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146: Paul Gerrard, Everton, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 2001 Official Sticker Collection

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Merry Christmas and thanks for continuing to read our various nostalgic ramblings. For this year’s festive post Mat Jolin-Beech delves into the finer details of some of the Barclay’s era’s most memorable moments. If you’re starting to run out of interesting anecdotes to share with your nearest and dearest then you are in luck. They probably need a minute or two to recover from your hot takes on the lack of top flight Boxing Day fixtures and the England cricket team’s obsession with golf and vibes. Over to Mat with his fun facts. I saw something on the internet today. Cue old school Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear jokes… No, not that. But that it’s been 25 years since that incident with Paolo di Canio . To specify which one exactly, as the spicy little Italian had his fair share of incidents in his career, it came at his time with West Ham United . The game was against Everton at Goodison Park and in a probable relegation battles. This came at a time when relegation battles still existed ...
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201: Mart Poom, Derby County, Merlin’s Premier League 98 Official Sticker Collection

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Last month’s final World Cup qualifiers provided all the drama one could hope for from international football. Scotland overcame Denmark in a game for the ages proving that Scott McTominay was robbed for this year’s Ballon d’Or and providing the Tartan Army with yet another crack at getting past the group stage in a major international tournament. Having snuck past the mighty Liechtenstein to set up a winner takes all/a play-off spot showdown with North Macedonia, Wales went on to obliterate their opponents 7-1 only to see Belgium inflict similar violence on the aforementioned microstate to deny them top spot. Even San Marino raced into the lead against Romania, no doubt traumatising Stuart Pearce , before receiving their traditional shellacking but there was far more exciting news for the more successful minnows with Curacao, Cape Verde and Uzbekistan securing their slots at their first ever World Cup finals. Then the worst double act since Dick and Dom in da Bungalow hiked the tick...
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502: Marc Vivien-Foe, West Ham United, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 2000, Millennium Edition Sticker Collection

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At the end of the 2019/20 season Jude Bellingham left his boyhood club Birmingham City to join German giants Borussia Dortmund. He first joined the Blues as an under-8, worked his way through the age groups and signed a two-year scholarship contract in July 2019. By the end of August he had become the club’s youngest ever first team player and goalscorer. By January he was a first team regular and was subject to a £20m deadline day bid from Manchester United. After the Covid-19 lockdowns he continued to perform well as the season resumed and helped Birmingham narrowly avoid relegation on his way to being named Championship Apprentice of the Year and EFL Young Player of the Year. This was undeniably an impressive debut season and Bellingham’s rise to England and Galactico stardom is testament to his undeniable talent. At the same time it seemed a bit odd when, following his departure to the Bundesliga, Birmingham City retired his no.22 shirt. The practice of honouring certain players f...
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20: Declan Rice, England, M&S Eat Well Play Well, Official England Sticker Collection

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In this post Mat Jolin-Beech takes a brave step for any nostalgia based football blogger and points out that modern football is rubbish compared to the good old days. Similar arguments abounded when we were growing up and older generations were upset by players having snazzy hair or colourful boots. No doubt there were some in the 1890s complaining about footballers not having moustaches or having attended a suitably respectable public school. Time for an old man to yell at a cloud. Over to Mat. There was a post the other week on Twitter-was-X that was probably just pure click-and-rage bait : “The level of the Premier League is the best in history. Haaland is better than Henry Isak is better than Rooney Van Dijk is better than Vidic Alisson is better than Cech Salah is better than Giggs Rice is better than Gerrard ” WELL. Just no on so many levels. The only one of those I’d even entertain being true is Declan Rice, the sticker for this post, being better than Steven “don’t let it slip...
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216: Siphiwe Tshabalala, South Africa, Topps Match Attax Trading Card Game, England Collector Binder

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Open wide for some soccer! Next year the FIFA World Cup will be held across sixteen venues in the USA, Canada and Mexico and, for no apparent reason, will feature a whopping 48 countries. Like several previous editions of the tournament there will be a huge opportunity for a narcissistic world leader to try and steal the limelight and, based on his performance at the risible Club World Cup earlier this year, potentially steal the actual trophy to add to his collection of gold shiny things. In keeping with the last two editions of the World Cup there will also be ample airtime for FIFA’s questionable president , Gianni Infantino, to do his bit for the host nations’ marginalised people by telling us that today he feels like a recently dismissed government worker who didn’t praise Elon Musk enough or Melania Trump. A, frankly terrifying, fifteen years ago the World Cup was held on African soil for the first time with South Africa chosen ahead of Egypt and Morocco by FIFA officials it lat...
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130: Lars Elstrup, Luton Town, Merlin Shooting Stars 1991/92

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This post is for my colleague and friend Jonny Patrick and takes a look at a forward he describes as “a good player from the golden age of Hatters” who endured a turbulent life following his retirement. Jonny’s had a couple of tough years as his beloved Luton Town suffered back-to-back relegations although things have certainly been worse at Kenilworth Road in the recent past. I can’t promise any references to niche political extremists in this one mate but I think the footballer in question brings us plenty to unpack. Enjoy! During his lengthy career Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a preposterous 573 goals for some of the world’s biggest football clubs and his country. As well as his martial artist’s balance and flexibility, to go along with his exceptional talent, the forward is blessed with an unshakeable self-confidence to the extent he often refers to himself mononymously and in the third person. Until recently Zlatan could direct any critics to one of his (many) tattoo...
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111: Steve Claridge, Leicester City, Merlin’s Premier League Kick Off Sticker Collection, 1997

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Earlier this month everyone’s favourite bitey racist Uruguayan striker received a six-match ban for spitting at Gene Ramirez, Seattle Sounders’ director of security, following an altercation with Obed Vargas. Luis Suarez did apologise via Instagram, which of course makes everything alright, and Inter Miami have thankfully had the common sense not to send their players out in supportive t-shirts in their subsequent MLS fixtures. The latest of Suarez’s crimes against decency led to me asking my fellow bloggers if he was the “single most hateable footballer of all time” (which makes a far less accessible acronym than ‘ GOAT ’). While there was some general agreement our Rich took the opportunity to mention Suarez’s Inter Miami teammate with a penchant for tax evasion, humility and nausea inducing levels of hyperbole surrounding his ability. Moreover Suarez had at least “done it” on a cold Sunday afternoon in Stoke. If I had been posed the same question twenty to thirty years ago I would h...
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