Owen Amos on why losing can be fun with BJ Heijman
Brandon United are bottom of the Arngrove Northern League Second Division, five divisions from the Football League. They’ve won one match all season and, after 14 games, their goal difference is minus 52. So why do their players go for trials at PSV Eindhoven? Why do rival coaches watch their training sessions on cold Thursday nights? And why, at those sessions, do almost 30 players turn out, twice a week?
As Argentina's traditional clubs struggle three unlikely teams rise to the top, writes Rodrigo Orihuela
It was the year of the minnow in Argentine football. Two small teams from the suburbs of Buenos Aires – Lanús and Tigre – took the two top places in the championship and a third – Arsenal – won the Copa Sudamericana, second only to the Copa Libertadores. Arsenal’s story is probably the most eye-catching of all since the club, founded in 1957, only reached the top division in 2002. The club were set up by the two Grondona brothers, one of whom, Julio, has been FA chairman since 1979. The team are located in the industrial district of Avellaneda, also the home of giants Racing and Independiente, and have the smallest fan base in the first division – their average crowd last season was just 3,005.
The fall of the Berlin Wall spelled the end of the Oberliga. By Paul Joyce
The long-term significance
The opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, meant free movement for players and fans – and the end of the Oberliga. As reunification gathered pace, the collapse of state organisations that sponsored GDR clubs plunged football in eastern Germany into a financial crisis from which it has yet to recover.
Dear WSC
Now that the so-called “Premiership” has reverted to being named the Premier League, can we now assume that, for the sake of conformity, the “Championship” will soon be renamed the Champions League?
Derek Megginson, Scarborough
Gretna’s fairytale rise is having an unhappy ending, with a calamitous debut season in the SPL. Neil Forsyth reports
Features on the current league position of a football team can be tinged with danger for monthly periodicals. In the case of Gretna, however, there is little risk involved. They are bottom of the SPL at the time of writing, they will be bottom when you read these words and it is looking increasingly likely they will be bottom when the campaign wraps up in distant May.