Dear WSC
I’m stunned. Whilst channel hopping for some late night smut, I came across none other than Garth Crooks hosting an in-depth politico-chat show, Des-patch Box.I sat transfixed as Garth, a man whose normal journalistic beat leads him to doing humourous pieces on the shopping trips of the Reggae Boyz or Graham Kelly’s musical tastes, spent air-time slapping down Austin Mitchell’s views on the strong pound, summarizing the extradiction of Pin-ochet and probing into why the Welsh Secretary resigned.I first of all dismissed his presence on such a programme as a fluke, poor Garth being pressed into service when a Paxman clone went down with lumbago, chucked a copy of the Independent and told to get in front of the camera. But no! Garth gave a much more measured display than he ever did for Man Utd. At the end of the show he astound-ed me by announcing that he’d be back next Thursday.As a mere lad when Garth was in his prime for Spurs, I remember Tony Galvin being championed by the Topical Times as a major intellectual force because he had a degree in Russian. Shoot! thought Chris Hughton a real academic because he read the Guardian rather than the Mirror. But now know who was the true colossus of culture – Garth Crooks.I can only wonder at what Mark Falco and Gary Brook are doing now – teaching juris-prudence at Oxford and developing new forms of antibiotics, perhaps?
James Kerr, York
The Archive
Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
The world's greatest cup competition is being discarded by big clubs in favour of European riches. How long until it joins the cup scrapheap?
There is a certain inevitability about the way cup competitions acquire the smell of death. Clubs start putting out weakened teams, fans stop turning up to watch the early rounds, discouraging statements begin to seep from official sources and Chelsea end up with the trophy. We have seen it with the League Cup, which Liverpool lusted after so much that they won it four times in a row in the 1980s. Now the bookmakers are offering shorter odds on Manchester United and Arsenal winning the Champions League than the Worthington, because they know the top clubs see it as an inconvenience rather than a serious goal.
Italian football has been hit by accusations of drug abuse. As Richard Mason reports, each new revelation hints at an official cover up
On Monday, September 28th, Mario Pescante, president of CONI, the Italian Olympic Committee, announced his resignation. CONI is, in effect, the government of Italian sport and its president a kind of prime minister. No former president has ever re-signed while in office.
His team sink to defeat after defeat yet Bobby Gould soldiers on as Wales manager. Nigel Harris looks at a deeply unpopular figure
Five years ago, Wales, beating the likes of Germany and Brazil, were ranked 27th in the world and heading towards USA 94. Then Paul Bodin missed that penalty. Welsh football has never recovered. Today, Wales are ranked 107, behind Malawi, Vietnam and Mynamar.
AS Thomas finds out more about the Swans' unpopular chairman
Distinguishing features Large, camp waddler with a horrendous comb-over. Always seen at The Vetch in a green bulging Barbour coat irrespective of the climate.