THERE IS NO TELLING how and when the Brazil national football team would have been formed if it hadn’t been for Exeter City Football Club. It was July 1914, just two weeks before…
Tag: england
THERE’S BEEN A LONG-HELD TRADITION in Australia that come Christmas Day, everybody hits the beach. With temperatures around the country reaching red hot on the thermometer, it’s a far cry from the…
ONE AFTERNOON IN LEEDS CITY CENTRE in the early 1990s, George Best thought he recognised someone shuffling past the window of the restaurant where he was waiting for lunch. The figure was…
KNOWN AS THE CITY OF LILIES, Florence is the ultimate romantic getaway for anyone who yearns for a peaceful weekend in the tranquil surroundings of Tuscany. With its famous red top buildings, the…
WITH JUST OVER AN HOUR PLAYED in an under-23 match between Arsenal and Manchester City, a late foul has resulted in what the media claimed was a “mass brawl”. The incident has…
ON 18 APRIL 1936, Sunderland were crowned First Division champions for the sixth time in their history by defeating Huddersfield Town by four goals to three. Most fans present would have struggled…
AGED JUST 35, to say Adam Crozier was a surprise choice to step into the role of Chief Executive at the FA would be understating the case more than a little. The…
From 1978 to 1988, I adopted a similar tactic to Her Majesty the Queen and afforded myself two birthdays. One was my actual date of birth, and the other was a slightly…
Steven Burns was born in Liverpool on 25 May 2018. Liverpool Football Club is clearly in Steven’s blood. His dad, Tom, even ensured that he was named after club legend and fellow…
AS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE, Wolverhampton Wanderers have carried with them an added impetus from their prestigious history to succeed. But even this has not been able to…
RYAN GIGGS IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE GREATEST PLAYERS in Manchester United’s history, collecting 34 major honours with the team he joined as a teenager. No player in the club’s history has…
It’s difficult to discuss Nat Lofthouse without resorting to clichés. His career and life, like so many of the players he shared the pitch with, seems so improbable when compared to modern…
After the murder of Julius Caeser, Shakespeare has Mark Antony deliver a soliloquy wherein he selects this particular phrase to inflame the wrath of the masses against the assassins of the dead…
SINCE THEIR INCEPTION IN 1887, Blackpool Football Club have firmly rooted themselves in the deep sacred grounds of English footballing history. Forming after two local football sides came together to create a…
THE WORD ‘LEGEND’ IS THROWN ABOUT IN MODERN FOOTBALL too frequently for some. The criteria for becoming a club legend these days seems to be to simply stick around for a prolonged…
It is the sign of a true footballing great when they are revered long after they have departed this world. Their legacy transcends barriers, overcomes criticism, and ultimately manifests itself in every…
NORTHAMPTON IS A perennial middle-of-the-road town. Located almost equidistantly between Birmingham and London, it represents an interestingly unmemorable stopover. Sitting staunchly somewhere between underwhelmingly attractive and downright ugly, Northampton is neither poor…
Illustration by Federico Manasse Steve McManaman: England’s greatest ever footballer? Not the obvious choice, I freely concede, but hear me out before you reach for the pitchforks and flaming torches. I believe…