GOING INTO the game, Aston Villa had suffered three successive defeats and were looking more than a little ropey. Up against Manchester United in the 1994 League Cup final, the Claret and Blues…
Messiahs, masterminds, magicians – the best football managers in history have been bestowed with one or more of these admiring monikers throughout their storied and often varied careers. These sort of unofficial…
Be honest, you’ve been there too. Shouting at the telly in frustration and annoyance as your favourite club flounders amidst the colour and excitement of a big match day, you swear that…
At his best, Damien Duff was an outstanding player, a shining light for Blackburn, Chelsea, Fulham and Ireland. We celebrate the dazzling winger’s career by looking back at what made him so special and the memorable memories he gave us.
THERE IS AN old Norwegian proverb that goes something along the lines of ‘A friend is known in need, like gold is known in fire’, and it’s hard not to imagine that it…
Football fans are often crying out for an icon to lead them towards glory, a rare talisman who can create dreams on the field of play by acting as a glowing beacon to…
Mention football to most people in Gibraltar and you’ll probably be greeted with more mumblings of their continued struggles on the international scene than anything else. Despite being one of the oldest football…
The thought of becoming a football superstar is a childish reverie that most youngsters casually engage in at one point or another. It can be a torturous exercise because plenty will never…
THERE AREN’T MANY YOUNG COACHES in today’s British game that can successfully draw your attention amidst the hubbub of modern football, but Kevin Nicholson is already doing just that. In an era…
REAPING IMPROVEMENT AND SUCCESS year after year is a tricky scheme to accomplish for even the very best and most capable of managers and players. Simply put, the art of long-standing perfection…
AN HONEST RESPONSE IS EXACTLY WHAT THE PRESS LIKE TO HEAR as often as possible, in any line of questioning. What’s all the more alluring is a touch of some interest and intrigue;…
From a simple life as the son of two Algerian migrants to the peak of football, we celebrate the genius and madness of Zinedine Zidane and his career as football’s ultimate big-game player.
NOT SO LONG AGO, a chat about the state of football in the tiny US island territory of Guam would have been greeted almost immediately with derisive comments about their habit for…
Ten long years after Kenneth Wolstenholme’s oft-quoted words became forever etched in football’s annals, signalling the end of West Germany’s World Cup dream at a jam-packed Wembley Stadium on July 30, 1966, the…
IT’S EARLY EVENING on the west coast of Ireland when I pick up the phone to ring Anthony Hudson, New Zealand’s current trail-blazing international manager. Having taken the reigns in late 2014 in…
FROM TODAY’S STANDPOINT where the media is becoming over-sensationalised and saturated with flashy headlines, vines and stories, it can be hard to take the time to fully appreciate a feel-good story. Although…
A rare breed in the modern game, the one-club star is something of an endangered species. Battling week in, week out to help their club get over the humps and bumps of season…
IT’S JUST AFTER LUNCHTIME WHEN WE FINALLY GET CHATTING, and Kevin Nicholson seems eager to get stuck in. Intelligent, assertive and approachable – three traits that have helped him become one of the…