Search: ' World Cup 2006'

Some regular WSC contributors weigh up the best and worst things to have happened to football in 1998, and look ahead to 1999

Ian Plenderleith

Ups
– Soaring wages in the Premier League – it makes me feel warm inside to watch players and know at the same time that they will be secure in their old age.

– England’s World Cup exit – God save us eternally from Englishmen on top of the world.

– Scotland fans once again annoying the English by showing them how to enjoy a football tournament.

Downs
– The desecration of once-wonderful European club competitions.

– The failure of self-appointed fan-of-the-people David Mellor to drown in his own grease.

– Overall, too much hype and too little substance.

Hope
That football will eat itself and then we can all do something worthwhile with our spare time.

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Tim Springett examines FA chariman Keith Wiseman's record at Southampton

In addition to holding the position of FA chairman, Keith Wiseman has been a director of Southampton Football Club for ten years, holding the post of vice-chairman until six months ago. He is also a solicitor, the coroner for the Southampton and New Forest area and a high-ranking member of the Hampshire branch of the Lawn Tennis Association. At first glance, he seems a veritable pillar of the community.

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John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson trace the toots of England's international impotence and the shambles at the FA

December’s crisis within the FA, when chairman Keith Wiseman and chief executive Graham Kelly faced a vote of no confidence from the FA Council, can only be properly understood in relation to English football’s recent lack of standing in Europe and in FIFA politics. In the run-up to the 1998 World Cup and critical UEFA and FIFA congresses, Kelly was asked whether the British associations lacked inf­luence in UEFA.

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Steve Greenfield and Guy Osborn discuss the latest findings from the government to tackle hooliganism 

The recently announced Home Office Review of Football-Related Legislation makes 29 recommendations for changes in the law, including a new raft of specific measures to deal with hooligans. Although the government has invited comments, it seems the measures may come into force earlier than anticipated, since the Conservative MP Simon Burns has published a private member’s Bill that contains many of the recommendations and this may be pushed quickly through parliament with government support.

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Oliver Butler explains how South Korea pulled off a coup in co-hosting the 2002 World Cup finals

The decision in June 1996 to share the hosting of the 2002 World Cup between Japan and South Korea showed what could be achieved by a bidding committee’s political know-how and expertise in manipulating the process, regardless of the merits of the bid itself. Despite starting four years later, South Korea succeeded in matching the claims of a bid that was palpably superior to its own and had received support from the highest levels of FIFA.

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