The most annoying fan in Brazil and quite possibly the world meets the women of Iran and Scotland star Lord Bron in Ian Plenderleith's latest surfing review

There are always new and arguably useless things to learn about football. Once you’ve been to Futebol, a website founded by writer Alex Bellos to promote his acclaimed book about Brazilian football, you’ll discover that no one in Brazil has any idea how many professional clubs there are in the country because new ones open and close every week. One sports paper lists almost 800 in its encyclopaedia, while another claims that “only” around 300 are actually operational.

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Jimmy Hill has been at the forefront of the evolution of post–war British football. Barney Ronay reviews the Hill effect

Picture the scene: four middle-aged men are seated around a mahogany-effect dining table. Beyond them a window looks out on to trees and green fields, but on inspection it turns out to be just a large photograph on the wall. One of the men has glasses and a protuberant chin; across the room from him a complacent-looking man with extravagantly bouffant hair says: “Well Jimmy. It’s certainly been a busy weekend for referees.” A deep lethargy descends.

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Despite their recent victory over England, Australian football is still desperate for reform to enable a more competitive national side. Mike Ticher explains

You could perhaps forgive Remo Nogarotto for a bit of hyperbole in the excitement of Australia’s 3-1 win over England at Upton Park in February. “This is the first chapter in the renaissance of Australian soc­cer,” the chairman of the sport’s governing body enthused. “The team has come of age and so has the sport.”

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With their short-term existence secure, Bradford City are looking to learn from past mistakes to stop history repeating itself. Gary Rolin looks into their birthday wish

Real Madrid celebrated their centenary year by win­ning the European Champions League for the third time in five years. At the other end of the football scale, Bradford City’s preparations for their 100th birthday party have been boosted by Leeds High Court’s decision in February to lift the administration order that threa­tened the survival of the club form­ed in May 1903 when the Football League voted them into the Second Division. 

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After initial success in the Premiership, Ipswich Town now find themselves in financial turmoil. Csaba Abrahall documents their fall from grace

“So much of football is about short-term glory which leads so often to boom and bust. We’re not about that.” So said David Sheepshanks when Gavin Barber and I interviewed him for WSC 172 on the day Ipswich se­cured European qualification in 2001. This kind of level-headed approach had been a feature of his chairmanship and while he continued to adopt it, the club appeared to be in safe hands. Yet today it is in administration, with debts spiralling and the team a long way short of delivering financial salvation in the form of a return to the Premiership. What on earth went wrong?

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