Some people live football; other people live in what used to be football grounds. Steve Menary reports on the growing relationship between the game and builders
So, goodbye then, Tynecastle, as yet another football stadium falls underneath the bulldozer. Despite the objections of Hearts fans, their ground looks like being sold to house-builder Cala for £22 million. Tynecastle will join a line of much loved stadiums, from The Dell to Oxford United’s Manor Ground, in becoming housing.
Manchester Utd and Arsenal play out yet another ill-tempered game
“That game, with the baggage that goes with it, is almost becoming an impossible match to referee, and I speak from personal experience.” So said former Premiership referee Jeff Winter after the latest outbreak of hostilities between two implacably opposed foes, an event also known as Man Utd v Arsenal.
Ian Plenderleith trawls the web for minnows and finds that the smallest European football associations and their clubs are, like their teams out on the pitch, willing but not always particularly able
Like it or not, small and mostly useless European footballing nations are now an integral part of the game’s landscape. This month’s column tackles the highly charged question that many have asked but few have been able to answer – can countries such as Luxembourg and Liechtenstein compete on the web any better than they do on the field?
Philip Cornwall isn't sure exactly why England's players refused to speak to the media in Poland, but after reading the papers he can find plenty of good reasons
Stood in the corner towards which Jermain Defoe ran to celebrate his first England goal, it was obvious the team wished to thank their fans for their support in Chorzow. It had been a fraught few days, a cold night and an at times awkward 90 minutes, during which, for the most part, we had kept the faith. The previous Saturday, David James had received a post-match reception that could scarcely be called mixed. But the whole team, following the example set by David Beckham when he was substituted, came over to thank us again. And we thanked them.
AFC Wimbledon may be celebrating reaching the Ryman League, but it hasn't been much of a party for the minnows turned whales, as Robert Jeffery explains
An unbeaten season culminating in a league and cup double. Capacity crowds producing a pulsating atmosphere, home and away. The goodwill of fans the world over and the fawning plaudits of the media. Of such things footballing dreams are made. You’d think that AFC Wimbledon fans, the recipients of all the above and more, would be happy with their lot.