Professional clubs are getting more and more out of reach for their non-League counterparts, but Mark Winter argues that the Vauxhall Conference is still worth a watch

You could be excused for thinking that life in the Vauxhall Conference has never been better. A glance at the Sunday paper would tell you of a three horse race for the Championship, that most end of season games have a bearing on the promotion/relegation issues, and that attendances of four, five and even six thousand are becoming more and more commonplace.

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Chesterfield fanzine editor Craig Thomas looks back on an astonishing season for his club

Before this year the only chance of Chesterfield playing in a cup semi final at Old Trafford would have been if the Auto Windscreens Shield matches were being staged at big grounds. For until this golden year Chesterfield have the worst FA Cup record of any professional club bar none: no Third Round appearance since 1981, no Fourth Round since 1954, no Fifth Round since 1950. Aside from that the only memories are grim ones, of limp exits at the hands of questionably competent opponents.

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For good and bad reasons, football is becoming a bigger part of the political world

A week that began with the death of Lord Justice Taylor, ended with the demise of the Conservatives, whose assault on football was stopped in its tracks by the Taylor Report.

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Tuesday 1 Bournemouth seem set to survive after being taken over by a community-run trust fund which will use money raised from a public appeal to acquire a controlling interest in the club. The rescue package has to be ratified by the League and the Inland Revenue, who have postponed a winding up order on the club. Nathan Blake says he withdrew from Wales' squad for their World Cup match at the weekend after being racially abused by manager Bobby Gould. "I have a total lack of respect for him," says Blake. "Perhaps we are of a different era. You learn, one becomes a little wiser," says Gould, unwisely.

Thursday 3 Scotland fans will be booking seats on Eurostar for Summer 1998 after two Kevin Gallagher goals secure a comfy win over Austria. Not so good for the Irelands, though, with the North losing 2-1 away to Ukraine and the Republic going down 3-2 in Macedonia, where nice, mild-mannered Jason McAteer is sent off after a last-minute dust-up. In England's group Poland and Italy share a goalless draw in Chorzow.

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Dear WSC
Matt Nation (WSC No 122) clearly wasn’t among the hardy souls that witnessed a quite literally stomach-churning performance by Leeds at Shrewsbury in the early ’80s. Having led 1-0 at half-time, Leeds collapsed spectacularly in the second half to lose 5-1. All this was clearly too much for one John Donnelly, a midfield journeyman for whom the epithet “He can’t be worse than…” would be praise indeed.Midway through the game he just about made it to the touchline before bending double and throwing his guts up. Any suggestion that the permed Scottish bruiser had been out on the raz the night before would be completely scurrilous, but let’s just say he left on a free transfer at the end of the season. And while going for a 40-60 ball with Roy Keane may not count as heroics in Matt Nation’s eyes, there’s every chance of seeing any player who does try and ‘compete’ with Roy quite literally shitting themselves on the pitch. I know I would.
Andy Limb, Brixton

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