From Cloughglass to Genoa
Almost 20 years after hanging up his gloves, Irish hero Packie Bonner has published an autobiography. So why was legendary keeper so reluctant to write a memoir? Peter Doyle finds out. Don’t meet your heroes, they say, you will only be disappointed. The veracity of this piece of homespun wisdom depends on who you’re meeting, of […]
Danny’s boys
As Northern Ireland prepare for their first Euros, a new book reveals the heroic exploits of their first World Cup in 1958. Peter Doyle meets its author, Evan Marshall. A football team rises from relative obscurity and overcomes massive odds to achieve international acclaim. Sound familiar? No, not Leicester – this is the remarkable story […]
Fergie time?
Rooted to the bottom of the Scottish League, East Stirlingshire play off on Saturday for an end-of-season reprieve. Ninety minutes from doom, can the club that gave Sir Alex Ferguson his first break in management survive? Tony Dawber speaks to Shire director and supporters’ representative Ian Fleming. For generations, East Stirlingshire FC have appeared as […]
Stramash on smugglers’ coast
With promotion to the Championship at stake, this week Stranraer and Ayr clash for a two-leg play-off on Scotland’s rugged southern shore. Tony Dawber speaks to radio presenter and Blues fan Mike McLean. Derbies come in various shapes and sizes. While the Madrid giants prepare for their cross-city Champions League final, tomorrow night an army […]
Rostov Forest
Rostov and CSKA Moscow are neck-and-neck for the Russian league title. Victory for the provincial underdogs would be a surprising triumph for maverick coach Kurban Berdyev, who worked similar miracles at Rubin Kazan. Andy Potts asks: Are Rostov the new Nottingham Forest? And is Berdyev Russia’s Brian Clough? I first encountered Kurban Berdyev, the mastermind […]
Whitehawk FC: Football for all
Tomorrow, a small but oddly significant club plays the first of three games against teams immediately above in the sixth-flight National League South. At stake is a place in the play-offs for the National League. But the rise of Whitehawk FC, a Sussex County side only six years ago, is not just about status and success. […]
Highland fling
It’s tight at the top of the Highland League, where three clubs are currently two points apart. With a place in the Scottish League at stake, Tony Dawber visits leaders Brora, heading to third-placed Formartine United on Easter Saturday. From the remote, windswept Highland village of Brora, a fleet of cars and coaches will be following the […]
Easter challenge for first World Cup winners
On Good Friday, West Auckland – winners of the first ‘World Cup’ in 1909 – are up against Newton Aycliffe in the Durham Challenge Cup final. Andy Potts visits the club that won football’s first major international silverware in a distant era. Nobody quite knows how an amateur team of coalminers from County Durham ended up […]
Welfare support
This Tuesday, a local parish council will decide the fate of Welfare Park, home of Wearside League team Horden Colliery Welfare since 1908. Andy Potts pays a visit to the ground that spawned two England internationals and potentially several more. A century-old football ground that witnessed the early careers of England internationals Colin Bell and […]