Jonathan Harding, the author of Soul: Beyond the Athlete, writes about what Jürgen Klopp leaving Liverpool tells us about modern coaching.
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Despite a flurry of Champions League goals, it’s been a difficult start to life in Manchester for their young striker, Rasmus Højlund. After he scored his first Premier League goal, Musa Okwonga writes about how this may just be the start of something.
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The Hamburg clubs went into the first Stadtderby of the season occupying the top two spots in Germany’s second tier. Ryan Hunn was at the Millerntor, to experience the Hamburg derby for the first time.
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For Machel St Patrick Hewitt, non-league football is a place where he has been part of a beautiful and unique community for many years. Yet, with its apparently generous embrace, there has always been the sense of being an outsider. Here, in a guest essay, he examines why.
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With the Basque Derby about to take place in the Copa del Rey for the very first time, Abbas Asaria serves up an equally mouthwatering preview of the Basque region’s culinary delights.
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Ahead of the return of women’s domestic seasons, on both sides of the Atlantic, Jessica Malone writes about her journey into women’s football fandom.
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With Harry Maguire facing scrutiny for his alleged misconduct while on holiday in Greece, Ahmed Shooble considers how differently the British media might have covered the story if the player in question was not Maguire but Paul Pogba; and, more generally, he examines the double standard by which wealthy black footballers are often judged in the UK.
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Everton have a history of immense depth, but it has not always had deep pockets. Now that it has come into money, the concept of what success means in this new era is a quickly-shifting one. Sanaa Qureshi reflects upon the often confusing but always hopeful journey of loving her club.
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For black lives truly to matter in football, notes Kunle Ajao, words must be accompanied by action. On examining Leeds United's treatment of Kiko Casilla following his racial abuse of Jonathan Leko, Kunle shares his concern that - in the sport that he loves - Black Lives Matter risks becoming an empty phrase.
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In July, the German publication Sport Bild gave Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and TSG Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp their “Gesture of the Year” award for “standing side by side against hate”. Rummenigge and Hopp were standing up against the Bayern ultras who were protesting against Hopp’s for his three-year ban of Borussia Dortmund’s fans from TSG Hoffenheim’s ground. The award was met with widespread ridicule, given that it was made at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, when black footballers around the world were making gestures of a far greater scale and significance. Jonathan Harding, the football writer, broadcaster and author of the brilliant Mensch: Beyond The Cones, addresses this award below in his “Ode to Gestures”.
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In making a stand - or, more accurately, by taking a knee - against institutiuonal racism, Marcus Thuram made a gesture of which his father Lilian must surely be proud. Musa Okwonga examines some of the wider implications of Thuram's moment of on-field activism.
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Like a lot of the world, football is currently on hold. Paul Scraton reflects on the six weeks in 1989, that taught him so much about the game we’re already missing.
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Few football fans will ever get to see those who they most admire up close; to peer over the shoulders of a world-class artist as they compose their latest work. Sanaa Qureshi visits Camp Nou for the first time, to witness Barcelona take on Levante, and the age of Messi.
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For so many people, playing football is their purest form of self-expression. However, when you’re a playmaker of foreign heritage, you can often find your identity misunderstood both on and off the field. Justin Salhani looks at the turbulent career of Hatem Ben Arfa, and the challenges of fitting into a team and wider society.
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The death of a sporting icon can often lead to grief riddled with complexity. Musa Okwonga writes how this complexity can be so personal during times of such tragedy. Please beware, this piece contains some sensitive topics.
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Racism isn’t something you can easily kick out of football, or indeed from wider society. That’s why George Weah was so important: he taught Musa Okwonga and countless others how to proceed despite it.
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