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“Get the ball, give an early pass, then it goes from me to someone else and it switches around again. You might not be getting very far, but the pattern of the opposition is changing. Finally, somebody will sneak in.”
—
Bill Shankly
WORDS: GIANCARLO RINALDI
For a Scottish-Italian boy, summer holidays in the Tuscan hills were eye-opening for so many reasons, but the only distraction from tanned brunette girls proved to be Fiorentina. And, while trophies have been scarce since the late Seventies, Viola fans have never been short of a hero or two on the pitch…
WORDS: SHAUGHAN McGUIGAN
Cheap cola, sweary managers and the curse of Des Lynam – supporting Raith can be a bizarre experience. Yet, while the average marriage hits a difficult patch after seven years, it took 23 for Shaughan McGuigan to fall out with his beloved Rovers. And he still came crawling back for more…
WORDS: GERARD MEIJER
After winning the European Cup in 1970, Feyenoord had much more to look forward to. In the coming decades, Gerard Meijer would work with characters as memorable as Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit and Pierre van Hooijdonk but it was often the coaches who left the greatest impression on him…
WORDS: GERARD MEIJER
In the past 53 years, there isn’t much that Gerard Meijer hasn’t seen at Feyenoord. Working and travelling with the team, he has become a friend to some of the greatest names in the game. Still working for the club he loves, he tells TheInsideLeft about the best moments so far…
WORDS: MAX BELL
When you’re surviving on a student loan and you haven’t missed a Scunthorpe United game for 16 months, it must be love. But when your penchant for fancy dress sees you shortlisted for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy’s ‘Colourful Character’ award, you should probably start seeking help!
WORDS: BRYAN DAVIES
When Palace are bad they are very bad. When they are good, they are still sort of bad. Palace have long been inbetweeners, laughing in the face of success and nuzzling at the bosom of glorious failure. It may not be the rational choice but for those who like to ‘do different’, Palace is the only choice…
WORDS: PETER BOURNE
Triumph and tragedy sit uneasily alongside each other as Peter Bourne looks at the moments, the men and the mindset that define one of Italy’s oldest clubs in the second part of his love letter to Torino…
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER BOURNE
A chance sighting of the BBC’s UEFA Cup highlights in 1992 saw an impressionable English youngster nail his colours to the mast of Torino. Now old enough to know better, Peter Bourne talks us through two decades of abject anguish as a Toro devotee. Calcio, it appears, can be a cruel mistress…
WORDS: SEAN DUFFY
The “sing-songs” of the Irish supporters in Poland highlighted the opportunity this tournament presented for cultures to come together and people to unite. For some of those who shared in the experience, it was hard to stomach accusations of a “win or lose, we’re on the booze” attitude…
WORDS: NICK JUDD
They’ve seen more protests than Swampy, more takeovers than English banks and they haven’t beaten their fiercest rivals since 2001, yet lifelong fan Nick Judd (pictured, below right in specs and scarf) explains why it’s not all bad when you follow the “fifth most stressful club to support in England…”
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