OL Reign Secure the NWSL Shield with a 3-0 Win Over Orlando Pride
SEATTLE: Three goals from strikers Megan Rapinoe, Jordyn Huitema and Bethany Balcer set Lumen Field rejoicing last Saturday night, as OL Reign claimed the NWSL Shield for the third time in their…
The Fleeting Rise and Melancholic Fall of Michu, the Player the Streets Will Never Forget
There are some footballers you just never forget. Diego Maradona for his flamboyantly gifted dribbling ability and skill. Zinedine Zidane for the way he controlled and bossed the midfield. Roberto Carlos for…
From Podcast to Promised Land? Could Open Goal Replicate Its Studio Success on the Pitch and Progress through Scotland’s Footballing Pyramid?
Media group Open Goal, after taking over Lowland League club Broomhill FC, have designs on progressing up the professional ladder of Scottish football.
Who Will Win Serie A? Europe’s Multi-Team Title Race
There’s really only one place in Europe right now where you can find a multi-team title race on the cards, and that’s in Italy for the 121st edition of Serie A. While…
The Surprising Names at Risk of Missing the Flight to Qatar 2022
We’re currently 67 days away from the first ball being kicked at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, and as we approach the first ever World Cup to be staged in winter…
The Champions League Final is Damned and Doomed: Part II
Barrie Davies’ journey to the Liverpool-Real Madrid final reaches its zenith as the crew enters Paris. Read Part I of the two-part series here. I don’t know how long I was unconscious…
The Champions League Final is Damned and Doomed: Part I
Barrie Davies’s journey to the Champions League Final takes a turn when he finds a rundown flat, smelly bar, and ‘Magic Messi Milk’ between himself and Paris. Part one of a two-part…
Greek Football Fandom: A Season Preview
As the football season kicks off around Europe, the Greek Super League may fly under the radar for many fans of the game. We explore the history of Greece’s top teams and…
Sean Dyche and Burnley: Like town, like gaffer, like football club
Sean Dyche and Burnley: “Hard working, rough around the edges, an acquired taste to some, but more widely, downright unpopular…”
Scottish Football’s Dearth of Talent: Investigating an Exodus
It cannot be denied that the number of Scots departing clubs in their homeland at a young age is on the rise. Just this summer, the highly rated Calvin Ramsay, Rory Wilson…
Philippe Coutinho: Revitalisation at Villa Park
When you are not thriving at one place, you try to rediscover yourself by moving to another. Even after winning a Bundesliga and Champions League double in 2020 when on loan at…
The ‘Pasty Pirlo’: Ange Postecoglou’s first Aussie signing at Celtic
Despite the reported strong interest from a couple of English Championship clubs, Aaron Mooy has become Celtic’s latest summer signing, linking up with his former Australia coach Ange Postecoglou at Parkhead. Mooy,…
Jack Kerouac and the Childish Art of Fantasy Football
I have always had an uneasy and uncomfortable relationship with the work of Jack Kerouac. Even when I was what observers would have identified and described as an “impressionable” youth prone to…
Belgium’s Next Noa Lang: Three Breakout Stars
Noa Lang is a sort of commodity who has lit up the league in his stint with the champions of Belgium. He formed dangerous partnerships with the likes of Bas Dost and…
Noussair Mazraoui: Football’s Glorious Nonconformist
Ajax full-back Noussair Mazraoui recently signed with Bayern Munich on a free transfer. He encapsulates everything we love about Ajax: determination against all odds, a pension for highwire-like acts on the sideline,…
A Peek through the Looking Glass: An Alternative Perspective on the Most Dramatic Moment in English Football History
A last-minute goal from Jimmy Glass saved Carlisle United from relegation. But it may have also been the catalyst behind their future struggles.
Graham Arnold and the Socceroos: Match Made in Heaven or Disaster Waiting to Happen?
Over a week ago, the Australian National Football Team managed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, catching the last train to Qatar, after beating Peru in a fairly dull game where…
Arsenal, Dortmund, Holland: Remarks on relatability in a football team
I have a problem. I know what a successful club looks like. The trophies, the glory, the squad full of killers capable of blowing you away 7-0 or grinding out the jammiest…
Making an Athlete – Review of Soul by Jonathan Harding
Simone Biles considers the Tokyo 2020 Olympics balance beam bronze medal her most meaningful win, above all the golds she has accumulated as the most-decorated Olympian gymnast in history. Biles, who took…
Kylian Mbappé’s New Residence: Top of the Football World
Kylian Mbappé’s transfer saga, where he played two of Europe’s most prominent clubs off each other, has ended with PSG retaining the French superstar. Rare is the player who passes up a…
Zlatan: Against all Odds, God Wins.
At 38 years old, with over 500 goals on his account, a devastating goal-scoring campaign in the MLS behind him, a recurring Achilles problem to ponder, and no football in over 3…
The Importance of Getting Erling: A Player and a Coach’s Earnest Search for Perfection
Erling Haaland is now a Manchester City boy. After years of “nearly-theres” on the European stage, the club needed a decisive force, and they seem to have found it in a 21-year-old…
Interview with Stefano Cusin, the Italian globetrotter who’s on a quest in Africa
In an interview, Stefano Cusin, the Italian manager of the South Sudan national team, speaks of his experiences, beliefs, and a love for challenge.
Ange Postecoglou: The Man Who’s Revived Celtic
Ange Postecoglou has reinvigorated Celtic football club in the 2021/22 campaign. The Greek-Australian manager was known to few supporters of the club when appointed. However, through the similarities he shares with Celtic’s…
André Kamperveen: Suriname’s Tragic Legend
The small South American country of Suriname has a deep historical connection to the Netherlands and Dutch football. André Kamperveen was its first player to make that trip overseas, and his success…
“The ballet of the masses”: Football and Dance from Shostakovich to ‘Pop’ Robson
In the endless quest for an explanation of football’s enduring and universal appeal, one aspect that is often overlooked is its aesthetic appeal: the elegance of its motions, the joy of its…
From Soccer to Football: Jesse Marsch in Yorkshire
For years, cross-Atlantic sporting relations have revolved around the ‘Football’ vs ‘Soccer’ debate. Will Jesse Marsch’s appointment as Leeds United head coach spark the change in Brits’ perception of Americans? In a…
Lies, Deceit, and Illusion: Football in the 21st Century
Martin Scorsese’s ‘Shutter Island’ is the perfect specimen of deception. Teddy Daniels reaches the brink in search of the truth and it ends up taking a breakdown for him to realise that…
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 tenth as much as its fans? What would that look like? Another day, another SNAFU. Now in…