Search: 'media'

Some simple ways to make the 2011-12 season more palatable. Badge kissing, coloured boots and the the inanity of Mark Lawrenson all require immediate attention

Before we begin to list our hopes for the new season, it should be noted that nothing we ask for ever comes to pass, often because that would require adjustments to the Laws of the Game or to the Indecent Displays Act (1981). So there almost seems to be no point in, for example, expressing the hope that one day a referee will send off a player who makes the shushing or ear-cupping gesture to opposing fans when they’ve scored. Or that anyone over school age wearing a jester’s hat inside a football ground should be required to do community service, with the punishment extended if the wearer has a previous conviction for waving a giant foam hand.

Read more…

Dear WSC
I’m assuming the Ruud Gullit who recently defended himself working for a dictator by saying he wasn’t interested in politics (Caucasus calling, WSC 292) to be the same one who dedicated his 1987 European Player of the Year to Nelson Mandela. I realise people’s opinions can change over 20 years, but I’m just curious as to what made him decide he wasn’t bothered about injustice anymore.
John Chapman, Sheffield

Read more…

One Belgrade club has floundered since the assassination of their infamous and highly feared owner in 2000. Richard Mills reports

Earlier this year Serbian pop singer Svetlana “Ceca” Ražnatović was finally charged with embezzlement over the sale of footballers and the illegal possession of firearms. These charges date back nearly ten years and relate to transfers from Obilić Belgrade Football Club. Ceca took over the running of Obilić when her husband Željko “Arkan” Ražnatović was assassinated in 2000 after an extraordinary life which included bank robberies, prison breaks, commanding a paramilitary organisation and indictment for war crimes. In death Arkan continues to be a legendary figure among Serbian nationalists, but the plight of his football club has been less well documented.

Read more…

Phil Town explains how a recent ruling could mean more good news for Porto, while Boavista hope for a reversal of fortunes

“This is our destiny” ran the stadium banners that accompanied FC Porto’s best ever season. They won four out of a possible five trophies – Portuguese Championship, Cup and Supertaça (between last season’s Champions and Cup-winners) and the Europa League – and faltered only twice. The League Cup went to Benfica and the open-top bus broke down on the way to the city-centre celebrations for the Europa League win.

Read more…

AFC Wimbledon’s promotion to the League provides optimism for a supporter-led future, yet Andy Brassell also remembers the machinations in SW19 that led to the death of the original club

Never mind May 28, 2002 – I remember exactly where I was on January 15, 1999. Sitting on the sofa at home with some mid-morning tea, Teletext told me that Wimbledon had signed John Hartson from West Ham. For £7 million. Seven million pounds. My mug hit the floor. Not for the last time in the years to come, Wimbledon FC were involved in the previously unthinkable.

Read more…