Stories | When Saturday Comes - p357

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Parental guidance

Damon Green warns that sparing your kids when choosing their team will only spoil their heritage

A colleague at work, drawn and tired, complained to me recently that he doesn’t want his son to grow up supporting his team. Their performances have been so shameful and the management of the club has been so dire that he would be ashamed to pass on such a legacy. I looked at him for a second, then laughed in his face. He supports Arsenal.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Draw to a close

Andrew Ward tells the story of the 1971 FA Cup tie between Alvechurch and Oxford City, which remains the longest match in the competition’s history

Forty years ago, in November 1971, Alvechurch and Oxford City played six matches in 17 days to decide an FA Cup tie. It was more a World Series than sudden-death. At Villa Park, at the end of the fifth replay, Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis poured champagne for all the players, to celebrate their entry into the Guinness Book of Records. The record will never be broken.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Drawing a blank

Paraguay fared well at the Copa América and the World Cup, but as Simeon Tegel tells us, their style of play has frustrated many fans

Is the glass half-full or half-empty? That is the question dogging Paraguay’s national team after achieving two of their best ever tournament results, in the Copa América and World Cup, while barely winning a match. The Guaraníes, nicknamed after the indigenous group that still lives in swathes of the country, finished runners-up in August’s South American championship and made it to the last eight in South Africa, a first for the sparsely populated nation in a World Cup.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Read the rulebook

Many previous winners will miss out on next year’s Africa Cup of Nations after a farcical set of qualifiers, reports Paul Giess

On the same weekend that the big guns of European football secured their places at Euro 2012, several major African teams were being eliminated from the corresponding Cup of Nations in 2012. Eight of the winners from the past nine tournaments failed to make it on a weekend of drama, disappointment and farce. The list of failures includes reigning champions Egypt, alongside the traditional powerhouses Nigeria and Cameroon, and World Cup 2010 hosts South Africa.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Stable mates

One-team dominance has been broken in Georgia but, as Margot Dunne finds, football’s continued revival depends on peace and politics

On a warm August evening in Tbilisi’s Boris Paichadze National Stadium, a crowd of over 20,000 is roaring on the Georgian champions Zestafoni in their Europa League play-off against Club Brugge. But, strangely, the majority aren’t supporters of either of the teams involved in the tie. Most are fans of Zestafoni’s main domestic rival and Georgia’s biggest club, Dinamo Tbilisi.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

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