Category: Football

The discerning readers of These Football Times aside, the game doesn’t care about Teesside. The north-east of England has its glamour and its history, but it’s enough to talk of Newcastle, the Toon, Alan Shearer and Kevin Keegan, Supermac and Wor Jackie. Or if not, if there’s still a swill in the glass and music behind […]

We’ve become used to Manchester City breaking the bank to sign some of the highest-profile players in the world. In fact, when they spent £41m to sign Nathan Aké, people hardly batted an eyelid. But in 2008, City spending that amount of money made sense to no one.  Coming into deadline day for the summer […]

    The universe will have gone cold before we see another team like them. Leading the line, a one-armed centre-forward known for jutting his stump into opposition defenders’ backs when they dared to challenge him in the air. In goal, a famous Lothario, pro basketballer and continental champion in 400m hurdles. The jewel in the […]

    In December 2018, I honeymooned in Cape Town, South Africa. My new wife and I strolled slack-jawed around the Victoria & Albert Waterfront, where a myriad of modern bars, restaurants and shops catered the joyous thousands that strode across the boardwalk with anything their hearts desire. Yachts and cruise-liners packed the vibrant bay. […]