Dear WSC
The letter about spectators leaving games early (WSC 265) reminded me of a father and son who were regulars in the Enclosure at Fulham in the 1980s. They were quite an unappealing pair generally, prone to loud and unfunny abuse of both sets of players and especially of the match officials. The father would often attempt to get a slow handclap going when there was a stoppage in play. Without fail they would leave several minutes before the end of game, even if Fulham were on the attack and pressing for an equaliser or, more often, grimly hanging on for a draw. They’d always look immensely pleased with themselves as they edged along the terrace, as though beating the post-match rush was a major victory. They stopped appearing at games eventually so it must have occurred to them that the only guaranteed way to avoid getting stuck in traffic would be to not leave the house at all.
Rob Henderson, Cirencester
Search: ' fan ownership Scotland'
Stories
Supporters Direct is gaining momentum and credibility, with friends in high places. Adam Brown reports on their annual conference
A cabinet minister making a keynote address, a speech by the chair of the FA and even the shadow sports minister in on the act – it’s hardly what you would expect at a conference for several hundred fan activists. But this signalled just how far Supporters Direct, the government-funded agency promoting fan ownership of clubs, has travelled as it held its 2008 conference.
Gretna supporters have attempted to keep their club alive after their dramatic demise, reports Andy Fury
The small town of Annan in Dumfries and Galloway has seen several new footballing dawns recently. The most highly publicised is its own football club’s election to the Scottish Football League. Its other, rather ironically, is the resurrection of the club Annan Athletic replaced in Division Three, Gretna FC.
Friday 1 Leeds’ administrators are to recount the votes taken at a creditors’ meeting, which appeared to narrowly favour Ken Bates’s proposed takeover. Nigel Worthington is to manage Northern Ireland until the end of their Euro 2008 qualifiers in November. England concede a last-minute equaliser in a 1‑1 draw with Brazil, John Terry having put them ahead in their return to Wembley. “The key thing was the amount of passion that the players showed,” says Steve McClaren, as desperate as ever.
The FA Cup final should be back at Wembley in May, but what was once the English game’s great showpiece is now almost a sideshow, argues Jon Spurling
On the eve of Leeds United’s defeat of Arsenal in the 1972 FA Cup final, captain Billy Bremner said: “I’ve won a Championship medal, a European medal and countless Scotland caps, but sometimes I think I’d swap the lot for an FA Cup winners’ medal.” A few hours later, Bremner professed delight “with my new prized possession”. How attitudes have changed. In his autobiography, Roy Keane described the showpiece occasion as “little more than an afterthought”, and Patrick Vieira admitted that Arsenal’s triumph in the 2005 final “can’t possibly make up for the disappointment of losing the league crown”.