Football
My advice to Gareth Southgate
This is a difficult issue to raise on the eve of a major football tournament, but as a progressive individual…
Ollie Robinson’s ritual humiliation
One of the more egregious innovations of Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution was something called the ‘struggle sessions’. This involved the…
What the England team doesn’t get about ‘taking the knee’
England’s players being booed by their own fans is not a new phenomenon. But for the booing to be about…
France, football and Marine Le Pen’s war on a French rapper
‘Dans ce rêve où ma semence de nègre fout en cloque cette chienne de Marine Le Pen.’ You don’t have…
There was no Hillsborough ‘cover-up’
There was no Hillsborough cover-up
Thoughts on a foreign clash of the English titans
Thank heavens the Champions League final is being played in Portugal, now Turkey’s off the menu (sorry). It will certainly…
Letters: The C of E’s obsession with critical race theory
Christian approach Sir: Dr Michael Nazir-Ali’s criticism of our report ‘From Lament to Action’ (‘Bad faith’, 1 May) was wide…
Portrait of the week: Covid retreats, raves resume and a £165,000 squid
Home ‘I think we have got a good chance of being able to dispense with the one-metre-plus from 21 June,’…
Why all the outrage over the European Super League?
Anything been happening in football in the past couple of weeks? No? Moving on then… Hang about though. The doomed…
The unsavoury truth about American sport
New York What follows has been covered ad nauseam, but I wonder why people were surprised at the planned breakaway…
Portrait of the week: Covid pills, Chauvin’s conviction and a red card for the Super League
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced the hunt was on for two effective pills to treat Covid, to be…
How the Super League sabotaged itself
‘So you’re telling me they’re wetting the bed because we’re suggesting the same teams should compete in a competition in…
There's nothing wrong with foreign owned football
Many are blaming the failed European Super League on foreign owners, presenting it as a greed fuelled attempt by overseas…
The two elites squeezing the life out of football
So, all of a sudden the chattering classes care about football fans? Yesterday, the kind of people who usually wring…
Why are politicians picking on the football Super League?
The collective gasp of outrage – led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson – at the decision of a few wealthy…
Let’s show vaccine passports for football fans the red card
As I’ve written before, the thing I’ve missed the most in the past 12 months is going to see QPR…
Which football teams are the biggest losers?
Mounting losses The England football team beat San Marino 5-0, taking to 56 the number of competitive games that the…
My plan to kick off life after lockdown
The last time I went to a football game was on Saturday 7 March last year when my 12-year-old son…
In defence of horse racing
Rugby has enough problems — from baffling rule changes to concussion — without the referees muddying the pitch even more.…
Contains nothing you couldn't get from Wikipedia or YouTube: Netflix's Pelé reviewed
Pelé is a two-hour documentary about the great Brazilian footballer — the greatest footballer ever, some would say — who…
Are we returning to ‘normalcy’ or ‘normality’?
New normal Why have so many people started saying ‘normalcy’ rather than ‘normality’? — Normalcy has been traced back to…
Trump's exit is an opportunity to ditch the nuclear 'football'
Among the most alarming episodes during Donald J. Trump’s tumultuous final weeks in the White House was an announcement by…
Footballers have made a pig’s ear of Covid rules
It’s the Portuguese piglet you feel really sorry for. The diminutive (ready cooked) porker — a festive delicacy all over…
Dear Mary: Should I rename my grandmother’s dog to avoid offense?
Your problems solved
This has been the year of epic derangement
I wonder if British universities will follow Cornell’s innovative approach to ensuring students are protected from wretched viruses? The American…
