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Blackburn Rovers – A Tumultuous Tale
Blackburn Rovers, the Lancashire club that has had to trade the acclimatisation of success for the lesser expectations of lower league football over the last decade, has found themselves in freefall and at risk of a second relegation to League One in the club’s history. The legendary late Jack Walker is still living and breathing…
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Crystal Palace: A Change Has Come
Today’s article begins with some trivia. Can you name me the only London-based Premier League team whose home stadium is south of the Thames? If you answered Crystal Palace, give yourself a point. I’m going to be examining the pride of South London (since they’re its only Premier League side) and their relationship with…
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Financial Inadequacies and Inflated Egos – The Demise of FC Schalke 04
When the average football fan hears the name Schalke, they think of the hugely popular Bundesliga side that has often tested the steel of the mighty Bayern Munich and laid claim to the latter rounds of Europe’s elite cup competitions. But, in 2024, the future of the seven-time champions of German football remains uncertain as…
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Inside the Politicised World of Hungarian Football
On the 24th of May 2023, the Romanian Cup Final was set to be disputed between current holders Sepsi OSK and Universitatea Cluj. The game ended in a 0-0 draw and extra time was not sufficient to split the two teams. Then in the penalty shootout, Sepsi managed to cling on and reverse their fortunes…
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Bulgarian Football’s Harrowing Descent into Corruption and Mediocrity
On July 16th, 1994, 12:30 pm, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the third-place playoff game of the World Cup was about to start between Sweden and the surprise of the tournament, Bulgaria. Even though the Swedes would smash the Bulgarians 4-0, it was nonetheless one of the finest achievements of an Eastern European…
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TP Mazembe: Ascension and Admonitions
The greatest upset of the last season’s CAF Champions League took place before the group stage even began. Ugandan Premier League champions, Vipers SC, snatched an unlikely victory in a penalty shootout against four-time CAF CL winners, TP Mazembe. Vipers became just the second Ugandan club to ever compete in the competition, the first since KCCA…
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Reading FC: A Royal Disaster
Fans will only have to go back ten years to see Reading were a Premier League outfit, albeit only for a year. Their ten years in the EFL since has been tumultuous for the Berkshire-based team. Reading have seen finishes as high as third and seventh, whilst also narrowly missing out on relegation on multiple…
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Birmingham’s Struggle for Acceptance: How Birmingham United Is Changing Grassroots Football
If anyone knows me, they know I will spread Birmingham propaganda at any opportunity. For too long this great city has been unnoticed. However recently, its inhabitants have been flying the flag high. With Jude Bellingham representing the West Midlands in Madrid and Jobe doing the business up north in Sunderland, Birmingham is becoming known…
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A Lesson in Club Mismanagement: How Hertha Became Berlin’s Second-Best Club
The darling of football writers making lists about unsuccessful capital cities in terms of football, Hertha have always been viewed as a sleeping giant. Considered to be among the best teams in the country in the interwar years, Hertha’s fanbase and catchment area was sliced in half with the construction of the Berlin Wall. Fans…
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Leeds United: Making Sense of What Went Wrong in the Club’s Relegation
The last time Leeds United were relegated from England’s top-flight, overspending and ultimately missing out on the Champions League had financially crippled the club. Run-ins with administration, football’s pantomime villain Ken Bates and a second relegation had seen a club dazzling in Europe’s ultimate competitions swap away trips to the San Siro and Mestalla to…
