ITV’s ‘The Big Match‘ was a football highlights show in the 1970s. This article compares aspects of the two eras based on re-runs of football in 1977 recently screened by BT in the UK. It is safe to say that quite a lot has changed in the 40 years since. Sand and Mud Perhaps the most obvious […] READ MORE
It has been a deeply frustrating summer for Hull City and their new manager, Leonid Slutsky. A mass exodus of first team players has, for the second consecutive year, left the Tigers starting the new season with a threadbare squad. Meanwhile, the ruthless nature of the Championship has already started to take its toll, and […] READ MORE
Sunderland and Derby played out a 1-1 draw on Friday night, whilst Nottingham Forest beat Millwall 1-0, to open the 2017-18 Football League season. Bradley Johnson opened the scoring for the visiting Rams, but Lewis Grabban’s penalty at the end of the first half earned Sunderland a deserved point. At the City Ground, Barrie McKay scored […] READ MORE
Uncertainty at Sunderland is no stranger and this summer is no different. No manager and an owner looking to sell leaves the clubs future unclear. READ MORE
Over the past few years, betting has become so engrossed in English football that for many, football is now an easy excuse for a flutter. Indeed, spectators can often be seen with their heads down, gazing into their phones, rather than looking at the game they have paid to watch, just to ensure that their […] READ MORE
If Huddersfield Town win the Championship play-off final against Reading and with it a place in the Premier League next season, it will justify every managerial decision David Wagner has made this season. The windfall of winning a place in the English top flight—and more than £100 million in TV rights payments—will easily offset any […] READ MORE
The sport that we loved so much as children no longer exists. It has been replaced with a Narrative of Football; a new game deeply entrenched in analysis, code, writing, superfluous discourse, and orchestrated controversy. All of this is part of a Narrative cycle, with each event feeding into the Narrative and in turn, controlling […] READ MORE
2016 has been a fascinating year for football. From Leicester City‘s league title triumph at odds of 5000/1, to Portugal‘s shock victory in the Euro 2016 final, to the bizarre rise of Will Grigg on and off the field, the last 12 months have not been short of entertainment. This five-part series looks at 50 of the most captivating footballers […] READ MORE
Welcome to the eighth Sweet FA podcast of the 2016-17 season. Regular panellists, Robert Mitchell and Hugo Jennings, look at the biggest English football rivalries and their histories. From the fierce to the tepid; the one-sided to the competitive; the local to the historical; the violent to the friendly, rivalry plays more of a part […] READ MORE
Three games and no league defeats. There is renewed hope at Hartlepool United. Can forward steps be take and stability be brought to the club at last? READ MORE