Dear WSC
An idea for a movie script, in which hard man Vinnie Jones plays a villain called, er, Hard Man. A large group of ex-footballers who’ve been on the receiving end of one of his so-called “tackles” lure him to a deserted warehouse and wallop the shite out of him.
Stephen J Bunting, Cambridge
The Archive
Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
Hamish McDougall exposes the myth that England lack decent southpaws, arguing that Kevin Keegan ignores the available options – to dire consequences
The word “quality” is an optional extra in this Myth’s wording, as some commentators have suggested that a whole generation of footballers use their left foot merely to stand on. The Times suggested just such a thing recently when championing the 3-5-2 system, insisting that playing wing-backs “negates the necessity to find two left-sided players”.
Clubs want more power over UEFA
At a time when the Olympics, the Champions League and World Cup qualifying matches are all taking place in quick succession, the conflicting demands of clubs and national associations are making headlines once again.
Saturday 2 The sensible sensation comes off the bench to score as England draw 1-1 in Paris. “Michael was disappointed to be left out but he provided the answer,” says quizmaster Kev. Michael, however, is appropriately huffy: “I don’t think I have anything to prove in international football.” Arsenal and Chelsea players on both sides are involved in scuffles during and after the match. Sadly, no one is injured. In World Cup qualifiers, Scotland beat Latvia with a last minute goal from Neil McCann (“I can only describe our first half performance as pathetic,” says Craig Brown), Wales lose 2-1 in Belarus, Northern Ireland survive a few scares in a 1-0 win over Malta. Best performance comes from the Republic of Ireland, who take a two goal lead in Holland before drawing 2-2. Roy Keane is cross: “We should have won. I am sick of hearing that the Irish have a good time whatever the result.” Walsall hold a four-point lead in the Second Division after their fifth successive win, 2-0 over Wigan. Relief at Oxford, where the last pointless team in the League break their duck with a home draw against Cambridge.
The dispute over the steamlining of non-League football is producing more bad blood than solutions, reports Gary Boswell
Observers of politics will be familiar with the ambiguous answer from a minister who has not been involved in the policy changes on which he is being questioned. There is a distinct feeling of such woollyheadedness in the current dispute over streamlining the Conference and its feeder leagues.