Where was Ian Wright for the October qualifiers? Simon Tyers begins the search

During the BBC post-mortem on England’s defeat in Northern Ireland, a shot of all the pundits supposedly listening to Alan Hansen’s words of wisdom briefly caught Ian Wright slamming the table with his open palm. This was telling, not only for demonstrating what we already knew about Wright having proper passion for his football but also that it showed in a funny way that a panel of tactically minded experts is no place for what is pejoratively known as a passionate outburst. After all, we can all feel aggrieved at an embarrassment without having someone to do it for us.

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"A case of anything goes." Gavin Willacy looks at the laws of yesteryear

There seemed to be little unusual about the game at first. Twenty men of assorted shapes and ages, indulging in a ragged Sunday kick-about on the outer fringes of a south-west London marshland, shooting at goals without crossbars let alone nets, no corner flags or referee, wearing an assortment of knee-length trousers and footwear of varying suitability.

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Tom Davies gives us an update on clubs in crisis

Barnet fans hope to use May’s council elections to break three-and-a-half years of deadlock surrounding their attempts to find a new ground. Club and council have been at loggerheads since 2002, when the Conservatives won control and scuppered plans approved by the previous Labour administration for a stadium on land immediately south of their existing, and inadequate, Underhill home. The Tories refused to sanction the sale of the land necessary for the stadium.

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How times have changed for England and Germany

The internet is a breeding ground for rumour. Just recently, for instance, a message has been going around about a proposed England song for the 2006 World Cup, not the official one but a celebrity singalong in the manner of 1998’s Vindaloo. It’s Who Do You Are Think You Are Kidding, Mr Klinsmann? sung to the tune of the Dad’s Army theme. Ant and Dec are said to have been approached to sing it with Peter Kay and Gazza among others being asked to participate in the video. It might not be true, but the fact that it sounds all too horribly plausible demonstrates how bad things may get between now and next June.

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It was time for a new kind of reference work on the game. One that celebrated the culture of British football and did not just record the facts and figures. And, to celebrate the launch of our Half Decent Football Book, what better to serve as a taster than a look at food? And meet John Gregory, art critic

Pre-match meal 
Food has always been a controversial subject in football. The pre-match meal was once the only occasion during the season that a footballer’s dietary habits would come under any great scrutiny. Steak and chips, egg and chips and roast beef have all been favoured at various stages in the game’s development. Bill Shankly is reported to have abandoned his players’ strict pre-match steak diet in the early 1960s, after which meat was absolutely prohibited at lunchtime on a match day; this even extended into Shankly sending “spies” along on train journeys to away games to monitor whether players were loading up on ham rolls from the buffet trolley.

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