Only a Game: The Diary of a Professional Footballer By Eamon Dunphy Published by Penguin (second edition) July 1998, £8.99, ISBN: 9780140102901 Left Foot in the Grave By Garry Nelson Published by CollinsWillow August 1998, available from 1p, ISBN: 9780002187749 [E]veryone wants to be a footballer. I still do, and I'm 37.

::: FistedAway welcomes a guest post from Mark Patterson :::

Ireland striker Robbie Keane intends to fulfil the last major ambition of his career by making a January switch to a club for which he feels absolutely nothing.

Keane, 31, has played for nine different clubs since he left Crumlin United as a bright-eyed youngster for the bright lights and orange shirts of Wolves, but told Fisted Away that he had set his heart on a new challenge.

Forget Roy Keane, among the weapons the now former Bristol Rovers manager Paul Buckle had in his armoury was an icy stare that could single-handedly re-freeze the polar ice caps. I've seen it used on misbehaving players in training, at fans who've had a differing opinion, and at journalists (including myself) who've asked questions that he doesn't think are worth answering (which, on some occasions, has been a fair response).

Welcome to "The Gents" with Stan Bentley - The Yorkies' regular advice column for our valued readers. Bring your modern day problems and have them answered by the most valued voice - a 1950's journeyman footballer. "Back of the net!"　
Dear Stan,
I am really enjoying FIFA 12, but I find it damn near impossible to adjust from Semi-Pro difficulty to Professional difficulty.

[I]t's been a cracking couple of weeks down on the Bay. Four wins from five league games, including a bustling 3-1 victory against big brothers Plymouth, and the news that key players Lee Mansell and Kevin Nicholson have joined Eunan O'Kane in agreeing long-term contracts mean that Gulls supporters must be purring with satisfaction.

It's been a cracking couple of weeks down on the Bay. Four wins from five league games, including a bustling 3-1 victory against big brothers Plymouth, and the news that key players Lee Mansell and Kevin Nicholson have joined Eunan O'Kane in agreeing long-term contracts mean that Gulls supporters must be purring with satisfaction.

It's been a cracking couple of weeks down on the Bay. Four wins from five league games, including a bustling 3-1 victory against big brothers Plymouth, and the news that key players Lee Mansell and Kevin Nicholson have joined Eunan O'Kane in agreeing long-term contracts mean that Gulls supporters must be purring with satisfaction.

One of the saddest parts of modern football is the way in which the non-Premier League divisions have been neglected and forgotten by the mainstream media. Take a look through some old cigarette card collections or the wonderful Football League Review magazine and you'll find that although not necessarily billed as equals with First Division clubs, many of the smaller lower league sides were included and covered alongside many of the giants of English football.

Where's your Caravan?By Chris HargreavesPublished by The Friday Project, August 2011£8.99ISBN: 9780007364145What next for a lower league footballer upon retirement? A simple enough premise, but too few biographies have tackled the theme with any distinction, so Chris Hargreaves' recent release, which engages throughout with the realities and emotions of signing off from one's playing days, is a

Open Goal campaign: Security guard refused to believe I was my team's manager Leroy Rosenior

Former Torquay and Brentford boss backs Rooney Rule to boost number of black bosses

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-09-14 20:00:11 from: The Mirror

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

Our latest discussion piece features Ben Mayhew, head honcho of one of the best club blogs around, Greenwich Gull - 'a League 2 blog with an overwhelmingly pro-Torquay United bias'. Since commencing his scrawlings, Ben has actually hopped on the London Overground to live in Highgate, but retains a site name that evokes maritime leanings.

Back in 1991, English football witnessed the start of a spectacular and exciting league campaign. Despite Arsenal and Liverpool having shared the tag of Champions in the four years prior, it was Leeds United and Manchester United that ended up slugging it out for the 1991/1992 title. Refreshingly for the neutral, neither team had the so-called nous and experience to call upon from previous title challenges, and it thus culminated into a fascinating story of bravery, belief and even a calamitous own goal.

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has promised to keep an eye on Sunderland's new signing James McClean, after the Derry born player declared his intention to represent Ireland rather than the IFA team.
The 22-year-old left winger wants to follow fellow Derry internationals Darron Gibson and Shane Duffy into the Ireland senior team and Trap is happy to oblige.

Today, our bumper (there really is no other word) preview of the coming football league season has gone live, a collaborative venture with The Seventy Two. The whole thing is presented in pdf format and is available for free download here or navigate the widget on the right hand side of this page. There is a whole lot to enjoy from a myriad of the blogosphere's best writers, but if your

One of the curiosities of African football has been the relatively undistinguished performance of national teams from the east side of the continent. Ethiopia and Sudan may have won continental titles in 1962 and 1970 but that was before the era when most countries participated, and the cultural and ethnic make up of those states is quite different from the the cluster of countries that tends to

Picking a favourite football kit is an endeavour not too far removed from naming one's favourite dictator – an aberration here, a crime against humanity there, writes John McGee. Our motley band have stepped forth in an attempt to split the Pol Pots from the VI Lenins in this year's bunch. As with most votes there has been no clear winner so the arbiter has been the author of the article.

Walking the plank?

I don't really like Bristol Rovers. As a Bristol City fan, that's not really that surprising. I don't like their kit, their players, their ever-changing roll of managers, and I especially don't like their branding of themselves as Bristol's "Friendly Club", despite the fact they attract only a third of City's fanbase, and sold their old stadium to Ikea.

Earlier this week we looked back to the memorable 1994/5 season and the game that defined Rocket Ronny Rosenthal's career. Going back a little further, 1977/78 saw Tottenham down to the old second division, but for those who were lucky enough to witness the games, it was a memorable campaign.

Stevenage 1-0 Torquay United | Mousinho 41
League 2 Play-off Final | Old Trafford | 11,864

Football seems to have a funny way of making sure justice is done in the end. 15 years after Torquay survived in the Football League at the expense of Stevenage, justice was served yesterday when Boro beat the Gulls to win promotion to the 3rd tier in English Football.

It's a weekend of finals Seems that the simplest thing to do this weekend if provide four tips, one for each of the finals in England. First up is the League Two playoff between Torquay and Stevenage. Torquay only just crept into the playoffs, and then set about comfortably beating Shrewsbury, who only missed out [.

This isn't going to be a normal preview, but then again it's not a normal game. Stevenage travel up to the North West and Old Trafford with League 1 football firmly in their sights. Torquay are the only team that stands between us visiting Bramhall Lane rather than Underhill. The loser will have to make a visit to Accrington again, while the winner gets to take in Preston and Milton Keynes.

Accrington 0-1 Stevenage (Beardsley 89)
BBC Report | Westley Reaction

Stevenage will face Torquay United in the League 2 playoff final at Old Trafford next Saturday. A place in League 1 is up for grabs for the winners after they beat Accrington and Shrewsbury respectively over two legs.

League 2 Playoffs: The prize of beating Accrington is the final at Old Trafford

Stevenage welcome Accrington Stanley to Broadhall Way tomorrow evening in the first leg of the League 2 playoff semi final. I use the term welcome loosely. There's nothing I want more than for us to smash Accrington into oblivion and force them into another season in League 2.

That's the message that Graham Westley is sending out ahead of Boro's crucial clash with Bury tomorrow afternoon. Westley is hoping that the "siege" mentality will have a positive effect on the game, with Boro possibly needing to win to stay in the play-off places. Referee decisions have cost his team in their last 2 away games and GW has planted a little seed in the referee's mind ahead of the game.

Shrewsbury 1-0 Stevenage (Wroe 38)
Highlights | BBC Report

Not good. Five games it is now without a win and it's a run that looks like it has a while to go yet before it gets better. A solitary goal from Nicky Wroe was enough to give the Shrews the victory today. Boro didn't play well, but did create some chances late on as they pushed for a point.

Cutting through football nonsense like a rotary blade through the Merseyside night The Off The Post Podcast is much like transfer deadline day: it's full of unsubstantiated rumours, has an element of desperation about it, and Andy Carroll can play a big part in it. In this week's show we've signed up: a Turkish manager [.

There are plenty of intriguing FA Cup matches scheduled for today including the tricky clash between Everton and Chelsea, where both teams will be tested, as well as Birmingham City against Championship side Coventry City and last but not least, Southampton against Manchester United.

The FA Cup takes over the English weekend schedule, with chances to see Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey. Also, Jozy Altidore and Villarreal's game against Espnayol on Sundayis available on ESPN Deportes. Saturday FA Cup on Fox Soccer Channel: Tim Howard and Everton are home to Chelsea at 7:30am. At 10am, Birmingham City host Coventry City, and Southampton get Manchester United at noon.

LONDON, England Giant-killers Stevenage have been rewarded with a home tie against Reading in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Graham Westley's Stevenage take on Championship Reading looking for a repeat of their famous victory over Newcastle on Saturday. Manchester United, fresh from their home win over Liverpool, face a tough trip to [.

League Two 2010/2011: The Story So Far Goals, goals galore is a post from: Just Football

With nearly half the campaign gone in English football's fourth tier, League Two, we welcome a new contributor to Just Football. Simon Godfrey is here to take us through the season so far.