This is a Barcelona fan’s exploration into the fascist history of Real Madrid and the…
Culture
Mahatma Gandhi’s Experiments with Football – Resistance vs Racism in South Africa
During his stint as a barrister in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi discovered the power of…
Kindness of Strangers – A Liverpool Fan’s Postcards from South Africa
Globetrotting Liverpool fan, Pete Martin, was apprehensive of a racially-tense Cape Town, South Africa. What…
When Barca bowed to Athletic Bilbao – Giant-killing legacy of Fred Pentland
Join us as we go on a mythological exploration of the history of the Basque…
Captain, Leader, Nazi Collaborator – Alexandre Villaplane, Football’s First French Villain
Following the Nazi invasion of France, Alexandre Villaplane swapped the captain’s armband of the French…
The New York Red Bulls – How Consumerism is shortchanging Fandom
The New York Red Bulls had the best midfield in their league, then ‘team-building’ was…
Homage to Catalonia – How Guardiola’s Yellow Ribbon Reveals FA’s Hypocrisy
Pep Guardiola’s yellow ribbon homage to Catalonia reveals worrying aspects of hypocrisy and ignorance of…
“It’s Only A Game” – Why Football Matters
Have you ever been told matter-of-factly, on a miserable Monday morning, that it’s “only a…
The Lords of the Ball – J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legacy and FC Barcelona
The unlikeliest confluence of FC Barcelona with JRR Tolkien’s works of high fantasy. Join us,…
The Football Battalion – Staring Down the Barrel of World War 1 – Part 2
Part 2 of Samiran Mishra’s brilliant account of footballers who sacrificed their lives for the…
Football’s Call of Duty: Playing in the trenches in World War 1 – Part 1
Privileged footballers once played a pivotal role in shaping the world as we know it…
God is Round: Why Football Writing Matters
Citing the examples, anecdotes & words of Coltrane, Van Gogh, Chesterton, Einstein, Mondrian, Cruyff and…
Tacoma Stars: Keeping America’s Footballing Eccentricity Alive
Football in America was fringe culture, and its recent growth has meant a loss of…
The Legacy of Chapecoense – One Year of Loss & Beginnings
One year on from that fateful night that claimed so many lives, Chapecoense have secured qualification to…
The Ballon d’Or: It’s time football stopped trying to be Hollywood
Football has long aspired to bathe in glitz, glamour and gold. Awards like the Ballon…
Lily Parr: The gun which dodged bullets to pioneer women’s football
We look into the story of Lily Parr, the woman who shook the world and…
The Cost of Pearls – The Unbelievable Tale of José Leandro Andrade
Before you arrive at the end, you must start at the beginning. For Part 1,…
The Voodoo Child – The Unbelievable Tale of José Leandro Andrade
A continuation of Football Paradise’s Evolution of the Dribble series. For Part 1, The Search…
Salvador Dali’s Favourite Footballer – Surrealista, Josep Samitier
This is a continuation of Football Paradise’s Evolution of the Dribble series. Part 1 can…
The Search for Football’s Missing Link: The Evolution of Dribbling – Part 1
This is a series on the history of English Football’s Anxieties. This is part 5.…