Features

By Nick Harris 29 March 2010 When Manchester United take on Bayern Munich in the first leg of their quarter-final in the Champions League in Germany on Tuesday night, they’ll do so with a squad that’s slightly older, slightly shorter and almost twice as loyal when measured by how long their players have stayed with […]

29 March 2010 Can you identify the sporting arena? We take an aerial view of a ball park, football stadium, marathon course, golf course, Games venue, race track, iconic arena, athletic theatre (some literally theatres), pitch, park, stretch of water or wherever else sport takes place. And we ask you to identify it with the […]

By Brian Sears 26 March 2010 As every musical statto knows, Queen’s 1984 hit single, ‘It’s a Hard Life’, derives in part from the Leoncavallo opera, ‘Pagliacci’, and close to the start of the song, Freddie Mercury sings: This is a tricky situation I’ve only got myself to blame It’s just a simple fact of […]

25 March 2010 Can you identify the sporting arena? We take an aerial view of a ball park, football stadium, marathon course, golf course, Games venue, race track, iconic arena, athletic theatre (some literally theatres), pitch, park, stretch of water or wherever else sport takes place. And we ask you to identify it with the […]

By Paul Marshall and Nick Harris 21 March 2010 The exploits of the British runner William Sichel and his competitors in the current 1,000-mile race in Athens are extraordinary, but these “long distance” athletes are not products of the modern age alone. There was a time in the Victorian era when such races were staged […]

By Brian Sears 19 March 2010 Liverpool, beware. Premier League goal scoring this season remains on course to hit record heights, and Liverpool’s opponents this weekend, Manchester United, remain one of three clubs still in the hunt for the Holy Grail-esque “50 goals at home in a Premier League season”. Now some people might argue […]

By Nick Harris 18 March 2010 . Joel Glazer’s sitting at his desk in Tampa, fiddling with the green n’ gold scarf wrapped around his neck, and tossing ideas around. “Hey Michelle,” he shouts to his secretary. “Can you find me a supplier for these mufflers? We gotta get some for the OT megastore. We […]

16 March 2010 Can you identify the sporting arena? We take an aerial view of a ball park, football stadium, marathon course, golf course, Games venue, race track, iconic arena, athletic theatre (some literally theatres), pitch, park, stretch of water or wherever else sport takes place. And we ask you to identify it with the […]

JOHN ROBERTS wrote for the Daily Express, The Guardian, the Daily Mail and The Independent, where he was the tennis correspondent for 20 years. He collaborated with Bill Shankly on the Liverpool manager’s autobiography, ghosted Kevin Keegan’s first book, and has written books on George Best, Manchester United’s Busby Babes (The Team That Wouldn’t Die) and Everton (The Official Centenary […]

By Brian Sears 12 March 2010 Some things in life are barely credible, and some are so incredible you’d need your head examined if you fell for them. And in the tier above that, you have Chelsea’s record of consistency in the Premier League. Except their consistency is a provable fact of extraordinary quality. We’re […]