football
Kick around about all things soccer; explore football's storied history, current events in the soccer sphere, the intricacies of the game and more.
Why German fans don’t care for matches any more
Due to the Corona crisis, the German Football League was also brought to a complete standstill. From May onwards, the ball is now rolling again - but without fans in the stadiums. The strict hygiene regulations make it impossible for football fans to visit a stadium and cheer on their favourite team. So the remaining matches of the season will take place without spectators.
By Anna Klaus5 years ago in Cleats
Ploughing on
Sheffield is a city steeped in football history – and part of that heritage has been preserved against the odds. The Plough Inn, overlooking the historic Sandygate ground in the western suburbs of the South Yorkshire city, was scheduled for demolition. Even the local planning officers supported a scheme that would have seen the 19th-century watering hole levelled and replaced by housing. However, the city council rejected the proposal, in no small part due to the pub’s place in the birth of the beautiful game.
By Andy Potts5 years ago in Cleats
Fussball unplugged
German football is often held up as a model of how the spectator experience should be. From the vast, swaying yellow wall of terracing at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion to the self-styled anarchy of St. Pauli, the Bundesliga and beyond reflects the football many in England wish they could remember.
By Andy Potts5 years ago in Cleats
Making yourself at home
West Allotment Celtic, a non-league football team from North Tyneside, announced over the summer that it was moving back to its roots to play Northern League football at Palmersville Community Centre. Three years ago, I saw the team play its first game at Druids Park, making an emergency landing near Newcastle Airport after a rent hike forced it out of the Northumberland FA ground at Whitley Park. This text first appeared on Groundhoppers.blog. More images of West Allotment, at Druid Park and Whitley Park, can be found here.
By Andy Potts5 years ago in Cleats
The mistake to greatness
Mistakes happen. it is a very complex element of life because of the aftermath it shapes up. Sometimes out of these mistakes, a greater outcome forms from learning from that mistake, and then there’s the heavier kind of mistakes, the ones where the outcome is not positive and at times has no outcome. We'll get a better understanding of this concept as we follow Jack Carlington, a twenty-three-year-old Scottish local in Celtic who played in a semi-professional team. Jack is a good, hardworking, and disciplined man who dreamed of being a professional football player just like his father. He’d wake up five in the morning and head to the field to practice because he believed that practice makes perfect and as insane as this routine looks on paper, it displayed his determination and commitment to follow his dream. In the afternoons, he’d do a light workout focusing on the little things such as his flexibility and mobility. In the evenings, he’d go to the nearby local football club to watch a game and from that game, he’d analyze every little detail such as how the players position themselves to receive the ball, how they work together to thread seamless plays, and breakdown the opposition. Jack was a huge admirer of Johan Cruyff, a Dutch legend, considered to be one of the most influential figures in football history, and Jack was inspired by the visual Cruyff had of football. It all looked possible for Jack until one day changed the course of everything, as he was playing in a match against the local rival team.
By Mansur Abdulla5 years ago in Cleats
Typical York
This weekend should have been Bootham Crescent’s swansong. Typically, though, things didn’t go to plan. York City, predictably unpredictable, saw the final season at the club’s much-loved old home turn into a characteristic roller-coaster. Top of the league when coronavirus struck, the Minstermen missed out on promotion from National League North via a points-per-game calculation that put them behind King’s Lynn. Next came a vociferous appeal to ‘promote two’, via a playoff if necessary, and York returned to action on July 25 against Altrincham. City hadn’t played a game since March 7 Alty defeated Chester in the previous week’s eliminator and recent form made the difference in front of a deserted Bootham Crescent. So, instead of a final showdown against Boston United, the season ends in Lincolnshire as York’s fans contemplate the club’s retained list and hope that next time – at last – the team might start climbing the football pyramid once again.
By Andy Potts5 years ago in Cleats
Revenue Of Big Five European Football Leagues To Plunge By €1.9bn In 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on the entire sports industry, causing thousands of competitions and professional leagues to be canceled or postponed. Despite the efforts of broadcasters, club owners, and sponsors to minimize consequences of cancelled matches and empty stadiums, the coronavirus lockdown has produced a costly financial hit this year.
By Ashish Prabhu5 years ago in Cleats
A retro football experience
Four years ago, when ‘lockdown’ was merely an adaptation of the notorious catenaccio tactic beloved of Italian defenders for decades, the football season was getting underway just now. On July 30, I was off to Shildon to see the curtain-raiser for the Northern League season. Shildon, defending champion and league cup winner, took on Marske United, runner-up in both competitions, for the Cleator Cup. League action would resume the following weekend.
By Andy Potts5 years ago in Cleats
St Helens Town AFC Makes Application To Participate In Next Season's FA Cup
St Helens Town AFC have made an application to play in next season's FA Cup. The club currently plays in the North West Counties Football League. The Ruskin Drive side played in the Cup up to and including the 1970/1 season, then didn't enter 71/2, 72/3 & 73/4 before being back in the Cup from 74/5 through to 2015/16 and since then haven't qualified on league position/PPG.
By Ashish Prabhu5 years ago in Cleats
WE MISS FOOTBALL
The coronavirus is impacting all aspects of society across the world and the global sports industry is significantly affected. With the cancelation of games and leagues, many of us are struggling without football, because it genuinely stimulates a similar “love” feeling in each one of us. With the absence of football, we all still seem to reunite with each other through the love of sports. Famous football players have shared on their social media accounts many videos of them practicing or even fooling around, which kept the bond with the world even stronger; we are all in this together. From the replay of old games to online gaming, we all seem to manage to find a way to stay connected to football. However, something is still missing.
By Firás Árab5 years ago in Cleats
