Italy End England’s Euro Dream – On To Brazil 2014
England have been knocked out of a tournament on a penalty shoot-out. A phrase that could be applied to the last eight competitive tournaments in which they have participated. There have been many different versions of football kit, different tactics using different...
Croatia – Out of the Euro 2012, But Not the Headlines
Croatia may have been knocked out of the 2012 European Championships by Spain but their fans are ensuring that they remain in the spotlight by misbehaving. Three times in two weeks of matches the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has drawn the attention of UEFA, and...
England Get Their Noses Over the Line to Top Group D
The group stages of the Euros have now finished and the quarter-finalists have been decided. Who do you think will make the next round? The good news is that, after the 1- 0 victory over Ukraine, England go through to the quarter-finals topping their group and...
Unveiled Premier League Fixtures Show Tasty First Encounters
The fixtures for the 2012/13 season have been released and they have thrown up a few juicy looking fixtures to kick off a new season which begins on August 18th. Who are your team facing first? Champions Manchester City will defend their title against newly promoted...
Rooney Believes – The Three Lions Roar
It's taken two games and the whole pre-tournament build-up for someone to say it. Nobody so far has dared, and by everyone saying they have low expectations it seems to have made those four words taboo... Now Wayne Rooney has blown it for everyone though, he's come...
Euro 2012 Heroes and Villains – and the Triumph of Greece
As we enter into the final round of the European Championships we are starting to see the true character of teams, including dark horses and giants that failed to wake up for the tournament. Who do you fancy to win now? The Netherlands have put in a frankly shocking...
Russia Punished for Unexpectedly Mischievious Fans
A few weeks before Euro 2012 kicked off there was a lot of speculation about the safety of both the players and the fans regarding both racism and violence from the host nations. A week in and the only problems have come from the Russian fans. How should it be...
Tough Times for Harry and The Hotspurs
It’s all gone wrong for Harry Redknapp recently. What now for Harry and Tottenham? Not long ago his future looked very rosy indeed. On February 8th Tottenham were third in the league at one point, 10 points ahead of Arsenal, he emerged as the favourite to replace...
Can Kagawa Do More Than Sell Manchester United Shirts?
Manchester United made waves in the transfer market recently by acquiring Japanese international Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund. Was it more than just a cynical ploy to sell football shirts? Was he signed purely for "footballing reasons"? United signed him on a...
Euro 2012: The Good, The Bad… The Expected
The first round of games from Euro 2012 have been played and to be honest, it’s not yielded many surprises. The most entertaining game was the opener, co-hosts Poland vs Greece. As far as opening games go, everyone thought this was a bit of a damp squib before it...
Cardiff’s New Football Kit – Progress or Turncoat?
Last week Cardiff City announced their intention to change the colour of their home football kit from the traditional blue to red. Fans are definitely seeing red. They have also decided to remove the bluebird as the main picture from the badge, to be replaced with a...
Refs’ Powers of Postponement
UEFA have revealed their plans to deal with potential racist attacks at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. They are giving referees the power to abandon matches or at the very least set events in motion to involve the local police, should any incidents occur. The...
The Day of the Young Manager
The Day of the Young Manager Struggling Midlands side Aston Villa have appointed Paul Lambert as their new manager, making him the second manager from the smaller Premier League teams to move on to bigger pastures. Will he bring success back to Villa Park? Lambert's...
Kelly, England and the Ferdinand Snub
Martin Kelly's call up to the England squad for the European Championships has been the catalyst for an explosion of debate about the exclusion of Rio Ferdinand. Should Ferdinand have been picked? When Roy Hodgson didn't select him for the England squad citing...
Barton – Bad Boy or Embarrassment?
Once again Joey Barton has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. How much longer will he be tolerated? This time it is for a brawl outside a Liverpool nightclub which involved himself and two other men. It happened in the early hours of June 4th outside...
England, In-ger-land, Injure Land
With the confirmation that Gary Cahill will not be able to go to the Euros coming the same week that Lampard and Barry are ruled out, will there be anyone left to play bearing Three Lions on their chest? Hodgson had his work cut out for him when he took up the England...
Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool’s Poisoned Chalice
Swansea's hero Brendan Rodgers has been appointed as the next Liverpool manager. Whether this will prove to be a positive career move for him remains to be seen. Every Liverpool manager since Rafa Benítez has had trouble meeting the high standards and lofty...
Artificial Football – Fake Pitches and the Football League
The Football League once again has artificial football pitches on its agenda for discussion at their AGM this weekend. Should they stay or should they go? The meeting, which will be held in Portugal and will feature representatives from the 72 clubs, will re-visit the...
Chelsea’s Garden of Eden
The Premier League is in a position to be set alight next season as Chelsea sign Eden Hazard from Lille. The Belgian international announced his chosen club to be 'the champions of Europe' on Twitter, after speculation that he wanted to go to Manchester and play for...
Sol Campbell vs Poland/Ukraine
Sol Campbell has spoken out about the threat of rascist abuse in Poland and Ukraine for the Euros. He's worried that England fans might 'come home in a coffin', and he could be right. Poland and Ukraine are two countries that have always had issues with their...
Sepp Blatter and the Penalty Tragedy
Last week Sepp Blatter asked Bayern Munich's honorary president to come up with an alternative to the 'tragedy of penalties'. Is there a better way? He said that 'football should not go to one on one' and claimed that when it went to penalty kicks, football 'lost it's...
A Tale of Two Strikers
With the end of the Premier League season the usual purge of squads is being executed by managers, owners and players wanting change. Amidst the flurry of departures has been a couple of important revelations. On one side of the spectrum lies Didier Drogba, West...
Will Great Britain Get Kitted Out for Team GB?
That Team GB will even take the field of play during the 2012 Olympic Games is something of an achievement, following heated debates over everything from the manager, the professionalism of the players and the independence of the four Football Associations of the...
The Steel City Becomes A Football Furnace
Charlton Athletic were promoted to the Championship by the beginning of April. The real focus point on League One though has been the rivalry between the Owls and the Blades – United vs. Wednesday. Will one of the oldest rivalries in football make it into the smelting...
Can Hodgson Manage How Much England Expects?
After months of gossip, rumour, debate and no little bit of soul-searching at the FA, Roy Hodgson is finally about to make his competitive debut for England after stepping into the shoes kicked off by Fabio Capello back in early February. So how well do you think...
Has FIFA Finally Scored Some Goal-line Technology?
It's interesting that what would otherwise have been a low-key footballing occasion in the shape of the Hampshire FA Senior Cup Final between Eastleigh and AFC Totton, became one of the most eagerly observed games of 2012. On May 16th, the Spitfires kicked off against...
Man United’s Wake-Up Call From the Noisy Neighbours
Few final weeks in the history of the Premier League can have captured the imagination of the domestic game and far beyond these shores as the titanic battle just past. It pitted the Blues and Reds into a fiery wrestle which had far-reaching ramifications and a solid...
Manchester United Check In With 2012/2013 Kit
With the football season drawing to a dramatic finale, thoughts of supporters inevitably turn to the next campaign on the other side of the summer, and the possible signings, preparation, pre-season friendlies, and the new kit which your team will be running out in....
Emmerdale vs. York City Charity Football Match
York City face their toughest opponents yet – Emmerdale! It’s not often that fans of well-loved soaps and fans of the beautiful game of football find common ground - in fact, it’s a rarity! But with the upcoming match of York City versus stars of the popular soap...
Villa Are Safe – But Is McLeish?
With one game of the season left, and barring Norwich and Bolton scoring at will on Sunday, Aston Villa have secured their right to play top flight football next season. But the bigger challenge for Alex McLeish may be ensuring that he is still in charge for the new...