Posted on 5th June 2009
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we’ll be publishing a range of content promoting the fan-led #TerraceTalk campaign.
The Week That Was
This is a story from the FSF archive – the FSF and SD merged to become the FSA in 2019.
It’s hard enough to pull together news stories from the football world when it’s the close-season without the spate of power-cuts that’s plagued the FSF’s offices today. We’re only just back up and running, and it’s well after 4 o’clock, so forgive us if this week’s TWTW is a little on the brief side!
When the club sides have packed up their cones and balls and gone away for a well-earned rest, it usually falls to the international scene to provide most of the summer news, in amongst all the usual tabloid tittle-tattle about who’s going where and for how much, and that was very much the case this week.
We started with the news of the 12 Brazilian cities that had been chosen to host matches in the 2014 World Cup. We’re still in shock that Belem and Florianopolis missed out, if we’re honest.
Elsewhere England have flown out to Kazakhstan ahead of their World Cup 2010 qualifier against the very, very eastern European side on Saturday. Our Fans’ Embassy is out in Almaty, keeping fans informed, and don’t forget you can pick up copies of Free Lions from the FSF shop if you’ve not made it out there this week. England are set to entertain Andorra next week after their arduous trek back from the furthest flung of all European destinations, and our Free Lions crew will be back and free from jet-lag in time to be on duty at Wembley on Wednesday.
Uefa announced this week that it would trial 5 officials in matches in the Europa League (that’s the Uefa Cup to you and me) next season. Aston Villa, Everton and Fulham players will have the ‘benefit’ of an extra set of eyes and ears stationed behind each goal, in an attempt to keep shirt-pulling and other penalty area shenanigans down to a minimum. If successful, expect this to be rolled out in domestic leagues sometime soon.
The summer manager-go-round is in full swing as well – Ancelotti at Chelsea, Pellegrini at Madrid, Bruce at Sunderland… Each of them will be eagerly awaiting the chance to splash their wealthy owners’ cash at the first available opportunity on the lofty likes of Kaka, Ronaldo and Crouch.
Speaking of splashing the cash, good luck to Gareth Barry in his quest for Champions League glory with Manchester City.
That’s all from us this week – we’re getting this up on the website now before something else goes bang!
