By Tim Walters 22 April 2020 In the midst of our global pandemic, the football world finds itself entangled in a vast and intricate Gordian knot of scheduling logjams, contractual obligations, and financial relationships from which there appears to be no clear way to proceed. Understandably, the rush is to get football and the football […]

In 1994, Simon Kuper won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award for his first title Football Against the Enemy. He visited 22 countries on a tiny budget, digging into the effects football can have on politics and culture and why different countries play the game so differently. The Times said: “If you […]

By Nick Harris 13 November 2016 The Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA are now the best paid team in global sport according to Sportingintelligence’s Global Sports Salaries Survey (GSSS) for 2016, to be published in full tomorrow, and with key extracts in today’s Mail on Sunday (links below). The average first-team pay at the Cavaliers, home to NBA icon LeBron James, […]

 Brought to you in association with the UK Concrete Show (“The whole of the concrete industry under one roof!“) . By Martin Kelner 30 May 2016 Television remains a world of wonder. Who would think to switch on the set to hear Graeme Le Saux’s views on period pains and transgender toilet arrangements? This joy came to us […]

By Tim Walters 7 March 2016 The recent election of Gianni Infantino and adoption of a package of minor reforms has done little to reassure those who closely follow FIFA that football’s international governing body is about to fundamentally change its ways. Indeed, much about Infantino himself gives ample cause for concern that this is […]

By Alex Stewart 29 February 2016 TRANSFER deadline day this year was its usual mixture of hype, desperation and the occasional genuinely interesting deal. And of course, for me, abuse. For the last three deadline days I have been part of the BBC’s live blogging effort, offering a Football Manager perspective on the day’s comings […]

By Brian Sears  31 December 2015 Of all the teams who spent any time in the four main divisions of English football in 2015, Burton, Arsenal and Middlesbrough were the standout performers in the calendar year. Those three clubs were the only three who amassed more than two points per game in the year, with Burton top […]

By Jim Keoghan 17 April 2015 With the general election looming in Britain and the parties publishing their manifesto documents over the past five days, we should have a clearer idea what the next Parliament might deliver for football fans, no? Football matters in Britain. Each week, 1.96m people play. Every season, nearly 25m people […]

By Brian Sears  31 December 2014 Of all the teams playing in the four main divisions of English football in 2014, Manchester City and Chelsea were the standout performers in the calendar year in terms of points per game. Both amassed 88 points from 38 league games in 2014 for 2.32 points per game on […]

* In his latest book, ‘Taking Our Ball Back: English Football’s Culture Wars‘, MARTIN CLOAKE quotes political philosopher Michael Sandel’s statement that “The pleasure of sports has been diminished by its commerciality.” One of the central questions running through the collection of articles that make up the book is how the thing that makes sport so […]