A look into how club owners business mentality needs to stretch from the football field

Imagine for a moment that we have taken leave of our senses. As is common with those who find themselves in a befuddled state, a single concept has become fixed in our heads, one which we are doggedly determined to communicate to as many people as possible. It might run something along these lines. The Football Trust should be abolished. Far from making grants to football clubs, the government should seek to extract every available penny from them; unlike other businesses, which may be free to relocate abroad, football clubs, even Wimbledon, for example, are tied to specific locations. The Japanese are unlikely to want to build any football clubs over here while they’re still getting the hang of their own, so no harm would be done to ‘inward investment’ by closing down any tax advantages clubs might have.

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We searched high and low for someone who thinks George Graham is innocent, and found Boyd Hilton, only too happy to put the case for the defence

“February 1995: The weather is surprisingly mild, so it is time to plant my sweet peas. They are especially effective when grown in clumps, supported with cylinders of netting. I am using autumn-sown seedlings which have wintered in boxes. My garden is a joy to the eye… But I feel there is a blast of winter yet to come.”

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With the Battle of the Bridge well underway,  Hassam Hadi peeks over the parapet to assess the extent of the damage on both sides

The jackals are out there waiting, warns Chelsea chairman Ken Bates and he should know, as he’s spent a lifetime trying to escape them. So far he’s caged them in, blasted them for daring to question his decisions, but now he’s worried they’ve found a new pack leader.

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As Newcastle United proceed with ambitious plans for becoming a multi-sports organisation, Ken Sproat explains why he'd prefer them to just stick to football

The things in football that cause Jimmy Hill to splutter with righteous moral fury include blatant obstruction, deliberate handball, on the field violence, niggly running battles and stop-start action. I can see his point. And rugby is the hideous manifestation of the these evils. It has no place in my life. Tuning in to Radio 5 to listen to the football, there is nothing worse than having to endure reports from rugby matches. When the Five Nations Championships are on, and the rugby replaces the football as the main commentary, I could weep. It is more boring than people telling you how many numbers they had on the lottery. I have never been interested and I never will be interested. This view is not typical of all football fans, but it is common enough. I am not the only one who wants to jail football fans who sing ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’.

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Hull City had a narrow escape from bankruptcy last month and they're not out of the woods yet , as Andy Medcalf explains

“At least there will be one Hull team playing Wigan next year,” were the cheeky words of consolation from a similarly downtrodden Hull FC rugby fan following the Tigers recent crash-landing at the foot of Division Two. Barring a Spanish-inspired promocion, it looks increasingly as though this will be the case, if the club still exists in 1996-97.

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