“File:Pcio Penarol – Entrada x Galicia.jpg” by Andrea Mazza is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 One of the most famous and least talked about clubs in the world is Penarol of Uruguay. They are also the forerunners of professionalism in the sport, but to get it passed they had to convince the English settlers thatContinue reading “The Origins of Penarol”
Author Archives: Stephen Brandt
Metz beats Barcelona
“Metz – Estadio del FC Metz” by mx.style is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 Giant Killings are the best, the bigger the club, the better the fall. And when it is Barcelona it’s even more newsworthy. The eighties was a time of giant killings and clubs trying to become the next great side out there.Continue reading “Metz beats Barcelona”
Kontantin Beskov: The manager who succeeded behind the iron curtain
Credit: Marcel Antonisse / Anefo / Nationaal Archief / Naamsvermelding-Gelijk Delen 3.0 Nederland (CC BY-SA 3.0 NL) Behind the curtain many players, great clubs and managers were left to be unknown. The great Dynamo Kiev sides of the seventies and eighties are the only sides that are commonly known, but that really misses the beautyContinue reading “Kontantin Beskov: The manager who succeeded behind the iron curtain”
China Tours the UK
Credit: Pexels China should be better in the world sport, the sheer number of people who play sports in the country would make you think there should be the next David Speedie, or Simon Gardner. Or even the next Neymar. When China has put their mind to sports they’ve turned out some very good players.Continue reading “China Tours the UK”
John Thomson: The sad death of a young footballer
Death isn’t a good thing to talk about. Dying at any age is a travesty, so much of what we see nowadays is all about death. There have been players who have died while playing football, either on the pitch or just afterwards. The sport has come so far in so many aspects, and theyContinue reading “John Thomson: The sad death of a young footballer”
Romanian Football: The Golden Age
The eighties were slightly as transformative for the world as the sixties were. The only change massively in the eighties was the fashion got back to it’s normality. No more bell bottoms and weird colors. This isn’t an article on fashion, its on European football in the mid eighties. Steaua Bucharest had a fun rideContinue reading “Romanian Football: The Golden Age”
Tales from yesteryear: Charlton sign a great
By Stephen Brandt – @StephenCBrandt Sometimes players show up at clubs no one expected to see. In the 1980s Charlton brought in one of the greatest strikers in the game, Allan Simonsen. If he popped up at any other club, it wouldn’t have been noteworthy. Charlton on the other hand wasn’t as well known asContinue reading “Tales from yesteryear: Charlton sign a great”
Team Hawaii: A throwback to the era of NASL
By Stephen Brandt – @StephenCBrandt The original North American Soccer League (NASL) was a lot of fun. The glitz and glamour of the era was one of the fun points of the sport. By now with the hipsters taking interest in the retro side of the sport, we have been inundated by thought pieces ofContinue reading “Team Hawaii: A throwback to the era of NASL”
The European history of Birmingham City
By Stephen Brandt – @StephenCBrandt Birmingham City has a history in European and Domestic Cup finals. They also have very good to great players in their history, albeit the players have gone onto other clubs. Such is the case for clubs out of the top division. Not every club can become Leeds, Nottingham Forest orContinue reading “The European history of Birmingham City”
The Luzhniki Disaster
By Stephen Brandt – @StephenCBrandt The 80s were bad in football, the amount of disasters that happened was down to a lack of institutional control. While fans, and stadiums did fall apart or fans rushed the pitch to their death the authorities were falling the game. The Taylor Report after Hillsborough showed how bad leadership,Continue reading “The Luzhniki Disaster”
Vale of Leven – A truly unique part of Scottish Football History
By Stephen Brandt – @StephenCBrandt Scottish football is a long strange tale so was the existence of Vale of Leven. There’s many stops, starts and Old Firm mentions to fill thousands of books. There is more to the game in Scotland than the Old Firm and the once famous New Firm. Some clubs due toContinue reading “Vale of Leven – A truly unique part of Scottish Football History”
