Love Letters To The European Union: These Are New Situations and They Will Embrace Us

On the 29th March 2019, the United Kingdom is (currently) scheduled to exit the European Union. To celebrate forty-six years of peacetime and prosperity in Europe, this season we’ll be profiling the footballing history of each remaining member of the EU, looking at some of their most iconic matches and the players that have left […]

I Am The Resurrection: How Marcelo Bielsa Has Woken a Sleeping Giant.

“A man with new ideas is a madman, until his ideas triumph.” Marcelo Bielsa In a summer that was low on intrigue in the transfer market and devoid of any kind of meaningful drama in the top tier of English football, Marcelo Bielsa’s appointment as Leeds United manager came as a bolt from the blue. […]

World Cup Diary Part Three: All is Fair in Love and VAR

Throughout the 2018 World Cup we’ll be keeping a diary of all the activity on and off the pitch, keeping you informed on the hoopla and the ballyhoo in Russia, and foolishly writing teams off before watching agog as they recover spectacularly. In Part Three its the final set of group games, as more late […]

World Cup Diary Part Two: Late Late Shows and Long Goodbyes.

Throughout the 2018 World Cup we’ll be keeping a diary of all the activity on and off the pitch, keeping you updated on the VAR and the LOLs, and casting our eye over the contenders and also-rans at every stage. In Part Two, we’re looking at the second week of the competition, which began with […]

World Cup 2018 Preview (Part One)

1,432 days after Mario Gotze’s volley nestled into the back of the Argentinian net, the twenty-first edition of the FIFA World Cup will kick off in the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow. In spite of all the talk of bribery, the fall of Sepp Blatter’s regime, condemnation over the ingrained culture of racism at games, concerns over […]

World Cup Tales: The Oldest Swinger In Town (1990)

Italy, 1990 To the strains of Luciano Pavarotti, the 1990 World Cup arrived on our screens and signaled the dawn of a new era in football. The 1980s had been rife with hooliganism, racism and the dismantling of the beautiful game, particularly in England where the Heysel Disaster in the 1985 European Cup final had […]

World Cup Tales: Dynamite! (1986)

Mexico, 1986 Colombia were due to add their name to the list of South American countries that had hosted the World Cup in 1986, having successfully bid for the tournament in ’74. However, in the months after Spain ’82, the Colombian authorities declared that the venture was too financially demanding on the country’s economy, and […]

World Cup Tales: Ally’s Tartan Army (1978)

Argentina, 1978 Argentina were awarded hosting rights for the 1978 tournament after the completion of the 1966 edition, having run unopposed following the award of 1970 to Mexico. Unfortunately for FIFA, two years before the competition was due to begin, Argentina president Isabel Peron was overthrown in a right-wing military coup, and a junta was […]

World Cup Tales: Monti Got a Raw Deal (1934)

Italy, 1934 The 1934 tournament introduced the qualification process, and the 32 entrants were whittled down to a final 16. Given that this was the first time a qualifying tournament was held, its no surprise there were a few hiccups along the way - mainly the North American sides being forced to complete their campaign […]

World Cup Tales: Hector was the First of the Gang (1930)

Uruguay, 1930 The story of the World Cup begins in Paris on 21st May 1904. Robert Guerin, President of the French Sports Union, arranged a meeting between representatives from the leading European nations. Those representitves included Louis Muhlinghaus and Max Kahn from the Belgian Sports Society, Ludvig Sylow representing Scandinavia, Carl Anton Wilhelm Hirschmann of […]