Search: ' Lille'

Adam Bate explores the unwanted attention that success in Europe’s lesser leagues has brought from the big fish in England and Spain

“Before we declare that Wolverhampton are invincible, let them go to Moscow and Budapest. And there are other internationally renowned clubs: AC Milan and Real Madrid to name but two. A club world championship, or at least a European one – larger, more meaningful and more prestigious than the Mitropa Cup and more original than a competition for national teams – should be launched.”

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The traditional big clubs of Ligue 1 are being challenged by an astutely assembled teams of upstarts. James Eastham explains

The only way you can tell it’s matchday in Lille is by looking at the buses. If there’s a game on, the slogan “Allez Le LOSC” runs where the name of the destination normally is (LOSC being the acronym for Lille Olympique Sporting Club). But wander into any of the city centre bars showing football and you’re likely to find the majority of the locals sampling the beers the region is famous for barely glance up at the screens.

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John Chapman looks at how enduring financial problems have finally bankrupted a top-flight Belgian club

The francophone Belgian city of Mouscron is close to both the country’s border with France and the linguistic boundary with Dutch-speaking Flanders. Its football club, Royal Excelsior Mouscron, has drawn fans from all three communities. Entering the First Division in 1996, Mouscron never challenged for the title but introduced some useful players, most notably the Mpenza brothers, Émile and Mbo.

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by Davie Hay
Black & White, £17.99
Reviewed by Graham McColl
From WSC 276 February 2010

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One of the “Lisbon Lion cubs” groomed to replace Celtic’s European Cup winners, Davie Hay’s three departures from Celtic Park were almost as significant as his achievements there. Eased out to Chelsea in 1974 after going on strike, in 1987 he became the first Celtic manager to be sacked and was sacked again, when assistant general manager, during the club’s turbulent 1990s rebirth.

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This month marks the 40th anniversary of League games being shown live in Scandinavia, as Lars Siversten reports

“We don’t train tomorrow, so tonight we’re going out to celebrate. But if Exeter had equalised Leeds’ 2-1 lead at the death I would have cancelled the whole thing.” Surprisingly not the words of some overzealous Yorkshireman but those of Kjetil Rekdal, manager of Norwegian club Aalesunds FK, talking to the press after his team had gone through to the semi-finals of the Norwegian cup. How could shoddy defending in League One possibly endanger a group of jubilant Norwegian footballers’ plans for the evening?

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