Search: 'Ajax'

England peaked in 1966, not four years later, as is often believed, says David Montrose

It’s the view put forward in the official history of the England team. It’s what Geoff Hurst thinks. Sir Alf himself supposedly believed it, though I’ve never discovered when and where he said so. And, of course, it’s been the opinion of assorted scribblers. Joe Lovejoy of the Sunday Times, for one, whose contribution to the pre-millennial surfeit of list-making was his assessment of the Greatest Football Teams. Occupying the top five slots, a genuine celebrity parade: Brazil 1970; Real Madrid 1960; Ajax 1972; Brazil 1958; Hungary 1953. Then, England 1970 – outranking the boys of ’66 as well as every team produced by Germany, the Netherlands, Argentina, Italy and France. Praise indeed for a side that lost two out of four.

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Jan Molby talks to Huw Richards and tells him about cultural changes in his time in England and the transition from player to manager

As a youngster, how conscious were you of British football?
Very aware of it. In my part of Denmark, the interest was in English and German football – in other parts it’s only in the English game. The Danish game then was still amateur. My first team was Arsenal. It was the year they won the double and while I didn’t know what the double was, you get interested in teams you see a lot on television. That interest in British football is still there in Denmark. There was a period when you had stars like the Laudrup brothers playing in Spain and Italy when they got the similar coverage, but nowadays all the kids want to play for Manches­ter United, who have incredible support in Den­mark, the same way Liverpool do in Nor­­way. I remember when we played Ros­enberg, there were about 10,000 people to greet us at the airport and in a stadium hold­ing 24,000 there were 21,000 supporting Liverpool.

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Celtic and Ajax are making noises again about the possibility of North Atlantic League, but Ken Gall is not to sure about the whole idea

In his unjustly neglected 1911 classic The Devil's Dictionary, the great American satirist Ambrose Bierce accurately defined once as “enough”. Sadly, however, Bierce’s assertion that there can be too much of a good thing seems anathema to the individuals in charge of the big European clubs. 

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Cris Freddi's series on the poorest moments in football history continues with a look at the players who missed when it looked easier to score

Right, same formula as the rest of this series. Quick mention of famous televised misses, to make it look as if I’ve seen them all, then on to missed chances that mattered, because that’s all I know about.

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WSC readers keep spotting players in the unlikliest places…

I was humbled when Archie Gemmill spotted me driving into the Forest car park to fetch some tickets, at what he regarded as an excessive speed. Before I had had a chance to park and get out of the car he ran over to me, told me to wind down the window and called me “a bloody moron”, before turning and walking away. James Crosby

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