Julius Bergmann reports on where the Germans stand on terracing
The last official report into the possibility of allowing standing areas in UK stadiums came in 2001, when then Sports Minister Kate Hoey dispatched the Football Licensing Authority on a fact-finding mission to Germany. Not only were new stadiums being constructed for the World Cup, Germany was then, and remains, the only major European footballing nation where standing areas are allowed in top-flight arenas.
A return to terracing is on the agenda. Steve Menary explains what’s going on in Westminster
Could the government face an all-party rebellion over Sports Minister Richard Caborn’s refusal to countenance a return to standing at top-flight football matches? Seventeen years after the publication of the Taylor Report and after years when it was all but impossible to find a politician willing to propose a return to terracing, the mood at Westminster has changed.
The other United are doing well on the pitch despite the Glazers’ takeover and media interest in FC United is waning. The breakaway club are having a rougher ride this season, as Ashley Shaw reports
It began so well. FC United’s first season was accompanied by such sympathetic media coverage that even rival fans supported the brave stand made by those prepared to give up the glamour of the Premiership for life in football’s basement.
Will Andriy Shevchenko’s struggles push José Mourinho out of Chelsea? James Brandon weighs up the odds
Before the start of the season, WSC 235 predicted that the arrival of Andriy Shevchenko would destabilise the equilibrium at Chelsea, be consigned to the bench and accelerate José Mourinho’s departure. What then appeared a far-fetched possibility now looks likelier with every passing day. Shevchenko’s inability to find a niche within Mourinho’s tactical plan, together with his perceived position as the owner’s favourite, have brought the power struggle that has been rumbling behind the scenes at Chelsea into the public domain.
Feyenoord's measures to control their fans failed to work in Nancy. Ernst Bouwes reports
What cruel irony. In 1974, fans of Tottenham Hotspur introduced major football violence to Holland during the second leg of the UEFA Cup final against Feyenoord. Thirty-three years later, Feyenoord find themselves banned for the rest of the European season for hooliganism at a UEFA Cup tie at Nancy while their scheduled opponents, Spurs, may receive a bye into the next round (Feyenoord still have a chance that the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne will overturn the verdict).