Features

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 26 February 2013 It was 125 years ago on Saturday, or 2 March 1888, that William McGregor, then the president of Aston Villa, wrote a letter to a small group of other football clubs, floating the idea that they should organise a league. In doing […]

* David Crompton, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police,  had apologised for “inappropriate and insensitive” remarks in an email last year that essentially accused the families of the Hillsborough victims of lying about the disaster. Ian Herbert reflects on another depressing setback in the struggle for truth and transparency about a disaster that claimed 96 […]

By Brian Sears 22 February 2013 QPR have 12 Premier League games remaining to try to maintain their top-flight status, hanging in the balance as they lie seven points adrift of safety before the weekend’s action. Two wins in 26 league games this season, away at Fulham and at home to Chelsea, tell their own […]

* Robbie Rogers, now a former footballer, played more than 100 games in MLS for Columbus Crew before moving to England, with Leeds. The 25-year-old Californian, who also played 18 times for the USA, came out last week in a blog in which he also announced his retirement. Ian Herbert says Rogers’ declaration that he […]

* Jamie Carragher and Phil Brown have taken up arms for those countless young hopefuls who are told they will be football stars, promised the earth, encouraged to dream – and then cut adrift. Ian Herbert asks why no-one is likely to listen to them. . By Ian Herbert 11 February 2013 Tell me why […]

By Brian Sears 8 February 2013 Winning away from home in the Premier League is not easy. In the entire 21-year-history of revamped top division, only one club has won more than half of their away games, and that is Manchester United, the dominant force of the era. United have played 399 Premier League games […]

* The Africa Cup of Nations has placed the footballing brilliance of the ‘forsaken continent’ back in the spotlight for a few weeks.  But Ian Herbert says there is a more significant question about football in Africa than whether Ghana, Mali, Nigeria or Burkina Faso will win Saturday’s final. . By Ian Herbert 4 February […]

By Brian Sears 1 February 2013 Premier League draws are happening at record rates – and the midweek spate of six draws in 10 games has only cemented that pattern. In the 8,086 Premier League games played since the era of the revamped top division began in 1992, there have been 2,182 draws, or 27 […]

* Pep Guardiola was a serial winner as the coach of Barcelona, making him the most sought-after manager in global football when he took he took a sabbatical from his career at the end of the 2011-12 season. Chelsea were desperate to lure him to Stamford Bridge. Both Manchester clubs and others were reported to […]

* During the Capital One Cup match between Swansea and Chelsea last week, the achievement of the Welsh side in beating the reigning European champions was significantly overlooked the next morning by the incident in which a 17-year-old ballboy, Charlie Morgan, smothered the ball, and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard retrieved it. Ian Herbert asks why we are […]