch. Statistics are a lot faster and more user friendly. Oh, and it’s great to buy match tickets, especially for games abroad.
UHL: The availability of information. Looking for simple but obscure things concerning foreign coun­tries was a major undertaking five years ago, but it often takes less than a minute today. And there really is such a thing as a, whisper the now-dreaded word, “community”. I have never been in touch with so many football fans from so many different places. And there really are communities that are not being spoon-fed and/or directed by the clubs.
BL: Fans can get news on teams they follow without needing to live in that country or learn another lan­guage; and those who travel to games can find out how to get tickets and where to stay. Football is global and the web allows the insularity of the main­stream Eng­lish media to be ignored.

Read more…

How footballers' biographies are simply a form of propaganda in a feeble attempt to sway public opinion in their favour

We may never know quite why Jaap Stam left Man Utd for Lazio. Some pundits seem to think that the sudden sale of a hitherto key player had nothing do with his published comments. “Rev­enge for a literary atrocity? Forget it,” sug­gested the Independent’s James Lawton, who is inclined to think Stam’s manager had long since lost faith and was simply waiting to line up a replacement before selling him.

Read more…

Dear WSC
Martin Cloake and Paul Kelso’s contributions to the Sol Campbell debate (WSC 175) highlight the head versus heart struggle most Tottenham fans have had to go through. I’m sure that every one of the 30,000 of us who gave him a standing ovation both on and off of the pitch at Old Trafford in the Cup semi-final were left feeling like mugs when we heard that he had finally signed for Arsenal. But to characterise Sol as a symbol of player disloyalty is ridiculous when there are a thousand other candidates who have made taking the money and running an art form: Collymore, Sutton, Anelka etc, etc, etc. The man was at the club for ten years and gave his all in every game he played. To expect more than that, or even half of that, is self-delusion on the part of fans. Fans are loyal, players aren’t. They can’t allow themselves to be. A change of manager, an injury, a loss of form can all see a player thrown out of a club in no time at all. No, what Sol was symbolic of – for Spurs fans anyway – was the idea that Spurs could recruit and keep top international players in their prime and not just those on their way up or down. This idea has taken a major knock now. On top of that, by going to Arsenal he is a symbol of how much they are in the ascendancy – as if we needed any reminding! – and how the board has mismanaged the club over the last ten years. Having said all that, if we’re honest, those of us who have watched Sol week in, week out since 1993 know that he’s not as good as the press would have everyone believe; his poor passing and lack of confidence going beyond the half-way line have been there for anyone to see. Would he get into the Italian national side? Perhaps he’s also a symbol of something else: the way players are hyped beyond recognition by the TV companies and press.
Patrick Brannigan, via email

Read more…

Maccabi Haifa, having disposed of FC Haka, were set for a lucrative tie with Liverpool – that is until they were found guilty of fielding an ineligable player. Shaul Adar discusses the fallout

It was one of the most unfortunate appearances in the history of European club football. Maccabi Haifa held a 1-0 lead from the away leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie against FC Haka of Finland. For the return, won 4-0 in Haifa, they recalled ex-Wimbledon midfielder Walid Badir who had been suspended. During the game Badir broke his cheekbone and was taken to hospital. A few hours after he’d undergone an operation, the news broke: Badir was supposed to serve a two-game suspension and so had been ineligible. Haifa were disqualified and duly lost about £2 million they would have earned from meeting Liverpool in the next round.

Read more…

Keith Butterick looks at how Deloitte have gradually enhanced their reputation

The Deloitte & Touche Annual Review of Football Finance is celebrating its tenth an­niversary. Things have changed dramatically since Gerry Boon, Oldham Athletic fan and an accountant at Deloitte’s Manchester office, produced the first report. Colleagues, who tolerated his interest in comparing the fin­ances of football clubs like an indulgent father looks at his son’s latest craze, considered him slightly barmy.

Read more…