Darlington's chairman is going to unfounded lengths in a bid to break free from football. Jon Lymer reports

It used to be said that the north east was a hot­bed of football talent. These days it’s equal­ly true to say that it is a hotbed of eccentric foot­ball chairmen. In recent times the region has enjoyed a series of revelations about its chairmen, including brothel visits, cocaine abuse, High Court action and even (if you stretch the geographical parameters a bit) an alien abduction or two. But the prime mover throughout all this fuss has been Darlington’s convicted safecracker-cum-business magnate, George Reynolds.

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Shaul Adar reports on a team that has inspired hope and relief in a beleagured Israel

It has been an annus horribilis, for Israel in general and for Israeli football in particular. On one recent Saturday evening, during the broad­­cast of a live game from the local league, a suicide attack took place in an Orthodox part of Jerusalem. For 12 minutes the shocked view­ers could see the game continuing on one third of the screen, while the other two thirds carried live pictures from the carnage scene.

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Football managed to soldier on without the devious involvement of television, and the Football League does not have to lie down and die when the money is taken away

The Football League are getting all kinds of advice from the press about what to do in their dispute with ITV Digital, most of it accompanied by fingerwagging. The News of the World, for one, wonders why lower division clubs “think they have a right to such money in the first place” given that they have “wallowed in a swamp of debt for too long”.

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Friday 1 Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric threatens to withhold the wages of his players and coaching staff: “They expect to go through the motions and then to receive a huge wage packet. It’s extortion.” The PFA’s Gordon Taylor is unimpressed: “It’s quite naive really, it’s going back to the Dark Ages.”

Saturday 2 “You are blessed to to witness something like that,” says Arsène as Dennis Bergkamp scores another spectacular goal in a 2-0 win at Newcastle that keeps his team second. Frank Sinclair nearly matches that with a 30-yard lob at Middlesbrough, but it’s past his own keeper for the only goal of the game. Liverpool go third after winning 2-0 at Fulham. Andy Cole’s dismissal for a foul on Mike Whitlow during Blackburn’s 1-1 draw at Bolton prompts a right old rumpus, with a scuffle between players and a home steward, and both managers exchanging unpleasantries. Stan Ternent rounds on Burnley fans who boo their team after a home draw with Norwich keeps them fifth in the First: “They have champagne tastes on beer money.” Halifax are ten points adrift at the bottom of the Third after losing 3-1 at Leyton Orient.

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Ian Plenderleith explores the murkier corners of the footballing web to discover Lincolnshire murder mysteries, Highland League replica kits and some straight shooting advice for referees

It’s midday at Sincil Bank on the opening day of the 1955-56 season. Lincoln City are away at Blackburn, so the ground is deserted. Ex­cept, that is, for a dead body lying in the middle of the pitch.

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