We live in a world where money is king, an age in which a vastly wealthy owner can bypass the traditional avenues to success. Where previously the biggest and most trophy-laden clubs…
Month: October 2017
THERE HAVEN’T BEEN MANY FOOTBALLERS WHO’VE HAD THE CAREER of ex-Bolton, Burnley and Blackpool player Paul Fletcher. He went from dreaming of playing in big stadiums to overseeing the construction of them. “I…
SOME TEAMS HAVE LEFT THEIR MARKS ON TOURNAMENTS, only to watch on as another team won. Hungary in 1954 and the Netherlands in 1974 had risen to the World Cup final but…
Modern-day football us about much more than just the 90 minutes played on the pitch. The intricate complexities of the game transcend the playing surface, forming a web spun by managers, directors and…
TO SOME, HE’S ONE OF THE BEST MANAGERS OF THE PAST TWO DECADES, willing to sacrifice style for substance and flair for formality. To others, he’s an unnerving disciplinarian, an expert at…
It was at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, on 29 May 1991, that one of the most anti-climactic evenings in the history of football unfolded. It had been the most eagerly…
Despite living in the shadows of Pele, Garrincha and a host of other teammates, Gérson remains one of Brazil’s most intelligent footballers ever
Pinned to the floor with the nearby bed serving as their canopy of preservation, a family besieged by war would sometimes sit for hours. Miles away, mortars would be shot in their…
In 1958, the beginning of the decline of La Nuestra – the skill-based, extravagant and truly unique brand of football which had characterised Argentine football – could be traced back to one…
BEFORE MATTEO DARMIAN, FEDERICO MACHEDA AND MASSIMO TAIBI, there was another Italian on the books at Old Trafford – the Red Devils’ first ever non-British player, Carlo Domenico Sartori. Born on 10…
THERE ARE REALLY ONLY TWO TYPES OF CLUBS IN THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL – buyers and sellers. If you want to take this a step further, you could divide it into big…
It’s incredible that in the connected modern world, Iraq’s most promising young defender saw headlines about himself joining the fight against jihadists
Often laughed off as something of a comic figure, Jorge Campos, for all his wild jerseys, was, in fact, one of the world’s best goalkeepers
RYAN GIGGS IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE GREATEST PLAYERS in Manchester United’s history, collecting 34 major honours with the team he joined as a teenager. No player in the club’s history has…
Calcio in the 1990s was the golden age of modern football. From Franco Baresi and George Weah to Marco van Basten and Gabriel Batistuta, there were a good seven teams that could…
Illustration by Federico Manasse. View more of his great work here “YOU EITHER DIE A HERO or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Harvey Dent’s renowned one-liner from…
ONE OF THE MOST INESCAPABLE TRUTHS IN THE WORLD is the stark contrast between civilisations. There will always be the unapologetic difference in the comfort in which people live their lives. It…
It is a small tidbit that is often overlooked regarding clubs such as Swansea or Cardiff. We have become so used to them over the last number of years – Swansea City…