Arthur Pember and His Code
This extraordinary remembrance of soccer pioneer Arthur Pember originally ran in slightly different form in Howler 10, Spring 2016.It’s longer than most web pieces, and we considered…
football
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How An American Became So Attached To Soccer, He Now Calls It Football
This past summer, I was running around Gdańsk, Poland desperately looking for a bar showing the Women’s Euro Cup match between Sweden and Portugal, all while thinking,…
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When UEFA banned English clubs
This day in football history On 2 June 1985, the governing body of European football, UEFA, banned English clubs from participating in European competitions. UEFA enacted the ban…
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Rome flooded with tears after Francesco Totti plays his final match
The Stadio Olimpico is now the world’s third largest body of salt water Roma ended their season by beating Genoa 3–2 on a Diego Perotti goal in the…
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Rosario Central fans throw dolls on pitch, forcing match to be halted
When football matches turn into horror movies Lots of strange things have been thrown on the pitch during matches this season alone. Toy pigs, dead rats, a severed…
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The most magnificent own goal you might ever see
Who hasn’t dreamed of scoring a bicycle kick in a cup match? Even better—from a tight angle, and into the side netting. Adrien Gulfo of Pully Football…
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When a Scottish international was (briefly) lost at sea
This day in football history On 15 May 1974, Scotland midfielder Jimmy “Jinky” Johnstone had to be rescued by the Coastguard after a prank went wrong. Johnstone and a…
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When England’s players gave a Nazi salute
This day in football history On 14 May 1938, England opened their European tour by defeating Germany 6–3 at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium before a crowd of 110,000, including…
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Dirty Tackle podcast
Football. Culture. Nonsense. This sport takes itself too seriously. Everything from pre-match handshakes to the very name of the game (soccer? football? futbol? calcio?) gets scrutinized and…
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When Britain beat the rest of Europe in the “Match of the Century”
This day in football history On 10 May 1947, a unified British team defeated a Rest-of-Europe XI in a game billed as the “Match of the Century.” The…
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The Accra Sports Stadium disaster
This day in football history On 9 May 2001, 126 football fans died at the Accra Sports Stadium, making it Africa’s worst ever sports-related disaster. It was one…
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Jose Mourinho changes his tune on Arsene Wenger for maximum condescension
Mou knows how to make the most of a loss Arsenal’s 2–0 win over Man United on Sunday not only ended the Red Devils’ 25-match unbeaten streak that…