Search: ' La Liga'

Richard Parkin describes how two fanzines set out to defuse a local derby with a recent history of trouble

“I wish to state now that players, officials and fans of Sw*** n T**n (sic) have been, are and always will be SCUM.” So read an excerpt from one letter sent to the Oxford United fanzine Raging Bull. The fanzine’s editor, Ed Horton, was able to identify him as a regular contributor to the publication. This letter was one of many received in response to a joint initiative proposed by the editorial staff of Raging Bull and ourselves, the Swindon Town fanzine The 69er. The initiative addressed the growing problem of crowd violence at derbies between the two clubs. The letter, though untypical of the feedback we received, gave us an idea of what we were up against.

Read more…

Dear WSC,
I am writing, still shocked by one of the worst performances I have witnessed on a football pitch in 25 years of attending. I refer to the half-time ‘entertainment’ provided by comedian (sic) Stan Boardman at the Liverpool v Charlton Cup tie. Being a Charlton supporter but living in the Midlands I cannot afford to be too snooty about the North/South divide, but events such as those witnessed can only provide fuel for the debate. To their credit the Liverpool crowd met Boardman’s ‘jokes’ with stony silence. One example quoted here might give the flavour of this man’s exceptional wit: “Jan Molby’s gone to Swansea, but they had to cancel the match yesterday, they couldn’t get the sheep off the pitch.”If I hadn’t seen this man’s pathetic attempts to get a laugh, I would have sworn it was a pisstake with Bobby Chariot on a bad night. Dying a spectacular death at the Kop end, Boardman took the chorus of “Who are yer?” from the Charlton end as some form of encouragement and tried to engender some banter there, but failed to notice the sarcastic laughter emitting from a now convulsed away end. Had I been a Liverpool supporter, I would have cringed with embarrassment, and someone from the groundstaff finally twigged, leading Boardman away by the arm down the tunnel from which, one hopes, he will never again darken an Anfield which only 45 minutes previously had seen 36,000 people from both sets of supporters stand in silent tribute to Bob Paisley. My advice to Swansea – don’t get Stan Boardman for your half-time entertainment unless you want to hear some very bad jokes about yourself – it’s unlikely that he’s got the imagination to change his material.
John Salvatore, Birmingham 

Read more…

Borussia Dortmund's recent success in the Bundesliga is a throwback to the days when their region dominated German football, as Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger explains

Just over a month into the New Year and Borussia Dortmund are exactly where they were twelve months ago: at the top of the Bundesliga and in the quarter finals of a European cup. In 1995 they beat Lazio to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. This year their Champions League run seems likely to end at the hands of Ajax. If you had predicted this scenario a decade ago, you would have been taken to a place where the rooms have no windows.

Read more…

Rob Chapman looks back to a time when admitting to being a keen football fan was just about the most uncool thing you could do

Much has been made of the fact that during the Rolling Stones’ Wembley concert of July 1990, many fans appeared to be paying more attention to the England v Germany World Cup semi- final commentary on the radio than they were to Mick and Keef’s rock and roll posturing.

Read more…

Dear WSC,
While I was expecting WSC to cover the issue of the proposed relocation of Wimbledon FC, I was disappointed by the slant of the article (From Here to Where, WSC No 108). Once again you fall into the standard trap of belittling the Dons; “they are not exactly deeply rooted in their home soil”. I’d like to disagree. I first visited Plough Lane over thirty years ago when they had just won the FA Amateur Cup. In the years that followed, was it really any surprise that the supporter base could not keep up with the team’s success, especially given the proximity of other clubs? If Runcorn, Gateshead or Hednesford succeeded in getting into the Premiership they would suffer similar problems. Wimbledon have worked tirelessly to build up community support and recently won an FA award for ‘Football in the Community’ work. When the media claim we have no support, it ignores the hardcore of 5-6,000 to whom keeping the Dons in South London (preferably in Merton) is of vital importance. What I would like to see is an article which looked at Wimbledon’s achievements objectively, echoed the idea that a team’s status should be judged by on the field performances not numbers through the turnstiles or cantilever stands, and finally addresses the real problem of short-sighted local politicians who don’t actually want football in their community.
Paul Jeater, Ingatestone

Read more…