Images c/o Sebastian Barros Instagram @sebbarros The Middlesex County Football League is one of the fifty leagues operating at Step 11 in the pyramid of English football with almost 1,000 clubs represented. Every Sunday morning, hundreds of matches dotted around the country are contested but there is one club, that stands out from the crowd.Continue reading “Grenfell Athletic: How a football club brought hope to a devastated community.”
Category Archives: Chelsea
Managerial Merry-Go-Round: Episode 6
Photo c/o larry_rw Unsplash.com The managerial merry-go-round shows no signs of slowing down, indeed it appears to be gathering pace. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s dismissal was the sixth in the Premier League this season and we are only in Week 12, so less than a third of the way through. By contrast there were only fourContinue reading “Managerial Merry-Go-Round: Episode 6”
The Stat Pack – the commentator’s bible.
You do not know his face nor his name but you will have experienced his work many, many times while watching televised football. As a freelance broadcast journalist and assistant producer Dave works for, amongst others, BT Sport and Premier League Productions – the company responsible for broadcasting the Premier League around the world. HeContinue reading “The Stat Pack – the commentator’s bible.”
Sportswashing doesn’t wash with Geordies
A few years ago Palace were playing Newcastle at Selhurst and there was the customary sizeable following from the North east. The game itself, a pedestrian goalless draw, did not live long in the memory, but one particular aspect that occurred off the field did. At one stage Mike Ashley was spotted in the standsContinue reading “Sportswashing doesn’t wash with Geordies”
Queens Park Book Festival with Pat Nevin and Ricky Hill
At last weekend’s Queens Park Book Festival I had the pleasure of hosting a football panel with Pat Nevin and Ricky Hill, who both had books published earlier this year. A common theme that unites the two former internationals is that, for different reasons, both were considered as outsiders within the football world, for exampleContinue reading “Queens Park Book Festival with Pat Nevin and Ricky Hill”
Game, set, match
Italy’s success at the Euros was underpinned by the innovations and imagination of their set piece routines. The man primarily responsible was a Venetian banker by trade who spent much of his spare time as an assistant coach in the lower leagues of Italian football before getting the opportunity to work in top flight football.Continue reading “Game, set, match”
The 300 Club Part Two: Noble by name, nobleman by nature
As West Ham were cruising to an emphatic 4-1 victory over Leicester they indulged themselves in one of those prolonged sessions of keep ball, with each successive pass greeted by the joyous olés of the home crowd. There were only two minutes remaining and it looked as though this could go on until the finalContinue reading “The 300 Club Part Two: Noble by name, nobleman by nature”
Palace go global as they join multi-club partnership
Lost amidst the first week of the European Championship and the announcement of next season’s Premier League fixtures it would have been easy to miss the news that Crystal Palace had joined the Global Football Alliance. Described as a strategic partnership between clubs operating in different countries Palace became the sixteenth member of a networkContinue reading “Palace go global as they join multi-club partnership”
The 2021 Play-Offs: Will the Curse finally be broken?
As the build-up to the Play-Offs weekend intensifies, a slight dampener was cast on proceedings. Unlike the FA Cup Final which was deemed ‘a test event’ with Chelsea and Leicester City receiving around 10,000 tickets each, only 4,000 tickets were made available to each of the Play-Offs finalists. Although an extra 2,000 tickets have nowContinue reading “The 2021 Play-Offs: Will the Curse finally be broken?”
Fan engagement – now is time to act
This week’s publication of the 2019/20 Fan Engagement Index was understandably delayed because of the Covid pandemic, but ultimately it could hardly have been better timed. In light of the protests at Old Trafford last Sunday against the owners and the universal condemnation and subsequent implosion of the European Super League [see https://bit.ly/3gziruc%5D, the thornyContinue reading “Fan engagement – now is time to act”
The Football Mine 