Paul Ashley-Jones is hopeful that the competition can become as big as that in Scotland – just without the elite few dominating it
What were the aims of the LoW when it began? Have they been achieved?
The principal aim was to have a league that covered the whole of Wales and this was achieved. With the UK having long been criticised in international circles for having four represenative teams it was felt Wales needed a league to justify retaining the national side.
Paul Middleton has to swallow his pride and relive the events of Wigan Athletic's worst ever season
It all started in 1973 when I happened to notice the headline on the back of the local paper: Latics at Wembley! I knew that we had a football team in Wigan but they played teams with names like Prescot Cables and Goole Town, not Arsenal or Wolves. But here they were, in the final of the FA Trophy. I asked my dad, a staunch Man City fan, to take me. The 2-1 extra-time loss to Scarborough was disappointing, but hardly heartbreaking. Suddenly I was a lifelong fan.
Dear WSC
After hearing for the umpteenth time that 2001 is Tottenham’s year for the Cup (based on the well known logic that they always net the trophy when the year ends in “one”), it occurred to me that it is now ten years since Nottingham Forest let Brian Clough down royally in an inept Cup final display. If Tottenham fans think they’ve had a rough time in the ten years since, they should spare a thought for the eternally depressed Forest faithful who have seen their team slump from being a regular top-ten inhabitant in the top division, to being a penniless First Division club with nothing to look forward to apart from the semi-realistic possibility of Derby County joining us in the First. Sadly, the Nottingham public have no great passion for football and one can’t help wondering if the current situation would be different if we had the kind of committed support that the likes of Newcastle, Sunderland and Manchester City can claim.
Marcus Hesketh, via email
The demise of the Cup-Winners Cup means there are some European ties destined never to be repeated and Bangor City v Napoli is one of them. A shame, since the first meeting was very close. Cris Freddi looks back
This was the first European match played by either side, but no prizes for realising the comparisons end there. One of the big names of Serie A against something from the Cheshire League emerging blinking into the light. The two Argentinian forwards, Rosa and Tacchi, had cost more than Bangor’s entire income since the war. One team looked set for 90 minutes with their backs to the wall.
Tuesday 1 George Weah signs for Man City, saying: “I think this club deserves to get into Europe and that is the aim.” Steve Coppell leaves Crystal Palace to be replaced by another former manager Alan Smith.
Wednesday 2 Intertoto defeats for Bradford, beaten 3-0 at home by St Petersburg, and Villa, who lose 2-1 to Celta Vigo. The Swiss referee, who dismisses two Villa players and one from the visitors, ends the match two minutes early and has to restart. “He was an embarrassment to UEFA,” snarls John Gregory. David Hodgson resigns as Darlington manager after chairman George Reynolds asks the players to take a pay cut.