Search: 'Paul Ince'

Football journalists were made to eat their words when a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona produced a stunning performance to beat Manchester United in the Champions League final

Opinions can change quickly in football. Only a few months ago sections of the press were berating the BBC for having the temerity to expose corruption at the top of FIFA. The broadcasting of a Panorama episode that outlined why FIFA need to reform was deemed “disgraceful”, “ridiculously unpatriotic” and “laughable” in the Sun. This month Sepp Blatter was placed beside Colonel Gaddafi on the paper’s front cover above the headline Despot the difference.

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Robert Shaw looks at how Brazilian football still has racial issues to resolve, especially once a footballer’s playing career has ended

Botafogo striker Sebastián Abreu put on odd boots – one white, one back – for the club’s derby with Flamengo in the Carioca (Rio state) championship on April 10, while another Rio club, Vasco da Gama, recently launched a shirt with a message on the collar about “democracy and inclusion”.

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Dear WSC
I recently heard Alan Green and Robbie Savage give the customary abuse to Howard Webb during the Man City v Sunderland game. While Green’s job is to commentate on football, Savage, as a current player, is in an awkward position when he criticises officials from the safety of a studio in terms that would get him booked on the field.
Maybe the threat of a disrepute charge would concentrate his mind. As Savage himself commented during the broadcast: “The officials bring problems on themselves. First sign of dissent, bang, yellow card.” Well you said it, Robbie.
Paul Caulfield, Bradford

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Thanks to share rules, German fans retain a say in the running of their clubs. But Paul Joyce worries this may be about to change

German football is justifiably proud of its strict regulations on club ownership. In order to prevent predatory investors seizing control of teams, the statutes of the German Football League (DFL) decree that at least 50 per cent of a professional club’s shares plus one controlling vote must be owned by its members, ie the supporters. This democratic model also means that fans of teams such as Schalke 04 and 1.FC Cologne have recently been able to use their clubs’ AGMs to block unpopular measures proposed by their boards.

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Ian Plenderleith gets the feeling all the best goals have already been scored and all the best songs have already been written

When you hit middle age, it’s almost impossible not to fall into the trap of yearning for the days when things were different. Not necessarily better, just different. When nearly every house had just one telephone and one TV. When you played football in the same field every day with the other kids in the village using cowpats for goalposts (really). When a new album by the Jam was not just a new album by the Jam, but a significant event in your life that you looked forward to for weeks in advance. When a live football match on television was something very special that happened no more than a handful of times per year.

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