The football season is almost over, but the coach-sacking season has just begun. In the AFL, the Adelaide Crows sacked coach Brenton Sanderson despite only recently having extended his contract. Media…
Standing in the social rooms of Robinvale Football Netball Club on presentation night is perhaps like standing in any sports club in regional Australia when their vote count is on. There are the usual…
In September each year, for more than a century now, Australians have participated in the triumphs and tragedies of the annual carnival of the boot. We celebrate football as a quasi-religious, tribal homage…
Prince Harry’s Invictus Games is raising awareness of the achievements of injured armed forces personnel and the games have once again spurred conversations about the legacy of big sporting events – in…
Football’s transfer window, like the post-Christmas sales, sees buyers frantically rushing around flush with cash and sellers rubbing their hands with glee. Except that, unlike goods in Selfridges on Boxing…
Transfer deadline day is over for another year. As always, it brought drama galore, with deals thrown together at the last minute, like the “shock” announcement three hours before the deadline that Danny…
Two recent events in European football have highlighted the continued spectre of discrimination in the game. In July, the president-elect of the Italian football federation, Carlo Tavecchio, lamented the…
The domestic football season has already started in both France and England, with Germany, Italy and Spain’s leagues following hot on their heels. As each league kicks off, the competition over which is…
Over the next nine months, countless people will marvel at Manchester City or berate Jose Mourinho without ever really grasping how powerful and all-pervasive the Premier League has become. While 21st-century…
Howard Webb, one of modern football’s most successful referees, has announced his retirement. Webb achieved much in his career, most notably in 2010 taking charge of the finals of both the World Cup and…
The whistle has just been blown on one of the most thrilling events on the international sporting calendar. It took place in Brazil and pitted teams from all over the world against each other, each hoping…
Back in 1990, while living in the Leicester suburb of Oadby, I spent two balmy summer evenings watching Oadby Town (currently of the United Counties League) play games to mark the opening of their new…
While Gerald Ratner can always be presented to disprove the theory there is no such thing as bad publicity, the words of Oscar Wilde appeared apt when Blackburn Rovers were accused of a brand marketing…
The two highest paid coaches at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil were Russia’s Fabio Capello ($11,235,210) and England’s Roy Hodgson ($5,874,570). Both of these teams exited from the World Cup after…
One of the legacies of the Hillsborough stadium disaster in 1989 is the widespread and high-profile boycott in Liverpool of The Sun. That Britain’s biggest selling national newspaper experiences a circulatory…
Although one of sport’s biggest mega-events has now come to an end (the World Cup), we are still only halfway through another – the Tour de France. Already, there are clear comparisons to be made between…
Delays in stadium construction. Poor working conditions for World Cup workers. Massive budget blowouts. Nationwide protests. Ignoring the needs of millions of struggling Brazilian families. All of these…
No one can say the Germans did not deserve to win the 2014 World Cup: they remained unbeaten throughout, destroyed the hosts along the way, and then saw off those other historic guardians of South American…
In a tournament of 64 games, there were bound to be issues of contention, especially in a competition that carries so many national hopes with it. But the general standard of refereeing has been good throughout…
After four weeks, we’re finally at the pointy end of the 2014 World Cup. Germany and Argentina meet in the final in the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro this weekend. Germany is riding high after thrashing…