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.
The Archive
Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
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.
Barry Gray recounts the story of his coldest ever away day
16th January 1970 and my team, a palsied Hounslow Town of the Athenian League, complete an odyssey across the Home Counties for a London Senior Cup First Round tie against Hitchin Town. That day, at Top Field, remains the coldest I have ever been in my life.
Paul Fryer explains why he was tempted, in spite of himself, by a new football investment scheme promising quick profits
Football is rolling in money just now, but those of us wondering when the bubble might burst can hark back to a precedent in in the early eighteenth century. Then, the South Sea Company, with a monopoly of trade with South America, offered to take on half the national debt in return for further concessions. With the prospect of huge profits, its 100 shares rapidly increased to 1000 as investors rushed in. The trade could not service the shareholders, the ‘bubble’ burst and thousands were ruined.