Gretna supporters have attempted to keep their club alive after their dramatic demise, reports Andy Fury
The small town of Annan in Dumfries and Galloway has seen several new footballing dawns recently. The most highly publicised is its own football club’s election to the Scottish Football League. Its other, rather ironically, is the resurrection of the club Annan Athletic replaced in Division Three, Gretna FC.
A recent case involving Wigan chairman Dave Whelan is set to change the way clubs pay for policing on matchdays, writes Bruce Wilkinson
Earlier this year, Wigan lost a High Court battle with Greater Manchester Police over the costs of matchday policing, which could change the way all clubs are charged for their security. Until now they have had to pay only for policing within the ground and the immediate vicinity. In court, GMP successfully argued that it should also be paid for controlling the area surrounding the JJB Stadium, setting a precedent that could allow police authorities to increase charges dramatically.
TV companies are promising bigger and better things for the new season, but Simon Tyers is not so sure they'll deliver
Televised football is, like Tottenham, undergoing a transitional phase. Setanta have not so far met their customer-base predictions, but start 2008-09 with their strongest hand yet in terms of live games. This despite not having yet found a permanent first-choice commentator, Jon Champion still being on loan from ITV, nor a notable accomplice. Craig Burley has clearly set out to be the new Andy Gray, but hasn’t bothered to develop tactical nous or a commanding commentary-box presence. Instead, he has gone straight for the unshakeably dour, moaning persona Gray has been perfecting of late.
London winning the right to stage the 2012 Olympic Games has dominated the agenda this month
Anyone who winced through the eye-wateringly bad “celebration” of London’s staging of the 2012 Olympics held in The Mall on Sunday, August 24, had better steel themselves for four long years of witless build-up, from which football, sadly, will not be immune. The sporting and political establishment are only too aware of the commercial opportunities such a team could provide and they aren’t going to let it go.
The close of the transfer window has led to more than just exchanges of players as the Abu Dhabi United group arrive in Manchester
So, quite a lively month for Manchester City. Midway through August the club appeared to be in crisis, with owner Thaksin Shinawatra refusing to return home to Thailand to face a corruption trial. If he were convicted in his absence, the Premier League would have faced an unprecedented test of its notoriously obtuse “fit and proper persons” test. There were stories of the club operating on a hand-to-mouth basis with former chairman John Wardle having had to loan Thaksin £2 million on several occasions to pay wages. A shock home defeat to Danish UEFA Cup opponents was followed by a 4-2 mauling at Villa Park.