Pitch Publishing, £9.99
Reviewed by Catherine Etoe
From WSC 360, February 2017
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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.
Steve Menary wonders when it became so difficult to simply build a stadium
Why can no one build a national stadium in this country without the entire project becoming a total embarrassment? A date has finally been set for a £20 million high court dispute between two firms rebuilding Wembley and this showdown will take place next April – a month before the first FA Cup final at the rebuilt stadium.
Is women's football is due to make a big breakthrough on to the UK sport scene? Two writers have conflicting opinions
Yes ~
“Football is all very well as a game for rough girls, but it is hardly suitable for delicate boys.” So said Oscar Wilde. If the women’s game continues to develop at the pace witnessed during the past decade, this observation could soon gain common currency.
John Williams explains why the women's game in the UK is in need of a major overhaul
According to FIFA, 20 million women play organized football worldwide. In Scandinavia, where views about women as athletes, and almost anything else, are at least post-Jurassic, football is the most popular sport for females. Most local clubs cater for both male and female teams and foreign stars such as the USA’s Michelle Akers are brought over to join the semi-professional ranks. No surprise, then, that Norway won the recent women’s World Cup in Sweden and that they and Denmark are as tough as they come in international competition. England? Well, you reap what you sow; in Sweden we were simply outclassed by, no avoiding it now, the Germans.