On the 13th of March 2024 the Premier League did what it does best and created the sort of drama and unbelievable plotline that only sport can provide. Luton Town, mired in the bottom three, raced into a 2-0 lead away at Bournemouth after just 31 minutes. In stoppage time at the end of the first half, former Everton and Chelsea player Ross Barkley made it 3-0 and fans of the Hatters must have assumed their club would secure the win that would move them out of the bottom three.
Auf Wiedersehen Anfield: Klopp to Leave at The End of The Season
“Yes, I have to. I will leave the club at the end of the season. I can understand that that’s a shock for a lot of people, in this moment when you hear it for the first time, but obviously, I can explain it – or at least try to explain it.” The words which had to come eventually, nothing lasts forever after all. Nevertheless, words the Anfield faithful hoped may be on the distant horizon rather than in the present.
On the 16th of January 2024, Namibia caused a minor footballing shock by beating Tunisia at the Africa Cup of Nations. This was their first win in the history of the competition and came against a side ranked 87 places above them by FIFA. Moreover, Tunisia won the tournament back in 2004 and have made the final on two other occasions.
On the 20th of December Nottingham Forest appointed Nuno Espirito Santo as their new boss. He replaced Steve Cooper, who was sacked the day before, despite having led them into the Premier League, kept them there, and the club sitting five points clear of the relegation zone at the time. Presumably they are expecting Nuno, as he is generally known, to guide them into the Champions League this season or the next.
To many fans, especially those aged over 60, Pele remains the greatest footballer of all time. Some may prefer Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo or others, but the Brazilian legend is undoubtedly right up there in the reckoning.
The majority of the most expensive football transfers of all time have involved attacking players. Such is the premium clubs will pay for a footballer who can score or create goals, the last time the transfer world record was broken by a defender was way back in 1922, when Sunderland paid South Shields the handsome sum of £5,500 for Warneford Cresswell. However, our focus here is the players tasked with preventing goals.
Manchester United and Manchester City made it through to the final of the 2022/23 FA Cup after they overcame Brighton and Sheffield United respectively in the semis. Many football fans were rather surprised to discover that these two great sides from Manchester (who have won the FA Cup 18 times between them) have never faced one another in the final. So, in this article, we thought we’d take a look through all the FA Cup finals that have taken place (since the inaugural tournament in the 1871/72 season) and see how many involved derbies, local or otherwise.
When Sevilla beat Jose Mourinho’s Italian side Roma in the Europa League final at the end of May 2023, it was the Spanish club’s seventh success in the competition (including its forerunner, the UEFA Cup). The UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971/72 season and was rebranded as the Europa League for the 2009/10 campaign. Sevilla have now won four more Europa League (and/or UEFA Cup) tournaments than their nearest rivals (Inter Milan, Liverpool, Juventus and Atletico Madrid have won three times apiece).
On Saturday 3rd June Celtic will play Championship side Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the final of the Scottish Cup. The Glasgow giants are looking to seal a treble, having already landed the league and League Cup. There are no certainties in football but odds of 1/10 for the Bhoys to win in 90 minutes and just 1/16 to lift the trophy suggest that the treble is about as close to nailed on as you can get.
The 2022/23 Premier League season has been incredible and perhaps the talking points that come to define it will only be known once the dust has settled. Will we remember Erling Haaland’s many, many goals, a Man City treble, the greatest relegation battle in PL history, the emergence of Newcastle as a major force, Man United’s return to the upper echelons of English football… or something else entirely?