The Archive

John Marshall profiles the Hibernian chairman who has never invested a penny in the club and remains an unpopular figure among supporters

Distinguishing Features Lex is always well coiffured. In fact rumour has it that what he has on top may not be all natural. He dresses well, like a senior civil servant, and so it will come as no surprise that for many years he was exactly that. The current issue of the fanzine Mass Hibsteria has Lex’s picture alongside that of camp Aussie comic Bob Downe. Picture Bob and you’ve pictured Lex though it’s a toss up as to which is the comedian.

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Mark Foreman discusses the sheer quantity of football books that are ready to hit the shelves

It was only when I was told that bookshops are expecting over 30 new titles to appear on the shelves in time for the World Cup that the full scale of the football publishing boom hit home. These days it would seem that no player, club or fan’s eye view is too ‘marginal’ (a phrase all too common to anyone with a shoe box full of rejection letters) for big name publishers to print.

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Manchester United are the team of the 1990s but don't have an independent magazine. Paul Windridge reveals how his attempts to change this were blocked

We all realise that to win at football you will probably need a bit of luck along the way. But when you play the game, there is a certain equality of opportunity – two teams of 11 players each, changing ends at half-time etc. – in short, a level playing field. Does that hold true for the business of football too? I think you can guess the answer.

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Here’s the diary of a typical week in the hectic life of Tommy McDonald, host of the late-night radio phone-in football karaoke show Sing When You’re Winning. He is currently working on his next book, The Cat, a biography of Peter Bonetti, which he is co-writing with Damon Albarn of Blur. A former reviewer for the NME and an obsessive QPR, fan Tommy lives in Islington with his dog Loftus and his girlfriend Marie-Clare, an Orient fan

Monday A bit tired this morning as we had a massive booze-up at the studios of Mantalk! Cable where we were doing a pilot for a new show – Kicked Into Touch. I think they will go for it. It is an off-the-wall, irreverent look at players who were rejected by clubs after their apprenticeships, a sort-of This is Your Life for failed players… except with bollocks. Tony Wilson, Richard Jobson and Elton Welsby are in for the presenter’s job as well. But I think this could be the one to get me into Tellyland – they’re so old school and the fellas at Mantalk! are looking for something a little more New Football.

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France may be hosting the World Cup on merit, but Cris Freddi examines previous hosts who were chosen for other reasons

FIFA started promisingly, awarding the 1930 World Cup to Uruguay, where a coalition of the two strongest parties ‘was able to avert dictatorship’ – then blotted their copybook in spectacular fashion. They handed the second tournament to Italy.

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