Cardiff fans were prevented from travelling to Wolves, with the full approval of the League. Nigel Harris reports
What links Graeme Souness and Cardiff City fans? Neither were able to get into Wolves during January. While Souness’s takeover bid failed, Bluebirds followers were banned by the whims of the West Midlands Police (WMP) and Wolves’ chief executive, Jez Moxey.
The Soccer Saturday pundits enjoy a bundle at Reading. Simon Tyers enjoyed watching them
How joyous the sight of men on live TV completely losing their composure. Phil Thompson was allocated Reading v Sheffield United on January 20’s Soccer Saturday, so got to relay unfolding events as Keith Gillespie and Wally Downes – who, it transpired from the highlights, had chosen the moment to push Neil Warnock at which he would least have expected it – took the game a sufficient distance from repute. Thompson’s and Jeff Stelling’s harmonic shocked “ohhhhh!” at the replay of Gillespie’s swung arm was only topped when both benches kicked off, Stelling in particular trying his best to level out his unruffled image with his clear wish to urge everyone on like a ringside punter.
Monday 1 Manchester United miss a chance to go nine points clear, drawing 2‑2 at injury-hit Newcastle. Liverpool’s 3‑0 win over Bolton takes them third. “They’ve shown me in the last couple of weeks why they are down there,” says Alan Curbishley as West Ham crash 6‑0 at Reading, their third successive defeat. Wigan drop to 17th after a fifth straight loss, 3‑0 at home to Blackburn. Antti Niemi is hospitalised with a serious neck injury in Fulham’s 0‑0 draw with Watford. Derby’s 2‑1 win at Preston takes them to within three points of Championship leaders Birmingham, beaten by a 90th‑minute goal at Ipswich. Torquay are six points adrift in League Two after losing 1‑0 at Bristol Rovers.
Is Sepp Blatter taking the Michel?
Here’s a straw to clutch on to. Anything that annoys or in-conveniences the Premiership’s big four clubs must be at some level a good thing. On the face of it, Michel Platini’s election as the new UEFA president – he defeated the incumbent Lennart Johansson by 27 votes to 23 – comes into that category. One of the main planks of Platini’s campaign was a proposal to cut the maximum number of Champions League qualifiers any country can have to three, beginning with the next TV deal in 2009-10. That Platini explicitly said that he would like to see greater representation for the champions from around eastern Europe probably helped to swing the final vote.
A groundbreaking season for a predecessor to the Conference, with a first sponsor and, even more radical, an extra point for an away win. Geoff Wallis looks back
The long-term significance
The season marked the first sponsorship of the topmost tier of the non-League pyramid, with the sportswear company Gola (which had previously backed Roy Race’s Melchester Rovers) providing financial backing (GM Vauxhall took over in 1986‑87 and the division became known as the Conference). It was also the second year of a three-season experiment in which teams were awarded one point for a draw, two for a home win and three for an away win.