THERE ARE FOOTBALLERS THAT ARE FAN FAVOURITES for the world-class qualities that they exhibit on the world stage week in, week out. Then there are footballers who are remembered for other reasons,…
Tag: premier league
“JOHN STONES HAS MORE PERSONALITY than all of us here together in this room, more balls than everyone here. I like that. I love him. Under pressure, the people criticise him, so…
As a Liverpool supporter, there are three things I’ve never written about; a trinity of subjects that I’ve never felt there are the adequate words to do justice to. The horrors of…
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…
WHEN DAVID LUIZ WAS CARTED OFF TO PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN for a world-record £50 million transfer fee, it felt like Chelsea had conned their way into one of the deals of the century.…
FOOTBALL IS ALL ABOUT INCLUSIVITY. The most beautiful element of the sport is that it is available to anyone, and holds no regard for creed, colour or ability. This applies to players…
Bullet Tooth Tony, Smasher O’Driscoll, Sphinx, Juggernaut, Killer. Through the commendable film career into which Vinnie Jones seamlessly segued following his 15-year professional football career, the Hertfordshire-born footballer-turned-thespian has in more recent…
Pinned to the floor with the nearby bed serving as their canopy of preservation, a family besieged by war would sometimes sit for hours. Miles away, mortars would be shot in their…
Illustration by Federico Manasse. View more of his great work here “YOU EITHER DIE A HERO or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Harvey Dent’s renowned one-liner from…
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…
MOST DEFINITIONS OF A GENUINELY WORLD-CLASS CENTRE-FORWARD would assume a minimum of 30 goals per season. Europe’s elite strikers regularly hit that mark year in, year out, and are thus an exceptionally…
If one were to step into the boots of Dimitar Berbatov, the scene would perhaps play out like something from Inception; players sprint at walking pace, their faces contorted with exertion, each…
YOU MAY BE HARD-PRESSED TO FIND MANY ENGLISH FOOTBALLERS willing to take the plunge and hurl themselves out of their comfort zones via a move to Brazil. While the country has great…
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…
REWIND TO THE TENDER YEARS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM, cast your gaze across the green grasses of the Premier League’s stadia, and there, dancing across them, you would inevitably find a pair…
Both overrated and underrated, Claude Makélélé’s public perception changes with each passing year. Perhaps it’s the idea that we’ve already seen his upgrade in the form of the high-speed blur that is…