In my mind I’m always the best. Cristiano Ronaldo: Impossible to Ignore, BBC 2021
The man who has got everything. ibid. Rio Ferdinand
At the beginning of 2021 I started looking into the staggering rise in abuse against black footballers. Before lockdown, racist slurs, boos and even monkey-chants had been increasing in stadiums. Hunting the Football Trolls, Jermaine Jenas reporting, Channel 4 2021
Even if a player does make a statement, prosecutions under the Malicious Communications Act must be brought within six months. It’s a race against time for the police. ibid.
What’s it going to take to make social media companies play their part? ibid.
For over 70 years the Windrush generation and their descendants have contributed an extraordinary amount to almost all aspects of British society. In few places has this been more visible than on the football pitch. Standing Firm: Football’s Windrush Story, BBC 2021
It was here at Tilbury Docks on 21st June 1948 that Empire Windrush ended its long journey from the West Indies to the River Thames. Where Britain’s new arrivals descended the steps into a new life full of hope. ibid.
26 Football league clubs fielded their first black player in the 1970s. ibid.
West Brom: the Three Degrees: and I’m telling you, they really made an impact. ibid.
‘Do I not like that.’ Cutting Edge: Graham Taylor: An Impossible Job, opening scene in dugout, Channel 4 1994
There are certain advantages in being the former manager of the England football team. The morning post is friendly, the critics have discovered new targets and the world’s no longer free of unwanted advice. ibid.
‘Now all of the problems that go with that … it’s never been an easy job for anyone; some people would describe it as an impossible job.’ ibid. Taylor
I sweat a lot. You know, I’m waking up with the usual pyjamas wet through. ibid.
Who’s going to touch you with a barge-pole as it were? I Believe in Miracles: The Remarkable Story of Brian Clough’s European Cup Winning Team, BBC interview to Clough, Netflix 2015
We were languishing in what was called the Second Division at the time. ibid. Martin O’Neill
Players thrived at what he was doing because it was always that competitive edge. It was never mundane. ibid. Gemmill
Tottenham Hotspur had just won promotion to the First Division and now they wanted Walter … Britain’s first professional black player … Tony Robinson’s History of Britain s2e2: Edwardians, Channel 5 2022
Casuals is an untold story because they developed outside of the normal realms of youth fashion. They developed it in football rather than in music. Casuals: The Story of the Legendary Terrace Fashion, Amazon 2021
Everybody wanted to attach themselves to the most expensive sports wear they could get their hands on to. And it made us feel good about ourselves. ibid.
For more than 50 years Britain has been a melting pot of youth subcultures … As the ’70s ended and the ’80s began, the Casual movement took grip across the UK. ibid.
Being a football Casual brought a common identity and a confidence some couldn’t find anywhere else at the time. ibid.
Stadio Artemio Franchi Florence Italy 27th October 1954: In broad daylight a football game in Florence, Italy, ground to a halt when a UFO began to perform acrobatics in the sky. Craig Charles: UFO Conspiracies s1e6: Phoenix Lights, History 2022
One of the reasons football is the most popular sport in the world is because the weak can beat the powerful. Super Greed: The Fight for Football, Marcelo Bierlsa, Showcase 2021
It will go down as one of the worst executed plans of all time, a car crash really for those twelve owners. ibid. news
Ever since the Premier League’s creation in the early 1990s there has been talk about such a project being set up. ibid. Mark Kleinman, Sky News
I’m disgusted. Absolutely disgusted. ibid. Gary Neville, Sky Sports
It fell apart officially within forty-eight hours. ibid. dude
Gazza’s success will depend on him fulfilling the prediction of those who say he’s Britain’s brightest football hope. Gazza I, early news clip, 2022
The most gifted footballer of his generation. Target of the tabloid press. Carrying the hopes of a nation. ibid. captions
I did see that he would gorge on food and then go and make himself sick. I just thought it was one of Gazza’s traits. He developed twitches. He would always check doors upteen times. ibid. Observer
They’d [Lazio] reached the point where he needed help. ibid.
Gazza’s life was one of pressure; it seemed to come at him from all directions. Gazza II, filmmakers at Lazio
The World Cup campaign was just another casualty of Paul’s increasingly fragmented life. ibid. Jane Nottage
And we’d meet about 7.30 in the morning, and he would be drinking wine on the train in the morning … More than a problem … Something was steadily fading away. ibid. Merson
He lives alone on the south coast of England. ibid.
At a football club there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don’t come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques. Kicking Off: The Rise and Fall of the Super League, Bill Shankly, BBC 2022
Berlusconi 1990: to set in motion his plans for a European super league … The dye had been cast. ibid.
‘What we’ve got at the heart of football is a power struggle over money.’ ibid. dude
From the outside, it looks like the level of anger has taken the billionaires by surprise. ibid.
That history – it gets ingrained into you … I come from Govan. I’m a Govan boy. Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In, Channel 4 2022
I was a shop steward for the Apprentices. The Apprentice’ Strike [April 1960], that was a really important moment for me. It was great. Being part of it. It wasn’t about, you, it was about us. About being a team. ibid.
Govan Boy. Signing for Rangers. Scottish transfer record. ibid.
We didn’t have a training ground at Aberdeen. ibid.
Aberdeen 3 Bayern Munich 2. ibid.
European Cup Winners’ Cup: Aberdeen 2 Real Madrid 1. ibid.
We are the luckiest team in the world. We are a disgraceful of a performance … I’m not going to accept that from any Aberdeen team … ibid. Ferguson’s post-match fury
If you could open up their [players]’ minds, you could find out. Scottish Cup Winners: Aberdeen 1 Rangers 0. ibid. Ferguson
FA Cup Winners Manchester Utd 1 Crystal Palace 0. ibid.
It’s the best way to go … You don’t want to die. ibid.
You have to treat losing as part of the progress. ibid.
1999: We won the league again. We won the cup again. But to be honest, I was only a beginner. ibid.
My priority was the European Cup: the Champions League … A reward to sticking for what you believed in. This was the big won. Barcelona. ‘The mood was great … game on.’ ibid.
Things have changed a fair bit since I retired. I’ve seen the women’s game explode in popularity over recent years. Alex Scott: The Future of Women’s Football, BBC 2022
Women’s football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. ibid.
1990: The Italia 90 world cup, a festival of football. A celebration of the world’s greatest game. With an audience of over one billion, it would become one of the most watched television events in history. Italia 90: When Football Changed Forever I, Channel 4 2022
At the time, English football was in crisis. ibid.
England had one of its most talented teams in years. And expectations were running high. ibid.
Across Britain, diehard fans formed organised gangs in the name of their clubs: they were called Firms. ibid.
After the Ireland game, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. But England’s next opponents are the Netherlands. ibid.
The ban on English clubs playing football in Europe won’t be lifted if the violence escalates. The English team is also in danger of being thrown out of the championships. Italia 90: When Football Changed Forever II