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  • A Frantic & Fascinating Finale: The Story of the 1998/99 UEFA European Cup Winners’ Cup

    As the 2020/21 European football campaign draws to a close for the summer, the upcoming 2021/22 season will once again bring with it, new hopes, expectations, surprises, disappointment amongst many other emotions for football fans everywhere. It is also noteworthy that 2021/22 will be the first time in 23 years that a new football season…

  • Moments of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup – Part 2: The Barcelona Bears — Rangers 1971/722

    This is part two of a series on the best moments of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. To read “Part 1: Slovan Bratislava 1968/69,” click here.   Glasgow’s two main football teams, Celtic and Rangers, share a long-standing rivalry going back over a century. Rangers may have more league titles (55), but when it comes…

  • Eric Cantona’s Trials and Tribulations at Montpellier

    Eric Cantona was an enigma. He was one of the few footballers who embraced the essence of being ‘crazy’ and revelled in his image of being a ‘rebel’. Because of his actions, Cantona acquired the tag of being a ‘journeyman’ who changed clubs as a result of his longing for a place which he could…

  • The History of Paris Saint-Germain’s Ultras

    Paris Saint-Germain are known for a lot of reasons. Their dominance in the French league, their entertaining collapses in the Champions League, their willingness to dump a mere €402 million on two attacking players despite having a midfield that’s overrun every time they face decent opposition, and of course, their infamous ultras.    Known as…

  • Rangers’ Remarkable 2008 UEFA Cup Run

    In football, there are an elite set of teams within which a philosophy of refusing to settle for second best is instilled within their roots and fortified by their fanbase. In Scotland, a seemingly respectable second place would be deemed as humiliation by both Celtic and Rangers and only the fierce Glasgow rivals. When it…

  • Deja Vu – Arsenal’s Worst Premier League Campaign

    This season has been at times calamitous for Arsenal. Finishing eighth, crashing out of the domestic cup competitions and two tepid performances in the Europa League semi-final against Villarreal has left a bitter taste in the mouth of fans. Add the vociferous protests against owner Stan Kroenke over the doomed European Super League, but also…

  • The Rise and Fall of Eskişehirspor

    Last season, İstanbul Başakşehir won the league title; this season, they are fighting relegation. Whilst Başakşehir are the most extreme and recent example of these drastic swings in form, they’re far from the only club that’s had its share of highs and lows. In Turkey, it is clear that flying high for a certain amount…

  • The UEFA Europa Conference League: A New Iteration of Bygone Continental Competitions

    The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), European football’s administrative body, have had talks regarding establishing a third continental competition since late 2015. Commencing at the start of the 2021/22 season, The Europa Conference League is the fruit borne from the years of discussion.   This tournament is designed to give teams from nations smaller…

  • AZ & Elftal: An Unusual Coincidence

    Wout Weghorst’s repeated exclusion brings to the forefront a somewhat strange history of players groomed at the Alkmaar club and their position in the Netherlands national team.   It’s business as usual for Wout Weghorst. The in-form striker was on target once again in VfL Wolfsburg’s 2-1 win over Werder Bremen. The 28-year-old’s 17th league…

  • The Rise and Fall of FC Dnipro

    At around 10 pm local time on the 27th May 2015, Ukraine’s fifth-largest city of Dnipropetrovsk rejoiced and stood in awe as Nikola Kalinić scored the goal to allow the minnows of European football, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to take the lead in the biggest match of the club’s 97-year tenure; the UEFA Europa League Final. Though…