Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i FourFourTwo UK

E james.andrew@futurenet.com The past 12 months have been glowing in ’90s nostalgia. The Gallagher brothers buried the hatchet and put on some of the biggest gigs in decades, You Bet! and Gladiators are back, and Pamela Anderson helped revive The Naked Gun. In English football in the ’90s, there was no-one more iconic or famous than Paul Gascoigne. For better or worse, the decade belonged to him. His difficulties off the pitch over the years have been well-documented, but when FFT met up with him on the south coast recently, Gascoigne was in a good place – happy, charming and generous. He acknowledges and owns his flaws, but knows how talented and adored he was and still is. In 1990, the streets ground to a halt when Gascoigne returned home…

01 October saw Arsenal reach 100 straight games in all competitions without conceding more than twice. Which subsequently relegated team had been the last to put three past them, back in December 2023? 02 This season saw Erling Haaland become just the second player in Premier League history to twice score 15 Premier goals before the clocks went back. Which Englishman was the other? 03 Which current Premier League winger recently became the first Nigerian to surpass 300 appearances in the competition? 04 Harry Kane has now scored the most goals for England while representing a foreign club. Whose previous record of 17 did he beat? 05 Which European outfit plays at the Millerntor-Stadion? 06 Who is the all-time top-scoring Costa Rican in the Premier League, with exactly 50 goals…

SCOTLAND 0 ENGLAND 4 International friendly, 1997 “This was the first time that I ever played for England and it was an amazing experience. I was still only 17 years old, I was in my first spell at Arsenal and England were travelling to Scotland for a friendly game up in Livingston. I played as a centre forward, up front with Kerry Davis – I just remember that my main job was buzzing around, running and chasing the ball. We were trying our best to keep possession but also score goals. I managed to get on the scoresheet in that game. When you’re still a young player, you take more risks and can express yourself a little bit more because you don’t have the nerves.” DONCASTER BELLES 1 FULHAM 2…

Saipan. More than two decades on, one word is still enough to send a shudder down the spine of every Ireland fan. Few place names evoke such an instant reaction – within football, Saipan is only associated with one thing. Some may not be able to identify it as the tiny capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, or point to it on a map, halfway between Papua New Guinea and Japan. But everyone in Ireland knows it as the far-flung place where Roy Keane and boss Mick McCarthy had the mother of all bust-ups ahead of the 2002 World Cup, leading to Keane’s exit before the tournament had even begun. Jason McAteer certainly remembers it. Together with the rest of the squad, he was in the room when McCarthy called…

FRANCO MASTANTUONO REAL MADRID, 18 Mastantuono has had two breakout years, not one. The Argentine teenager slipped on the red-sashed kit of River Plate at the start of 2024 for his senior debut at the age of 16, and spent the rest of the year announcing himself to South American fans. In 2025, Mastantuono has now arrived on the global stage, given a starting XI place under Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid. That’s a lot easier said than done – just ask his fellow prodigy Endrick, who’s found regular game time difficult to come by since his move to the Bernabeu last summer. Mastantuono is a left-footer who plays right wing, has Italian heritage and is the nephew of former Racing Club and Huracan striker Jose Raul Iglesias who, in…

If there’s ever a great way to feel old, it’s when the stars of today have very little idea about the legends of yesteryear. FFT was probably asking for it though, when talking to a 19-year-old about Edgar Davids, a player who’s more than three decades his elder. “He’s a wee bit before my time, but my dad has told me a lot of stories about him,” says Dunfermline attacking midfielder Andrew Tod, immediately ageing anyone who remembers the Dutch great’s playing days. Yet if Tod is likely to hear himself compared to any former player as his career progresses, it will probably be Davids. That’s because while his sparkling early season form has set tongues wagging in the Scottish Championship, the goggles he chooses to wear while doing it…

The legendary voice of football discusses over half a century in the gantry, the best players he’s seen in the flesh and how he rang in his 80th birthday You’ve been described as ‘the voice of football’. How does that feel? It’s weird because it’s been my voice all my life, so I don’t really see it like that. My dad, Alan, had a better voice. He was a shopkeeper and spoke beautifully with natural resonance. I had no training in terms of commentary – a passion for football is what it’s been all about. I fell in love with the game very early. When I was eight I went to watch Woking, my team, for the first time. Football became an obsession. All I’ve ever done is tried my…

ROOM WITH A VIEW AL QUDAH, EGYPT Forget Leyton Orient: if you want a house overlooking a football pitch, head to the Nile Delta. There, hundreds found any viewing spot they could for a fixture between Al Numan (brother of former Rangers man Arthur?) and Al Ghaba. Arsenal shirts also available at the shop – nice. Pic Mahmoud Khaled/Getty “YOU DIRTY RAT!” CARDIFF, WALES Belgium’s visit to Cardiff was interrupted by a rodent on the playing surface – Thibaut Courtois couldn’t catch it, but Brennan Johnson ushered it off. “We’ve had a dog on the pitch, but this was a freak of nature,” a security chief said. There’s no need for insults… Pic Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Getty GLORIOUS DEFEAT RABAT, MOROCCO Samoa made their first ever appearance at the Under-17 Women’s World Cup during…

People love football for the entertainment, drama and passion. That inability to control your emotions when your team scores is what makes it the best sport in the world. Imagine what the feeling must be like for a player to slot away that winning goal, or for a manager to watch their side snatch a victory late on. It’s surprising we don’t see them completely lose it with excitement more often than we do, but there’s something very human about it when it does happen. In the space of two weeks, Hugo Ekitike and Enzo Maresca were sent off after celebrating their respective team’s late winners. It reopened the debate about why players are booked for taking their shirts off when celebrating, and what is considered an over-the-top celebration. For…

THUD! Nicky Butt has nearly gone flying, stubbing his toe on a wire across the floor as he attempted to dart across the room to speak to someone. “Every week, that happens…” Paul Scholes laughs. “F**king hell, that’s it, career’s over!” Paddy McGuinness exclaims as Butt hobbles back. It’s a Monday lunchtime, and it’s all happening. FFT is in Manchester and we’ve just arrived to speak to the trio after the recording of the latest episode of their new podcast The Good, The Bad & The Football – McGuinness, of Phoenix Nights, Take Me Out and Top Gear fame, utilising his extensive presenting experience to link up with the Manchester United midfield legends. On the way in we cross paths with Paul Merson, who’s just leaving after being today’s guest.…

Growing up in Glasgow during the 1950s, just a few square feet of grass could feel like Hampden Park. Not far from his family home in the impoverished neighbourhood of Milton, a young Kenny Dalglish would spend countless hours kicking a football around one such tiny patch with his father Bill. An engineer by trade, Bill would take his son to his two places of worship at weekends – the Protestant church and Ibrox. When Kenny was 14, his family moved home, to his great delight, into the shadow of the latter. “My dad took me to Rangers from an early age – that never caused me any bother later on, you have to support someone when you’re a kid,” Dalglish tells FourFourTwo, looking back on his childhood just as…

When Tom Cairney joined Fulham from Blackburn for £3 million in June 2015, his new club were in a mess. Recently relegated from the Premier League under Felix Magath, the Cottagers had just finished 17th in the Championship and were in danger of sinking further down the leagues. The fanbase felt disconnected and in need of a player who could give them hope. Cairney proved to be that player. This summer, the club captain hit a decade at Craven Cottage, with Fulham settled in the Premier League once again and supporters even calling for a statue to be built in his honour. Few players stay at one club for so long these days, which makes his contribution all the more impressive during 10 dramatic years that produced a small matter…

The Brazilian winger on scoring with an outrageous backheel against Manchester United, Rome’s fiery fans and learning from Maurizio Sarri In 2018, you joined West Ham from Lazio as the club’s most expensive signing. Did the move excite you? West Ham is a very traditional club, well known to football fans everywhere. From the first contact I had with them, I was surprised but excited by their interest, especially coming from their new boss, Manuel Pellegrini. I’d been at Lazio for five years and written my story there, so I knew it was the right moment to move on. When West Ham came in for me, I didn’t have to think twice about it – I wanted the transfer at all costs. The negotiations were very straightforward and it was…

We all love some time off. A rest from the grind. No alarm, no dull meetings, nothing to do. It was only a few weeks ago that FourFourTwo sat down with Sean Dyche and found him in this nirvana of free time. A gym session had just been completed, lunch with a pal was being contemplated, media opportunities planned. The Kettering-born former centre-half was glowing, relaxed and happy to answer our readers’ many queries. The thing is, while most of us might dread the return to work, the sound of that alarm and the call back to those dull meetings, football folk are cut from different cloth. “We will wait and see,” Dyche had said when asked about a future job. The wait wasn’t long. An 18-year playing career won…

“F**king hell, I feel like a frog!” There’s a broad grin across the face of Paul Gascoigne, as he’s asked if he might be willing to lean forward in his chair, while he poses for a photoshoot with FourFourTwo. It’s not something we’d considered beforehand, but the body shape is a little bit frog-like, now that he points it out. His grin is followed by laughter – our photoshoot started mere seconds ago, but already the banter has begun flying. Gazza is in a very good mood and he’s having fun. Just hours before England book their place at the 2026 World Cup with a 5-0 win in Latvia, FFT have travelled down to Bournemouth to meet with one of the Three Lions’ greatest ever players – arguably, the most…

“There’s an old saying here in Canada – our partnership with the US is like sleeping in bed beside an elephant.” FourFourTwo hadn’t expected to be contemplating what it’s like to nap next to Earth’s largest land mammal when we arrived in Toronto, but here we are. The quote was first uttered in 1969 by Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, father of Justin, to illustrate how the country is so often impacted by every minor movement of their sometimes bad-tempered neighbours. Today, it’s just been relayed to us by a Toronto FC supporter named Tom, explaining how he feels about Canada co-hosting the 2026 World Cup alongside the US. “I was born in England, and English media tend to lump Canada in with the US, as if we’re the same,”…

Your dad is well-known in Gaelic football and hurling. How did you end up in a completely different sport? Growing up in Ireland, it was all about Gaelic sports. It was only when we got a little older that they introduced football and it turned out I was pretty useful. My dad was a huge presence in Irish sports, so I was aware there was an expectation on me to be a sportsman. Football gave me a lower profile as it wasn’t my dad’s game, so I subconsciously gravitated towards that – it worked out pretty well. You moved from hometown club Cork to Preston in 1999. What was that transition to English football like? The League of Ireland, at that time, was actually a strong league despite being only…

Playing against the same team week in, week out across a 20-game league campaign might sound monotonous but, like all aspects of life on the Isles of Scilly, football is never boring. The Isles of Scilly Football League, the world’s smallest division, is made up of only two teams: Garrison Gunners and Woolpack Wanderers. The two familiar rivals lock horns on the same pitch on the tiny archipelago off the coast of Cornwall most Sunday mornings. Despite that, this unique contest still attracts more wild stories than many bigger competitions. From welcoming World Cup winners, trips to FIFA HQ in Switzerland and herds of escaped cows, life is seldom dull. Case in point: one player was even drafted in to be David Beckham’s body double. “SOMETIMES WHEN WE’RE LOW ON…

The former defender talks about his love for Joe Royle, a habit of reaching cup finals and the injury struggles that eventually ended his career early Your career began at Manchester City in 1985, but you weren’t actually spotted until you were 16… I was playing for a Sunday League team called Royton Youth Club, where I’d been from 13 to 16. A scout called Len Davies came and watched me, then the next thing you know I’m going for trials. I got signed on to the youth training scheme at 16, which was my first experience of football at a professional club, whereas there were guys who had been there for five or six years. It probably took me a year to get used to the intensity and what…