‘SÓ PARA INGLÊS VER’ is a phrase commonly used in Brazil, with roots in the slave trade, pertaining to façade laws and such created ‘only for the English to see’. In a…
Month: May 2017
Despite his troubles since retiring, Dean Windass was a much better footballer than he was given credit for. And it’s that that we should cherish
Gianluigi Buffon ran triumphantly, alone, to the anticipant, raucous Juventus fans in the Curva Sud. The applause was mutual, the celebrations were shared, a collective admiration apparent even for those that know…
IF FOOTBALL IS A GAME of thrills and spills can someone pass Pedro León the mop bucket? For throughout his remarkable and, as yet, unfulfilled career, there have been plenty more of…
FIFTY OF SO YEARS AGO, the Galapagos Giant Tortoise was a species on the brink of extinction. Human expansion, destruction of indigenous land to make way for agriculture and an amount of…
In 2014, SC Paderborn 07 faced the likes of Werder Bremen and Mainz in their sole season in the Bundesliga. Fast-forward to three years later and they were competing with the same…
For most people the name Spartacus remind them of the Roman gladiator who led a slave uprising against the Roman Empire more than 2,000 years ago. Later, he became a symbol of…
MONDAY MOTIVATION carries with it a now-famous hashtag displayed across various social media feeds as individuals try to pick people up from weekend hangovers and encourage them to begin their weeks in…
Ron Greenwood’s England returned home from the 1982 World Cup finals an unbeaten side, having conceded just one goal in the five games they played. In the final reckoning, Sheriff Abubakar might…
THERE IS A JAPANESE PHRASE which translates roughly to “the frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean”. A general interpretation is that those who do not experience the world…
IT IS THE EIGHTH MINUTE and Athletic Club have just been awarded a free-kick after Mikel San José is fouled. Their number 10 takes the resultant set-piece, bending the ball around the…
Illustration by Matt Steven. View more of his great work here It was a rush of blood, a moment of madness that would change the way that everyone looked at Paolo Di…
Securing European qualification with a squad made up of numerous academy graduates, Atalanta are pioneering a better future for player development in Italy
Xabi Alonso’s retirement from football has loomed large for some time, but it’s only now that the end of his playing career has arrived, that the reality has sunk in for me.…
WATCH ENOUGH HIGH-LEVEL MATCHES and one begins to appreciate the complexity of true player development – or at the very least, acknowledge it. The problem, however, is that many mistake appreciating the…
The invasion came just seconds after the final whistle, floods of dark jackets spilling onto the pitch armed with knives, rocks and broken bottles. Swarming from left to right, thousands of delirious…
Illustration by Federico Manasse. Check out more of his work here Passion often brings out the rawest of human emotions. It’s what drives us, and in many senses, what defines us. In…
One hundred and sixteen years. With every step taken beneath the stand on the Connaught Street side of Dalymount Park, there is an eerie echoing sound of crunching glass and rubble. There are…