CONTENTS

WSC No 301, March 2012

Wanderers have been punching above their weight for the last ten seasons and there is a growing feeling that something will have to give sooner rather than later Match of the month Bolton v Liverpool p18

5 Editorial The whining of the spoilt football fan

6 Sidelines Lineker forgets his lines; Guernsey take off;

hard times for Portsmouth and Darlington; reserve judgment; Luis Suárez divides Liverpool; Workington’s trek; King Eric

12 Shot! Wrexham v Brighton in the FA Cup

14 Managers New owners call the shots; are goalkeepers unsafe hands in the dugout?

16 Statistical freak How an obsession grew from the back of a

Frosties pack to the great data crash of 2009

17 Kick to flick The welcome return of Subbuteo

18 Match of the month A struggling Bolton team secure an unlikely victory over lacklustre Liverpool

22 Retiring types Stuart Ripley’s legal challenge;

Claus Lundekvam on his struggle with depression

Regime changes p14

changes p14

24 Focus on... Jack Taylor, the butcher who became a World Cup f inal ref became a World Cup f inal ref

33

The Reebok Stadium before Liverpool’s visit to Bolton cPHERSON

MCOLIN

26 As good as it got Macclesfield’s successive promotions in the late 1990s under Sammy McIlroy

28 Don’t cry for Evita How Eva Perón’s attempt to mix football and politics corrupted the game in Argentina

30 Euro view Truth and dares in Italy; the recession affects every aspect of society in Greece; Monaco crash in Ligue 2

34 Amateur dramatics Great Britain’s successes in 1908 and

1912 set the benchmark for this summer’s Olympians; the “gentlemen” who played without pay well into the 20th century

36 World view Clinton crops up in Colombia; Afghanistan excel in India; Zico feels the heat in Iraq

40 Books Modern football is rubbish; a season with

Millwall; underdogs bite back; the Old Firm duopoly dissected

42 Dear

42 Letters Dear WSC, has anyone else noticed...

46 Last word Reassessing the role of the penalty kick

46 Reassessing the role of the penalty kick

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