When Everton squeaked past Chelsea last weekend it provided a huge boost to the Toffees’ chances of survival, something that was celebrated with raucous gusto by the Goodison crowd of over 39,000. The influence exerted by the home supporters that started the night before and reached a climax in the last frenetic minutes of theContinue reading “The welcome return of the 12th man and home comforts”
Category Archives: Guardian
Qatar 2022 – The most unusual of World Cups
The twenty-second World Cup Finals will be unusual in many ways. Not only will Qatar become the first Arab nation to host the World Cup but also the first to have never qualified (with the exception of Uruguay who were the hosts in the inaugural tournament in 1930). With a population of just under 2.9Continue reading “Qatar 2022 – The most unusual of World Cups”
Life after football – when academy players are released
Last week Crystal Palace launched the first ever comprehensive after care programme for released academy players. The Football Mine will cover this subject in two parts, Part 1 looks at the key issues and Palace’s bold initiative. Over the next few weeks hundreds of teenage academy players will find out if they are going toContinue reading “Life after football – when academy players are released”
Arsenal’s century of Premier League red cards:- Winterburn to Gabriel
Gabriel’s second yellow card in the space of a few minutes against Manchester City on New Years’ Day handed the champions the initiative in a match in which they had struggled to assert their customary superiority. The successive yellow cards were reminiscent of Arsenal’s first red card in the Premier League when Nigel Winterburn receivedContinue reading “Arsenal’s century of Premier League red cards:- Winterburn to Gabriel”
The Football Mine 