MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : FOOTBALL EUROPE – FEBRUARY 1998

Peter Schmeichel is the cover star of Football Europe in the early months of 1998, as the magazine looks at the season so far across Europe.

There are four pages dedicated to the draw for Euro 2000, with all nine groups being previewed.

Getting just the three pages is Lillian Thuram, who will be joined at Parma by Faustino Asprilla, who returned to the club from Newcastle United this month.

There are six pages dedicated to the season so far in Europe, in all the major leagues.

Meanwhile in France, Basile Boli has been forced to retire as a result of a head injury while Sean Dundee wants to leave Kalrsruhe after a poor run of form.

Mouscron are making a complaint to UEFA after they weren’t allowed to play a home UEFA Cup tie against Metz in Lille.

As preparation for the World Cup nears, it has emerged that Scottish FA officials have booked flights home two days after their last group match, while Andy Hunt of West Bromwich Albion could be heading to the World Cup with Austria, after his Austrian Granny contacted Austria’s manager.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : WHEN SATURDAY COMES – NOVEMBER 2002

Kanu and Thierry Henry are the cover stars of this edition of When Saturday Comes, modestly complimenting themselves on Arsenal’s brilliant start to the season.

This editions editorial focuses on footballer’s autobiographies, after Manchester United have banned their players from writing autobiographies after the fall-out from Roy Keane’s recent book.

The furore, gets further investigated in a full page article.

Across the page, there is an article about Darlington’s failed bid to sign Faustino Asprilla, ahead of their move to a 25,000 seater stadium in 2003.

Talking of new stadiums, there might be new ones coming in Republic of Ireland and Scotland, as both countries are making a joint bid to host Euro 2008, with the lack of current stadiums in both countries getting featured by WSC.

The 2003 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers get featured, with France standing between England and a place in the finals.

The French are now allowing their women’s team to use the Clairefontaine facility that the men’s team used to win the 1998 World Cup, and have set a goal of winning the women’s one by 2007.

The tournament was moved from China to USA due to the SARS outbreak, while France won the Qualifier but went out in the group stages. They didn’t win the 2007 competition.

There are features on recently relegated Midlands clubs Derby County (2002) and Coventry City (2001) as they try to get back to the Premier League.

Ahead of a documentary which is about the be premiered, there is a double page spread on the North Korea team that reached the 1966 World Cup Quarter-Finals.

Peter Taylor is helping out at Peterborough, just two years after being England manager, which is covered with the witty headline “From Becks To Posh”

There is a profile of Richard Witschge, highly rated by Johan Cruyff but couldn’t get a game for Blackburn.

Sepp Blatter has just been re-elected FIFA President, and one writer takes him up on his promise to give Oceana an automatic World Cup place.

The monthly look at the best of the web takes a look at the best Welsh football websites, with the national team making a good start to the Euro 2004 Qualifiers.

WSC heads to Norway to look at the problems in club football caused by Rosenborg’s dominance in the 1990s.

Talking of declines, WSC looks at the decline of Scotland and Austria as European forces, focusing on a Champions League game between Sturm Graz and Rangers in 2000.

The magazine ends with a look at the highlights and lowlights of Sheffield United.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : WORLD SOCCER – APRIL 1996

Alexi Lalas, one of the more recognisable US footballers, is the cover star of World Soccer, as Major League Soccer, the national league of the United States, is about to launch.

The creation of a national league was a condition for USA hosting the 1994 World Cup.

Lalas got a move to Serie A after the 1994 World Cup, and was one of the headline signings as the league was about to launch, signing for New England Revolution.

Four pages get dedicated to the launch, with a team by team preview, with most of the players being American, including players such as John Harkes and Roy Wegerle, returning from Europe.

Kier Radnedge, the editor, uses his column to pay tribute to the recently deceased Bob Paisley and Helmut Schoen, and suggesting that the signing of Faustino Asprilla might derail Newcastle’s title bid, similar to how signing Rodney Marsh did for Manchester City in the 1970s.

Japan and South Korea are battling to host the 2002 World Cup, with the decisive vote coming up on 1st June. Eventually, both countries would co-host the tournament.

Radnedge also writes about Pay Per View football, stating that it is inevitable in English football. It eventually happened in 1999, as a one-off, when Oxford United played Sunderland (followed later that season by Colchester United v Manchester City), before becoming a regular occurrence from the 2001-2002 season, with the launch of dedicated channel, Premiership Plus.

In news, Manchester United signed Britain’s biggest kit deal, with Umbro, believed to be around a total of £40m until 2002.

South Africa fans at the recent African Cup Of Nations have been honouring defender Mark Fish by taking fish to matches.

Ahead of Euro 96, Kier Radnedge interviews Spain manager Javier Clemente, where he declines to answer if he intends to call-up Barcelona’s Dutch born but Spain eligible Jordi Cruyff, and declares England as favourites for Euro 96, but that the standard of club football in England has decline in the past decade.

Faustino Asprilla, who also appears on the cover, gets a double page profile.

World Soccer gives two pages to the recent Bosman Ruling, which has seen various clubs offer stars long-term contracts to protect their transfer value.

In Iberia, Atletico Madrid are aiming to win their first La Liga title since 1977, while a moustached Carlos Queroz has been sacked by Sporting Lisbon.

Oliver Bierhoff, just broke into the Germany squad, gets a profile. Little did he know, he would be Germany’s hero at Wembley three months later.

In Northern Ireland, Crusaders are on course to win the Irish League title. They didn’t, Portadown did. Bangor were struggling to avoid relegation, while the national team have arranged friendlies against Norway, Sweden and Germany.

Across the border, there are rumours that the League Of Ireland is planning to move to Summer Football.

Sami Hyypia, who attracted interest from Oldham Athletic, has moved to Willem II in Holland.

Brian Glanville uses his column to criticise UEFA’s proposals to allowing some countries to have more than one club competing in the European Cup.

On the final page, there is a feature called “Soccer Cities”, profiling football in a different city. This edition, was Glasgow.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : MATCH – 18.7.1998

Zinedine Zidane, holding the World Cup aloft, is the cover star of Match, as they review the 1998 World Cup. Printing deadlines must have been tight, as the final took place on July 12th 1998.

Match looks at Ariel Ortega, who had went into the World Cup hyped as “The new Maradona”, emulated him by being sent-off in his first World Cup as Argentina crashed out. Unlike Maradona, he didn’t rectify it four years later.

Readers were treated to a compilation of Kevin Keegan’s finest commentary moments.

Lee Hendrie gets asked who his favourite Spice Girl is. After much hesitation, he plucked for Sporty Spice.

Phil Neville does the taste test, where he gets asked his favourites between two. Unsurprisingly, he picks Spice Girls (David and Victoria would have been very unhappy) over All Saints, and he prefers McDonalds over Burger King.

France’s win over Brazil gets four pages, with most of the focus being on Zinedine Zidane, where he speaks about the key moments of the game, and how he felt at each time.

Ryan Giggs gets asked for his Hits and Misses of France 98, labelling Michael Owen, Christian Vieri and Rivaldo as Hits, and Faustino Asprilla, Raul and Alessandro Del Piero as Misses.

Michael Owen gets a double page interview focusing on his meteoric rise over the past eighteen months, offering advice for aspiring young footballers.

Premier League stars such as Gary Croft, Rob Savage (yes, that’s what it said), Don Hutchinson, Mark Schwarzer and Christian Dailly were asked for their best and worst moments of the World Cup. Christian Dailly, listed his favourite game as England v Romania, when Romania won 2-1 in injury time.