How to build a professional football club

We all know the stories of AFC Wimbledon and their ambitious counterparts, but just how do you build a professional football club? Well, look no further than just over the Atlantic Ocean as new MLS side, Montreal Impact tell exactly how to do it.

 

The man who revolutionised football

Jimmy Hill and his battle with the Football Association over wages in the 60s.

 

The undermining of a city

Manchester United have made an art of undermining their cross-city rivals and their success.

 

Pull the other one

Delving deep into a list of footballing talking points, we uncover that a number of un-truths have unfortunately crept in.

 

Ipswich V Inter Milan 

A night where a mediocre East Anglian David slayed an Italian Goliath. 

 

Pandemonium in my front room; a six-year-old’s inspiration

England often break hearts at World Cups, so is it the best time for a schoolboy to start a love-affair with football?

 

Rivaldo: Football's forgotten genius 

He is widely remembered as a 2002 World Cup cheat, but Brazil's Rivaldo was a bandy-legged genius who, on his day, was the most unstoppable footballer since the 1980s - and yes - I am taking into account both Ronaldos from Brazil and Portugal.

 

Peter Taylor: The shadow of Brian Clough

The man behind Brian Clough perhaps outshone the Nottingham Forest cult figure.

 

The intoxicated game of sexuality and football

The dark truth behind football’s deep-rooted homophobia.

 

The real beautiful game

An impassioned investigation into the understated world of non-league football.

 

The mysterious breed of a football manager

An insight into the harsh reality that is football management.

 

Redemption Day: A lost history

The first ever black professional footballer, Arthur Wharton; a lost piece of beautiful history.

 

It’s a number game, isn’t it?

It’s one of the most appealing strands of continuity across football’s generations yet it’s often easy to overlook the achievement when your team starts a match wearing the shirt numbers 1-11.  Wayne Rooney wore the perfect 10 in his side’s 8-2 demolition job over Arsenal recently, but while the Gunners were ball-watching Mikey Mumford was following the figures - or more accurately those on the back of the football shirts.

 

The unforgettable William “Fatty” Foulke

Neville Southall, Razor Ruddock, Ronaldo... while these modern day superstars shared their hunger for trophies with a hunger for burgers, William "Fatty" Foulke was arguably the instigator of their infamous athletic/nutritional habits. This is his story.

 

There’s no such thing as a sleeping giant

The 'big' teams submerged in their golden era, and can't relinquish their past in the lower tiers.

 

Football shaking off its murky past

Documenting the decline of the football hooligan, through the tragic watershed that caused the sport to change its face.

 

‘Derby della Capitale’ - Troubled times

On the 21^st March 2004, the Rome derby was abandoned just four minutes into the second half with the game level at 0-0 after riots erupted in the stands.

 

“Standing Up” for football

A football terrace to a football fan, is the equivalent of a church to a religious man.

 

Premiership debut doubles: A new member

When Sergio Aguero scored an impressive brace on his Premier League debut against Swansea, he became the first player to do so since Mido back in 2005.

The list of players who have scored Premier League debut braces is full of stars, but there are also a couple of names that the younger readers may not know.

 

The league that became extinct

April 4^th 2004; judgment day for Australia’s NSL (National Soccer League). It was every football fan’s worst nightmare! It was to be the day the league became extinct, and with it, saying goodbye to the 41 teams that had competed in the league’s 28-year-history.

 

Show me the money

A close look at the financial side of football to reveal the true picture is not quite as rosy as is painted by the world’s leading clubs.