Search: ' Tim Flowers'

In our third piece on anti-poverty initiatives in football, Paul Virgo reports on the unlikley circumstances that have brought together the corporate giants of Internazionale and the anti-capitalist rebels of the Zapistas in southern Mexico

Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos and Internazionale owner Massimo Moratti make an odd couple. The first spends his time fighting for the rights of indigenous people in the Chiapas region of Mexico, while the other spends his oil bucks on expensive footballers who don’t win many trophies.

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Brian Clough didn't have a lot of time for drama. Al Needham wonders what old big 'ead would make of this one

“I hate the thought of football on stage – pointless shower scenes, folk explaining the offside rule and still nobody understands it, three actors waving some sodding scarf in the air and, most of all, slow-motion football like some wankers’ ballet in shorts”
Jimmy in Old Big ’Ead: The Spirit of the Man

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Saturday 2 Madness at St James’ Park, where Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer are sent off for fighting each other. Newcastle also have Steve Taylor dismissed for handball during a 3‑0 defeat by Villa. Chelsea need three more wins for the title after a 3‑1 stroll at Southampton (yet José is supposedly ready to quit over the club not having contested the UEFA charge against him). Arsenal return to second place with Thierry Henry now only four goals short of Ian Wright’s club record after a hat-trick in a 4‑1 win over Norwich; Man Utd are held to a goalless draw by Blackburn. A late Igor Biscan goal beats Bolton and takes Liverpool to within a point of That All Important™ fourth place. Sunderland’s 3‑1 win at QPR takes them five points clear as Championship leaders. Ipswich go joint second by beating Derby 3‑2 while Wigan lose 2‑1 at home to West Ham. Victory over Brighton takes Coventry out of the bottom three at the expense of Gillingham. Stockport are the first team to be relegated this season after a 2‑1 League One defeat by Brentford. Southend, unbeaten in 14 games, lead League Two after Yeovil continue to falter with a defeat at Rushden. Martin O’Neill blames Celtic’s shock 2‑0 home defeat by Hearts on players being fagged out from international call-ups.

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Socrates, futebol de salão and Premiership ambitions – Steve Wilson looks at the strange case of Simon Clifford's Garforth Town

Watching Garforth Town crash out of this season’s Northern Counties League Cup on the kind of wet and windy Tuesday evening in northern England that foreigners are habitually assumed “not to fancy much”, it was difficult to imagine anywhere further from Brazil.

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The death of Nottingham's "surrogate dad" still hasn't sunk in, writes Al Needham

It goes without saying that Brian Clough was the greatest manager ever, but to the people of Nottingham and Derby it ran much deeper than that. He put us on the map and gave us a reason to be proud of where we came from. Kids from Nottingham were not supposed to see their club win the League, go to Wembley more times than to Skegness, see their club wearing nasty jumpers on Top of the Pops, hold up the European Cup in their Dad's local, or listen under the sheets at 3am to them playing in Tokyo. For anyone in Nottingham between the ages of 30 and 45, Brian Clough was responsible for some of the happiest moments of our childhood. And, despite what anyone else thinks, underneath the media bluster he was a really nice bloke: Nottingham's surrogate dad. 

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