Month: March 2007

We all know that Don Revie went off to Dubai after resigning the England job. But no one seems to know how he got on there. In another vein, we all know that Sir Alf won a championship with perhaps the most unlikely club in the history of the Football League, but few could tell…

Although opinion to the contrary is gathering, it’s still most people’s feeling that this current crop of England players are capable of putting in better performances than the ones we’ve seen. How to get at those performances is the problem. Do you get in one of those mysterious, possibly mythical beasts, the “inspirational” manager? Do…

Summer 2006: Wayne Rooney is the golden boy of English football. Don’t kill him because you will need him. Sven Goran Eriksson Spring 2007: “And what is all this nonsense I’ve been reading,” he (an Israeli fan old enough to remember Finney) asked, “about Wayne Rooney being one of the best young players in the…

Before last night’s internationals got underway, Alan Green (on BBC Radio 5) mentioned his longstanding opinion that the bulk of England fans who attend matches are supporters of lower-league clubs. For these people, England games, he said, are like European matches to Arsenal or Manchester United fans. That makes sense, whether or not it’s actually…

Where aren’t you going to watch the match? The news that Frank Lampard’s broken wrist will keep him out of England’s team against Andorra in Barcelona tonight brings us full circle. It will mean that by the end of tonight’s game, we’ll have tried everything. The list reads: An English manager Dropping Beckham A “traditional”…

Dundee 2 AC Milan 0: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg54Yn5utSg] Strangely, there seems to be no Youtube footage of the return leg, which Milan won 3-0..

Just to demonstrate that the Youtube well of ancient football is running dry, here is a collection of highlights from Rugby League Challenge Cup Finals 1929-46. The quality of the late 30s film puts soccer to shame. I wonder why? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4N7gjziUb8] The film stock is quite obviously superior to most of the pre-War football we’ve…

Purely for the joy of it, here is Rangers v Dundee and a four-goal spree in season 1961-2 by Alan Gilzean against Jim Baxter’s Ibrox men. Rangers are playing in the light-coloured shirts. I can’t help feeling that this is one of those games that actually looks worse on film than it would watched live…

Three football cartoons from what I think is Chelsea FC’s second or third decade of existence. The club sprang into life fully formed in 1905, with a huge stadium at Stamford Bridge and League status. Some skullduggery lurks behind the status part, and their arrival in what was then industrial, working-class West London was greeted…

An inspirational skipper.. an English performance.. passion and commitment.. an English manager.. playing the game the English way.. “BBC World Service. The News, read by Roger Collinge…” The warm brown tones trickle out of Bush House like honey from a jar: rich and resonant on the Long and Medium Waves for domestic listeners or bright…