Despite a successful pre-season tournament in Northern Ireland, it was all rather meaningless, as Davy Millar explains

The inaugural Belfast Carlsberg Challenge was adjudged to be a great success by nearly everyone involved. The promoter made a profit and Linfield and Glentoran each pocketed £50,000 for their efforts. Liverpool re-established contact with their Irish fans, sold a few more replica kits and got some much-needed trophy-lifting practice thrown in. And even if Feyenoord seemed occasionally confused by events, especially in defence, at least it got them out of the house for a while.

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Tony Morris gives us a brief history of Tranmere Rovers

1885 Belmont FC change their name to Tranmere Rovers. Fielding players from a Methodist chapel, the righteous Rovers win their first home game 10-0 against Liverpool North End.

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In last month's issue we asked for your views on England's 2006 World Cup Bid and Manchester Utd's exemption from the FA Cup. Roger Titford digests the results

Here are some early views on the burning issues culled from our reader survey in WSC No 150. We looked at the first 500 ques­tionnaires to come in and found plenty of dis­gruntlement with the FA. No change there, some might say.

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A poor performance while on international duty could have a more worrying effect on a player's domestic club than meets the eye, writes Neil Wills

When Martin Palermo missed three penalties against Colombia he unwittingly wrote him­self into the Copa America record books. What he probably did not realise at the time (hey, he probably had other things on his mind) was that his profligacy from 12 yards would have far-reaching repercussions for British football clubs in this age of the market.

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With the attention of off-field matters increasingly turning towards the finances of the game, how long can football clubs survive working on unsustainable budgets?

It’s an unlikely feat, but the youngster seems to have pulled it off. Even in a sum­mer when words such as “Office of Fair Trading” and “minister for sport” have been grappling for our attention, nothing has hit the high notes on the Yawnometer quite like a mention of Nicolas Anelka.

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