Dear WSC
You may not be aware that fans from Madrid and Leverkusen attending the Champions League final at Hampden Park were handed a Scottish goody bag by the Daily Record containing, among other things, a Tunnock’s caramel wafer and a can of Coke. Class.
Glenn McCall, Dundee
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Stories
The Football League play-offs present altering patterns in hooliganism, writes Tom Davies
If there’s a World Cup in the offing, one thing you can always rely on in the preceding weeks is the “spotlight” falling on “fears of hooliganism”. With it comes the obligatory bout of documentaries on “the problem that never went away”, as a seemingly endless stream of ageing young men queue up to tell us about where and why it’s kicking off. Proclaiming yourself to be a former football hooligan must surely be the easiest way to achieve TV fame these days – such people make the contestants on Pop Idol look like dues-paying footsloggers by comparison.
Luke Chapman says two new hooligan documentaries show the viewing public's appetite for violence is undiminished, especially if it has a good soundtrack
It was the adverts that gave the game away. The usual parade of booze, car and financial services promotions, clearly aimed at the programme’s target market: males, 18-45, high disposable income – with perhaps a penchant for a bit of fisticuffs. Welcome to Football’s Fight Club, where viewer and subject were perceived to be one and the same.
Paul Pomonis reports on the corruption scandal that has dragged Greek football through the mud
Although news had leaked out about a huge scoop, the extent of the revelations about corruption in Greek football made by a famous investigative reporter, Makis Triandafylopoulos, left everybody breathless. On March 31, Triandafylopoulos presented live on TV a series of taped phone conversations made during the 2000-01 season.
As the world looks east towards the World Cup, England could be on course to righting the wrongs of 1998
You never really know until it starts, of course, but it feels as though this World Cup is going to be very different from the last one. Some of the differences are obvious, notably the fact that it is being held much further away from England. While you would not want to rule it out, it seems implausible that hooliganism will be as big a theme as it was in France. Perhaps more interestingly from England’s point of view is the way the culture of the team itself has changed, largely, though not entirely, due to the influence of Sven-Goran Eriksson.