Dear WSC
In WSC 157 there appeared an advertisement for a new book about Reading FC entitled Rusting Tin & Shiny Plastic. I feel obliged to point out that, although tin can certainly corrode, the only metal that actually rusts is iron. Clearly the “football cultural revolution” in Berkshire has failed to bring a knowledge of basic chemistry to the area. Tsk.
Eddie Edwards, via email
Davy Millar remembers a welcome disraction from the troubled times that haunted Belfast in the Seventies
Back in 1975 I rarely needed an excuse to leave school as quickly as possible but on April 16 there was a very good reason for making an even quicker departure than usual.
Football admission prices continue to rise unchecked. Matthew Foreman wonders why
“Anyone need tickets… Olympic Gallery? That’s £660.91… ” Unfortunately it’s not a tout on the make but the official price for the England v Argentina match. Of course, you could save a bit of cash by buying a Wembley season ticket, only £1,751.25 for ten games. Such extortionate prices for a ground about to be levelled leaves the government with what spin doctors euphemistically call a “credibility gap”.
John Williams of the Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research examines the findings from the latest Premier League fans survey and a similar report covering Nationwide League clubs
Embarking on the National Fan Survey is, even now after a few years of trying, still something of a dip into the unknown. Experienced clubs have a nasty habit of “forgetting” exactly what it was they had done last time to achieve a reasonable supporter sample. New recruits have to be carefully schooled in the job to be done.
As relegation looms and despair mounts across the land, Ian Plenderleith went online to see how fans of endangered clubs are coping
The season is reaching its zenith, but for some teams it’s more or less over. How are the fans of table-proppers across the leagues coping with despair and defeat with two months of the season still to go?