Match-fixing has always been in football. Simon Craig looks at the murky history
The lights went out at Upton Park and at Selhurst, and might yet have followed suit at The Valley and up to eight other grounds over the country.
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A brief guide to football in New York, told by Jack Bell
1626 Dutchman Peter Minuit plunks down $24 in trinkets and baubles and backs his group of settlers against a disorganised band of local Reckagawawanc Indians for the island of Manna-Hatta. It is a precursor to Holland’s Total Football, known locally as Total Rip-off.
Updates from clubs in trouble including Chester City and Oxford United
Among the plausible candidates for this season’s spectacular calamity club are Chester City, where Kevin Ratcliffe’s resignation as manager after the first three games of the season has severely dented any optimism generated when Terry Smith, the former coach of the Great Britain gridiron team, took control of the club in July. Understandably, given the mess left by the previous administration, City fans have so far been prepared to give Smith the benefit of the doubt, despite his “colourful” past on the UK ice hockey and gridiron scene.
Jamie Rainbow points us in the direction of Hartlepool and Southend unofficial sites, bemoans the lack of an FA website and reveals a fan's obsession with mini kits
Manchester United are not the only side who can lay claim to a worldwide support. Hartlepool may not have plans to open a megastore in Singapore, but they do have a couple of Swedish-based fans who have set up a website in honour of the club. And, once the initial language difficulties have been overcome, very good it is too. You’ll find an interesting history of the town with a refreshingly honest appraisal of the football team. “Hartlepool has an appallingly bad football team which consistently struggles towards the bottom of the English football league,” admits the site. There are a few historical snippets along with a comprehensive news section featuring daily updates on all the club-related gossip.
After leading Gillingham to Wembley for the first time in the clubs's history, Paul Scally's decision to sack Tony Pulis was wrong but not unexpected writes Paul Rodgers
The sacking of Gillingham manager Tony Pulis, while shocking and very annoying for Gills fans, does not come as a complete surprise. Rumours of dissent between Pulis and the club’s owner Paul Scally have been doing the rounds in Kent for well over a year now, but few expected him to be sacked only a month after Gillingham’s first appearance at Wembley in the Second Division play-off final.