Jean-Marc Bosman had never set Belgian football alight, let alone the world. But when he took his club Liege to the European Court of Justice on the issue of freedom of contract, he secured a ruling that was to have profound implications for all clubs. From now on contract negotiations - and an eye on the clock - would become of paramount importance when it came to a club’s balance sheet. Few businesses had to contend with multi-milhon pound assets disappearing overnight, but that wasn’t far from the case post-Bosman.
Wenger joins Arsenal
Many Arsenal fans scratched their heads when Arsene Wenger was named as the man to take over at Highbury in 1996, following Bruce Rioch’s brief tenure. Wenger couldn’t prevent United from taking the tide again in his first season, but in 1997-98 he led the Gunners to the Double. It was to be the start of a long battle for supremacy in the domestic game, one involving psychological warfare as well as batdes on the field.
Hoddle at the England helm
Terry Venables had announced before Euro 96 that he would be standing down to devote his energies to sorting out his legal and business affairs. Chelsea’s Glenn Hoddle was installed as the new supremo; at 38 he became the youngest ever England manager. Hoddle’s first test came at France ’98. England scraped into the finals, looking far from impressive. A defeat against Romania at the group stage didn’t prove cosdy as it was sandwiched between victories over Tunisia and Colombia.
Michael Owen had come off the bench to score against Romania and the clamour among fans for him to start in the second-round match against Argentina was deafening. Hoddle had taken the brave decision to leave Gascoigne out of his final 22; the decision to play Owen was far easier. The 17-year-old Liverpool prodigy scored the goal of the tournament to put England 2-1 ahead. Argentina levelled, and after David Beckham was red-carded for a petulant kick at Diego Simeone it looked to be slipping away from England’s grasp. Sol Campbell thought he’d given 10-man England a ‘golden goal’ winner with a towering header in extra time. It was ruled out for an infringement and England suffered yet another penalty shoot-out exit. Paul Ince and David Batty were the unlucky men to miss from the spot on this occasion.
World History
