By Alex Netherton
IT'S absurd, but I cannot name a single gay footballer in any division in Britain.
Statistically, it's unlikely that not a single player of thousands is not gay. Realistically
though, it can't surprise us why not a single player has come out. Just imagine the reception
they'd get, and consider how much, tacitly at least, it's us who are to blame.
This UK advert for EA Sports features the likes of Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jose
Bosingwa and Karim Benzema. Rooney with his British football swagger really stands out in the
commercial for me - I can picture him as some badass thug in a Guy Ritchie gangsta flick. The spot
also mixes real soccer action with clips from the video game, in fact the graphics are so
impressive I actually preferred them over the real thing.
I admire the speedy Mendy
There are lots of reasons to support Hull City. I don't
cheer for the Tigers, but I used to have absolutely nothing against Phil Brown's side. Personally,
I admire the speedy Bernard Mendy, and have often professed my love for the vision and passing
ability of blog buddy Jimmy Bullard.
By Ollie Irish
The most annoying people working in the football media in Britain today:
◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 10
Townsend epitomises banal football punditry, laced with the lack of imagination that permeates
British football. And bizarrely, he seems to be no better at his job now than he was when he
started with ITV
And the top 10 back in 2006, when we first published it (when it was limited to TV
'personalities' TV only):
10.
By Ollie Irish
Via Wengerball
Robbie Savage almost lost his cool on BBC Radio 5 Live when defending the sort
of 'They don't like it up 'em' football that has made the English Premier League so rife with
injuries. He also admitted that when he was a Blackburn Rovers player, then-manager Mark Hughes
gave him explicit orders to be physical and cynical.
By Ollie Irish
Why hasn't anyone done this before... a British football version of the classic Tube map (click
to enlarge):
Brilliant. I 'Like' this all day long, especially when I'm making the journey on the Victoria
Line from Tottenham's Bale to Pimlico Kranjcar.
By Ollie Irish
When I put together a list of ten black pioneers in British football earlier this week, I
shamefully failed to include West Ham legend Clyde Best, who boldly and often
brilliantly forged a path for the likes of Cyrille Regis, Lawrie Cunningham, Viv Anderson and John
Barnes.
Arsenal fans have spent the past day coming to this blog saying that their club and their fans
are way too classy to sing the type of songs sections of Manchester United fans sing at
Arsene Wenger.
They of course fail to acknowledge sections of their fans replicate the hissing noise of the gas
chambers when they play Tottenham Hotspur.
With a weekly 'Offside View' of the footballing world new COS contributor EAVESY DOES IT takes a
sarcastic look at the shortcomings of the most successful British football manger ever.
Win the Club Shirt Of Your Choice Simply by Speaking Your Mind!
He's made a lot of mistakes hasn't he.
Robinho
Today is a pretty massive day in British football. A day that could go
down in history. The day that Manchester City actually
turned the corner and instead of
talking the talk, actually walked the walk.
Will City do it? Will they beat Tottenham and secure a Champions League place?
A footballer booked by a no-nonsense referee for diving had in fact dropped dead of a heart
attack.
Marc-Vivien Foe Tribute
Goran Tunjic, a 32-year-old defender playing for the Croatian side Mladost, collapsed and fell
to the ground after being tackled in the 35th minute of a game against local rivals Hrvatski
Sokola.
(left Argentina's legend Osvaldo Ardiles)
You see the great footballers of today under the deck of exclusion. They seem unapproachable;
some seem rude, even ungrateful. And when they are not spotted tuned into I-Pod headphones, it's an
image of them playing themselves on the latest version of FIFA 2010.
There surely cannot be a more respected footballer in the whole of British football. Ryan Giggs is
a living legend. From signing with Sir Alex Ferguson at the age of fourteen to winning the Treble
in...
Continue to the full story
Never mind yesterday's match between Chelsea and Arsenal or any other match that any English
club will play in this season. Quite possibly the most important match that English football or at
least one part of it will be played out at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg this week
as the Premier League and Sky Television go head to head with a Portsmouth landlady who feels that
she shouldn't have to pay the cost that Sky want her to pay to show live football matches in her
pub.
There is nothing sadder in sport then wasted potential. The most tragic figures in sport are
more often than not ones who did not harness their talent.
British football – mainly thanks to its big drinking culture – is famous for producing many
a player that could not live up to early hype once they met the limelight; the likes of George
Best, Paul Gascoigne and Norman Whiteside being some of the biggest names on that list.
By Ollie Irish
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey was praised by Nottingham Forest boss Billy Davies as he made
his competitive return from a broken leg, against Leicester City last night. Even though Forest
lost 1-0, Ramsey showed glimpses of his ability in a 30-minute cameo.
Jonathan Wilson, in the Guardian, looked at The Question: why has 4-4-2 been superseded by
4-2-3-1? in this article from 2008. It came to mind as I watched the U17 International Friendlies
on Wednesday, with the US lining up in the formation. Jonathan answered his own question with the
comment that the coming of 4-2-3-1 was a natural progression from 4-4-2, and in the last five years
nearly all tactical innovations are developments of the formation.
Its a new year and with comes some exciting news. Former Brazilian international Ronaldo has
been voted as the player of the decade by Goal.com readers. Ronaldo beat his former Real Madrid
teammate and closest challenger Zinedin Zidane to emerge victorious.
This is the second Brazilian to be voted player of the decade the first being the ever-smiling
Ronaldinho who was voted by British football Magazine World Soccer readers.
Manchester City announced losses of £92.6 million last night, the third largest in British
football history, as the staggering cost of their first season under the ownership of Sheikh
Mansour was revealed.
In the financial year ending May 31, 2009, City made a net operating loss of £34.
FC United of Manchester fans. September 13th, 2008.
Photo credit: FCUM photography on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo
Pool.
Related posts:
- Photo Daily: A Right Bunch of Dicks The FC United of Manchester radio crew....
- Photo Daily: Retford United vs.
-
- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!
- Also available: The combined messageboard and QPRnews quasi-blog QPR Report
Messageboard! Check Back throughout the day for comprehensive QPR-related news snippets. All QPR
Perspectives genuinely Welcomed
- One Thousand and One Nights: Time since the Last QPR Fan Forum
- No Pellicori Departure as of Now
- No Cousin Arrival as of now (if ever)
- Coming soon: The Latest Football League Report on Clubs Spending on Agents (Watford and
Peterbrough have already released their own.
A nice interview in the Northern Echo with Adam Johnson in which he discusses his time at
Middlesbrough and reasons for the move (and mentions interest from both Wolves and Sunderland), and
in which talked a little about looking ahead to his time at the club:
"It's a big club, where I will learn and improve playing alongside top players every day.
...is this man: Wayne Mark Rooney.
Yes, we know: Rooney is actually Irish and could just as easily be playing for The Republic like
his brother. But there are two problems with this: 1. Ireland were cheated out of a World Cup spot
and 2. Rooney, for whatever reason, chose to represent the three lions.
On a sad, but potentially momentous day for British football, Portsmouth have become the first
Premier League club to enter administration
since the formation of the league in 1992. Whether the rest of the so-called "richest league in
the world" – or perhaps the deepest in debt - and those who aspire to enter it take heed remains
to be seen.
Liverpool has been urged to remain true to their heritage in order for the club to increase their
brand around the world.
Simon Middleton, a brand strategy expert and author of the best selling book "Build A Brand in 30
days", is in no doubt that Liverpool are in a far healthier position now compared to where they
were when last winning the league championship in 1990.
The Manager by Barney RonayBarney Ronay is a difficult one to pin down. A senior sports writer for the Guardian, he is often
the one to pick up ackward stories - a recent piece went by the title 'Should Sepp Blatter Lock
Himself in a Cupboard - and in all fairness he rarely writes anything that isn't interesting.
Everyone loves the underdog.
You see it in the US with the NCAA Basketball tournament and golf's US Open, and nowhere is that
better illustrated than by the euphoria that surrounds the successful minnows in british football's
FA Cup.
2010 has been a rough year for Portsmouth, and throughout their troubled season that included
financial meltdown and impending relegation, they have continued to play the role of Cinderella in
the FA Cup.
In the footballing world of today the talk is much about the foreign managers in British football
and their success in managing in the Premier League. French and Spanish managers are hailed for
their skills and for bringing in the continental way to play the game to the British Isles. But
there are managers going the [.
Big Story
The scale of Portsmouth's debts have astonished onlookers, documented this week by
administrators. As the Times summarises:
A report compiled by Portsmouth's administrators has laid bare the extent of the financial
mismanagement at Fratton Park.
That it should have come to this. Somehow, through a season-long narrative of financial
implosion and mixed fortunes on the pitch, the final day of the season in the Championship has come
down to a straight shoot-out at Hillsborough. Those that hold the belief that there is some kind of
divine power with a steadying hand over the world may well take he fact that these two clubs are
here this afternoon as proof of his (or her) existence.
Today is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Bradford Fire. In view of this, we are this
morning republishing an article that first appeared on this site in May 2007.
Perhaps it's the extremely close proximity that it had to Heysel. Perhaps it was because it was
dwarfed by Hillsborough, just four years later or by the Heysel Stadium disasaster, which came just
two and a half weeks after it.
Twenty five years ago on this date, 56 people tragically died when a fire erupted at Bradford
City's Valley Parade ground.
The day was supposed to be one of celebration for Bradford who had just won the Third Division
trophy. However as the game against Lincoln progressed, a fire began just before half-time in the
stand that ran alongside the pitch.
By Ollie Irish
Photo: PA
Manchester United manager Matt Busby between Johnny Berry (left) and Duncan Edwards (right), in
the dressing-room at Bournemouth after United had qualified for the FA Cup semi final in March
1957. United reached the final that year, but lost 2-1 to Aston Villa.
Avram Grant has agreed a deal 'in principle' to become the new manager of West
Ham United, after resigning as Portsmouth boss yesterday.
Whilst negotiations are still ongoing between the two parties, it is being reported that Grant
could be installed as Gianfranco Zola's successor by as early as this evening.
By Chris Wright
After resigning as Portsmouth manager yesterday, it would seem that Avram Grant
is all but set to named as the new West Ham manager.
Negotiations are said to be ongoing between the two parties, with final contract details still
to be agreed upon, but many sources are speculating that Grant could be installed as Gianfranco
Zola's successor as early as this evening.
The resignation last week of East Stirlingshire's Vice-Chairman Spencer Fearn marks the end of
another chapter for a club who have been through the mill over the past decade, and leaves their
immediate prospects a little uncertain. Contract offers to players have been put on hold while the
club works out a new budget, and manager Jim McInally has offered to take a pay cut in order to
stay on.
Yesterday was an important day in Italian Football Culture, as Serie A's first Supporters Trust
– Azionariato Popolare AS Roma – was formed, as the first attempt to run a football club by the
fans in Italy. Azionariato Popolare AS Roma are the second Trust to be formed it Italy, after
Societ Cooperativa Modena Sport Club was formed in 2008, by fans of Serie B Modena.
The Algerian national team are suffering from something of an identity crisis these days. On the
one hand you have the battling, resolute team that overcame bitter rivals Egypt in a fiery play-off
to reach this year's World Cup Finals, and on the other you have the weak, disorientated team that
were thrashed 4-0 by Egypt in the Nations Cup semi finals this year, just days after losing 3-0 to
Malawi in the previous round.
Martin O'Neill – The Biography
Martin O'Neill is one of British football's true greats. Plucked from Irish club Distillery by
Nottingham Forest in 1971, the young Irishman went on an incredible football journey that saw him
clash against some of the game's biggest characters.
In the previous thrilling instalment, we embarked on British TV's journey from library music to
classic opera in its search for a decent World Cup theme tune. In this concluding part, we embrace
synth pop, retro Krautrock and the Great American songbook plus much more besides...
‘America' (BBC World Cup Grandstand 1994)Leonard BernsteinAfter the rip-roaring success of Luciano Pavarotti's
Nessun Dorma in 1990, the BBC knew it
had a tough act to follow, so for its 1994 outing they went for something similarly enriched in
national culture.
