May issue available online and in stores
The new WSC is out now, available in all good newsagents or to order from the WSC shop.
Inside this month
Law changes: Why video replays are a bad idea | Reforms referees want to see | The players who hated penalties
When to stop playing park football | Should Portsmouth fans sell? | Cornwall: life on the edge | Bad owners in the EFL | Panic over Russia 2018 | Football in Silicon Valley | Chesterfield’s big day | Life outside Copenhagen’s top two | Maine Road and Priestfield – watching from all sides of a ground
Plus
Big screens are evil | Focus on Jimmy Guthrie | Controversy over Brazilian signing | Polish migrant team in Essex | FIFA’s museum fails to inspire | Derby’s manager conundrum | Russian hooligans turn on BBC | Grays Athletic’s survival plan | Women’s FA Cup fifth round photo feature | When York broke the 100-point barrier
Newquay 5 Tavistock 0 A misty day on the North Cornwall coast
As the North Cornwall branch line train turns a bend, a row of pylons appears through the mist like the snow-blind survivors of an Arctic expedition, tethered to each other for safety. A horse stands long and still in damp pasture. White stone houses materialise, teetering on the abrupt drop to the Atlantic. You can tell you are in Newquay by the proliferation of hotels, fish and chip shops, unsavoury-looking bars and insular groups of eight-to-ten young people having fun at an inappropriate time of day. Buy here to read the full article
The unprofessionals Playing the game
Picking the right time to retire isn’t easy for any footballer. Compared with the professionals, at least I can exclude one option – there is no question of going out at the top. But on the other hand, nor is there anyone to take you gently aside and whisper the awful truth, or simply to stop putting your name on the teamsheet. Buy here to read the full article
The first – and only – occasion that I ever watched a game from a corporate box was above the Umbro Stand at Manchester City’s Maine Road in late 1995, allowing my integrity to be swayed by an invitation to a buffet with stadium parking access. Almost inevitably, the afternoon in business class was as unsavoury as I had anticipated. Buy here to read the full article
Breaking the rules Law changes
My friend Pete is a bus driver who referees on Sunday mornings – which is one of the reasons he doesn’t like changes to the Laws of the Game. Pete reads all the Law briefings from the County FA and joins in the discussions at our local Referees’ Association, but the players and managers in his games don’t. They mostly rely on hazily retained views from TV and radio pundits. If Robbie Savage squeals “For me that’s never handball!” then grassroots referees will feel the backlash if their interpretations differ from his. Buy here to read the full article
Availability
WSC is the only nationally available independent football magazine in the UK, and you can get it monthly for a very reasonable £3.50. You should be able to find a copy in your local newsagent, otherwise outlets that stock WSC include WH Smith, mainline train stations plus selected Tescos. If you’re having trouble finding the magazine, you could do one of the following:
1. Subscribe now and also get access to the complete digital archive
2. Buy the latest issue direct from WSC
3. Sign up for our digital edition and apps for iPhone, iPad and Android
4. Email us
5. Ask your local newsagent to order it for you
Newquay photo by Darren Luke, Playing the game illustration by Adam Doughty, Maine Road photo by Simon Inglis, Laws illustration by Gary Neill