Hard-up clubs are establishing partnerships with other businesses in order to make ends meet. Robert Shaw reports
The lucrative business of representing and trading Brazilian players is no longer the exclusive preserve of a motley assortment of ex-players and wide boys. These days investment funds and a range of businesses, including supermarkets, are moving in.
Football in New Zealand is being threatened by the demands of the Asian Confederation. Ed Jackson explains
In December, with New Zealand still celebrating World Cup qualification, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced a move which may spell the end of the Wellington Phoenix – the country’s representatives in the Australian-based A-League.
A big striker who relied on physical presence rather than technical ability never lived up to his early promise. Steve Quick explains
Being hailed as Leicester City’s “next Emile Heskey” does not quite carry the same burden of expectation as those saddled with the tag of France’s “new Zidane”. Expectations were high nonetheless when 21-year-old Trevor Benjamin moved from Division Two Cambridge Utd to Premier League Leicester City in the summer of 2000.
Most of the controversy in the Portuguese season so far has happened on the sidelines. Phil Town reports
It’s been a vintage season for punch-ups in Portuguese football, with tunnels featuring strongly. In October, Benfica’s top-scoring Paraguayan striker Óscar Cardozo and Sporting Braga’s Brazilian defender André Leone were sent off at half time at Braga and subsequently suspended after the referee reported that they had been having a go at each other in the tunnel.
John Chapman looks at how enduring financial problems have finally bankrupted a top-flight Belgian club
The francophone Belgian city of Mouscron is close to both the country’s border with France and the linguistic boundary with Dutch-speaking Flanders. Its football club, Royal Excelsior Mouscron, has drawn fans from all three communities. Entering the First Division in 1996, Mouscron never challenged for the title but introduced some useful players, most notably the Mpenza brothers, Émile and Mbo.