Cris Freddi looks at the history of the hairless footballer, and whether they are still around abroad
A bald fact: there weren’t many of them in the very early days of the game, partly because relatively few players won any caps after leaving university. Only when international careers grew longer did hairlines began to recede.
Non-league football has traditionally been full of bald players. Simon Bell wonders if that is still the case
Anyone who picked up a local newspaper in Surrey in the week after Woking’s 2-1 FA Trophy semi-final win over Stevenage Borough would have been greeted by an uplifting sight: planning permission has been granted for a new public toilet in Chobham. And this isn’t all. If they’d turned to the back page, they’d have seen Woking scorers Clive Walker and Andy Ellis in a joyful, idiot-grinning, gloriously hairless embrace.
One of Martin Cloake's favourite players could be set to leave Tottenham – Ronny Rosenthal
Everyone has their own opinion about which players could truly be classed as entertainers, the ones who send a shiver of excitement through the crowd whenever they touch the ball. But I’ll bet there’s a name who wouldn’t feature on any list, one of the most extraordinary players ever to pull on a Spurs shirt – Ronny Rosenthal.
Alex Horsburgh profiles the little-known man behind Clydebank
Distinguishing features: Not unlike a Glasgow detective in the Taggart mould. Jack was way ahead of his time when merging Clydebank and East Stirlingshire in 1965. ES Clydebank only lasted a season but Bankies, then a junior club, got into the League when East Stirlingshire retained their identity in a court action. Since then Jack has been master of all he surveys, which is sometimes from the PA booth on top of the stand from where he has even been known to do the announcements.
It may not be in the public eye, but Tim Springett believes that away supporters are treated badly by the powers that be
The experiences of Manchester United supporters in Portugal recently were probably the most shocking and extreme examples of a phenomenon which remains unacceptably widespread in football even at home; the view, held by clubs, the police and the FA, of visiting team supporters as second-class citizens.