Search: ' grounds'

Opened in 1871, one of the oldest football grounds still in use will shut at the end of the season. While grumbles about the football will always endure, some things will never be the same again, says Roger Titford

The first Taylor Report into ground safety appeared in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall was breached. Just like the Berlin Wall, there’s precious little left standing today of our traditional Football League stadiums. One of these terraced grounds really ought to have been preserved in its entirety for the nation by English Heritage but instead I pay homage to Saltergate, while a few fixtures remain.

Read more…

Cameron Carter settles down to watch the 2010 Carling Cup final and spends most of his time wondering whether it is worth his attention

Historically speaking, it is not always possible to determine something’s significance at the time. Who knew that an off-hand shooting of some old Austrian guy would lead to the First World War? Or that Howard would be a non-expendable member of Take That? The BBC experienced the same dilemma with the Carling Cup final. While whoever has the rights to the FA Cup coverage each year repeatedly informs us it is a competition everyone really still strains to win, the Carling Cup’s significance is an even tougher media sale.

Read more…

Robert Shaw looks at how the serious illness of a World Cup hero has brought to light the negative impact alcohol has had on Brazilian football

Brazilian football legend Socrates left hospital on September 22 after two stays for stomach haemorrhaging and liver-related problems that could yet necessitate a transplant. Given that doctors admit that the 57-year-old’s condition was life-theatening, the relief among friends, family and the better part of 190 million football fans is tangible.

Read more…

The Tragedy of Robert Enke
by Ronald Reng
Yellow Jersey Press, £16.99
Reviewed by Mike Ticher
From WSC 297 November 2011

Buy this book

Considering young men are a group at high risk of suicide, the number of active footballers who have taken their own lives is surprisingly small. Dave Clement, Alan Davies and Justin Fashanu are perhaps the best known in Britain, all in their declining football years. That makes Robert Enke a rarity among rarities: the Hannover 96 goalkeeper was at his peak, in a season that should have led to the World Cup, when he walked in front of a train in November 2009.

Read more…

Tackling Scotland's Towns and Teams
by Daniel Gray
Luath Press, £9.99
Reviewed by Gavin Saxton
From WSC 287 January 2011

Buy this book

Daniel Gray – a social historian, Englishman and Middlesbrough fan exiled in Edinburgh – decided last season to explore his adopted homeland through its lower-league football teams. So, picking out 12 fixtures around the country, he set out to learn about Scotland and its football. The result is this series of vignettes, 12 chapters each based around a match, but for the most part an excuse to delve a little into the history of the home teams, the towns that host them and the connections between the two.

Read more…