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Updates from clubs in trouble including Chester City and Oxford United

Among the plausible candidates for this season’s spectacular calamity club are Chester City, where Kevin Ratcliffe’s resignation as manager after the first three games of the season has severely dented any optimism generated when Terry Smith, the former coach of the Great Britain gridiron team, took control of the club in July. Understandably, given the mess left by the previous administration, City fans have so far been prepared to give Smith the benefit of the doubt, despite his “colourful” past on the UK ice hockey and gridiron scene. 

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Frank Clark talks to WSC about his new book, Kicked Into Touch, which charts the ups and downs of more than a decade in football management

You had some uncomfortable experiences as a manager. If you were a player now, would you still want to become a manager?
Yes, for two reasons. As a player I knew I wanted to stay in the game when I stopped because I loved being involved. I’d feel the same today. The other factor, of course, is the amount of money you can earn. There’s no question that the job has got much harder, for various reasons: Bosman, the sums of money involved, Sky. The spotlight has become that much more intense. The other side of the coin is that managers are being paid wages at least on a par with some of the players.

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To mark WSC's 150th issue, we invited three critics with different links to the magazine's past to reflect on changes in fan culture since 1986

WSC The term “fan culture”, which barely existed when the magazine started in 1986, has now become commonplace. But it seems as though there is actually less of a unifying fan culture now than there was then. Are there things that still bring people together, from Premiership to the Third Division, as we assumed there were when we started? 

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A fractured league system in Bosnian football continues to hamper the national team, as Mirsad Cviko explains

Season 1998-99 could be the turning point for football in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In­credibly, after a disastrous run of results last year, the national team still has a chance of qualifying for Euro 2000 and there now seems to be a possibility that pressure from UEFA will bring about a unified national league.

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Matthew Brown explains why the Football in the Community scheme at Leyton Orient is setting a trend for others to follow

At the northern end of Brisbane Road, the street that gives its name to Leyton Orient’s home ground, be­yond the players’ entrance and the club shop, is a small Portakabin-style building. Inside, a few old desks and chairs are scattered around two small rooms.

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