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Apart from pubs and the stands themselves, internet message boards are the best place to debate your club’s fortunes and praise or criticise in the company of fellow fans. But, as Ian Plenderleith reports, this freedom of expression is increasingly under threat as clubs use lawyers to clamp down on dissent

Many people compare the football message board to their local pub. You can meet your mates there to relax, say anything you like, and the next day no one will remember a word. There’s the odd idiot who gets out of hand and maybe a fight breaks out, but after a while everyone calms down. Sometimes it’s quiet because there’s no one around, so you leave again. And strangers are treated with suspicion until they show they didn’t just come in to cause trouble, but rather gain acceptance by expressing the sort of opinion that’s greeted with knowing nods (the online equivalent of getting your round in unprompted).

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Poulsen punch penalty pitch invasion leads to chaos in Copenhagen. Kasper Steenbach reports

A week rarely passes without Flemming Østergaard making his opinion known in the Danish press, either about his own abilities, or the lack of same in others. But at the beginning of June, the wealthy 63-year-old, who in ten years has turned FC Copenhagen into a Champions League club, was surprisingly quiet. As chairman of the Copenhagen team, and thereby also Parken, the Danish national stadium, Østergaard had much explaining to do after referee Herbert Fandel was attacked by a drunken spectator during Denmark’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Sweden.

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Given the record of British coaches in developing players in the UK, is it a good idea that they are doing well in the burgeoning and highly profitable US soccer market? Mike Woitalla doesn’t think so

One of the myriad American youth soccer programmes declares it uses “soccer as a tool to teach kids about life”. Classes are open to children from 18 months old and, by the time a child is three, the Lil’ Kickers coaches will be teaching them “concepts of co-operation and teamwork”. So now, even for the youngest, it’s not just a game. If it were and kids were simply given a place to kick around in the manner that has created the world’s best players, could Lil’ Kickers promise the indoor arenas that host their classes an annual income boost of £125,000?

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We’ve all bemoaned, doubted or disbelieved an offside decision. Thankfully, Ian Plenderleith has found an online world where you can debate the issues, view the possible solution or test yourself on the rules

Like the offside rule itself, the website Offside Today still has some room for improvement. However, it differs from that perpetually discussed law in that it’s not a necessary evil, but a necessary platform to help keep the issue at the forefront of ­football debate.

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West Ham are set to avoid relegation after escaping a points deduction from the Premier League. Some Middlesbrough fans are almost as unhappy about this as those of Sheffield United. Take Harry Pearson…

All that I know about legal matters dates back to the days when I was doing a diploma in hotel management. From what I recall precedent was all-important. “But it was established in Rex versus Pettigrew, 1936, that ‘a repast of sandwich and pickles did not constitute a substantial meal and therefore the sale of beer in this instance was illegal’,” our lecturer would drone as he lead us through the bizarre intricacies of the ­British licensing laws. Strangely, however, in all the waffle that the case of West Ham, the Premier League and Carlos Tévez has generated in the national media, precedent hardly seems to have warranted a mention.

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