Martin O’Neill has worked wonders at Leicester but, as John Williams explains, his mentor’s title-winning achievements are out of reach 

Earlier this season Leicester City, playing at home in the Worthington Cup and stinking out even Filbert Street’s Shanks and McEwan Stand (sponsor’s motto: “For all your waste needs”), found themselves two goals down to a Fulham side late in the match. The visitors had run the game and at most clubs this might already have been given up and put down as just a bad night. Not here. A whirling Martin O’Neill signalled a final throw, a new City partnership up front.

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Derby supporter Alistair Hewitt reflects on ow his expectations for the team have changed since the heady days of the Seventies

At home I have a dusty old copy of Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and a few Slade singles. Somewhere in the attic I’ve got school reports which told my mother how I was rude and lazy and cheated in exams. When the mood takes me, I can still recall how the sunshine brought out the freckles on the face of my first girlfriend.

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Brian Clough’s reign saw two clubs from the east midlands reach for the stars, then slump. Simon Tyers looks for the reasons why success didn’t last

It is not even as if the area can boast a great stadium with lots of history. While other English regions have grounds dripping with prestige and memories – Old Trafford, Anfield, Highbury, even Deepdale – the best the east midlands’ top three clubs can come up with are the City Ground, whose only real dis­tinguishing feature is that the Trent runs alongside it; Filbert Street, which looks as though it has stolen its stands from clubs in four different div­isions; and Pride Park, where the floodlight failure during its first League match ­couldn’t even be put down to sabotage by Malaysian gambling syndicates.

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Ian Plenderleith investigates the intrepid campaigns of political football fans

I once played in a radical football league in Germany called Outside Left, whose lack of pitch markings reflected its off-field philosophy – “We don’t have boundaries, but we do have goals.” The same slogan drives the Anarchist Soccer Leagues of the US east coast, and if you want to know how to found one, check the webpage of the Washington, DC Anarchist Soccer League. Their other favourite phrase is (reinterpreting anarchist Emma Goldman): “If I can’t play soccer, I don’t want any part of your revolution.” Enjoy the rare sight of goalposts topped by black flags.

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Saturday 1 A ten-point lead for Man Utd who thrash West Ham 7-1 – “It was one of those days when everything went right,” says Sir Alex  – while Big Dave’s babies lose for the third time in four games, 1-0 to Chelsea. Michael Owen’s tufty hair receives plenty of ruffling as he scores two in a 3-0 win at Coventry that takes Liverpool to within a point of Leeds. Southampton and Wimbledon both lose but Bradford fail to take advantage, beaten 2-0 at Newcastle. Watford still need eight points to avoid the worst ever Premiership total, their defensive frailties highlighted at Goodison Park, where even Mark Hughes manages to score in Everton’s 4-2 win. There’s violence in Birmingham, where home fans clash with Wolves supporters before their game at St Andrews, and in Bristol, with Stoke goalkeeper Kevin Ward attacked on the pitch by three Rovers fans at the end of the teams’ 3-3 draw. Trapdoor teasers Chester win again, 1-0 at Halifax, and draw level on points with fast sliding Shrewsbury. Hamilton’s match at Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Second Division is called off when the visiting team’s players go on strike over unpaid wages.

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