Spectator sport

As West Ham go for dull David Moyes, football badly needs more Pep talks

11 November 2017 9:00 am

So West Ham took the least surprising option and sent for David Moyes. Same old same old. I have a…

Death hovers over the scrum

28 October 2017 9:00 am

Rugby’s autumn internationals are almost upon us and dark thoughts hover over lovers of the sport. One day soon a…

Why the England team is so unexciting

14 October 2017 9:00 am

During a riveting session at the Cheltenham Literary Festival with sporting brainboxes Mike Brearley and Matthew Syed, discussion touched on…

All power to the NFL knee protest

30 September 2017 9:00 am

The history of sport and political protest in this country would be a slim old volume. It would feature quite…

Why did you do it, Roy?

16 September 2017 9:00 am

Poor old Roy Hodgson, why did he take on Crystal Palace? He was having lunch at a Côte in a…

Which way will Lord’s leap?

2 September 2017 9:00 am

In the rarefied circles of the sporting establishment a decision will soon be made affecting not just the future of…

What has the Premier League ever done for us?

19 August 2017 9:00 am

Football’s back, I’m afraid, and, in the imperishable words of David Mitchell, every kick in every game matters to someone,…

England’s new heroes were real Test Match specials

5 August 2017 9:00 am

The weather forecast last Saturday promised 100 per cent likelihood of rain. I like that formulation: it doesn’t leave much…

Rog apart, Wimbledon 2017 was a disgrace

22 July 2017 9:00 am

For obvious reasons this column always welcomes ‘King Roger Rules The World’ headlines on the back pages. And the front…

The keys to the kingdom await

8 July 2017 9:00 am

Give them all peerages as far as I’m concerned: if you can pick up a gong for bunging a few…

Pakistan and the power of redemption

24 June 2017 9:00 am

The Pakistan supporter was festooned in cream and green, and carried a chalkboard round his neck with the legend: ‘My…

Hacked off with the haka

10 June 2017 9:00 am

Kingsley Amis said the most depressing words in the English language were ‘Shall we go straight in?’ — meaning no…

Metal fatigue in the golden generation

27 May 2017 9:00 am

Not a bad week for Roger Federer then: first pootling along being cool and rich in a morning suit at…

Two hours down the track

13 May 2017 9:00 am

Of the great sporting imponderables that have come into clearer view over the past few days — will The Archers’…

The age of Joshua

29 April 2017 9:00 am

Every so often comes a moment that can set the history of sport on a different trajectory. I believe we…

What makes players popular?

14 April 2017 11:00 pm

What a treat to be Sergio Garcia. Not only have you just won your first major and trousered a small…

Liverpool’s press mess

1 April 2017 9:00 am

The comedian Jimmy Carr is not necessarily a guy you would trust on much, but he was spot on the…

Was it football or just mutimillionaires cheating?

18 March 2017 9:00 am

Few sporting events in history have been greeted with such swivel-eyed, table-pounding hysteria as Barcelona’s comeback to overturn a 4-0…

Three cheers for rugby’s Italian loophole

4 March 2017 9:00 am

A friend was at Twickenham on Sunday sitting not far from the Italian coaching top brass, Conor O’Shea and Mike…

Three cheers for rugby’s Italian loophole

2 March 2017 3:00 pm

A friend was at Twickenham on Sunday sitting not far from the Italian coaching top brass, Conor O’Shea and Mike…

Breathtaking and brilliant

18 February 2017 9:00 am

Perfection in sport: unattainable, but sometimes you can come close. Moments, people, actions you never tire of watching: Roger Federer’s…

Breathtaking and brilliant

16 February 2017 3:00 pm

Perfection in sport: unattainable, but sometimes you can come close. Moments, people, actions you never tire of watching: Roger Federer’s…

Should Many Clouds have been racing last Saturday?

4 February 2017 9:00 am

Few things in sport are more thrilling than a great racehorse giving its all. That’s why the death of that…

Should Many Clouds have been racing last Saturday?

2 February 2017 3:00 pm

Few things in sport are more thrilling than a great racehorse giving its all. That’s why the death of that…

Big trouble upstream

21 January 2017 9:00 am

At a wedding a few years back a very gloomy looking guest, a well-known Geordie actor as it happens, arrived…