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A view from the inside

Scott Sloan on Zambia’s Africa Cup of Nations triumph from inside the country

As I lay in bed in downtown Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, a lonely vuvuzela pierced the night. It would only get worse. As each game progressed, the nightly noises would build to a crescendo: whistles, singing, dogs howling and horns honking. Lusaka was quiet before each game, but after the final whistle, the city would exhale as tensions lifted. Another game over and an even greater belief that anything is possible.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Tax return

The assumption that Rangers are integral to Scottish football is both flawed and patronising, argues Dianne Millen

While the announcement of Rangers’ administration on February 14 was initially an amusing distraction from compulsory romance for fans of other clubs, it did not take long for the souffle of schadenfreude to subside into tedium. The days of semi-obsessive coverage that ensued were perhaps understandable in a media market where the most banal acts of the so-called “Glasgow Giants” are reported exhaustively.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Fake ID

The rules which determine international eligibility must be looked into, argues Steve Menary

Equatorial Guinea’s run to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations augurs badly for the credibility of future international tournaments. Only five players in the co-hosts’ squad were born in the country. Nine came from Spain, Equatorial Guinea’s former colonial rulers, but players such as Thierry Fidjeu and Narcisse Ekanga – the perpetrator of a shocking dive regularly revisited on YouTube – seemingly have no links to Equatorial Guinea at all.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Brought to account

Rangers are more worried about losing their previous titles than winning this season’s SPL, writes Alex Anderson

First Minister Alex Salmond spoke to Sir David Frost on Al Jazeera on the need to keep Rangers going. While visiting Scotland, prime minister David Cameron made a painfully opportunistic plea that the club should not disappear. By the time Sir Alex of Govan demanded the club be saved, the sponsors pledged their continued support and the next fixture became a 50,000 Ibrox sell-out, it was difficult to imagine why Rangers had lurched into administration at all.

Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

Sporting lives

Amateurs played a major role in professional football well into the 20th century, argues Peter Bateman

Blackburn Olympic’s FA Cup final win over the Old Etonians in 1883 is often seen as a watershed in the game’s history. The Cup was never again won by the amateur ex-public school teams who had dominated the first decade of the competition. In 1885 the FA bowed to the inevitable and sanctioned professionalism. Three years later the formation of the Football League by professional clubs from the midlands and north confirmed the exclusion of amateur clubs from the highest level of the game.

Thursday, March 1st, 2012 - The Archive

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A view from the inside

Scott Sloan on Zambia’s Africa Cup of Nations triumph from inside the country

Tax return

The assumption that Rangers are integral to Scottish football is both flawed and patronising, argues Dianne Millen

Fake ID

The rules which determine international eligibility must be looked into, argues Steve Menary

Brought to account

Rangers are more worried about losing their previous titles than winning this season’s SPL, writes Alex Anderson

Sporting lives

Amateurs played a major role in professional football well into the 20th century, argues Peter Bateman