Search: 'European Union'

Without leaving his desk, Ian Plenderleith enjoys the finest and funniest views of football in Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and beyond, in his latest look at sites that highlight photographs of the game

It must be at least a matter of months since this column lauded football photographers on the internet but, in the absence of many inspiring new sites in prose, we’re compelled once again to recommend images over words. Just for a change, though, we’ll make it a condition that the sites must have a Benelux connection.

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Ireland’s foreign minister has broached a tricky subject: if one team can represent the island in rugby, why not in football? Paul Doyle reports on the backlash, or lack of one, from some quarters

The mainly Nationalist fans of Cliftonville came up with a new chant a few years ago to mark the beginning of the Northern Irish peace process. Reworking the words of the popular old terrace ditty “You’re going to get your fucking heads kicked in”, they taunted the supporters of traditionally Unionist-backed teams such as Linfield and Glentoran with triumphant cries of “Cross-border bodies with executive powers”. The creation of such bodies was part of the Good Friday Agreement and a move that Nationalists hope will eventually lead to a united Ireland, which, of course, is a scenario Unionists dread.

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Is Sepp Blatter taking the Michel?

Here’s a straw to clutch on to. Anything that annoys or in-conveniences the Premiership’s big four clubs must be at some level a good thing. On the face of it, Michel Platini’s election as the new UEFA president – he defeated the incumbent Lennart Johansson by 27 votes to 23 – comes into that category. One of the main planks of Platini’s campaign was a proposal to cut the maximum number of Champions League qualifiers any country can have to three, beginning with the next TV deal in 2009-10. That Platini explicitly said that he would like to see greater representation for the champions from around eastern Europe probably helped to swing the final vote.

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Jonathan Wilson, author of the acclaimed book Behind the Curtain, believe that eastern Europe’s hooliganism problem is real but exaggerated and reflects society’s wider struggles in an era of change

In the late 1970s, fans of Spartak Moscow, clad in red and white, would rampage through city centres and daub their slogans on walls. This season, their ultras have held aloft a giant banner sponsored by a vodka company. Such is the triumph of capital in Russia.

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The Spanish aren't happy, but UEFA could soon have another member if the British territory can see off some last-minute objections. Tim Stannard reports from the sunny Mediterranean

The British territory of Gibraltar is famous for a number of things – purse-snatching monkeys, tax-dodging businessmen and a giant rock, for starters – but certainly not football. All that is about to change, as UEFA are on the brink of making the pint-sized peninsula their 53rd member, enabling a team to join the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.

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