The Archive

Opened in 1871, one of the oldest football grounds still in use will shut at the end of the season. While grumbles about the football will always endure, some things will never be the same again, says Roger Titford

The first Taylor Report into ground safety appeared in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall was breached. Just like the Berlin Wall, there’s precious little left standing today of our traditional Football League stadiums. One of these terraced grounds really ought to have been preserved in its entirety for the nation by English Heritage but instead I pay homage to Saltergate, while a few fixtures remain.

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Sean Barnes dreamed of becoming a Premier League manager and so signed up for an FA coaching course. But his new career path has reached a hurdle and it's not due to lack of time or inclination

Last summer I went through a personal crisis and bought an unnecessarily large television, a train ticket from the 1930s, searched everywhere for a white leather jacket and resolved to learn to play the harmonica.

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Adam Powley takes in the story of a footballer and soldier who broke race and class barriers but is yet to be officially recognised

The experiences of one of British football’s black pioneers, and his courageous efforts to overcome adversity and break down barriers both in sport and the armed forces, has long merited an in-depth study. Now campaigners hope that a new book about Walter Tull will add impetus to the calls for him to receive the posthumous military honour his bravery deserved.

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Nonsensical immigration rules and poor administration are holding back football across east Africa. Steve Bloomfield reports

McDonald Mariga should have been the first Kenyan to play in the Premier League. The fact he now finds himself playing for Internazionale means no one should feel too sorry for him. However, the failure of Manchester City to sign him on transfer deadline day highlights the problem with Britain’s immigration rules for football – rules which are holding back the development of the game in east Africa.

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Dear WSC
I was very interested in the letter (WSC 276) discussing the topic of the Duckworth-Lewis of football that is stoppage time. Are there any WSC readers who are aware of stoppage allowance for cheating ball boys? I attended Colchester v Southampton in December 2009. The home side took a two-goal lead before the Saints slowly clawed their way back into the game. However, our momentum was thwarted by a series of ingenious defensive set-pieces that can only be attributed to hours of practice on the training ground. They went like this: ball goes off for a Saints throw or goal-kick, ball boys strategically placed around the ground retrieve the ball in exaggerated slow motion or, if the pressure was really on, then not at all. One very clever set-piece saw the ball rest at the feet of the ball boy. He then sat motionless on his stool causing Kelvin Davis to have to race 20 yards to retrieve the ball. Should the fourth official have added stoppage time to thwart this cunning plan? And have any other away teams been subjected to such coaching genius?
Tony Cole, Leigh on Sea

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