This feature is a part of RETEUROSPECTIVE There’s an argument to say that 1996 was the peak of the 1990s. The Spice Girls ruled the airwaves, the N64 changed gaming forever, while in…
The tale of Sebastian Deisler’s career is a dismaying one, but it was also important in raising awareness of depression in football and the reality for many
He may not have added silverware in the north of Italy, but in overcoming oppression Paul Ince experienced something much more commendable: love
Before Eric Cantona moved to England with Leeds United, he had enjoyed a mixed career in France, one punctuated by controversy on and off the pitch
Despite his injury problems, Patrick Berger was a true joy of a 1990s footballer. A man with a look that could kill, you could say
No manager on English shores did more to advance the game in the early part of the 20th century than Huddersfield and Arsenal legend Herbert Chapman
Peter Schmeichel often produced not only brilliant reactions with his saves but brilliant reactions to goals he could not save. He was a great animator between the sticks for Manchester United, and perhaps…
This feature is part of Virtuoso Before becoming the poster club for cataclysmic financial mismanagement, Leeds United were good. Very good. Just after the turn of the millennium, David O’Leary’s band of…
At the end of the sublime, cinematically perfect 2008/09 season, Barcelona stood apart from their rivals. LaLiga champions, Copa del Rey winners and Champions League conquerors, this was a team not often…
On a clear autumn’s evening in Manchester, a young midfielder trembles on the Old Trafford touchline. Hearing the rousing din of 50,000 supporters inside English club football’s biggest stadium was an immense…
It was a goal that was impossible to ignore, the kind of high-level showboatery that’s worth the price of admission alone. On a misty January evening inside the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux,…
When Roy Hodgson took charge as manager of Fulham in December 2007, the outlook for the Cottagers was bleak. The west London side languished in 18th, two points from safety, having only managed…
Sometimes, watching football leaves an indelible mark on a young boy’s imagination. In 1999, I was seven years old and my obsession with Manchester United was reaching new heights after watching them win…
Growing up as a Manchester United fan in the era of the Arsenal Invincibles, I perhaps would have been excused for disliking Thierry Henry. The Frenchman was the archetypal player to strike fear…
WE ALL HAVE OUR FOOTBALL MEMORIES. As fans, we cherish them. We need them, whether they’re good or bad. They have shaped our journey. For those of a certain vintage, the apex…
THE POWER OF ONE FOOTBALLER can often have an immeasurable impact on a club. Although the collective efforts of 11 players ultimately trump the effect of a single player, teams can easily…
Illustration by Federico Manasse There may never be another footballer as supreme as Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé. The argument of who truly deserves the title of ‘Greatest Footballer’…
ON 6 JUNE 2014, Marco Reus’s professional life plunged into darkness. Darkness often touches professional footballers, but for this exceptionally blessed German playmaker, it was a darkness that would come to plague…