The modern football fan can be ruthless, stark and unforgiving. He or she lives in a world of instant gratification, where facts on any subject can be obtained with the merest flick of…
Tag: premier league
It was March 2002 and Liverpool were flying high. As the 2001/02 Premier League season entered its closing stretch, manager Gérard Houllier made a grandiose declaration about his team’s future; they were,…
“Look at this kid, number 7, on the training pitch. Come and watch him for a minute.” Rio Ferdinand reminisces about the occasion his manager Sir Alex Ferguson eagerly called him to…
There is nothing glamorous about him. His body, hunched and taut, is soaked in a different kind of perspiration, a dirty, greasy sweat, not the type Cristiano Ronaldo is wetted by, and uses…
When Brian McClair joined Manchester United in the summer of 1987, he wasn’t just a key signing in Alex Ferguson’s quest to bring the title to Old Trafford for the first time…
Football is the people’s game. It’s one for the masses, easily accessible to people of all ages and classes. It can be played in parks and streets, on grass and concrete, with…
With little over 15 minutes left of the derby, Cesc Fàbregas stood beside the corner flag watching impatiently as a substitution was announced. Drawing 1-1 at home to their fiercest rivals Tottenham,…
Frank Clark’s playing career could not have ended any better. In his final competitive game, he and his Nottingham Forest teammates beat Malmö 1-0 to win the 1979 European Cup final. It…
When Demba Ba suffered a horrific leg break while playing for Shanghai Shenhua in 2016, the outpouring of love and support from across the football world proved his status as a much-loved…
This feature is part of Duology “Dennis Bergkamp! Dennis Bergkamp! Dennis Bergkamp!” The Dutchman cannot be mentioned without this immortal piece of commentary from the 1998 World Cup coming to mind, but…
This feature is part of Duology Every great team is, for the most part, built on a bedrock of a solid defensive foundation. It is through a stable centre-back partnership that confidence…
This feature is part of Duology Blackburn Rovers fans pine for the glory days when they used to be able to splash out on multi-million-pound signings, when winning silverware at the highest…
This feature is part of Duology All the world is a stage but Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge were more than merely players. In 2013/14, their only full season together, the two…
This feature is part of Duology Despite both standing at six-feet something, one cut a willowy, sleek silhouette while the other appeared compact in stature. ‘Hard men’ though they were both perceived…
This feature is part of Duology I hated Manchester United growing up. I’m an Arsenal fan, so it was easy. They were always our biggest rivals; the only team in the country…
This feature is part of Duology Sometimes it can be difficult to definitively measure the effect of a partnership. For example, not many would demur from the opinion that Patrick Vieira and…
This feature is part of Duology There have been few darker moments at the Stadium of Light than when, on 21 April 2018, Sunderland were relegated to the third tier of the…
This feature is part of Duology Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United sides were often constructed around sublime attacking talent. From Mark Hughes and Andy Cole to Dwight Yorke to Ruud van Nistelrooy,…