MY Father, a Dane, did not like football, he saw it as over-rated and over-hyped. But in 1992, just a few months before he retired from his job as a social club manager, he joined in the celebrations when Denmark became European champions. On the night that Denmark beat Germany 2-0 in the Euro 1992 final, he donned a huge Viking helmet and a red … Continue reading A Danish football hero
ANYONE who knows anything about the early history of Association Football will have heard of the name Willie Foulke. At 24-stone, Foulke, who played in goal for Sheffield United, Chelsea and Bradford City, and made a fleeting appearance for England, holds the record for the heaviest professional footballer in Britain, if not the world. I came across some ancient, although surprisingly clear, footage of Willie … Continue reading In search of Willie, the Giant Custodian
CHELSEA fans will never forget Peter Osgood and Ian Hutchinson, they were, after all, two of the key figures in the club’s unforgettable 1969-70 FA Cup triumph. These two players helped define an era, a swaggering Chelsea team that was fashionable, exciting, hard as nails at times and confident to the point of arrogance. But it is not always appreciated that their time together – … Continue reading Great Partnerships: Osgood and Hutchinson – short-lived but sensational
IF YOU’VE watched the film, The Damned United, you don’t necessarily come away with a positive view of Leeds United under Don Revie or the two legends in Leeds’ midfield in the mid-1960s to early 1970s, Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles. Along with Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter, no other players epitomised the stance adopted by Revie and his team in that period. Not … Continue reading Great partnerships: Bremner and Giles – players of their time
WE WATCHED in awe. We admired his physique, his energy, his boldness and his power. He was 1972 personified: trendy, confident and, strangely for a footballer, radically cool. Günter Netzer was of his time, anti-establishment and defiant. He looked like he would be just as easily at home as a member of the Velvet Underground or part of a student protest movement. It was April … Continue reading Netzer Vierundneunzig
THE Latest report by CIES Football Observatory, outlining player valuations in the “big five” European leagues, underlines once more the undeniable power of the English Premier League. There are 27 players listed with a valuation of more than € 100 million and 16 of them currently play for Premier League teams. Although the top valuation is 20 year-old Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain, who is … Continue reading Premier power shows through in valuations
IN 1969, when football in eastern Europe was still something of a mystery, Jozef Adamec finished joint 15thin the Ballon d’Or voting, with the same number of points as Manchester United’s Bobby Charlton. This was no mean feat and underlined that Adamec had made a significant impact on football writers across the continent. This week, Slovak football is in mourning for the man who became … Continue reading Farewell Adamec, the hero of ’68
CHELSEA fans will never forget Peter Osgood and Ian Hutchinson, they were, after all, two of the key figures in the club’s unforgettable 1969-70 FA Cup triumph. These two players helped define an era, a swaggering Chelsea team that was fashionable, exciting, hard as nails at times and confident to the point of arrogance. But it is not always appreciated that their time together – … Continue reading Great Partnerships: Osgood and Hutchinson – short-lived but sensational
HE MAY have been blonde and an Ajax player, but Ruud Geels is rarely mentioned in conversations when the great Dutch masters are discussed. Could it be that he was prematurely balding in a time when long, flowing hair was de rigeur, or the fact he was overshadowed by more celebrated players. Or perhaps it was because he never moved out of the Benelux region. More likely … Continue reading Ruud Geels – tradesman of the penalty area
ENGLAND’S football clubs may be providing more players for the 2018 World Cup than any other country, but its own squad for Russia has less experience of playing league football abroad than any other participating nation. Every member of England’s squad plays for English clubs. No other squad can match this from the 32 heading for Russia. According to data compiled by the European Club … Continue reading England’s stay-at-home squad
APRIL 23 1975. A few days earlier, Ray Wilkins had been appointed captain of Chelsea. The Blues had lost 2-0 at Tottenham and the writing was on the wall. I was in the City of London, having an interview with Barclays Bank and decided to visit Stamford Bridge to see Chelsea play Sheffield United. It was looking desperate for the club I had supported since … Continue reading The spirit of ’77 fades away – Ray Wilkins
WE’VE become used to seeing familiar names at the forefront of world football. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated polls and awards since 2007 and the recent Guardian ranking of the top 100 players – arguably the best list of its kind – places Messi top and Ronaldo second. Recently, Ronaldo was named the winner of the Ballon d’Or for the fifth time. These … Continue reading Signals and signs: Learnings from the Guardian 100
ANYONE who has attended a “sportsman’s evening” featuring footballers from the 1970s will be familiar with the script: laddish dialogue, tales of drink, women and gambling, blue jokes and so on and so forth. Sometimes, it’s not worth meeting your heroes, men you might have only seen on Match of the Day or in the tabloid press. After a while, stories of how “I once … Continue reading Best and Hudson, Keegan and Cruyff: Playboys v Smart boys
