Mark Rowe explains why fewer stewards and a loosening of health and safety regulation may see standards at stadiums decline
John Rutherford was insistent. If a group of home fans wanted to bring their giant flag in, they had to show a fire safety certificate. It was April 2009 and Rutherford, the formidable safety officer at Sheffield Wednesday, had a lot on his plate. As well as the usual matchday duties there were TV crews doing live interviews for the 20th anniversary of Hillsborough.
Cameron Carter raises the question of quality versus quantity in football punditry
A common and unnerving feeling experienced by the middle-aged person is the suspicion that they are being hurried along. Time appears to pass more quickly – calendar events flash by, children age and learn to look at us sarcastically, Rory McGrath makes another series out of wandering around Britain drinking real ale. This creeping sense of urgency has long since intruded into the world of television, to the extent that it is now almost unbearable to watch an interviewee pause, introduce a subordinate clause or stumble over their words, so brief is the space given to them to make their point before their chance is gone and the programme must move on.
The British press reflect on the controversy surrounding England’s 2018 World Cup bid
Reacting to October’s Sunday Times investigation into the World Cup bidding process several in the press wistfully described a seductive setting: a Switzerland of suave gentlemen, crisp navy suits, lavish hotels, steak suppers and, according to the Telegraph, a lake “so clear that you can see the moorhens diving for fish ten feet under”. The twist, when it came, was the “stench of corruption” – the politics of this world “could not be murkier”.
Analysis of John W Henry’s controversial ownership takeover at Liverpool
As the Guardian headline Enter Americans Exit Americans suggests, it is difficult to tell what has changed at Liverpool and what remains the same. After a long and complex legal battle, John W Henry finally took ownership of the club from the outgoing Tom Hicks and George Gillett this month. The takeover seemed to dominate the news for days on end.
Big spending Premier League clubs could learn from the style and management of the newly promoted sides
The English Premier League is a festering mess of greed, sleaze and stupidity but, allowing for that, the 2010-11 season is shaping up quite well. It is at least less predictable than at any time in the century so far. It may be too much to hope for only three months in, but there is cause for thinking that, for only the second time in Premier League history, none of the three promoted clubs will go straight back down. For anyone other than local rivals of the clubs in question, this ought to be seen as a sign of progress.