IT HAS been a year now since big crowds were allowed inside football stadiums. A whole 12 months and the likelihood is that 2020-21 will be a complete “behind closed doors” campaign. The world’s most popular pastime had been consigned … Continue reading When football as spectator sport returns, will we rush to the turnstiles?
APPARENTLY, the architectural style “brutalist” is making a comeback and people are reassessing a much-maligned school of design. Football fans, generally, are nostalgists, so the older the better as far as most are concerned. The favoured materials, for years and … Continue reading Stadiums: Learning to love the brutal building
STADIUM sponsorship is an area of the football market that has yet to fulfil its full potential. While some clubs, such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Juventus have stadiums that bear the name of a sponsor, some countries … Continue reading Stadium naming – a coming explosion?
I RECENTLY entered a football ground for the first time since early March, but it was not to see a match, it was to take part in a tour of Tottenham Hotspur’s outstanding new stadium. This remarkable structure, which resembles … Continue reading Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be
NATION capitals are very often not the seat of power in football – London, for example, has enjoyed periods of domination, but over the course of the past 50 years, Manchester and Liverpool have been England’s dominant cities as far … Continue reading Soccer City: Brasília – an idea that hasn’t captured football
THE FIRST step for many countries was to set a date for the return of their domestic league, albeit behind closed doors. Cardboard cut-out fans, piped atmosphere, video camera images of fans and TV cameras. Russia, among others, is taking … Continue reading Bold and bullish, Russia prepares to open the gates
