In 1975 Admiral took over the design of the iconic Manchester United shirt. They continued until 1980, where Adidas attained the honour. But, for 5 years that striped collar and cuff ensemble was synonymous with the sexy fleet-footed wingers and the free flowing football that stole my heart and ensured I supported the Red Devils [.

Buenas! The realists and statisticians among you won't be surprised that Barcelona defeated the very loveable Valencia 2-0 last night. But as it seems, Madrid are frontrunners to win the La Liga, so el Blaugranas will be hoping to take home their 26th Spanish Cup title title.

Saturday 4th February 1pm

The Emirates Stadium

This Saturday afternoon we welcome Blackburn Rovers to The Emirates for yet another in the constant list of must win matches.

Rovers were established on 5th November 1875 and became founder members of The Football League in 1888.

Bright Eis

Did anyone really expect Wenger to burn holes in Arsenal's chequebook this month? The general climate in football hinted at no, the fact that Arsene is our boss said no, and the apparent need for backup up front or at the back said – haha – no. No no no.

Arsenal's newest midfielder Thomas Eisfeld has made it known that he is proud to be chosen as a Gunner, particularly as he aims to strike a partnership with Tomas Rosicky a man he grew up watching at Borussia Dortmund.

The 19-year old Eisfeld arrived from Dortmund yesterday to complete his move to North London ahead of the transfer deadline and after being unveiled, the youngster pledged to make both his current and former club proud.

Greek king-pins Olympiakos have signed former calamity Manchester United keeper Roy Carroll (34).

Carroll became famous after his in-famous over the line drag back following a handling error v Tottenham in 2005 after a speculative Pedro Mendes shot from near the half-way line(see below) told Olympiakos's official website:

"I am very happy to come to such a club, it is a great honour for me to play for best team in Greece.

By Chris Wright

Seems like our 'Arry's key defence in his tax-swindling trial is that he, and I quote, "writes like a two-year old", "can't spell" and is "the most disorganised man in the world" ergo there's no way he could've diddled Her Majesty (so to speak) out of £189,500.

I suppose we always knew it would happen someday, but I never could have thought that I would ever see the day where it would actually happen, as such. It was in the wee hours of the 24th day of January, in the year 2012, that Italian international (You will never know the limitless pleasure I derive from calling Him that) Amauri put pen to paper on his transfer from Inte.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife Brazilian striker Neymar would be honoured to play on the same pitch as David Beckham in the 2012 London Olympics.
Neymar said: "It would be a pleasure to play against David Beckham. Fortunately I had the chance to meet him last year, he was very kind and it would be an honour to play on the same pitch as him this year in London.

By Chris Wright

"Well Nick, you've got to hold and give, but do it at the right time..."

English rugby is pretty much in the doledrums following a World Cup campaign that can best be described as a 'fiasco', in which the Rugby Football Union leaked on players, the players leaked on each other and Mike Tindall did a bad thing with a blonde lady in a Queensland bar or so is my limited understanding on the matter.

Gary Neville has been asked to give a motivational talk to the England rugby team today. England's rugby coach, Stuart Lancaster, asked Neville to deliver the talk to help sort out the rugby team who made a show of themselves at last year's World Cup.

"When Gary Neville says it is an honour, it is an honour, if the players understand that, then you get more responsible behaviour as well," said Lancaster.

Red Nev leads rugby revolution Former Manchester United and England right-back Gary Neville is to give a speech to England's rugby players on the pride of playing for your country. Neville widely reported to have led a proposed strike by England players over Rio Ferdinand's drugs ban has been asked to talk about [.

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak issued some very scathing remarks yesterday to Carlos Tevez and AC Milan warning them in effect that for either party to get their way in this messy situation, the club's standards must be met.

On a day when Tevez was fined a staggering £9.

According to the laws of the game, shouldn't Robin Van Persie have been sent off against Manchester United in Arsenal's 2-1 loss on Sunday? I know when it comes to yellow and red cards it's often pretty hard to keep track of all of football's strange rules. But it's widely believed that an automatic yellow card is to be shown to any player who lifts his team shirt to reveal a printed message on a tee-shirt below.

Carlos Tevez's potential transfer to PSG has been compromised with the two parties not seeing eye to eye on the way forward in his footballing career rather than any financial reasons. Tevez's demands as per his agent, Kia Joorabchian, included:

1) Limiting Carlo Ancelotti on the number of training sessions he has per day and making conditional his participation in them.

It's been an incredible eighteen months for Gareth Bale and a period that has ended with our Welsh left winger being named as the only British player in UEFA's team of 2011.

Bale took his place among the likes of Barcelona's Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi as well as Real Madrid's Cristinao Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Marcelo.

Good signing from Newcastle today, who completed the signing of Freiburg striker Papiss Demba Cisse for around £10 million. Cisse has signed at five-and-a-half-year deal with Newcastle.

Newcastle will partner Cisse up-front with his international team-mate Demba Ba, whichh should end rumors that Demba Ba is leaving Newcastle anytime soon.

Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic Handanovic has been imperious in goal this year. Signed to Udinese for €40000, he has since established himself as number one for club and country. Many times has he almost single-handedly won matches for Udinese with his performances helping them finish fourthlast season and this season challenging Juventus for the top honour.

Mmmm, Tuesday's looking up isn't it? Images via Greg in Hollywood.

We've been jonesing for brand spankin' new (and naive) man meat to profile on our humble little site, and boy did our wishing, hoping and bartering with God pay off!

Allow us to introduce you to Lance Parker and his abs, who both play for FC Edmonton in the North American Soccer League.

There he was sitting on a chair inside the venue hall almost unnoticed when I first arrived at the Singapore Sports School in Woodlands (which I nearly lost my way because of a misguided information of an apps on my phone).
You see Brunei DPMM coach Vjeran Simunic (pictured above or left depend on your browser setting) would normally tucked in his trademark attire entirely in black colour and top off with a black baseball cap embossed with the DPMM logo on match day.

At the Ballon d'Or ceremony last night, Sir Alex Ferguson was presented with the FIFA presidential award for services to football.

Ferguson claimed he was lucky to have managed so many great players who have helped him achieve the success he's had.

"It is an honour for me in the twilight of my life and very, very much appreciated," said Ferguson.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been given the FIFA presidential award for services to football. The United manager was presented with the award by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the FIFA Ballon d'Or gala in Zurich.

Talking about SAF, Blatter said:

"Elite football is all about results and winning and there is no one better at it than him.

Surprising nobody, Argentina and Barcelona midfielder Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or on Monday, world soccer's highest honor. This is Messi's third Ballon d'Or. "It's a huge pleasure to win the third time, a big honour," Messi said. "I want to thank the teammates, players and coaches that voted for me.

LFC: Birthday boy Lucas in 6 videos

Lucas Leiva celebrates his 25th birthday today and in honour of our Brazilian international here are six great videos of him in action in LFC TV Online.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2012-01-09 08:59:11 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

So i don't know whether to believe these rumours or simply laugh them off. Aston Villa are reported to be seriously considering signing Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

By all standards, Villa is a good team, however, Alex Mcleish's plans on Drogba joining at the end of the season are a bit too ambitious.

Gary Ablett 1965-2012: Liverpool and Everton unite to honour Mersey hero

Merseyside's football rivals have united to pay respects to Gary Ablett. The former defender died on Sunday aged 46 following a 16-month battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2012-01-02 22:00:23 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Maybe I am clutching at straws here. Or maybe I have completely lost the plot in more ways than one.
But I am really hoping that Marouane Chamakh will come back to Arsenal, after the African Cup of Nations, a completely rejuvenated player.
Fingers crossed, hopefully he might even come back as Lukas Podolski.

3PM Extra: Georgie Thompson special!

It's an extra special 3pm Extra today in honour of the 8th wonder of the world, Georgie Thompson. Sky Sports News' most glamourous girl is hanging up her delectably low cut top for the last time tonight before disappearing into the murky world of Formula 1.

Terry Henry was a sensation at Arsenal. He remains a Gunners legend. But to sign him on loan for a couple of months would be a mistake. Yes, he scored goals for fun and spearheaded us to glory many times, not least of all during the season we went unbeaten in the Premier League. At no point am I denying he was one of the best players we have ever had.

Terry Henry was a sensation at Arsenal. He remains a Gunners legend. But to sign him on loan for a couple of months would be a mistake. Yes, he scored goals for fun and spearheaded us to glory many times, not least of all during the season we went unbeaten in the Premier League. At no point am I denying he was one of the best players we have ever had.

Terry Henry was a sensation at Arsenal. He remains a Gunners legend. But to sign him on loan for a couple of months would be a mistake. Yes, he scored goals for fun and spearheaded us to glory many times, not least of all during the season we went unbeaten in the Premier League. At no point am I denying he was one of the best players we have ever had.

Kop legend John Barnes has spoken of his pride after taking over the presidency of Liverpool's Disabled Supporters Association.
At a gala Christmas dinner at Anfield last week, attended by first team defender Sebastian Coates and outgoing president Alan Kennedy, Barnes addressed over 200 members of the LDSA and revealed the huge sense of honour he feels at being asked to assume such a prestigious position.

Martin Lipton on Suarez's eight-game racism ban: The FA have acted with honour

The line in the sand was drawn, clearly and irrevocably. Racism is unacceptable in English football, no matter what the mitigation put forward. For Luis Suarez and Liverpool, who have their own decisions to make, an eight-game ban was a decision at the worst end of their scale of possible outcomes and an appeal is almost certain.

Jonjo Shelvey is hoping his display in his first ever top-flight start for Liverpool at Villa Park alongside Luis Suarez will be the springboard to future success with the Reds.
Kenny Dalglish handed him a role playing just off Suarez through the centre - a position he excelled in during his loan spell at Blackpool, and the No.

The stage is set for what will be an amazing showdown between two of the most talked about players in the game today. In the next couple of hours, Neymar's Santos and Messi's Barcelona will fight it out for the honour of being called the best club in the world.

What i am going to say next might be hard to take for a few, however, it is a fact.

Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey feels sorry for his team-mates who have suffered injury or suspension, but he is ready to step up as a replacement.
The £1.7million signing from Charlton in May 2010 was at the beginning of December recalled from a loan at Blackpool by boss Kenny Dalglish after Lucas Leiva's season was ended by knee surgery.

Muang Thong United, back to back TPL champions, managed to let slip a two goal lead at the weekend, seeing Khon Kaen net twice at the death to earn a late point.
The Muang Thong owner is less than impressed and called his team a 'disgrace'.
In honour of the Bangkok Post's football writer I'm writing this entire post in single sentence paragraphs.

By Chris Wright

Arsenal unveiled three statues outside the Emirates yesterday to mark the club's 125th anniversary, with Tony Adams and Herbert Chapman (it wasn't Pascal Cygan after all!) being recognised for the services to the Gunners over the years along with record-scorer Thierry Henry, who tried and failed to fight back the waterworks during his acceptance speech.

What are the odds Asamoah Gyan plays for Sunderland this season? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day

After conducting his first training session at Sunderland this week, Martin O'Neill said he was impressed with the squad. He then spent three days trying to bring Asamoah Gyan back from his loan deal in the United Arab Emirates.

Titi is in London this weekend for the unveiling of his Arsenal commemorative statue. We can only hope the sculptor wasn't obliged to replicate his shoes n'gilet combo. We'd prefer not to have to look at that for the next 100 years. Image: PacificCoastNews.com.

In a week where the whole of Manchester was thrown out of Europe's elite competition, we admirably restrained our 'inner mean girl' while you lot let rip on Shakira's new 'do and Yoann Gourcuff reappeared on our radar, you may well ask what could possibly be left for us to report on?