Dianne Millen explores the most suitable means of preventing incursions on to the pitch by fans
When is a pitch invasion not a pitch invasion? When there’s only one person involved, of course, as happened twice in the second weekend of the new Scottish Premier League campaign. Amid the debate among the condemnatory, permatanned pundits about whether a single fan constituted an “invasion”, however, were serious safety questions.
Phil Town explains why Bolton should be wary of the arrival of a talented Brazilian
Bolton fans will be hoping that new signing Mário Jardel can repeat the goalscoring feats that made him a star in the Portuguese league but without the attendant problems off the pitch.
Steve Westby examines the financial difficulties that have surrounded Notts County in recent years
Notts County have had a record 14 relegations in their history and have now set another benchmark. On August 12 the club had been in administration for an unprecedented 421 days, surpassing the record previously held by QPR. Meanwhile they are still under threat of expulsion from the League.
Who knows what lies in store for Chelsea as fun time with Roman beckons
By now we will all be agreed that any newspaper which describes to the occupants of Stamford Bridge as “Chelski” should be referred to the Press Complaints Commission and sternly censured with, at least, a swingeing fine. Short custodial sentences and history lessons, meanwhile, ought to be the norm for anyone using the term “Red Roman” for a man described on his takeover of the club as “the real financial genius of Russia’s bandit-capitalism epoch” – Ken Bates is more leftwing.
Friday 1 Manchester United are fined £1.6 million by the Office of Fair Trading for price-fixing replica shirts. One of the other ten businesses to be charged are… the FA who will have to pay £158,000 for selling overpriced England shirts on the internet in 2000-01. Tangled web-weaver John Fashanu says he has resigned as chairman of Barry Town, though there is some doubt whether he ever really held such a position. Jody Craddock leaves Sunderland for Wolves, who are also to sign Senegalese striker Henri Camara and Spurs’ Steffen Iversen.