premier league

Everything you need to know about the English professional league; who's on top, who's been traded, and what teams are dropping the ball.

In Praise of ‘El Loco’
The stories are legion. Here’s the funny thing, though. Most of them are true! There was the time when Marcelo Bielsa, 65, took over a struggling football club in the UK’s second division and the first question through his mind was: How long does the average fan have to work to be able to pay for a ticket to watch what was then a distinctly ordinary team of under-performers? How many hours does that supporter have to put in on their job to be able to buy that ticket? Using a weird, eccentric, unscientific calculation of metrics, he came up with the answer three.
By Hamish Alexander5 years ago in Cleats
Saying ‘No’ to Racism: Talk is Cheap
Racism in English football is the controversy that just won’t go away, it seems. Even as players throughout the English Premier League take the knee before every kick-off — as they’ve been doing for months now — online abuse keeps being heaped on players-of-color, regardless of how good they are at their chosen calling, no matter how much pride they bring to their adoptive city, or how much joy they bring to followers of their home team.
By Hamish Alexander5 years ago in Cleats
How Video Review is Wrecking Footy
They call it VAR, and you can be forgiven for wondering what the (heck) that is. Technically, VAR it stands for Video Assistant Referee, which you probably know better as “the guy in charge of video replay.” (And it’s almost always a guy.)
By Hamish Alexander5 years ago in Cleats
Leicester City FC
It was the 4th of April 2015, and the football club from the small city of Leicester, located in the East Midlands of England, was 20th in the English Premier League with just 22 points and only eight matches remaining. Manager Nigel Pearson was at the helm, and he led the Foxes to win six of their remaining matches to finish 14th in the final standings. It was not enough to save Pearson’s job, however, and a new manager was brought in. The choice, Claudio Ranieri, was ridiculed by the press at the time because of his previous reputation of not being able to achieve anything at any club. The rest, as you could say, was history.
By HT35 years ago in Cleats
If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It. Top Story - February 2021.
Are you an NBA or Major League Baseball fan? Not many sports fans in North America follow the machinations of the European soccer leagues — “football” to those in the UK — but citing the NBA or MLB seems the most effective way to tell sports fans here about a crazy new proposal called “the Super League” that has the potential to upend everything footie fans have grown to like and love about Premier League soccer in the UK — and La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 in other countries as well.
By Hamish Alexander5 years ago in Cleats
No Room for Racism. Top Story - February 2021.
The ritual has become set in stone. Before each and every game, across the major leagues in UK soccer but most notably in the top-flight Premier League, players from the opposing sides kneel around the center circle. They kneel partly in homage to Colin Kaepernick, the one-time NFL quarterback who sacrificed his career to show his support for the Black Lives Matter movement, but mostly as a statement against racism in general, not just in soccer but at every level of society.
By Hamish Alexander5 years ago in Cleats
No Fans? No Fun.. Top Story - February 2021.
The banner at Old Trafford stadium is easy to spot even in good times, and these are not good times. ‘Without Fans, We Are Nothing,’ it reads.
By Hamish Alexander5 years ago in Cleats
Life Lessons From Fergie: The Greatest
"I’ve never played for a draw in my life" - Sir Alex Ferguson I am obsessed with football coaches. I adore the game itself, and am in awe of its greatest players. To be frank, even the very, very bad ones fascinate me.
By Christopher Donovan5 years ago in Cleats
Transfer Deadline Day - The Guiltiest of Pleasures. Top Story - February 2021.
It is Transfer Deadline Day across Europe. What is Transfer Deadline Day, I hear you ask? It's exactly that - the last day on which football clubs can either bring in (or ship out) players before the transfer window closes.
By Christopher Donovan5 years ago in Cleats
Empathy Helps Drive Football Fan Engagement
Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, sports teams around the world have had to play their games in empty stadiums. This means that fans will have had to watch games and events from home and interact with them on social media.
By Ashish Prabhu5 years ago in Cleats
The Special One
For those of you unfamiliar with European football, Jose Mourhino is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur, one of the English soccer's most historic clubs.
By Christopher Donovan5 years ago in Cleats
Scottish Football players
Is Scottish players getting over looked in the premier league. There has been 6 Scottish players that have previously won the premier league one currently playing.The amount of talent that has came through Scotland in the 60s,70s and 80s. Andrew Robertson once a celtic youth before getting released, made his break through season at Queens Park before his move to Dundee United. At his first season at Dundee United He received the Scottish young player of the year award. Due to his success Andy got his move to Hull for 2.85 million. Andy done wonders for Hull which help get a dream move to English giant’s Liverpool for 8 million pounds. In Andys first game for the reds he was an instant fans favourite with a man of the match performance against Crystal Palace on his debut. Since then Andy has became a success as he has won a premier league, champions league, UEFA Super cup and also a club World Cup to add to his success. Kieran Tierney is loved by both celtic and arsenal fans as he plays like a warrior. A tough no nonsense left back or centre back who give 100% every game. Tierney came through the youth ranks at celtic as he signed when he was 7. Tierney became a fan favourite as he grew up being a celtic fan. With his time at celtic he became part of the invincible team that went on a 47 unbeaten run of games. He also won 3 back to back young player of the years in the Scottish league and also a celtic goal of the season award for a long range stunner against Kilmarnock. Tierney then signed for Arsenal becoming Scotland’s dearest ever player as well as the Scottish leagues dearest ever signing for 25 million. Tierney has won 10 major trophies already in a short career 2 being with arsenal, the FA Cup and the community shield. Another exciting Scottish player to watch in the premier league is Ryan Fraser. Originally starting the Aberdeen Fraser gained two back to back player of the month awards in the Scottish league. This then got him his move down south to AFC Bournemouth where he was for 7 years. In this time Fraser gained two promotions into the premier league. In the 2018-19 season was his best to date as he ended the campaign with 14 assists and 7 goals which sparked transfer rumours with Arsenal. He also picked up Bournemouth’s supporters player of the year as well as players player of the year. This has now gained him a move to Newcastle in 2020.John McGinn has been an inspiration since joining Aston Villa. However he started his career at St Mirren and in his time there he won the league cup while being the underdogs. John the youngest of 3 footballing brothers have all had a time when playing with St Mirren in their career.He then signed for Hibernian and progressed into one of the main players. He won the Scottish cup with hibs and also the Scottish championship. In his time at Scotland he also won Scottish championship player of the year 2016-17. This got him his move down south to villa where he win promotion to the premier league by winning the play offs with Aston Villa. As well as that he won Aston Villa’s player of the year award in the 2018-19 season. He has also won SFWA international player of the year in 2019-20. This is just a handful of Scottish talent however there is many more such as Billy Gilmour, Stuart Armstrong and John Fleck being vital stars for there team or future stars in the making.
By Jhosh Dooley5 years ago in Cleats