Search: 'administration'

Chester City fans celebrated the arrival of Terry Smith, who took over the club last year. They are not celebrating now, says Mark Howell

Terry Smith, the 40-year-old former coach of Manchester Spartans American Football team, took control of Chester City in July 1999. Asked to explain his interest, Smith cited his children’s love of Chester Zoo and the fact that “Americans love history, and Chester is steep­ed in history”. Supporters celebrated nonetheless. They had raised over £100,000 to­­­wards Smith’s takeover and were set to own over 30 per cent of the club, which had been in administration for almost a year.

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The north-east produces the players, but it is a cause for wild celebration when one of their own clubs signs them. Harry Pearson looks back on the history of the hotbed

Hackneyed ideas surround north-east football as midgies do a busy picnic site. If you find them too irritating it’s best not to go out. On August 6, 1996, two of the more bloated cliches collided with a resounding splat in the Leazes car park at St James’ Park, where 15,000 fans awaited a glimpse of their new signing, Alan Shearer.

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Dear WSC
In WSC 157 there appeared an advertisement for a new book about Reading FC entitled Rusting Tin & Shiny Plastic. I feel obliged to point out that, although tin can certainly corrode, the only metal that actually rusts is iron. Clearly the “football cultural revolution” in Berkshire has failed to bring a knowledge of basic chemistry to the area. Tsk.
Eddie Edwards, via email

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Day eight of the WSC advent calendar and we have Jesus for you. Former Atlético Madrid president Jesús Gil, that is. In issue 157, March 2000, Phil Ball reported on how the club had been thrown into disarray by the arrest of their controversial ex-president on charges of embezzlement

So this time it really does look like curtains for the most famous man in Spain, the man who once dec­lared that if they sent him to prison he would buy the building from the town council.

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What do you do when you stop being the world's best player? Diego Maradona still hasn't come up with a satisfactory answer, as Martin Gambarotta reports

Of all the visits Diego Maradona received while ailing with a faulty heart in a private clinic in Buenos Aires, one stood out for its symbolism and could well have a place in local football lore in the future. The visit lasted 15 minutes. Enough time for an 18-year-old boy by the name of Javier Saviola to drop his national team shirt at the feet of Diego’s hospital bed. Saviola, River Plate’s new sensation, had just ended the season as the league’s top scorer. Only one other player had accomplished a similar feat when he was younger: Diego Maradona.

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