Search: 'Poole Town'

It sounds like a dream. A young man plucked from a building site and now scoring goals freely in the Football League. Scott Anthony recounts the story of Charlie Austin

When Charlie Austin swept in Swindon Town’s opener in their 3-0 victory over Leeds United it marked a truly remarkable ascent through the football pyramid. After arriving at the County Ground from Wessex League Poole Town in the summer, 20-year-old Austin has become a scoring sensation. At the time of writing he had notched 15 goals in 23 games, a ratio that bears comparison with much-hyped peers such as Jermaine Beckford and Jordan Rhodes. Austin is “constantly pinching myself”, League One defences are consistently being shredded. For Swindon promotion is a possibility, for Austin there is talk of an England Under-21 bow.

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Administration has hit Bournemouth hard, making relagtion secondary to financial survival, writes Steve Menary

Many Bournemouth fans will have mixed feelings when Harry Redknapp leads out Portsmouth at the FA Cup final. In 1986-87 Redknapp won the Cherries’ first ever promotion to Division Two, but the club he left behind four years later have never been in such a state. Bournemouth fans were braced for a grim 2007-08 when the team took just two points from their first nine games. After sinking into administration, a ten-point deduction made staying up almost impossible – despite a remarkable revival under Kevin Bond, who had won six games in a row as WSC went to press. But just staying afloat is the main target.

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Dear WSC
Gabriele Marcotti is right (Letters WSC 217) when he points out that none of the performance-enhancing drugs at the cen­tre of the Juventus doping court case were actually illegal – apart from erythropoietin (EPO) – but the rather smug attitude of the club still leaves a bitter taste. As I understand it, it’s only recently that ways of detecting EPO usage have been perfected (in time for the Athens Olympics) which may explain why so few of the players at the club between 1994 and 1998 tested positive – and why Juve’s defence counsel, Paolo Trofino, and others are so confident that the prosecution will fail at the appeal stage. Also, it was never my intention in the article in WSC 215 to portray Robert Bag­gio, Paolo Montero etc as a bunch of thickies; more that their unhelpful attitude during the hearings had, at best, the whiff of a fudge about it. Sergio Campana, president of the Associazione Italiana Calciatori (the Ita­lian PFA), said after the verdict was an­nounced that he believed that all the players had acted in good faith. Does that then mean that, if the club were indeed administering doses of EPO, they lied to the players about what they were doing? And will the appeal, when it eventually comes round, throw any more light on proceedings? Probably best not to hold your breath.
Matt Barker, via email

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The recent racism row between Millwall and Burnley overlooked the work both clubs do to improve community relations. Glen Poole reports from the Lancashire town on their current equality projects

What are Burnley doing to tackle racism? Alastair Camp­bell sparked a major incident in March when he accused Millwall fans of racism towards Burnley players in his Times column. Stan Ternent, Theo Paphitis and even former Radio Four bad-boy Rod Liddle waded into the fight. But Campbell – a lifelong Burnley fan – had raised an important point that was lost amid the sound of handbags clashing. It isn’t just clubs that have to take responsibility for the problem, but also fans and communities. The issue of racism beyond the terraces is particularly pertinent in Burnley, where the disturbances of 2001 and the subsequent BNP electoral gains have placed the town in the media spotlight. 

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Dear WSC
As one of the few people in Scotland, outside of Glasgow, still supporting my own club I feel I must display a hopeless bias against Rangers.It is about time they played in England, as I for one have had enough of them ruining Scotland’s reputation in Europe. As a country we are seen as having limited success with even more limited resources, but every year Rangers go out and make Europe think Scotland are shit. Having seen Hearts lose on away goals to Red Star Belgrade (who were one of the best teams in Europe a few years ago), Aberdeen go out after putting up a good fight (visits to Wales excepted) and Celtic not exactly disgrace the whole nation, we must watch Rangers get stuffed by any team that fancies a go, except Alania Vladikavkaz. Rangers were beaten by Juventus, Ajax, Auxerre and Grasshoppers of Zurich along with another few teams I can’t be bothered naming. Add this to their stunning 1-0 aggregate victory over the champions of Cyprus two years ago and it becomes obvious that Rangers lack the fighting spirit displayed by the Scots in Europe (remember Motherwell v Dortmund?).Secondly, what is this assumption that Rangers would automatically join the Premiership? Any team that plays Richard Gough, Stuart McCall, Erik Bo Anderson and Peter Van Vossen on a regular basis should be playing in the Second Division at best.
Graham DR Lee, Heriot-Watt University

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