Andy Medhurst reports on bleak times for fans of Hull City
The name of the Needler family appears in several chapters in the gloriously unsuccessful history of Hull City AFC. The late Harold Needler, a wealthy businessman and chairman of his beloved Tigers, pumped hundreds of thousands of pounds into the club in the 1960s as they just failed to grab a place in Division One.
Robert Fordham on Liverpool's chairman
Looks like: Keyboard player with a rock group that had a couple of hits in the mid 70s and still play them to big audiences in Kuala Lumpur, Harare and Auckland. Product of an expensive private education, David has reinvented himself as Super Scally. He may have learned the accent phonetically but it seems to have stuck. More recently, he has started to look like a prospective father who turns up at the hospital only to find out it might be a phantom pregnancy – Roy Evans’ continued specialization in almost-but-not-quites is starting to take its toll. Also known as Freddie Boswell.
Kevin Donnelly reports on how Scotland fans have been taken to task in the press in the wake of the World Cup debacle against Estonia
It is all too likely Scotland fans will want to forget the game against Estonia as quickly as possible. However, certain post match fallout is unlikely to allow them the opportunity, with the match seen as the breaking point in the somewhat tenuous relationship between the travelling Scotland fans and the Scottish sports press.
A boardroom reshuffle at Nottingham Forest throws up a familiar face to Spurs fan Martin Cloake
In 1989, this man said: “I love Tottenham. You watch two other teams and you don’t feel you want either to win… unless they’re playing Arsenal.” He also told the Independent that he disapproved, pointedly, of directors who “move around” between clubs. The man was Irving Scholar, then director of Tottenham Hotspur, now at Nottingham Forest. At least Forest fans should be under no illusions about Scholar’s priorities – it will be business first. Unless of course Forest are playing Arsenal.
Tim Springett explains why Southampton supporters are uneasy about their club's recent stock market flotation
Feelings are running high on the south coast. The wanton destruction of Brighton, the chaos at Bournemouth and the sale of Portsmouth for £1 serve to compound a widely-held belief among supporters in the area that they are being taken for a ride by those who purport to have the best interests of their respective clubs at heart. By comparison Southampton looks like a sea of tranquillity. Don’t be fooled.