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There is no more beautiful sight in all of soccer. Nothing that makes the heart soar higher, the pulse race faster, the mustache go more a-quiver or the beer spray across the room with more joyous gusto. And on Sunday at the Football Factory in Ne...

David Beckham first appeared on television as a spiky-haired child, excitedly burbling about his ambitions to be a professional footballer. If you were one of the few to see it, you probably smiled indulgently and then forgot all about him. Now it se...

It's 1:45pm on Tuesday in New York City. The masses are settling in for the stretch run of the work day, but I'm staring at the clock plotting my escape. Everything is prepared: shirt and scarf stashed in my bag, excuse seeded ("offsite meeting"), an...

The Boot Room

With all the attention focused on the departure of one Premier League manager Wednesday, it was hardly surprising that the future of another was largely ignored. Rafael Benitez has just three more matches before his marriage of inconvenience with Che...

In the past, Ajax have launched their new kits by scaring fans half to death with a set of rigged changing rooms installed at the club shop. So without running the risk of having to muddle through all the tricky paperwork that comes along with giving...

Social Media had been awash with rumours of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement from Manchester United and when the news was finally confirmed on Wednesday morning, it was Twitter that led the charge with the tributes to the most successful manager in Bri...

Champions are winners and winners are ones who continue to seek challenges. Trophies are a must and records must be set. Acceptance is never to be accepted because there's always room to grow, to develop and to do better. Juventus may have won the ti...

Rafa Benitez, at least, wasn't smiling. This time, however, he was one of the few. Virtually everyone else in the Chelsea press room couldn't help themselves as a broadcast reporter remarkably produced a picture of Sideshow Bob to show the Stamfor...

So I find myself in a hotel room in Qingdao, China. It's 00:30 on Sunday morning. I've just witnessed (sort of) Saints go down to a 1-0 defeat at White Hart Lane and I am laughing to myself at the hopelessness of following your team from distance. ...

Jose Mourinho has finally admitted what we have long suspected. All he ever wanted was to be loved. The Italians, apart from the ones who follow Internazionale, don't love him. The Spaniards, save for the lingering band of loyalists who don't yet...

Shortly before the guard of honour, the booing and the penalty equaliser, Robin van Persie had a minor braincramp when he arrived at The Emirates for Manchester United's game against Arsenal on Sunday when the Dutch striker almost wandered into the h...

Maybe it was West Brom's 3-0 win over Southampton on Saturday which sucked the spirit out of the Swansea dressing room on Sunday. Now faced with a six-point gap to close on their nearest rivals in the standings, the only answer Swansea could come up ...

The age of the diminutive attacking midfielder is over! All hail the bulky center forward! OK, perhaps that's something of an overreaction. Barcelona will be back, reinforced, reinvigorated and hopefully with a restored manager who only needs to w...

At the sight of the number '10' on the electronic board, the West Ham fans roared with delight. Wayne Rooney, sweating and puffing after 70 minutes of jogging around and messing things up, stared at the board contemptuously and then trudged slowl...

Barcelona are through to the semifinals of the Champions League, but that will be as far as they go if they repeat the performance they offered up against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night. Without Lionel Messi, the Catalans had all the cutting ...