Europe should reward cup success

Apr 11 2008 by Ian Carbis, South Wales Echo

IT didn’t take long for Michel Platini to jump on the Cardiff City bandwagon after the Bluebirds’ fabulous FA Cup semi-final win over Barnsley last week.

Almost as soon as the players started popping the champagne corks in the dressing room, Uefa’s president was bubbling over, promising to do all he could to see City in Europe if they won the old trophy again.

Platini was always a crowd pleaser as a player with Juventus and France, and here he was again, giving us exactly what we wanted.

Cynics among us thought: ‘Yeah, yeah, haven’t the Football Association always said they would not represent England, whatever they won?’

They might win the FA Cup, we thought, but another European venture would be beyond them.

That was until the sobering voice of Uefa spokesman William Galliard came over the airwaves, offering the chance of a wildcard if Dave Jones’ side could win against Portsmouth on May 17.

Strangely enough, Galliard’s words held more water as Uefa had obviously thought about the matter and not made a knee-jerk comment.

They realised that they had shown flexibility before, allowing Liverpool to defend the Champions League trophy in 2005-06, despite finishing outside the top four in the Premiership.

The Reds had to begin at the first qualifying stage, though.

And it must be hoped that they don’t plunge City into that melting pot where they could face teams from the likes of Kazahkstan, Azerbaijan, Albania – or Wales.

As one of England’s representatives, they should at least be pitched into the second qualifying stage which this season included big names such as Atletico Madrid, Hamburg and Sampdoria.

OK, let’s not jump the gun here. But after Kayode Odejayi’s Wembley miss, perhaps it’s City’s name that’s on the cup after all.

AT least one fan had something to cheer despite Maidenhead’s Blue Square South relegation showdown at Weston-super-Mare being called off last weekend.

The match was postponed after an overturned lorry caused chaos on the M4, trapping the Maidenhead team bus in heavy traffic.

But some intrepid Magpies fans did make it to the West Country and found time to take in the sights.

Lee Hillon, who was one of the 11 that made it to the seaside, said: “I had a great day. I won on the Grand National, had a few beers to wash down some fish and chips – and I didn’t see Maidenhead lose.”

BLUEBIRDS fans are dreaming of European football after a break of 15 years. Memories will go back to City’s last adventure, in 1993-94 against another club making a comeback: Standard Liege, writes Owen Pearce.

“Les Rouches” have just a handful of Belgian League games left to seal a first title in 25 years – and possibly go a whole campaign undefeated.

Standard were one of Europe’s most famous clubs back in the 1980s, but have battled massive debts and a major match-fixing scandal.

But they have enjoyed a renaissance in their rebuilt Sclessin stadium since the turn of the Millennium.

Tonight they play Lokeren and a win would see them go 12 points clear of Anderlecht with just six games to go.

For the record, Standard beat the Bluebirds 5-2 at Stade Sclessin, and completed formalities with a 3-1 win in the return leg at Ninian Park. They went out in the next round, losing 10-0 on aggregate to Arsenal.

But should City face a trip to Standard again, they won’t recognise the place – the infamous Hell-Side terrace being swept away by the bulldozers in the late 1990s.

ROTHERHAM United are having to sell club heirlooms to raise cash during their period of administration.

Two original oil paintings are being put up for sale by the club’s administrator Jeremy Bleazard.

One was painted by the Sheffield artist Joe Scarborough to commemorate Rotherham’s win in the Auto Windscreens Shield at in 1996 and is called The Millers – A Day To Remember.

The other is simply called Millmoor by Peter Watson and is a view from the back of the Tivoli End, painted a few years ago with a match in progress.

“The sale of these paintings is an effort to mitigate ongoing expenses during administration,” said Bleazard.

  IT’S D-Day for the players of Portuguese club Boavista, who have threatened to strike if they are not paid by the end of today.

The squad are claiming they are owed wages from February and March, plus 70 per cent of their December salary.

If they strike, the players from the Porto-based side would boycott a league match against Nacional Madeira on April 20.

Similar strikes could also take place at other clubs that are struggling to meet their financial obligations to players, according to the head of the Portuguese Players’ Union, Joaquim Evangelista.

“Boavista players unanimously decided to formalise a strike if the players do not receive their pay cheques,” he said.