The Archive | When Saturday Comes

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

That empty feeling

Darlington’s white elephant has turned into a cautionary tale. Owen Amos explains plans to return to something more modest

When lower-league clubs discuss moving grounds, there’s one thing they know: whenever they go and wherever they go, they don’t want to “do a Darlington”. This means moving to a new ground, then barely filling one tenth of it. A quick Google search shows fans of Gillingham, Hartlepool and Rotherham, among others, have used it. But soon, the phrase might – just might – lose its meaning.

Saturday, May 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Having a say

Adam Brown looks at how the political interaction of fan culture has developed since the disenfranchisement of the mid-1980s

The year 1985 was a nadir for English football in a decade of great change for football supporters in Britain. And May was the pit of the trough. Supporters were caged in decrepit stadiums and 56 of them died in a fire at Bradford City’s ground on May 11. Violence was rife at home and abroad, policing was brutal and on the same day a 14-year-old was killed during fighting between Leeds and Birmingham fans and police at St Andrew’s. Just over two weeks later, these two factors came together killing 39 and injuring 600 at Heysel.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Little by Lille

The traditional big clubs of Ligue 1 are being challenged by an astutely assembled teams of upstarts. James Eastham explains

The only way you can tell it’s matchday in Lille is by looking at the buses. If there’s a game on, the slogan “Allez Le LOSC” runs where the name of the destination normally is (LOSC being the acronym for Lille Olympique Sporting Club). But wander into any of the city centre bars showing football and you’re likely to find the majority of the locals sampling the beers the region is famous for barely glance up at the screens.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Call of duty

Dave Hannigan looks at how Ireland are hoping to attract young footballers with a US education but an old country sentiment

In a little-noticed cameo during the February international break, Derby County striker Conor Doyle made his debut for Ireland Under-21s in a friendly against Cyprus. Born and raised in Texas to a father from Dublin, the 19-year-old’s appearance came just three months after Giovanni Trapattoni expressed interest in establishing a scouting network to find new talent for Ireland in the United States. Indeed, Trapattoni went as far as asking for a full list of Major League Soccer players with Irish-sounding  surnames.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive