Search: ' Dele Alli'

Mike Ashley is reviled by many fans, but according to Mark Brophy, his tough financial policies are making Newcastle self-sufficient

As Newcastle United faced relegation in 2009, they were heavily in debt with one of the highest-paid squads in the Premier League and an owner who was trying to cut his losses by selling the club. Many expected a tumble down the divisions and an imminent financial collapse. Just over two years later, following promotion, consolidation, a summer of turmoil and the unlikeliest of good starts, Newcastle sit near the top of the league, like an urchin crashing a society party. Perhaps more importantly, the finances of the club are under control.

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The military’s presence in football is over the top

Now that Colonel Gaddafi has left us, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has no rival as the UK media’s favourite international hate figure. He cemented this position last month with startlingly crass comments about racism in football. Racist abuse between players on the pitch, he declared, should be forgotten about at the end of the match and resolved with a handshake. Coming as close as he ever has to admitting a mistake, Blatter then sought to “clarify” his comments, but the damage had been done.

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Sepp Blatter’s native country is inextricably linked to FIFA. But Paul Joyce has noticed a hardening of the mood in Switzerland

Sepp Blatter has always marketed himself as a humble Swiss patriot who has transformed Zürich into “the capital of FIFA, the capital of football”. Yet his compatriots are growing increasingly disenchanted with the self-made man from the canton of Valais. In a survey conducted by the Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten in May, 86 per cent of its readers thought that Blatter was guilty of corruption. And, as his organisation lurches from crisis to crisis, pressure is mounting in Switzerland for regulationson football’s governing body to be tightened dramatically.

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International tournaments don't always attract local supporters and ticketing arrangements rarely help. Mark Brophy explains

A team of FIFA delegates recently visited England on a fact-finding tour to aid the choice of host nation for the 2018 World Cup. There was much for the English bid team to promote including the existing stadiums, the tourist infrastructure and the tradition of the game in this country, none of which could have failed to impress the delegation. Great play was also made of the passion of our fans. But how many home fans will actually turn up for games should the bid be successful?

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The Reinvention of Leeds United
Anthony Clavane
Yellow Jersey, £16.99
Reviewed by David Stubbs
From WSC 285 November 2010

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Thanks to the searing influence of David Peace, Leeds Utd currently burn vividly on the collective consciousness. It helps that their team-sheet remained so constant under Don Revie – nine of the 1963-64 promotion squad were still regulars nearly a decade later. Even many non-supporters of a certain age can recite the classic line-up, as easily as if it were the Dad's Army platoon – Sprake, Reaney, Cooper, Madeley, etc, invariably culminating in Bates – Mick Bates, the perennial substitute and Private Sponge of the organisation.

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