Book reviews | When Saturday Comes

Taking flight

Owen Amos on Airbus UK, the Welsh club just trying to go about their business quietly

Everyone knows the joke. The result pops up on Soccer Saturday and, within seconds, someone has cracked it. So, are they dancing in the streets of Airbus UK? They are not, but they are doing all right. The club, in the Welsh Premier League, are based at the huge Airbus aeroplane factory in Broughton, north Wales. The site, which employs 6,000 people, is a mile from the English border, and the ground is tucked away in the south-east corner.

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Export duty

As domestic football improves in Ireland, players are earning professional contracts later in their careers, says Ciaran McCauley

James McClean is one of the finds of the season, a £350,000 steal for Sunderland from Derry City. Depending on what you read, he is now worth anywhere between £10 million and £200m and could yet be on his way to Euro 2012 after winning his first cap in February’s friendly against Czech Republic.

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Tax return

The assumption that Rangers are integral to Scottish football is both flawed and patronising, argues Dianne Millen

While the announcement of Rangers’ administration on February 14 was initially an amusing distraction from compulsory romance for fans of other clubs, it did not take long for the souffle of schadenfreude to subside into tedium. The days of semi-obsessive coverage that ensued were perhaps understandable in a media market where the most banal acts of the so-called “Glasgow Giants” are reported exhaustively.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Film Club

A new documentary about QPR makes or fascinating if not flattering viewing, writes Anthony Hobbs

The Four Year Plan is a fly-on-the-wall account of a turbulent period of QPR’s history, following our takeover by wealthy backers, in particular one Flavio Briatore. Over three seasons, the film plots a path through boardroom-generated mayhem, destruction and chaos, before somehow delivering a happy ending with Rangers’ promotion to the Premier League.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Character building

Who better to teach sportsmanship to children than a cartoon version of Jose Mourinho, argues David Craik

Racing towards a La Liga title, threatening to be the first man to win three European Cups with different teams, having English clubs clamour for his signature next season – what more is there for José Mourinho to feel good about? Is not it obvious? His next challenge is, of course, to rival Hong Kong Phooey, Yogi Bear and Ivor the Engine for the title of best cartoon series ever.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - Book reviews