For the first time in 36 years, there was no African nation in the last…
How a dated promotion system is facilitating Salford City’s heavy spending
It’s 9:45pm on a Tuesday in April, and a terrace in Kent is filled with…
The brawn and the brains of the divisive Mark van Bommel
Now a 33-year-old winding down his career with Al Ahli, in 2010 Nigel de Jong…
How the unflappable Igor Akinfeev cemented himself in Russian football folklore
Awaking across Europe on the morning of 1 July, fans were left to reflect on what…
How Fabio Grosso became an unlikely Italian icon
As the clock inside Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion ticked towards 11:15pm in the July night, the watchful…
Gheorghe Hagi: the Galatasaray diaries
The closest Turkish Süper Lig title race in years came to a familiar conclusion earlier…
The destruction and recovery of Ankaragücü
On the penultimate day of the Turkish 1. Lig season, a scoreboard in the…
A Tale of One City: Sofia
It’s a warm afternoon in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. Emerging from the metro…
Başakşehir: the controversial state-backed club threatening Turkey’s established order
FORMER CELTIC MANAGER Jock Stein once remarked how football is nothing without fans. In times of…
Franck Ribéry: the Galatasaray diaries
AT THE AGE of just 19, where Kylian Mbappé will end up is a scary…
Göztepe and the long journey back to Turkey’s top flight
OWING TO A KNACK of scoring late goals, Semih Şentürk is known in Turkey as…
How George Weah united a broken Liberia in his last days as an international footballer
GEORGE WEAH IS UNDOUBTEDLY one Africa’s all-time greatest footballers. In a glittering 13-year spell in…
Overweight, lazy and brilliant: the career of Werder Bremen legend Aílton
WITH A SHORT BLOW OF HIS WHISTLE, Edgar Steinborn confirmed something many scarcely thought possible.…
Marcelinho: the maverick Brazilian who lit up the Bundesliga
FROM THERESA MAY TRIGGERING ARTICLE 50 to Donald Trump’s Twitter exchange with Arnold Schwarzenegger, March…
Amr Zaki: the man who disappeared as quickly as he arrived
ON 12 DECEMBER 2017, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was sitting top of the Premier League goalscoring…
Rüştü Reçber: the Turkish warrior capable of the brilliant and the baffling
THE 2002 WORLD CUP is well remembered for its underdog stories, with the likes of…
Bülent Korkmaz: the one-club warrior who became an idol at Galatasaray
COPENHAGEN, 17 MAY 2000. In the 13th minute of extra time in the UEFA Cup final…
Alex: the magical Brazilian who became one of Turkish football’s greatest imports
IN YOĞURTÇU PARK IN THE KADIKÖY DISTRICT OF ISTANBUL, across the road from Fenerbahçe’s Şükrü…