Saturday 2 Man Utd go six points clear with a 2‑1 win at Middlesbrough. Gareth Southgate accuses Cristiano Ronaldo of cheating to earn a penalty for the opening goal. “The lad’s got history,” he growls, sounding like he’s on The Bill. “I’m not scared of the word ‘crisis’,” says Arsène, as Arsenal beat Spurs 3‑0 to go third, helped by two iffy penalties awarded by Graham Poll. Arsène and Thierry have a pre-match row over the latter being rested. Liverpool end their away hoodoo, winning 4‑0 at Wigan. Charlton lose 2‑1 at Sheffield United, Keith Gillespie scoring the winner in the 88th minute. “There is a confidence problem being bottom of the league,” says Les Reed. Birmingham top the Championship with a 3‑0 win at home to Plymouth. Preston lose 2‑0 at Luton. Cardiff draw 0‑0 at Colchester, their fourth game without a goal. Leeds stay in the drop zone after a 2‑2 draw at home to Barnsley. In the Cup, Tamworth are into round three, while four League One clubs lose to League Two sides including Tranmere, beaten 2‑1 at home by Peterborough, and Port Vale, who crash 4‑0 at Hereford.
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Stories
Glen Wilson reports on how you could have played in the last game at Belle Vue
At the final whistle in Brighton’s last game at the Goldstone Ground, in April 1997, the fans proceeded to do two things: invade the pitch and tear the place apart. Neither through malice nor a penchant for violence, but just simply in an effort to claim something of what they believed was theirs. Fans left clutching pieces of turf, seats or, in one fairly impressive case, the large clock from the ground’s south-east corner. It was, in its emotion and spontaneity, a fitting fans’ farewell.
Five years after blazing their way out of the Football League (with an arsonist at the helm), Doncaster are back, to the delight of Glen Wilson
In the underpass at Doncaster station there is an advertisement for a local nightclub, which reads: “Can you make Doncaster what they made Carlisle?” Anyone passing through may be forgiven for thinking that the people of Doncaster don’t expect a lot in life. However, when it comes to football the expectations of the town are far greater. Almost 10,000 Doncaster supporters made the trip to Stoke for the first ever Conference promotion final, in the hope that this would be the season in which Rovers finally regained their place in the Football League.
Tom Davies takes a look at four clubs in the news for the wrong reasons
The controversial Tony Petty is still in charge at Swansea after winning a legal battle with the former City captain Mel Nurse on November 23. Trouble began after Petty bought the club from the previous owners, Ninth Floor (effectively former chairman Mike Lewis), for £1 in September and promptly tried to sack or reduce the wages of 15 members of staff . “If the players’ contracts had been continued, there would not be a club here,” he claimed.
South Yorkshire's clubs can learn from the trials of their rugby league neighbours. Dick Roebuck reports
Somewhere along the A61 connecting Barnsley with Wakefield there is a disruption in the sports-time continuum. Things are similar but not the same. This is the frontier between football and rugby league, a Checkpoint Charlie dividing the sporting affections of Yorkshire’s working classes.