Outside the Box – Football on TV: Lawro plays the Twit as BBC confidence turns to England despair

It’s easy afterwards, in the hazy mist of reflection that hangs mournfully across the country each time the England team are wrenched from a major tournament, to neatly nestle back into the default self-loathing English mind-set and pretend we were always doomed to fail, fated to forever chase the...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: England make it hard to watch, while Sky’s legend makes the game look easy

Another week, another panic-inducing evening spent watching the England team then. This whole edge-of-our-seat, fine line between death and glory shtick that England have peddled out for years is now growing quite tiresome. Just for once, couldn’t we be like Germany and be ruthlessly efficient and...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: Euro Vision begins as ITV and the BBC vie for Championship glory

Ok, so it might not feel too much like summer right now. It’s about 10°C outside, caravan parks are under water and the only suntans in sight are painted on the vacuous plebs of Geordie Shore. But I promise you, we are there and that of course means only one thing: the European Championships have ...

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Outside the Box – Football on TV: An evening of Eurotrash as United make their Channel 5 debut

European football returned to our screens last week as our plucky English clubs once more ventured to the four corners of Europe to mix it up with some of the mightiest names in continental football; goliaths such as Barcelona, Inter and FC Metalist Kharkiv could all be on the horizon. As the week b...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Squads and quotas are good for English football

I've long been an advocate of the idea of a declared squad for Premier League games, in much the same way way as exists for European tournaments. It stops clubs from hoarding players because once a player is excluded from a squad he will agitate for a transfer and therefore improve the squad at ano...

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UEFA Shouldn't Single Out Eduardo

It hasnt taken long for Arsene Wenger to have steam coming out of his ears this season. Inevitably hes jumped to the defence of his striker Eduardo after the news that UEFA might give him a ban over alleged diving. We shouldnt take him too seriously- Wenger recently admitted he does see incidents w...

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UEFA should hold firm on racism and retain the Atletico Madrid punishment

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo is widely quoted as believing that next weeks Champions' League game with Liverpool will take place at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid. Despite the three match UEFA ban (one game suspended) imposed by UEFA for racist behaviour by Spanish fans as he believes t...

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Donadoni Looking for A Repreive

by Paul Grech Win or bust. That is what is facing Italy tonight, putting aside that it could be win AND bust if results elsewhere don’t go their way. That too is the reality for Roberto Donadoni: contract or not, if Italy go out then so too would the national coach. For many, that would be the pre...

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New Squarefootball book on the 39th game

The 39th game: Premier League plays at imperialism Seven of the writers of the long-established football website, Squarefootball, have collaborated to produce the first in-depth appraisal of the Premier League’s contentious proposal to add internationally based fixtures to the Premier League season...

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5545 Champions League Final Moscow

by : Mark Carlton If reports are to be believed - as per last year - Premier League officials are preparing themselves for talks with UEFA to discuss a switch of venue for this year’s Champions League final - if it becomes an all-English affair. Is the Premier League purposefully trying to alienat...

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5022 UEFA Cup: Of Course it’s Brok

by : Kieran McHugh It would appear that, once again, UEFA in its infinite wisdom is about to tinker with the format of the UEFA, (BBC, 8th November,2007). A decision will be made in December to decide on a proposal to change the format to mirror the group stages of the Champions League. The idea ...

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4450: Will Platini Take On Europe’s

by : Hugh Larkin Michel Platini was elected President of UEFA after running on a ticket promising to level the playing field in European football. Last week saw the first evidence that he is deadly serious when the Euro 2012 tournament went to Poland and the Ukraine. The award can’t be laid solely...

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4117: UEFA: Michel Platini Gets the

by : Kieran McHugh Right, it’s a piece about UEFA. Dig through the archives and pull out the relevant file. That’s funny it seems to be marked “gaffes”. And it’s not collected much dust. For years now the political machinations at UEFA have seemed to run contrary to the instincts of a competitive ...

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