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.
Cris Freddi’s look back at the downside of football during the 20th century continues with some terrible Wembley occasions.
I may have bitten off more than I can chew here. With so many cup finals having been played at Wembley, you would assume it wouldn’t be hard to pick out a fair selection of turkeys.
Belgium have everything in place to host next year’s European Championship, except a reasonable football team. Jan Antonissen reports on the co-hosts’ disarray
What the hell is wrong with Belgian football? At the 1998 World Cup Belgium were clearly the most cowardly team. The team didn’t lose in France, not even to the Dutch, yet they were sent home after the first round. Since last summer, the inappropriately named Red Devils have even lost the ability to draw. They lost five games in a row, and on March 30th were humiliated by Egypt in front of an outraged crowd in Liège. Belgium has become a Third World football nation.
Matthew Brown explains why the Football in the Community scheme at Leyton Orient is setting a trend for others to follow
At the northern end of Brisbane Road, the street that gives its name to Leyton Orient’s home ground, beyond the players’ entrance and the club shop, is a small Portakabin-style building. Inside, a few old desks and chairs are scattered around two small rooms.
Al Needham bravely takes on Reds in the Hood by Terry Christian and If the Kids are United by Tony Hill, two reflections on Man Utd-obsessed childhoods
With Manchester United finally confirming their status as the team of the Nineties with probably their best season ever, it’s no surprise that large chunks of Brazil are being cut down as we speak for scores of officially endorsed ghostwritten McUnited product. Much of it will be as incisive as a plastic knife on a rhino, so perhaps we ought to play like David Mellor and let the fans have their say.