The new WSC with JT on the cover

[Levin]

Some good stuff so far. Andy Green on the FA and leagues reaction to the select committee report is good as is Tom Hocking's summary of Dave Richard's career. I love the photos of Derby going to Benfica in '72.

I do wonder about the value in giving a whole page to a complaint about rising prices at Arsenal. Not that I disagree entirely but given the limited space in WSC surely there are more informative things to cover.

[David Agnew]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

10^7 guests wrote:

I do wonder about the value in giving a whole page to a complaint about rising prices at Arsenal. Not that I disagree entirely but given the limited space in WSC surely there are more informative things to cover.

I couldn't disagree more - for one WSC tries to cover all football, and secondly, when the biggest clubs put their prices up, it filters down throuought the sport - after all, if you could get into Arsenal for £15, Barnet (foe example) wouldn't be able to charge the same. On the other hand, if the cheapest Arsenal tickets are £35 and rising and there's no major drop in attendance, then Barnet and other clubs might be tempted to raise their prices to see if the effect stays the same.

The Leeds article is also spot on. Ken Bates just being one of many club owners (jncluding my own) who treat the fans as customers, but only up until the point where the money is handed over, at which point the customers revert back to being fans.

[erwin]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

I liked the front page gag this month.

"... and I'll stand here."

[Levin]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

David, I agree with you but that isn't how the article is framed. The jist seemed to be that if we are paying more to go to watch Arsenal we should be getting more on the pitch.

The Leeds article is very good.

[The Exploding Vole]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

The photo of the throw-in at the Wealdstone-Newport match is wonderful - something to do with how the ball is hanging in the air. Marvellously captured.

[Third rate Leszno]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

Only skim read it so far, but enjoyed the article on Airbus UK - very timely as I'm planning to nip across the border to watch them over Easter.

[Hofzinser]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

I was irritated to a disproportionate degree by the letter attempting to ape the – itself tiresome and unfunny – Private Eye pseudonym feature – particularly as the letter writer chose such a boringly unoriginal joke name.

I think a large part of my irritation stems from the fact that I really hate the feature in Private Eye and consider it a waste of good letter space.

[Hofzinser]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

(This is when an otf-er pops up and says "oh, I wrote that", and then I feel bad.)

[Donnchadh Ghairdinéir]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

Prime suspect denying responsibility, yer honor. I agree, that gag was done to death months if not years ago.

Now, when I can get my e-edition to download properly, I've a rant to prepare about sometime Ultonian internationalist James McClean.

[Hofzinser]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

Haha! I had no suspects in mind, I assure you.

[E10 Rifle]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

The Arsenal piece was excellent and essential, I thought, given that amid all the predictable guff about "whinging fans" the angle of Arsenal's enormous price rises has been ignored in the mainstream. It is precisely the sort of thing WSC should be flagging up.

Andy Green's piece also essential reading.

[Gangster Octopus]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

Couldn't see me in any of the Wealdstone-Newport photos, but I should the mag to a mate in the pub last night, and he spotted himself straight away...

[denishurley]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

I've a letter in it

[NHH]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

The article on train rang a few bells. I remember attending a meeting of the Rail and Football Forum, and during a particularly tetchy moment (the industry reps only had an interest in getting fans groups to endorse a code of conduct) I suggested we focus on the basics, where we all had a common interest in seeing more fans treval on trains with as little disruption as possible.

The woman from Virgin cut me off, saying that as far as they were concerned, fans were a burden they could do without (and such was the wonder of the franchise subsidy, they got paid regardless of the numbers of passengers, so actual passengers actually were a cost item, not a revenue stream).

[ian.64]

The new WSC with JT on the cover

Small bits and pieces grab my attention: the bit in Ed Wilson's report on the Coventry v Birmingham game - "other clubs remember their successes and traditions by naming stands after iconic players and managers. With the Lloyds Pharmacy Stand, we honour exceptional customer service and an unparalleled knowledge of flu remedies." - that caught me off-guard and had me chuckling like an idiot.

And a Manchester City fan's riposte in the letter pages (a relatively bumper collection this issue) to a Hyde FC's fan's annoyance with their involvement in their club - a missive that had a little of the 'if it wasn't for us, you'd be in the crapper' about it - just got on my tits a tad. The irony of a fan of a club that was trundling along with little focus until someone came along and shovelled money into it telling another that their club was trundling along aimlessly until they came along and plonked some money into it was, for once, not lost on me.

[Capybara]

Has just arrived. When I was sorting out my old copies last year I found that this one was missing. Possibly it was mislaid or more likely it was the victim of a bit of confusion between WSC and me over my subscription renewal one year. Anyway, a friend was moving house and sorting out old copies for recycling and he offered them up to anyone who wanted them. He had the missing copy so I asked him to hold on to it. He gave it to me at football yesterday. At the same time, I was able to provide him with a copy of a Middlesbrough fanzine he'd written an article for. That was from 1994. Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading it. The editorial is about Messi, as it happens.

[Benjm]

Strong work!