Football
The challenges of being an England supporter in Italy
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna My fiery Italian wife Carla is not just a passionate patriot but also a devout Catholic, and…
Yes, they're deplorable – but those football tweets don't prove Britain is racist
There are two certainties whenever England’s football team plays; one that is long-established and the other a recent phenomenon. Players…
The Marcus Rashford mural – an anatomy of a moral panic
Late on Sunday night, less than an hour after England lost on penalties to Italy in the European championship final,…
Isn't it time social media cracked down on racism?
No sooner had Bukayo Saka’s penalty kick thudded into the gloves of the Italian goalkeeper than you could see it…
England, Italy and the power of national pride
As an Englishman in enemy territory I am lucky that love is a more powerful emotion than patriotism otherwise after…
Jess Phillips is wrong about football’s double-barrelled surnames
As the nation went football mad last week, nowhere was there a more stark expression of the ‘I’m-new-to-this performative fandom’…
Do the England team play football, footer, footie – or soccer?
I have never been a soccer mom, described in the Washington Post as ‘the overburdened, middle-income working mother who ferries…
Portrait of the week: Masks to be dropped, John Lewis builds houses and Russia lays claim to champagne
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said that if a review of coronavirus restrictions on 12 July allowed, then on…
Who was the first to wear a face mask?
Mask crusader Who first wore a medical face mask? — The beaked outfits worn by plague doctors aside, the first…
The real sporting star of this summer
Think of a punishing distance for a bike race. Double it, multiply by ten, throw in two of the world’s…
Stop politicising football
Before the England football team plays in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday we need to get one thing straight: who…
Portrait of the week: Hancock out, Javid in and MoD papers found at a bus stop
Home A lively game of hunt the issue followed the resignation of Matt Hancock as Secretary of State for Health…
My problem with the Euros
I’m struggling to work up much enthusiasm about England’s progress in the Euros. I know, I know, Tuesday night’s victory…
How many countries have royal yachts?
Royal waves Does any other country have a royal yacht? — The Queen of Denmark uses HDMY Dannebrog, a 260ft…
Forget football – rugby is the real beautiful game
The question is surely destined to become a pub quiz staple: ‘Who moved a bottle 18 inches across a table…
Taking the knee isn't the best way of showing black lives matter
As a black football fan who grew up going to matches in the seventies and eighties, I know more than…
Euros 2021: England are easily the most boring side in the tournament
England 0 Scotland 0 Hungary 1 (Fiola) France 1 (Griezmann) The wonderful Hungarians almost took my mind off England’s lamentable…
Are England fans allowed to be proud of the St George’s Cross?
It’s starting to feel like the only flag you can’t fly in England is the England flag. Wave the Pride…
How Les Bleus united France by not taking the knee
For those who lean to the right and live in France, Tuesday nightwas magnificent. Not only did LesBleus open their…
My advice to Gareth Southgate
This is a difficult issue to raise on the eve of a major football tournament, but as a progressive individual…
Ollie Robinson’s ritual humiliation
One of the more egregious innovations of Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution was something called the ‘struggle sessions’. This involved the…
What the England team doesn’t get about ‘taking the knee’
England’s players being booed by their own fans is not a new phenomenon. But for the booing to be about…
France, football and Marine Le Pen’s war on a French rapper
‘Dans ce rêve où ma semence de nègre fout en cloque cette chienne de Marine Le Pen.’ You don’t have…
There was no Hillsborough ‘cover-up’
There was no Hillsborough cover-up
Thoughts on a foreign clash of the English titans
Thank heavens the Champions League final is being played in Portugal, now Turkey’s off the menu (sorry). It will certainly…
