IN THE DAYS when clubs at the bottom of the Football League had to seek re-election, Rochdale often had to rely on their old pals to maintain their status. Since automatic promotion and relegation began, Rochdale have not faced the ignominy of relegation to the National League, but if their present situation does not improve, a club with over 100 years of Football League heritage could find itself playing in the non-league game. Rochdale are currently bottom of League Two and six points from safety and they are five behind 23rd-placed Hartlepool United. There’s nine games to go, five of which ..read more

FOOTBALL’s investor base has diversified in recent years and the market has seen a new type of club owner – one that demands some sort of return on investment. Past benefactors have poured money into clubs and asked for very little back, but with the arrival of private equity firms in football, the dynamic is changing. Private equity’s role in football club ownership is certainly different than a sovereign wealth fund or state-owned entity from the middle east. While the middle eastern owner is not over-concerned with profit-making by a club, the private equity owner expects a return and also ..read more

THREE big-name Italians, one Portuguese and only a single representative from Spain; the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals have some familiar names, but there’s some notable absences such as Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool. Although it’s not a dramatic sea change, it is refreshing to see teams like Napoli and Benfica in the mix and not one but two Milans. And although their fans may not be happy, it is also good, and one might say healthy, that the emphasis shifts away from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. There is a reasonable chance we will have a new winner of the competi ..read more

WITH ONE game to go in the regular Austrian Bundesliga programme, four of the six places have been decided for the Championship play-off stage. Three clubs are vying for the last two spots: Austria Klagenfurt, Austria Wien and WSG Tirol. At the top of the table, Red Bull Salzburg have cemented their customary seat at the table and sit nine points clear of Sturm Graz, the only Austrian team to beat the champions this season. Salzburg have won 17 of their 21 games and have lost just once, a 2-1 defeat in Graz. Similarly, they were beaten by Graz in the quarter-finals of the Austrian Cup. Graz fa ..read more

LEICESTER CITY may yet be relegated this season; they are precariously placed at the moment in the Premier League and their record has been very mediocre. Leicester have lost 16 games out of 26, they have conceded 46 goals, they struggle to keep clean sheets and their home performances have been poor. Manager Brendan Rodgers has, predictably, come under fire.  The last thing Leicester City need right now is relegation. They recently announced their financial figures for 2021-22 and they revealed a £ 92.5 million pre-tax loss. Dropping out of the Premier would be a disaster, even though pa ..read more

DO Europe’s top leagues align their diaries to ensure some of the big games are played over the same weekend? Next weekend, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and Italy all have huge clashes, while in midweek, we have the FA Cup quarter-finals and another round of Champions League games. Monday March 13 In Northern Ireland, two of the front-runners, Crusaders and Cliftonville meet, while the last Scottish Cup quarter-final, Falkirk versus Ayr, takes place. The other semi-finalists: Rangers, Celtic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Tuesday March 14 Two UEFA Champions League last 16 second legs. Po ..read more

WHEN Everton won the Football League title in 1984-85, it made them an attractive proposition for potential new players. The season had been a big success form a financial standpoint, Everton’s income of £ 4.6m was higher than their neighbours and bettered only by Manchester United in English football.  Everton made a move for the most coveted striker in English football, Leicester City’s Gary Lineker, a fast, goal-hungry player with a good attitude. Lineker had already been capped by England, but had yet to make his mark on the international stage. ‘We are delighted to have signed him, h ..read more

MATCH OF THE DAY was reduced to a 20 minute production without any commentary, punditry or studio chit-chat. It actually worked tremendously well, forcing the viewer to listen to the crowd, watch the action more closely and feel as though you’d just opened a window onto the game from an adjoining house or apartment. There was something quite refreshing about it and the BBC could steal a march by introducing an option where you can receive MOTD without any of the trimmings. That’s not to say they are excused for their behaviour over Gary Lineker, who dared to suggest the UK government were out ..read more

A VERY TEPID Champions League exit, coming shortly after a FA Cup defeat at the hands of Championship side Sheffield United, a big money signing hitting-out at his lack of game time and a manager who hints that he’s leaving at the end of the season. The morning after losing to AC Milan 1-0 on aggregate, Tottenham have a few issues to deal with. If they win a trophy next season, the barren period would have been 16 years long. Spurs remain one of football’s great underachievers; 16 major trophies, just two league titles and the last FA Cup won more 33 years ago. They’re won three European prize ..read more

THE BEAUTY of two-legged football means that spectators can experience the tension, the drama and the joy of a deficit being overturned. In this age of de facto seeding that ensures the leviathans will almost always come out on top, the whiff of uncertainty that comes with accidental or instant elimination creates a product that still enables romance and the sentiment of heart-over-head thinking.  Football has, largely, become a business sector that demands some level of guarantee, but there is still enough jeapordy and air of a precarious game of snakes and ladders. At Stamford ..read more