In a piece I wrote for In Bed with Maradona back in February, I bemoaned football’s lack of popularity in Taiwan, that embattled nation of the South China Sea, but what of its similar failure to take root across the Formosa Strait? Insignificance in a country of 23 million is one thing, but to be scarcely on nodding terms with 1.4 billion more is another entirely. Sure, the “Premeer” League has its adherents between Kashgar and Guangzhou - quite a few million of them, so we are told - but an emphasis on top down development has perhaps left the domestic…
All posts tagged Other Second Divisions
College Football Synergies
A few days stateside at the start of 2010 have allowed me to tune in to some of the College Football Bowl Season, recently capped by the University of Alabama’s first national championship since 1992; the Crimson Tide having defeated the University of Texas in Pasadena’s historic Rose Bowl arena (scene of the 1994 World Cup Final) on Thursday. Of course, the whole shebang can seem as alien as Chinese opera to British viewers, with media coverage outside the US and the internet roughly equating to zero. For all its parochialism, however, I think there are important parallels to be…
European Second Divisions Round Up
In August, I looked at a clutch of five once famous clubs currently biding their time in various European second divisions, in the same way that Newcastle and Nottingham Forest among others are being forced to do so in the Championship. With both Magpies and Tricky Trees primed for an exit from purgatory, I thought it would be interesting to assess the progress of these additional five exiles:Torino (Italy)Now captained by former Hammer David Di Michele, the Granata are experiencing a trying season for a club of their size, having slumped to eighth place in advance of this afternoon’s trip…
Slumming it Across Europe
Although their last serious trophy was the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969, the fanfare surrounding Newcastle United’s return to the second flight has been loud and prolonged. A massive club, they really shouldn’t be here, it’s claimed, but along with former European Cup winners Nottingham Forest, here they are all the same. However, the Magpies are not alone across Europe in having fallen upon hard times - there are a number of Mr. Micawbers waiting for something to turn up. Here are a few being forced to spend 2009-10 a notch lower than that to which they have been accustomed:Torino…
Frank Heaven: I had no idea Telford was so big. As you say, it is close to the West ...
Lanterne Rouge: I didn't know these nuggets - cheers for enlightening us Alexandriang...
alexandriang: Another factor is probably that both the TItans and Panthers played th...
P Squires: Interesting read, but '...which by train is comfortably further from L...
Lloyd: An enjoyable, snappy piece of writing Will.
Going through Worcester...
