With the division struggling to grow, the Welsh Premier League could be set to move to the summer, writes Owen Amos
Summer – great, isn’t it? Warm air, green trees, and light nights. Marvellous. But there’s one problem: no football.
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TNS, the Welsh side famously named after a computing firm, have kept their initials but have a new name, a new ground – and a new country to play in. Owen Amos reports on the Oswestry border wars
Which two sides with grounds in England don’t play in an English league? There’s Berwick Rangers, of course. And now, joining them in the pub quiz, are The New Saints, of the Welsh Premier League. The Saints, formerly known as Total Network Solutions – them who played Liverpool in 2005 – moved in September from Llansantffraid, in Wales, to Oswestry, half a dozen miles away and over the border in Shropshire.
Dear WSC
The revival of Lok Leipzig as detailed in your Germany supplement (WSC 231) is not quite the heart-warming story it might appear to be. FC United have been asked to play Lok in a friendly soon, but they are having reservations about doing so. The main problem centres on the fact that Lok’s support contains a significant fascist element. This is sadly not a new development in the region – extreme right politics have long been seen as a form of rebellion by disaffected youth in the former East Germany. However, there is little sign that the club themselves recognise this as a problem. The fact that Lok’s owner, now a successful businessman, was once the leader of the club’s hooligan fringe (albeit not a neo-Nazi) does not encourage hopes that steps will be taken to discourage the boneheads. As I understand it, the consensus in Manchester is that FC United will play in Leipzig but only if they are able to use the occasion to draw attention to grassroots anti-fascist campaigns in the former DDR. Whether this will be acceptable to the Lok leadership remains to be seen.
Tony Barraclough, via email
Manchester United's new deal with AIG is set to net them £14.1m a year. Steve Menary reports on the big business that is shirt sponsorship
That sponsorship is taking over football is a routine gripe from fans, but clubs are unlikely to agree. The total value of shirt sponsorship across the top flights of England, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain is £238 million this season, according to consultant Sports+Markt. That figure is 40 per cent up on 2000-01; no wonder Manchester United squeezed every pip out of their latest deal.
TNS did Wales proud against Liverpool, but Carmarthen and Rhyl went one better, as Paul Ashley-Jones explains
You wait for ages for a European club success for Wales, then three come round at once. While TNS’s 6-0 aggregate defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League may look like a whitewash, the Welsh club did not disgrace themselves and the result would have been a lot closer had it not been for Steven Gerrard’s late goals. The real plaudits, however, must go to Rhyl and Carmarthen Town for their first preliminary round victories in the UEFA Cup.