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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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470: Matt Targett, Newcastle United, Panini Premier League Official Sticker Collection 2024

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Mat Jolin-Beech today looks to spare us all the tedium of an international break with a look back at some pre-season misadventures. An online wag summarised the suffering of football fans the other day by observing that such was the malaise during England’s insipid win over the mighty Andorra that commentators Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon winded up talking about Coldplay instead. Hopefully Mat, a missed plane and some salad cream will sort that out. (Thanks to all of those on BlueSky who pointed out that the Targett story was a spoof. We live and learn. And why let the truth get in the way of a funny story?) Pre-season. It’s the time where there is (mostly) excitement and optimism coursing through fans veins. It’ll be our year [TM all Arsenal fans]. The players are putting in the hard yards and training until they’re sick. Running over sand dunes, working on the latest manager’s tactics, or eyeing that dream transfer to a club they’ve long admired – ever since the tabloids published ...
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35: Mary Earps MBE, England, M&S Eat Well Play Well, Official England Sticker Collection

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You wait over fifty years for football to supposedly “come home” and then it turns up twice in the space of three years. While England’s Lionesses emulated the infamous 1966 World Cup victory with an extra-time win over Germany on home turf back in 2022 they retained their title in Switzerland this year with penalty shootout success against world champions Spain . Their path to glory had all of the twists and turns one could want from a major tournament with an early setback against France , snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in both knockout stages through a young player who didn’t even make the competition’s sticker album culminating in a cathartic final exorcising ghosts of their World Cup final defeat to the same opponents in 2023. The list of Lioness heroines is hard to cap. Leah Williamson led her side admirably with solid performances in defence. Lucy Bronze, seen performing her own physio during the quarter final, revealed she played the entire tournament with a fractur...
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LE2: Didier Drogba, Chelsea, Topps Match Attax Trading Card Game, Barclays Premier League 2010/11 Collector Binder

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The new Premier League season is less than a week away and, as always, clubs will be entering the campaign with the baggage of hope, expectation and new challenges to overcome. As hilarious as it was to watch it is unlikely that the plucky underdogs of Manchester City will be quite as inept this time around while Arsenal will look to avoid yet another season of near misses. Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace will have the added burden of European football while Tottenham Hotspur have turned to Thomas Frank to spearhead their Champions League jaunt with a clear remit to avoid finishing seventeenth however comical it might be. Reigning champions Liverpool, meanwhile, have endured a horrific summer following the tragic death of Diogo Jota which highlighted that none of this really matters in the grand scheme of things. Chelsea enter the season with a potential target on their backs following their summer exploits in the USA. Although they have been denied the physical evidence, owin...
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450: Francis Benali, Southampton, Merlin’s Premier League 95 Sticker Collection

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Emlyn Shepherdson-Jones takes on a request post for Mark Smith about a man who impressed on and off the pitch on the South Coast. Today’s subject has been on the blog’s longlist for a while but it’s fitting he gets his moment in the sun in light of his club’s struggles last season. That and Mark deserves a request following his sublime physical comedy exploits on Cardiff’s Queen Street during Emlyn’s stag last year. Over to Emlyn. Prior to an evening game of cricket at the Oval a few weeks ago, I was sat at a pub table catching up with my good friend Mark. Mark is a massive Southampton fan, so definitely deserves some sympathy for the season just gone by. My team, Reading , have shared a number of players with the Saints over the years, but haven't played each other often of late, so we've been unable to enjoy a matchup between the two sides. Sadly I was yet to meet Mark in 2012, and so Reading's late surge to usurp the Saints from the top of the Championship table was a m...
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