Romanian football in the 1930s – Balkan cream
IT WAS 35 years ago that Steaua Bucharest became the first Romanian team to win a major European prize and also the first from the east … Continue reading Romanian football in the 1930s – Balkan cream
Category: Teams
Lorimer of Leeds, hard shot in a hard team
THE LEEDS UNITED team of the club’s golden era under Don Revie has lost another of its shining stars with the passing of Peter Lorimer. He was an integral part of Leeds’ classic side, a group of highly-skilled and highly-motivated … Continue reading Lorimer of Leeds, hard shot in a hard team
Rangers 1963-64 – a final flourish for the 60s
THE mid-1960s through to the 1970s was Celtic’s time in Scotland, Jock Stein’s side winning almost everything on offer. Before the tide turned in Glasgow, Rangers completed a memorable treble in 1963-64. Ibrox Park regulars would have found it hard … Continue reading Rangers 1963-64 – a final flourish for the 60s
The greatest goal Pelé ever scored
IN RECENT years, the reputation of “football’s greatest-ever player” has been somewhat tarnished, and it is now widely pre-supposed that there’s nothing he won’t lend his name to, whether that’s FIFA’s improbably diverse list of the world’s greatest living players … Continue reading The greatest goal Pelé ever scored
The Saint – Liverpool’s hero of 1965
IAN ST. JOHN became part of an exclusive band of footballers – he scored the winning goal in a Wembley FA Cup final, a crouching header that broke the hearts of Don Revie’s fledgling Leeds United and gave Liverpool their … Continue reading The Saint – Liverpool’s hero of 1965
Great Reputations: Barcelona 1974 – the Cruyff effect
IT IS difficult to comprehend today, but between 1960 and 1973, Barcelona failed to win Spain’s La Liga. Every major club in history has its occasional lean spell, Manchester United and Liverpool, for example, did not win the English league … Continue reading Great Reputations: Barcelona 1974 – the Cruyff effect
Eusébio the great
SEVENTY-NINE years ago, in Mozambique, Eusébio da Silva Ferreira was born. It’s fashionable to liberally throw the word “legend” around, but very few footballers actually achieve that status in their lifetime, let alone when they pass from view and their … Continue reading Eusébio the great
Colin Bell: Dear Mr. Sexton….sign Nijinsky of Manchester City
BETWEEN 1968 and 1971, the late Dave Sexton, Chelsea’s softly-spoken and erudite manager, received a string of letters – written with a duck-egg green Osmiroid pen – that highlighted the skills and attributes of a midfielder plying his trade with … Continue reading Colin Bell: Dear Mr. Sexton….sign Nijinsky of Manchester City
Lewandowski, Messi and CR7 still at the top
THE Guardian top 100 players is always an interesting end-of-year exercise and almost always reflects the shape of the past 12 months. But this year’s top 20 has a very disconcerting look about it – of the 20, seven are … Continue reading Lewandowski, Messi and CR7 still at the top
