Football History

Football lost a legendary character in July of this year when Jack Charlton died. A centre-half with the legendary Leeds side of Leeds United and Don Revie, he became a national hero when he, together with his younger brother Bobby Charlton, lifted the World Cup with England. He then went into management and achieved success with the Irish national team, ...

Introduction The Tyne-Wear derby describes the rivalry between the two clubs of Newcastle United and Sunderland.  It is one of the most hotly contested rivalries in English football, focused on two cities that are located some 11 miles apart in the North-East of England. It is so-named because each city has a major river running through it – The Tyne ...

Introduction On 31st March 2019, two teams will meet for the 416th time in what is arguably the most fiercely contested derby in Europe. The Old Firm contest – Celtic vs Rangers is much more than a football match between two sides from the south-west and the east of Glasgow. It is a clash of identities in which a potent ...

When Real Madrid trooped off the pitch in March 2019 having suffered their heaviest defeat in Europe at the hands of Ajax, their latest era of Champions League domination was seemingly brought to an end. The team that had won three successive trophies and four of the last five tournaments had been knocked out of this year’s competition in ignominious ...

Almost sixty years ago the most important name in the history of Liverpool FC became affiliated with the club. 14th December 1959, saw Bill Shankly finally stride into Anfield with the club languishing in the second tier of English Football. He would put into motion the driving force for one of the biggest success stories in the history of world ...

Those lucky enough to have a ticket to watch an Arsenal game or who are taking one of the popular stadium tours, can hardly fail to notice a statue outside the south-east corner of the Emirates of a footballer on his knees celebrating. It commemorates an Arsenal legend and the club’s all-time goal scorer, but this is not somebody from ...

Introduction “He’s come here for a year to get the money and then get out again”, said Tottenham owner Sir Alan Sugar in June 1995 when Arsenal signed Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan in June 1995. By the time the Dutchman announced his retirement from the game 11 years later, he had won 3 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, ...

In what is the story of the summer transfer window so far, Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Italian giants Juventus for a staggering £99.2 million. This is huge money for a thirty-three-year-old, who has so far played over nine hundred games in his stellar career. It is also a signal of intent from Juventus who are looking to keep pace with ...

When Jose Mourinho took over as manager at Manchester United in  May 2016, it appeared to herald a new era for the club which had struggled to successfully manage the transition after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson after 26 years in charge. David Moyes was sacked after barely one season, and although the FA Cup was won under Louis ...

It’s no secret that England have a chequered past when it comes to world cup performance. In recent world cups the expectations placed on England’s performance has rarely been delivered, and that’s no surprise, while England haven’t got as far through the competition as they statistically should, winning the world cup is a monstrous achievement that requires everything to fall ...