calmThe story about the heydays of Colombian football was better, not many fans do know this, but in the early fifties, the best footballers in the world all played in the country that is nowadays mainly famous for violence and cocaine. Simon Kuper writes an interesting piece on Salman Rushdie, who apparently claims to be a Tottenham fan in several interviews. Background information therefore. Hugo Borst has an interesting story about decay of Spangen, Moroccan youth criminals, discrimination and Sparta, the only team outside the big 3 in the Netherlands that never got relegated, though these days they have come close several times.
The real highlight is not about football, but was written by a football player. Steve Mokone, a black South African who played in the Netherlands in the fifties (a movie was made recently about him), later became an American citizen, though he got treated very badly while in the US. He got convicted for a crime he didn't do and spent nine years in jail. This story is a chapter from his forthcoming autobiography: Kalamazoo! The life and times of a soccer player. Judging by this story, I might need to have a look around for that book.