Author Archive
Cornwall’s flagship team have risen quickly through the football pyramid. James Taylor reports on the challenges Truro City now face
Cornwall has never had a Football League team but this season sees Truro City playing in Blue Square South, just two steps below League Two. Since chairman and local property magnate Kevin Heaney started investing in 2004, the club have won five promotions in six seasons, collecting an FA Vase at Wembley along the way and the nickname of “the Chelsea of non-League”.
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 - Book reviews
Chris Lines on Fulham’s scapegoating of fans after a ticketing shambles
Fast becoming football’s answer to the Harlem Globetrotters, September saw the Brazilian national team in London for an enticing friendly with Ghana at Fulham’s Craven Cottage. But for many supporters the occasion was marred by events outside the stadium.
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 - The Archive
Manchester City’s recently departed chief executive was offensive and distasteful, but he was also good at his job, as Tony Curran reports
During his time as chief executive of Manchester City, Garry Cook developed a reputation for making public faux pas. So it was not surprise when this propensity brought him down. Cook, should we need reminding, sent an email that he believed was exclusively directed to colleague Brian Marwood in which he mocked the cancer diagnosis of Dr Anthonia Onuoha, the mother and agent of City player Nedum.
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 - Book reviews
Justin McCurry on Japan’s continuing love affair with English football, despite the Premier League shifting its focus to other Asian markets
When Harry Redknapp brought Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi to Portsmouth for £1.8 million in 2001, detractors spied a case of commercial considerations taking precedence over footballing ability. Sure enough, the Japanese goalkeeper departed under a cloud less than two years later after a series of hapless performances that saw him lose his place to the 42-year-old Dave Beasant.
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 - The Archive
It is not just the so called big teams who attract international support. Janice Allen-Brade reports on Norwich City’s global fanbase
The global popularity of the big Premier League clubs is an unmistakable aspect of modern football. But one of the unwritten stories about the League’s international popularity is how many of the so-called smaller teams have foreign fanbases. Locations include Norway where Blackburn have a strong following largely cultivated in the 1990s, and Iceland where a supporters’ club for Wolves was set up in 2000. And then there’s my team, Norwich City. Why would someone living in Europe or the Far East support a club that has no real international exploits to speak of – save one golden albeit short-lived spell in Europe – and an eccentric TV chef at the helm?
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 - The Archive