Wembley may not be full but for fans of two former League clubs the Blue Square play-off final represents more than just a day out. And for the players, there’s the chance to meet Martin O’Neill. Taylor Parkes was there

One of the innumerable problems with the concentration of power in 21st century football is the banalisation of the big event. Like boy pharaohs fed powdered gold, fans of the chosen few grow blase and faintly nauseous (“not Barcelona again!”), while the rest exist in a world of shadows and reflections, where up and down begin to lose their meaning. Days like this can restore your faith. Neither Cambridge nor Torquay are strangers to League football, so re-entry is an itch that must be scratched, more than an adventure – but for everyone involved, this is a very big deal. Wembley Park station is heaving, not just with shaven-headed forty-somethings but kids and old ladies, girlfriends and boyfriends, well-wishers and day-trippers (and a child in a Chelsea shirt who doesn’t quite get it). Grey skies and high winds don’t so much dampen the festive mood as accentuate the drama, as we weave through police horse dung down old Olympic Way, towards what will, for men of a certain age, always be “the new” Wembley Stadium.

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Andrew Turton reports on how Cardiff City’s move from Ninian Park began a battle for some slightly odd memorabilia

There were many who thought it would never happen, but this summer, Cardiff City move to their new home. A new stadium had been talked about for years, but Sam Hammam made it a priority on becoming chairman in 2000. Ironically, it was Hammam’s involvement that proved to be a stumbling block with the local authority after he fell out with council leader Rodney Berman, whom he was said to have persistently insulted at one of their many meetings. There was also some concern that Hammam would “do a Wimbledon” once he’d been handed the land. This had been given to the club on a dirt-cheap 999-year lease, which allowed them to sell on the leases to retail groups, including M&S, Costco and Asda. This provided most of the finance to build the new stadium. It was only when Hammam left the club three years ago that progress was made.

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Eric Cantona stars in two very different films, both released this month. Terry Staunton assesses his performances

Speaking to the Observer Sport Monthly in 2002, Christopher Eccleston lambasted film-makers for casting footballers, claiming it was a novelty practice that took jobs away from “proper” actors. Having recently worked with both Vinnie Jones, in the action movie Gone In 60 Seconds, and – uncomfortably – his own United hero Eric Cantona, in the costume drama Elizabeth, the award-winning thespian’s remarks carried some weight.

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Barcelona’s defeat of Manchester United was considered a victory for good in the press. But is it really so simple, asks Ashley Shaw

So good triumphed over evil in football’s version of the moral maze. Fan-owned Barcelona, the club that proclaims itself as mes que un club (more than a club), Catalonia’s national team, won the European Cup at a canter by beating privately-owned, debt-saddled Manchester United where the ticket prices make your eyes water and the PR spin-cycle is always on high.

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With the current laws preventing independently run sites from showing clubs fixture lists it looks unlikely to change any time soon. Dave Lee reports

WSC 226 told the story of Watford fanzine Blind, Stupid and Desperate who had their website temporarily taken offline after they listed an upcoming fixture against Leicester City. Four years on, the debate about rights over football fixtures is still red hot. In one corner: Football DataCo, the company responsible for managing licences for the use of football fixtures in print and online. As well as collecting money, DataCo will routinely seek out websites which flaunt these rules. In the other, more crowded corner: the press and football fans.

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