Jürgen Klopp Made Us Walk Together
There are some days you just don’t forget. Your first day of university, your first date, the day you buy your first car. Everything about that day is clear, down to the…
Uncle Sam Has Moved Into Town – Football and the USA
Although the age-old trope of Americans not understanding European football still persists to this day, it would be churlish to deny their expertise in monetising their native sports. The National Football League,…
Balancing the Cultural Tightrope – A Battle We Underrate
In a world that is becoming more globalized, we’re seeing an increase in players with dual passports. Germany’s most elite team, Bayern Munich, currently has twelve players in their first team that…
Hearts of Oak FC: A Jewel of African Football
Adorning the southern coast of the Gulf of Guinea is Ghana’s bustling, metropolitan capital: Accra. Home to over 2.5 million, of which 56% are under the age of 24, Accra is becoming…
On the feel and functionality of Cole Palmer
A lot of changes have occurred at Chelsea Football Club over the past eighteen months. Ownership has changed. Coaches have been fired and hired more than once. The change of ownership has…
Dinamo Zagreb and the Changing Winds of Croatian Football
Dinamo Zagreb’s start to the season currently sees them in third place in the Croatian Premier League, 4 points off leaders Rijeka and rivals Hajduk Split in second with a game in…
Liverpool Are Fun Again
The Champions League is the pinnacle of club football, but the Europa League is not that bad, right? You are still competing for a major title, you are still going up against…
Transported to Another World: The Art of Radio Football Commentary
Time and time again, radio football commentary has engaged me in the game like no other medium. My infatuation with it was actually born from my environment rather than personal interest. I will…
Ballon d’Or: The Golden Ball Filled With Air, Glitter, and Confusion
If Monday’s Ballon d’Or gala was a scene from a movie, the art director would get an Oscar. A red carpet entry to the breathtaking Théâtre du Châtelet. Dark tuxedos, beige upholstery,…
A Little Bit of Magic: Gabriel Jesus Glues the Arsenal Attack Together
Goals win games. An adage repeated again and again in football at any level. It’s something I hear in the North Bank every other week, and it’s something my first football coach…
Jude Bellingham: an era-defining galactico
When a 17-year-old Jude Bellingham left Birmingham City to join Borussia Dortmund in July of 2020, Birmingham City released a statement retiring his No. 22 jersey, stating that it was “fitting to…
Irresistible: Thank You, Eden Hazard
Football lacks entertainers. The wonderful ability of an individual to captivate and tantalise stadiums with an uncoachable skill, distinguishing them from everyone else, is fading. Eden Hazard’s retirement is a poignant reminder…
Paul Pogba, Neymar Jr and That Small Matter of Legacy
Legacy. The word does carry a certain sense of magnitude, but if you happen to eavesdrop on any football-related conversation at a pub, you might find it getting thrown around a lot.…
Sheffield Wednesday: No Cloud Without a Silver Lining
Ask any Sheffield Wednesday fan and they’ll tell you their club is massive. But, bias aside, they do have a point. With plenty of top flight pedigree in their history books, a…
Alexandro Bernabei: A Long Way Away From Home
Whether it be signing players from Japan, South Korea, the United States or Argentina, it is fair to Celtic have broadened their horizons in the transfer market in recent years. The likes…
David Silva – The Sorcerer in Plain Clothes
On a December evening in 2010, Andy Gray was in a studio, possibly somewhere in London, discussing Manchester City’s recent defeat against Everton at home. It was brought to Gray’s notice that…
Arsenal, Identity, and Evolution
Once, while out skating, I took a crack to the back of my head in a fall, knocking myself out. When I began to come around, I experienced an accelerated evolution of…
In Search For The Industry, We Lost The Product
Live football has given me some of my most cherished experiences. I remember my first-ever football match in 1999 – Crystal Palace vs Grimsby on a chilly autumn afternoon at Selhurst Park.…
Farewell, Granit Xhaka. Arsenal Was Richer for Having You.
There was a time, a few years ago, when I could have kicked a ball with my eyes closed and hit multiple goodbye offerings; in fact, a part of me had started…
Why I Gave Up My Newcastle United Season Ticket
For some years now, I’ve had the impression that the UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia represented the absolute worst of this country for a number of reasons: The hypocrisy of pursuing policies…
The Greatest Team Ever…That I Played (a Bit) For
Amidst all the pre-Covid journalistic and internet chatter about whether the all-conquering Liverpool team’s season was the greatest ever, various alternative candidates were put forward. These ranged from Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ 2003-4 season…
Premier League 2022-23: This is our Arsenal
Do you remember what you were doing on May 7, 2006? My sister and I were holed up in the TV room with our uncle’s friend, watching Thierry Henry kneel down and…
Are We Ever Going to Look Beyond the Skin?
The opening sequence of Inglorious Basterds is a masterclass on how to write a lede. There is much to rave about its aesthetic treatment, but Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa really…
When the Bubble Bursts: Football’s Post-Apocalypse
Football has a money problem. Rather than being shaded by money trees, the health of the modern game is being antagonised by the very fabric of its ecosystem. Footballers, fans and clubs…