When Saturday Comes | The half decent football magazine

Having a say

Adam Brown looks at how the political interaction of fan culture has developed since the disenfranchisement of the mid-1980s

The year 1985 was a nadir for English football in a decade of great change for football supporters in Britain. And May was the pit of the trough. Supporters were caged in decrepit stadiums and 56 of them died in a fire at Bradford City’s ground on May 11. Violence was rife at home and abroad, policing was brutal and on the same day a 14-year-old was killed during fighting between Leeds and Birmingham fans and police at St Andrew’s. Just over two weeks later, these two factors came together killing 39 and injuring 600 at Heysel.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Culture wars

Taylor Parkes despairs at how laddism became the major representation of football fans in the media

Through the wonders of modern technology, I’ve been watching 15-year-old episodes of David Baddiel and Frank Skinner’s Fantasy Football League (why I’ve been doing this, when hairshirts are so cheap, is a matter I’ve placed in the hands of my therapist). These days, as you might expect, this once-hip horror looks dreadfully dated and often painfully unfunny, a very obvious ancestor of Lovejoy and  Corden’s boorish bollocks.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Fallen saints

Thirty years ago this month Ipswich thrashed the best team in France. Csaba Abrahall looks back to a memorable UEFA Cup tie

Just the other week, I was listening to Arsenal’s come-from-behind victory against Barcelona at the Emirates. “Remarkable!” said Alan Green. Indeed it was but, as they’d done something very similar last year, somehow not extraordinary. This is how the Champions League has changed European club competition. The group format and perennial participation of the same teams renders a fixture such as Arsenal v Barcelona hardly less routine than Arsenal v Bolton. Notable performances by English clubs in Europe are therefore increasingly common, but so common as to be almost mundane.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Hearts and minds

Gordon Cairns reports on a player who made transfer law history, but who now finds himself back where it all started

The career of Andy Webster to date could read as a morality tale for the modern footballer. As this year’s winter transfer window closed, the centre-half was quietly released by Rangers and rejoined Hearts, a reunion which only a month previously seemed as plausible as Paul McCartney welcoming Heather Mills back with open arms. It wasn’t that Webster had left Hearts that had made him persona non grata at Tynecastle, it was the manner of his going. He was the first player to invoke clause 17 of FIFA’s transfer regulations which states that a player can buy himself out of a contract three years after the deal was signed, leaving Hearts with  no transfer fee.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

Oxford United 2 Rotherham United 1

An important game at the top of League Two, watched by Piers Pennington, sees the homeless side from South Yorkshire lose a fifth consecutive away game, while forward-thinking hosts keep their play-off hopes alive

A few days before the game a familiar name which I couldn’t quite place for the moment popped up in my email inbox; an old friend who hadn’t been in touch for a while I assumed. Ah yes, old Harry Worley, what’s he up to these days I wondered for a second or two before the penny dropped.

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - The Archive

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Having a say

Adam Brown looks at how the political interaction of fan culture has developed since the disenfranchisement of the mid-1980s

Culture wars

Taylor Parkes despairs at how laddism became the major representation of football fans in the media

Fallen saints

Thirty years ago this month Ipswich thrashed the best team in France. Csaba Abrahall looks back to a memorable UEFA Cup tie

Hearts and minds

Gordon Cairns reports on a player who made transfer law history, but who now finds himself back where it all started

Oxford United 2 Rotherham United 1

An important game at the top of League Two, watched by Piers Pennington, sees the homeless side from South Yorkshire lose a fifth consecutive away game, while forward-thinking hosts keep their play-off hopes alive