John Earls remembers the former Luton and Manchester United keeper who was a fearless cockney wide-boy 

Of course, the news came as a shock. How­ever, as anyone who saw and above all heard him in action, that Les Sealey had suffered a fatal heart attack was, unfortunately, not a to­tal surprise. For the Manchester United def­enders who played under both keepers, there would probably be some who felt that Peter Schmeichel’s roastings were lukewarm  com­pared to Sealey yelling at them like Brian Blessed doing an Alex Ferguson impression.

Read more…

Maccabi Haifa, having disposed of FC Haka, were set for a lucrative tie with Liverpool – that is until they were found guilty of fielding an ineligable player. Shaul Adar discusses the fallout

It was one of the most unfortunate appearances in the history of European club football. Maccabi Haifa held a 1-0 lead from the away leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie against FC Haka of Finland. For the return, won 4-0 in Haifa, they recalled ex-Wimbledon midfielder Walid Badir who had been suspended. During the game Badir broke his cheekbone and was taken to hospital. A few hours after he’d undergone an operation, the news broke: Badir was supposed to serve a two-game suspension and so had been ineligible. Haifa were disqualified and duly lost about £2 million they would have earned from meeting Liverpool in the next round.

Read more…

How footballers' biographies are simply a form of propaganda in a feeble attempt to sway public opinion in their favour

We may never know quite why Jaap Stam left Man Utd for Lazio. Some pundits seem to think that the sudden sale of a hitherto key player had nothing do with his published comments. “Rev­enge for a literary atrocity? Forget it,” sug­gested the Independent’s James Lawton, who is inclined to think Stam’s manager had long since lost faith and was simply waiting to line up a replacement before selling him.

Read more…

Dear WSC
In his anxiety to demolish the “myth” that it is more difficult to play away than at home, Cameron Carter (WSC 174) runs the risk of perpetuating a bigger one. He describes the Doncaster Rovers team of 1946-47, which won 18 of their 21 League games in Division Three Nor­th, as “a very young team, just back from the Second World War, who knew hardly anything about each other”. It is true that the players had returned from the war, but this magnificent team was far from being a bunch of callow youngsters thrown together in a hurry. The average age, for example, was 27, and the oldest, skipper Bob MacFarlane (34), was one of four players who had re­presented the club before the war. True, the likes of Clarrie Jordan (42 goals in 41 games) and Paul Todd (24 in 40) had no Football League experience, but they were in their mid-twenties and had taken part in some of the highly competitive football going on in the latter years of the war. The team was a classic combination of youth leavened with a heavy dose of experience. As well as the aforementioned 18 away wins, the team took 72 points from 42 matches (105 points had three for a win been available) and won the title by some distance. As Cameron would say – analyse that!
John Coyle, via email

Read more…

Sunday 1 Liverpool might enter the Vieira bidding war – “Of course we’d be interested in a player like him,” says M Gérard – though Arsenal continue to insist through collectively gritted teeth that he’s not for sale. Man Utd chief executive Peter Kenyon denies claims that United have been snubbed by several transfer targets. “Listening to all the speculation you'd think we were a club on the precipice. We’ve not had one rejection.” Brazil lose another World Cup tie, 1-0 in Uruguay, which leaves them barely hanging on to South America’s fourth automatic qualifying place.

Read more…