The Archive

Even with Ronaldo in one of his funny moods, Brazil rarely needed to break sweat to retain their South American title in Paraguay as Sam Wallace reports

At either end of the Defensores Del Chacos ground in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, stood enormous models of Budweiser cans which, at set in­tervals, would start to gyrate. Occasionally, a plastic bag thrown from the crowd behind the goal would sail over the cans, jettisoning in flight its cargo of urine. The irony was hard to ignore. No amount of expensive advertising ever quite managed to sanitise a gloriously chaotic Copa America 1999.

Read more…

Tom Locke recalls scenes from the life of the second most fearsome terrace in Newcastle

A friend of mine tells a good story about the Leazes End at St James’ Park. It was the infamous 1974 FA Cup tie against Nott­ingham Forest, and the score was 3-3. Bobby Moncur scored to put Newcastle improbably ahead, and the crowd, as they say, went wild. My mate was duly leaping around with the best of them when his right foot landed on something a bit sharp. It was a set of dentures. The old fellow next to him gro­velled about on the terracing to retrieve them. They had, of course, been expell­ed in the frenzied delight immediately following the goal. The man dusted his falsies off and popped them back in. They were going in all directions, but he seem­ed pretty unperturbed.

Read more…

Dear WSC
Well, I’m really sorry to moan, especially as it was your 150th issue. But your Nick House (Football League Review, WSC 150) was watching a different Division Three to me last season. I’ll just say five things. Firstly, it was a tremendously exciting season. You wouldn’t think so to read this review. It culminated on the last day with first playing second for the championship. And it’s not often that happens. Secondly, how can Peterborough pos­­sibly be described as an enigma? One of the great certainties of Division Three football, and one of its great entertainments, is that Peterborough United consistently underachieve. It’s called the Barry Fry effect. Thirdly, there are some tremendous young players in this division, but you would need to be very blinkered indeed to name messrs Thomas, Breslan and Bastow among them. What about Martin Butler at Cambridge United, for good­ness sake! Fourthly, he must be a really cautious punter if he wouldn’t have bet on any of the top v bottom games. If he had done, he would have made himself a tidy profit. Finally, eventual champions Brentford merited just one mention in the entire article. This despite one of their most eventful seasons ever, with the Ron Noades saga, a host of talented youngsters and that exciting final game. By contrast, Exeter City were mentioned five times, Devon clubs in general 11 times. Hey – that Nick House couldn’t be a Torquay fan, could he? Simon Knott, via email

Read more…

Thursday 1 The Department of Employment issue new rules on work permits. Players will be given permits for the length of their contracts rather than having their cases reviewed at the end of each season, and the rule stipulating that non-EU players must be among the top five wage earners at their clubs is scrapped. Forest's search for a manager ends with the appointment of the impressively tanned David Platt, who says: "The two months I had at Sampdoria were a massive learning curve." That's just what Sampdoria fans will have been thinking when they went down. The charges against Sol Camp≠bell for assaulting a steward after the Derby v Spurs match last autumn are dropped. Arsenal spend £3.5 million on a Brazilian full back, Silvinho, who says: "I have been following Arsenal ever since I knew they were watching me."

Friday 2 The PFA's Gordon Taylor criticises the changes to work permit rules. "We already have more foreign players than anywhere else in the world. Removing the wages criteria means you are opening the door to players who are not neccesarily top quality". Terry McDermott joins the Barnes-Dalglish dream team at Celtic as "social manager" – a highly specialised position which involves a lot of shouting and laughing plus the collecting of betting slips.

Read more…

With the attention of off-field matters increasingly turning towards the finances of the game, how long can football clubs survive working on unsustainable budgets?

It’s an unlikely feat, but the youngster seems to have pulled it off. Even in a sum­mer when words such as “Office of Fair Trading” and “minister for sport” have been grappling for our attention, nothing has hit the high notes on the Yawnometer quite like a mention of Nicolas Anelka.

Read more…