The Archive

How football has evolved in the modern era

Some would say that the football watching has become a soulless experience, with passive spectators in expensive seats cowed by deafening tannoys. Yet the football fan of the 21st century gets any number of opportunities to recreate the stadium atmosphere of old, standing in a huddle cheering on their team. “Pubs have been dubbed football’s new terraces,” said the Sunday Telegraph, reporting ITV Digital’s plans for next season. These include trying to undercut Sky’s existing deals with the 40,000 pubs which pay an average of £500 per year for the right to show satellite transmissions.

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Cameron Carter exposes the myth behind the idea that playing away from home is more difficult and comes up with a few possible solutions

Because it clearly isn’t. What is the immense problem in taking a luxury coach 80 miles down the road to a carefully groomed pitch and playing to the same level as you play at home? Why, year after year, are experienced clubs full of world-class players happy to come away with a point? Think about your reaction as a fan. Should your team lose 1-0 away, it is simply a case of puffing out the cheeks and nodding ruefully. Should they lose at home, however, it is out on the streets with us and we have learned the chairman’s name to say out loud

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Saturday 2 Germany drop World Cup points in a 2-2 draw with Finland, who had been two up at half-time. Northern Ireland suffer a fifth successive defeat, 1-0 to Bulgaria (“It was Sunday park defending,” groans Sammy McIlroy) while Ryan Giggs misses an open goal in Wales’ 2-1 home defeat by Poland. The Rep of Ireland are held 1-1 at home by Portugal. The two sides’ pre-match sniping is rounded off by Portuguese coach Antonio Oliveira making a rude gesture at Mick McCarthy at the final whistle.

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Mark Perryman discusses the need for England fans to set a good example for future generations

At the end of June, some 30,000 England supporters belonging to the England Members Club received a brightly coloured envelope through their letter boxes. It was a package that most had been expecting, the news that the EMC was being replaced with a new organisation.

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Dear WSC
Alun Rogers (Letters, WSC 173) may well be right about Wales’ superior claim to Owen Hargreaves, but repeats the canard about how they “should by rights have Michael Owen”. Owen has two English-born parents. They moved to Wales, but close enough to the border that Michael James was born in a maternity hospital in England. He may live in and have been educat­ed in Wales, and took Deeside schools records from Gary Speed and Ian Rush, but chose the training set-up of, ahem, the land of his father, at an early age. While “Owen” clearly suggests Welsh roots, the player’s own comments when asked about this subject are that his nearest Celtic relative is a solitary Scottish grandparent, while he had three English ones. In which case, is he even qualified to play for Wales?
Philip Cornwall, Lewisham

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