Ed Parkinson reflects on a unique electoral victory in Hartlepool
The ashen face of Peter Mandelson said it all. As he glared across the count at the celebrating 7ft monkey in a Hartlepool shirt, it was clear that he understood his party had just suffered a humiliating defeat of gargantuan proportions. Arhur Preece, the ancient LibDem candidate for mayor, got the message too and retired from politics only days later.
Burnley have nurtured a community-conscious image, but their response to this summer's riots confirmed the club's blind spot over racism, says Andrew Firmin
The last few years have been strange ones for Burnley. We no longer fight relegation to the Third Division, but instead hold plausible hopes of a top six finish in the First. A new regime runs the club, season ticket sales are through the roof and our manager has put together a team that wins a lot. Supporters are, therefore, mostly happy. They also have an opportunity to feel more involved. Representatives from Burnley’s diffuse network of supporters’ clubs are treated to regular meetings with the chairman and chief executive. Compare to the infamous days when one director asked: “What can a fan tell us that we don’t know?”
John Williams looks at the explosion of books nostalgic for the days of mass hooliganism
At West Ham in late September, a few away travel truths struck home a little more sharply than I can remember before. The District Line train eastbound at 2.30 was thinly populated. A number of passengers were Europeans, picking up a Premier League game between the Hammers and Liverpool while on holiday in London. Other Liverpool fans (and their kids) were openly wearing dispiritingly new team shirts.
The Kick It Out campaign entered its second season with a presentation of a report, Alive and Still Kicking, produced by three researchers at Goldsmiths College, Les Back, Tim Crabbe and John Solomos, who offer their views on the progress made by the campain
Monday, 21st October saw the latest relaunch of the “Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football Campaign”. With such launches now becoming something of an annual event and the media becoming a little tired of the subject matter, the sceptic might be left asking what new there is to say. Indeed, anyone attending last year’s launch might have been left to wonder whether there was any point to carrying on anyway, given the almost universal declaration from the panel that racism was not really much of a problem anymore.