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

Trial by television

The lighthearted interview that prompted Fabio Capello’s resignation seemed innocuous to viewers in Italy, writes Matthew Barker

Cinque Minuti di Recupero is one of those quick filler shows Italian state broadcaster RAI puts out after the main evening news bulletin. It is a no-frills feature, in which the presenter interviews a footballing personality for five minutes. The show has enjoyed a few decent exclusives in its time, possibly because of its tight format.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Word of mouth

Zlatan Ibrahimovic spares no one in his hugely popular, highly readable and uncompromising autobiography, writes Marcus Christenson

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it turns out, tells a story the way he plays football: he pulls no punches. The player, who has kung-fu kicked his Milan team-mates Rodney Strasser and Antonio Cassano, punched Jonathan Zebina and reportedly kicked Mark van Bommel on the shins several times during a half-time interval, published his autobiography in Sweden at the end of last year. It did not disappoint.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Staying in the locality

Alan Fisher on Tottenham Hotspur’s plans for a new ground

Given the swingeing cuts in the Post Office over the past decade, the opening of a new branch is newsworthy wherever the location. But for the residents of Tottenham, it has a special meaning. Not only is it a valuable civic amenity restored six months after it was destroyed in the riots that tore through London last summer, it is also a significant symbol of recovery. The community in Tottenham is striving to rebuild its emotional strength as well as the bricks and mortar of a scarred High Road.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - Book reviews