The Archive

Jamie Rainbow takes a look at club websites from Yorkshire, Wales and the West Midlands 

Being defined by whom one hates, rather than who one is, can cause no end of problems. Just look, for example, at The Square Ball, a fanzine-cum-website devoted to Leeds United. In terms of who to support, the forthcoming European Cup final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich has caused much anxiety. Should Leeds fans be influenced by a “long-term dislike of Man U” or a “burning sense of injustice from the 1975 European Cup Final”? Or, like the rest of us, should they get on with their life and just enjoy the game on its merits?

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Brazil v Guatemala, CONCACAF Gold Cup, February 5th 1998, Miami. Neil Wills witnessed a shock result

Every so often something comes along which imbues life with fresh meaning. Such an occurrence befell several million people simultaneously on an otherwise ordinary day in February 1998. It is sad to recount that the incident in question was of no greater import than a football match, but there you go: some­times you have to take what you can get.

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Dear WSC
“Something inside him broke. It ­wasn’t the inside of his knee this time. It was his heart.” It may seem like a line from a Mills and Boon tear-jerker but it’s actually from the Daily Record’s coverage of Gary McAllister’s decision to quit pla­y­ing for Scotland. Oh how a nation was thrown into mourning. Well, no, actually. About bloody time was the general opinion. The truth is that McAllister has never really been accepted by the Tartan Army. Of course the Euro 96 penalty miss is always mentioned but it started long before then. Since his debut in a glorious friendly defeat against East Germany in 1990 nobody has ever been really convinced by him. As early as 1992 there were calls for him to be left out of the squad travelling to the European Championship.Over the next few seasons there was much talk in the Scottish media of Mc­Allister being tracked by Italian giants. Roma were mentioned, so were Sampdoria. When he did finally make the switch to that home of international playboys, Coventry City, no one was more relieved than Rangers fans who had also had to put up with constant rumours of his impending arrival. But it was the way he was booed from the park in Scotland’s recent defeat by the Czech Republic which convinced Gary to go. Showing a Hoddle-like tho­ught process he whined: “There is an element of the media and the support which has exhibited a negative attitude towards me.” Hang on. What actually hap­pened was as old as entertainment itself. You were rubbish therefore you were booed. No negative vibes, no bad karma. You were no good. McAllister’s attitude seems typical of the modern day Premiership footballer who seems to think we should be honoured to be breathing the same air as them. They expect us to stand like slack-jawed yokels who are delighted that the circus has come to town. Sorry Gary and every other footballer in the world. That’s not how it works. Enjoy your big money contracts, boot deals and multi-million pound transfers, but remember whatever changes about football the fans can still tell when the Emperor is naked.
David Lee

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The rise in players' wages continues to grow at an alarming rate, causing Deloitte and Touche to call for clubs to show a harder stance during negotiations

The strangest publication to arrive at WSC for a long time was a glossy bro­chure called, with no apparent sense of irony, UEFA Champions League: A solidarity system for European football. Published in February this year, it appears to form part of UEFA’s campaign to head off any attempt to challenge the central marketing of TV rights to the Champions League.

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The latest political attempts to counter hooliganism are a step too far, argues Stan Pearce

As the political landscape of the country has changed – so runs the conventional wis­dom – so has the attitude of Westminster to football. However, anyone who believed that Trade Secretary Stephen Byers’s decision to prevent the takeover of Manchester United by Rupert Murdoch signalled another stage in the evolution of politicians’ thinking towards the game should have witnessed a low-key debate in the House of Commons in the week of the Byers decision.

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