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Post by leftwinger on Oct 31, 2023 9:34:32 GMT 1
Football Magazines: No 11: ‘WORLD SOCCER’
Using the word ‘soccer’ (from aSSOCiAtion football) seems old-fashioned these days. Most people always call it football, although ‘football’ is sometimes used about other different games. And, it also gives a clue to the fact that this magazine has been around for a very long time-63 years in fact-and still going strongly. Indeed, it is the oldest, continually published football magazine in the UK. A monthly-it focuses (as its title suggests) on football played throughout the globe, wherever the game is played, though inevitably its main coverage falls on Europe and South America. Excellent, if you want much more than purely what is happening in the UK, it is first rate with statistical information such as results, league tables, obscure facts and info. etc. In the run up to and during major competitions eg the World Cup, the Euros, Concacaf, the Champions League, UEFA and Europa cups etc, it is indispensable for many in augmenting their enjoyment of these competitions and its analysis after the games have been played is equally excellent. In addition, it has morphed over the years into a very bright, colourful high-quality publication from its purely functional beginnings. This is a top notch monthly, for those who make up its audience. It boasts some excellent contributors, the most well-known probably being, Brian Glanville.
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Post by leftwinger on Oct 31, 2023 12:13:19 GMT 1
FOOTBALL MAGAZINES: NO 2: ‘FOUR-FOUR-TWO’ “…..I haven’t watched the last two World Cups because FIFA (to me) is corrupt and those tournaments should never have been played in the countries that hosted them….” And now it seems, FIFA (after Russia and Qatar) …is going to have to award the 2034 World Cup… to that paragon of civilised and humanitarian behaviour…wait for it….(‘Strictly’-type pause of anticipation)…..drum roll……..yes, you’ve guessed it…..SAUDI ARABIA!! |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 2, 2023 18:34:58 GMT 1
FOOTBALL MAGAZINES NO 12: COMICS When UK-produced comics were widely available and popular, many (those intended for boys) included regular stories related to football. The most well-known was surely ‘Roy Of The Rovers’ (Roy Race playing for Melchester Rovers) which appeared for many years in ‘Tiger’. (Bearing in mind the upsurge in recent decades of female interest and participation in football, I wonder how many girls were looking at this story in their brother’s copy back in the day?!!) Roy played through the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond-an amazing career that included an abundance of changes in football strips, not to mention hairstyles! ROTR even had its own annual published every autumn, along with ‘Tiger’ and the abundance of other annuals, aimed at the Xmas market. Eventually, ROTH got its own comic (and there is even a well-known phrase in the English language-A ‘Roy Of The Rovers performance’-meaning a player producing an excellent winning display, scoring a number of exciting goals.) Other comics that included regular football stories were eg ‘Valiant’ with the quirky team of misfits, ‘Legge’s Eleven’, ‘Hornet’ with ‘Bernard Briggs and ‘Victor’s’ ‘Gorgeous Gus’. There were many more. ‘Striker’ and ‘Scorcher’ were comics completely devoted to football and combined football cartoon strips with features on actual players and teams. Looking back today, the graphics used in the comic strips in these and other British comics can be appreciated and admired for excellent drawings, with the stories showing the best sides of football. Those who grew up with them, like me, can look back with pleasure and nostalgia on a time when they personally first developed a love for the ‘Beautiful Game.’ Below: The first two are original copies of the Roy Of The Rovers annual from 1964 and 1965. The third book is a compendium published a few years ago, but the front cover picture is clearly of Roy from the mid-60s era.    |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 3, 2023 17:15:10 GMT 1
 FOOTBALL MAGAZINES NO 13: ANNUALS: Usually published a few months previously in the autumn, annuals were at one time on every boy and girl’s Xmas wish list. There were those related to comics for boys and girls and those both read. And, then there were football annuals which any boy(and maybe certain girls?) hoped to receive on Christmas Day. One of my earliest was the ‘Topical Times Football Book’ which contained lots of bright, colourful and lively features as well as large full-page portraits of football players from teams throughout the UK. The Topical Times had been a football-related paper which had disappeared many years previously, but annuals still appeared bearing the defunct paper’s name. Then there was the ‘Charles Buchan’s Soccer Gift Book’, which was the annual of the ‘Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly’ magazine. The International Football Book appeared for a long time covering mainly European football at club and international level, but I think the only colour in that was on the dust jacket it had-inside all pictures were B/W. And, when ‘Shoot’ weekly magazine emerged at the end of the 1960s, an annual appeared bearing that name every year and it was set out inside, much like the magazine. A ‘Roy Of The Rovers’ annual appeared each year too, and there were other comic annuals which contained football content both as cartoon stories and features on actual British clubs and some of the stars in football at the time. All in all, if you were a football fan back in the day, there were a number of football-related books which you might hope to receive from Santa Claus on 25 December. As they say, sometimes anticipation is even more pleasurable than the actual event or gift. And, looking in newsagents’ windows where many annuals of one sort or another were displayed in the two months or so before Xmas, was therefore a joy in itself! Which would you get? Which would you hope to get? Etc. Above, a recent compendium book on ‘The Heyday Of The Football Annual’ and my copy of ‘The Topical Times Football Book’ 1963/64’ (well looked after of course!) which I received at Xmas 1963. |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 5, 2023 11:11:04 GMT 1
 FOOTBALL MAGAZINES NO 14: FREE GIFTS Magazines and newspapers have always used free gifts as a way of enticing new readers to give their periodical a try and perhaps gain a new loyal buyer, thus increasing circulation at the same time. Picture cards showing teams and players, which could be collected each week, was one such ‘persuader.’ Another was a booklet, or magazine extra, perhaps about a future major competition eg World Cup. League ladders were often given away before each new season by one or other football magazine or comic and were very popular. Nowadays, some magazines give away Panini, Match Attax or Topps’ stickers or cards, or even an album and a few cards. Of course these sets have so many cards/stickers in total, if you try to collect the set, it will cost an awful lot of money to get them all, (which will include lots of cards you’ve already got! ‘Swap meets’ sometimes take place to deal with this.) At one time sets of trade cards might number eg 75 or 80 cards. When I collected sets of eg A&BC gum trade cards as a child, we swapped them in the playground at school. Panini sets however can run to many hundreds. It’s in the interests of these modern producers of stickers or cards to get football fans ‘hooked’ and they must make quite a bit financially out of serious collectors. The two books above (recently published) cover a lot of Panini’s output. Clearly these must be profitable because cards/stickers have been produced from the late 70s to the present time and show no sign of disappearing from the football scene. In fact, over recent years more and more have been produced eg in recent years for women’s football. |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 7, 2023 13:20:04 GMT 1
 “FOOTBALL AGAINST THE ENEMY” BY SIMON KUPER published by Orion Football for the fans and players too would be nothing without commitment, passion and emotion. It is an ‘invasion’ game (like eg rugby and basketball) where the objective is to enter your opponent’s territory and attack, scoring goals in order to win. Thus when your team is in the opponents half, particularly near or in the six yard box excitement builds up and reaches a climax when a goal is scored…or saved! For the fans it is very much about the ‘heart’ and this also applies to a degree to players too, though using their skills and abilities to prevail means for them there needs to be a great deal more use of the ‘head.’ (Pun unintended!) All matches are a battle (of sorts) between two sides with (apart from draws) a winner and a loser. Supporters of both sides want to win and are happy or disappointed depending on the final result. But for some teams playing a particular opponent is of much greater significance than the average Saturday or midweek fixture. Here they will play an opponent described as a ‘bitter rival’ where the highs and lows of victory or defeat are felt more keenly by supporters (and understood by players/management) of those clubs. This can be the case for different reasons eg political, religious or geographical or because of a previous event or something which happened in the past affecting those two teams. We might immediately think of Barcelona v Real Madrid, Rangers v Celtic or Boca Juniors v River Plate but there are other examples throughout the world. It’s fair to say some teams’ supporters might be happy to wear a half/half scarf with the name of their side and another team, but the above three pairs never would (involving their rival)! In this book, Simon Kuper deals with this phenomenon and focuses on teams and matches (club/international) where this intense rivalry is seen which obviously can and has led to trouble between rival supporters or/and even on the pitch itself when players become affected by the ‘atmosphere’. Hate should never be part of sport and is a very destructive emotion, but it would be fair to say if some fans of one of these particular sides were asked, they might reveal they do feel this about a ‘bitter rival’. This, though unhealthy, for some, probably adds to the excitement, intensity and thrill of seeing their team play in these circumstances. There is so much to win, so much to lose. And, whether we like it or not-and at times some fans and even players go too far-it is a part of football (or will remain so until such times as something occurs which means it can no longer be tolerated. (Eg Linfield v Belfast Celtic in the past.) Simon Kuper made his name with this excellent book and has gone on to write others of equal calibre. He travelled to 22 countries, meeting politicians, players, managers and supporters to try and understand football against another team perceived as ‘the enemy.’ And of course, it is not just about sport but about culture too. If you you want to understand better why for some team’s supporters, a match against their ‘bitter rivals’ amounts to much more than just a game of football and might really be “more important than life or death”, this is an excellent book. NB: Barcelona have the phrase “Mes que un club” (More than a club) in their shirts, and Celtic too have also used this wording in theirs. For them, it’s not hyperbole! Highly Recommmended. |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 9, 2023 10:17:41 GMT 1
FOOTBALL MAGAZINES NO 15 : OTHERS
In Leeds city centre the other day, I was looking at magazines in a large newsagent and happened upon three other monthly football magazines available at the moment.
a) “BACKPASS” is a retro magazine devoted to covering football in the past and what a lovely issue the one I looked at was. Lots of colour, glossy and beautifully produced, this type of material certainly appeals to me and probably a lot of other fans over a certain age. Sadly, it had an obituary section of a a couple of pages, which is part of the territory when you’re examining the game-players and teams- of the past. Old footballers do die, but they don’t fade away…in the memories of those who saw them, anyway.
b) “LATE TACKLE” is one I recall buying on holiday a few years ago and is still going. Looking a bit like a cross between ‘The Non-League Paper’ and ‘When Saturday Comes’ (same size and thickness) in terms of appearance and paper, this one is very fan-oriented, is lively, funny (in part) and likely to appeal to supporters who want to read about the game, from their point of view.
c) “FOOTBALL WEEKENDS” is one mentioned by someone posting on this thread previously. Very well-produced, its focus is on an aspect becoming more prevalent in football these days, where supporters (singly/in groups) plan a weekend away based around a trip to a football match some distance from home eg in Barcelona, Munich, Paris, Milan, Brighton, maybe Stenhousemuir ….or even Guiseley etc! This gives an overview about the ‘where, what, which, who, how’ in terms of making the weekend trip happen and helping it to go to plan. Nice colours in the photographs.
I haven’t seen a) or c) before so assume they survive mainly by those buying on subscription. b) I haven’t seen for years, though it could be likewise nowadays.
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 10, 2023 10:58:47 GMT 1
 FOOTBALL MAGAZINES NO 16: THE MATCH PROGRAMME Football programmes have been around for a very long time, starting out with a simple sheet of paper costing perhaps a 1/2d or 1d and growing over time to become some of the huge brochure-style magazines that can be seen at the biggest games today. (With high prices accordingly) Naturally, where something is interesting and in abundance people have collected them and many have saved match programmes, though perhaps it only really began to start in the biggest numbers from the 50s or 60s. To some looking at them today, those early club issues would certainly seem very uniform appearing much the same for every match, apart from the details pertaining to the opponents being played by the home team producing them. I on the other hand like the sheer quirkiness and old-fashioned language and ‘look’ seen in some of these (from those post-war years) which is particularly seen in adverts for things we don’t use much or at all these days eg trilby and flat caps, ‘evening wear,’ gabardine raincoats and pipe smoking! Another reason for liking eg 60s programmes is that they were the first programmes I ever collected and you could fit so many of them into old shoeboxes, old Heinz baked bean boxes etc. The club ones all looked the same (from a distance), but you were maintaining a bit of history about your club, through the main organ with which the club communicated to its fans (not much else then!) They represented matches you’d attended and of course, programmes were only for sale at the match, not from shops which made them special. (The major programme sellers/dealers eg Steve Earle came later.) Very soon, if you branched out into ‘big match’ territory for other clubs including European games, cup semi-finals and finals, internationals etc (which were a bit more well-illustrated) you had a LOT on your hands and at the end of the 70s, I decided to scale back my collecting and concentrate on certain clubs’ programmes. But, like most collectors, each programme was always treated with care, kept so as to minimise folds, creases, tears or blemishes and stored to try to keep it in the condition it was when first purchased. (with rusting staples, foxing or mould spots the ‘enemy’ for programme collectors!) I now collect very few new programmes, but I still treasure the ones I have. I don’t particularly like many of the modern versions as they look so ‘corporate’ in appearance and many clubs’ issues look so similar to those of other clubs. I do admit they are incredibly well-produced, and filled with beautiful colour pictures. Nowadays, they do look like magazines (and of course, some decades ago some were called ‘match-day magazines’-Coventry City’s was one of the first.) In the past, it’s true they contained little colour (apart from the cover) and few pictures of players/teams, in contrast to today but there was something endearing about them. And, to keep a season’s worth of modern home programmes you’d need something bigger than a shoebox! However, though contemporary, the Guiseley programme is one I like a lot. Compared to some I’ve seen nowadays, it has much more club content than advertising-52 page programme-14 pages of advertising (which has little charm or appeal as is the case with most advertising today!). In some team’s issues nearly half the programme comprises advertising!) It is bright, lively, uses the club colours well, with the badge being on many pages being a nice touch. There are the usual features eg the Manager/Chair notes, squad number lists, opposition info. but the written pieces by other writers are often interesting and even thought-provoking. I also like the way space is given to discuss general football issues and matters pertaining to other clubs in the same division as Guiseley. Photographs have improved in quality and clarity since the first Guiseley programme I bought eight years ago. All in all, the Lions’ programme, made with its more substantial paper, is a very good production and worth getting. I buy them, but I only keep a few and sometimes either cut out pictures to put in my annual diary (sacrilege for a true programme collector I admit!) or pass them on. The Guiseley programme is certainly worth £3 and is good for info. and content about the club but I am glad to say it is not parochial and deals with football beyond its parameters at times. Well done to those involved! |
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Post by adambrid on Nov 10, 2023 21:00:55 GMT 1
View AttachmentFOOTBALL MAGAZINES NO 16: THE MATCH PROGRAMME Football programmes have been around for a very long time, starting out with a simple sheet of paper costing perhaps a 1/2d or 1d and growing over time to become some of the huge brochure-style magazines that can be seen at the biggest games today. (With high prices accordingly) Naturally, where something is interesting and in abundance people have collected them and many have saved match programmes, though perhaps it only really began to start in the biggest numbers from the 50s or 60s. To some looking at them today, those early club issues would certainly seem very uniform appearing much the same for every match, apart from the details pertaining to the opponents being played by the home team producing them. I on the other hand like the sheer quirkiness and old-fashioned language and ‘look’ seen in some of these (from those post-war years) which is particularly seen in adverts for things we don’t use much or at all these days eg trilby and flat caps, ‘evening wear,’ gabardine raincoats and pipe smoking! Another reason for liking eg 60s programmes is that they were the first programmes I ever collected and you could fit so many of them into old shoeboxes, old Heinz baked bean boxes etc. The club ones all looked the same (from a distance), but you were maintaining a bit of history about your club, through the main organ with which the club communicated to its fans (not much else then!) They represented matches you’d attended and of course, programmes were only for sale at the match, not from shops which made them special. (The major programme sellers/dealers eg Steve Earle came later.) Very soon, if you branched out into ‘big match’ territory for other clubs including European games, cup semi-finals and finals, internationals etc (which were a bit more well-illustrated) you had a LOT on your hands and at the end of the 70s, I decided to scale back my collecting and concentrate on certain clubs’ programmes. But, like most collectors, each programme was always treated with care, kept so as to minimise folds, creases, tears or blemishes and stored to try to keep it in the condition it was when first purchased. (with rusting staples, foxing or mould spots the ‘enemy’ for programme collectors!) I now collect very few new programmes, but I still treasure the ones I have. I don’t particularly like many of the modern versions as they look so ‘corporate’ in appearance and many clubs’ issues look so similar to those of other clubs. I do admit they are incredibly well-produced, and filled with beautiful colour pictures. Nowadays, they do look like magazines (and of course, some decades ago some were called ‘match-day magazines’-Coventry City’s was one of the first.) In the past, it’s true they contained little colour (apart from the cover) and few pictures of players/teams, in contrast to today but there was something endearing about them. And, to keep a season’s worth of modern home programmes you’d need something bigger than a shoebox! However, though contemporary, the Guiseley programme is one I like a lot. Compared to some I’ve seen nowadays, it has much more club content than advertising-52 page programme-14 pages of advertising (which has little charm or appeal as is the case with most advertising today!). In some team’s issues nearly half the programme comprises advertising!) It is bright, lively, uses the club colours well, with the badge being on many pages being a nice touch. There are the usual features eg the Manager/Chair notes, squad number lists, opposition info. but the written pieces by other writers are often interesting and even thought-provoking. I also like the way space is given to discuss general football issues and matters pertaining to other clubs in the same division as Guiseley. Photographs have improved in quality and clarity since the first Guiseley programme I bought eight years ago. All in all, the Lions’ programme, made with its more substantial paper, is a very good production and worth getting. I buy them, but I only keep a few and sometimes either cut out pictures to put in my annual diary (sacrilege for a true programme collector I admit!) or pass them on. The Guiseley programme is certainly worth £3 and is good for info. and content about the club but I am glad to say it is not parochial and deals with football beyond its parameters at times. Well done to those involved! Thanks for the feedback, I have passed this on to the team involved! AB |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 11, 2023 9:02:48 GMT 1
  “FAMOUS FOOTBALL PROGRAMMES” BY JOHN LITSTER paperback published by Tempus There were once THREE main purposes of the older football club programme: a) To tell the spectators the likely teams and each player’s number (which didn’t change much in those days as clubs didn’t have enormous squads. Players stayed at their clubs for years holding their same position and number, often only being out of the team for injury or suspension.) b) To tell supporters which letters in the alphabet corresponded to other games being played elsewhere. These letters, A, B, C etc were all lined up on a long board by the side of the pitch with numbers representing the half time scores placed next to each letter. Thus A2-0 might denote Arsenal 2 v Wolves 0, or K3-1 could be Leeds United 3 v West Ham 1. If you didn’t know which letters corresponded to which match you couldn’t find out the HT scores for those other games. And you got that info. via the club match programme. c) It was an early way of making some extra money for the club, beyond the money paid to watch the game. Merchandise, crowdfunding, club shops, were a long way off! This book, mainly black and white but with some lovely colour insert pages (as shown here in part showcasing the big-game programmes which were always so much more purposely well-designed than club programmes at one time), covers the whole sub-genre of the history of the football programme up to and including the time when it was published some years ago. Fascinating to any fan, never mind a programme collector, this is a welcome addition to the field of football literature. Programmes have been important to collectors and even casual buyers for a long time. They give the supporter something to do, reading the programme, before the action starts. They are a souvenir to keep for those who go to the game, particularly valued if kept with a match ticket or autographed (See EBay) and have been around for many decades. Yet, now their future, like a lot of written material, is threatened as never before. It is true in programmes some content can be out of date even before the issue goes on sale. Fans can get more up-to-the-minute info. elsewhere, even on a club online site. The actual match team no longer appears, replaced by the whole squad (with numbers for clubs who use squad numbers which don’t change over a season apart from numbers given to new signings. Thus, if you buy the first issue in this case, you don’t really need any more to tell you who is wearing most of the home shirts!) Some fans aren’t particularly interested in the opposition team line-up or that club’s individual players. The actual line-ups appear on a sheet which is sometimes given free with the programme. At Guiseley it is but it costs 10p on its own. (Funny and even ironic that this is the function that the original 1/2d and 1d one-sheet programmes offered long ago!) The costs of modern programmes have gone up, (at some clubs a lot!) like everything else related to football. It is something some fans don’t bother with anymore and indeed, some clubs have now stopped producing them, featuring a digital ‘turn a page-at a time’ version on-line instead. This can be free or on subscription, depending on the club. Some clubs offer a physical programme AND produce a digital version too, (which could be ominous eventuality for the paper variety!) Thus, the future days of the ubiquitous football match programme could well be numbered (there’s a pun in there somewhere!) For, there may come a time when the only physical ones to be found will be those from the past, with collectors copying the digital ones on to their devices-it would certainly save space and be more environmentally sound. But, though we might miss the paper version, lots of other things around us people liked or loved in the past have disappeared, through becoming obsolete or not popular (enough) any more, eg for me ‘Woolworth’s’, ‘Aztec chocolate bars’ (apparently right now Nestle want to cease making ‘Caramac’! A petition is going the rounds to save it.) ‘’Juke Box Jury’ /‘Old Grey Whistle Test’(TV programmes) etc. Things have a shelf-life to put it bluntly. Nothing lasts forever, but… as they say…perhaps ‘Use it or lose it’ is apposite when it comes to the physical football programme. If you want physical football programmes or any paper magazine or newspaper to continue, you have to buy them…and probably regularly! This book is a ‘must’ for any serious football programme collector. Attachments:
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 14, 2023 12:55:51 GMT 1
 “ONLY A GAME?” BY EAMON DUNPHY This true classic, which is now 47 years old having been first published in 1976, constitutes ‘the diary of a professional footballer’ during the 1973/74 season whilst he was playing for Millwall FC. It has been described as one of the best books of its type, giving an authentic insight into the real experiences and genuine feelings of someone playing the game, through a footballer’s honest revelations. Irish Republican international, Eamon Dunphy’s candid thoughts and opinions cover a season in the English second tier which started positively but was to end unhappily in disillusionment, before he was finally transferred out of the club. It has been re-published many times and still, despite its age, maintains its position as being highly-respected and critically acclaimed, even after nearly half a century. This is the unvarnished, unglamourised story about what football is really like for many players and you can almost smell the sweat, antiseptic being applied to injuries and the mud being scraped off the boots in the dressing room! Though written many years ago, it still provides an excellent insight into the realities of professional sport away from the supposed glamour reflected on TV and in newspapers and magazines for players at the top of the tree in football. Millwall started the 1973/74 season, with Dunphy an older head in his prime, optimistic and confident about promotion but losses in early games change everything. With a weak manager and a flailing coach, plus a captain not pulling his weight, things begin to crumble and Dunphy pulls no punches in describing the emotional turmoil, the arguing and petty grievances, the doubts and fears which all combine to sink the ship. And soon, he finds he is one to be blamed, though no-one ever tells him or talks to him about it. He just finds himself not on the team sheet, demoted to the reserves. As he describes it, “On the scrap heap at 28!” After reading this, you will better understand football from the player’s point of view in a precarious job, with many pressures and where a player’s fortunes can change in an instant. Ex-Liverpool player, Brian Hall, wrote: “Eamon has put into words the intimate feelings when you suddenly realise that all the years of sweating, working and developing relationships with everyone at the club, will now be evaluated in simple cash terms.” That scenario can only have hardened and even worsened for many players following in the footsteps of Dunphy in the ensuing years, where money dominates the game to an even greater extent. For, there is now an ever-increasing number of players discarded at season’s end in the relentless pursuit for immediate success. Many clubs sail close to the wind financially, and pursue reckless and dubious strategies which they hope will see them achieve their often, unrealistic aims. And, for too many today, they live on the tightrope between being able to carry on and going bust. The ‘natural wastage’ in football today in terms of players is directly linked to the way football clubs conduct their financial affairs. Is it any wonder some part-time players are cautious, reluctant and even sceptical about the notion of going full-time in the present era? Eg When Guiseley went full-time a few years ago, rather than a solution, it turned out be a source of further problems, the ramifications of which are still affecting the club today. And, more recently, manager Paul Philips discarded a couple of Lions’ players he’d signed, before they’d even had time to pull on the white/blue shirt! NB: My paperback copy was published some years ago by Penguin, and will have been superseded a number of times by various re-prints. Highly Recommended. |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 17, 2023 10:25:58 GMT 1
FOOTBALL MAGAZINES: NO 2: ‘FOUR-FOUR-TWO’ “…..I haven’t watched the last two World Cups because FIFA (to me) is corrupt and those tournaments should never have been played in the countries that hosted them….” And now it seems, FIFA (after Russia and Qatar) …is going to have to award the 2034 World Cup… to that paragon of civilised and humanitarian behaviour…wait for it….(‘Strictly’-type pause of anticipation)…..drum roll……..yes, you’ve guessed it…..SAUDI ARABIA!! Re: SAUDI ARABIA TO HOST 2030 WORLD CUP In light of FIFA recently announcing Saudi Arabia (SA) has been awarded the staging of the 2030 World Cup (WC) Finals, (the other expected bidder, Australia, withdrew) an excellent piece appeared in the ‘When Saturday Comes’ most recent edition (December 2023) BEFORE the actual announcement was made. Under the headline, “NO CONTEST: The engineering of the WC bidding process has anything but the transparency FIFA claim.” appeared an article written by Alan Tomlinson, putting that case. I have reproduced the final two paragraphs of his piece here because they make the main point very well: “FIFA’s four key principles of the bidding process are …objectivity, transparency, integrity and human rights. The FIFA ‘general secretariat’ is required to ensure that all aspects of a bid are ‘fair, transparent and meet the highest standards of ethics and integrity.’ No submission from SA could possibly be based on such principles. But Infantino…(FIFA President)…has demonstrated that he can control the hosting game from within, bypassing processes of openness and genuine consultation and required voting procedures. The 2030 event is likely to be ushered through the 2024 FIFA Congress, in Infantino’s terms yet another example of the ‘unanimity’ characterising the FIFA decision-making process. In all probability SA will emerge as the single approved bidder for the 2030 WC the Council and then Congress rubber-stamping the bid. Infantino’s mission to unite the world through football, to send via his WC strategising a ‘message of peace, of tolerance and inclusion’ will, though, make a mockery of the organisation’s claims to have cleaned up its act following the scandals that unseated his predecessor Sepp Blatter in 2015.” Blatter, followed by Infantino; As the famous song by rock band The Who said, 52 years ago, * “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!” (How many times do we find in life that proves to be true?!!) *(“Won’t Get Fooled Again!”) |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 22, 2023 11:42:24 GMT 1
 “BARCA” BY JIMMY BURNS Paperback published by Bloomsbury If you want to know more about one of the greatest, truly international football clubs in the world with a particularly fascinating history, this critically-acclaimed book is very well worth seeking out. Barcelona FC, located in the capital of the Catalonia region is of course one of the two biggest teams in Spain- the other being Real Madrid. And, this explains why the histories and fortunes of these two giants have often been intertwined. It is well known the meetings between the two teams are called ‘El Clasico’ and, (as covered in the review above of “Football Against The Enemy”) there is absolutely no love lost between the pair! It’s an understatement to say these two teams and their fans do not like each other and this has been the case for many, many years. But, how did this come to be? A lot of it has do with the fact Catalonia is perceived by many/most of its inhabitants as a nation within a larger nation, with its own separate language and culture. Spanish and Catalonian are spoken there. A significant number, if not a majority of Catalonians have always wanted their land to secede from Spain and become a separate country. Barca and the yellow/red Catalonian flag are important, almost sacred symbols, for that feeling of ‘separateness’. And, of course Madrid is the Spanish capital, centre of government, whilst Barcelona is Spain’s second city. Real is the ‘establishment’ club. The book tells the whole story of Barca from its early beginnings but some of its focus inevitably deals with what was happening at its major rival at exactly the same time. And, of course, there is ‘history’ between the two rivals. Of particular significance was the period covering the Spanish Civil War and later the period of fascist dictator Franco (who was initially supported by Hitler and Mussolini) ruling Spain between the 1930s and 1970s. He greatly favoured Real Madrid and even influenced football matters there eg (infamously) over the signing of Alfredo Di Stefano (who had originally been playing for Barca). Franco as a centralist, had no time for regional niceties affecting places such as Catalonia and the Basque region. His rule was harsh, uncompromising, viciously vindictive and cruel. Many all over Spain were tortured and murdered under this regime. Thus, all of this and more created ill-feelings and hatred from the Barca perspective at the time, some of which has been passed down the generations. Real Madrid remain the focus for some of that today. The club has had some of the greatest players who ever kicked a football playing for them (as have Real) eg Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. Many others have worn the famous blue/red Barca colours and there are British connections too ie Steve Archibald, Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes who played for them and Terry Venables and Bobby Robson who managed them. The club itself was founded by Catalan, Swiss, German and English footballers led by Joan Gamper in 1899. It has one of the biggest followings in the world and the very biggest on social media. Barcelona is a members’-owned club and its home stadium is the Camp Nou, the biggest stadium in Spain. It was completed in 1957, holding over 99,000 fans, is the biggest in Europe and the fifth biggest football stadium in the world. I admire the club, not for the fact it is so big and has won so many trophies, with some of the world’s best players. I admire them for what they stand for in the minds of Catalans now, but also in the past. They stood up and survived that dark period, when an all-powerful, tyrant (dictator) and all the real power of the country would have been ranged against them. They gave hope and heart to Catalonia and it’s inhabitants. They still do! I once also admired and greatly respected their decision to refuse to countenance sponsors’ logos and names on the front (back or elsewhere) of the shirt, which many Catalans regard as being like a ‘flag’ and not to be besmirched. The cynical might say they could afford to do that, but every other team, incl. Real and many other huge clubs did/still do so. Now, that line has been crossed and I was disappointed to see that happening. In addition, (also after this book was written) those in charge seem lately not to have been managing its interests well, perhaps forgetting the club’s ethos and identity, culminating in it going through a difficult period in its history. I feel more recently, that Barca has lost its way. But, I hope it will find it again, that there will be change, and better times ahead for the club in the future. It is a truly great world-class football club, has given much to ‘The Beautiful Game’ and as they say it is “Mes que un club!” Jimmy Burns has made a first class job of producing this wonderful English language history of Barcelona FC. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I heartily recommend it.
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 25, 2023 10:31:11 GMT 1
 “YOU ARE THE REF (FIFTY YEARS OF PAUL TREVILLION)” hardback published by The Observer in 2006. This extremely interesting, liberally-illustrated and colourful book looks back on a sports artist’s career involving drawing, particularly footballers in action. This was both action pictures during games of football and portraits of well-known players from different eras. Paul Trevillion first started producing work for the ‘Eagle’ comic, when he was still at school. He would also go on to produce drawings that appeared in a variety of British newspapers, as well as ‘TV Comic’ and as part of pictorial quizzes. He would famously be the artist who produced all the cartoon drawings of ‘Roy Of The Rovers’, for a while. In 1969, when ‘SHOOT!’ Magazine first appeared on the bookstalls, he was given a whole page feature, entitled ‘You Are The Ref’ which every week focussed on a particular incident or occurrence that could potentially happen during any game of football being refereed. Then, the reader was asked to decide how the referee would have dealt with it. If you followed it every week, you would certainly build up a good understanding of the laws of the game. A lot of Trevillion’s work, including the ‘SHOOT!’ feature was in B/W, but some was in colour eg for the Roy Of The Rovers’ annual cartoon strips and later drawings of well-known football and sports stars. Eventually, the ‘You Are The Ref’ feature ceased being in ‘SHOOT!’ in 1983, but it would re-appear later in ‘The Observer’ Sunday newspaper. Eg From ‘You Are The Ref’ It is found that there is a crack in the crossbar of one of the goals. Should the referee: A) Play on with the crossbar removed, for safety, with the referee judging if a goal has been scored? B) Abandon the match? C) Play on with a rope across the two posts, to replace the crossbar. (Answer: below) At the back of the book, Gary Lineker, who was never booked or sent off in his career, claims that it was because he studied Trevillion’s page in “SHOOT!” when he was a youngster, that he was able to avoid the wrath of the referee and bookings/sending offs much later on. (Okay, I think it was bit more than that!) Interestingly, Paul Trevillion famously approached Don Revie, manager of Leeds United, with ideas to help the club be viewed more favourably by the media. He suggested the team wear blue sock tags with white numbers, wear tracksuit tops with players’ names on the back and carry out dynamic warm-up routines on the pitch before the match. (This was all new, back then.) He also had a hand in the club’s unofficial anthem, “Marching On Together”, which became a hit record sung by the club’s 1972 first team squad, in the lead up to the 1972 Centenery FA Cup Final, which they won beating Arsenal 1-0. This tune is still played before Elland Road first team matches today and sung by the crowd. More recently, I have seen some of his beautiful portraits and action drawings of footballers (in the form of signed prints) being sold on eBay for around £30-£35. This seems pretty reasonable and of course, these would look particularly nice framed. Paul Trevillion is still around but approaching his 90th birthday after a career of 70 years. As someone who always liked to draw, I was always interested in drawings that appeared in comics and magazines, and even though back then, I wouldn’t have known who had done the work, the drawings shown in the ‘Roy Of The Rovers’ comic strip and for ‘You Are The Ref’ were some of the best football-related art work I ever saw. I am glad to have this book focussing on this brilliant, talented artist. It brings back many happy memories! Answer to ‘You Are The Ref!’ question above: (Easy this one!) B) Abandon the game. |
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Post by leftwinger on Nov 25, 2023 12:21:26 GMT 1
Au Revoir!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Ciao!
Do Svidaniya!
Tot Ziens!
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