Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i FourFourTwo UK

Sometimes in football, and in life, it takes time to pass for something to be appreciated and acknowledged. The Arsenal team of 2003-04 won plenty of plaudits at the time for clinching the Premier League title without losing a game, but two decades on we’re able to reflect on that achievement and really celebrate it. In the 20 years since then, both Manchester clubs have won three Premier League crowns in a row – not only have Manchester City topped the table by the smallest margin (eight goals in 2012), but also by the biggest (19 points in 2018, when they amassed 100 points in total). Not one single team, though, has matched Arsenal’s achievement of going undefeated in a whole season. Regardless of who you support, fans will all…

“IF I’M HAVING A BAD DAY OR NOT IN A GOOD MOOD, ONE GLANCE AT THIS AND I’M ON TOP” England 2-1 Netherlands September 6, 2009 Euro 2009 semi-final “I was only 22 and still finding my feet at international level when Euro 2009 in Finland rolled around. I was used as a substitute to begin with and just tried to make an impression if called upon. That was the case against the Dutch in the semi-final. I came on early in extra time to replace the injured Jess Clarke – I probably would have remained on the bench otherwise – and headed in the winner shortly after. It was a huge relief and a wonderful moment for me. I wasn’t on the pitch for long, but that game was…

What was the first game that you ever attended? It was Manchester City against Huddersfield Town in 1987. I must have been about nine years old at the time. I always had a big family of City followers, so I was probably always going to be a blue rather than a red, but it was confirmed after this match as we won 10-1! I was with my uncle at the back of the North Stand at Maine Road. It doesn’t get much better than that for a first game. Back then, this sort of scoreline was unheard of for City fans. Who was your childhood hero, and did you ever meet them? I had a load of heroes – Ian Brightwell, Andy Morrison, Paul Lake, Paul Dickov, players like that…

Water bottles were shaken up and sprayed in the obvious absence of anything alcoholic, as players danced in the north London sunshine. Some strode across the pitch with flags tied around their necks as capes; others basked on the hallowed turf. Highbury was in no hurry to empty. Football is fleeting: it’s a comfort and also a curse that nothing lasts forever. However, that afternoon, perhaps the most convincing and compelling case of immortality in the English game was presented to 38,419 people at Highbury, as Arsenal completed a 38-game league season without tasting a drop of defeat. It would become the single-most quoted statistic by any Gunners fan you will ever meet. Over time, the Arsenal team of 2003-04 would become defined by that hollow column under the ‘L’…

How have the first few months at MK Dons gone? I’m really enjoying it. It’s a brand new challenge and all the boys have been brilliant. It’s testament to them that we’ve picked up a lot of points early on. They’ve reacted well to us going in. MK were 16th in League Two when you took over in October, then level with the top three by March… what is your aim for the season now? It’s always to win the very next game. We’re putting no expectations on the season. Obviously the club wants to be promoted, but our remit when joining was just to build a platform and try to improve. There’s no external pressure. We want to do as well as we can. You spoke upon appointment about…

CHORLEY: BOYZONE Everyone and their mum – especially their mum – headed to Chorley’s Victory Park stadium in February, as Boyzone attended the Magpies’ FA Trophy defeat to Solihull Moors ahead of potential investment in the non-league outfit. Band members Shane Lynch and Keith Duffy posed for pictures and spoke of their ambition to become “adoptive sons” of Chorley, while Ronan Keating called it “a match made in heaven” on his Heart radio show. Chorley owner Prince Yemoh said he wanted create “a buzz” upon buying the club last May, and he has – No Matter What happens… CLYDEBANK: WET WET WET In 1993, Wet Wet Wet sponsored hometown club Clydebank in Scotland’s second tier. The deal included shirt sponsorship and three placards, each bearing the word ‘WET’, affixed to…

Not many footballers can claim to have had the upper hand over Lionel Messi, but Bastian Schweinsteiger is one of them. Across eight competitive fixtures for club and country in which both featured in the squad, Messi triumphed in two and Schweinsteiger six, including Bayern Munich’s 7-0 aggregate win over Barcelona in the 2013 Champions League semi-finals – and, of course, the 2014 World Cup final. Reminded of that statistic as he sits down with FFT, there is unsurprisingly a massive grin on the 39-year-old’s face. Friendly and jovial throughout, Schweinsteiger is completely comfortable talking to the media, having made his career as a German TV pundit since hanging up his boots in 2019, as well as spending more time with his children and his wife, , former tennis star…

For the best part of 15 years, you knew exactly what you were getting from Belgium’s number 10: the brilliant Eden Hazard, dribbling past players at will, then inevitably picking up some sort of muscle injury. Hazard’s retirement, though, has left something of a void for Euro 2024, and the replacement was somewhat unexpected – er, a random bloke, accompanied by Thomson and Thompson, Bianca Castafiore, Professor Calculus and Captain Haddock? It was either that, or give the number to Michy Batshuayi. This wasn’t actually the squad unveiling for the tournament, but the launch of the Red Devils’ new away kit: a questionable combination of light blue shirts and brown shorts, themed on the outfit of renowned Belgian character Tintin (it looks better in a cartoon than in real life).…

Heading into the summer of 2003, Arsenal were already a great side. Top of the table in April, by May they’d surrendered their lead to Manchester United, thus failing to defend the Premier League crown they’d won a year earlier. Victory over Southampton in the FA Cup final was a salve to those burns but, under the skin, Arsene Wenger knew bigger things were to come. Despite being accused of a ‘quiet’ and ‘unambitious’ transfer window – David Seaman replaced with Jens Lehmann being the only major first-team move of note – the Gunners were about to do something never seen before or since in the Premier League. In 38 games, zero defeats – an unbeaten season that still forms an enormous part of the club’s cultural identity. In the…

Ada Hegerberg beamed with happiness as she towered over a gathering of the world’s greatest footballers, holding her trophy aloft on the balcony at the Grand Palais in Paris. The ornate art nouveau exhibition centre beside the Champs-Elysees will host fencing and taekwondo at this summer’s Olympic Games – in 2018, it was the venue for a defining moment in women’s football history. Little wonder Lucy Bronze, watching on from the audience, grabbed her phone to take a picture. Bronze’s Lyon team-mate had just become the first winner of the Ballon d’Or Feminin – like Stanley Matthews, the men’s award’s inaugural winner in 1956, it’s a distinction that inscribed Hegerberg’s immortality. “Young girls all over the world, please believe in yourselves,” the Norwegian said during her televised speech that night.…

Acun Ilicali is a Turkish TV megastar and multi-millionaire media mogul with the private jets, yachts and speedboats to prove it. Two years ago, he decided to buy a club struggling in the second tier of English football. Well, why not? “We had four opportunities, including Derby County,” he explains to FourFourTwo. “My vice-chairman, Tan Kesler, said, ‘Hull City looks like a good project – would you like to see it first? So, on my way to the Dominican Republic, in my plane, I turned around and set off for Hull. “I spent two hours in the city and saw these welcoming, beautiful faces. I met Ehab Allam, the ex-owner, at the stadium, and after one hour I said to Tan, ‘I’ve touched the ground, looked at the stadium, the…

There were more than 22,000 people inside Hillsborough, and their frustration was obvious at the full-time whistle: Sheffield Wednesday 0, Rushden & Diamonds 0. Three days later, Rushden won at Blackpool to move into the top half of the third tier after 15 games of the 2003-04 campaign. Below them sat not only the Tangerines but also Luton and Brentford, two sides now in the Premier League. Since the club’s formation just 11 years earlier, from a merger of Northamptonshire sides Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds, their momentum had only ever been upwards under owner Max Griggs, the head of footwear company Dr Martens, based nearby. “DRIVING PAST NENE PARK IN A STATE OF RUBBLE WAS HEARTBREAKING. THE CLUB IS VERY DIFFERENT NOW” Despite the club starting in the Southern…

The one-time wonderkid recalls playing with his idols in Italy, smashing players in training and a brief loan move to Chelsea When you left Internacional at 17, why did you pick Milan over other top clubs? I was doing very well at Internacional. To be honest, I was quite happy there, but I simply couldn’t reject an offer from a club like Milan. It was basically the best team in the world at the time, with Ronaldo – my idol – plus Kaka, Paolo Maldini, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, Serginho, Emerson, Dida… I could go on! I received enquiries from Ajax, PSV, Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid, but I said yes to Milan because they were the best team in the world. How were your first few training…

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME 41 NOT OUT PORTO, PORTUGAL Somehow, Pepe is still going – having made his debut in 1963, he remains a stalwart at Porto. As captain, the 41-year-old was pictured passing on some of his experience. “Look, when I give you the thumbs up, follow me and completely lose your head.” Photo Julian Finney/UEFA/Getty FOLLOW THAT HORSE MADRID, SPAIN There was quite the atmosphere for Atletico Madrid’s Champions League home tie against Inter – police escorted Los Colchoneros on horseback, but Atleti didn’t really need any security. If Diego Simeone was on that bus, he’d have sorted any problems in no time – either that, or dived on the floor after minimal contact. Photo Dennis Doyle/Getty HOWAY THE LASSES NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND More than 20,000 fans were at St James’ Park…

​​01 How many times has Lionel Messi (right) received the Ballon d’Or? 02 Who are Berkshire’s sole representative in the Football League? 03 Who bagged the Premier League Golden Boot in 2011-12, when Manchester City secured their first Premier League title? 04 The European Cup/Champions League has been won by a team from a British city on how many occasions? 05 In 2022-23, Napoli became the first side not called Milan, Inter or Juventus to lift the Serie A trophy since who? 06 Which two clubs share the joint record of most promotions and relegations to and from the English top flight (12 of each)? 07 Which of the 12 outfits in this season’s Scottish Premiership are furthest north? 08 Before Wrexham’s record 111-point haul last term, who were the…

YES MATTHEW KETCHELL DEPUTY EDITOR @ketchell A Wembley of the north? No thanks, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Didn’t the British tax payer already fork out for West Ham’s stadium? Let’s not make the same mistake twice by funding a new Old Trafford. I live in the North East but want our national stadium to remain in the capital. Big football occasions deserve big stages, big cities, big days out and Wembley is the biggest, most famous away day in football (and, frankly, easier for people in the North East to get to than most major cities in the north). Wembley is a pilgrimage that’s been paid for more than a century and that should be protected. Yes, the stadium is unrecognisable from The Empire Stadium of old, but it’s still a…

‘Como! Thou, a treasure whom the Earth keeps to herself’ – English poet William Wordsworth fell in love with northern Italy’s sun-kissed lakes during a walking tour in 1790. He wouldn’t be the last. In the centuries since, countless more have eloped to this city for sunshine and exquisite cuisine; romantic getaways and honeymoons. It is, therefore, with some disappointment, that FourFourTwo splashes on to the tarmac at Milan airport to find the entire Lombardy region is in the eye of a biblical storm that will last the next four days. “It’s not normally like this,” laughs FFT’s chauffeur for the day, Davide, clutching an umbrella. “One or two days of rain, sure, but this is crazy.” We’re thankful, at least, as we wind through the sodden farmland that separates…

XI BEST: Tommy Lee, Tendayi Darikwa, Sean Dyche, Liam Cooper, Sam Clucas, Sam Morsy, Jimmy Ryan, Daniel Johnson, Gary Roberts, Eoin Doyle, Jack Lester. WORST: Nathan Abbey, Joe Yarney, Robert Page, Gavin Gunning, Michael Simpkins, Tope Obedayi, Mark Hudson, Colin Heath, Michael Barnes, Jason Lee, Andy Rushbury. PLAYER B: I can hardly leave out the greatest English goalkeeper of all time! Gordon Banks started his career with us, making 23 appearances prior to his move to Leicester in 1968. W: From the sublime to the ridiculous… we needed a good keeper when we loaned Ole Soderberg from Newcastle in 2011, as we weren’t very good anyway, but I’ve never seen someone so scared of getting anywhere near a ball. Wikipedia claims he played only two league games for us, which…

Forest Green Rovers 1, Sheffield Wednesday 0. By March 2023, Owls fans were probably pretty tired of giving a leg-up to clubs from tiny towns who were tasting life in the third tier for the first time. Picturesque Nailsworth, population 5,600, replaced Irthlingborough as the smallest town ever to host EFL football when Gloucestershire club Forest Green rose to League Two in 2017, aided by backing from Ecotricity’s Dale Vince. Like Rushden & Diamonds, they managed to ascend to the third tier following near-relentless progress – and, like Rushden & Diamonds, that’s where it all started to go wrong. In Forest Green’s case, however, that started long before they shocked Sheffield Wednesday towards the tail end of the 2022-23 season. “You got to play big clubs, but part of me…