WSC No 274, December 2009

The Horden Colliery Welfare home support relaxes in the sun

Contents 4 EditorialPortsmouth pandemonium 6 News watch

“It’s the sort of fine rain that hangs in the air, all-enveloping like an unfinished argument” Match of the month, Horden Colliery Welfare v Billingham Synthonia p30

Bye-bye Birmingham; naming and shaming 8 Shot!

Barnsley welcome cross-Pennine visitors 10 Sidelines

Ray Stubbs reappears; some hope for the women’s game; administration agonies; horrible headlining 14 Net gains

Heading down stream for a live match; getting the media message on Twitter 16 Loving the Football League

How Scandinavian broadcasting led the way 18 Changes in fan culture

Does following the game turn into an addiction that can alter lives? 20 World Cup 2010

Honduras – not just interested in football; European play-off controversy 22 Small nations

Caught in the web p33

Andorra’s low ambitions; how to be a footballer’s parent

COLIN MCPHERSON

M ATT L I TTL E R

24 Shot! Archive

The social evolution of the World Cup from Italy to Germany via the US and Japan 27 SPL

Rangers hit the buffers; a Scottish fan looks forward to the Old Firm moving out 30 Match of the month

An industrial clash on the north-east coast in a league that’s changing with the times 34 Euro View

Financial frenzy for the Dutch champions; Christian Vieri in telephone trouble 36 World View

Local pride in Ecuador’s football valley; another national coach for South Africa 38 As good as it got

How Tranmere nearly became Merseyside’s third top-level club in the early 1990s 40 Reviews

Best of times for Burnley; Motson’s memoirs; cocky McKenzie; German generalisations 42 Letters

Dear WSC, I must get this off my chest... 46 Season in brief

Division Two, 1949-50