The very English nature of our expectations creates the illusion of chronic failure
There is a peculiar tendency in Britain (maybe just in England) which insists that nothing but the best is good enough. The government wants the NHS to be “the best in the world”. Our millennium celebrations were supposed to be “the envy of the world”.
It's getting better all the time, but too many England fans till carry unnecessary baggage. Tom Davies saw mixed messages on display at Euro 2000
Anyone stumbling unawares into the neutral section behind one of the goals at the Czech Republic v France game in Bruges might have been forgiven for wondering who was playing. For there, amid the smattering of French blue and Czech red, were five Leyton Orient shirts. Admittedly I was wearing one of them, but this is no parochial club boast – there were also shirts and flags from Wycombe and Colchester and Cambridge and Burnley. Together, they represent English football’s forgotten travelling contingent – the dedicated neutrals – and they were out in force in the Low Countries.
The Heysel disaster should be a reminder of the potential dangers ahead at Euro 2000
On May 29, the city of Liverpool formally marked the anniversary of the Heysel disaster for the first time, 15 years after it occurred. If anyone needed any further reminders of the worst that can happen at big international football events, the timing could not have been better.
As foreign coaches prosper in the Premiership, the reputation of British managers is not what it once was. Justin McCurry profiles Steve Perryman, one of the few currently enjoying success outside this country
Before Steve Perryman arrived as assistant coach to Ossie Ardiles at Shimizu S-Pulse in 1996, the British influence on the J-League had been minimal. Four years on, the former Spurs captain is one of the most popular figures in Japanese football, and his young, entertaining side looks set to mount another challenge for the championship this season.
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.