Search: 'Chris Kamara'

Referees have clamped down with a series of red cards, but as  John Williams finds out, it is not just them who should shoulder the blame

Forget just for a moment all the argy bargy about the standard of refereeing, the alleged in­crease in viol­ence in the English game and Patrick Vieira’s recent disciplinary charge for spitting at Neil Ruddock. Con­sider this instead: Vinny Samways, remember him – impish little midfielder, quite skilful but a bit lightweight, much too faint-hearted for the English game? Spurs and Everton fans will probably recall the urgings from the stands that little Vin­nie should cease fannying around and “get stuck in”.

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A proven manager was needed to steady the ship at the County Ground after the Robins' relegation from the Premier League. But as Chris Hall explains, that was not enough for some fans

Steve McMahon has gone. Vexed and exasperated by a cost-cutting administration on the one hand, an unforgiving and am-bitious group of supporters on the other. In the end it was no surprise. Things haven’t been looking good at Swindon; results have been poor for months and confidence is low.

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Stoke's season began with optimism but ended with relegation, as Penny Davies explains

On Saturday August 30th 1997, 23,859 people sat down in Stoke City’s new home, the Britannia Stadium, to watch the first League match there. Earlier, Sir Stanley Matthews had officially opened the ground. The idea was that he would roll back the years by scoring in front of admiring fans. This didn’t go to plan. The 82-year-old couldn’t get enough power behind his shot and the ball stopped well short of the goal. The more prescient among the crowd knew that this cock-up was a taste of the season ahead.

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Wednesday 1 The start of Real Madrid's Champions League semi with Borussia Dortmund is held up for seventy-five minutes after one of the goalposts is damaged by Real fans jumping on the adjacent perimeter fencing. Dortmund lose the match 2-0 but may lodge an official complaint with UEFA that could lead to the tie being replayed. In the other game, Juventus beat Monaco 4-1.

Thursday 2 Chelsea are lucky to escape with a 1-0 defeat at Vicenza in the first leg of their Cup-Winners Cup semi final. "We can blame a bit of tiredness. You are never at your best five days after a cup final," says Gianluca loftily. Wembley Stadium has been bought by the English National Stadium Trust backed by the FA. Rebuilding work will start after the 1999 FA Cup Final and might even include proper toilets.

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David Pendleton examines Geoffrey Richmond's unglamorous rags to riches tale

Habitat A self made man. Bought Ronson Lighters when they were insolvent, turned the company around and sold it for £10m plus. Now being the Chairman of Bradford City is his full time occupation, he is always first to enter the building and last to leave. Opens all the mail, occasionally answers the phones and has been known to work in the ticket office. Hands-on is an inadequate term.

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