Some people are grateful that football pauses briefly in the summer, but not Cameron Carter. Join him on his quest to find meaning to his life on balmy days

Even those among us who are not numerologists can confidently state that years ending in odd numbers are inauspicious. This is because their summers are deserts of non-football. It is barely a month since Liverpool brought last season to a shocking close and already the days, especially the weekends, are feeling pitilessly long. There are three alternatives for the football fan between late May and August in 2005: skirmish like a seagull with a bin liner for any scraps of football-related activity; find another sport to take football’s place temporarily; or – and this is the big one – try to find another form of human activity that can fill up the time.

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Brian Clough didn't have a lot of time for drama. Al Needham wonders what old big 'ead would make of this one

“I hate the thought of football on stage – pointless shower scenes, folk explaining the offside rule and still nobody understands it, three actors waving some sodding scarf in the air and, most of all, slow-motion football like some wankers’ ballet in shorts”
Jimmy in Old Big ’Ead: The Spirit of the Man

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The SPL relegation battles are rarely without incident, writes Neil Forsyth

Nothing marks the Scottish Premier League’s character more than the manner of its departing. For three years now the nation’s uppermost collection of professional football clubs have ended their season in squabbling and intrigue that has left most fans watching events through their fingers in embarrassment.

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Ben Lyttleton tells us how Iran forgot their troubles for one glorious night

The celebrations throughout Iran after they beat Bahrain 1-0 last month to become the second team to qualify for the World Cup, one hour after Japan, passed off peacefully in spite of the country’s security forces abandoning their duties and joining fans in the streets.

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MK Dons are facing an uphill struggle to be accepted, writes Tom Davies

Attempts by supporters of the Milton Keynes Dons franchise to integrate themselves into the wider football fan movement have received their first knockback, with the rejection by the Football Supporters’ Federation of a membership application from the club’s supporters’ association. The FSF’s annual conference in May voted to refuse the MK Dons supporters’ application until the football authorities had tightened their rules on clubs moving grounds and disposing of stadiums (something the League have since acted upon) and until MK Dons stopped claiming the history and honours of Wimbledon FC as their own.

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