A celebration of These Football Times’ writers’ favourite stars of the 2000s, from Xabi Alonso and Kaka to Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry ...

TEAMING UP WITH THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CLUBS AND BRANDS, AWARD-WINNING CONTENT BY SOME OF THE GAME’S FINEST AUTHORS, ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS. No fillers, no compromise. Football as it should be. We’re on a ...

Illustration by Federico Manasse The legendary Dinamo Kyiv side marshalled by Valeriy Lobanovskyi was widely viewed as a precise, scientific machine with clearly-defined roles. But there was one spark ...

Argentinos Juniors have long been renowned in Argentina as the cradle of the stars, a place where several greats have been nurtured and gone on to legend. Some of Argentina’s finest have come through ...

Alterations were made to the bat again, giving it a few more artistic features and different shading to make it stand out a little more. Those were reverted back to just plain black in 2009 when the ...

The diverse scope of grounds around the world is a testament to the perseverance and omnipotence of football. The beautiful game is played in the remotest locations across the globe, while in the past ...

The 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea was a tournament of shocks and surprises, with a touch of genuine quirkiness thrown in for good measure. Never before had European audiences been treated to ...

Finally, Guiomar had had enough. She had indulged her husband’s passion for the Greek philosophers until now, but after giving birth to Sócrates, Sófocles and Sostenes in quick succession, the name ...

“T he hot summer months symbolised the notion of freedom without school days. In such an atmosphere, football and intellectual writers were among the biggest passions of me and my friends. We used to ...

To many, the 1970s was a decade that style forgot, however tank tops and flairs were the least of our problems. England’s national team plunged into the abyss for most of that period with two ...

In an era of defined positions and rigid tactics, a lanky winger glad in Liverpool red broke the mould. Steve McManaman had all the qualities of a true winger. As a footballer, his talent was never a ...

THERE IS A WELL-TOLD TALE, one shrouded in layers of conspiracy and confusion, of the saga that preceded Alfredo Di Stéfano’s transfer to Real Madrid. The details are different depending on who you ...