Dominic Smith attended England v Scotland and got a view of the two differing types of England fan
It’s been a few years since I watched a group of England fans – all replica shirts, union flags and Blackburn Rovers tattoos – follow a middle-aged woman down Wembley High Road, jeering and repeatedly calling her a “Paki”. Part of the dark old days which the FA and the media – all eagerly campaigning for the English 2006 World Cup bid – would have us believe are long gone.
Mention Brazil and most people become emotional about Pelé, Garrincha, Romario and other legends. Cris Freddi sees it differently
I hate Brazil. Not the country – I’ve never been to the country. But I hate Brazil. Like all fair-minded people, I am the Brazil hater.
The Euro 2000 play-off draw has pitted the two oldest foes in Football against each other, but does anyone outside of Britain care?
“I would not be Kevin Keegan if I did not get excited about this,” said the England manager in a blinding flash of self-awareness on hearing the Euro 2000 play-off draw. Unfortunately, he is Kevin Keegan, and his face was splashed all over the papers after England and Scotland came out of the hat together (or what passes for a hat at UEFA headquarters these days).
Howard Borrell gives us a brief history of Chesterfield
1866 Chesterfield FC founded, making them the fourth oldest league club still in existence. They take their nickname from the town’s twisted church spire constructed from unseasoned timbers.
After looking painstakingly through all the surveys our readers sent in, Roger Titford explains the results
In an unusual turnabout, this year’s WSC survey gives Sepp Blatter a helping hand. Ever anticipating the key issues, we asked what damage you thought the number of foreign players was causing the game today. Of the first 900 questionnaires returned, 50 per cent said the England team was suffering, 45 per cent saw damage in the Premiership, 35 per cent in the Scottish Premier League and 30 per cent to the Scottish national side. Only 29 per cent felt the number of foreign players causing no damage anywhere in the game. Thirty-two per cent felt, like Sepp, the restrictions should be tightened, but 51 per cent thought they were about right.