Dean Windass had to deputise in goal after Bradford City goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts was sent off. As Mark Douglas reports, this was not the end of the controversy
The name Donovan Ricketts probably doesn’t mean much to most fans. For those not familiar with League One, he’s Bradford City’s 6ft 4in first-choice goalkeeper. And he’s black.
Jon Spurling wonders whether applause is an appropriate replacement for the minutes silence.
Just as views on the responsibility for George Best’s early death are polarised, the same is true of attitudes towards the minute’s applause that was seen at Portsmouth and West Ham to mark his passing. There is a weighty body of evidence that suggests that Best would have approved of such a gesture. On Parkinson last year, he confessed: “I hope I’m remembered for the football and the cheers I brought to grounds, rather than all the front-page nonsense.” A lesser known fact is that he preferred the B-side of Don Fardon’s Belfast Boy – Echoes Of The Cheers – to the song that reached number 32 in the charts and which due to its ubiquitousness over the Old Trafford PA system was an early-Seventies version of Simply The Best.
Dear WSC
Once again I feel compelled to respond to points raised by Ashley Manning in his response (WSC 226) to my earlier letter (WSC 225). Ashley is aggrieved that I am “pouring scorn” on initiatives such as family days – I am not, in my original draft I included the comment “quite rightly” in relation to the reduced entrance fees paid by the preponderance of children at Loftus Road games I attended. This comment was subsequently edited out. Ashley appears to think that I am laying sole blame for the two dismal games I witnessed (one goal, many yellows and at least one red card) at Fulham’s door. Again, this is not the case. As Ashley rightly points out, Birmingham City have not played with Brazilian flair in recent years and at present would not look out of place in the Conference. It does, however, take two to tango. I am certain that Craven Cottage is packed regularly for more attractive derby games, but I hope for all Cottagers’ sake that Fayed keeps the players interested otherwise these local derbies will be shared with QPR, or even Brentford in coming years. I can only reiterate the sentiments of my previous letter in that “there is no real malice in my choice [of Fulham as most disliked team of 2004-5], and it is in all likelihood a reflection of dislike for Momo Fayed and a lack of characters in the Premiership”. Next year I’ll be more careful where I go to get cold, wet and bored (by my own team as well as the opposition), and in any case David O’Leary’s recent antics at St Andrew’s have gone a long way to reclaiming Villa’s rightful top spot…
Ken Jones, via email
Harry Kewell's hair might be pony, but after 32 years Australia are back at the World Cup and, as Mike Ticher reports, it's not just soccer diehards who are celebrating.
Some things are hard to forgive. For example: planning a ticker-tape parade to celebrate winning one World Cup qualifier, on penalties; inviting John Travolta on to the pitch and into the dressing rooms; 80,000 people booing the visitors’ anthem; banners and chants proclaiming “U R gay”; Harry Kewell’s double ponytail; playing Men at Work at full volume after the final whistle.
Fans who want a return to terracing are not content to sit in silence while they wait, explains Amanda Matthews
Memories of standing on the terraces are now fast fading in the Premiership. Young fans are more likely than not to sit in the stands and watch their team in near silence. But members of “Stand Up Sit Down” feel all-seat stadiums and being made to sit contribute hugely to the lack of atmosphere, and that that is increasingly influencing fans’ decisions to stay away.