Football
The burden of being a Newcastle United fan
The second thing I learned about football, after moving to London, is that you can never, ever switch your allegiance.…
Who owns the language?
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is giving local residents £25,000 grants to enable them to change the names of…
Why the Reds have got the blues
Not so much the hair dryer: more a gentle home perm. Contemplating the increasingly less youthful visage of Ole Gunnar…
The thrill of running late
‘Dad, why is it that whenever we go anywhere, we’re always running to catch a train?’ asked Charlie, my 13-year-old.…
Bleak, unashamedly macho and grown-up: BBC2's The North Water reviewed
‘The world is hell, and men are both the tormented souls and the devils within it.’ This was the cheery…
Barça’s golden age and its ruling triumvirate
Even against our better judgment we tend to imbue our sporting heroes with characteristics they may not possess. This can…
Why I don’t stick to football
In football, you are always stronger in numbers. With a shared focus, people from different cultures, nationalities, races, sexual orientations,…
Why football fans are still booing players taking the knee
On the opening day of this year’s season, I went to see Chelsea play Crystal Palace. The match programme featured…
I took my wife to a Millwall match – and it didn’t go well
The fighting started just as Caroline turned right on to the Uxbridge Road after emerging from QPR’s stadium on Loftus…
Will England pull out of the World Cup?
I wonder if the moral guardians of our country — the England football team — intend to participate in the…
In defence of footballers taking the knee
Before the television presenter Guto Harri took the knee live on air — which cost him his job at GB…
The 2020s will be boring, not roaring
Earlier this year, I noted the suggestion (made by an American academic and run with by a swathe of the…
Football’s never coming home
I failed a moral test last weekend. A friend offered me a free ticket to the Euro 2020 final and…
The challenges of being an England supporter in Italy
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna My fiery Italian wife Carla is not just a passionate patriot but also a devout Catholic, and…
Yes, they're deplorable – but those football tweets don't prove Britain is racist
There are two certainties whenever England’s football team plays; one that is long-established and the other a recent phenomenon. Players…
The Marcus Rashford mural – an anatomy of a moral panic
Late on Sunday night, less than an hour after England lost on penalties to Italy in the European championship final,…
Isn't it time social media cracked down on racism?
No sooner had Bukayo Saka’s penalty kick thudded into the gloves of the Italian goalkeeper than you could see it…
England, Italy and the power of national pride
As an Englishman in enemy territory I am lucky that love is a more powerful emotion than patriotism otherwise after…
Jess Phillips is wrong about football’s double-barrelled surnames
As the nation went football mad last week, nowhere was there a more stark expression of the ‘I’m-new-to-this performative fandom’…
Do the England team play football, footer, footie – or soccer?
I have never been a soccer mom, described in the Washington Post as ‘the overburdened, middle-income working mother who ferries…
Portrait of the week: Masks to be dropped, John Lewis builds houses and Russia lays claim to champagne
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said that if a review of coronavirus restrictions on 12 July allowed, then on…
Who was the first to wear a face mask?
Mask crusader Who first wore a medical face mask? — The beaked outfits worn by plague doctors aside, the first…
The real sporting star of this summer
Think of a punishing distance for a bike race. Double it, multiply by ten, throw in two of the world’s…
Stop politicising football
Before the England football team plays in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday we need to get one thing straight: who…
Portrait of the week: Hancock out, Javid in and MoD papers found at a bus stop
Home A lively game of hunt the issue followed the resignation of Matt Hancock as Secretary of State for Health…
