July/August issue available now online and in stores
The new WSC is out now, available from all good newsagents or to order now from the WSC shop.
Inside
Football League review: Money talks in the Championship | Experience counts in League One | League Two success for Stanley
Plus
What next for Liverpool? | Theo Walcott’s rise and fall | Magdeburg back in the big time | Alternative World Cup finals | The Jules Rimet mystery | National team bust-ups | In praise of programmes | Tales of a ticket collector | Exeter and Coventry head to Wembley | Clubs get their own TV shows | UK refs missing Russia 2018 | Anthem anger in Northern Ireland | Somalia’s dangerous road home | Focus on Mario Kempes | North American wins 2026 race | Scottish junior leagues growing up | From the streets to the World Cup | Curtains raised at Bromley
Coventry City 3 Exeter City 1 League Two play-off final
Two years hardly make a tradition, but once again the League Two play-off final matches the one League club wholly owned by its fans with opponents who exemplify why the supporters’ trust movement was necessary. Fan-owned Exeter face Coventry a year to the day after losing 2-1 to Blackpool, perhaps a judgment on them for dayglo green shirts whose contrast with Blackpool’s tangerine made the whole occasion look like Stewards v Security Guards. Buy here to read the full article
Progs rocked Club programmes
There was a frisson of horror among traditionalists last month when the media speculated on the forthcoming demise of the matchday programme. In fact, all that happened was a suggestion by the Football League that they amend their rules to allow a club not to produce a programme. The obligation exists to provide a vehicle to carry centralised advertising content. If the change happens the official programme thus becomes optional, which may suit a few clubs where it has become seriously uneconomic. Buy here to read the full article
Tales of the unexpected Football League review
If the Football League wanted an advertising slogan for the Championship in 2017-18, “Challenging expectations” would have proven accurate. With few exceptions, the majority of clubs and their supporters did not have the season they were expecting. As many teams overachieved as underperformed over the course of the campaign, as the 2017-18 season guide in WSC 367 confirms. Admittedly, the forecast top three of Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Fulham all finished in the play-off places, with Fulham chasing Cardiff until the last game of the season before sealing promotion at Wembley. Buy here to read the full article
New territories Conifa World Cup
What do Panjab, Western Armenia and Tibet all have in common? This summer they competed in a World Cup. Between May 31 and June 9, the Conifa World Football Cup 2018 (WFC2018) was held at non-League grounds in and around London. Conifa – the Confederation of Independent Football Associations – were formed in 2013 and, in their own words, “support representatives of international football teams from nations, de-facto nations, regions, minority peoples and isolated territories”, providing a federation for all associations that aren’t recognised by FIFA. 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
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4. Email us
5. Ask your local newsagent to order it for you
Play-off final & Fulham photos by Simon Gill, programmes illustration by Matt Littler