Losing My Favourite Game: ‘El Loco Motion’ with Ryan Quinn

As football fans we’re all losers at one time or another. But far from just being another awful thing in a world of never-ending misery, if you look closely you can find the positives in defeat. Perhaps it can spell the end for an unpopular manager, or finally break the spell of a life of […]

The Kids Are Coming: What’s Behind The Resurgence of English Youth Prospects in the Premier League?

“You look at Under-16s or Under-17s and it’s absolutely riddled with foreign players. What chance does that give to young English players? It gives them virtually no chance.” Paul Scholes, speaking to the Daily Mail in 2015 It has become a staple of football quizzes in Britain. ‘How many non-British or Irish players started in […]

Enough is Enough: The New Wave of Racism in English Football Must Be Confronted.

I was ten years old the first time I heard racist abuse at a football match. Sitting next to my Dad in a half-empty stand on a bright sunny day, the fare being served up in front of us was typical of the Unibond League in the mid-90s. Conventional wisdom said that application was valued […]

FA Cup Flashback: Do The Wright Thing (1989/90)

With the hopes and dreams of 734 football teams dashed into smithereens, the stage is now set for the FA Cup Final, as the Goliath of Manchester City prepares to go toe-to-toe with the Large David of Watford in the showdown of the Spanish managers. Will City find themselves stung by the Hornets? Can Will Hughes […]

Premier League 2018/19 Season Review

That’s it. That’s the season. 380 games, 1,072 goals and one black cat later, and Manchester City have only gone and won the blummin’ thing again. There were things to savour despite the predictable denouement however; Liverpool’s endless pursuit, Tottenham’s squatting rights, Manchester United (general), Watford being good, actually? The return of Brendan, Neil Warnock […]

Race For The Prize: The Thrills and Spills of a Title Race Through the Eyes of the Fans.

For the first time in five years it looks as though the Premier League title race will go down to the final day, as Manchester City and Livepool’s ruthless pursuit of English football’s top prize leaves the devastated remains of their fellow top flight teams pressed and passed to death in their wake. Whilst this […]

Love Letters To The European Union: Malta Smile 75

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 […]

Billy Sharp’s Circus: An ode to the 20th Century Boy with a 21st Century Record.

In the climactic scene of 90s football and booze flick When Saturday Comes, Jimmy Muir, an amateur footballer who’s overcome his demons and signed up with boyhood club Sheffield United, scores an 89th minute penalty to secure victory for the Blades against Manchester United in an FA Cup semi-final that, for reasons unexplained, was held at Bramall […]

The Second Time Around: Manchester City, Manchester United, and the Art of Retaining the Title.

“The hardest thing is to maintain a level of success that keeps going year after year. There might be several factors involved in it. I have never looked back, always forward.” Sir Alex Ferguson Last season Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City staked their claim as one of the greatest teams English football has ever seen. With 100 […]

Love Letters to the European Union: Put ‘Em Under Pressure