‘One minute I didn’t even know there was a women’s England team, the next I wanted to play for it’

April 16th, 2010

ALEXANDRA WILLIS is the Deputy Editor of ACE Tennis Magazine, and alongside mag work and an affair with social media, has the dubious honour of following British players to Grand Slam qualifying from time to time as part of her professional duties. If you happen to bump into her court-side, she'll probably tell you that she went to Oxford (and not just shopping). . . . . . They ply their trades in vastly different arenas, but Faye White (the Arsenal captain), Charlotte Edwards (England’s cricket captain), and Anne Keothavong (one of Britain’s best tennis players) have one thing in common — they’re the first of a new...

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‘Aston Villa: the sound a disappointed frog makes when it realises that no matter how hard it tries, its tongue just won’t reach a tasty fly’

April 14th, 2010

By Jonnie Baker 14 April 2010 Once the storm of burning rage following Tottenham’s magnificent bottling of another FA Cup semi-final had eventually subsided, it was widely agreed that the events of Sunday were very ‘Spursey’. Very much in the mould of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Flog through the earlier rounds, treat a lower league side or two very badly, get into a position to make the final and then Spurs it right up on a pitch apparently constructed from pistachio ice cream and razor blades. Sunday really was the epitome of ‘a Spursing’ – to go 1-0 down in extra-time and then...

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Political football: how MUST changed the landscape to make Westminster listen

April 13th, 2010

DAVE BOYLE is the chief executive of Supporters Direct, the organisation that works with supporters trusts at football clubs to help them buy shares and increase influence at their clubs. A former long-serving National Council Member of The Football Supporters' Federation, he supports AFC Wimbledon. Rather marvelously, he was also the advisor on 'football matters' to series Three, Four and Five of the TV soap opera 'Footballers' Wives' . . . By Dave Boyle 13 April 2010 With the publication yesterday of Labour’s election manifesto, football fans have before them the first serious attempt by a UK political party to target them as a potential electoral...

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