Kevin Keegan: Mighty Mouse, The Player – Part One
This is the start of a new four part series documenting the playing career of Kevin Keegan. Each part will concentrate on his performances with…
David Beckham
Ballon d’Or: Yay or Neymar?
Seven Minute Saviour March 8th 2017 9:28pm – Barcelona are 5-3 down on aggregate to Paris St. Germain, 88 minutes on the clock and staring…
Packing, Kieron Dyer, England and the Media
A few years back, a retired German player by the name of Stefan Reinartz came up with a new metric in football. In short, he…
Ronaldinho Gaucho Marks Retirement as Official
So it’s official. Ronaldinho, one of the most gifted players of his generation, or perhaps any generation, has retired from competitive football. Of course this…
Argentines in England Part Four: The Underachieving Juan Sebastian Veron
On 8 December 2001 Manchester United lost at home to West Ham United, their third successive defeat and sixth of the season so far. The…
Who’d be a goalkeeper?
Being a goalkeeper is a funny old business, it is a position like no other. A position that has different standards and different expectations to…
Legends of La Liga: Raul
This is a tasty one. Often overlooked in the list of best players of his generation, this Spanish forward was one of the coolest finishers…
Living on the Dreams of Legends: The FA’s England DNA Plan
The happenings on a traditional sports day in a British primary school represent a cultural mindset prevalent through British society – and its impact reaches…
Five key moments leading to heartbreak for Scotland on the road to Russia
‘This Time’ was the Scottish FA’s slogan for the qualifying campaign on the road to Russia 2018. But here we are – the morning after…
Arsenal 2005/06 and the Champions League trophy that slipped from their grasp
Arsenal are back in action in the unfamiliar territory of the Europa League this week, so we thought we’d look back at when the North…
The Magic of John “Motty” Motson
“Radford again. OH WHAT A GOAL! What a goal! Radford the scorer!” These were the words screamed by a young John Motson in one of…
Living on the Dreams of Legends: England are victims of unrealistic media expectations
With every major championship comes the same unrealistic expectation from the media that England are ready to win a tournament. Two things are in play…
Living on the Dreams of Legends: Only Maradona won the World Cup on his own
England are guilty of pinning their major tournament hopes on the shoulders of an individual more than any other nation. When David Beckham broke his…
Living on the Dreams of Legends: Are foreign players in the Premier League stopping England win the World Cup?
The short answer to this question is: we don’t know. In the 2016-2017 season, 69.2% of players in the Premier League were foreigners. FA chairman,…
What Happened To The Next Ryan Giggs?
He was meant to be the next Ryan Giggs. Ramon Calliste was spotted by Manchester United scout Tony Hopkins when he was just 15-years-old in…
Sergio Ramos : Spain’s Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde
The familiar grin spread across his face, the green and white flag of Andalusia tied around his waist, a crown bearing ‘SR4’ on his head…
Elite Football: The Myth of Talent and The Power of Practice
When David Beckham stood over an injury time free kick against Greece in 2001, he carried the entire weight and expectation of a nation on…
The World Cup Calendar, July 1st. Rooney Stamps His Authority
Wayne Rooney is a terrific role model today, captain of his club and his country, wife and three kids, just ticking all the boxes. He…
The World Cup Calendar, June 22nd: England Beaten By Romania’s Moldovan
Yup, that’s a whole lot of nationalities in that headline. Let’s dissect it a bit. In 1998 Romania had a forward named Violel Moldovan (who…
Jordi Cruyff: A Father’s Son
He had prepared for this moment for years. He had studied, listened, watched and taken it all in. He had shrugged off the pressure, the…