One man has changed the face of sponsorship in non-League football. Craig Ellyard explains the Victor Gladwish phenomenon
In the world of non-League football, Victor Gladwish is making as big an impact as Roman Abramovich has done in the Premiership. In a matter of months Gladwish has become non-League football’s biggest financial benefactor, his clout being felt all the way from the south coast up to east Yorkshire.
A century of football history has been needlessly cast aside for some, while for others the reorganisation of the non-League game is long overdue. John Carter reports
T he glum knot of red-and-black-clad fans huddled in the main stand intrigued spectators at the Isthmian League play-off game between Bedford and St Albans. Could they be rossoneri supporters nostalgic for the atmosphere of the San Siro while visiting relatives in the south midlands? In fact the gloomy little group were from Lewes, in Bedford to watch their own team take on the hometown Eagles. Unfortunately the players were back at Lewes’s ground beating Kingstonian. Until late the previous day Isthmian League officials insisted the Rooks would indeed be playing Bedford, contrary to all other indicators. It took a Football Association announcement to override their stubbornness and correct the error. To date there’s been no word of any apology from league officials.
Ori Lewis reports on the day that an Arab-Israeli side from a town of less than 22,000 people won the national cup and qualified for Europe, thus making a bold statement about uniting Arabs and Jews in Israel along the way
The night of May 18, 2004 will be marked in Israeli history books as a milestone for the country’s Arab minority, a sector that has long complained of institutional discrimination and that over the years had never been repaid fully for agreeing to become loyal citizens of the Jewish state.
In spite of their record-breaking season, Arsenal's players and supporters still feel disappointed. Jon Spurling explains why some think that the team have fallen short
On the face of it, Arsenal’s season represents the perfect fusion of old and new. Amid the group huddles, badge-kissing goal celebrations and Old Trafford shenanigans, team spirit shone through. Securing the title at the home of mortal foes prompted Arsène Wenger to gush about “the togetherness which runs through the very veins of the club”. Throw in the irresistible blend of pyrotechnic football which saw the team equal Preston’s unbeaten league run of 1888-89 and it is little wonder that the expectations of all those connected with the club hit stratospheric heights.
It's not the identity of the new Liverpool manager that concerns John Williams most at present – it's more the prospect of the club losing its own identity in a dash for cash
To say that it has been an eventful recent few weeks as a supporter and observer of Liverpool is a little like saying Dennis Wise could have more friends in the game or that Porto’s José Mourinho could think a little better of himself. Let’s recap.