Al Needham isn't ashamed to admit he was an ITV Digital subscriber. Here he recalls the channel's highlights – that's the first two paragraphs anyway
When ITV (née ON) Digital was launched in autumn 1998, it seemed a very appealing offer to the televisual tat aficionado such as myself. You could get WWF and back-to-back episodes of On The Buses without throwing any cash directly into the maw of Rupert Murdoch, and you only had to plug it in and ring a call centre to get connected.
Dear WSC
In the article about hooliganism in WSC 181 the usual catchphrase “every club has their trouble makers” was once again wheeled out. Can I just point out that Macclesfield Town have had no arrests in at least the last two years and possibly further. I know for a fact that they are the only Football League club who can boast this for the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 season. To my knowledge they are currently running at zero for this season as well. Perhaps the phrase “every club (except for Macclesfield Town who are a friendly lot and would be an ideal day out for yourself and the kids) have their trouble makers” would be more appropriate.
Tom Rance, Macclesfield
We asked some of our regular contributors if they could remember anything about 2001. Surprisingly, quite a few of them could
Harry Pearson
Best • Seeing different faces in the home dugout at the Riverside. Finally getting a radio that allowed me to listen to Alistair Brownlee’s delirious, deranged commentaries on Century FM. His pronunciation of Marinelli alone is worth the price of the batteries. Oliver Kahn’s expression at the end of the game in Munich.
Chris Taylor & Craig Ellyard argue for and against the idea of scrapping the League Cup
Yes ~
Paul Scholes is not most people’s idea of a rebellious prima donna, so when the mild-mannered Manc refused to play in a match against Arsenal you knew something was up. This season he’s been played out of position, left on the bench and generally messed around as his manager attempts to accommodate Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Sebastian Veron. All accepted without a murmur. “But for God’s sake,” you can imagine him telling Sir Alex, “not the bloody League Cup!”
Tuesday 2 Nine Austrian players refuse to fly to Israel for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier. “It is far too dangerous there,” says one of them, Walter Kogler. Joe Royle says he is suing Man City for a £500,000 pay-off, on the basis that they were still a Premiership club when he was sacked in May, even though they had finished in a relegation spot.