Manchester City would tell you that their championship has been very well earned. Their city neighbours on the floor above, who risk being outdone in the Manchester trophy count, would probably beg to differ. Two writers air their views

Yes~
The First Division in 2000-01 was notable for the presence of two outstanding teams (Ful­ham and Blackburn), one that was just that bit better than the rest but not quite as good as the two above (Bolton) and then a whole host of similar teams (perm any three from about eight for the remaining play-off places).

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Ken Gall gives a resounding cheer for the exasperated Scottish Premier League chairmen who finally stuck two fingers up at Rangers and Celtic

To anyone who says that there are no surprises left in Scottish football, the events of April 16 will have been the cause of some bemusement. In what might seem at first glance to be the equivalent of the Christians expelling Jesus from Christianity, all the Scottish Premier League clubs, with the exception of Celtic and Rangers, gave notice of their intention to resign en masse from the league in two seasons’ time, leaving Glas­­gow’s much-loved double act, not for the first time, in a world of their own.

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After 70 years, Tooting & Mitcham United are moving home. Andy Lyons reports

A Ryman League First Division fixture be­tween Tooting & Mitcham United and Wealdstone wouldn’t normally draw a thousand peo­ple, or anywhere near. Most of the crowd on April 20 had come specifically to see the last competitive match at Sandy Lane, Too­ting’s home since 1932 and the last of the big non-League grounds left in London. Chair­man John Buffoni has taken the brave step of striking a business deal with Ron Noades, as a re­sult of which the club will begin next season at a new stadium built on Crystal Palace’s old training ground two miles away across south London.

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Bottom of the pile. Fewest goals scored, most conceded. Fewest games won, most lost. Keith Butterick summarises a tough season in Division Three for Halifax Town

Well, at least we have secured our place in the history books. Not, though, for anything as em­otionally gratifying as being the first Third Division club to win the FA Cup. No, typical of Halifax Town, our entry will be the type that no one wants – the first club to be promoted from the Conference and then relegated again. Quite an achievement even by our standards.

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Mathias Kowoll leads us round the grounds that the home nations may or may not be visiting four summers from now

Does anyone remember Sir Bert Millichip’s al­leged promise to the DFB (German FA) that Eng­land would not bid for the 2006 World Cup because Germany had supported Eng­land for Euro 96? Well, Bert himself didn’t. But Franz Böhmert, the president of Wer­der Bremen, must have recalled it when he found out that the Weserstadion would not be one of the 12 stadiums sel­ected for 2006.

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