Illustration by Matt Littler
Returning to non-League after 2020’s enforced absence heightened the senses of matchday, as told in this extract from the new book The Silence of the Stands
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England’s women after winning beach soccer’s European Championship. England Beach Soccer
England’s women have been European champions and are ranked third in the world, but neither they nor the men get support beyond being able to wear the kit
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa makes himself comfortable on his bucket on the sidelines. Alamy
The Argentinian may have left Elland Road in February but his lasting impact left supporters scrambling to collect any memento they could of his time there
The sacked Mark Lawrenson; Gary Lineker chats with the last of the old school, Alan Shearer, and one of the new breed, Micah Richards; Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville share a joke. Getty Images, Alamy (2)
The ousting of TV’s most miserable football “personalities” marks the end for a bland generation whose insistence on complacency and jingoism made them ripe for replacement
Anthony Taylor shows Thomas Tuchel a red card at the end of Chelsea’s feisty clash with Spurs. Getty Images
The players, managers and fans quick to jump to conclusions about the integrity of referees and their assistants are contributing to declining standards