Saturday's FA Cup First Round Proper match against Grimsby Town was my first ever visit to Lincolnshire. I'm ashamed to say, it was only my third foray north of Birmingham. On that count alone, I looked forward to the journey.
Of course, most everyone else I know thought the idea of going to Grimsby and back in a day was crazy. Click to continue reading...

CALL TO ARMS

This is a ‘call to arms' for all you passionate football fans out there – we need you!!

At the end of November we're shooting a very exciting Mastercard Champions League commercial that will recreate what it was like for the fans in the terraces watching the most memorable games in European football over the last ten years.

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Do you think this would work on a TShirt:
His ma's a thief
His da's a dealer
John Terry's a chav
And Diaby's boot cleaner
???? Maybe I'm sicker than I thought, I think that's funny, but then I love the thought of Terry's face attacking Diaby's boot. Click to continue reading...

The shrill of Franck de Bleeckere's final whistle had barely subsided when the phone-ins started, looking to apportion blame for Liverpool's Champions League struggles.
Predictably, the names were the same. Angry of Anfield and Worried of Woolton all knew which players were culpable for stopping Liverpool securing a win in Lyon which would have kept them in control of their European destiny. Click to continue reading...

We're always thankful it's Saturday at Inside Left, mainly because it means a return to the terraces to enjoy watching the cream of our divisions tanning a ball around the park. This week we're particularly glad that the weekend brings sense to bear, as this has not been a great seven days for the game north [. Click to continue reading...

Flamengo v Fluminense, Brazil

Over the coming weeks we'll be giving you the run down on the World's most passionate and fiercest rivalry in football. We start our list with two Brazilian giants.

History
Known as ‘Fla-Flu' this is Brazil's most passionate rivalry, dating back to 1911 when 9 Fluminense players quit the club to form Flamengo, which at the time was just a rowing club, any one for Pimms old boy?

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Rafael Benítez has been unable to get beach-ball boy off his mind over the past few days. That's the kid who kicked off Liverpool's latest crisis by throwing an inflatable on to the pitch at the Stadium of Light.
Six days later, Benítez's side are on the brink of elimination from the Champions League after Tuesday's defeat by Lyons, their title aspirations are in ruins and Michael Owen and Manchester United are due in town on Sunday. Click to continue reading...

This may come as very surprising news for fans of English football in the 21st century - particularly with so many foreign names flooding our professional leagues from the Premiership all the way down to League 2 - but it seems that even today, many young non European footballers are still encountering serious difficulties in settling in at their new clubs here in the UK. Click to continue reading...

Wheel of Fortune
The 2008/09 season has been a mixed bag for Lewes FC to say the least. The club have been beset by off the field problems (mainly financial) on almost a weekly basis. There are reasons to be cheerful down at the Dripping Pan though and for now let's dwell on the positives. Click to continue reading...

Christ...where to begin.
Sunday morning I was down the Thai Port shop checking out a couple of things. Even at the relatively early time of 10 am there were people hanging around and buying things. They were due to play PEA that same day but I had to be elsewhere.
Muang Thong Thani is pretty new I think. Click to continue reading...

If there were ever to be an Academy Award for Best Dramatic Youtube Clip - Soccer Catergory this would have to be it's inaugural recipient. Obviously I didn't grow up with the club but as someone who had the honor and privilege of frequenting Craven Cottage when there were still terraces and Eddie Lewis was occupying the role of "Little-Used American" currently being played by Eddie Johnson, this really affected me. Click to continue reading...

Cheltenham Town 1 - 1 Rotherham United
League 2 Saturday 20th September
On the form book this match looked to be the draw which Cheltenham then managed to pull off. But when they say that a good team will get points from a game even when they are playing badly I doubt that the sooth sayers meant this badly. Click to continue reading...

Once upon a time travel in this region was like falling off a bike. Everyone did it.
Now though, with so called globalisation and internet access, people seem to becoming more parochial and inward looking.
I've lost count of the number of times I've spoken to club officials in Indonesia about tapping into the merchandise market. Click to continue reading...

Cheltenham Town 1 - 3 Torquay United (0-3 at ht)
Johnstone's Paint Trophy; Tuesday 1st September 2009.
On my way to Whaddon Road this evening I passed an Edwardian Villa in Pittville. The light blue painted stone above the door proudly declared it to be Torquay Villa. I turned the corner and found myself outside of the Cheltenham branch of The Samaritans. Click to continue reading...

Earlier today, Maurice Edu, an American who plays his club football for Rangers, sent out the following message over his Twitter account:
Its sad n embarassing that people follow me so they can write racist comments...smh...its '09 people, let's grow up n mature a lil bit
It is sad and embarrassing, and it's also very ignorant and pathetic. Click to continue reading...

The new League Two season has started with everybody financially stable - more or less - but Lincoln City supporter Keith Duncan doesn't feel that the authorities are going far enough.

In 2002 Lincoln City FC nearly closed down. In fact, the club was 24 hours from having its application to enter administration in court considered when two of the then Board got together to try to secure enough funding to make that a reasonable possibility.

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The first time I went into the clubhouse bar, Charlie's, I felt pretty intimidated. I don't drink, so anytime I'm in a bar ordering a coke I always feel slightly silly. It is sort of like hanging out in a steakhouse and asking for a veggieburger. Charlie's is also a very, very male environment that harks back to an era from before my arrival in the UK. Click to continue reading...

The folks at the Guardian got in touch with us to inform our readers about their package titled, The Season. This is a preview package for the upcoming season and it includes comprehensive information and preview for all sides and for our purposes, lots of Manchester United as well.

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The new season is fast approaching like the distant glint of sunlight between clouds on a windy day. It did kind of start already at TNS on 9th July, a start so early for me as to be uncanny, like the sun rising at midnight. So early it's difficult to decide if it was an appendix to last season or a prologue to 2009-10. Click to continue reading...

Rizal Abdullah
BRING back the foreign players but not "just cheap African players" and change the kickoff time to 5.30pm so as not to compete with the EPL playing times, to put the spark back into the M-League.
These are among the proposals Kelantan coach Peter Butler has proposed to the FA of Malaysia (FAM) who are in the midst of restructuring the M-League after another subdued season. Click to continue reading...

It is only very seldom that we re-run articles on here but, in view of the fact that today is the day of the Brighton Gay Pride festival, we thought that it would be appropriate to run a piece that first appeared on here in March 2007 on the subject of football and homophobia. It was our intention to run more articles on this subject and we will do in the future - if you can help, feel free to get in touch.

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Legend Sir Bobby Robson, 76, dies
Obituary - Sir Bobby Robson 1933-2009
Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson has died at the age of 76, following a long battle with cancer.
Robson will be best remembered on the international stage for leading England to the 1990 World Cup semi-final. Click to continue reading...

This piece is the first of a series of articles intended as personal recollections of some of our lost football grounds. Should you wish to contribute to this series, please feel free to email us via the "Contact" page, which is linked at the top of this page. The first piece in this series takes a fond look back at Southbury Road, the late, lamented home of Enfield Football Club.

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I'm starting a trend with my articles now... they all seem to start with "Last year I wrote article XYZ", well this one is no different!

So last year I wrote an article about the state of the ticket system for Arsenal Fans. And I hate to announce over the last year things have got worse, I lost my wallet with my precious membership cards in.

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There was a great segment of this soon-to-be released book over at SI.com.
Go read it.
I'm very much excited to read this one when it comes out. I know it's gonna be awesome. Perhaps the most important piece of soccer literature in a while.
Now for the links:

• CONCACAF teams pull out of Copa Sudamericana.

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Stuff to read while you watch Ronaldosaurus juggle a couple soda bottles which aren't computer generated whatsoever..... Spanish press thinks Cristiano is a sassy sissy. (La Liga Loca) The future stars of the Prem in transfer rumor. (View From The Terraces) The Brazilian celebration in photos. (Futbolita) Another 5 lessons from the Confederations Cup. Click to continue reading...

Egypt hangs upset blame on unfounded hooker accusations. (guardian) ESPN to broadcast Prem games in the UK. (EPL Talk) UEFA Cup kicks off in 10 days. Seriously. (uefa) Football's new Uzbek superpower. (SoccerLens) When's the Empire going to produce an Asian star? (View From The Terraces) Don Fabio's secret to success is doing precisely nothing. Click to continue reading...

The current controversy over the vuvuzela at the Confederations Cup in South Africa is hardly the first debate about "artificial" noisemakers used by football fans. In different forms, their use has been common across the world for over a century. So is the vuvuzela an organic instrument of South African football culture we should respect, or a commercialised nuisance that should be banned?

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(P.S:Things were made so easy now since the opening of the Pioneer MRT station, located within strolling distance of the Jurong West Stadium.)
The Cubs redeemed themselves after that Malaysian thrashing by beating the Indonesian U23 at the Jurong West Stadium, although they clearly knew it very much that much work needed to be done if they want to be seen as a favourite of the year-end SEA Games. Click to continue reading...

A day or so ago we touched on the subject that this years kits are the worst home and away kits I can remember us ever having.
The home kit in my opinion is wrong, Herbert Chapman changed our kit in the early 1930's and put white sleeves on and in my opinion that is our traditional colours, not a wide red stripe on the sleeves.

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The 15th edition of the Gyalyum Chemo Memorial Gold Cup is currently being played in the vertigo inducing heights of Dharamsala(headquarters in India of the Tibetan Government in exile).The tournament was instituted in the memory of the Dalai Lama's mother and has been played since 1981.

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A sixth place finish in La Liga and a place in next season's Europa League may be satisfying on the face of things. But a limp end to the season, discontentment on the terraces, and growing financial problems only darkened the thick storm clouds already lurking above Valencia's Mestalla Stadium. Click to continue reading...

A sixth place finish in La Liga and a place in next season's Europa League may be satisfying on the face of things. But a limp end to the season, discontentment on the terraces, and growing financial problems only darkened the thick storm clouds already lurking above Valencia's Mestalla Stadium.

Their long-standing money troubles look to be coming to a head this summer, with the crippling costs of their new stadium taking its toll.

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A shocker at the San Siro as Totti's free kick stunned the Rossoneri. It added to the angst and anxiety enveloping the club.

Worse still, Maldini's sendoff was marred by Milan's Curva Sud ultras standing on the terraces mocking the Milan legend by unfurling a banner with the number 6 marked on it with the caption "There is only one captain" a reference to Franco Baresi, Maldini's mentor and former team mate.

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Something referee can't be wrong with - deciding who kick off as it's the coin that determine
It's something never happened before but now it's being brought to the limelight after the chairman of Tampines Rovers, Mr Teo Hock Seng, had decided to voice out as he can't take it anymore.
"The standard of football is improving but not the referee's! Click to continue reading...