Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
Neil Dixe Wills discovers the life and times of Jimmy Seed, through his classic autobiography
“Eventually there will be a soccer League of Nations with clubs flying off to South America in little more time than it would take Newcastle to travel to Plymouth by train. These days may not be realised in my time, but they are coming.” Meet Jimmy Seed: child soldier, double title-winner, leviathan of The Valley and, judging by the statement above, pretty useful soothsayer.
As relegation looms and despair mounts across the land, Ian Plenderleith went online to see how fans of endangered clubs are coping
The season is reaching its zenith, but for some teams it’s more or less over. How are the fans of table-proppers across the leagues coping with despair and defeat with two months of the season still to go?
Dear WSC
Just a pedantic correction to Matthew Taylor’s piece in WSC 156 about foreigners in Britain throughout the century. Danish international Nils Middleboe did indeed play for Chelsea from 1913, but not just for one season. He made 46 appearances for the club between 1913 and 1921, a period encompassing five seasons. As an amateur, he reputedly never even claimed his expenses, rather like today’s foreign contingent. Incidentally, and though I’ve got nothing in particular against Germans or Germany myself, I was interested in Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger’s suggestion in the same issue that the Belgians have never forgotten the German invasion of 1914. The similar over-running of their country in 1940 probably didn’t help either and may be fresher in some elderly Belgians’ memories.
Peter Collins, London SW17
Far from being Scotland's worst World Cup performance, Argentina 1978 was their best, says Ken Gall
For many Scots, the images of Argentina 78 are burned deep into the psyche: Ally MacLeod, head in hands, with the derisive taunts of the Tartan Army ringing in his ears; the disgraced Willie Johnston being interrogated by Frank Bough – ah, sweet irony – about the dangers of illegal substances; the terrible records, the atrocious carpet advertisements, the gruesome hairstyles.
A peculiarly British arrogance is at play over the release of players for the African Nations Cup
The African Nations Cup has been in existence for over 40 years, making it slightly older than the European Championship. Until very recently, this biennial competition has received almost no media coverage here. Now, however, virtually every column on the sports pages has something to say about the effect it is having on the English season.