“Hero – one of the most divisive & debated words in football. With a look at the subject taking in The Stranglers & Michele Platini, here’s Chris King.” In Bed With Maradona

“If you fly into Bratislava and take a number 61 bus from the airport towards the city-centre and railway station, you will pass some of Slovakia’s principle sporting venues. There is the excellent National Tennis Centre, where the likes of Lukáš Lacko and Dominika Cibulková play Davis Cup and Federation Cup matches, and a gleaming new ice-hockey arena, which will stage the final of the 2011 World Championship later this spring. In the same area, within a goal-kick of each other, there are two football grounds. Each is watched over by an impressive quartet of floodlights but each is, to put it mildly, in less than ideal condition.” In Bed With Maradona

“The journey from Stockport was pleasant with football fans mixed in amongst normal travellers. The mood on the train was relaxed; close your eyes and you wouldn’t know there were football fans travelling to watch their team play. This was match day 70 of my season and it stands out as being the first time this season that I’ve been filmed by the police.” Gannin’ Away

“Mark Pitman on what England could learn from their upcoming opponents about dealing with the captaincy.” In Bed With Maradona

“Wolfie Smith…The most lovable revolutionary in history, leader of the Tooting Popular Front. Mitcham. Named after Robert Mitchum in honour of his fine performance in the 1944 film Mr Winkle goes to War. Put them both together and what do you have? A united front, in fact a Tooting & Mitcham United. It is amazing how the longer I write, the more tenuous my introductions can get.” The Balls Is Round

“On March 25th 1889 nineteen clubs from across the north east of England met in the Three Tuns Hotel in Durham City. The meeting had been organised by Charles Craven, a goalkeeper with Darlington FC, who duly took their place as one of the ten founding members of the Northern League. What is now renowned as the world’s second oldest surviving football league got underway on September 7th, Darlington travelling to Newcastle East End in the first round of fixtures. Darlington St Augustine’s won the inaugural title with twenty-six points, edging Newcastle West End on goal difference. A team called Middlesbrough finished sixth that season, just ahead of South Bank.” In Bed With Maradona

“Despite an alpine outlook, football remains the most popular sport in Sweden. Most of the focus is on the Allsvenskan, the top flight which runs from Spring until late Autumn, with the winter months being dominated by coverage of the English Premier League. Stuart Fuller tells us all about life in the Swedish lower leagues.” The Seventy Two

“Who’d be a top level referee? Abuse from players, fans & managers, constantly in the spotlight & every decision subject to trial by television. Here’s Jon Allison.” In Bed With Maradona

“This past Monday, a day after Stoke City qualified for the FA Cup semifinals, the morning headlines suggested that the team was set to travel to Wembley for the first time in 39 years. That figure is incorrect. In 2000, the Potters played at the old Wembley Stadium in the Auto Windscreens Shield Final, where they beat Bristol City 2-1.” ESPN

“It’s a slightly different time for our non-league videos of the week, and this week we’re focussing on clubs that are owned by their supporters again. First up is the match from the Evostik League Premier Division between FC United of Manchester and Worksop Town. A couple of months ago, we could have been forgiven for thinking that FC United’s league season was grinding to a halt, but they have won seven of their last nine matches and now have an excellent chance of making the play-offs at the end of the season. Their opposition, Worksop Town, are in mid-table but with several games in hand on the teams above them will surely not have given up on their ambitions of making the play-offs either.” twohundredpercent

“The year is 1975. By the banks of the Tyne in Dunston, newly absorbed into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, an 8-year-old boy by the name of Paul Gascoigne dreams of emulating fellow local lad and future Gol TV commentator Ray Hudson, then a 20-year-old midfielder for Newcastle United. Brian Johnson, born in Dunston in 1947 and better known nowadays as the lead singer of AC/DC, is touring with the band Geordie and the Masters of Rock album they released the previous year. The Dunston staithes, first constructed in 1893 and the largest wooden structure to be found anywhere in Europe, are still being used to load coal from nearby coalfields into ships on the River Tyne, and workers at the Her Majesty’s Stationery Office have just entered their own team, called Whickham Sports FC, in the Newcastle City Amateur League.” The Accidental Groundhopper

“I’m biased, of course, but I reckon that this place is a bit special. Packed with believers and full of noise, illuminated by floodlights and bursting with passion, it’s a thrilling place to be on a matchday. But even empty and silent on a cold winter’s morning like this one, St James’ Park retains a special ambience and splendour that make it deserving of its place in the hearts of the Toon Army and at the heart of this great city.” Stuff by Paul Brown

“Childhood is seemingly the defining factor in what position someone ends up spending the majority of their life playing the beautiful game in. The sprinter on the wing, the disciplinarian in the middle and the big lad will play at the back. These are formulaic standards that characterize most people’s earliest associations with football. For some people though there is a hole in this and it’s referee shaped.” In Bed With Mardona

“Last month Deloitte published the latest edition of the Football Money League, their annual ranking of European clubs by revenue. Once again, the Premier League featured prominently with seven English clubs listed in the top 20, though the two highest earning clubs were still the Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona. On the face of it, this was yet another demonstration of the Premier League’s ability to generate revenue, while defying the effects of the economic recession.” The Swiss Ramble

“Below are MOTD video highlights for all the EPL matches on March 5, 2011. The full edition of MOTD can be viewed here.” The 90th Minute

“It is easy to be disillusioned with modern football. In a game where clubs are willing to trade their heritage for a new flat-pack stadium and some supporters burn replica shirts when their star striker moves to another Premier League club, football has departed from its origins and core roots. It is only when you analyse how the game has evolved since the 1800’s, though, that you realise that it has been inevitable for several decades.” In Bed With Mardona

“This morning’s non-league videos of the week come from the Blue Square Bet Premier. Last weekend saw the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy, which involved a number of clubs from the fifth division, all of which left clubs that had already been eliminated from that particular competition to get on with the important job of accumulating points in the league.” twohundredpercent

Kicking it old, old school with a brutal game of Pasuckuakohowog.
“There are times when undersoil heating might just not be enough. Domm Norris doesn’t want to see an ancient game forgotten.” In Bed With Maradona

“Below are MOTD video highlights for all the EPL matches on February 27, 2011. The full edition of MOTD can be viewed here.” The 90th minute

The Grapes pub in Liverpool
“Public houses have long been a strong hold for patriarchy, a place where the working class can convene to discuss the dynamics of everyday existence. My local is called the Village Inn. The word Inn conjures notions of rustic-chic décor; of horse-brasses, oak beams and roaring fires. Banish these. The walls of this particular pub are adorned with a variety of ephemera relating to the two local clubs; one side with Liverpool clutter and the other with Everton tit-tat. Amongst the discussions flitting in and out of earshot, the talk is resolutely of football, tits or a combination of the two. Conversations rarely err to socio-politics.” In Bed With Maradona

“Great news, everybody: David Beckham is back! Remember when those words meant something? When the thought of Becks stepping onto an American soccer field made your heart soar because he was going to transform the Los Angeles Galaxy into the second coming of the Cosmos? When it was presumed he would spread the gospel of MLS around the world, just as Pelé did with the NASL back in the day? Yeah, I remember those 20 minutes too.” ESPN

Luke Bowen
“Port Talbot Town 3-0 Caersws – Welsh Cup 4th Round – 5th February 2011 by Mark Pitman. Attentions turned to the Welsh Cup for Welsh Premier League side and last season’s finalists Port Talbot Town as Cymru Alliance opponents Caersws arrived at The GenQuip Stadium. Manager Mark Jones has built a young and talented squad at Port Talbot and their latest test would be against a Caersws side guided by experienced manager Mickey Evans and featuring a number of players with a wealth of Welsh Premier League experience.” The Ball Is Round

“The last time I was over for the match, smoke bombs were let off during the game, as has become increasingly popular during the brief history of our club. Whereas in the past the effect of flares and smokebombs had looked ace (view based on anecdotal evidence from messageboard comments and friends, as well as my own views), and had even received positive acclaim from some unlikely sources (ESPN’s commentary of the Brighton FA Cup replay described our support as colourful whilst showing footage of the flares. Shoot Magazine featured a photo of the flares at the Rochdale game and commented on the tremendous atmosphere directly underneath that photo), the effect on the 22nd January was however slightly underwhelming.” FCUM A.D.

“As you dear readers will know, a few weeks ago we popped down to the Keith Tuckey Stadium to take in a game at one of the most newsworthy sides in the Non Leagues, namely, Croydon Athletic. Unless you have been living in Ignorance, Texas then you will have seen the recent take over of the club by a Danish organisation called Fodboldselskabet A/S. My superb Danish skills can tell you that the literal translation is Soccer Company. And that is essentially what they are. A limited company formed to invest and run a football club. Many questioned their potential involvement in English football, so we went round the corner from TBIR’s Copenhagen office to speak to Morten Madsen, Communications Manager for the club and ask him Vad är poängen?” The Ball Is Round

“Gav Stone is the editor of Les Rosbifs – a fantastic site dedicated to English footballers playing overseas. You can follow him on Twitter @LesRosbifs .. Here is Gav’s favourite goal (it’s No.1 at the end of the video below)…” Ghost Goal

“It’s time, then, to wind down with our weekly selections of non-league highlights from the last seven days. Our first match this evening comes from Twerton Park, and it’s the Blue Square Premier match between Bath City and Wimbledon. Wimbledon are still chasing a place in the Football League and needed three points from their trip to the west country from this match. Bath, however, may still harbour hopes of a place in the play-offs at the end of the season and provided a stiff test for the team that has spent much of the last few months at the top of the table.” twohundredpercent

“It is not often you walk away from a football match counting how much money you have left in your wallet and thinking that you must have had a hidden £20 in there. Admission, programme, beer, plate (yes PLATE) of chips and still change from a tenner (almost) is a bargain in anyone’s book irrespective of the twenty two players running around a muddy pitch.” The Ball Is Round

“It’s time for a bit of a non-league round-up (as is our wont at this time of the week), with highlights of three matches from the last couple of weekend’s worth of matches. First up, we’re taking the opportunity to catch up with one of the matches from the weekend of the 15th of January, with the FA Trophy Second Round match between Blyth Spartans. To people of a certain edge, hearing these two names together will send a shiver down the spine. Blyth Spartans, of course, made the Fifth Round of the FA Cup in 1978 and the Quarter-Finals of the FA Trophy in 1980 and 1983 (beating Altrincham on the way).” twohundredpercent

FCK v Brondby
“For those of you who know both Danny Last and I you can confirm that we are not one and the same person. There has been talk on certain online forums that we are actually multiple personalities of a northern chap called John, who goes to watch Vauxhall Motors with a Tesco carrier bag and a flask of Campbell’s Vegetable broth. But we are not. We are often seen in the same place at the same time, standing on “The Jungle” at the Dripping Pan, or propping up the bar in the Rook Inn. But we do share some of the same philosophies in life and both have a passion to write about it.” The Ball Is Round

“Over Christmas we finally managed to get a game in after the weather decimated the fixture programme. The one game we managed to get to was the local derby between Carshalton Athletic and Sutton United. This wasn’t just a game of local pride, nor was it the chance for the home team to get one over on the league leaders, but it was also the first return to Colston Avenue for a previous legend for the Robins – striker Richard Jolly.” The Ball Is Round

“Let’s Kick Racism out of Football – January 2011. December was a really good month for us. We had a 100% win record for the month, and the fact that we only played once is not going to take that away from us. Going up to Carlisle for our longest journey of the season and winning meant that it was a great day out.” The Ball Is Round

“Andorra versus England was always going to be one of those games that was destined to be a disaster. From the moment the two teams were drawn in teh same qualifying group, 99.9% of the population of the tiny principality (or is it a country?) sandwiched in the mountains between Spain and France, wanted nothing to do with the game, and couldn’t wait to see the game moved elsewhere. That other 0.1%, the Andorran FA only saw cash. Cash that the traveling English fans would bring to the country. Sod the fact their national stadium was in worse shape than Welling United’s (no disrespect Welling) but with a capacity of less than 2,000 it was never going to be played there.” The Ball Is Round

“After a couple of weeks off, we’re bringing back our weekly round-up of non-league videos. Yesterday saw the Third Round of the FA Trophy, and our first two matches come from that competition, kicking off with AFC Wimbledon’s match against Woking. Wimbledon dropped two points against Luton Town during the week and were looking to regain a little momentum. Woking may be a division below Wimbledon, but they have won the FA Trophy three times and took Brighton & Hove Albion to a penalty-shoot-out in the First Round of the FA Cup. The second match, meanwhile, is the match between Ashford Town (Middlesex) of the Zamaretto League Division One Central and Dartford of the Blue Square South, a match which saw one of the biggest crowds in recent years at Ashford’s Short Lane.” twohundredpercent

“Few people would know that there are actually two teams in Leyton, London E10. Or there was until Friday 14th January 2010. That day could be long etched on the history books for non league football as the day a nail was put in the coffin of Leyton FC.” The Ball Is Round

“Prestatyn Town 1-1 Port Talbot Town – Welsh Premier League – 15th January 2011. Often associated with the seaside, Prestatyn Town welcomed the worst elements of the beach to Bastion Road for this Principality Welsh Premier League match against Port Talbot Town. A strong wind and sand covered playing surface did little to inspire any football purist in attendance and their concerns were proved correct as both sides struggled against the conditions in this scrappy yet surprisingly entertaining match.” The Ball Is Round

“The January transfer window has been a bit of a damp squib to date, with the exception of Manchester City’s big money purchase of prolific Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, but rumours of possible signings abound. Perhaps surprisingly, one club that has featured prominently in the feverish press speculation is Birmingham City, who have been linked with a series of attacking players in an attempt to resolve their goal scoring problems, including Kenny Miller and Robbie Keane, and have signed David Bentley on loan.” The Swiss Ramble

“Sometimes the slow death of a movement means that it is difficult to define when something is definitely gone, and some kind of crystallising moment is necessary, writes guest author Jamie Cutteridge. For example, the freshness of New Labour seemed to disappear somewhere around the beginning of this century, but the death of the movement was confirmed when Ed Miliband of the old left was elected leader last year.” twofootedtackle

“The brand new Unofficial Football World Champions book, released this month, is now in stock at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. It’s starting to pick up some really great reviews. And if you’ve already bought the book, today you can access some exclusive bonus content.” UFWC

“You would own a collection of bruised fingers if you clapped every quality article that appeared on the pages of the delightfully named football blog In Bed With Maradona. Not many days go by with some form of mutual backslapping and high fiving between European Football Weekends (EFW) and In bed with Maradona (IBWM). This is a mutual appreciation society (MAS) that borders on the lunacy (BOTL).” European Football Weekends

“The word Thamesmead normally drives fear into the heart of South East Londoners. The town was seen as innovative when it was constructed in the late Sixties on the old Royal Arsenal site by the GLC. Flooding had been an issue in the area so the initial developments were built so that the flats were on the first floor and linked by a series of walkways and bridges. Sounds idyllic right? Well not quite. Mismanagement of the whole project that initially was planned for 100,000 was rife from the start. Promised transport links never materialised (even today with 50,000 residents there is not train station), instead replaces by a dual carriageway that dissects the development, a sewage works and of course Belmarsh high security prison.” The Ball Is Round

“The year of the blog? Very possibly, especially with the current batch of outstanding sites out there which have grown, improved, developed and cross-pollinated in recent time. Aided by social media, an increasingly specialised selection is out there, waiting for you to wade through and bolster your knowledge of the game, and I thoroughly recommend losing yourself in as many of the following as possible.” Guardian