Sitemap - 2024 - Unexpected Delirium
They're not quite the worst Manchester United team in living memory, but there's not much in it
Strength in Depth, Episode 3; Between the Wars
Single Parenthood & I: A Christmas Diary
Christmas Bonus: Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas
Words & Pictures to Follow; Shoreham vs AFC Varndeanians
The Football Kickback: celebrating potatoes and feeling loved at Christmas
George Eastham: the quiet revolutionary
The Pelicot Trial: Outcomes, consequences and ramifications
Everton's recent fate as a parable for the state of modern football
Single Parenthood & I: The Christmas Show
Strength in Depth, Episode 2; Edwardian Values
Okay, so what has happened to Jack Grealish, then?
The Football Kickback: all the latest Bobby Davro news
When a last-minute equaliser makes all that travelling worthwhile
Single Parenthood & I: The Looks You Get
Words & Pictures to Follow: another New Home Town versus Old Home City Derby... and maybe the last?
Can Wycombe Wanderers continue to upset the League One applecart?
Single Parenthood & I: The Morning Routine
Those magnificent Spurs in their flying machines
Strength in Depth, Episode One: Origin Story
Manchester United: meet the new boss, same as the old boss?
The Football Kickback: Storm Vinny Samways
Why there will be neither words nor pictures this weekend
Come on then, Mr Guehi, Mr Morsy and Mr Mazraoui, what do you really mean?
Pathetic, bulky men with pathetic, bulky attitudes
Billericay is a long way from Kansas
Words & Pictures to Follow: Billericay Town vs Hendon
After all they went through; on Mark Robins, Coventry City and... Frank Lampard?
Manchester City and the lack of a transitional season
Single Parenthood & I: On dementia
The Football Kickback: Charlie Methven's Raspberry Trousers
Dorking and Enfield step in as Storm Bert robs me of a trip to an enchanted forest
Diet Stoke; or, when stagnation takes over a football club
Words & Pictures to Follow: Roffey vs Little Common
The Tottenham Way: Damage your brand for no gain whatsoever
Dumbarton FC and a "get-rich quick pipe dream"
What will Football Bluesky look like after the Great Xodus?
The Football Kickback: Ryan Giggs Does Something Honorable
Carsley out, Tuchel in; so which way now for England?
Spurs outgunned in North London Derby
Words & Pictures to Follow: Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal
Match of the Day: The Culture Wars
Bald as a Coote: or, indiscretion in the age of conspiracy theories
The Football Kickback: Stop Making the Same Mistakes
Electricity meets 'Water with (just about) predictable consequences
Words and pictures to follow: Brighton Electricity vs Southwater
Millwall vs Leeds and the season's most unnecessary light show
Farsley Celtic: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it
The Football Kickback: HOW MUCH FOR A LOAF OF SOURDOUGH?
If the FA doesn't care about the FA Cup, why should we?
On why stepping in over harrassment is often a dilemma
Darts shooting blanks as Halloween bites
Single Parenthood & I: It became final on Thursday
Words & Pictures to follow: Dartford vs Cray Valley PM
Not for the first time... Swindon wilts
Underground overground to Redbridge, and a very... retro experience
The Football Kickback: It's difficult to imagine a baby Ian
The Pelicot Trial, and why we have to speak up
Words & Pictures to Follow: Redbridge vs Heybridge Swifts - On The Edge of The Green Buckle
Aston Villa are the best football team in Europe (for now)
The two faces of Reading Football Club
Are we witnessing the death of one of non-league football's most famous names?
The Football Kickback: Have some goddam respect for yourselves
Rooks knocked off their perch by a Hornet's sting
Words & Pictures to Follow: Horsham vs Lewes - It's important to do these things while you can
Blyth Spartans: Business before pleasure
Thomas Tuchel's England appointment is the best sort of appointment; it's funny
The Football Kickback: Daniel Levy (Chipolata)
Admiral 50; This is definitely not a 'review'
Stow away; or, when Moses failed to part the ocean
Single Parenthood & I: How to cope with and get through a child's birthday
Inverness Caledonian Thistle on the brink
The APT rulings don't look like *that* much of a victory for Manchester City
Cambridge United and a headline of two halves
The Football Kickback: Erik Eleven Hag
Will two points be enough to save Erik Ten Hag?
Celtic's hammering in Dortmund is a joke that may wear off quickly
The National League Cup gets off to a predictably dismal start
The Football Kickback: Drugs, Drugs, Glorious Drugs
If you're a big club and you're getting dunked on by Spurs, things are bad
Words & Pictures to Follow: Brain fog and Burgess Hill
Women's football still has a lot of ground to make up on the men's game
The Football Kickback: Cumulative Concussions
Everton: Light at the end of the Mersey Tunnel
Meet The New Defence, Same As The Old Defence
Single Parenthood & I: There is no substitutes bench
Words & Pictures to Follow: Horley Town vs Hassocks
Can Vimal Yoganathan blaze a trail for the Sri-Lankan Tamil diaspora in professional football?
The Football Kickback - At Least Seven Minutes of Football Content
When whimsy meets rage-bait, and it *all* goes wrong
Pride comes before a Faal as Havant slip up in Sussex in the Cup
On the other major thing in my life
Words & Pictures to Follow: Worthing vs Havant & Waterlooville
Morecambe remain rooted to the bottom and up in the air
The culture wars are now just a part of the international break background noise
At what point do fans start give up on Premier League football in droves?
A Quick Public Service Announcement
The Football Kickback, 2024/25: Oh Case-Dearo
When the technology fails in the village
Words & Pictures to follow: Dulwich Hamlet vs Leatherhead
A conversation between my 16 year-old self and my 42 year-old self
Shit Shot Mungo, Episode Three
The Football Kickback, 2024/25: My Name is Mister Gareth
Sven Goran Eriksson: Too much of a gentleman for English football?
In the shadows, at the other end of White Hart Lane
Words and Pictures to follow: Haringey Borough vs Brightlingsea Regent
The Football Kickback, 2024/25: Late Stage Peter Shilton
Ain't no Sunshine: Briefly, on the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup
Stepping into the Simeonulator
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 18;
The Premier League 2024/25, Part Four; Nottingham Forest to Wolves
The Premier League 2024/25, Part Three: Leicester City to Newcastle United
The Premier League 2024/25, Part Two: Chelsea to Ipswich Town
A Wild Goose Chase for a Shirt
The Premier League 2024/25, Part One: Arsenal to Brighton
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter H; Make the people and the whole country proud
Great Football Books: The Football Grounds of England & Wales, by Simon Inglis
Beautiful Idiots & Brilliant Lunatics: Fisher vs Redhill - No time to catch your breath
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 17; Bad Practices Elsewhere
Beautiful Idiots & Brilliant Lunatics: Exploring London and Beyond in 2024/25
Bend me, shape me, any way you want me
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter G; improbable, implausible and contrived
Girondins de Bordeaux: tombé en panne
A promising post-playing career blown apart by careless words
Rome Wasn't Built in Day; Chapter 16, Not in the wider interests of football
Enzo Fernandez, and a surprising outburst
Gareth Southgate: our part in his downfall
A brief introduction to the 2024/25 club football season
Next season on Unexpected Delirium
Euro 2024; England finally hit their comedown
Euro 2024 Podcast: Lemon Fanta, it turns out, does not equal Banter
Football doesn't want to talk about its domestic violence problem
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter F; The depth of my personal disappointment
Euro 2024: Eff your cat, it's coming home
From the Archive: Television masterpieces - Connections (1978)
Euro 2024, the semis: they're a rum old bird, this team
From the Archive: On writing, self-belief, and overcoming imposter syndrome
Euro 2024, the semis: the young boy burns, but there is more to Spain than this
From the Archive: I watched an episode of Love Island so you don't have to
Euro 2024 Podcast: A Greased Albatross
Euro 2024: the quarters, part one; Portugal sacrificed at the altar of one man's ego, yet again
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 15: Who do they think they are?
From The Archive: Evicting Non-League Football Clubs: Powered by iRama
Euro 2024 Podcast: AND THEN HE STARTED CRYING!
From The Archive: You Can't Go Home Again
If you can't be good, be lucky; England scramble into the quarters
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 14; A whole new ball game
From the Archive: Nottingham Forest - 13 Years of Hurt
Euro 2024 Podcast: Ayyyy Don't Believe It
From The Archive: Diego - The Greatest of Them All
From the Archive: Jim McLean’s Dundee United & The Roma Scandal
Scotland the Brave? Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beasties, more like
Gareth Southgate is reaching the beginning of the end
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter E; Racked with nervous tension and discomfort
From the Archive: Sunderland's fall from grace continues
A brief oasis of football before what will replace it begins again
From the Archive: Marseille - The Aftermath
Euro 2024 Podcast, Part One; Enter the Soup Kitchen
From the Archive: Marseille 2016 - how to make sense of this chaos?
Euro 2024; Everybody performing their allotted roles
Euro 2024: Opening night nerves show the gulf between the makeweights and the rest
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 13; A lack of police control
Euro 24, Group F; Georgia on their minds?
From The Archive: England vs Germany; 10 Other Matches
Euro 24, Group E; After the gold rush
From The Archive: The Euro 20 Final, Part Two; During & After
From The Archive: The Euro 20 Final, Part One; Cause, Culpability and Consequence
Euro 24, Group D; A Two-Horse Race
Euro 24, Group C; The best of times, the worst of times
If England don't want to be booed from the pitch, they'll need to do better than that
Euro 24, Group B; Group of Death, or Group of Near-Death?
The richest clubs are fast-forwarding us to football's dystopian future
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 12; I’m afraid the news is very bad from Brussels
As Bad as Things Got: West Ham United, 29th February 2020
A history of German club football through the medium of its Euro 24 venues
Euro 24, Group A: Permutations > Goals
From the Archive: The death & rebirth of football in Hereford
Out with the old, in with the new
From the Archive: Animal Soccer World - the worst game of them all
A wholly predictable Champions League final was a wholly appropriate ending to the season
The fraudster, his son, the EFL and the Companies
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter D; When I get to know you better
Perfect, twice: France winning the European Championships, 40 years on
As Bad as Things Got; Wales at the Euros, 16th November 1994
So Coalville Town are disappearing from view... but why?
From the Archive: The Contradictory & Counter-Intuitive Oxford United
The Football Kickback; A Spanner in the Works
Leeds United's reaction to losing the play-off final shows what a testing season it is
Erik Ten Hag, and the fine art of throwing a spanner in the works
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 11; a few soccer hooligans might get their fingers burnt
Leeds United, Southampton, and the 4th March 1972
As Bad as Things Got: England at the Euros; 12th June 1980
Chelsea will never be the club they seem to want to be if they continue this managerial policy
From the Archive: The government tries to tackle the hooligans, but attacks all of us instead
The Football Kickback: Poch o'Clock Seems to Come Around Earlier Each Year
Unexpected Delirium End of Season Review: Awards, Kinda
Jurgen Klopp: When funerals and wakes collide
The Golden Steamroller makes it six out of seven
VAR chat turns existential, but will anything change?
The EFL Championship: A league in which no-one is good enough
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 10; A non-decision that will be talked about for years
No, it is no surprise whatsoever that Spurs fans reacted in the way that they did last night
As Bad as Things Got: Sheffield United, 2nd May 1981
From the Archive: Burnley - Here come the Americans
Three up three down is a sign of the Premier League times
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter C; Never change a winning team
As Bad As Things Got; Charlton Athletic, 7th September 1985
Manchester United under Erik Ten O'Farrell remain as intractable as ever
From the Archive: Burnley, Ian Britton, and the many faces of heroism
Enfield on the up, or when promotion feels like validation of a set of principles
The Football Kickback: They Deserve to be Knighted
Worthing fall at the last, but should take pride at how far they've come
Bricked: Capel see off Jarvis Brook in a season-ender of little to no consequence
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 9; Most people called it "the slavery contract"
As Bad as Things Got; Fulham, 28th February 1987
From the Archive; Remembering Jimmy Armfield
The Football Kickback, Episode 3; Everton are safe but Spurs gonna Spurs
A season in search of one ends up there, 60 miles from home.
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 8; Clubs cannot just do as they like
The Merseyside Derby saves Everton and condemns Liverpool... almost, and nearly
As Bad as Things Got: West Bromwich Albion, 11th May 1991
From the Archive: Wrexham; The Gang Gets a New Member
From the Archive: Football's uncomfortable heading conversation
Manchester United, Coventry City, the letter and the spirit of the law
The Football Kickback, Episode 2; Tiny arms and huge injustices
The FA and the Premier League join forces to desecrate the FA Cup
Voices of Football: Barry Davies, English football's renaissance man
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 7; Boy, what a thrill it was
Shine on you crazy Diamond Lights
As Bad as Things Got: Aston Villa, 25th April 1936
Further east than Orient, there's a storm a-brewin'
European Championship Stories; 2008, when the world felt very different
Third will probably have to be good enough for the Worthing Women
The Monday Kickback, Episode 1
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter B; There Was no Fluke About It
The Midlife Crisis of Cristiano Ronaldo
Another two off for Everton, and they've got off lightly
As Bad as Things Got; Newcastle United, 20th April 1992
European Championship Stories; 2004, Greek Economies of Scale
There in the end: Lancing's chase for the Isthmian League play-offs remains alive
Southend United's takeover-not-takeover may end up back in court, six months on
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter Six; Complaints have been made
As Bad As Things Got; Port Vale, 20th February 1968
Easter comes early for Leatherhead as South Park's play-off hopes come crashing to a halt
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter Five; There is only time for one thing now
Wales and the immediate aftermath of a tournament elimination
Voices of Football: John Motson; goodbye to all that
As Bad as Things Got; Chelsea, 23rd April 1983
Seeing home from a different angle for once, and in more than one sense
European Championship Stories; 1996, a whole new ball game
Corinthian-Casuals & The State of Amateurism in the 21st Century
Words & Pics to Follow: Corinthian-Casuals vs Badshot Lea, 23rd March 2024
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter Four; Great betrayals & teams of all talents
As Bad as Things Got: Millwall, 13th March 1985
Non-League Day: shining light on the magic of my match-going decision-making process
European Championship Stories; 1992, new Europe, old enmities
Tragedy chanting is yet another symptom of a deeply sick society
The Nottingham Forest points deduction was never going to be accepted by anyone
Wimbledon: the other side of the tracks
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter Three; I beg to tender the following suggestion
Reading FC: it's all a matter of where you draw the line, really
Back There Back Then; new runout (or 'walkout', if you must) songs for all, part one - League Two
As Bad As Things Got: Bristol Rovers, 16th August 1980
European Championship Stories; 1988, Revenge is a dish best served cold
Paul Pogba's career reaches an almost inevitable denouement
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter A: Something Which All True Sportsmen Deplore
Back There Back Then; the runout music your club deserves: a prologue
As Bad as Things Got; Burnley, 9th May 1987
Voices of Football: Peter Brackley & The Changing Nature of Broadcasting
In an era of bad faith, safety protocols are at obvious risk of exploitation
European Championship Stories: 1984, Platini and the perfect hat-tricks
No, seriously... Accrington Stanley, who *are* they?
MATCH OFF finally strikes me down... or does it?
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter Two; A meeting of the captains and secretaries
Is Adam Hinshelwood the right man to rescue York City's season?
As Bad as Things Got: Middlesbrough, 22nd August 1986
So, how do you determine an 'appropriate' points deduction for Profit & Sustainability losses?
So, who is this guy who's taken over Blyth Spartans, then?
European Championship Stories: 1980, The Decline & Fall of English Football
Much ado about Dorking: Ebbsfleet bring some truths home to roost
100 Owners: Robert Chase, Norwich City
The Freewheelin' Unexpected Delirium Podcast: The End
Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, chapter one: Kicking a stuffed leather ball
When will the sun also rise again for Torquay United?
Voices of Football: Gerry Harrison, The Best from the East
Rochdale: We've been here before, so don't you dare act surprised
European Championship Stories: 1976, The Birth of the Penalty Shootout
Introducing... Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
The curious case of the former internationals turning out in the eleventh division
Back to square one for Sunderland... again
Winning at Dominoes, Episode 10: The Welsh Wimbledon
Eastbourne Castled by Chelmsford's 1-2-3
100 Owners: Tony Lazarou, Enfield FC
The Freewheelin Unexpected Delirium Podcast: Sin Bins & Other Things
Voices of Football: Bryon Butler, The Quiet Authority
Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.
As Bad As Things Got: Leeds United, 30th November 2008
The apparently neverending agony of Charlton Athletic
European Championship Stories: 1972, the greatest German team of all?
Winning at Dominoes, Episode 9: Deepest, Darkest Peru
One in the eye for Hastings in The Castle Derby
100 Owners: The Three Amigos, Derby County
The Freewheelin' Unexpected Podcast: Stuff you've done in football grounds that wasn't football
A Story of Football in 30 Episodes, Part Three
Voices of Football: Jacqui Oatley, The Trailblazer
As Bad As Things Got: Queens Park Rangers, 22nd May 1963
Chelsea have wrapped themselves up in unnecessary (and very expensive) knots
European Championship Stories: 1968, Rhapsody in Blue
The Strange Story of the Team Without a Goalkeeper
Oh Mister Roy, where did it all go wrong?
Winning at Dominoes, Episode 8: Queens Park Rangers - Living in the Plastic Age
One in the eye for Pagham on another day out in the hills
100 Owners: Brian York & Arthur Eastham, Cambridge City
When the best place to get some rest is a non-league football match
The Freewheelin' Unexpected Delirium Podcast: REACTION!
A Story of Footballs in 30 Episodes, Part Two
As Bad As Things Got: Bristol City, 1st April 1982
Voices of Football: Hugh Johns, ITV's other leading man
European Championship Stories: 1964, A Battle of Ideologies
Winning at Dominoes, Part 7: Men of the Clyde
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail: Ferring, Storrington, and why it pays to double-check
100 Owners: Graham Westley (Farnborough Town & Kingstonian)
The Freewheelin' Unexpected Delirium Podcast: One-NIL
Klopp's exit marks Liverpool's biggest managerial shock since Shankly
A Story of Footballs in 30 Episodes, Part One
Newport County shuffle their pack while looking forward to their FA Cup day in the sun
As Bad As Things Got: Oxford United, 5th November 1991
Voices of Football: Kenneth Wolstenholme, The First Voice of Football
On Neil Kulkarni, and loss in the age of parasocial media
European Championship Stories: 1960, Cold War Football
Winning at Dominoes, Part Six: The Men That Built The Arsenal
A Tale of One City (And One Town)
100 Owners: Douglas Craig, York City
The Freewheelin Unexpected Delirium Podcast: Windows 24
The latest Newcastle story doesn't say much for any form of existing football governance
As Bad As Things Got: Norwich City, 8th August 2009
West Ham United, and when temporary becomes permanent
Televised Football in the Regions: Wales & The West
Regulation in the time of conspiracy theories is proving a bind for the Premier League
Reading's cri de coeur strikes a chord as a sign of our times
100 Owners: R.W. (Dick) Stoley - Argonauts FC
The Freewheelin' Unexpected Delirium Podcast: Oh Captain My Captain
Voices of Football: James Alexander Gordon - The Voice of Saturday Tea-Time
As Bad as Things Got: Everton, 7th May 1994
Chelsea's 2024 is starting to look a bit like their 2023
Football in the Regions: The Beautiful South
Insert Coin to Continue, Part 7: The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (1982-2019)
The Unexpected Delirium Live Blog: Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United, FA Cup 3rd Round
As Bad As Things Got: Brentford, 19th January 1967
Winning at Dominoes, Part Six: Accrington & Colne, Touched by the the Hand of Burnley
Saints breeze past Saddlers on an FA Cup Third Round Saturday in the sun
Voices of Football: Martin Tyler – The Pre-Premier League Years
The FA Cup will be fine, if those who run it can resist tinkering with it any more
As Bad As Things Got - Arsenal: 14th May 1980
Televised football in the regions, Part 6: Anglia - Punching above their weight
Let's not going kidding ourselves that abandoning FFP would make football more "competitive"
The new Rooney Rule: stop getting distracted by the shiny things when everything's going okay
Insert Coin to Continue, Part 6: A Wide Open Playing Field (1994-2020)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?