The Champions League can often be dominated by the same sides slugging it out against each other year after year, exchanging the trophy between themselves and not allowing anyone else into their elite group. This isn’t always the case though. From time to time, teams with fantastic talent and brilliant coaching staff come together and […]
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Building The Dream, James Corbett
The following article first appeared in Issue 16, released in March 2016. As the political wrangling continues over Qatar’s World Cup, what’s the reality on the ground? At the edge of an empty man-made lagoon near to the shore of the Arabian Gulf, I count skyscrapers looming from the dust. The road, lined on one […]
The Lost Kingdom
The Hakeem al-Araibi affair has confirmed the end of the unifying dream of Bahraini football
Football Index Time Machine
Frank Lampard returns to the Bridge this weekend looking for his first goal as Chelsea manager after a 4-0 drubbing away to Manchester United ruined his Chelsea homecoming. It wasn’t too long ago when Frank was last searching for a first league goal in Chelsea colours. It’s the 2001-02 season, he’s in midfield alongside Zenden, […]
Turkish Delight
Below is an extract of John Toshack’s autobiography Toshack’s Way, published by deCoubertin, which looks at his time in Turkey, as manager of Besiktas, between 1997 and 1999. Turkey is a unique country. If you go to Turkey to work, in any line of business, then you’ve got to have your sensors on. You’ve got […]
Marcus Rashford: Becoming English Football’s Most Likeable Star
Twitter, even so-called “Football Twitter”, can be the most toxic of social media platforms. At times, it’s overwhelming to wade through the anger and vitriol, the partisan politics, the fake news and everything else that makes you type angrily into a keyboard. Indeed, it’s so bad that Amnesty International released a special report on the […]
The Width of a Crossbar, Ben Kosky
What if Poland had scored in the last minute of the final qualifier and England hadn’t made it to Italia 90? Gazza’s tearful night in Turin, Bobby Robson’s redemption and the origin of a national hang-up about penalty shoot-outs – for England football fans, these are the abiding memories of Italia ’90. England’s unexpected run […]
In Appreciation Of Franco Baresi
"There are pictures of the weeping comeback captain and Divine Ponytail consoling each other while Brazilian players dance in the background. No one did more on the pitch to drag Italy to the final than Baggio. No one did more off the pitch than Baresi." In Episode Thirty Two we look at ‘In Appreciation of […]
Where Now For Iceland?
"In some ways Iceland has been lucky. Had the country’s banks collapsed a few years earlier than they did in 2008, there would not have been the same level of investment in football and none of this would have been possible. But by then the pitches were already built, the indoor complexes well established, the […]
Workers Rights, Tony Richardson
The following article first appeared in Issue 39, released in December 2020. The story of the Nepalese labourers building Qatar’s World Cup stadiums. Tribhuvan Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal. November 2018. Football is the icebreaker. It always is. Within seconds of sitting down in departures my neighbour and I have exchanged the basics; who we love, who we […]