Football Collective

We live in a cynical age, where impassioned conclusions can be made from scarce evidence in which 2 + 2 = 5. But sometimes, such cynicism is justified when the evidence is irrefutable. Which brings us nicely to the multi-club ownership scheme of the Pozzo family, with patriarch Giampaolo owning a majority stake in Italian …

A Family Affair: How the Pozzos Are Gaming the Transfer Market with Watford and Udinese Read More »

It’s well known that a footballer can be booked or even sent off for celebrating a goal. They may whip off their shirt – an automatic yellow card as per IFAB’s rules – in a frenzy of emotion, they may leave the field of play (i.e. to celebrate with/in the crowd) or celebrate in a …

Seagulls, Grandmothers and Flatulence: Football’s Most Bizarre Yellow Cards Read More »

If you want a trail to be blazed, you need a willing volunteer to strike the first blow. In the case of VAR in football, the trailblazer is the unlikely source of Norway. There are 32 clubs in the Eliteserien, Norway’s top tier, and the Second Division, and in January 2025, 19 of them voted …

Norway Leads the Way in Scrapping VAR: Will the Premier League Be Next? Read More »

It may yet one day be a sports quiz question: who was the only team that Southampton beat in the 2024/25 Premier League season? The answer is Everton, who the Saints downed 1-0 in November 2024 thanks to an Adam Armstrong goal. The win ensured that the Saints did not break the record for the …

Southampton’s Class of 2024/25 in Danger of Becoming Premier League’s Worst Ever Team Read More »

There’s that old debate about whether or not money can buy you happiness. Each to their own, in that regard, but there’s one discussion point that cannot be contested: money can buy you success in football. You still have to spend it wisely, of course, but the nature of the sport’s financial sustainability rules – …

Real Madrid Become First Football Club in History to Bank €1 Billion in Revenue Read More »

Historians cannot agree on when and where football, in its rawest form, was first played. Was it in Ancient Greece, Rome or even China? There is very basic evidence to suggest that each of those eras had its own unique version of the sport. But in terms of organised association football, with rules and regulations …

World’s Oldest Football Fixture to Be Played Again 165 Years After Its Debut Read More »