Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i FourFourTwo UK

X @JamesAndrew_ E james.andrew@futurenet.com Twelve league titles across three different clubs, plus countless more domestic, European and world trophies as a manager, suggest that Pep Guardiola doesn’t get a lot wrong. Even the great are susceptible to errors of judgement now and again though, or maybe it was a case of having an abundance of riches at his disposal. When Manchester City decided to sell 21-year-old bit-part player Cole Palmer to Chelsea for £42.5m in September 2023, after his 19 Premier League appearances for the club had produced no goals, they may have initially felt that they’d got the better of the deal. Two years later, Palmer struck his 38th Premier League goal for Chelsea this September, on only his 72nd appearance, and he has now become key for both…

01 This season’s Champions League has seen the longest away day (6,900km) in the competition’s history, with Portugal’s Sporting hosting Kairat Almaty. What nation are the latter from? 02 Nikita Parris is only the second player in WSL history to score for how many different clubs? 03 Nick Woltemade became the third German to score on his Premier League debut. Jurgen Klinsmann was the first. Who was the other, in 2016? 04 Which player has created the most Premier League scoring chances for each of the past three seasons? 05 Which striker started a match, scored a goal, then got subbed in the first 11 minutes of a Premier League fixture this season, one minute more than a record held by Samuel Eto’o? 06 Chris Wilder is back in the…

“I’VE GOT THIS FEAR OF FOOTBALLS FLYING AT MY FACE, WHICH HAPPENS A LOT IN SCOTLAND…” What was the first Scotland game you ever went to? Estonia at Tynecastle in the late ’90s. My dad took my sister and I – it was the first time that I’d been in a stadium for a match and I was buzzing for it. Hampden Park was being refurbished so Scotland were playing in different stadiums, which was great – I also went to Pittodrie and Celtic Park. Did you play football growing up? My sister managed to work her way into the boys’ team at school. I never played though, I would’ve been terrible. I’ve got a fear of footballs flying towards my face, which happens a lot in Scotland… Who was…

01 HENNINGSVAER STADION One of football’s numerous beauties is that it can be played virtually anywhere – this venue is a monument to that. It’s mainly the host of local amateur matches in Henningsvaer, a fishing village straddling multiple islands in northern Norway, but that hasn’t stopped it gaining global recognition. 02 OTTMARHITZFELD ARENA Europe’s highest stadium is the best part of 7,000 feet above sea level. It’s home to amateur outfit FC Gspon, in the south of Switzerland near the Matterhorn. Named after the legendary Ottmar Hitzfeld, who spent much of his career in the country, it can only be reached by cable car – or a steep hike, if you’re feeling adventurous… 03 ESTADIO HERNANDO SILES The biggest stadium in Bolivia is 11,932 feet above sea level in La…

The passionate support from Japanese fans isn’t reserved just for the J.League – the Premier League is also dear to many hearts across the country. Many different clubs from the English top flight have supporter organisations in Japan, with a host of teams visiting the country over the years to play in friendlies. This summer, 67,032 fans watched Yokohama F Marinos take on Liverpool, a new record for a match hosted by a J.League club. Liverpool’s under-15s also travelled east to face a J.League junior select XI – even that game drew a crowd of thousands. “I think the reason so many Japanese fans become attracted to the Premier League is that it’s always been seen as the very top of the European pyramid,” explains Japanese football expert Dan Orlowitz.…

You’re back in the WSL after spending last season at Barcelona. What was it about Villa that appealed to you? It’s such a competitive league and full of talented players, so I’m excited to be competing in that. Being a little closer to home is always nice too. The club’s really ambitious and the project is super exciting. There’s a good mix of senior, experienced players and young players. It was the perfect fit for what I want to achieve and to be part of something that’s on an upward trajectory. In 2023, you suffered a stroke caused by a blood clot on the brain, aged 24. How has that shaped your life? Playing football now is more of a gift than anything. I used to hang a lot of…

Unlike the FA Cup, the Coupe de France accepts teams based in the country’s overseas territories, including clubs from Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Tahiti and Reunion. In 2020, JS Saint-Pierroise of the latter island nation became only the second such side to reach the round of 32. Here, FFT nominates some of the weird and wonderful clubs found in British overseas territories that could add fresh FA Cup magic under the same policy… Montserrat Volcano Observatory Tremors (Montserrat) Football fans and scientists have one thing in common: they can never agree on anything. For MVOT diehards, it’s whether their official nickname should be ‘The Tremors’ or ‘The Scientists’. Founded in 1995 by researchers, they won the title in their inaugural season and finished runners-up as recently as 2017. Impressive stuff,…

The French forward on his crucial contribution to Champions League glory, parade heartbreak and having his winner’s medal stolen from his house Aged 11, you left Reunion Island, near Madagascar, to join Le Havre’s youth team in mainland France. How tough was it to adapt to a different life? It wasn’t an easy adjustment. At the beginning, it was a nightmare. I arrived in Le Havre at the end of July and didn’t play any games until May the following year. I kept getting injured – my body couldn’t handle the changes. It was so drastically different – I went from living in 35C heat to 5C, the food was new and the training was much more intense. And being so far away from my parents definitely had an impact…

There were no surprises at the top when Forbes published its list of the world’s most valuable football clubs this May, but things got a little more interesting further down. No fewer than eight MLS sides could be found in the top 30, rubbing shoulders with the established European elite. Perhaps nothing illustrated the new territory these upstart teams find themselves in more than Inter Miami sitting 16th, exactly one place ahead of their namesakes from Milan. The league is big business in 2025, and with the planet all set to descend on North America for next year’s World Cup, football in the region appears to be on a firmly upward curve. Despite the positive vibes surrounding MLS, though, one aspect met with decidedly less enthusiasm is the league’s modern-day…

TUCKING IN LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND Albies Kop Snack Bar may have been closed, a couple of hundred yards down the road from Anfield, but that didn’t stop Liverpool fans eating fish and chips outside anyway ahead of their derby game at home to Everton. An album cover waiting to happen, if ever we saw one. Pic Carl Recine/Getty WHAT’S TURKISH FOR DEJA VU? LONDON, ENGLAND Manchester United defeats at Brentford have become a regular sight, and goalkeeper Altay Bayindir isn’t entirely unfamiliar with a despairing rearwards glance as a ball finds the net, either. “I really should start saving these…” Pic Justin Setterfield/Getty “TODAY, I FEEL LIKE A BALD EAGLE” NEW YORK, USA Photographers had a sense of humour when they placed FIFA’s Gianni Infantino next to Clutch the Bald Eagle as the…

There’s always a buzz when European football returns and this season marks the second year of the revamped format, where clubs compete in a league phase rather than a group stage. In the Champions League, the 36 clubs will each play eight different teams – four at home and four away. The top eight qualify for the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th face a play-off round to join them. Like anything that’s changed in football, there’s been debate whether the competition is better in this new structure or not and if teams might approach the competition differently. Does all this added jeopardy matter if we end up with the same teams in the last 16 anyway? What we have learned is that it creates…

When he was sat on the Yeovil team bus for the long-haul drive north to Carlisle, Sam Surridge probably didn’t believe his journey would lead him to flying around the United States, battling Lionel Messi for the MLS Golden Boot. This year, however, that has become a reality – when Surridge swept in his 21st goal of a superb campaign against Cincinnati last month, the commentator hailed the Nashville No.9 as “the man that cannot miss”. At that stage, he led Messi by a goal – the Argentine hit back with five in the next three games, with Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga also joining the race, but Surridge remained proud. “Being in a race with Messi has been special,” says the ex-Nottingham Forest forward. “It’s been a bit surreal.”…

Being a sports writer has its privileges. It allows, among other things, the chance to live out some of football’s biggest nights from the inside, infiltrated, sometimes like a spy – the Champions League final, the World Cup final or, once every year, the Ballon d’Or. Unlike Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds, we could leave the binoculars and pliers at home. After securing our accreditation for this year’s gala evening, FourFourTwo was off to central Paris and the 2,500-seat Theatre du Chatelet, just a couple of hundred metres from both Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Louvre. HUNDREDS OF PSG FANS CHANTED DEMBELE’S NAME WITH PRIDE. THE PARTY HAD ONLY JUST BEGUN On the banks of the River Seine, we found it completely overrun in the hours before the ceremony. The Ballon d’Or has…

We’ve all sat next to a bloke at the football who can’t get any of the names right. Annoying as it is, there’s one club at which such slip-ups have to be tolerated a little. We’re talking, of course, about Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (no, FFT hasn’t fallen asleep on the keyboard). At 58 letters, the Welsh fifth-tier outfit can boast of having the longest, and undoubtedly the most complicated, name in world football. Founded in 1899, the side takes its name from a village on Anglesey renowned for having the longest place name in Europe. Translating to ‘St Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool and St Tysilio’s Church near the red cave’, the name was coined in the 19th century as a marketing gimmick to…

Tranmere Rovers, English champions at long last. For those fans present at Liverpool’s Echo Arena to witness that historic day in September 2009, the memory will last forever. A 4-3 win secured in dramatic fashion as the clock ran down. John Achterberg, Ian Muir, Stuart Barlow & Co raising the trophy aloft. No, this wasn’t a cheese dream, it was Masters Football. “ALL THE EX-PROS NOW PLAYING IN THE MODERN ERA GREW UP WATCHING MASTERS FOOTBALL” Back then, the competition was still the talk of the summer. The six-a-side matches were played indoors and only eight minutes per half. Over-35s, legends of the British game and beyond, took part in regional tournaments across the country, followed by a showpiece finale that was attended by thousands and watched by many more…

The ex-Middlesbrough defender on Chinese football’s grand plans, getting battered by Bayern Munich and suffering Euro 96 heartache In recent years you’ve spent time working in China. That must have been quite an experience? I had two spells there. The opportunity first came not long after I left my job with the FA. My kids were grown up so I gave it a go and never regretted the move. It was a fascinating experience and very enlightening. I was technical advisor to the national team, working for both the Chinese FA and head coach Li Tie, the former Everton player who had replaced Marcello Lippi. I initially went over because they were looking for ex-professionals to put development pathways in place for the young players. China wants to become a…

Ask many football fans who their country’s greatest footballer is and it can often spark fierce debate. In Finland, though, there can only be one possible answer: Jari Litmanen. Thirty years ago, Litmanen was a part of the great Ajax squad that won the Champions League – like many of his team-mates, the No.10 was in his early 20s and relatively new to the competition, having only previously played two games in the European Cup for HJK. In 1995, the Lahti-born star also finished third in that year’s Ballon d’Or voting, before becoming the Champions League’s top scorer a season later, establishing himself as a cult player who was revered by a generation. He went on to represent both Barcelona and Liverpool, winning a record 137 Finland caps across four…

LIVERPOOL 2 ARSENAL 0 First Division, 1992 “My pro debut. At that stage, you’re used to playing reserve games in front of 150 people, then you’re suddenly given your big chance. I made my debut at Anfield – such an iconic ground. You don’t get much more daunting than one of the best stadiums in the world. A few days before, George Graham told me I’d get my chance and, honestly, I just tried not to think about it too much, because I wouldn’t have slept with all the nerves and excitement. I remember my dad came to watch – he sat in the directors’ box and said he was so proud to see his boy running out at Anfield. That one means a lot to me.” ARSENAL 4 EVERTON…

EDITOR @JamesAndrew_ YES ‘Nobody does drama like the Championship does drama’, you’ll regularly hear Sky Sports commentator Gary Weaver shout into his microphone, while calling whichever game he’s doing that particular week. And he’s right. Season after season, the Championship does provide more drama, twists and turns than any other league, which is never more epitomised than when the end-of-season lottery of the play-offs is reached. Year after year, the play-offs provide such drama. Looking back to last season’s play-offs, Coventry and Sheffield United fans may disagree that it was entertaining, but Sunderland supporters certainly will not. It’s not uncommon to get to the latter stages of the regular season with the vast majority of Championship teams still in a relegation scrap, pushing for automatic promotion or battling for that…

The place where I started playing football was a dusty street, the pitch nothing more than a stretch of earth. I was seven years old and it was the only thing I knew how to do. I grew up in Jardim Paineiras, a working-class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Diadema, a city just outside Sao Paulo. My older brother had been born when our parents still lived in a shack. By the time I came along, things had improved slightly – we lived in a small brick house, but it was a very simple home, just about enough for the five of us. My sister slept in the same bed as my mother and father, and I shared a mattress with my brother. Luxury it definitely wasn’t. Financially, we were…

The afternoon sun is beating down outside the Saitama Stadium, as the latest child positions themselves at the top of a water slide, then gleefully hurtles down into the pool below. There’s a buzz of excitement around Reds Wonderland, where FourFourTwo are ahead of this evening’s J.League game between Urawa Red Diamonds and Avispa Fukuoka. It’s a family friendly environment brimming with plenty of entertainment for young supporters, some of whom are paddling around a bigger pool in little inflatable boats. Elsewhere, tents have been set up to provide shade and sell food and drink, while a live band is also playing. Urawa mascot Diarra is among those wandering around – one of the club’s four cuddly green wolf characters, along with sibling Schale and parents Redia and Frendia. The…

XI BEST: Jimmy Walker, Jason McCarthy, Scott Dann, Paul Ritchie, Gino Padula, Jeff Peron, Martin O’Connor, Vinny Samways, Gary O’Neil, Jorge Leitao, Tom Bradshaw. WORST: Richard McKinney, Russell Martin, Kofi Dakinah, Ash Taylor, Chris Palmer, Paul Smith, Joe Broad, Anton Peterlin, Derick Osei Yaw, Rory Gaffney, Carlos Carneiro. PLAYER B: Vinny Samways (inset) played for us in the second tier at the tail-end of his career and seemed to have so much time on the ball. He just oozed class. W: Kofi Dakinah was one of many spurious signings during Paul Merson’s brief flirtation with management. I remember seeing our new Danish centre-back before a friendly away at Chester being told how to kick the ball by his team-mates. MOMENT B: Dean Keates’ last-gasp equaliser away at Swindon in 2007.…

The former javelin ace became a cult hero by rattling defences everywhere – he later spent time in a panic room in Israel before watching son Liam shine When did you first realise you could throw the ball a really long way? When I was playing for Carlisle’s youth team. I used it at every club during my career but in different ways – at Stoke it only became notorious because we had eight or nine players who were 6ft 4in and very brave. But I used it at Carlisle, Derby and Southampton under Gordon Strachan – he used to like it if I threw it as high as possible, so the opposition couldn’t clear it. I used it for Ireland too. Is it true that you were a talented…