The supporter-led takeover was a start for Rushden & Diamonds, but for Graham Dunbar there's still a long way to go yet
For a brief few days at the end of last season, Rushden was near the centre of our sporting universe. Homegrown local players showing off their abundant natural talent in a theatre of dreams, watched by a live television audience numbered in millions. Of course, they were doing it in waistcoats while brandishing a stick of wood at the Crucible.
A new season, a new feature: each issue we pick outa match that helps us take the temperature of the game today. Where better to start than League Two? Al Needham reports
There are three important things you need to know about Mansfield. The first important thing is that Mansfield is one of those almost mythical places – a mining town that still displays signs of life. When you make the journey by train, you can see enormous pit wheels sunk into the ground, in memoriam of former colliery sites, and fear the worst. But no – there’s a very nice retail estate directly opposite the local club’s ground, thoughtfully designed to blend in with the dull, corrugated barns that are the west and north stands of Field Mill. Imagine Southend wrenched from its moorings and planted deep into the heart of the English countryside. That’s Mansfield.
Neil Reynolds examines Lee Hughes's relationship with his hometown club West Bromwich Albion
It’s often said that scoring a goal is better than sex. If that’s true, then losing a prolific goalscorer to another local team is like catching your wife in bed with your next door neighbour. And so it was with Lee Hughes.