Peter Kenyon's call to cut the number of professional teams to 40 is being met with fierce opposition
At the time of writing, York City could be less than a fortnight away from disappearing. The club is in administration, players aren’t being paid and property developers Persimmon, who hold shares in the company that owns the ground, Bootham Crescent Holdings, plan to build flats on the site.
The FA of Ireland have been castigated in a report sparked by the World Cup fiasco. Brian de Salvo hopes they take it more seriously than the last one
“The FAI is experiencing a confused present and faces an uncertain future.” That’s not a quotation from Genesis, the sports management consultancy appointed to report on the organisation of Ire- land’s governing body after their World Cup campaign, who produced a damning indictment of the FAI. It’s the verdict of a previous report, presented as long ago as 1996, which highlighted “a lack of vision, direction and planning… indecisive structures and… reluctance to consider necessary change.” Little has changed since. Will it now?
Down at the bottom of the First, something is stirring. Chris Eldergill reports on Steve Coppell's attempts to keep Brighton up with no visible means of support
When Steve Coppell took on his latest quest in management at Brighton & Hove Albion, there were more than a few eyebrows raised. Coppell was taking over a team that sat rock bottom of the First Division, having lost ten games in a row and still with no permanent home. Brighton were employing a man who had managed their greatest rivals, Crystal Palace, on and off for over a decade. Supporters even had a terrace chant dedicated to him.
Tuesday 1 “We’re in the qualification comfort zone,” says Sir Alex, lolling in his hammock after a 4-0 win over Olympiakos. Newcastle lose again, 2-0 at Juventus, though they have a goal wrongly disallowed for offside when one down. Sir Bobby isn’t sure whether he’s given up yet: “It’s almost impossible, but we won’t say that at the moment.” Oxford Utd make the headlines in the Worthington Cup, beating Charlton on penalties after a goalless draw at The Valley. West Ham are also taken to spotkicks, finally beating Chesterfield 4-3. Sunderland treble their goals tally for the season in winning 7-0 at Cambridge. The FA are to investigate a “throat-cutting” gesture made by Eyal Berkovic to a Man City fan who had allegedly been barracking him during the team’s 3-2 win over Crewe.
Sepp Blatter is promising Oceania automatic entry to the World Cup, again. Matthew Hall thinks this time he may actually come up with the goods
To be or not to be? That’s the question for the Oceania Football Confederation as FIFA promises the qualifying process for the 2006 World Cup will be decided in Madrid this December. The proposal, from none other than the president Sepp Blatter, is that Oceania takes the guaranteed qualifying place freed up by the decision that the holders will no longer qualify automatically for future World Cups.