When Saturday Comes | The half decent football magazine

Transfer calls

Questions are being raised about the influence one agent has over La Liga’s biggest deals, reports Dermot Corrigan

Given the financial difficulties Spanish football faces, the summer transfer market was mostly quiet, with the majority of deals either free transfers or loans. However, this general trend was bucked by Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes and former Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon, whose dealings drew attention from the Spanish media and even FIFA, raising questions about just who makes the important decisions at some of La Liga’s biggest clubs.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Hull City 0

It might not have excited Manish Bhasin, but for David Stubbs this scoreless draw at Brighton’s corporate new ground proved to be an historic occasion

The first professional football match I ever attended was just over 40 years ago in September 1971. A treat for my ninth birthday, en route back from a late summer holiday at the Golden Sands Chalet Park in Withernsea. It was at Hull City, as it happens, at the old Boothferry Park. In later years, with Kwik Save and Iceland stores embedded into its queasy, dirty yellow structure, it cut a grim spectacle indeed (it was home to Hull until 2002) but back then, to my young eyes, it was a veritable Humberside Xanadu, wreathed in the alluring odour of fried onions, a mass plumage of hats and scarves, the floodlights towering with Wellesian awe like gigantic alien overlords at all four corners of the stadium.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Keeping in touch

According to James de Mellow, televising 3pm kick-offs could rob fans of the particular excitement of Saturday afternoon

One of British football’s idiosyncrasies is that at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, when the majority of weekend’s games are being played, there is no live football on television. The way supporters who are not at their team’s game can follow along has evolved with technology during the past 20 years or so. But live Saturday afternoon football being beamed into living rooms could change all that for good.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Live and kicking

A pub landlady’s legal victory over the Premier League could be good news for all concerned, but we shouldn’t worry too much about negative consequences for Sky, claims David Harrison

Once the knee-jerk media response to the recent ruling on EU televised football rights died down, we were left with a commodity notably lacking during the broadcasts in question – silence. Predictably lazy images – grinning pub landlady pulls celebratory pints in Southsea boozer – were duly filed below celebratory headlines proclaiming Karen Murphy’s “victory” in the European Court of Justice. Well, possibly.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Legal aid

The England captain’s defeat in a privacy action has set a worrying precedent for high-profile footballers, says Nick McAleenan

Are footballers “role models”? This question invariably reappears when a player’s behaviour is called into question. Anecdotal experience tells us that on-field antics are frequently copied: the upturned Cantona collar, the (attempted) Ronaldo step-over, the Klinsmann dive, “words” with the ref. Equally, footballers’ off-field activities have always attracted public attention. Step forward Mario Balotelli, firework safety spokesman and Manchester City enigma.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

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Transfer calls

Questions are being raised about the influence one agent has over La Liga’s biggest deals, reports Dermot Corrigan

Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Hull City 0

It might not have excited Manish Bhasin, but for David Stubbs this scoreless draw at Brighton’s corporate new ground proved to be an historic occasion

Keeping in touch

According to James de Mellow, televising 3pm kick-offs could rob fans of the particular excitement of Saturday afternoon

Live and kicking

A pub landlady’s legal victory over the Premier League could be good news for all concerned, but we shouldn’t worry too much about negative consequences for Sky, claims David Harrison

Legal aid

The England captain’s defeat in a privacy action has set a worrying precedent for high-profile footballers, says Nick McAleenan