Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
The European Parliament is looking forward to Euro 96 almost as much as we are, according to Philip Cornwall
There’s a language school in London offering English courses to overseas fans which has captured a few headlines recently; perhaps they could also try teaching the Met enough Dutch, German and French to help the thousands following the Netherlands and Switzerland to Euro ’96.
A version of football has been played in Japan for over a millenium, but no one has managed to win a match yet, as Jon Watts explains
Half a world away from Wembley, a crowd of about 500 people have gathered in the grounds of a small temple on the outskirts of Kyoto. In front of them a group of seven men and women, dressed in elaborately-patterned and brightly-coloured robes, stand in a small circle facing inwards. One of them, an elderly Japanese man, holds in his outstretched hands a round white football.
Like it or not, the Bosman law is now always with us. And the European Commissioner responsible for enforcing the judgement foresees more upheaval just around the corner, as Philip Cornwall investigates
There are two problems with covering the Bosman ruling. Firstly, like the Venables saga it is endlessly technical, has nothing to do with anything which is remotely attractive about following football and has no end in sight. Secondly – like the Venables saga – it requires acceptance of the world as it is, not as one would like it to be.
Some people think all-seat stadiums are a good thing. Try as he might, Matt Stone is not inclined to agree with them
The pieces fell into place after a chance meeting. I happened to be standing next to a friend’s brother in the Gents, complaining, as I had all season to anyone who’d listen, about the people who sit behind me. As I got into my stride, a look of awful realization came over his face.
Tim Springett looks at the implications of the Bosman case for clubs' youth football policies, and comes up with a novel idea
One of the more apocalyptic consequences of the Bosman judgment is the very real fear that clubs, particularly those outside of the Premiership, will cut back their youth development programmes as a consequence of no longer obtaining transfer fees for players they produce. ‘Sell to survive’ will no longer be possible. Clubs have, traditionally, relied upon transfer income to finance their youth policies; Lincoln City commented recently that the £500,000 they received from Newcastle United for Darren Huckerby will pay for heir youth scheme for four years. If the players these clubs train will simply be poached by richer rivals with no recompense available, what incentive will there be to recruit and train youngsters?