Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
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.
A poor performance while on international duty could have a more worrying effect on a player's domestic club than meets the eye, writes Neil Wills
When Martin Palermo missed three penalties against Colombia he unwittingly wrote himself into the Copa America record books. What he probably did not realise at the time (hey, he probably had other things on his mind) was that his profligacy from 12 yards would have far-reaching repercussions for British football clubs in this age of the market.
John Secker bids a fond farewell to Walsall's balti pies and Macclesfield's tented village
This was the season when Little and Large came into the division from opposite directions, played each other, then departed in the direction from which they had come. Two years ago Manchester City and Macclesfield Town were three divisions and a world apart, now they were starting on level terms.
Jamie Rainbow points us in the direction of Hartlepool and Southend unofficial sites, bemoans the lack of an FA website and reveals a fan's obsession with mini kits
Manchester United are not the only side who can lay claim to a worldwide support. Hartlepool may not have plans to open a megastore in Singapore, but they do have a couple of Swedish-based fans who have set up a website in honour of the club. And, once the initial language difficulties have been overcome, very good it is too. You’ll find an interesting history of the town with a refreshingly honest appraisal of the football team. “Hartlepool has an appallingly bad football team which consistently struggles towards the bottom of the English football league,” admits the site. There are a few historical snippets along with a comprehensive news section featuring daily updates on all the club-related gossip.
Dear WSC
I have no time at all for deposed Rangers vice-chairman Donald Findlay, but Gary Oliver’s article about him (WSC 149) was unfair in two respects. Findlay is Scotland’s pre-eminent defence counsel. He has defended scores of people accused of rape, murder, etc – including many Catholics. To extract from his long career two cases where the victims were Celtic fans is a distortion. And Findlay’s admittedly ill-judged joke that his birthday should have been on July 12th rather than St Patrick’s Day was a mutual one he had with a Catholic friend whose birthday is on the former date. The good news is that Rangers chairman David Murray has, by getting rid of Findlay, again taken strong action against sectarianism.
Ian McLean, Glasgow