Supporting your club is now becoming more of a difficult task, argues Joyce Woolridge, due to the media's fake portrayal of football

“We’re trying to do something different with this show – to speak for the ordinary fan,” said the pleasant bloke from Wire TV which, several years ago, was one of the new cable stations. This proved to be an irresistible line. The idea that I had something to say allowed me to delude myself that the reason I was just popping down to the studios (in this case on the top floor of a shopping centre) was because I was going to make a difference. Quite what I was going to make a difference to I had no idea.

Read more…

The introduction of pay-per-view television is a sign, Martin Cloake warns, that the media is changing football as we know it

“Pay-per-view is a good thing, because for years fans who pay at the gate have subsidised entertainment for armchair fans. Now those people are going to have to pay just the same as we do, and the clubs can make some money.” That was the view of one fan I spoke to last season, and there are plenty more who share it.

Read more…

Not all footballers crave the spotlight. James Wilson has realised that Faustino Asprilla is happier away from media attention

Colombia do not play their home games in the capital, Bogotá. Instead they have adopted Barranquilla, a coastal city of tropical languor, as their base. It is a welcoming city. Gabriel Garcia Marquez once lived in a brothel here. Outside the Dann, the nondescript suburban hotel where the players were staying before flying off to Paraguay for the World Cup game, a banner strung across the street said: “The Colombian squad is here.” So were a lot of military police.

Read more…

European competition hasn't always been comprised of the continent's biggest clubs. Joe Ferrari looksback at Norwich City's remarkable run

The Heysel disaster having denied us three times, Norwich finally reached Europe after finishing third in 1992-93. And what an Odyssey it turned out to be, started fittingly amongst the familiar surroundings of Carrow Road in September 1993 and ending on a surreal night three months later with ‘On The Ball City!’ reverberating around the San Siro.

Read more…

Newcastle don't have happy memories from their last European campaign. Ian Cusack explains why

The last trophy Newcastle United won was the 1968-69 Fairs Cup, now the UEFA Cup. Defending the trophy the next season, The Toon went out on away goals to Anderlecht in the quarter-finals. Most people probably imagine that was the extent of Newcastle’s European experience until 1994’s comedy defending allowed Athletic Bilbao to come back from the dead to win on away goals.

Read more…