Do you dream of talking rubbish into three mobile phones at once while evading income tax and wearing a cheap-looking but expensive suit? Then Ian Plenderleith has the fantasy site for you
Every football fan once dreamed of being a player. Then, as we got too old for that, we dreamed of being a manager instead, and that’s when someone invented Fantasy Football. But how many of us have dreamed of making money at the top of the game simply by sending faxes and making the odd phone call?
AZ were so close to breaking the big three clubs’ dominance of the Dutch championship. Derek Brookman looks back at a dramatic afternoon in the Eredivisie
The tightest title race ever in the Netherlands, or maybe anywhere for that matter, produced an enthralling and surprising finale, although it was a familiar name etched on to the winners’ plaque.
A pan-European league is never far off the agenda. What would the world look like if it ever happened? Adam Powley considers
“We have flirted with hell,” said Arsène Wenger, speaking of his club’s recent dalliance with life outside of the Champions League qualification positions. It is this kind of thinking – that the Champions League is the be-all and end-all – that has underpinned the latest rumours concerning a European Super League. The plot is a familiar one: murmurs of shady meetings between the various Mr Bigs of G-14, suggestions and then denials from Brussels politicians, and off-the-record briefings reported as plans set in stone.
Political pressure is being applied to Europe’s richest clubs and a wide-ranging recent report by a Belgian MEP has found an unlikely but powerful ally. Paul Joyce examines why
In March, the European Parliament took its first steps towards a firm commitment to sport by adopting Belgian MEP Ivo Belet’s report on the future of professional football in Europe. The document called upon the European Commission to resolve the legal uncertainties surrounding football, to facilitate the self-regulation of governing bodies such as UEFA and to tackle issues such as hooliganism, racism and money laundering. UEFA’s “home-grown players” initiative and the expansion of Supporters’ Trusts in Europe were also endorsed by the parliament.
Barney Ronay examines the list of the world's most valuable football clubs
It’s that list time of year again. Never mind the monotonous rhetoric surrounding the duopoly at the top of the Premiership – in the table that really counts, Manchester United are still well clear of the field. Forbes magazine’s annual survey of the world’s most valuable football clubs was published last month, once again ranking United miles ahead in first place with a valuation of £740 million. Real Madrid creep into second with a paltry £528m. Unexpectedly, Arsenal are third on £466m, a position that sits slightly confusingly alongside their status as the world’s most indebted football club thanks to the massive borrowings for the construction of the Emirates Stadium.