Brazil v Guatemala, CONCACAF Gold Cup, February 5th 1998, Miami. Neil Wills witnessed a shock result
Every so often something comes along which imbues life with fresh meaning. Such an occurrence befell several million people simultaneously on an otherwise ordinary day in February 1998. It is sad to recount that the incident in question was of no greater import than a football match, but there you go: sometimes you have to take what you can get.
Jamie Rainbow takes a look at club websites from Yorkshire, Wales and the West Midlands
Being defined by whom one hates, rather than who one is, can cause no end of problems. Just look, for example, at The Square Ball, a fanzine-cum-website devoted to Leeds United. In terms of who to support, the forthcoming European Cup final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich has caused much anxiety. Should Leeds fans be influenced by a “long-term dislike of Man U” or a “burning sense of injustice from the 1975 European Cup Final”? Or, like the rest of us, should they get on with their life and just enjoy the game on its merits?
Winning promotion to the League proved to be a disaster for Maidstone United. Steve Hemsley is watching their slow climb back
Believe it or not, one of the most sought-after football programmes in Kent is for Scunthorpe United’s opening game of the 1992-93 season. The reason for this oddity is that it was the last Football League programme published for a game involving Maidstone United.
Cheltenham Town are to become the Football League’s newest members. Mark Herron explains how they did it
In 1994, the new chairman of Cheltenham Town’s neighbours and Doc Martens League rivals Gloucester City announced matter of factly that the team would win promotion to the Conference within two years, to the Football League within five and would throw in an appearance in the FA Trophy final for good measure.
Hankies out for the European Cup-Winners Cup, which ended its days at Villa Park on May 19, 1999. Cris Freddi looks back on a trophy largely unloved outside Magdeburg.
So farewell then ECWC. No more clogging up sentences with “European Cup-Winners Cup quarter-final second leg”. The last of the three Euro competitions to be founded is the first to disappear. Fair enough, perhaps, and I suspect it won’t be unduly mourned.