Dear WSC
I occasionally wondered what had become of Gerry Harrison (WSC 188), with his penchant for bad grammar and getting players’ names wrong. In the late 1970s and early 1980s we in the Anglia region were often subjected to “Kenny Samson” of Arsenal and Manchester City’s “Ray Ransome”. His treatment of the assault by a dog at Colchester which effectively ended the career of Brentford goalkeeper Chic Brodie (“What a tackle!”) was ill-advised to say the least, and he annoyed my dad, an English teacher, on a weekly basis by his use of the grammatically incorrect “off of”, as in “that’s a corner off of Micky Mills” or “the winger bounces off of Dave Stringer”. With his unfashionable hairstyle (even by Seventies standards) and his improbable choice of apparel, he was a role model for some of the less gifted commentators, such as Roger Tames and Tony Gubba, who were later foisted upon ill-prepared viewers. Cambridge or Southend, whence Anglia games often came when Norwich and Ipswich had got fed up with Gerry, were more or less his mark although contractual obligations presumably meant that ITV had to take him to the World Cup in 1974, where he was limited to commentating on Chile versus Australia, or something similar, during the group stages. My fondest Gerry memory came in 1980, the week after Justin Fashanu announced himself to the football world with his staggering volley against Liverpool. (Gerry would never have aspired to the Beeb’s Barry Davies’s lucid reaction to that goal – “Woah! WOOAAHH!!”). The following Saturday Norwich were at home again, this time against Wolves, who were two up at half-time. It was Gerry’s job to obtain, as the second half started, the thoughts on the state of play of the then Canaries boss John Bond before Bond returned to the dugout. Unfortunately Wolves scored their third (in a 4-0 eventual victory) within about ten seconds of the restart, with Gerry indelicately blurting out something along the lines of: “Well, you’re really up against it now, John… John… John?” The elegantly-coiffured and besuited Bond (if anything the antithesis of Gerry) had, as they say, taken his leave.
Alun Thomas, via email
Ian Plenderleith delves into the highs and lows of Welsh football online, from Simon Davies's enthusiastic views on Qatar to Porthmadog's inexplicable rejection of after-match hospitality
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Phil Riley offers the perspective from the red side of Sheffield
How do fans of the Sheffield clubs see each other?
There has always been intense rivalry, but most of us have friends, workmates and even family who follow the other team, so we inevitably tolerate each other. Neither side is unfamiliar with promotion and relegation, so periods in the ascendancy don’t last. Although it’s Blades enjoying supremacy at the moment, we know it won’t be for ever. Wednesday fans claim to be less interested in us than we are in them – and there is a feeling some Blades are almost as keen to see Wednesday lose as United win – but as they’re not significant enough to consider Leeds or Man Utd as rivals, they’re stuck with us.
The decline of Scotland and Austria was encapsulated by a Champions League game in 2000 featuring hardly any Scots or Austrians, as Cris Freddi recalls
This being the Champions League, Rangers weren’t expected to stay around for long. It’s been the story of their lives for the last decade or so. This time at least they’d given themselves a real chance of reaching the second round, winning their first two group matches 5-0 against today’s opponents and 1-0 in Monaco. But this was a right rollercoaster of a group, and by the time they arrived in Graz they’d taken only one point from two matches with Galatasaray, while Sturm had won 2-0 at home to Monaco, who then thumped the Istanbul side.
Rosenborg are no longer unchallenged in Norwegian football and now face new problems caused by their years of dominance. PJ Bakke explains
Acombination of soaring wages and a failure to sell players abroad has created a financial crisis at several Norwegian clubs. Some are considering going semi-professional. The perennial champions Rosenborg, however, live in a different world, thanks to the distorting effect of the Champions League. Having qualified eight years running, they have built up massive bank reserves and have a lovely new stadium to boot. At the time of writing they are on course for their 11th consecutive league title with four games to go, but there are signs that their total dominance may finally be challenged.