Ian Plenderleith takes a look at Rivals.net, a new site that brings unofficial online fanzines to one site, and Impnet, the Lincoln City fanzine that has signed up to the Rivals venture
Rivals.net is a new umbrella website for unofficial online fanzines. It is a joint venture between US-based online sports network Rivals.com and media giant Chrysalis Group plc which says it is providing “a powerful online soapbox that sees the future of sports media publishing placed in the hands of the fans”.
WSC’s almost annual roundtable brought together three contributors from different branches of the media to discuss trends in football reporting and a host of other relevant (and irrelevant) matters
WSC It’s often said that players these days are remote from the fans. But has the attitude of players towards journalists also changed now that many of them are so phenomenally wealthy?
When England meet Germany at Wembley, the managers will have more in common than the greying remnants of a perm, says Matt Nation
Anyone who has played in a support band or given a speech as best man at a wedding will know what it’s like to perform for an increasingly disgruntled audience. Expectation is great, pressure is enormous and, with the exception of the odd beer bottle winging through the air, rewards are few. In an attempt to make it all seem a little more attractive, such unfortunates are described in German, rather winsomely, as Pausenclowns.
Sierra Leone and Liberia are not favourites to qualify from African World Cup Group B, but as Alan Duncan reports, just being there is an achievement
It’s a tough job being secretary general of any Football Association. Worse still if you are administering the footballing fortunes of a little-known, war-torn African country. Alimu Bah, the secretary general of the Sierra Leone FA, has had much to contend with since the start of his tenure in 1996. Coups, counter-coups, death threats, a rebel invasion and the recurring ills of African football: poor infrastructure, lack of funds and a less then perfect organisational structure.
French clubs, heavy expoters of talent, are pleading with their government for help. Neil McCarthy believes it's an opportunity to make some serious reforms
The threat to the transfer system has come as a blow to French clubs just as they had found new confidence. Nicolas Anelka’s £22 million return to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer was the prime symbol of the new euphoria and, more importantly, the new money in French football. Behind the scenes, club presidents had begun to believe they could actually catch up with their English, Italian and Spanish rivals.