Endorsed by the English and Scottish Premier Leagues,

and the English and Scottish Football Leagues

■ Guide to the players from the English and Scottish Leagues on display in the 2010 FIFA World Cup ■ Packed with exclusive stats, tables and fascinating facts ■ Comprehensive coverage of the season’s key moments and all the best previews of the season to come ■ Full-colour sections featuring extensive coverage of every team north and south of the border

“A must for anyone who enjoys the facts and figures side of the game

“

The League

AVAILABLE FROM BOOKSHOPS AND ONLINE AT WWW.ACBLACK.COM WSC No 281, July 2010

France lose the first World Cup penalty shoot-out in 1982

Contents

Germany had perfected their technique by the time of the World Cup’s first penalty decider in the 1982 semi-final with France Penalty shoot-outs p36

GETTY IMAGES

4 Editorial A difficult dilemma for Man Utd fans 6 News watch The trapping of Lord Triesman 8 Sidelines TV’s love for Mourinho; the decline of an ex-England keeper; no love lost in Dundee; why football can’t save the world 12 Shot! Depicting the popularity of European club football in West Africa 14 Liverpool & Portsmouth Financial crisis hits both ends of the

Premier League and rich owners decline to accept the blame 16 Something for the weekend The Champions League final moves to a Saturday 18 Fulham’s European trip Enjoying an evening in Hamburg despite the result 20 Match of the month Cardiff arrive confident, but the Championship play-off final belongs to Blackpool 23 Wayne’s wrangles A contentious biography is finally released

Rooney reading p23

C OL OR S P ORT

24 Finding World Cup footballs The difficulties in tracking down the star of every final 27 Strange case of... Robbie Ryan, from Cup final to Croydon 28 Championship review 2009-10 Parachute money plays its part 29 League One Norwich and Leeds finally prevail 30 League Two Dominated by the Notts County project 32 Euro view Russia aim to beat Beckham; Stockholm’s stadium surfeit; French stars turn out for charity; footballers protest in Vienna 36 Paying the penalty From Denis Law’s Watney Cup miss to reasons why the shoot-out is here to stay 38 North Korea reaches out Using football as a link to the outside world 40 Reviews England analysed; World Cup worries;

the “fans’ chairman”; crazy Chic Charnley 43 Letters Dear WSC, I really must say... 46 Season in brief

Belgian Jupiler League 2000-01