When Ian Cusack moved to Slovakia, he didn't expect to befollowed by No Surrender
England v Turkey: a grand total of just over 200. Arrests? Tooled-up Category C Top Boys? Scimitar-wielding descendants of Saladin bent on Bratislavan Intifada? Actually, it was the crowd, outnumbered at least three to one by the local riot police. Looked mighty impressive in a 40,000 all-seat stadium.
Sean Hanson witnessed complacency turn to confrontation at the UEFA Cup final
It is 2.40pm, the day after the rotten night before. I have just got up, having arrived home from Copenhagen at about 5.30am and gone straight to bed. On the radio I hear that the police are blaming Arsenal fans for not dispersing fast enough; that the Arsenal fans are blaming the Turks; that the FA representatives are blaming, well, just about everybody except themselves. I hear that England should consider pulling out of Euro 2000 and withdraw their bid for the 2006 World Cup.
There is not ingrained reason to pick one team or the other in Nottingham, says Al Needham. And now it's County's turn again
As anyone from Derby or Leicester will tell you, Nottingham is not a “football hotbed”. The relationship between the city’s two clubs is more like a resentful older brother (County) and his more successful, patronising sibling (Forest). When the half- time results are announced at the City Ground, a County lead is cheered – Forest really want to see County rise to their level. If Forest are behind at half-time, the fans at Meadow Lane laugh and jeer – they really, really want Forest to fall to theirs.
Dear WSC
Why is Juninho (and any other Brazilian for that matter) referred to as a “samba star”? We don’t call Spanish players “tango stars” or Italians “tarantella stars”. Dennis Bergkamp has never been a “clog dance star” and I haven’t heard Everton fans heralding Joe-Max Moore as their new “hoedown star”. I wonder what foreign journalists call English players. “Morris dance stars” perhaps?
Nigel Ball, Middlesbrough
One works, the other doesn't. Joe Boyle reflects on the gulf between Sunderland and Newcastle when it comes to the way they treat their supporters
So, Alastair Campbell is worried that new Labour aren’t getting their message across. There is a simple remedy: speak to Lesley Callaghan, press office supremo at Sunderland. Callaghan could teach Campbell a thing or two about communication. In fact, she could probably tell him a thing or two about politics too. “Social inclusion,” she told me, “is at the heart of everything we do. Everybody at the club has to buy into that ethos.”