The Archive

In an edited extract from his new book, Morbo, Phil Ball explains how Spain owes its patient style of football to an Englishman, Fred Pentland

Fred Pentland came to manage Athletic Bilbao in 1923, following in the footsteps of another Englishman, a trained masseur by the name of Mr Barnes. The arrival of Pentland, who had played for Blackburn Rovers (among others) in the first decade of the century, coincided with the first clear signs of professionalism in the Spanish game. Pentland had been interned in Germany during the First World War and seems to have spent most of his time training German officers. In 1920 he managed the French football team at the Antwerp Olympics and then spent a year at Racing Santander, whereupon Athletic literally bought him from the Cantabrian club, offering him 1,000 pesetas a month – a decent sum in those days.

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Thanks to the influx of foreign players, British football now attracts an increasing number of journalists from countries which previously paid it scant attention. We cornered three of them – Ronnie Reng from Germany, Marie-Jose Kleef from the Netherlands and Italian Filippo Ricci – to find out what impression it had made on them

When you first came to England, what was the one thing that most surprised you about football here?
Ronnie Reng That it’s still conducted in a childish manner – and I mean that in a positive way. Both in the way they play and how the supporters watch the game. One of the first matches I saw here was when Dortmund were playing at Man Utd. About half an hour before kick-off I thought I had the wrong day because there was nobody there. The fans didn’t show up until five minutes before kick off. I think that’s a good thing – they clap if they like something or they boo and then they go home. So it’s still pure entertainment. And it’s also played in a childish way. Players want to attack all the time, they don’t want to stop and think, and the supporters clap if somebody really hoofs it forward or if someone makes a great tackle, even if it would have been more sensible to look up and pass.

Marie-José Kleef The amount of tackles in a game is unbelievable. This season I was at Leicester v Aston Villa and the only thing happening was people tackling each other. There weren’t two passes in a row. The players were never waiting for the right moment, just pushing all the time.

Filippo Ricci For me it was Chelsea v Liverpool and to find that the away fans were just one row away from the press box. When people stood up, the jour­nalists were asking if they could sit down – and people did. Having no fences in the stadiums and having op­posing fans in the best position to see the game was very strange. In Italy they would be stuck in some cor­ner surrounded by police with the worst views of the game. 

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The sports minister reopens the debate on safe standing

There used to be a sign over the stairs leading out of the away end at Upton Park urging supporters to “Remember Ibrox” and leave without pushing. It seemed pretty rich, back in the Eighties, when spectators would struggle to get out of that tangle of unforgiving fences and barriers in one piece.

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Steve Parish takes a look at the Manchester City chairman

Distinguishing features Prosperous businessman, nice sober suits. Not exactly self-effacing, but knows how to keep a low profile.

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Update on clubs in crisis

The crisis at Port Vale took a an unexpected twist over the holiday period, when controversial director Charles Machin resigned amid an acrimonious exchange of views with chairman and major shareholder Bill Bell, hith­erto seen as a staunch ally. Vale had al­ready made headlines this season thanks to Mach­in’s bizarre demand of man­ager Brian Horton that he fill in regular questionnaires on each player, and had also ad­mitted they were using their yellow away strip more fre­quently because they could not afford to replace the home kit if it wore out. Other festering sores include the ungracious sacking of John Rudge in 1999 (and legal aftermath) and the club’s long-standing failure to complete the Lorne Street Stand at Vale Park.

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