Dear WSC
In WSC 157 there appeared an advertisement for a new book about Reading FC entitled Rusting Tin & Shiny Plastic. I feel obliged to point out that, although tin can certainly corrode, the only metal that actually rusts is iron. Clearly the “football cultural revolution” in Berkshire has failed to bring a knowledge of basic chemistry to the area. Tsk.
Eddie Edwards, via email
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Stories
Mick Slatter looks back at the highs and lows of Africa’s Cup of Nations which ended with Cameroon being crowned champions following a controversial penalty shoot-out
Maybe Victor Ikpeba will wind up wearing a brown paper bag over his head and advertising stuffed-crust pizza (or whatever the Nigerian equivalent might be). But he doesn’t deserve such ridicule. His penalty hit the crossbar and crossed the line. There was no need for video replays or freeze-frames or any other visual jiggery-pokery; it was clearly a goal. But the Tunisian referee saw it differently and his (obscured?) view cost the Super Eagles the African Cup of Nations.
Reading's fortunes have improved little in recent months, but the fans have taken the club by the scruff of the neck and shown unswerving support, says Roger Titford
When Scunthorpe took the lead against Reading on November 27 at the Madejski Stadium 1,000 home fans instantly stood up and sang “We’re shit and we’re sick of it”. Less than three months later, when Scunthorpe took the lead against Reading at Glanford Park, 1,000 travelling fans instantly stood up and sang “Come on, Reading”. With Reading in much the same place in the Second Division relegation battle, why the transformation in mood?
With the next Premier League deal in the offing, ITV’s Jim Rosenthal discusses changes in broadcasting since the arrival of Sky and casts doubt on Duncan Ferguson’s mystique
What has been the main impact of Sky since 1992 from the broadcasters’ point of view?
They’ve taken football coverage on to a new level and basically, for us, they have created a lot of work within the industry. Football saved Sky, but in return people in TV recognise what Sky have done for football. They have obviously created a vast amount of wealth for the game – wealth that football has spent as it always will, not necessarily wisely. If you give football club chairmen £1, they will always spend £1.10.
Cris Freddi looks at little Brazil's clash with mighty Exeter City in Rio de Janeiro in 1914
We don’t really chortle at the thought of Brazil taking on a small English club. We understand that these were pioneering days, when a non-League club like Exeter City had not been professional for six years but could field England players of the future in Dick Pym and Jack Fort. A tour of South America then was probably regarded in the same way as a trip to somewhere like Chad or Belize today.