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  • A Nod to Loic Perrin and Other One-Club Men

    A one-club man is essentially a player who spends his entire career at a single club, largely out of loyalty and love for the club. The player often becomes synonymous with the ethos of the club and the community. The idea of a one-club man is becoming less and less common as football becomes increasingly…

  • Wolverhampton Wanderers, Champions of the USA

    Soccer, as the Americans call it, has had its fair share of ups and downs in the land of the free (spending) and the home of the brave (rule changes). Highlights of them trying to make the game more appealing to American audiences include replacing the offside rule with a “Blue Line”, penalty shots that…

  • Racing Club de Strasbourg: The History Behind Les Bleu et Blanc

    The full-time whistle blew on May 21st, 2022 and Racing Club Strasbourg Alsace’s players found out that what could have been a famous day in the club’s history was relegated to one they would want to forget. It had not mattered that they were losing 4-0 to Ligue 1 giants Olympique Marseille because they were…

  • Saint-Etienne: A Sleeping Giant In Freefall

    Founded in 1919 (now known as Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire), the club based in the Rhone-Alps region is the joint record holder of the number of Ligue 1 titles. Les Verts have won ten titles, a number which Qatari-backed PSG equalled with their title victory last season.    The football club was founded by…

  • When Dictators Stepped in the Way of Big-Money Transfers

    Whilst doing research for an article about the decline of Romanian football, the story of Nicolae Dobrin came up. He was a brilliant footballer whose career began at 14 and he helped his fairly unknown site, Arges Pitesti, defeat the mighty Real Madrid in a European Cup tie. This prompted the Spanish club to make…

  • Boxing Day 1963: A Historic Day in English Football

    We all know the meme by now, every year on Boxing Day every football meme page and sports section of the tabloids post the same picture. When it first came about people genuinely shared it around to illustrate how much football had changed. Fast forward to a few years later and it has become a…

  • Argentina and France’s Road to the World Cup Final: Part One — France’s Early Beginnings

    A third star on the jersey of its national team is something most nations dream of. The third star went to Argentina this time, France being bitterly disappointed as they failed to make up some ground on Brazil, Germany, and Italy. With the tournament still fresh in our memories, let’s take a look at how…

  • The History of Father-Son Duos in the World Cup

    In the 87th minute of the 2022 World Cup Final, referee Szymon Marciniak awarded a yellow card to Marcus Thuram, for diving. Apart from the very keen eyes of the ref, this moment stood out as the cameras immediately panned to Lilian, Marcus’ father, smiling coyly in the stands.   If the spot kicks had…

  • North Korea’s Magical Summer of ’66 in Middlesbrough

    When asked what team in red the natives of Middlesbrough support, any of you will yell out: why Middlesbrough FC of course! However, a few keen World Cup enthusiasts might point out, that there is, in fact, another red-shirted team, that the natives hold dear in their hearts. That team, however unlikely, is North Korea.…

  • The Staggering Decline of Romanian Football

    We took part in the inaugural World Cup. Our best performance at a World Cup was reaching the quarterfinal, after knocking out Argentina. We also reached the quarterfinal at the European Championships, coming out of a group containing Germany, Portugal and England. Our club sides reached the finals of the Champions League and Europa League,…