Robbie Meredith highlights the case of Darron Gibson, who has started a storm by choosing to play for the Republic of Ireland despite being born in the North
The Republic of Ireland’s 4-0 friendly win against Denmark at the end of August was the last of the few convincing performances during Steve Staunton’s ill-fated spell as manager. Two months later Staunton was sacked, but that ultimately inconsequential match in Aarhus may have lasting implications for Irish football.
Northern Ireland in Sweden
by Ronnie Hanna
Sportsbooks, £7.99
Reviewed by Robbie Meredith
From WSC 263 January 2009
The team that made it to the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup have served as a sustaining cliche in Northern Irish football. We’re perennial underdogs, so the story goes, and “our wee country”, although comparatively short of players and facilities, can occasionally roll our sleeves up and battle to victory over superior teams who just can’t match our collective warrior spirit, just like the boys of ’58.
A Scottish Football Safari
by Gary Sutherland
Birlinn, £7.99
Reviewed by Archie MacGregor
From WSC 262 December 2008
With bookshelves groaning under the weight of companion guides on every subject from Slovakian folk music to Carry On… movies these days, why not a travelogue about Scottish football grounds? It appears to have several of the essential ingredients – a hint of the exotic (how many of us have ever contemplated a day trip to Peterhead?), a touch of the reassuringly familiar (match-day catering nightmares) and a couple of dastardly panto villains to provide a common point of reference (the Old Firm).
The Toughest Job in Football
by Brian Glanville
Headline, £18.99
Reviewed by Harry Pearson
From WSC 246 August 2007
“I didn’t see any reaction in the team. That was the thing that left me amazed; there wasn’t the rage you expect from an England team that’s losing.” So said Fabio Capello after watching Bobby Robson’s team thrashed humiliatingly by Holland at Euro 88.
The omens did not look good for Russia after Wembley, but in Moscow there was a rare success for Europe’s biggest underachievers. Saul Pope explains why the only English winners were the supporters
In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s 3-0 defeat to England at Wembley, a journalist at the Moscow daily Sport Express imagined the arch twisting over Wembley to be a noose around the neck of his national team. Russia seemed destined to fail again; despite having the largest population of all the European nations to draw on, the national team have not made it past the first round of a major tournament since becoming the official successors to the Soviet Union side, and they have a less than impressive qualifying record (just four out of the past seven major tournaments). A Russian friend with whom I attended that game glumly surmised that the only victory any Russians would get over England was the illegal smoking den hastily set up in the Wembley toilets at half time, which almost went undetected by the authorities.