Search: ' grounds'

Manchester United are the team of the 1990s but don't have an independent magazine. Paul Windridge reveals how his attempts to change this were blocked

We all realise that to win at football you will probably need a bit of luck along the way. But when you play the game, there is a certain equality of opportunity – two teams of 11 players each, changing ends at half-time etc. – in short, a level playing field. Does that hold true for the business of football too? I think you can guess the answer.

Read more…

Clydebank are the latest Scottish club to encounter financial difficulties. Colin McPherson analyses what the future holds

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Small, modestly successful Scottish club, relatively new to the League, finds itself asset stripped, relegated and threatened with a move to another part of the footballing world, without a care for their loyal band of long-suffering supporters.

Read more…

Phil Tanner recalls a football match like no other he'd ever seen before

You probably know one. That non-League ground the train whistles past on the way to the game. I used to wonder what that place is slinking behind the gas holders between Slough and Paddington, glimpsed across a car lot with zillions of gleaming imports. Or maybe exports. Then one day, with favourable pollution readouts and the sun at the right angle, I glimpsed the logo on the stand roof. “Yeading AFC”. Now the only mystery is how to pronounce it…

Read more…

Although standing at football matches is forbidden, Ashley Shaw disapproves of the thuggish stewarding at Old Trafford

When eye-witness accounts talk of scuffling in the stand between stewards and supporters, it is a clear sign that all is not well at Old Trafford.

Read more…

Tuesday 2 West Brom drop down to fourth in Division One after losing 1-0 at home to (gasp) Man City while Sheffield Utd move above them following a 3-2 over Stoke. In Division Three a League record is equalled at Wigan where Bristol Rovers have four players sent off, together with one from the home side. Three go after a mass brawl triggered by the first dismissal, of Rovers defender David Pritchard. "It was atrocious, abysmal and an absolute disgrace," says Rovers manager Ian Holloway, talking of the refereeing rather than the fighting. Doncaster get their first win of the season, 2-1 v Chester, to take them to within six points of Brighton.

Wednesday 3 West Ham beat Crystal Palace 4-1 in a restaging of the match abandoned due to floodlight failure last month. The game is watched by officials from Juventus said to be considering investing in Palace for reasons that remain obscure, possibly some form of collective madness.

Thursday 4 So-so World Cup draw for England who'll be playing Tunisia, Romania and Colombia, harder for Scotland, up against Brazil in the opening match of the tournament (traditionally a low-scoring game, though) then Norway and Morocco. Ray Harford resigns as manager of West Brom as a prelude to taking up the QPR job, saying "At times there were problems with the travelling. A chance came that was going to be better geographically." Did he fly home from Blackburn every day then?.

Read more…