ALPACAS ARE INTRIGUING ANIMALS. Their thick, tough fur has been used for millennia to produce high-quality clothes, rugs and textiles, and while they trace their roots back to the wild Andes of…
Month: February 2018
IF HISTORY CROSSES its path, a good story can become a tragic one. This was the case for the story of Arpad Weisz. At the beginning of the 1937/38 season, this Hungarian…
The words Total Football conjure up an image of the Dutch teams of the 1970’s playing awe-inspiring, fluent football with defenders and attackers seamlessly interchanging positions, displaying consummate confidence in their talents…
At the turn of the Millenium, football was suffering a decline in the southern Dutch region of Limburg. All the main local clubs found themselves in dire financial straits, yo-yoing between the first…
MESA, ARIZONA doesn’t have a notable sporting past. The third largest city in the Copper State, Mesa is located just 20km from the state’s capital, Phoenix, which, in contrast, does have a…
Finding the back of the net in today’s era of plastic footballs and packed defences has become a tailored art and relies as much on speed of instinct as it does on outright…
IN 1893, the World’s Fair: Columbian Exposition was held in the city of Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ maiden voyage across the Atlantic. Officially shortened to the Columbian…
‘JAAP STAM WAS THE ONE. Without a question, I made a mistake there.’ The words of Sir Alex Ferguson ring true, years after selling star defender Jaap Stam to the surprise of…
Wheeling away in celebration, Patrick Kluivert attempts to take his top off only to think better of it halfway through. It’s the 85th minute in the 1995 Champions League final and he’s just…
THE COMMON ATTRACTION we often have with footballers derives from what these individuals accomplish with the boots laced up and between the lines. Whether it’s a timely back-heel that comes off with…
This feature is part of A Tale of One City On 13 August 1961, the Berlin Wall was built. It stood for 10,316 days, until it was torn down on 9 November…
I HAVE SPENT some years now – as a manager in both the hospitality industry and as a coach/manager in the footballing sphere – thinking about what it is that makes a…
THE STORY OF Senegal’s 2002 World Cup campaign is well known. Yet the origins of their remarkable odyssey in the Far East goes back four months to a story told far less…
IT’S RARE THAT a football club is a perfect representation of the city they reside in. But Frankfurt meets the bill. For years they held an albatross around their neck, with a staid,…
IN AN AGE where footballers drive the world’s most expensive cars, wear incredibly expensive clothes and eat at the most exclusive restauarants, it is hard for the regular fan to find much…
SÃO PAULO, NOVEMBER 2017. There is, it’s fair to say, never a meaningless encounter between Corinthians and Palmeiras. But all clássicos are not created equal. Sometimes it matters a little bit more; sometimes…
After watching the Dutch side at the 1974 World Cup, Sergio Markarián gave up his well-paid job to become one of the great journeymen coaches of his time
Goal! movie franchise producer, Mike Jefferies, talks Real Madrid, Zidane, Beckham, Liverpool and the craziest Hollywood football experience he ever had. When did you first get the idea to make a movie…