Small may not be all that beautiful in Scottish football, but it is no less intense. Geoff Leonard investigates the neglected passions of Dumfries and Galloway
Inter-city rivalries sound like fun, where the proximity of large conurbations lends an edge to clashes between clubs such as Newcastle and Sunderland. City ones look even better – Dundee’s clubs divided by a street, Liverpool’s by a park and Glasgow’s by centuries of intolerance.
Ian Plenderleith goes looking for football advice on the web and comes up with something technical, something feminine and something simply divine
We’ve all played in teams where the performances of our team-mates have failed to live up to expectations. But at an amateur level it can be problematic to explain to the enthusiastic left-back that his headless chicken forward runs are not only failing to create anything up front, but are leaving a huge hole at the back too. After all, the left-back might be your mate and, even worse, if he doesn’t turn up next week because he felt all insulted, then that gap at the back might be even wider.
He looked as though he might be a key player for Barcelona, but now Lazio can't give him away. Paul Virgo profiles the man who is following him around Europe
In the summer of 1998 the Lazio president Sergio Cragnotti forked out £10 million for a promising Spanish lad called Ivan de la Peña. Not a modest sum by any stretch, but Cragnotti was satisfied it was money well spent. According to reliable sources he’d landed himself the next Maradona. Offer Cragnotti the price of a second-hand Fiat Panda for De la Peña today and he’ll take your arm off.
Tom Davies meets up with Leyton Orient defender and PFA representative Dean Smith to gain an insight into the players' perspective of the crisis hitting lower-league clubs
Have players in the lower divisions become more insecure about their jobs in recent years?
I think so, yes. Squads are getting smaller again and it does seem to have been getting harder and harder in recent years for players being released at the end of the season to find another club, whereas in seasons before it was quite easy. Players are having to look lower down, and more are going into non-League football. Which means many have got to come to terms with part-time football and finding another job. As a result, the Conference teams are getting stronger – there are a lot of players in the Conference who could be playing in the Football League.
Paul Tracey reflects on the Football League sanction which has made life particularly hard for one of football's stalwart clubs
Uncertainty has surrounded QPR for the past year, ever since chairman Chris Wright put the club up for sale and placed it into administration. With no new owner emerging, fans and staff alike have had the possibility of the club folding hanging over their heads for the best part of a season.