The View Outside The Premier League: Hughton's Birmingham Maintain Promotion Push

A much truncated programme because of the weather. And some of the games that were completed only just made it - Birmingham and Southampton fans were especially unlucky to be slated for the late kick-off at snowy St Andrews and the two sides put on a creditable show. Only Sporting Braga have won at...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: The Onward March of Crawley Town And Accrington's New Era

This weekend saw a mixed programme with a virtually full fixture list in League Two and reduced numbers for the Championship and League One as clubs tried to reach the Fifth Round of the FA Cup. In the cup the standout result was Crawleys win at Hull City. Steve Evanss side reached the last 16 last...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League- Hammers Go Top And Sky Blues Shock Boro

The word is that some West Ham fans dont like the way Sam Allardyce gets his teams to play - come to think of it, most fans dont care much for his style but when it wins pointsevendiehard adherents of the beautiful gamewill swallow their doubts. Theres probably a debate waiting to happen about the ...

READ MORE

Swindon: I'll Accept Di Canio's Cuffs But Mourn His Spontaneity

One of the better games over the FA Cup weekend was Swindon Town taking on Wigan. The League Two side defeated the Latics with a last-gasp goal; a goal which sent a certain enigmatic manager absolutely nuts on the touchline. And yes, Paolo Di Canio was given a one-match ban for his ‘exaggerated...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Birmingham Hit Six and Southampton Get Back In The Groove

Birmingham City smashed six goals without reply at Millwall and while they did benefit from two dismissals for the home side, the result demonstrated that Chris Hughtons side are firmly in the promotion picture. Inthe league the Blues season has had something ofa slow burn about it - partly due to ...

READ MORE

Racism is in the spotlight but what is being done to tackle homophobia?

The FA stamped down on Luis Suarez’s racism towards Patrice Evra. And it’s quite right that they did, isn’t it? For when we look back into the past, and certainly in football’s past, we see things that are shockingly vile. In the seventies and part of the eighties, black footballers were subjected ...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Robins Fly High And Rhodes Terrorises Wycombe

This was a weekend when FA Cup action mixed with a number of games in Leagues One and Two. Huddersfields star man Jordan Rhodes got things off with a bang on Friday night by crashing five goals past a hapless Wycombe Wanderers. Manager Lee Clark must have had mixed feelings as his top striker once ...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: West Ham Close On Stuttering Saints And Leeds Leave It Late

In the Championship, the festive season has been defined by the teams at the head of the table all finding it difficult to make headway. Southampton have been especially wobbly and defeat at Brighton opened the door to their nearest rivals. Middlesbrough came unstuck at Blackpool but West Ham event...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Sheffield Pair See Out 2011 In Style But Its Misery at Northampton

No doubt where the gloomiest bunch of fans were to be found on New Yearss Eve. Excellent results by the teams around them sent Northampton Town to the bottom of the Football League. This event was even more galling as the Cobblers conceded a last-minute winner at home to Swindon Town. There is now ...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Southampton Dominant At St Mary's And Its Presents For The Cellar-Dwellers In League Two

Southampton have had a few blips on the road of late but everyone feels warm and comfortable at home over Christmas and the Saints found life at St Marys as welcoming as ever. Crystal Palace drew the holiday short straw of a trip to the South Coast and went down 2-0 to the Championship leaders. Pal...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Sheffield Wednesday And Huddersfield Serve Up A Christmas Cracker

A few weeks ago the Sheffield Wednesday-Huddersfield Town encounter shaped up to be a collision between a 100 per cent home record and a record unbeaten run - but Wednesday have been held at home recently and the Terriers lost their sequence on 43 games. The match still turned out to be an epic enc...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Southend Fall At Cheltenham And Crawley Take Advantage

Cheltenham staged National Hunt racing this weekend but Southend were the big fallers in Gloucestershire as they went down comprehensively to the towns football team. Their defeat allowed Crawley to open up a bit of daylight at the top of League Two. Cheltenhan are well in the promotion mix so the ...

READ MORE

England: The Group May Be Tough But Let's Be Positive!

Ah, the old draw. It was an interesting affair, as it always is. England have managed to avoid the two Groups of Death (which look insanely, absurdly hard) and have found themselves in an easier group than many other nations find themselves in. It is of course not easy, just easier. Sweden, de...

READ MORE

England: Euro Draw Could Have Been Worse But This Will Not Be A Walk In The Park

Depending on your national orientation, emotions following last Friday’s Euro 2012 group stage draw will have been mixed. If you are Irish, you will presumably be quite gutted that, having qualified for your first major finals in 10 years, perennial powerhouses Spain and Italy were drawn in your gr...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Southampton Lose Again While Bristol Rovers Stage Goal of the Season

Saturdays Championship results would have delighted the bookmakers as both Southampton and West Ham United went down to unexpected defeats. Middlesbrough and Leeds United were both beneficiaries as the top two lost, while Doncasters victory threw more gloom towards Coventry City. Nigel Adkins has e...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Bristol City Are On The March As Northampton Keep On Crumbling

Bristol City posted the eye-catching result of the weekend when they overturned Championship leaders Southampton. As so often happens, the arrival of a new manager has produced a sharp upturn in performance - the gaffer in question this time is Derek McInnes, who is adding yet more lustre to the re...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Huddersfield Make It 43 Games Unbeaten as the Cobblers struggle

Huddersfield Town are mentioned a lot in this column but it could hardly be otherwise when a team goes 43 league games without defeat. Thats what the Terriers achieved this weekend when they ground out a hard-fought win over Notts County. This run sets the record for the Football League surpassing ...

READ MORE

Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Birmingham: What game would you like to erase from your club's history?

I think it is safe to come out from behind the sofa now. The trick and treaters have gone into 12 months of hibernation, giving the nation’s doorbells time to recover. The BBC can put the series of Halloween movies back into cold storage. Just how many were there? As football fans we too have exper...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: ITV begin to repay their debt with a feast of Man City delights

It’s the 12th June 2010. Seven thirty-four on a warm summer’s evening. My friends and I are huddled around my television, just as a million more expectant eyes are doing at the same moment up and down the nation. Then pffft … nothing. A moment’s darkness was followed by some guff about Hyundai cars ...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Diouf And Sharp Blunt Ipswich as Huddersfield extend unbeaten run

Its been an extraordinary few days at Doncaster Rovers. Their perilous position in the Championship was put in perspective by the death of Billy Sharps baby son and then the man himself appeared in a midweek game against Middlesbrough and scored just three days after the tragedy. The dreadful event...

READ MORE

Could ex-players as referees ever work?

Ah, referees. Nasty men in black, the forever stern officials of our game, often painted to be rather humourless beings who get out of the house on Sundays to escape their nagging wives and only serve to annoy us. There is a theory, which Roberto Marinez brought up back in January of this year,...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: A bad week for JT just gets worse and worse as the news hacks attack!

It’s been a bad old week for Chelsea and England captain John Terry hasn’t it? The on-going racism row between Terry and his accuser Anton Ferdinand has been front and back page news since the incident occurred a week ago and the story shows no signs of halting. Like most I have seen the footage...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Southampton Make Their Mark While Burton Hit Barnet For Six

As statements of intent go, Southamptons victory over Middlesbrough could hardly have been more emphatic. Taking on the side with the best away record in the Championship and the meanest defence, the Saints swept them aside by a three-goal margin. Ever since the campaign began the South coast clu...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: Mancini’s Manchester magicians spoil the party… and this column

Why always me? This week I was going to talk to you about the light-hearted Sky Sports knockabout quiz Take It Like a Fan. I was armed with reams of faint praise for the show and was readying my keyboard for a glittering review and even a possible recommendation for you all to check it out. But al...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Huddersfield and Wednesday March On

Charlton Athletic have set the pace in League One but two of their closest rivals are putting together a pair of remarkable sequences. Sheffield Wednesday have now made it seven wins from seven games at Hillsborough and, in West Yorkshire, Huddersfield Town are still to be beaten. The Terriers un...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: Football on Sky is becoming a fairytale thanks to Wilkins the Wizard

So we were repeatedly told that it was the ‘biggest club game in world football’ as Liverpool and Manchester United met at Anfield on Saturday for the ever-intense North-West derby. The fevered atmosphere was apparent at Sky for Live Ford Football Special and there was an almost fairytale mood in ...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Leicester Get The TV Blues Again

The Championship returned after the international break with a televised game on BBC. Leicester City fans must wish that the Beeb would leavetheir team alone - for the second time this season they were undone in front of the cameras by a penalty and a sending off. The Foxes appeared to be comfo...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Chesterfield Succumb At Fortress Hillsborough

With no Premier League or Championship games this weekend the spotlight fell on League One where one of the rarer local derbies took place. Just 13 miles seperates Sheffield from Chesterfield but meetings between the Steel City clubs and the Spireites can be infrequent. This was the first league...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: Tevez, tantrums and Trigger? The pundits pull no punches when it comes to Carlos the Jackal

By the time this weekend came around I, like most, was sick to death of hearing about Carlos Tevez this, Carlos Tevez that, suspensions, fines, lip-readers, caveman, Aleksandar Kolarov, Argentina, Mancini. The whole overblown schism engulfed the country’s consciousness like some toxic mist and re...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: You’re On Sky Sports… or should that be Moron Sky Sports?

There are three clearly defined pursuits enjoyed by the average football fan. One, demonstrating the unwavering certainty that they know the best way for their team to play. Secondly, morphing into yob-like tyrants at the very sight of an opposition supporter and lambasting them with vociferous ange...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: Forest's McClaren Finally Gets A Break

A managers tenure can turn on individual events. Steve McClaren could have been staring at a sixth straight defeat with Nottingham Forest if Watfords former Forest player Joe Garner had buried a close range header midway through the second period of Saturdays evening game. The Hornets paid for it w...

READ MORE

Should football introduce a wage cap?

On Tuesday night I had the honour and privilege of commentating on Rochdale’s Carling Cup third round game at Aldershot for our official club website. Despite going into half-time 1-0 up, we managed to lose 2-1 and Aldershot progressed to the last 16 of the Carling Cup at our expense. Despite this,...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: Morning Glory could soon be a thing of the past for the guys at Soccer AM

Morning. The time of day when we, as human beings, fall into two distinct categories. On one hand you may be an enterprising, full-blooded marauder, charging about here there and everywhere with an unbounded vitality and zest for adventure. Alternatively, you might be a feckless layabout. Those of u...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: Dancing, glitterballs and very camp; and that’s just Clem at Football Focus

After the unwelcome interruption of the international break and all of the disappointing baggage it brings for England supporters, this weekend saw the glittering return of our domestic footballers into the spotlight. Over at Football Focus, the boys were practically giddy at the prospect of the wee...

READ MORE

Outside the Box – Football on TV: Strong Dispay by The Football League Show

If you think of Match Of The Day as the stylish kid who has all the best stuff, the coolest gadgets and the best Nike trainers as well as being unfeasibly popular; then The Football League Show is the nerdy boy that lives next door. Understated and slightly unfashionable, you’re more likely to see h...

READ MORE

Should football be axed over city riots?

Major cities across England have been caught up in widespread chaos and looting over the past few days bringing carnage and destruction to many law abiding citizens. Businesses have been destroyed, buildings and homes burnt to the ground and lives ruined. The country is in turmoil because certa...

READ MORE

The View Outside The Premier League: AFC Wimbledon have the fans' goodwill, Crawley have the players

AFC Wimbledon and Crawley Town made their bow in the Football League this weekend and enjoyed contrasting fortunes. AFC went down at home to Bristol Rovers thanks to a late penalty, while Crawley forced a hard-earned draw at Port Vale. The two clubs have little in common apart from a shared promoti...

READ MORE

Squarefootball's Fantasy football invitation

There is less than two weeks to go until the start of the 2011/12 Premier League season and time is running out for you to enter the Squarefootball fantasy football competition. Last season more than 100 teams competed for the Squarefootball title, which was won by P Oxenby and his team FC Poxo. He...

READ MORE

What five things would you do before the season starts?

Isn’t it normally New Years Eve when you get a top 100 favourite moments of the year or top 500 best movie credits or some other poor excuse for a programme? Well I thought I would also use it as a poor excuse for an article, but rather than boring you all with a list consisting of 100 or more items...

READ MORE

The frustrations of being a football fan

As football fans we are a pessimistic breed. No sooner have we finished dancing in the stands or in front of the TV celebrating our club’s promotion, championship, relegation avoidance or cup victory, we turn our attention to the next competition and start convincing ourselves football life will nev...

READ MORE

Would you like to write for Squarefootball?

Do you live, breathe and sleep football? Do you have a passion for writing and want your views to be read by a potential audience of millions? Then we at Squarefootball Towers would love to hear from you. Whether you follow Aberdeen or Accrington Stanley, West Ham United or Wolfsburg, we can offer ...

READ MORE

Squarefootball fantasy football invitation 2010/11

I saw more action and excitement this summer down at the mortuary than I did at the World Cup in South Africa. There was also a better atmosphere between me and my ex-girlfriend than there was inside the grounds, thanks to the constant drone of those awful vuvuzelas. And as for entertainment, I th...

READ MORE

Get on side and sport your colours for Shelter this World Cup

In celebration of this years FIFA World Cup, housing and homelessness charity Shelter are teaming up with Nationwide Building Society, Official England Team sponsor, to launch their fantastic footy fundraiser, Strip4Shelter. Shelter is asking people across the country to replace their regular work ...

READ MORE

Who will win the Championship, League One and League Two?

Forget those Saturday afternoons traipsing around the shops with the other half. Forget about cutting the grass and mending the fence and you can definitely forget about visiting the in-laws because, yes, the Football League is back! Middlesbrough and Sheffield United got the new season under way ...

READ MORE

League Two 2009-10 Previews - Barnet

Last term was something of a disappointment for Barnet, although after losing their first seven games of the campaign (in all competitions), a 17th place finish was probably just about acceptable. Form did improve over the latter stages of the season and they will naturally be hoping to build on tha...

READ MORE

League Two Play-off Preview - Shrewsbury Town

Manager: Paul Simpson In and around the play-off places all season, Shrewsbury Town came perilously close to missing out on a top-seven finish. A 2:1 win at Dagenham Redbridge on the final day of the season enabled them to overhaul their opponents for the final play-off spot. Ironically it was ...

READ MORE

League Two Play-off Preview - Rochdale

Manager: Keith Hill After 35 years stuck on the bottom rung of the Football League, Rochdale will be looking to go one better than last term in their bid to finally clamber out of the basement league. Last season saw them make the play-off final and reach Wembley for the first time in the club’s h...

READ MORE

League Two Play-off Preview - Gillingham

Manager: Mark Stimson The play-offs present Gillingham with the opportunity to bounce back to League One at the first time of asking, although it looked as if they may have blown their play-off chances a few weeks ago. They eventually secured a place in the play-offs thanks to a haul of 10-points ...

READ MORE

League Two Play-off Preview - Bury

Manager: Alan Knill Always in the race for the play-offs and automatic promotion, Bury were unbeaten in their final 12 games of the campaign, but ultimately missed out on automatic promotion to Wycombe Wanderers by a solitary goal. The fact that seven of the aforementioned dozen games finished as ...

READ MORE

Luton Town's Amazing Achievement

Reaching a Cup Final and being relegated has happened a few times in League history but getting there and going out of the Football League is unique. Thats the prospect facing Luton Town fans. Its been the ultimate bittersweet season for Hatters fans. It began by being condemned to the Blue Square ...

READ MORE