It seems that everyone in Britain thinks we have the hardest centre-halves. Matt Nation disagrees

There appears to be a stipulation in certain player-turned-TV-pundits’ contracts which dictates that, at least twice a sea­son, the audience must be told just how much one six-footer is looking forward to kicking lumps out of another six-footer in the game coming up on Saturday. Similarly, the pundits’ stooge is obliged to inform the camera just how much the fans will be looking forward to it as well. Their failure to use the phrase “Clash of the Titans” represents potential grounds for instant dismissal.

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Dear WSC
Geoff Leonard (WSC 152) shouldn’t dismiss his Murphy’s Mob theory so hastily. Consider this: from 1982 to 1984, Murphy’s Mob was filmed at Vicarage Road. In that time, Watford were promoted to the First Division for the first time in their history, finished second in their first season there and reached the FA Cup final. From 1984 to 1997, Watford achiev­ed little of any great note. From 1997 to 1999, Sky One’s Dream Team was film­ed at Vicarage Road. In that time, Watford won the Second Division and then went straight up to the Premiership. Coincidence? You decide. Sadly, Dream Team’s Harchester United have now moved to the Theatre of Dreams, aka the New Den. Bad news for us Hornets fans, but a glimmer of hope for the Millwall faithful?
Tim Turner, London N4

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After looking painstakingly through all the surveys our readers sent in, Roger Titford explains the results

In an unusual turnabout, this year’s WSC survey gives Sepp Blatter a helping hand. Ever anticipating the key issues, we asked what damage you thought the number of foreign players was causing the game to­day. Of the first 900 questionnaires re­turned, 50 per cent said the England team was suffering, 45 per cent saw damage in the Premiership, 35 per cent in the Scot­tish Premier League and 30 per cent to the Scottish national side. Only 29 per cent felt the number of foreign players causing no damage anywhere in the game. Thirty-two per cent felt, like Sepp, the restrictions should be tightened, but 51 per cent thought they were about right.

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Jamie Rainbow checks out non-league on the web, plus a look at some of the more interesting unofficial club sites

The Non-League on the Net site was recommended by someone who feared it was in danger of closing down due to lack of interest. It shouldn’t do, as in terms of content and appearance it’s got more to offer than your average club site. Furthermore, if you follow a non-League side, you’re more likely to find out information about them here than anywhere else. There’s plenty of it, too, not just on the Conference but on the feeder leagues and beyond.

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Dave Espley remembers a time when his beloved Stockport County players would arrive at the ground using much simpler methods

It was my dad who first disillusioned me. It was teatime in the mid-Seventies, and I was watching The Tomorrow People. He arrived home from work and dropped the bombshell. “I’ve just seen Johnny Griffiths in Mersey Square.” Johnny Griffiths? Scorer of a fantastic 13 goals in 1972-73? The man who personified all that was glamorous about Seventies football to my prepubescent eyes? Wow! Must affect nonchalance. “Yeah? What was he doing?” Casing the centre of Stockport for a site for his new boutique? Cutting the ribbon of the new Tesco? 

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