When Saturday Comes | The half decent football magazine

Continental drift

The Europa League has had a bad press recently. Georgina Turner sets out to defend the tournament and dispel some myths

It’s May 9, 2012. About 10.30pm local time in Bucharest. Tottenham captain Ledley King looks embarrassed as he turns away from UEFA president Michel Platini, raises the Europa League trophy not much above chin height and quickly hands it down the line. Around him the Stadionul National is silent except for the noise of television crews packing up, litter being picked and the runners-up heading back down the tunnel – their supporters have already filed out of the ground and Tottenham’s were never here. Some of them have seen the result on the news and some received texts from friends. But who cares?

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Home discomforts

Sepp Blatter’s native country is inextricably linked to FIFA. But Paul Joyce has noticed a hardening of the mood in Switzerland

Sepp Blatter has always marketed himself as a humble Swiss patriot who has transformed Zürich into “the capital of FIFA, the capital of football”. Yet his compatriots are growing increasingly disenchanted with the self-made man from the canton of Valais. In a survey conducted by the Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten in May, 86 per cent of its readers thought that Blatter was guilty of corruption. And, as his organisation lurches from crisis to crisis, pressure is mounting in Switzerland for regulationson football’s governing body to be tightened dramatically.

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 - The Archive

The old alliance

Neil White describes the unique football relationship between FC Twente and Stranraer

In 1981, Frans Thijssen was just about as good a midfielder as there was in Europe. He won the UEFA Cup with Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town and was named Player of the Year in England. He remembers the European trophy that is now the totemic achievement of Robson’s team appearing as a mere consolation after late-season injuries exposed a lack of depth, costing Ipswich a First Division championship and a place in the FA Cup final.

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Blue burden

Chris Sanderson assesses Birmingham City’s mixed season and how a return to the Championship has affected the club’s finances and tactics

In a Premier League awash with money and abetted by a hyperbolic media, journeyman teams like Birmingham City face an impossible dilemma. How can we join the celebrity foam party when we turn up wearing M&S slacks, looking for the carvery?

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Three’s a crowd

An international ban would endanger Bosnian football at all levels. Kenneth Morrison explains a presidential problem

On a mild March evening in the industrial town of Zenica, a late goal by Edin Dzeko brought Bosnia another impressive victory, this time coming from behind to beat Romania 2-1. Having failed to qualify for a major tournament since their first competitive match in 1996, they narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification in 2010, losing in the play-offs to Portugal.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 - The Archive

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Stories

Continental drift

The Europa League has had a bad press recently. Georgina Turner sets out to defend the tournament and dispel some myths

Home discomforts

Sepp Blatter’s native country is inextricably linked to FIFA. But Paul Joyce has noticed a hardening of the mood in Switzerland

The old alliance

Neil White describes the unique football relationship between FC Twente and Stranraer

Blue burden

Chris Sanderson assesses Birmingham City’s mixed season and how a return to the Championship has affected the club’s finances and tactics

Three’s a crowd

An international ban would endanger Bosnian football at all levels. Kenneth Morrison explains a presidential problem