In this issue

Introduction

Editor’s Note – Jonathan Wilson
Jonathan Wilson’s Editor’s Note from Issue Seven

El Dorado

The Ball and the Gun – Carl Worswick
After a political rival was murdered, the Colombian government set up the world’s richest league

The Blond Giant – Stany Sirutis
Among the influx of foreign players to El Dorado was the Lithuanian goalkeeper, Vytautas Kriščiūnas.

Interview

Ivica Osim – Jonathan Wilson
The great Bosnian coach reflects on the war, Japan and Alan Mullery’s lack of fair play.

The Victorian Age

The First Columnist – Paul Brown
How an early journalist for The Northern Echo helped shape the modern game

Stiffy the Goalkeeper – John Harding
Lazy, drunken and corruptible, the first footballing hero of the stage could hardly have been less heroic

Out with a League Team – Henry Leach
A journalist, writing in 1900, describes his experiences travelling the country reporting on Notts County

Theory

Don Leo’s Odyssey – Joachim Barbier
From Amsterdam to Madrid to Guadalajara to Budapest, Leo Beenhakker has never stopped learning

The English Spaniard – Philippe Auclair
Roberto Martínez discusses his conception of football and the difficulties of adapting to the dark nights of Lancashire

The Vanishing

The Strange Disappearance of Leslie Goldberg – Anthony Clavane
How the right-back who became Les Gaunt encapsulated the experience of many 1930s Jewish footballers

Ten Past Ten and Ten Pastis – Gunnar Persson
Gunnar Andersson’s journey from Marseille legend to homeless alcoholic

End of the Road – Richard Winton
Gretna’s rise was a romantic fairy-tale; their collapse provides grimly real lessons for all of Scottish football

Safe as Houses – Nicky Bandini
Espen Baardsen was a Norway international but at 25 he gave up football to work in finance.

Polemics

Breaking the Mould – Zac Lee Rigg
Last year Johnny Saelua became the first transgender person to play in World Cup qualifying

In Arsène We Trust – Zach Slaton
However frustrating this season, the numbers suggest Arsenal would be worse off without Arsène Wenger

Dictionary of Received Ideas – Brian Phillips
A guide to what pundits really mean when they use certain terms

Follow the Money – Elliot Turner
How Nicaragua’s national stadium highlights the problems with Fifa’s Goal project

The Third Party – Sergio Levinsky
A tax avoidance scandal in Argentina could have ramifications across the globe

Fiction

The Limping God (Part Two) – David Ashton
His football career ended by injury, John Brodie’s life is going nowhere until he is sucked into the world of crime.

Greatest Games

Lazio 4 Ipswich Town 2 – Dominic Bliss
Uefa Cup, second round, second leg, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, 7 November 1973

Seven Bells

Fouls and Fisticuffs – Scott Murray
A selection of unsavoury incidents we’re supposed to condemn

Issue Seven

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First published in December 2012, Issue Seven contains 20 articles in 9 sections, including: Espen Baardsen opening up on why he quit football at 25 for a career in finance; Carl Worswick on how the Colombian government set up ‘El Dorado’, the world’s richest league; and features on the Victorian journalism that helped shaped the modern perception of football.