When Saturday Comes | The half decent football magazine

Decline and fall

Monaco were Champions League regulars a decade ago but now they are trying to avoid consecutive relegations, writes James Eastham

Eight years ago Monaco reached the Champions League final. They are now battling against relegation to France’s semi-professional third tier. It is a familiar story of decline. Since Didier Deschamps quit as coach 16 months after that European summit against Porto, a succession of managers, directors and presidents have been turfed out or walked away. Each has taken with him a blueprint for success that either failed or was dropped before coming to fruition.

Thursday, March 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Out of time

As Arsenal celebrate their 125th anniversary with the unveiling of three bronze statues outside the Emirates, Jon Spurling looks at their somewhat disputed origins

With a parade of former stars prior to the league victory over Everton, and the official unveiling of the bronze statues of Herbert Chapman, Thierry Henry and Tony Adams outside the Emirates Stadium the day before, Arsenal celebrated their 125th anniversary in some style. Over the last few years, the Arsenal History Project, run by the Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association (AISA), has undertaken a review of the club’s often murky formative years. One of the main drivers of the Arsenal History Project, Tony Attwood, commented on his blog: “In the early days of writing histories of the club, people relied on their memories or occasional comments from others. This built up a range of documentation all based on the flimsiest of evidence.” The Woolwich Arsenal blog has highlighted and questioned several elements of the story of the club previously been taken as gospel.

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Life after David

Ian Plenderleith asks: How will football in America move forward without the newly crowned MLS Cup-winner David Beckham?

Major League Soccer has learned one major lesson from the big leagues in Europe it aspires to eventually compete with, and that is the ability to blow its own trumpet. Crowds are up! Sponsorship and TV revenues are up! New stadiums are being built! We are expanding the number of teams every season! Big name players are coming from abroad!

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Trap door

After their first leg play-off win, Lee Daly reflects on Ireland’s Euro 2012 qualification campaign

Despite the Republic of Ireland scoring four goals in their away victory against Estonia in the first leg of their Euro 2012 play-off, the most ambitious Irish performance of the night was from fan Conor Cunningham. He managed to sneak past security into the stadium and make it onto the pitch, disguised in an Estonian team tracksuit top. Cunningham sat in the home team dugout and celebrated with the Irish players after their victory. He became an overnight media sensation and made several appearances on radio explaining he was as surprised as anyone that he wasn’t found out until after the final whistle.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Bucking the trend

A principled former Premier League striker is raising money and awareness for charities in Africa. Dermot Corrigan explains

On December 30 last year, while most Spanish footballers were on their winter break, 60 African and European players were at Atlético Madrid’s Vicente Calderón stadium for a charity Champions for Africa game organised by Sevilla’s Frédéric Kanouté. Over 40,000 fans paid in to see a José Mourinho-managed Africa United team, featuring players such as Kanouté, Lass Diarra and Carlos Kameni, win 3-2 against a Spanish League selection captained by Sergio Ramos and including Kun Agüero, David Trezeguet and Juan Valerón.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive

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Stories

Decline and fall

Monaco were Champions League regulars a decade ago but now they are trying to avoid consecutive relegations, writes James Eastham

Out of time

As Arsenal celebrate their 125th anniversary with the unveiling of three bronze statues outside the Emirates, Jon Spurling looks at their somewhat disputed origins

Life after David

Ian Plenderleith asks: How will football in America move forward without the newly crowned MLS Cup-winner David Beckham?

Trap door

After their first leg play-off win, Lee Daly reflects on Ireland’s Euro 2012 qualification campaign

Bucking the trend

A principled former Premier League striker is raising money and awareness for charities in Africa. Dermot Corrigan explains