What are the realistic ambitions for those outside the top half of the Premiership? Gary Parkinson discusses Bolton's future following promotion

Given the financial constraints which led to previous manager Colin Todd resigning after being forced to sell one player too many, it’s still a source of amazement to many that Sam Allardyce managed to get Bol­ton promoted. Since he took over two years ago the fire sale has stopped but he has continued to barter, flog­ging £10 million worth of players (notably Eidur Gud­johnsen and Claus Jensen) while spending less than £4 million.

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He was a brilliant winger in a team on the rise under a manager who loved a bit of flair. But, as Adam Powley reports, that's when it all started going wrong

You know that story about the brilliantly talented kid at school who was so good, he seemed born to be a footballer? Invariably, there’s no happy ending: the precociously gifted youngster fails to make the grade for a variety of frustrating reasons – poor coaching, a lack of application, or simply bad luck – and it all ends up as a case of what might have been.

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This month marks the 40th anniversary of Accrington Stanley's controversial ejection from the Football League. Mike Gent explains what went wrong

“Probably the most famous football team in the land” is how a Lancashire County Council web­site describes Accrington Stanley. A contentious claim, but there is no doubt that the Stanley’s continued no­toriety stems not from the club’s modest playing record but from a series of off-pitch calamities which culminated in their departure from the Football League in March 1962. Since then, the spectre of Ac­crington Stanley has been regularly invoked whenever football clubs sink towards bankruptcy.

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The League of Ireland has yet to reap any benefit from the national team's success. But plans are afoot to revive the domestic scene. Paul Doyle reports

In the Irish High Court in early February, a man was sent to prison for rape. Two minutes later, the judge re-emerged from his chambers to rule on a case between the Football Association of Ire­land and Shelbourne, one of the country’s biggest clubs. You could understand if the judge found it all quite trivial, but most League of Ireland fans were in raptures when he found in favour of the FAI.

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Cris Freddi's regular series continues with a look back at a famous win over Spain in 1985 that had Welsh fans dreaming of the World Cup finals

You’d kill for a playmaker. Just one. In the last 30 years. But this is Wales, and they don’t make them here. Rugby, yes. Even now. A second division country but still producing the odd Arwel Thomas. But foot­ball? Forget it. No world-class creative midfielder since Ivor Allchurch, who peaked in the Fifties. And Scot­land and Northern Ireland think they’ve had prob­lems.

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