Saturday 3 Man Utd don’t manage a shot on target at home to Everton but still win with a deflected goal. Robbie Fowler’s revival continues with two in a 3-0 win over West Ham to take Liverpool up to third behind Arsenal, who win 1-0 at Coventry. Derby’s surprise 1-0 win over Sunderland takes them four points clear of the relegation zone, though they have three players booked in five minutes for disputing offside calls. Man City’s improved form continues with a 1-1 draw at the Riverside, though Joe Royle is furious that a Danny Tiatto goal is disallowed for offside: “The TV replay should embarrass the ref for the rest of his career.” Spurs’ goalless draw with Charlton is their fourth in a row: “We’ll just have to keep grinding our results until we get our strikers fit,” says George Graham with something approaching relish. In the First, Sheff Wed get another turn at the bottom after losing to Watford. “We have it all to do,” predicts Paul Jewell. Joe Kinnear moves one place up the Second Division table by becoming an “adviser” to second-bottom Luton.
Search: ' Boothferry Park'
Stories
The council wants to build Hull a new ground. David Lloyd, rugby league and crashing phone shares stand in the way Craig Ellyard reports
Prior to the Taylor Report, Hull City’s Boothferry Park was one of the newest football stadiums in the country. Yet even then, though barely 50 years old, the ground once described as the Wembley of the north was but a neglected shell of its former self. After Hillsborough, new and improved stadiums sprang up all over the country, yet Boothferry and its incumbent club continued to rot. Now, though, a bright future of shiny plastic seats and a trendy new super stadium awaits City supporters. Possibly.
Monday 1 Wimbledon’s owners heed the advice of their players and part company with Egil Olsen. Just in the nick of time?
Tuesday 2 West Ham face an FA enquiry after angry scenes at Highbury where Emmanuel Petit appears to handle the ball before scoring Arsenal’s injury-time winner. “I’m not one for chasing referees but everything he gave went their way,” says Harry, getting his breath back. John Fashanu wants the Wimbledon job: “I’ve decided to go for it. If you cut me open I would bleed Wimbledon through and through.” And Vinnie Jones follows suit: “Olsen was useless. Give me and Joe Kinnear the job and if we stay up, give us £200,00 each.” A club spokesman is unimpressed: “I wonder if Vinnie intends to donate the fee he got for slagging off the club to charity? Somehow I doubt it.” Jimmy Quinn is sacked by Swindon.
Wednesday 1 Holders Spurs slink out of the Worthington Cup at Fulham, their 3-1 defeat described by George Graham as "by far our worst performance since I became manager". A crowd of 17,000 sees Aston Villa trounce Southampton 4-0. "The crowds have been crap because we've played crap until tonight," says the forthright John Gregory. In the Scottish equivalent Rangers' mini-crisis continues with an extra-time defeat at Aberdeen (yes, Aberdeen). Huddersfield threaten legal action against the Football League for referee Jeff Winter's failure to award a penalty during their Worthington match against Wimbledon. That'll work. Darlington are the lucky losers drawn to play at Villa in the third round of the FA Cup. "I have a direct line to the big man upstairs," says their safe-cracking chairman. The government rejects plans for the new Wembley, on the grounds that it would not be able to stage major athletics tournaments as well as football matches.
Troubles at Hull City and confusion at Hasting Town and St Leonards
When clubs get rid of an unpopular owner, fans are naturally tempted to greet his successors with a relatively uncritical eye. Few at Hull City were sorry to see the back of David Lloyd and the new regime of chairman Nick Buchanan appears to have restored a measure of stability. However, there may still be trouble ahead.