Dave Cohen outlines the vital ingredient missing from this year's FA Cup final: the North v South rivalry

When the draw for the FA Cup semi-finals was made I prayed in vain for the perfect outcome: Liverpool v Chelsea. Normally, when your own team is not involved in a match, you assume a partisanship based exclusively on which of the two teams you hate less. As a Leeds fan, there was no contest as to who I would rather see win between Chelsea and Manchester United. But Liverpool or Aston Villa? Both teams had trounced us 3-0 in cup games within days of each other and the outcome of this particular match had about as much relevance to me as a Nuclear Electric Kent County League play-off. So what made me root for Liverpool? What swung it in the end was the lure of a North versus South final.

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Cris Freddi offers his view on England's chance of success at Euro '96

Definitely the short straw, this. With most of the other countries, you can come to a fairly quick conclusion (e.g. Scotland: no great players, good team spirit, might make the quarters), but the England waters are unusually muddy. Your one consolation is that no-one’s much wiser than you are.

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The FA's isn't the only organising commitee going into overdrive as Euro '96 approaches, as Philip Cornwall reports

Admirable though their attempts are, Glenn and Terry are not the only ones trying to bring English football closer to the rest of Europe. It is crucial that this summer as much is done to improve the English game’s image off the pitch as on it.

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Dave Hill, the author of England's Glory: 1966 And All That, addresses some of the misconceptions that have developed around England's finest hour

Anyone with a healthy suspicion of nostalgia and a wholesome dislike for chest-beating patriots can be forgiven for feeling cynical about England’s triumph in the 1966 World Cup. After all, if you delve beneath the standard memories of the final against West Germany, of Kenneth Wolstenholme saying what Kenneth Wolstenholme said as Geoff Hurst completed his hat-trick, of Bobby Moore wiping his hands on his shorts before shaking hands with a laughing Liz Windsor, and of Nobby Stiles’ woodentops war dance during the lap of honour, what are the unvarnished facts?

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The FA took their time didn't they? And even then Howard WIlkinson and Frank Clark were on standby. What a caper

The next couple of months will be an interesting time for Glenn Hoddle and Terry Venables, as they edge towards a handover date.

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