The Archive | When Saturday Comes

Power Rangers

Bernie Ecclestone’s takeover at QPR and how it nearly cost the club promotion

Roman Abramovich is said to be an enigma because he never speaks in public. In fact he might have done so occasionally but no reporter has been allowed to get close enough to hear him. There couldn’t be a greater contrast with another owner of a west London club, QPR’s Bernie Ecclestone, who seems to announce every thought that has passed through his head. He has had plenty to say about QPR lately, none of which will have impressed Rangers fans.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Jobbing for José

After José Mourinho and his Real Madrid side received hefty criticism upon their Champions League elimination at the hands of Barcelona, just how special is “The Special one?”

It has been a great month for conspiracy theorists. The death of Osama bin Laden has offered more questions than answers, the timing of the AV vote so soon after the Royal Wedding was viewed by some as a cunning Conservative ploy and José Mourinho, football’s chief polemicist, has been ruminating and ranting about the injustices of the world.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Thematic dramatisation

Cameron Carter reviews BBC2’s programmes on the Munich air disaster and questions the use of thematic dramatisation in the build-up to football matches

United (BBC2, April 24) was a dramatisation of the Man Utd story from Bobby Charlton’s breakthrough into the first team to the frantic rebuilding after the Munich air crash.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 - The Archive

White noise

James Eastham discusses the newest scandal which has shaken French football

It was all going too well. The France national team’s remarkable rebirth under Laurent Blanc came to an abrupt halt last month following the publication of transcripts from tapes that threatened not only to end the former Manchester United defender’s impressive start as les Bleus manager, but also engulf French football in a bigger scandal than the World Cup players’ strike.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Track and field

Drew Whitworth has some good memories of a temporary home, but he’s not sentimental about leaving and never going back

Let’s get one thing straight first. It’s not The Withdean in the same way it’s not, say, The Hillsborough. But somehow it deserves the definite article. It’s a unique place to watch football, with its bank of “temporary” uncovered seating to the south, backed by the woods of a nature reserve, its poky North Stand with a suburban pub behind and its litter of athletics paraphernalia, like the hammer net. There is only one Withdean: thank God.

Saturday, May 21st, 2011 - The Archive