WHEN AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME in the 1950s, to many, Jimmy Scoular was the type of hard-bitten Scottish footballer hewn from the toughest of rock north of the border that…
Tag: wales
A hero of the Wales fans. Chris Coleman had to do things the hard way before finally receiving the credit he deserves as a smart, pragmatic manager
Illustration by Federico Manasse When Gareth Bale struck the ball from 30 yards towards England goalkeeper Joe Hart, there was a pause of tentative expectation from the watching Wales fans. It felt…
It’s shortly after 9pm on 1 July 2016 and Wales are taking on Belgium in a Euro 2016 quarter-final match in Lille, northern France. For many, this is a match-up between a…
Disbelief, despair and hopelessness: all were sentiments felt by anyone affiliated with Welsh football on the morning of November 21, 2011. Gary Speed had been found dead in the garage of his…
Growing up, neither Cardiff City nor Swansea City were the most successful club in Wales. That accolade belonged to Barry Town. I grew up in Barry, a small coastal town some nine…
Few players have split opinion amongst football fans as much as Craig Bellamy. The former Welsh international striker was the epitome of a Marmite footballer. Born and raised in a working-class area…
The fortunes of football clubs inevitably wax and wane over the years – some erratically, others less so. Promotions, relegations glory and despair are the spices that combine to produce the fare enjoyed,…
When the idiosyncratically brilliant English winger Chris Waddle left his job in a sausage factory to sign professionally with Newcastle United at the relatively late age of 19, he thought all his childhood…
How intelligent spending, long-term thinking and fan power transformed the club from the brink of extinction to Premier League powerhouse.
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…
By the mid-1980s, the landscape of the United Kingdom had become synonymous with mass protests and bitterness. On the political front, the Conservative government fought continued battles on numerous fronts: Arthur Scargill and…