Football

Why I love a bit of death on a Sunday night

9 November 2019 9:00 am

There’s nothing like a nice bit of death on a Sunday evening. Radio 4 originally transmit their obituary programme Last…

It’s not just hooligans – hipsters also love a football shirt

19 October 2019 9:00 am

When I was young, from about the age of nine to 13, I went through what my parents recall with…

The joy of Japanese-style rugby

19 October 2019 9:00 am

Proud son of Wexford he may be, and of doughty farming stock too, but the heart sinks at the prospect…

On photography, shrines and Maradona: Geoff Dyer’s Neapolitan pilgrimage

7 September 2019 9:00 am

At the Villa Pignatelli in Naples there is an exhibition by Elisa Sighicelli: photographs of bits and pieces of antiquity…

End this hate speech against my community

13 July 2019 9:00 am

I am a football fan. Each fortnight I go to watch my club and, like the overwhelming majority of the…

The women’s world cup pay gap is nothing to do with sexism

9 July 2019 12:05 am

As the Women’s World Cup drew to a close yesterday, the noise around the ground wasn’t just generated by fans…

I admit it: I enjoyed the Women’s World Cup

6 July 2019 9:00 am

I was asked on to the BBC Today programme — my old manor — last week to talk about the…

Ball boy: Maradona and his parents

Gripping and heartbreaking but I wanted to know more: Diego Maradona reviewed

15 June 2019 9:00 am

Diego Maradona, Asif Kapadia’s take on the poor boy from the slums of Buenos Aires who became a footballing god,…

Could my slogan have swayed the Brexit vote?

25 May 2019 9:00 am

People sometimes ask what slogan could have swayed the Brexit vote: the opposite of the touchstone phrase ‘Take back control’.…

The fans make British football what it is – stop fleecing them

18 May 2019 9:00 am

It is always possible to tell the difference between a bunch of Manchester City fans and auditions for the latest…

Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund’s star player (Lukas Schulze/Bundesliga/DFL via Getty Imag-es)

I watched Jadon Sancho grow up. That’s why I know he’s Britain’s next footballing megastar

9 March 2019 9:00 am

How much is Jadon Sancho worth? Fifty million? A hundred million? As the speculation mounts, the numbers keep growing. Jadon…

Is Lionel Messi the greatest footballer of all time?

8 December 2018 9:00 am

If you don’t know who Lionel Messi is you won’t enjoy this book much. If you do, you probably will.…

The All Blacks: world-class time-wasters

17 November 2018 9:00 am

Marvellous team, the All Blacks, of course. But they certainly know how to waste some time. Here are some things…

A pub brawl certainly livened up a boring football match

13 October 2018 9:00 am

I told Oscar to wait outside and I went in and said to the barman: ‘Would it be all right…

How gentlemen supplanted hooligans in football

7 July 2018 9:00 am

Most British sports fans are familiar with the maxim that ‘football is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans, and…

The great thing about the World Cup is you don’t even have to watch it to enjoy it

7 July 2018 9:00 am

Even though I don’t watch much football I love the World Cup because it’s my passport to total freedom. I…

What happened to the teams who scored more than six goals in a World Cup?

30 June 2018 9:00 am

Nursing numbers Was there ever a time when the NHS wasn’t in crisis? According to a report by NHS Health…

As our World Cup hopes grow, let’s not fret about the brilliant Belgians

16 June 2018 9:00 am

Here’s a question: name some famous Belgians. Well there’s Kevin De Bruyne, Vincent Kompany, and Eden Hazard. And if that’s…

Doctors and deaths: how many mortalities were avoidable?

16 June 2018 9:00 am

Mortal combat Health secretary Jeremy Hunt promised more protection for medical staff accused of criminal malpractice after a doctor was…

Gareth Bale’s megabucks are not a pretty sight

2 June 2018 9:00 am

I must have missed the memo when it became compulsory for major football matches to operate as a marketing opportunity…

English cricket’s new tournament already looks doomed

5 May 2018 9:00 am

Difficult to know quite what to make of The Hundred, which has the feel of being knocked up on the…

Alastair Campbell’s mix of football and terrorism makes for an accomplished thriller

3 March 2018 9:00 am

Alastair Campbell is a man of many parts.   Journalist, spin doctor extraordinaire, diarist and now novelist. For this, his third…

For Putin, the World Cup is not about football but global respect

13 January 2018 9:00 am

Authoritarian regimes love grand international sporting events. There’s something about the mass regimentation, the set-piece spectacle, the old-fashioned idea of…

Once you get over its political correctness, Netflix’s Godless is a cracker

9 December 2017 9:00 am

Boy came to me the other night in a state of dismay. ‘Dad, I just turned on Match of the…

As West Ham go for dull David Moyes, football badly needs more Pep talks

11 November 2017 9:00 am

So West Ham took the least surprising option and sent for David Moyes. Same old same old. I have a…