Blog

The Magic of the Cup

When I was approached by The Hex Blog to write about the top five FA Cup Finals I was unsure which games to pick. My top five will be different to yours, some finals had so much going on I could write an entire blog about them, others were pretty forgetful to the neutral observer, […]

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Classic Football Boots

Some of us are simply from a different era. “Stop changing our game!” we yell, as fleeting VAR / Super League abominations come and (hopefully) go. We’re one with a beautiful game that as wide-eyed youths, we fell completely and utterly in love with. So much so, we’re still lacing up our boots on a […]

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A game within a game

Football fans worldwide will be celebrating 2022 – to mark the 30th Anniversary of the series once known as Championship Manager, now Football Manager, a game, within a game. A game that’s story begins with two brothers: Paul and Oliver ‘Ov’ Collyer, deciding to try and make their own game of football management. “Checking out […]

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Football, War and The Military

I have always been fascinated by the relationship that football has with the military and the part it has and continues to play during times of conflict. This led me to be a co-founder of the Football and War Network, that is a diverse group of historians and fellow travellers from many different backgrounds and […]

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Alive and sticking

There’s plenty of life in the Panini brand as it celebrates its 60th birthday in 2021. Politics and religion may top the list as the most divisive topics in conversion but football will always rank highly. Few aspects of the beautiful game find a way to unite supporters – no matter what team you follow […]

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Introducing SD90

Scorched Earth Thatcher’s dark shadow was cast over England in the Eighties. A bleak and desolate country. The Specials serenaded the decade with the haunting anthem, ‘Ghost Town’, to a backdrop of inner-city decay and industrial decline. The working class were conflicted between the sceptre of mass unemployment and the gratification of council house ownership. […]

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Classic Encounters: Scotland 3 Holland 2 World Cup 1978

At the World Cup in Argentina 1978, Scotland’s team was brimming with talent with the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Archie Gemmill and Joe Jordan in the squad making them fifth favourites with the bookies to lift the Jules Rimet trophy just behind hosts Argentina, Brazil, West Germany and Holland. However, it seemed that […]

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Breaking the hex at Ibrox

Why Steven Gerrard is breaking the hex at Ibrox It’s taken him a while to get going but having romped to the Scottish Premiership in style this season, overseen some memorable performances in Europe and with a domestic double still very much in his sights, Steven Gerrard is bucking the trend of so many England […]

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Chelsea in the 90’s

1990-91 My first live game watching my beloved Chelsea was on the opening day of the 1990/91 season against Derby County at Stamford Bridge. On that day, I got to see Chelsea’s first million pound players make their debuts in Dennis Wise and Andy Townsend who had arrived from Wimbledon and Norwich City respectively. The […]

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Greatest LFC Premier League XI

Born in 1989 in Liverpool and grew up in Croxteth just down the road from a certain Wayne Rooney, I’ve been privileged to see a lot of good players come through the Liverpool ranks during that time. Here is my greatest LFC team from the Premier League era. Formation: 4-2-1-3 Goalkeeper is Alisson Becker. Since […]

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