Some news to read as you die from eating hot chili sauce Top 14 finishes from the past seven days (101 Great Goals) The ten most hated people in football (Caught Offside) Time for history lessons for Italian footballers? (SoccerLens) A touching man-love player video that may bring a tear to the ladies' eyes (HABs Offside) Video technology: [. Click to continue reading...

By JAMES CLARKManager Gianfranco Zola is 2 for 2 in Premier League matches (the Carling Cup loss to Watford notwithstanding!), but even more so than the results, it's the type of football we are playing that's winning new converts and reinforcing the convictions of the old guard of supporters. Click to continue reading...

That is an overstatement obviously, but Italian football does seem to be hotbed of naive footballers with some extreme political views. I am not closely enough involved in Italian football to be able to prescribe a solution, but I can certainly detect a problem. AC Milan keeper Christian Abbiati is the latest player to declare himself [. Click to continue reading...

The 2006 August transfer deadline day will always be remembered as the day West Ham United stunned the football world by signing two of the most promising young footballers that South America had to offer in the form of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez.

Although most people were still surprised about Mascherano coming to England, it was the more recognised Argentine striking sensation Carlos Tevez who's pictures holding the Number 32 claret shirt with Alan Pardew left most wondering just how the Hammers had been able to pull of such an incredible coup. Click to continue reading...

West Ham United striker Carlton Cole has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving. The former England under-21 player was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning and did not take part in the club's Carling Cup tie with Watford that evening due to a foot injury.

Cole, 24, took a road-side breath test and was then taken to a nearby police station. Click to continue reading...

Points of reference: we tend to read footballers as falling somewhere along the same crazy/sane and weak/tough axes we also use for rock bands, where "crazy" means some combination of inspired and unconventional, "sane" means operating according to consistent and more or less socially acceptable logic, "weak" means what it sounds like it means, and [. Click to continue reading...

Canberra United FC will announce their first signings tomorrow at Capital Football's ActewAGL Junior League Presentation Day, at 11:00am. So go along and find out who is in the team, take a few photo's etc. Details below.

Capital Football

Media Alert


Canberra's newest national league team, Canberra United FC, will tomorrow (Saturday, 20th September) make a significant announcement regarding the club's playing roster for the inaugural season with the introduction of the clubs first signings at Capital Football's ActewAGL Junior League Presentation Day, at 11:00am. Click to continue reading...

Everyone knows about the hawk-eyed vision of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman is so keen on recruiting top-quality young and budding footballers that young players with truck-loads of potential  invariably head for the Emirates. So far Wenger's radar has been limited to Europe. Bbut now it seems that he is . Click to continue reading...

It is a matter of statistical fact that 89.7% of everything ever written in the UK press about Dutch football has been about the national team. Of that, 72% includes the words "turn" and "Cruyff". OK, that's probably completely untrue but it does reflect the relatively low profile of Dutch club football internationally. Click to continue reading...

If you read this story on Tribal Football, you will find a story you most likely read here for the first time over a week ago. (With no link to our site or credit given.)

Here's our original September 8 story...

And here's our September 13 follow-up with Audio....

And here's an excerpt of the September 16, Tribal Football story. Click to continue reading...

Majura junior, Kofi Danning to star for Sydney FC Youth and Sam Munro in the Sydney squad see below....

ACT Young Rockets have been training for the past four weeks and look like they have a number of fixtures against A-League Youth teams lined up.



They could start as early as the opening A-League Youth League round against Sydney FC if all goes to plan on Friday 26th September, with further games against the Central Coast, Newcastle Jets and possibly Melbourne Jets to follow. Click to continue reading...

Nobody has ever claimed that footballers, in general, are smart. That old saying "his feet aren't connected to his brain" sums it up quite nicely. So when a footballer says something stupid, it shouldn't really come as a surprise. Unless, of course, it's incredibly stupid. Ladies & gentleman, enter Sergei Rebrov. Click to continue reading...

I had the good fortune of rediscovering the infamous German song about Lukas Podolski last night. And then again this morning in the shower. And on the treadmill. And every goddamn 5 minutes inside my head since then. It reminded me of all the awesome and utterly horrendous songs about footballers we've been afforded over [. Click to continue reading...

Ex-Manchester City trainee goalkeeper Ashley Timms found himself in an unnecessary world of hurt today as he was sentenced to 20 months in jail after attempted to blackmail an unnamed former colleague for £15,000 over a sex video. Timms, from Greater Manchester, made a series of threats to publish certain evocative images from the tape, involving the footballer and a woman engaged in sex at his home, if he was not paid the cash.

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It is the board's fault. It is the director of football's fault. It is the players' fault. Now, it appears, when a manager departs, everyone is to blame bar the exiting boss himself. It is enough to induce feelings of nostalgia for the more innocent times when one man could be the scapegoat. In the cases of Alan Curbishley and Kevin Keegan, the unholy trinity of overpaid footballers, meddling directors and interfering executives with newly-created positions have played their part. Click to continue reading...

After all, it's only a game of football, yet it doesn't stop the media and footballers inappropriately using war and gangster metaphors to describe big matches. In the past couple of years, the Croatians have demonstrated what a tough nut they are to crack under Slaven Bilic, and it's little ... Click to continue reading...

My vacation is ending. I'm not laughing

Maybe these will help.

This one is weird, - but true.

The main character of the Get Fuzzy comic strip is a rugby fan - it shows.

And the following were e-mailed to me a couple of months back and I've been looking for an excuse to blog them ever since:

After a visit to the doctor, the local team's striker dropped in to his local pub for a quick one.

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The takeover of Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi United Group has sparked fears that their thriving academy may suffer and inevitably it will be much more difficult for the next generation of footballers to break into the first-team. The question being asked is can a more effective method of bridging the gap between the reserves and the first team be developed? Click to continue reading...

Big Phil is not a happy camper.

he made it clear that he expects to be compensated with an increased transfer kitty next year.

And then there's this:

Indeed, Chelsea may well choose to offer a reminder of their own clout in the midwinter window. Kaka remains within their sights.

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There is a trend amongst footballers involved in high-profile moves to claim that the transfer was less about money and more to do with ambition. While it's easy to be sceptical in the vast majority of cases, perhaps Manchester United's latest striker is being earnest. The Guardian reports that Dimitar Berbatov . Click to continue reading...

International football has its share of Cinderella stories, and the heartbeat of Fulham's midfield, Jimmy Bullard, is no exception.

According to the Guardian article, Bullard may earn his first international cap for England at aged 29 and he's hoping his persistence will serve as inspiration to other aspiring footballers, who may be cut from amateur cloth rather than the typical early academy development stock which makes up most national sides. Click to continue reading...

Imagine an all-star team of footballers featuring the top names in the sport. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, Thierry Henry, Robinho and David Villa. Now imagine all of these players on the same team, Manchester City. Before yesterday, that notion sounded ridiculous, but now that the Abu Dhabi United Group is in charge of [. Click to continue reading...

When Luis Garcia left LFC with a touching open letter to all fans, I remarked how it was so refreshing in this day and age of millionaire footballers to see one showing how much he cared about the club. Riise too has decided to follow suit and write one of his own (link).

Riise had been a fantastic servant for us over 7 years, scoring some phenomenal goals. Click to continue reading...

Until now Japan has not exactly been a common destination for Australia Footballers. Currently only one Australian is listed on a J-League team (Eddy Bosnar at JEF United ) while a further two (Mark Rudan and Ufuk Talay) are plying their trade at second division team Avispa Fukuoka.

This is all about to change however with news last week that the J-league has allocated a fourth foreign visa place on their squads for next year to Asian only players. Click to continue reading...

Does this need any explanation other than my utter disappointment in the fact that just a few short weeks ago I extolled the virtues of English Footballers for playing a  more honest game than their counterparts from other parts of the planet? I've seen cheeky, over the line plays like this before, but not since [. Click to continue reading...

There were far too many instances of footballers getting up close and personal with referees last season - and not in a good way! Chelsea were especially bad at ganging up on the man in black when a decision went against them, snarling like a pack of hounds and being ... Click to continue reading...

The promotion of FC Vaduz to Switzerland's top flight league for the first time has brought a boost for the struggling Liechtenstein national team. The nation's football structure is a setup which differs to the other European countries as they do not have their own national league, rather their clubs participate in the Swiss leagues and their only domestic competition is the Liechtenstein Championship. Click to continue reading...

Today's goalscorer for USL-1 side Puerto Rico Islanders Osei Telesford against England in May/Reuters Photo

Can you believe that headline? After seeing MLS sides lose in all eight attempts to even get so much as a draw in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match on Costa Rican soil, tonight in the new CONCACAF Champions League USL-1 side Puerto Rico Islanders got a shock 1-1 draw at Alajuelense.

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And then there were 10.

Canberra, Wollongong and Two bids, one team, from Melbourne. So two from three. With the strength of the Canberra bid already, I'd be backing the Capital to win the race for the next spot.

Have you seen Win Stadium:)

In further great news the FFA are talking about 14 teams which of course leaves space for the second Sydney and Melbourne team. Click to continue reading...

While Arsene Wenger is woefully short of decent midfielders, he seemingly has an abundance of central defenders at Arsenal. Perhaps he should convert one or two of them into footballers who can carve out chances for strikers and break up the opposition play - in the same way that Kolo ... Click to continue reading...

In the years when the first Italian imports began to flock to England - with Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Di Matteo and Gianfranco Zola blazing a trail towards Stamford Bridge while Fabrizio Ravanelli, improbably, beat a path to the Riverside - their compatriots would dismiss the Premier League as a retirement home for ageing footballers or a get-rich-quick scheme for those who lacked ambition. Click to continue reading...

Being likened to Franz Beckenbauer is not a comparison which many footballers could honestly admit to, but for one Belgian defender it is a justified truth and one he can be honoured about. Vincent Kompany, once described by Belgium legend Paul Van Himst as being able to "beat three opponents with one pass", has switched life in the German Bundesliga for the starry lights of the Premiership with Manchester City. Click to continue reading...

Cristiano Ronaldo: 150,000 on CR7 number plate

Demonstrating that age old adage of footballers having more money than sense, Cristiano Ronaldo has spent a massive 150,000 on a number plate!

Ronaldo coughed up the huge sum for the registration CR7 - his initials and shirt number at Old Trafford, says The Sun. Click to continue reading...

Ok so hands up if you remember hearing a couple of years ago that Keele University in the Midlands was genuinely offering a degree course in ‘David Beckham Studies'? Christ that was depressing. He was also under 30-years-old at the time which made it even more ridiculous, but I guess in a world where 22-year-old Coleen, famous for only getting ploughed by a ugly Scouser, can have ‘written' two books, credibility just doesn't come into it anymore. Click to continue reading...

How to offend one billion people First came Ronaldo at the 2002 World Cup. Then, in 2008, it was Spain's men's basketball team, followed closely by the Spanish tennis team. And now Argentina's Olympic women's footballers have been caught in... Click to continue reading...