Football, Newcastle United, football clubs, football fans, Premier League, Saudi Arabia, sportswashing, football fandom, NUFC, NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing
Why I Gave Up My Newcastle United Season Ticket

For some years now, I’ve had the impression that the UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia represented the absolute worst of this country for a number of reasons: The hypocrisy of pursuing policies…

Willerby Carr Lane County Primary School’s ‘A’ Team England Football WWII Childhood Hull
The Greatest Team Ever…That I Played (a Bit) For

Amidst all the pre-Covid journalistic and internet chatter about whether the all-conquering Liverpool team’s season was the greatest ever, various alternative candidates were put forward. These ranged from Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ 2003-4 season…

racism, Vinicius Jr, Spain, La Liga, football, Real Madrid, say no to racism, xenophobia, racists
Are We Ever Going to Look Beyond the Skin?

The opening sequence of Inglorious Basterds is a masterclass on how to write a lede. There is much to rave about its aesthetic treatment, but Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa really…

FC Start World War II Death Match Ukraine Nazi Germany Football
FC Start and the Legend of ‘The Death Match’

The 1981 sports war movie Escape to Victory, starring Hollywood icons like Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine alongside footballing legend Pele is based on a true event which took place in Ukraine…

Towerin' Thompson Football Fiction Short Story Scotland England
Towerin’ Thompson: Part I

“Ah want me name printed on the back o’ me shirt!” Thompson leaned his spindly, tall frame into the wind and rain that blew directly into his red, cadaverous face. The hissing…

Georgia Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Eastern Europe Football Georgian Football
The Rise of Georgian Football

Georgian football hasn’t been the most recognisable location on the footballing map. Still, the recent performances from Giorgi Mamardashvili, Giorgi Chakvetadze and specifically Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have had the footballing world sit up…

Newsletter