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An inevitable punfest ensues as England book their place in the World Cup finals

England’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup was deemed important enough to knock even current tabloid fixation Jordan off the front pages. To qualify with eight consecutive victories, scoring 31 and conceding only five, is indeed an impressive feat and the manner in which qualification was confirmed, with a resounding victory, was also noticeably un-English. In the immediate aftermath the papers quietly acknowledged that overhyping the national team has been counter-productive in the past. But they were completely unable to resist the temptation to do so again, sometimes even on the same page as the pleas for restraint.

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Paul Joyce looks back at Lucerne's Nationalliga A triumph, their sole league title to date

The long-term significance
In 1987, the Nationalliga A was reduced from 16 to 12 clubs and the season was split into two parts. After a pre-Christmas “qualifying round”, points were halved and carried forward into a “final round” contested by the top eight clubs. As their budgets increased, Swiss clubs were able to attract young overseas talent and also ageing stars, such as Marco Tardelli, who looked forward to playing the “stress-free football” that Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was enjoying at Servette. By 1989, 46 per cent of players in the NLA were foreigners. These changes made the league harder to predict. Neuchâtel Xamax won their only two championships in 1987 and 1988, and FC Lucerne’s sole league title followed in 1989.

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'Iranian footballers banned for political protest' ran the headlines. James Montague investigates what really happened

It was the image that encapsulated a nation’s struggle for freedom: 11 stern-faced Iranian footballers, some wearing prominent green armbands, huddled together on a foreign pitch while their homeland burned, moments before a crucial World Cup qualifier. Tehran had been in the grip of street protests following the country’s heated presidential elections, won by the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but contested by the reformist-leaning Mir Mohammad Mousavi. With the regime wildly thrashing about to restore order, the players appeared to be expressing their feelings about the crisis moments before they took on South Korea.

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Relegation, a much-loathed owner and an uncertain future. Dermot Corrigan examines troubled times at Real Betis

Since Real Betis’s relegation on goal difference on the last day of last season, the club’s fans have been directing waves of anger and frustration at the club’s majority shareholder Manuel Lopera.

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Al Needham remembers a time when foreign clubs, footballers and national sides were a complete – and enjoyable ‘ mystery

We live in a world where (barring the news, and even only every now and again) we are devoid of surprises. We hear singles on the radio months before they’re released, which go straight to No 1 and immediately fizzle down the charts. We download films and American TV shows half a year before they come out over here. By the time a video-game comes out, anyone remotely interested in it knows what it looks like, how it sounds, what you have to do in the final level and how to cheat at it.

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