It’s taken a while, but African players are finally beginning to thrive in England. Alan Duncan charts the changes in both English and African football that have made this possible
A popular African adage says that “pushing stops at the wall”. For the best part of the last decade, African players have seen the inexorable push of their compatriots across Europe tending to break down at the formidable wall presented by English football.
Racing Santander’s forthright new president-cum-manager has been derided by critics but, says Phil Ball, he might just be on the right track
Dimitri Piterman is no ordinary chap. Shortly after buying a 24 per cent majority shareholding in Racing Santander in January, the new millionaire president of the ailing Spanish top-flight club was stopped outside the entrance to the El Sardinero stadium by a TV journalist and asked if he thought that his stated intention of personally running all aspects of the club – right down to team management – was perhaps a tad over-ambitious, even arrogant? Especially when he was not qualified to do so? Piterman leaned into the beam of the cameras and eyeballed the journalist with a withering stare: “There’s a dork running the most powerful country in the world without a qualification to his name. And you ask me for a diploma to run a football team? Give me a break.” And so began one of the lengthiest media circuses witnessed in Spain over the past couple of decades, with the result that the 39-year-old Piterman has become at least as famous as Jesus Gil.
Dale Hurman explains why things aren't running smoothly at Wycombe
Two matches at Chesterfield in three years illustrate the change experienced by Wycombe Wanderers fans. On April 8, 2000, a 2-1 away win at Saltergate secured our Second Division status for another year and all but condemned the Spireites to relegation. It was a relaxed time to be a Wanderers fan. Within a year, we were taking 19,500 supporters to Villa Park for the FA Cup semi-final with Liverpool. Of course, most went back to whatever had prevented them coming to watch Wycombe before but some stayed. Lawrie Sanchez’s defiant post-match speech to the gathered press harnessed growing expectations. We had also made in the region of £1 million from the cup run. Promotion to the First Division was the new goal.
Phil Town explores the stadiums being built in Portugal for Euro 2004
Benfiquistas said a fond farewell in March to their Catedral. The last ever game at Benfica’s once magnificent Luz Stadium was a damp squib of a 1-0 win over modest Santa Clara of the Azores, and that with a penalty. For months, though, the Luz had also been a sorry sight, a quarter of it removed to make way for the magnificent new Luz nudging its way in from next door where it is currently undergoing construction.
Ian Plenderleith looks at the wobble of football websites
There was more worrying financial news for Football League clubs in March when its internet partner Premium TV (PTV) announced another wave of redundancies and sent its CEO home on “gardening leave”. Yet the company claims that it is not on the verge of collapsing, despite the lay-offs, the huge debts at its parent company, NTL, and the fact that it has already once had to renegotiate its contract with the FL.