Politicians like to talk about the squeezed middle - a concept that focus groups tell them plays well to a hard-working and hard-pressed often middle class demographic who have done nothing wrong financially but find the costs of living creeping ever further up so, through no fault of their own, fall towards the poverty line. It may make for a catchy soundbite at party conferences but said squeeze is also an apt description for a very real growing issue of financing for lower league football clubs, specifically from the exact middle messrs Cameron, Clegg and Miliband are pitching for votes…
All posts tagged Hartlepool
The Monday Profile: Mick Wadsworth
To date the Monday Profile has been a column devoted exclusively to pen portraits of individual players, but yesterday’s whiteout posed a bit of a dilemma. With just 9 games surviving the freeze, options were few and far between for this week’s Spotlight, particularly since seven of those contests were between Championship sides, none of which I’ve managed to see in the flesh this term.My first thought was to cook something up on Burnley’s John Guidetti with a little help from Google, but then I saw Hartlepool’s result at Huddersfield and there was no going back. But who to focus on? Leon McSweeney, scorer of the goal that notched the three points? No, too similar to compatriot…
20 Years of Fan Culture Part 1
In the first of a three part series charting the development of a different fan culture since the Eighties, I turn my attention to the early years of the fanzine movement.In a recent post covering Howard Wilkinson era Leeds United, I underlined how appalling the Eighties were for the whites, but in all truth, they were a pretty bad time for us all. The wider populace had to put up with Margaret Thatcher and Bruno Brookes, but football fans were extra noteworthy for their pariah status. In 1990, I worked for a small publisher in Reading with a staff of…
The Monday Profile: Roy O’Donovan
At the end of June, Aidy Boothroyd made Roy O’Donovan Coventry’s third acquisition of the summer. While not exactly a big-name signing, there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic about Roy’s future at the Ricoh.It’s hard to say exactly what level this player is meant for. He signed as a trainee for Coventry in 2001, and left after three years without making a first team appearance, apparently due to not making the grade. He then signed for hometown club Cork city, where he promptly became one of the best players in the League of Ireland, and the league’s top scorer…
TTU 2010/11 Season Preview: League 1 (Part One)
And so our preview of the Football League rolls on. League 1 is in the spotlight today, as 24 fans from across the length and breadth of the country cast light on their clubs’ preparations for the new term.AFC BournemouthHeadline of the SummerManager Eddie Howe signing a new contract.Ins/OutsINRhoys Wiggins (Norwich)Harry Arter (Woking)Marc Pugh (Hereford)Michael Symes (Accrington)Steve Lovell (Partick Thistle)Stephen Purches (Leyton Orient)Mitchell Nelson (Tooting & Mitcham)OUTJeff Goulding (Cheltenham)Alan Connell (Grimsby)Scott GuyettSammy Igoe (Havant and Waterlooville)Any major worries?Having seen our kids turned over 4-0 by Tooting & Mitcham recently, I’d say there’s a worry that there aren’t enough bright prospects…
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