Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i FourFourTwo UK

X @JamesAndrew_ E james.andrew@futurenet.com Arne Slot clearly didn’t read the script before he took over at Anfield. When replacing a big character and a successful manager, like Jurgen Klopp, the normal thing to do would be to have a period of transition and find your feet. Instead, he’s hit the ground running and got Liverpool competing for trophies as we move towards the closing months of the campaign. If Liverpool do go on and win the Premier League, they’ll draw level with arch-rivals Manchester United on 20 top-flight titles. This season, they’re showing the traits that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side used to display, grinding out victories when they appeared unlikely. Just last month, Liverpool were frustrated against a well-organised Brentford team and seemed set to settle for a point. Then,…

01 Who was named Euro 2008 Player of the Tournament: Xavi or Andres Iniesta (both right)? 02 Did the late, great Denis Law make more appearances for Manchester United or Manchester City in his career? 03 Which two countries have won the World Cup on only one occasion? 04 At which English ground do away supporters have to climb 140 steps in the Leazes Stand to take their seats? 05 Aaron Morley began the new year by netting two last-gasp winners in the space of four days – one on loan for Wycombe, the other for his parent club Bolton – against the same League One team. Who were sick of the sight of him? 06 Which Scottish top-flight outfit are known as ‘the Jam Tarts’? 07 Andrea Pirlo was…

EX-NORWICH MAN MORITZ LEITNER TOP-SCORED IN THE GERMAN EQUIVALENT Deep in the bowels of London Southend Airport, John Terry stripped off his casual attire to reveal a full football strip, seconds before directing a diving header across the terminal. Akin to Ronaldo’s shot in Nike’s iconic 1998 airport advert, his effort cannoned off a makeshift post. It concluded the social media promo for Baller League UK – a six-a-side event similar to Gerard Pique’s Kings League featuring weird rules and a host of top stars – that starts in London on March 3. Arsenal favourites Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Jens Lehmann joined JT in the commercial, as did Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards. Both trios will combine to coach a side in the 12-team league, with indoor…

The room was jam-packed with reporters, waiting for the press conference to begin in early September. It was the first time Portugal were back in camp after Euro 2024 – everyone was eager to hear what Cristiano Ronaldo had to say after a tournament in which he actually didn’t say (or do) much at all. Ronaldo departed Germany as one of the few team captains, maybe the only team captain, not to have faced the media a single time. No one knew what was coming. What was next? Was his international career about to conclude? When Ronaldo eventually entered the room, everything went quiet. He didn’t take a seat straight away, checking his phone for a couple of seconds, removing a sweatshirt from his waist, then moving a water bottle…

Among the dozens of framed platinum and gold discs hanging proudly at the home of retired songwriter and producer Geoff Morrow, a surprise choice takes centre stage above his sofa. “I’ve had hits with Elvis Presley, The Carpenters and Barry Manilow,” the former impresario of record label Ammo tells FourFourTwo. “I like to show them off because it’s the cheapest way of decorating. But the one I cherish the most? The one that takes precedence above all others? Hot Stuff, by Arsenal Football Club.” The surprise track – a rewrite of Donna Summer’s 1979 smash, sung by a choir of Arsenal stars including Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp and Nicolas Anelka – achieved 100,000 sales in 1998 as Arsene Wenger’s side won the Double. With lyrics such as, “You’re telling us…

League One promotion hopefuls Stockport County were playing sixth-tier football as recently as 2018-19. Three promotions over the past six seasons have represented one hell of a journey. Nobody in their squad personifies that rise better than veteran goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe, who joined the then-National League North outfit in 2016. The Hatters were still part-time back then, which suited their new stopper just fine as he juggled football with life traversing the nation’s highways as a lorry driver. “I was on 4am starts, so I’d wake up at 3am every morning, even if we had training or a game the night before,” the 37-year-old tells FFT. “I’d have a full day in the lorry, driving up and down the country. When I finally got home, I’d have a quick half-hour…

Boxing Day in Edinburgh is a picture-perfect scene. Most of the country might have ground to a halt, trying to decide between leftover turkey and a half-demolished tub of Celebrations for breakfast. Not Scotland’s capital – abuzz with tourists filling the usual hotspots as the sun splits the sky. Lined up for selfies the length of the Royal Mile, leading to Edinburgh Castle, most are in blissful ignorance of the real attraction that dominates the hearts and minds of locals come lunchtime. Unaware, at least, until they stumble on a sea of maroon or green and white as supporters of Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian trod the well-worn path to Tynecastle Park for the latest instalment of the Edinburgh Derby. Today’s head-to-head comes 149 years and a day since the…

The Brazilian defender recounts World Cup immortality with the Selecao, European glory at Milan and some bittersweet moments at Elland Road You’re one of five players – with Dida, Cafu, Ronaldinho and Julian Alvarez – who have won the Copa Libertadores, Champions League and World Cup. Which is most special to you? Each was special in its own way, but if I had to pick one, it would be the World Cup. Winning the World Cup is a dream for every Brazilian player. Representing your country on the biggest stage and coming out on top is incomparable. But that doesn’t take away from the other titles’ importance. The Libertadores with Palmeiras marked the beginning of my journey. Winning the Champions League with Milan was crucial for my European success –…

THE RULE OF LAW The great Denis Law passed away on January 17, aged 84, after a glorious life in which he netted no fewer than 333 goals and bagged the Ballon d’Or. Either side of 11 years with Manchester United, he had two spells at Manchester City – here he’s pictured representing the Sky Blues at Chelsea in 1960. Pic Barratts/PA/Alamy YORKSHIRE TEA Before his first Manchester City move, Law began his career with Huddersfield, having been scouted aged 14 in Aberdeen. Snapped enjoying a post-match cup of tea, he thrived under Bill Shankly at the Yorkshire outfit – only a lack of transfer funds stopped the manager later luring Law to Liverpool. Pic Don Morley/Allsport/Getty WRECKING BALL Law was Britain’s priciest player on three occasions – joining Manchester City for…

Chelsea shouldn’t let their recent dip in form put a dampener on what’s been a promising season. From late November, the Blues won eight games in a row in all competitions, including at home to Aston Villa and away at Tottenham. There were even whispers of the west Londoners being in the title race, though manager Enzo Maresca was keen to shut them down. At first, he appeared to be playing it cool to take pressure off his team, but in reality a lot of what he said about his group not being ready yet has turned out to be fair. A few cracks have formed and Chelsea’s flaws began to show during an inconsistent December and January. Perhaps the blip offers some perspective after a surprisingly positive first half…

MANCHESTER UNITED 0 WIMBLEDON 0 First Division, 1990 “United were in the FA Cup final, so Alex Ferguson told me I’d make my debut against Wimbledon. To keep a clean sheet as an 18-year-old on debut at Old Trafford was very special. I was lucky that John Fashanu and Vinnie Jones didn’t play – they caused goalkeepers a lot of problems at that time. Fergie didn’t say anything out of the ordinary afterwards, but the next day at training, we had games for some of the people who didn’t play and some of the youngsters, and Fergie said I could be referee. That was his way of saying, ‘Well done last night’. I thought, ‘OK, yeah, I’ll be the ref!’” ASTON VILLA 3 TRANMERE 1 League Cup semi-final, 1994 “This…

WILF MCGUINNESS Replaced: Matt Busby (Manchester Utd) CONTEXT Eight months after winning the 1968 European Cup Final, Busby announced his intention to step down after 24 years managing Manchester United, at the conclusion of a difficult follow-up campaign that ultimately ended with the club finishing 11th in the First Division. In his place came 31-year-old McGuinness, who had been the reserve-team boss since 1964. HOW DID IT GO? Not much better than Busby’s last season: Manchester United won none of the new man’s first six games, and ultimately finished eighth. They were 18th in December 1970 when he was sacked following a 4-4 draw at Derby. Busby came back as interim boss while McGuinness never managed in the First Division again, heading to Greece with Aris and Panachaiki before having…

Bill Shankly knew how to make an instant impact on players. The year was 1970 and John Toshack had just joined Liverpool from Cardiff for a club-record £110,000 fee, when he was greeted by his new manager. The Welshman has never forgotten Shankly’s first words to him. “I was only 21 and didn’t have a driving licence, so I travelled from Cardiff by train,” Toshack recounts to FourFourTwo. “Bill Shankly was waiting for me at the station, with his trilby on his head. The first thing he said to me was, ‘Welcome to Liverpool, son: you’ve come out of school to come to church’.” Over the next eight years, Toshack’s religious experience would develop him from a highly promising forward into an Anfield legend. That day at Liverpool Lime Street…

XI BEST: Nick Pope (inset below), Lanre Oyebanjo, Dave McGurk, Keith Lowe, James Meredith, Jon McCarthy, Nigel Pepper, Scott Kerr, Martyn Woolford, Paul Barnes, Clayton Donaldson. WORST: Jason Mooney, Marvin McCoy, Mark Sertori, Chris Clarke, Marcus Williams, Ollie Tanner, Ben Wilkinson, Quevin Castro, Simon Russell, Reon Potts, Danny Rowe. PLAYER B: In recent years, Nick Pope. He took us from League Two relegation candidates to the play-offs in a 2013-14 loan spell. W: Of the many, the most disappointing might be Quevin Castro, who was a cut above for Notts County but spectacularly failed and had his contract paid up. MOMENT B: Matty Blair’s (miles offside) winning header against Luton in the 2012 Conference Premier Play-off Final at Wembley. Even while in the Premier League, Luton fans on social media…

Since its formation in 1992, no one has made more Premier League appearances for Arsenal than Ray Parlour. The midfielder played in 333 matches across 12 seasons, putting him eight ahead of David Seaman, and he’s likely to hold the record for some time yet – Bukayo Saka, the club’s longest-serving current player, had reached 186 before his recent injury. Not only was Parlour a dependable player during a glorious era when the Gunners won three Premier League titles, but his East End humour made him popular at the club, too – even if that humour sometimes got him into trouble elsewhere. With England, he was dropped from Glenn Hoddle’s squad after he was sent for a therapy session with the manager’s trusted faith healer, Eileen Drewery, and jokingly asked…

ONLINE CONTENT EDITOR @markwhlte YES It always confused me why the Champions League wasn’t, you know, a league. For that reason, I was fully behind this latest change – but it’s been far better than I imagined. We’ve reached a point where as a society, four-team groups just don’t excite us any more: suggestions that England were better off finishing second in their 2018 World Cup section were the first red flag, and FIFA briefly suggested getting rid of them altogether for the 2026 World Cup. The (old) Champions League proves why they no longer move us. There was no peril whatsoever, as they all followed the same pattern: two big teams, two small teams, with the giants vying for first and second – unless you drew Sevilla, whose sole…

During the summer of 1986, babies named Diego Armando Maradona were nothing unusual in Naples. In his first two years living beneath Mount Vesuvius, El Pibe de Oro had transformed Napoli from a mid-table side into Serie A title challengers – oh, and he’d just single-handedly won Argentina the World Cup. This was the best footballer on the planet, worshipped by millions. In the week after Maradona had laid on Jorge Burruchaga’s winner at the Azteca, 5.5 per cent of all babies born in Argentina were named Diego, a fourfold increase from previously. One suspects the figure in southern Italy wasn’t altogether dissimilar. More than the Karl-Heinzes in Milan or Michels in Turin for Messrs Rummenigge and Platini, anyway. In a city of football lunatics, poorer and mercilessly derided by…

Revolution can spark in the most unlikely places. John Lennon knew that. The former Beatle and wife Yoko Ono needed only an Amsterdam hotel room to stage their 1969 protest over the Vietnam War. Lennon’s decision to start a revolution from his bed would later be immortalised in the lyrics of Oasis’ Imagine pastiche Don’t Look Back in Anger. Fully 36 years after that legendary ‘bed-in’, a group of football supporters chose an equally unlikely venue to kick-start their own revolution. Outraged by a hostile takeover of their beloved Manchester United, and fed up with where football appeared to be heading in general, they convened in May 2005 to discuss a notion that would send shockwaves through the English game. The meeting place: Methodist Central Hall in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.…

Becoming a manager again shortly before your 77th birthday can’t have been on your agenda in the summer, can it? I think that’s probably right. [Laughs] I’ve been an assistant manager, first-team coach, consultant, advisor and all sorts of different roles for the best part of the past 15 or 20 years, including at Hartlepool. But this wasn’t something that was on the horizon, especially as we started the campaign pretty well. Circumstances change. Unfortunately Darren Sarll lost his job, the club asked me to do it for a month – just like Charlton did 40 years ago – and history repeated itself, so here I am in the job until the end of the season, or at least that’s the plan at the moment. How has it been to…

For some, the term ‘Fantasy Football’ will conjure images of Mo Salah, wildcards and bench boosts. Whether playing the official Premier League game, a national newspaper version or elsewhere, it’s all about picking the biggest stars, following their progress online and berating yourself for triple-captaining Leif Davis as a differential. There are others, however, for whom ‘Fantasy Football’ means opening The Non-League Paper to find out how Mousehole got on against Cinderford Town in the eighth tier. Fantasy Non-League (yes, really) might lack the top-flight version’s glitz and glamour, but it’s no less beloved. Or infuriating. “We’re now up to 1,000 competitors, with that number growing every year,” the game’s creator and one-man adjudication board, Ian White, tells FFT. “I devised it 28 years ago as a way to try…

The seldom-scoring defender recalls glory with the Toon, before showing them he wasn’t “past it”, plus Brian Clough’s conniving to win promotion You nearly didn’t become a footballer, before you signed for Newcastle as a teenager in 1962. What happened? That’s right. I won the FA Amateur Cup with my local club, Crook Town. We drew 1-1 with Hounslow Town at Wembley before beating them 4-0 in the replay at Ayresome Park. I had numerous offers to go into professional football, but was set on studying chemistry at university. Unfortunately, I didn’t do as well in my A-Levels as I should have done – my own fault, really – so I carried on playing for Crook Town in the Northern League. Newcastle got in touch, saying I could play part-time…

Since 2018, the football shirt industry has been locked in a pattern arms race. Everyone is trying to reproduce the green, white and black lightning captured in the bottle of the seismic Nigeria collection, with busier and busier designs, save for the occasional blackout or black and gold kit. How do you create a football shirt that actually stands out from the crowd, when every release is trying to be even crazier than the last? You could go down the route of an arresting colour scheme. You might try to manipulate shapes and textures to fashion something quite unlike anything seen before in the game. Or, putting colours and textures aside, you could lean heavily into your sponsor and centre a design around the aesthetic of their logo, or the…