This feature is part of The Masterminds: 10 Under 45 “Is it your birthday? No? Then you’re not getting it.” As the seven-year-old child glanced longingly at the table tennis set he…
GORE VIDAL ONCE WROTE: “Traitors who prevail are patriots; usurpers who succeed are divine emperors.” If this is the case, then Jimmy Hogan could be said to be the most divine, patriotic…
While the story of Sir Alex Ferguson’s success at Manchester United is well-known, how he became the most consistent manager in British history is less so
SOME VOICES intrinsically command respect, others obedience, but as the powerful, deep growl boomed out there was only one emotion flooding over the shaking 12-year-old boy: pure fear. “What do you want?”…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football THERE’S GREED, and then there’s Vitaliy Mutko. When the Russian Duma’s Audit Chamber completed a review of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver,…
This feature is part of The Masterminds When one thinks of the Mighty Magyars, thoughts often run to The Galloping Major Ferenc Puskás, the powerful army side Honvéd and England’s first defeat…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football As Valeriy Gazzaev glances over at the concrete pitch, a nostalgic grin spreads across his face. The goalposts are rusting, the nets are…
This feature is part of The Masterminds and The Tsars of Football ONE OF THE most beautiful aspects of football is its potential spontaneity and unpredictability, be it a subtle swerve of…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football WHEN YOU HAVE a 341-foot yacht moored in Monaco, are the founding majority owner of the largest and most profitable retailer in Russia,…
This feature is part of The Masterminds AS THE SMOULDERING WRECKAGE morbidly illuminated the snow-drenched gloom, one flame threatened to go out altogether. A few survivors scrabbled through the shredded shards of…
This feature is part of The Tsars of Football ANDREI KANCHELSKIS HAS NEVER BEEN AFRAID to take on a challenge in his career in football, and he has had a fair few…
This feature is part of The Masterminds FOR A HORRIBLE MOMENT, Stoppila Sunzu’s foot slipped. A huge chunk of Gabonese turf was dislodged from near the penalty spot as his body slipped…
Vladimir Putin is already a powerful man, but as he purposefully shook hands with his Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff in the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on 13 July 2014, he…
This feature is part of A Tale of One City GAZING OUT ACROSS THE MIRAGE of sparkling lights littering the night sky, it was impossible not to fall madly in love. There…
This feature is part of A Tale of One City It wasn’t meant to be quite like this. A stiff breeze swept across one of the world’s oldest football stadia on the most…
Chairs were flying, billboards were turn up and hurled, and intimidating chants roared out as aggression and adrenalin boiled. Dozens of testosterone-fuelled men attacked each other on the sidewalk before police arrived to…
Football in South Africa is one of the game’s most cultural and engrossing stories. This is the tale of the game in Johannesburg, one of Africa’s historic jewels.
This feature is part of A Tale of One City Are you sitting comfortable? Then I’ll begin. Today I’m going to tell you tale of darkness and wonder, inspiration and heartache. We…