Football
Why squash deserves a place in the Olympics
Thank god for the Commonwealth Games: at least they gave us a brief respite from football transfer stories. Instead of…
Alastair Cook is world class. Steven Gerrard isn’t
This time last year, England’s cricketers were 2-0 up against Australia, two thirds of the way towards their third consecutive…
Joan Collins’s diary: Why I gave up on Ascot – and where I go instead
Can there be anything more perfect than early July in London, when the sun is shining, the sky a cloudless…
The bits of Magna Carta that David Cameron won’t want taught in schools
The not-so-great charter David Cameron wants every child to be taught about Magna Carta. Some bits he might want to…
If you thought this World Cup was weird, take a look at Brazil 1950
Old world Brazil has struggled to get ready for the World Cup, even though it hosted it before, in 1950.…
The true gods of football (hint: they don’t work for Fifa)
The World Cup has started, and the gods of football will be in their heaven for a whole month. Not…
Now even Fifa’s dinosaurs have learned to cry racism
Are all white women really prostitutes who should be avoided, as some children at those schools in Birmingham were apparently…
Did anyone really think that Qatar won the World Cup fairly?
I suppose the appalling shock to the soul that was occasioned by the allegation that Qatar bribed its way to…
What’s right with Saracens — and José Mourinho’s Chelsea
It’s hard to love Saracens rugby club — their centre is called Bosch, a word that also describes their bulldozing…
Five reasons to be cheerful about British sport (yes, even the cricket)
James Cook’s third voyage as an English captain ended in disaster, stabbed to death and disembowelled by a pack of…
The vengeance of Alex Ferguson
For a quarter of a century Sir Alex Ferguson bestrode football’s narrow world like a colossus. Like his predecessor knight-manager,…
If Carberry doesn't open for England, the world should split asunder
In sport, as in life, you just don’t know where you stand any more. Look at the Premier League: no…
The Speculator: Why I get so excited at goalless football matches
A successful gambler once told me: ‘Never bet on football, never bet on multipliers, and never ever bet on football…
Red or Dead by David Peace - review
The last time David Peace wrote a novel about football he got his publishers sued for libel, which may help…
Football’s still the big boy in the playground – even when the big boys aren’t playing
It’s been a long, hot, soccerless holiday. There has been football about — the women’s European Championship, for example, and…
