Author: Frank Heaven
Book Review: Football’s 12 Apostles: The Making of the League, 1886-1889
Football’s Twelve Apostles
By Thomas Taw
Published by Desert Island Books
April 2006, £16.99, ISBN: 9781905328093
Maybe it’s the hype and money – not to mention scandal – in present-day football, or maybe I’m just getting old, but I find myself increasingly drawn to nostalgia-laden accounts of the game from more innocent times.
Which is what made me pick up Thomas Taw’s account of the Football League’s formation, at the …
Are battle-weary Baggies running out of ammunition?
The muddy, bloody battlefields of the Championship appear to be taking their toll on West Bromwich Albion’s promotion challenge.
The demise of the ‘home end’
Recently, Lanterne Rouge discussed the poor position away fans are often given at Championship grounds.
To that, I add: what about the poor position home fans are often given?
If this sounds bizarre, it is prompted by yesterday’s visit to the Ricoh Arena for a turgid 0-0 between Coventry City and West Bromwich Albion.
It was a rare occasion when I was watching from an executive box, and …
Not enough character in the game anymore?
What sort of character should run a team in the second tier of English football?
This was the question debated by myself and Lanterne Rouge after yesterday’s match at the Hawthorns.
Albion’s 3-1 win over Reading meant they ended the day top of the championship with the Royals fourth bottom.
In the summer, both clubs changed manager, and both went for ‘continental-style’ appointments — men who seemed more valued for …
Summer suddenly a distant memory for Albion
Can it be only two weeks since West Brom’s stunning 5-0 win at co-promotion favourites Middlesbrough?
For since that game, which left many pundits regarding Albion as automatic promotion shoe-ins, an autumnal chill has descended on the Hawthorns, blowing away the sunny late-summer optimism.
First, there was the League Cup elimination against the Wenger boys. Then, the Neil Warnock jinx struck again with a 0-1 home reverse against …