Burkina Faso staged the recent African Nations Cup. Piers Edwards reviews all the action from the thrilling yet controversial tournament
Burkina ’98 was the most successful ever African Nations Cup according to those who had attended previous championships, with the friendly Burkinabe proving far more receptive to the tournament than the South Africans had been two years earlier.
Gary Oliver analyses the impact of any premature elimination from European football for Rangers
Following Rangers’ trouncing in Gothenburg, acting skipper Jonas Thern complained that he had suffered cramp through having to cover for colleagues who had gone AWOL. But it was not only certain players whose whereabouts were unknown: Walter Smith vanished until the following week, it later emerging that he had been in hospital for a minor operation. Numbed by watching his latest batch of expensive imports capitulate in almost unimaginable fashion, Smith would have had little need for an anaesthetic.
Dear WSC
A couple of things about the Back, Crabbe and Solomos article on racism in WSC No 118 which I thought was good and said a few things which needed saying. Most of the academic stuff linking hooliganism and racism was actually about support for the national team in the 1980s and 90s. Multi-cultural hooligan groups have been around for a while as Back and co say, but isn’t it mysterious that only their white members turned up to watch England, especially away? They knew what the score was for these kind of events, and violent racism was indeed central to trouble involving England fans abroad for a long time. Secondly, implying that multi-racial hooligan groups are themselves non-racist raises difficult conceptual issues of course; but try telling the Asian community in Newham in the 1980s, for example, that they weren’t sometimes explicit targets of combined back and white hooliganism and racism at West Ham and you might get some puzzled looks. Thirdly, the article’s point about opposing banal racism is important, but it would help if people involved in the campaign sang from the same hymn sheet. What chance do we have of dealing with the old (white) men on the terrace who often equate racism with a critique of redheads, if Ian Wright at the AGARI launch himself describes racism as being like “picking on people with big ears” or “people who are bald”. Saying, well, Wright’s ‘just a footballer’ or ‘just a working class lad’ won’t due unless we’re willing to say the same about his white equivalents most of whom even now don’t take racism seriously enough for exactly these sorts of reasons. Had a prominent white player made the same comment who knows what kind of press he might have had.
John Williams, Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research, Leicester
Dear WSC
Steve Hughes’ thoughts on curved roof design (Letters, WSC No 114) are so far wide of the mark as to be laughable. The curved roof at Huddersfield is anything but a fashion statement. Instead, it stems from the architects taking a fresh look at stadium design, and seeking to improve the view for the average punter. To put it simply, the roof is curved because the stands are curved. Before anyone replies attacking the new and dangerous fashion of ‘curved stands’, may I point out the reason for this design. The curved stands mean there are no seats in the far top corners of the ground, as there are no corners! This makes it impossible to sit further than 90 yards from the centre circle and thus gives the paying customer a better view of the game. The curved roof keeps the spectators dry without needing any of those irritating posts that tend to block the view of the game. If Steve Hughes really wants to see a football ground that looks like a supermarket, I suggest he looks at another of Britain’s new stadiums, not Huddersfield. Wolves, Middlesbrough, Chester, Scunthorpe and Walsall have all built grounds in Sainsbury’s style. They may be aesthetically pleasing to Mr Hughes, but they aren’t much good for watching football in.
Robin Stewart, Huddersfield
Dear WSC
Continuing on the debate about those heartbroken fans of Newcastle, one has to ask where these ‘devoted’ supporters were a few years ago. Commentators frequently reminisce about the dark old days of Newcastle when the club was on the verge of bankruptcy on gates just above 10,000. There is the same fickle element at Middlesbrough – at Ayresome Park back in 1993, matches attracted around 8,000. Now they’d expect 28,000 for a League match against Wimbledon! I can only have limited sympathy for the Toon Army, and even less for the tens of thousands of supporters on the season ticket waiting list. If they’d bought one in 1990, they would have one by now. If would seem that Newcastle’s chums Sunderland are the only ‘North East giant’ with fans of any loyalty: they brought 5,000 to Watford this year – and that was on a wet Tuesday night!
Will Ginster, Chesham