Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
Why footballers are targeted by the media
Can you remember what you were doing on 28th May? If not, it’s no surprise because that must have been one of the most boring days in world history. How else to explain the fact that a report about the damage to an aeroplane carrying the England team back from their Far East tour should have made the second item on News at Ten that evening?
Everyone's got an opinion about how England should play in Euro '96. Not wanting to feel left out, we've chipped in too
A dilemma for all English managers but particularly for Terry Venables, as he’s the only one at work over the next few weeks. Should they heed the advice of those who believe that England can only succeed by playing to their strengths – running and gung ho spirit and lots of headers – or should they be encouraging their teams to play a more patient passing game, with defenders carrying the ball from one area to the other, and then back again if the mood takes them?
Cris Freddi looks back at the highs and lows of the European Championship. Guess which category England appear most in
1960: USSR 2, Yugoslavia 1 aet (Paris)
The Soviets were a little lucky to reach the last four, the Fascist government having withdrawn Spain from the quarter-final, but once there they were generally in charge, conceding only one goal in the two matches while wearing down the Czechs (3-0) and the skilful Yugoslavs, their big centre-forward Viktor Pondelnik scoring the winner in extra time. Yugoslavia consoled themselves by winning the Olympic title later that year. To no-one’s surprise, then or now, none of the British countries entered.
Player of the tournament: Lev Yashin, prominent in match reports and beaten only once by a deflection from his captain Igor Netto.
Cock-up of the tournament: Anything by the French defence. Leading 4-2 with a quarter of an hour to go in the semi-final with Yugoslavia, they concede three in three minutes.
Brian Homewood explains why the Brazilian authorities continue to be world leaders when it comes to bizarre decision making
During the FIFA International Board’s jaunt down to Rio de Janeiro for their annual meeting (it had originally been scheduled for Belfast but was moved to Rio “as a tribute to Dr João Havelange”), general secretary Sepp Blatter launched into a spiel in which he described his determination to stamp out violence on the field. He could not have chosen a more inappropriate venue for his speech.
Having travelled the length of Britain taking photos for a revied edition of Simon Inglis's acclaimed book The Football Grounds of Great Britain, Tony Davis explains why he often had mixed feelings about what he saw
I’m on the phone to the secretary of a First Division club. I ask if I can photograph the stadium. She says no. I tell her it’s for a book about football grounds. She tells me she’s never heard of it. We bat the question about for a few minutes. She keeps asking me who else I’ve spoken to at the club about coming to take pictures. I tell her I’m asking her now. Finally we come to an arrangement – I’ll fax a request in writing before turning up. Finally, she’s happy – although she still takes the precaution of phoning the next club I was due to visit that day to check that I’m going there too.