Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
Rob Trent & Gavin Meaden profile Bournemouth's ownership
Who’s in charge at Bournemouth? Well, we’re not sure. Prior to the receivers being called in, the club has been in a state of turmoil, resignations from the board at one stage leaving us with only two directors. The general perception amongst the supporters is that Norman Hayward is now top bod. A month before that it was Ken Gardiner, who ‘resigned’ through ‘ill-health’.
Non-League football in the north-east was once a rich source of playing talent for the professional game, but many of its clubs are in crisis now. Harry Pearson reports
Shotton Colliery Recreation Ground on a damp Saturday in January. Shotton Comrades are taking on Ferryhill Athletic. Beyond the perimeter fence on one side of the pitch is a small airfield. Every fifteen minutes or so light planes take off to drop sky divers. During dull moments of play you can watch the parachutists spiralling slowly earthward.
Wednesday 1 Another stumble for Liverpool, beaten by a Roberto di Matteo goal at Chelsea, prompting the first Gullitism of 1997: "We are a rough diamond that needs to be polished every day but it's beginning to have a nice shine." Arsenal close the gap to two points with a 2-0 home win over Middlesbrough, who drop into the bottom three after Blackburn and Forest win away at Everton and fast-sliding West Ham respectively. Man Utd, held at home by Villa, stay third but Newcastle are only a point behind them after beating Leeds 3-0.
Friday 3 Rangers all but wrap up their ninth successive Scottish League title with a 3-1 home win over Celtic, clinched with two late goals from Erik Bo Andersen, which stretches their lead to fourteen points. A judicial report into the Olympique Marseille corruption investigations alleges the club spent around £12 million in bribes to opposing players and officials and referees in European and domestic matches over a number of years. The club's former owner Bernard Tapie and ex French national team manager Michel Hidalgo are among 20 people to be charged with match-rigging.
Ewan Davidson recounts several tales of horrible conditions in the Wild West
Many non-natives believe all of Scotland shares the same climate. In fact, the West coast gets almost twice as much rainfall as the East. And for reasons I’ve never understood, more than half the population lives in the West too (something to do with tobacco I’ve been told, but it doesn’t grow there, although rice might).
Neil Reynolds hasn't the foggiest idea about one game at Molineux
Black Country derbies are not renowned for their high quality, but there was one Wolves v West Brom game a few years ago when there was actually no football seen at all. It was 31st January 1981 – a dank, dreary day, yet with no hint of the drama that was to unfold.