In the endless quest for an explanation of football’s enduring and universal appeal, one aspect…
Culture
Ramadan and Football: The Synergy of Faith and Sport
The holy month of Ramadan saw several elite footballers fasting and yet contributing vastly on the pitch. Undeterred faith seems to have played a significant role in that.
The League That Couldn’t: Why the NWSL Is Its Own Worst Enemy
What if the people who are paid to care about women’s football cared even a…
Forget the Tournaments, Football Is Already Home
Football is obsessed with nostalgia. At no time is this more evident than during international…
The Messi vs Ronaldo Debate is the Low-point of Modern Football Conversation
Like the mythological snake, Ouroboros, the self-consuming egos of Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi have…
Loris Karius, Dazed and Confused: Depression, Sabotage, Toxic Masculinity
The reprehensible reaction to Loris Karius’s howlers highlights the need for not only empathy and…
Witnessing Liverpool’s Reclamation of Shankly’s Vision – A front-row view
“For Liverpool it’s been the season of Peter Gabriel, Beautiful South and James; Channel 4…
Brazil and the birth of a footballing culture
Mexico 1970 was Brazil’s coronation as a footballing culture, coming 20 years since the tragedy…
The FIFA World Cup: A legacy tournament, but still a fan favourite?
The World Cup is not what Jules Rimet envisioned it as anymore: a picture of…
Edin Dzeko: From Yugoslav minefields to Champions’ League semis – Part 1
As a kid, Edin Dzeko used to play football in the fields of Sarajevo, unsure…
Total Football Evolution – From Michael Jackson to The Weeknd
Is the relationship between football and the people of the Netherlands, love or lust? Total…
Oscar Heisserer: The Footballer Who Defied the Nazis
One of the most versatile players of his generation, Frenchman Oscar Heisserer was coveted by…
Identity Crisis of Modern Fullbacks – Football’s Most Underappreciated Role
There is a new theory of football being a weak-link sport. Which is to say,…
Arigato, Arsène Wenger – The Portrait of a Sensei
Arsene Wenger is known for many things – his Japanese philosophy, his then-revolutionary training methods,…
A Love Letter to the Scissor Kick
If the answer is ”the scissor kick”, the question of course is, ”What do Chilean strawberries,…
A Barcelona Fan’s Exploration of Francisco Franco’s Fascist Real Madrid
This is a Barcelona fan’s exploration into the fascist history of Real Madrid and the…
Mahatma Gandhi’s Experiments with Football – Resistance vs Racism in South Africa
During his stint as a barrister in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi discovered the power of…
Kindness of Strangers – A Liverpool Fan’s Postcards from South Africa
Globetrotting Liverpool fan, Pete Martin, was apprehensive of a racially-tense Cape Town, South Africa. What…
When Barca bowed to Athletic Bilbao – Giant-killing legacy of Fred Pentland
Join us as we go on a mythological exploration of the history of the Basque…
Captain, Leader, Nazi Collaborator – Alexandre Villaplane, Football’s First French Villain
Following the Nazi invasion of France, Alexandre Villaplane swapped the captain’s armband of the French…