The Archive

Sierra Leone and Liberia are not favourites to qualify from African World Cup Group B, but as Alan Duncan reports, just being there is an achievement

It’s a tough job being secretary general of any Football Association. Worse still if you are administering the footballing fortunes of a little-known, war-torn African country. Alimu Bah, the secretary general of the Sierra Leone FA, has had much to contend with since the start of his tenure in 1996. Coups, counter-coups, death threats, a rebel invasion and the recurring ills of African football: poor infrastructure, lack of funds and a less then perfect organisational structure.

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When England meet Germany at Wembley, the managers will have more in common than the greying remnants of a perm, says Matt Nation

Anyone who has played in a support band or given a speech as best man at a wedding will know what it’s like to perform for an increasingly disgruntled aud­ience. Expectation is great, pressure is enormous and, with the exception of the odd beer bottle winging through the air, rewards are few. In an attempt to make it all seem a little more attractive, such unfortunates are described in German, rather winsomely, as Pausenclowns.

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WSC’s almost annual roundtable brought together three contributors from different branches of the media to discuss trends in football reporting and a host of other relevant (and irrelevant) matters

WSC It’s often said that players these days are remote from the fans. But has the attitude of players towards journalists also changed now that many of them are so phenomenally wealthy?

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His takeover was welcomed, but the bubble has been bursting since.  Anthony Hobbs takes a deeper look at QPR's chairman Chris Wright

Distinguishing FeaturesLooks a bit like a hippy version of Roger DeCourcey (of Nookie Bear fame), or Richard Branson’s unkempt, chubbier brother. Has the facial expression of someone who may have inhaled during the Sixties. Allegedly.

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The annual Inner City World Cup for foreign communities living in London was held earlier this month. Filippo Ricci went along to see if England could make home advantage count

England has just staged a World Cup, though needless to say the hosts didn’t get past the group stage. The competition in question is the Inner City World Cup, a tournament open to London’s foreign communities and held annually since 1994. African teams have dom­inated, Ghana winning two tournaments and Sierra Leone five, including the most recent edition, played on August 12 and 13 in Raynes Park, when Pakistan lost 2-1 in the final.

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