Introduction
Editor’s Note – Jonathan Wilson
Jonathan Wilson’s Editor’s Note from Issue Twelve
The Rivals
Power Play – Sid Lowe
Carles Rexach and Jorge Valdano discuss the changing nature of the Real Madrid-Barcelona rivalry
Gamechanger – Miguel Delaney
Johan Cruyff on his role in creating the style of Barcelona and modern football
An Honourable Man – Graham Hunter
How Vicente del Bosque overcame rejection by Real Madrid to lead Spain to glory
A Game of Chess
Beyond the System – Philippe Auclair
Could the lessons of chess show football the way to an exciting new future?
Play Jazz, not Chess – Scott Oliver
Reflections on football, order and the imagination, and the need for improvisation
Theory
Maximum Opportunity – Steve Menary
Was Charles Hughes a long-ball zealot, or pragmatist reacting to necessity?
The Cult of the Pibe – Sergio Levinsky
Argentina’s ongoing love affair with scruffy urchins with feet of gold
Defenders of the Faith
The Birth of the Fan – Paul Brown
Why Victorians flocked to watch 22 men kicking a pig’s bladder about
Jerusalem Syndrome – James Montague
The mysterious disappearance of Guma Aguiar, the saviour of Beitar Jerusalem
Identity Crisis – Brian Homewood
Unpicking the convoluted threads of Mexico’s franchise system
Dream Fulfilled – Bartosz Nowicki
Relief and glee as Cardiff City finally found their way into the Premier League
Against the Odds
Sleeping Giant – Robin Bairner
In 1982, Jean-Pierre Adams was given anaesthetic before knee surgery. He hasn’t woken up
And Not to Yield – Richard Jolly
Only one sportsman can match Ryan Giggs for longevity: the New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter
The Street Dogs of Manila – Felix Lill and Javier Sauras
The Philippines are rising through the rankings, but are they Filipino enough?
Second City Syndrome – Matthew Campelli
Why has Birmingham struggled for football success for 30 years?
Polemics
Artist or Machine? – Alex Keble
An investigation into the paradoxical relationship between sport and creativity
Alternate Title – Tim Vickery
The lessons sports journalists can draw from the Monkees
Fiction
The Quantum of Bobby – Iain Macintosh
After his exile in Qatar, Bobby Manager returns to English football. Or does he…?
Greatest Games
England 1 West Germany 1* – Rob Smyth
World Cup semi-final, 4 July 1990, Stade delle Alpi, Turin
Eight Bells
Non-identical Twins – Michael Yokhin
A selection of twins who looked the same but played very differently