The English Premier League has attracted players from all over the world – except Africa, it seems. Mike Ticher looks at the reasons why
You might be forgiven for thinking after the last few seasons that no country in the world was safe from the all-seeing eyes of desperate English football clubs. With Brazilians at Bradford and Bulgarians at Reading, it seemed no club was too modest nor any nationality too exotic to be persuaded of each other’s merits.
Although Yugoslavia's players are in other European leagues, the state of the game back home is in crisis. Simon Evans reports
Having spent decades just missing out on glory, the Yugoslavs looked set to finally make a decisive impact in a major tournament. Red Star Belgrade had been crowned champions of Europe and the national team – with stars such as Prosinecki, Savicevic and Stojkovic – was among the favourites for the 1992 European Championships in Sweden.
Bournemouth were nearly extinct due to their financial situation, but Rob Trent tells the happy story of their revival
“This afternoon at just after four o’clock the assets of AFC Bournemouth, the stand, the stadium, the name, the players, have all been transferred into the hands of the community club.” Thus spoke Trevor Watkins, the new Chairman of AFC Bournemouth, on 18th June 1997.
The 1997 Copa America was, well, breathtaking. Brian Homewood tells the story of the tournament
The organization was weird, the refereeing was at best inept and the helping hand given to the host nation was outrageous, but it was still better than watching the Czech Republic and France playing to a goalless draw after extra time.
John Ellis profiles the former property developer who now owns Luton Town
Distinguishing Features: A remarkable resemblance to Rodney Bewes in his chubby middle manager period from the second series of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads. For younger readers, this means Alan Sugar without the beard.