High land, hard reign
The same day that Clachnacuddin of Inverness were due to host Huntly of the Highland League, last weekend Scottish Cup holders Caley Thistle were taking on SPL champions Celtic. Caley result from a 1994 merger, while Clach remain resolutely independent. Tony Dawber headed up the River Ness to meet former Inverness Thistle’s Allan McDonald and Clachnacuddin vice-chairman Alex Chisholm. Top-flight […]
Stalin’s secret stadium
While work continues on transforming Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium for the 2018 World Cup, across town Andy Potts uncovers a forgotten arena that was set to be a Stalinist showpiece when instigated 80 years ago. Little remains of the dream that was the projected Stalin Stadium. Originally, this gargantuan landmark was intended to be the sporting […]
130 not out
Exactly 130 years ago, a football record was set that will surely never be broken. Tony Dawber visits the ground where it all took place, Gayfield Park, still the home of Arbroath FC, who beat Bon Accord 36-0. There he meets local historian, Fraser Clyne, whose book covers the events of 1885. Arbroath 36, Bon […]
The Spirit of ’58
On the eve of the draw for Euro 2016, signalling Northern Ireland’s return to the big stage after 40 years, a new documentary honours the side that starred at the 1958 World Cup. Peter Doyle reports. From being humbled by lowly Luxembourg in 2013 to qualifying in style for Euro 2016, Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland […]
New course for the ancient Mariners
Halfway between two moribund Premier League cities, lowly South Shields are the Tyne & Wear success story of the season. Andy Potts reports. With Sunderland and Newcastle engulfed in failure, football in the North East is hardly thriving. But ten miles and nine promotions away from each of them, South Shields FC of Northern League Division […]
Whatever happened to Lyn Oslo?
With another European night at White Hart Lane, Peterjon Cresswell visits one of Tottenham’s old opponents, recently revived Lyn Oslo. David Cassidy was top of the charts and Martin Chivers was scoring hat-tricks when Spurs played the runners-up from the Norwegian league in the UEFA Cup in September 1972. But ask anyone of a certain […]
Zenica: the Dragons’ lair
When Wales last qualified for a major finals in 1958, it involved a trip to Tel-Aviv and the Ramat Gan Stadium. On Saturday, the setting for Wales to make history is a run-down steel town in the heart of Bosnia: Zenica. Set some 70km north-west of Sarajevo, Zenica is a former industrial hub that has […]
Borussia are back
Peterjon Cresswell meets Martin Gipp of the Fanprojekt for Borussia Mönchengladbach, in the Champions League for the first time since many in the FanHaus can remember. Borussia Mönchengladbach. If any club team sums up the free-flowing, Total Football era of the 1970s, it’s this one, created by Hennes Weisweiler, the coach who nurtured the likes […]
The miracle of Darmstadt
Saved from insolvency in 2008, populist SV Darmstadt 98 pulled themselves up to gain promotion to the Bundesliga in 2015. On Saturday, their mainly terraced Merck-Stadion hosts champions Bayern Munich. Peterjon Cresswell visits Darmstadt and speaks to Adeline With of the local Fanprojekt. This week, on the eve of the visit of Bayern Munich, a new […]