Wednesday 22 May 2013, 13:22
"Are you Andy Cole?” asks the glamorous English girl in her mid-thirties. Cole nods. He’s been here a million times before and knows that he’s being judged from the second the question is being asked...
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Friday 20 May 2011, 12:02
What links Premier League legends Alan Shearer, Andrew Cole, Gianfranco Zola, Gus Poyet, Steve McManaman, Ray Parlour, Paul Merson, Rob Lee and Roberto Di Matteo? Why, of course, it's that they're...
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Monday 14 March 2011, 18:00
Barca, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. I’ve found myself in Groundhog Day territory watching the same teams in the last week. I’ll spare Arsenal fans from going over Saturday’s FA Cup match....
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Tuesday 01 March 2011, 11:51
The first Manchester United fan I saw after walking out of Marseille St-Charles train station last Wednesday had a warning. “Don’t bother with the Old Port,” he said. “We’ve just left. It’s getting a bit...
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Monday 21 February 2011, 11:25
Sir Alex Ferguson is the latest person to speak out against the prices for this year’s Champions League final at Wembley. We’ll ignore the fact he’s never spoken out about the ticket prices at Old Trafford...
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Friday 11 February 2011, 15:00
An email arrives from Sao Paulo.... “Ronaldo (Nazário) is in a very bad moment here - Corinthians was eliminated in a pre-Libertadores tournament by a Colombian club called Tolima. The Corinthianos became...
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Friday 04 February 2011, 10:32
The Barca ultras behind the goal sing their anti-Madrid songs. Hurling insults, they also wave a Stone Island flag, as if brandishing the logo of an Italian designer brand confirms their hooligan authenticity...
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Wednesday 26 January 2011, 18:35
Joe Jordan was waiting by the information desk at Liverpool Street station after work last Friday. The former Morton, Leeds United, Manchester United AC Milan, Verona and Bristol City striker had spent...
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Wednesday 19 January 2011, 16:45
I’m spending the week on the road interviewing footballers for my next book on Manchester United in the 70s. They’re all being offered the same fee and every player asked for an in-depth interview so far...
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Friday 07 January 2011, 16:38
The Premier League table doesn’t look quite as promising for Blackpool as it did a week ago, but I bet there’s not a single Tangerines fan who would not have settled for 11th position at the half way point...
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Thursday 16 December 2010, 16:31
I last saw my mate Ronnie, a German writer who mainly covers football for respected newspapers and magazines in his own country, at the Barcelona v Real Madrid game in December 2009. He wrote a great book...
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Monday 06 December 2010, 09:30
I was fortunate to witness probably the most complete football performance I’ve ever seen last Monday night as Barca beat Real Madrid 5-0 at Camp Nou. I can’t recall a side so flawless and so dominant...
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Friday 26 November 2010, 15:47
Technology has made the job of a football journalist much easier, but things haven‘t always been so straightforward. David Meek, the Manchester United reporter for the Manchester Evening News between 1958...
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Wednesday 17 November 2010, 13:02
FC United of Manchester did well to reach the FA Cup first round by knocking out a Barrow side two divisions above them. Financially and geographically, the draw was kind: Rochdale away. FC quickly sold...
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Monday 08 November 2010, 13:10
Who says that the Champions League is predictable? Manchester United’s trip to Bursa last week was anything but. A flight to and a night in Istanbul were followed by an early morning ferry across the Sea...
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Tuesday 26 October 2010, 11:19
One word can explain the madness of my job last week. Rooney. Although maybe ‘greed’ would be more appropriate. When there’s a big United story, my phone doesn’t stop, especially if I’m in Manchester....
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Tuesday 19 October 2010, 12:17
Saturday was a troubling day. I watched United throw away a two-goal lead to West Brom. I don’t like watching football in a pub at the best of times, but I was in Barcelona and Old Trafford isn’t. The...
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Friday 15 October 2010, 11:55
I’ve finally finished the big Barca piece for next month’s FourFourTwo and the Barca players have asked for copies. Most of them want to learn English so they can start with FourFourTwo. Don’t laugh –...
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Wednesday 06 October 2010, 15:12
I write from a tram on the way from Barça’s training ground back to the city centre. I’ve just interviewed Sergio Busquets for a forthcoming issue of FourFourTwo, having spent much of the past few months...
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Tags: Barcelona, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United, David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Julio Arca, Segio Busquets, Sunderland, David Pleat, Niall Quinn, Paddy Crerand, Bolo Zenden, Pedro
Thursday 30 September 2010, 12:20
The Newport County player overhit the ball, which spun over the pitchside hoarding and landed squarely on a plastic table by the refreshment bar. It hit a cup of tea, splattering the contents over its...
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Monday 13 September 2010, 15:00
International week meant a chance to get away before winter. That’s how my wife saw it. "Cornwall," she suggested, after reading a book about the county that is all the rage in her native Brazil...
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Tuesday 31 August 2010, 17:32
The new issue of FourFourTwo is a 'Playmakers Special' - so it's Playmakers Week here on FFT.com. Andy Mitten sings the praises of one of Manchester United's ultimate cult heroes... “My...
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Thursday 26 August 2010, 15:20
You never know what this job is going to throw up. I have regular columns, magazines and books to write, but the news can change in a minute and a previously well planned day can be thrown in chaos. I...
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Monday 16 August 2010, 15:30
Sir Alex Ferguson opined in his programme notes for the Newcastle game that the “one situation which clouds the new season is the continued opposition to the Glazer family.” The United manager added that...
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Tuesday 10 August 2010, 11:39
United were playing in Dublin last week and as United We Stand sells well in Ireland, I was lucky to receive offers of hospitality. I didn’t go. I’d just spent a couple of weeks in America and have a wife...
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Tuesday 03 August 2010, 17:18
I’ve just got back from Manchester United’s pre-season tour of the United States, jetlagged and knackered after driving from Pennsylvania to Texas. I travelled alone and did over 1,800 miles in six days...
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Friday 23 July 2010, 15:42
I’m on an eight-hour journey on the Pennsylvanian train between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Manchester United played against the Philadelphia Union MLS team in America’s fifth biggest city last night...
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Tuesday 13 July 2010, 10:02
Over a million people took to the streets of Barcelona at the weekend. A million. Television estimated the figure even higher at 1.4 million as it beamed globally images of the main streets of the Catalan...
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Wednesday 07 July 2010, 16:49
“So you are telling me that you’d prefer to watch Manchester United’s meaningless pre-season tour rather than the World Cup finals?” The question was a legitimate one and I answered honestly, in the affirmative...
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Wednesday 16 June 2010, 13:34
Aaron Mokoena will again be a proud man when he leads South Africa out against Uruguay in Pretoria today. The South African lived in Manchester while he was at Blackburn Rovers until last summer, when...
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Wednesday 02 June 2010, 10:49
The arrival of David Villa, the Primera Liga title and the World Cup finals are receiving less coverage than FC Barcelona’s upcoming presidential elections in the Catalan media at the moment. Barca’s 162...
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Thursday 27 May 2010, 16:25
The managing director of the company which distributes Manchester United fanzine United We Stand to newsagents across Britain and Ireland is normally chirpy on the phone. This time his tone was different...
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Wednesday 19 May 2010, 12:20
The offer to be an embedded journalist with adidas for the day at the launch of their new F50 boot sounded interesting. I’d be shadowing two footballers - Lionel Messi and David Villa - around the Formula...
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Monday 10 May 2010, 14:49
The domestic league season finished on Sunday and we were scheduled to have our final edition of United We Stand on sale outside Old Trafford before the Stoke game. The mags are printed in South Wales...
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Wednesday 05 May 2010, 12:38
Inter Milan were not the only visitors in Barcelona last week. FourFourTwo chief Hugh Sleight came along with Terry Venables, Marcel Desailly and Georgie Thompson from Sky Sports. (Yeah, you would). They...
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Tuesday 27 April 2010, 11:30
I write from the press box at Camp Nou as Spain’s top vs bottom clash between Barça and Xerez kicks off. A memorial service has just been held in memory of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the corrupt Catalan and...
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Wednesday 21 April 2010, 14:56
Congratulations to Rochdale, who were promoted at the weekend. I went to watch them play Bournemouth a couple of weeks ago. The 15 minute walk from Rochdale’s train station to the town centre is as bleak...
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Monday 12 April 2010, 12:54
I left you with an amiable old drunk on a train between Crosby and Liverpool Central last week. The drunk who wanted my undivided attention but didn’t get it. The three-toothed hero clutching a rucksack...
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Tuesday 06 April 2010, 12:00
At the time of writing I’ve just got back from Old Trafford after the Chelsea defeat, so I’ve been in a better mood. United were beaten by the better side on the day and we’ll leave it at that without...
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Friday 26 March 2010, 10:51
It’s been another week of interviewing footballers – and more besides... – Watched Lionel Messi FC destroy Stuttgart. After the game, another British journalist and I waited with the understandably downbeat...
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Tags: Thomas Helmer, Alexsandr Hleb, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Paul Scholes, James Scowcroft, Everton, Jens Lehmann, Andy Mitten, Barcelona, Andrew Cole
Wednesday 17 March 2010, 12:54
I’m going flat out. It’s always like this before the World Cup finals, with magazines and papers wanting player interviews and features. Daniel Alves was one such player and I visited him in his office...
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Monday 08 March 2010, 15:30
Following the interview with Socrates , I spent a week in Brazil writing up the thoughts of the great man. I also took in Palmeiras v Sao Paulo, one of the big Paulista derby games. The home win for Palmeiras...
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Wednesday 24 February 2010, 14:49
Manchester United’s victory may have brightened the outlook of the travelling fans in Milan last week, but the weather was atrocious in Milan. To avoid another soaking, I headed to the airport early hoping...
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Wednesday 17 February 2010, 11:30
Greetings from the murk of Milan, where I’ve finally seen United get a win in the San Siro. I’m meeting a Milan season ticket holder shortly who gave us a fascinating interview for the current United We...
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Wednesday 10 February 2010, 15:00
Never trust Wikipedia. Any journalist who relies only on the online encyclopaedia should be accused of dereliction of duty. Several reporters have been caught out, including one at the Daily Mirror who...
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Wednesday 03 February 2010, 16:00
I’m sitting in a viewless room above some studios in Barcelona. The room is empty, except for a chair and a desk. It has ‘FourFourTwo’ on the door. There are two other rooms, one labelled ‘FIFA’, the other...
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Wednesday 27 January 2010, 09:00
Gold sells well, Iron stays firm, and Andy Mitten makes it into the local newspaper Old Trafford was superb on Saturday. Not only because of Wayne Rooney’s goals, but the protests against the Glazer family...
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Tuesday 19 January 2010, 09:00
I’d given up on the Socrates interview and suggested to the publishers that we find someone else to do the foreword for the Rough Guide to Cult Football . Then a call came through last week. “It’s the...
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Friday 08 January 2010, 18:30
Greetings from Camp Nou. It’s raining so the ground is half-empty, even though Barca are the cup holders and their opponents are a Sevilla side with top class players like Jesus Navas, Diego Capel and...
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Thursday 31 December 2009, 12:00
The news came through on the M6 just north of Preston. “Carlisle game off,” the text read. You can probably think of better ways to spend Boxing Day than watching Carlisle United vs Huddersfield Town,...
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Thursday 17 December 2009, 14:00
Dozens of blue flashing lights dominated the airport around the plane I’d just flown on from Barcelona to Hamburg ahead of a week of football in Germany. The huge convoy moved towards two jets with ‘Republica...
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Tuesday 08 December 2009, 12:00
The Xavi Hernandez interview for FourFourTwo went very well. I should have had 15 minutes but had 50, leading the Spanish paper El Pais to write about the time he had given to a British journalist. Xavi...
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Monday 30 November 2009, 16:45
At first, I thought the sign in Barcelona was a joke. “Europa Prat” it read, advertising a game of football in Spain’s fourth division. On first sight, I thought it read “You’re a prat,” like someone’s...
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Wednesday 25 November 2009, 16:00
With Internazionale and Real Madrid visiting Barcelona this week, it’s been a busy time, what with all the media whoring to promote Glory Glory! and people asking for tickets for El Clasico as if I can...
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Wednesday 11 November 2009, 12:00
Andy Mitten on the late Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke, who was due to be interviewed for FourFourTwo after Wolfsburg vs Manchester United next month... I’ve just arrived at Camp Nou for a game whose importance...
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Wednesday 04 November 2009, 16:00
More from our roving reporter as he meets Manchester United legends past and present... Wednesday Interviewed Darren Fletcher at Carrington for United We Stand . He was superb – inspiring even - and spoke...
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Monday 02 November 2009, 16:30
I’ve just got back from nine days in Manchester, where life tends to get hectic. This was my diary last week – featuring Andy Cole, Wigan Athletic's kit-man, Blackburn Rovers' physio and Liverpool...
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Wednesday 28 October 2009, 10:00
Writing a book is only part of writing a book. Once your publishers have your final manuscript, the promotion work starts. Review copies are sent to editors and a publicity team fix interviews for the...
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Wednesday 21 October 2009, 12:00
I write from the press box at Barcelona. This time next week I’ll be at Barnsley. The game is two minutes old and the Russian champions Rubin Kazan have just taken a shock lead against a very strong Barca...
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Thursday 15 October 2009, 12:00
‘Glory Glory!’, my 90s United book came out this week, a project which started last July and took me around Europe interviewing former players. It consists of 11 candid interviews and 104,000 words with...
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Saturday 10 October 2009, 12:00
Mixed zones are not natural. An uninterested professional footballer walks past journalists, who wait on the other side of a barrier clutching microphones. The different sectors of the media are neatly...
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Friday 02 October 2009, 16:30
The announcement for the 2016 Olympic city is today in Copenhagen. With London hosting the 2012 games, there are no British candidates and only one European one – Madrid. On the streets of Barcelona you...
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Tuesday 29 September 2009, 13:37
United have drawn Barnsley away in the League Cup. It makes a change from always being drawn at Old Trafford and it’s a decent tie close to Manchester. Former player Mark Robins is the Barnsley boss and...
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Wednesday 23 September 2009, 14:48
When Carlos Tevez first returned to West Ham as a Manchester United player, he walked into the centre of the pitch and crossed his wrists in a salute familiar to any Hammer. Then he rigorously applauded...
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Friday 18 September 2009, 09:00
This summer I thought about knocking playing football on the head, but was talked out of it. I’m not much of a player and always relied on a good fitness level, but at 35 that becomes harder to maintain...
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Tuesday 08 September 2009, 08:00
The week that was for your roving reporter: 1. Purchased the Spanish football bible , otherwise known as Marca ’s guide to the season. Sadly, there is no British equivalent [What, not even FourFourTwo...
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Tuesday 01 September 2009, 15:00
My week that was: 1) Watched United at Wigan. Five thousand Reds made the short journey, but I was stunned by the number of empty seats in the home end. Just 13,000 Wigan fans for the visit of Manchester...
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Thursday 27 August 2009, 15:00
Anderson’s less than spectacular form in a Manchester United shirt may have an explanation. I was in a Brazilian restaurant in Manchester last Tuesday, taking advantage of their £12 all-you-can-eat lunchtime...
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Wednesday 19 August 2009, 12:00
I write from Oxford Road in Manchester. A yonner (someone from one of the former mill towns close to Manchester) has put a big ‘BFC’ flag on an apartment building overlooking Oxford Road train station...
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Wednesday 12 August 2009, 12:00
August is no month for holidays when you write about football for a living. I’ve done several interviews with players for a variety of publications, finished my next book and completed the first United...
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Monday 10 August 2009, 16:00
When I wrote the blog about Espanyol last week, I didn’t think I’d be writing my next one about the white and blues as well. Espanyol are Barcelona’s second club, forever patronized by the media. They...
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Tuesday 04 August 2009, 12:00
Espanyol opened their new stadium on Sunday night with a friendly game against last season’s Premier League runners up. Like many clubs, Espanyol’s support is one of contrasts. I sat on the metro to the...
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Thursday 30 July 2009, 12:00
Jermaine Pennant may be taking advantage of paying far less income tax by playing in Spain, but he will be feeling the heat. It was 43 degrees in his new home city Zaragoza at the end of last week. Barcelona...
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Thursday 23 July 2009, 12:00
I’m normally on a pre-season tour this time of year, but I’ve got a book to finish and have spent enough time on the road so far this year. Instead of watching Manchester United’s pre-season tour of Malaysia...
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Tuesday 14 July 2009, 09:00
Here’s a story that you won’t have seen on Sky Sports News in the last few weeks. The channel which claims to keep fans fully informed and employs pretty presenters to deliver cutting edge news from the...
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Friday 10 July 2009, 08:00
In 1989, Real Sociedad had only used Basque players in the modern era. Those which hadn’t been snared by neighbour Athletic Bilbao were not deemed good enough to play for La Real. The club had a meeting...
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Thursday 02 July 2009, 12:00
Manchester United have lost two of their best players in Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. But there has been no hysterical reactions from fans. More new signings like Antonio Valencia would be welcomed...
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Wednesday 24 June 2009, 12:00
Barcelona’s a happy city. Flags celebrating the treble hang from sunny apartment balconies and news kiosks sell special edition magazines celebrating Barca’s triumph. A cake shop round the corner is selling...
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Saturday 20 June 2009, 10:00
I flew back to Barcelona last weekend and saw lots of Tenerife fans at the airport. They’ve had a great season in Spain’s second division and were playing their penultimate game at Catalan side Girona...
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Tuesday 16 June 2009, 08:00
It happens three or four times a year. A major story involving Manchester United which ensures that my phone rings continuously day and night. If there’s a Spanish angle then it’s even busier. Last Thursday...
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Wednesday 10 June 2009, 10:30
I met Jordi Cruyff yesterday in Barcelona. The city is not a good place to be for a Manchester United fan and flags celebrating Barça’s treble fluttered outside the bar as we did the second part of a big...
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Thursday 04 June 2009, 12:00
From Pisa to sunny Manchester and a night in the northern metropolis, before taking a train down to London for the Football Writers’ Association annual dinner. A once horrendous train journey has become...
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Monday 01 June 2009, 15:00
The trip to Rome was great… apart from the last 80 minutes of the match. I bumped into Paddy Crerand the night before the game by the Olimpico pitch. I’d sent him and Noreen a postcard from Tristan Da...
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Tuesday 26 May 2009, 10:00
Last week was more hectic than originally planned , but everything is going to plan. There were calls from all kinds of media, the BBC’s Newsround to the BBC’s Radio Belfast, Faroe Islands Radio to half...
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Monday 18 May 2009, 14:00
It’s a busy time. Here’s what I’ve scheduled for work over the next seven days – and that’s before the inevitable calls and demands of a normal working week. Monday After writing a 450-word piece, drive...
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Tuesday 12 May 2009, 12:00
I watched the Manchester derby in Athens. Walked the streets and asked around for anywhere showing “the English football.” We were accurately directed to a bar with big screens in an area below the Acropolis...
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Saturday 09 May 2009, 12:00
I booked my flights from Manchester to Italy before the semi-finals. Given that I’m a Manchester United fan who writes about Barcelona and watches the Catalans around 25 times a season, I figured that...
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Monday 04 May 2009, 11:00
My younger brother Sam has been with Stockport County for a year, playing in their U14 side. On Monday, I had an email from his mum. In contrast to his school report, Stockport’s coaches had given Sam...
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Thursday 30 April 2009, 14:00
A decade ago, on a Manchester United pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East, I walked through Sydney’s Hyde Park past the Anzac Memorial. I was on my way to interview “lifelong United fan” and chief...
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Saturday 25 April 2009, 12:00
I write from Beirut. Banish any wartorn image you have of the Lebanese capital because it’s nothing like it. Known as the Paris of the East before the civil war which killed 200,000 and seriously injured...
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Saturday 18 April 2009, 12:00
A joy of six. What I’ve come across recently: 1. Huge adverts for the English Premier league around Africa’s biggest city, Cairo. They feature Ronaldo, Lampard, Gerrard et al. British marketing men rightly...
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Tuesday 14 April 2009, 12:30
Here’s an extract from an interview with the award winning journalist Martin Samuel from the current edition of United We Stand . “I accept all the issues that people have with the Glazers, but the football...
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Thursday 09 April 2009, 09:00
I’m in ‘pirate alley’ - the area of sea between the coast of Somalia and Yemen known as the Gulf of Aden. We were supposed to stop in Yemen but the foreign office won’t let us. The risk is too high and...
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Saturday 04 April 2009, 12:00
I write from the heat of Bombay (Mumbai since 1995), one of the biggest cities in the world with a heaving population of 13 million. It’s full of Indians. And plenty of cowboys, including every taxi driver...
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Tuesday 31 March 2009, 09:45
I write this on a ship leaving Goa for Bombay, or Mumbai as it’s now called. We’re getting close to pirate waters, but there’s a large navy presence in the area. HMS Portland is starboard and the captain...
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Friday 27 March 2009, 12:00
I’m supposed to be in paradise, but I’m getting abuse from all sides. A week ago, we went to Reunion. Not for one, but to the French-owned island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Up to date copies of...
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Saturday 21 March 2009, 12:00
There’s a kid from where I hail called ‘Mozam.’ He’s got a big hooter. Or beak. I never thought I’d have reason to go to Mozambique, but I visited the capital Maputo last week. If you’re ever considering...
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Tuesday 17 March 2009, 12:00
From Cape Town, we took five days to drive to East London – the forgettable South African version rather than the one full of chirpy Cockneys. On the way, we passed by the World Cup stadium in Port Elizabeth...
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Saturday 14 March 2009, 14:00
While in Cape Town, I met up with the United supporters club in the city to watch the League Cup Final. Around 200 of them filled the top floor in Mitchell’s Brewery by the Waterfront, completely outnumbering...
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Wednesday 11 March 2009, 13:00
Aside from the hulking Table Mountain, Cape Town’s 75,000 capacity World Cup stadium is the most dominant sight as you approach the city by sea. Cranes tower over the structure, a larger version of Arsenal...
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Saturday 07 March 2009, 10:00
I’ve just spent 17 days on a ship, travelling from Cape to Cape via Antarctica, The Falklands, South Georgia and Tristan Da Cunha in the Southern Atlantic. 60-mile-per-hour winds meant we were unable to...
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Thursday 26 February 2009, 11:00
After the war memorial, I visited Stanley’s football pitch, which was occupied by grazing geese as big as Andy Reid. Then the office of Penguin News , the newspaper of The Falklands. Bizarrely, a football...
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Monday 23 February 2009, 12:00
From Buenos Aires we flew south to Urshuaia, the world’s southern most city in Patagonia, where we boarded a ship to Antarctica. The Drake Passage, which you enter after rounding Cape Horn, is notoriously...
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Thursday 19 February 2009, 11:00
I ducked out of the shade and flagged a taxi down in the scorching Buenos Aires sun. “The stadiums of Racing, followed by Independiente,” I said. “OK,” replied the driver, “but why do you want to go there...
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Monday 16 February 2009, 12:00
I arrived at Paddy Crerand’s house one morning when I was ghosting his autobiography to be met by a sight I’d rather forget. “Well?” he asked, as he opened the door and pointed to his feet. “What do you...
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Thursday 12 February 2009, 10:00
“Sexo, droga y Penarol” – Montevideo graffiti. Uruguay is a football country and Montevideo, its fading capital of 1.2 million, its epicentre. According to the football museum at the Cententario stadium...
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Tuesday 10 February 2009, 10:00
Sunday meant a Gremio away game in Novo Hamburgo, an hour north of Porto Alegre. It was in the Gaucho tournament, played by all the major clubs of Rio Grande do Sul and 7,000 away fans flooded into town...
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Wednesday 04 February 2009, 12:00
Fourteen things I’ve done in the last few days... 1) Visited a town in southern Brazil where German is the first language and all the buildings look Bavarian. I didn’t catch Rudi Voller quaffing fat-headed...
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Thursday 29 January 2009, 11:00
A mate recently put an advert up on a supermarket notice board. “Dog for sale,” it read, before listing the pedigree of the animal. The price was £55 – a tenth of the true value. He then put the phone...
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Monday 26 January 2009, 12:00
I’m in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil’s south. The capital is Porto Alegre, home to two million and a veritable footballer factory. Ronaldinho’s from here, Anderson too. Both played for Gremio. Anderson’s...
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Thursday 22 January 2009, 12:00
FourFourTwo was on sale in the newspaper kiosk outside my hotel in Sao Paulo. It’s well respected, as I would soon find out. The headlines from the newspapers featured Ronaldo’s rapidly reducing waistline...
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Monday 19 January 2009, 12:00
Three times the size of Paris and still growing, Sao Paulo overwhelms with its sheer scale - the picture at the front of this month’s FourFourTwo only shows a fraction of the urban sprawl. ‘Sampa’ has...
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Wednesday 14 January 2009, 12:00
As some Manchester City fans would concur, I’m a bit of a tool. Like last week at Derby. I arrived early at Pride Park and walked around the ground, past the posh man from Radio 5 interviewing an elderly...
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Tuesday 06 January 2009, 08:00
Four hours... That’s how long I spent interviewing Andrew Cole. Me and him in a room overlooking the snow-covered golf course where Sir Alex Ferguson found out that Manchester United were champions in...
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Tuesday 30 December 2008, 12:00
1. Saw my sister get married to a Manchester City fan. He goes frequently, but his brother goes to every single City match. He asked me for advice ahead of their trip to Santander and I have done the same...
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Thursday 18 December 2008, 12:00
I’m rooming in Yokohama with Stuart Mathieson, the Manchester United correspondent for the Manchester Evening News since 1995. I’ve stayed in some dreadful hotels in my time, but they can wait for another...
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Tuesday 16 December 2008, 12:00
It’s 5am in Yokohama. I arrived in Japan’s second biggest city of four million yesterday morning and now I’m up early, jet-lagged and unable to sleep. The view from my waterfront hotel room over Japan...
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Wednesday 10 December 2008, 10:00
Greetings from a half-empty Camp Nou, where fewer than 20,000 are watching Barca playing Shakhtar Donetsk, who have a player called Rat, in a pointless final group game. It’ll be the same at Old Trafford...
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Wednesday 03 December 2008, 15:00
It’s 7am at Liverpool airport. I was due to take off back to Barcelona five minutes ago but the pilot informed passengers that there was smoke at the back of the plane and that we had to return to the...
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Wednesday 26 November 2008, 14:00
I got back from Villarreal at 4am on Wednesday morning after driving 300 kilometres to Barcelona. The trip went well – lunch by the Ebro Delta yesterday and a visit to CD Castellon, the biggest club in...
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Friday 21 November 2008, 18:00
The life of the correspondent in the last 24 hours… 1) I managed to sort some Villarreal tickets for face value in the Manchester United end next week for two Red supporting mates. Unfortunately, face...
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Tuesday 18 November 2008, 09:00
“Is everything ok?” asked the email from an editor in Abu Dhabi on Monday morning. And aside from the pound collapsing against the Euro, it was. The sun was shining; United beat Stoke 5-0 on Saturday ...
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Thursday 13 November 2008, 14:00
Greetings from the press box at Camp Nou. Barcelona are about to kick-off a cup tie against Benidorm of the regional third division in front of the smallest crowd I’ve ever seen here for a first team game...
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Monday 10 November 2008, 15:00
Where I've been and what I've seen after nine exhausting days on the road... 1) A lad in a Liverpool shirt with ‘Gerrard’ on the back… walking down Chester Road past thousands of Manchester United...
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Friday 31 October 2008, 09:00
Another exciting and hectic week awaits. It starts with an interview with Jordi Cruyff on Friday, who lives in Barcelona, before a flight to Liverpool. It’s with Ryan Air so they will have worked out three...
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Monday 27 October 2008, 16:00
I once went out with a girl who lived in Hull, as did a mate of mine – a different girl obviously as we’re not from Burnley. We’d drive along the M62 to see our girlfriends, fearful that we were going...
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Wednesday 22 October 2008, 15:00
After being a guest on Channel M’s ‘United Debate Show’ with former goalkeeper Alex Stepney (Noel Gallagher watches it every week and has opined that all the guests are “w***ers”) I spent Monday afternoon...
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Friday 17 October 2008, 14:00
Manchester La Fianna got off to an 8-1 winning start in the league last week. Everything went well on the pitch, but not off it. Players take turns to wash the kit. The player with the kit didn’t arrive...
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Wednesday 15 October 2008, 09:00
I’m currently interviewing people for my next book, an as yet untitled tome about Manchester United in the 1990s which will be published next autumn. When I’ve got 11 in-depth interviews on record, I’ll...
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Thursday 09 October 2008, 15:00
I don’t like international weeks. The papers are filled with dull-as-Dewsbury tactical discussions about the lad who kissed the badge on his chest (then put in a transfer request), injury news and anodyne...
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Thursday 02 October 2008, 12:30
Did you see the Eric Cantona quotes in the media earlier this week? The ones where he told The Sun about how he feared for Manchester United’s future once Sir Alex Ferguson left the club? After being printed...
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Monday 29 September 2008, 15:00
Greetings from sunny Stockholm, capital of Sweden. I was travelling for most of last week, meeting interesting types. I'm seeing Jesper Blomqvist again later; we're halfway through a four-hour...
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Monday 22 September 2008, 17:00
I’m leaving the rain of Barcelona for the sun of Bristol on Tuesday morning, before driving to Swansea to watch the big game against Cardiff for FourFourTwo ’s ‘More Than A Game’ feature. I’ll return for...
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Friday 19 September 2008, 14:00
I’ve watched Barca twice this week at the Camp Nou, first in the 1-1 draw against Racing Santander (who, trivia buffs, count singer Paul Heaton as a fan) when Thierry Henry didn’t even make the bench and...
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Tuesday 16 September 2008, 14:00
The Manchester Evening News did a feature on Mad For It last Thursday . I had a straightforward chat with a good journalist about the book and rivalries. A local angle was put in the piece, the emphasis...
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Wednesday 10 September 2008, 12:00
Two men stood in the street by my house looking confused last Friday afternoon. Wearing Lacoste t-shirts and small enamel badges, I figured that they were English football fans in Barcelona to watch the...
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Wednesday 03 September 2008, 16:00
Gaz and Wendy Knight got lucky. On my way to interview Eric Cantona in Marseille in July (to be published in the November issue of FourFourTwo , in shops October 1), I popped into an internet café. Gaz...
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Thursday 28 August 2008, 15:00
Manchester United play in the European Super Cup in Monaco on Friday and I can’t go. I’m gutted. I’ve not missed a European away game for ages and it’s not difficult to travel from Barcelona. There’s a...
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Tuesday 26 August 2008, 13:48
John Gidman called last week. Now 54, the former Manchester United full-back lives on the Costa Del Sol with his air stewardess girlfriend. When I interviewed him two years ago, I met him at 8am in Torremolinos...
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Tuesday 12 August 2008, 15:39
So glamorous is my job that I had to work 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday, a situation which improved markedly on Monday as Paul Parker (ex-Manchester United and England full-back) came to Barcelona and...
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Thursday 07 August 2008, 17:00
This job is seldom dull. Here’s some of the communications I’ve had in the last 24 hours. 1) A phone call from a British lad in a Greek prison serving 14 years for allegedly drug running. He’s a Manchester...
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Monday 04 August 2008, 13:10
If you don’t ask then you don’t get… Manchester United officials are not adverse to criticism, so fair play to chief executive David Gill for issuing 14 free tickets to the loyal Reds who carried on from...
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Tuesday 29 July 2008, 16:30
“It’s not safe for you to walk to the stadium alone,” agreed the receptionist and a customer in my hotel in Port Elizabeth, a World Cup host city, ahead of the derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates...
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Wednesday 23 July 2008, 15:00
I’d spent a pleasant day interviewing people in Durban, checking the progress of the new World Cup stadium and watching Manchester United train ahead of a friendly match against the Orlando Pirates. For...
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Monday 21 July 2008, 16:30
“I’m sorry Sir, you’ll not be boarding the aircraft to Johannesburg.” “But…” “I’m sorry.” This was the culmination of a conversation at midnight on Thursday, shortly after I’d tried to board the Air France...
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Friday 18 July 2008, 12:22
I’d just left home for the 12-day trip to South Africa. Literally walked down the street, past Barcelona’s Botafumeiro seafood restaurant, where a day earlier Adriano Galliani, Silvio Berlusconi’s right...
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Wednesday 16 July 2008, 13:32
I’ve just got back from Marseille after interviewing Eric Cantona ahead of the Beach Soccer World Cup, which starts in Eric’s hometown this week. Without flights, I drove the 550 kilometres from Barcelona...
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Wednesday 09 July 2008, 15:29
The Cantona interview was confirmed yesterday, so I’m to see him in Marseille “between 1400 Monday and 1400 Tuesday.” I’m working out how to get to France’s second biggest city. The only direct flight...
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Thursday 03 July 2008, 18:28
I travel to South Africa in two weeks for Manchester United’s pre-season tour. I’m going to be covering the trip for the magazine of a newspaper I’ve never worked for before. They have given me a substantial...
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Friday 27 June 2008, 16:00
I spoke to Jordi Cruyff yesterday, a star of the 1996 European Championships. His performances for Holland - mainly a scooped goal against Switzerland - and a low transfer fee as he was effectively pushed...
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Monday 23 June 2008, 16:50
It’s a strange one watching Spain’s Euro 2008 games in Catalonia, because Catalans are divided on the fortunes of the national side. Mariano, one of the Manchester La Fianna players, is a Catalan who watches...
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Tuesday 17 June 2008, 12:51
Two days before Sir Alex Ferguson went on his recent holiday, he drove to a suburb in Bury to see his long time friend, the former Manchester United kitman Norman Davies. Norman was seriously ill after...
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Thursday 05 June 2008, 07:00
After finishing fourth in the league in Barcelona, Manchester La Fianna play our final game of the season on Saturday. Tomorrow, we set sail for a friendly against the U19s of third division SD Eivissa...
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Tuesday 27 May 2008, 14:48
It’s an addiction. A few months ago my girlfriend saw in my diary that there was no football planned for last weekend. No Manchester United, Manchester La Fianna, Barca or trip to write about a derby game...
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Friday 23 May 2008, 21:00
It’s 3.25am on Thursday morning and I’m stood alone in the massive square outside Moscow’s garish, scruffy Belorusskaya train station. I’ve just exited the superb metro system, which the authorities kept...
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Saturday 17 May 2008, 17:15
I’ve just got back from the Russian consulate. I was half expecting to be asked to perform a traditional Cossack dance to a panel, but the reality was a mute official who didn’t make eye contact slipping...
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Tuesday 13 May 2008, 11:44
I’ve spent a lot of time sorting out my trip to Moscow for the European Cup final on May 21. By booking early, I found £395 direct flights with Aeroflot from Barcelona, leaving two days before the game...
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Friday 09 May 2008, 12:09
I write this on the new 300km/hour AVE train from Madrid to Barcelona, returning from witnessing champions Real Madrid destroy Barca 4-1 and record their first league double over the Catalans in 24 years...
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Tuesday 06 May 2008, 14:08
Manchester La Fianna played away at Sitges last weekend. Their stadium - where Johan Cruyff plays most of his charity matches - backs onto a beach and overlooks the Mediterranean. Uninterrupted sunshine...
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Thursday 01 May 2008, 06:00
12am: Make my way into a sunny Manchester. Shout ‘Visca Catalunya’ (Forever Catalonia!) at a group of Barca fans stood outside where the Hacienda was. Manchester preserved the memory of this world famous...
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Friday 25 April 2008, 12:16
It hasn’t been the most relaxing week of my life, not that my workload mattered one bit to the former United player and European Cup winner Paddy Crerand. I fixed it for Paddy to appear in a United fans...
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Tuesday 22 April 2008, 12:26
“That’s our left-back,” announced the puzzled Newcastle fan 90 minutes before Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby. We were walking past a pub on the way to St James' Park when Michael Martin, the editor of the...
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Friday 18 April 2008, 19:30
A mad few days, but was it going to be any different? All journalists specialise and if I have two specialities it’s Manchester United and FC Barcelona. With the two clubs meeting for the first time since...
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Tuesday 15 April 2008, 10:18
Saturday meant league leaders Manchester La Fianna against Strollers, the team we displaced a week earlier. Despite their anglicised name, Strollers are almost exclusively Catalan, save for a Lancastrian...
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Friday 11 April 2008, 14:33
Barcelona yesterday sent an internal memo to staff instructing them not to refer to Manchester United merely as 'Manchester'. The memo stated that 'Manchester' should be referred to as...
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Tuesday 08 April 2008, 16:40
At three o’clock on Wednesday morning, the Manchester La Fianna striker ‘Dinho’ will start a long journey from Barcelona, via Amsterdam, to Cape Town. On Friday, he’ll begin a three-week trial with Ajax...
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Friday 04 April 2008, 13:45
I’ve heard some great excuses off players for being late, but the following takes the biscuit. It’s from Jorge Garcia, the former captain of Belize, who turned up at half-time last week when the score...
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Wednesday 02 April 2008, 11:04
I write this from my hotel room in Rome, having watched United beat AS Roma 2-0 with one of the most impressive away performances in the club’s history. Events appeared to conclude peacefully off the pitch...
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Thursday 27 March 2008, 10:40
“To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour” - Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881. Taking that on board, I took a slow boat to Italy last week, but the travel has...
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Tuesday 25 March 2008, 13:07
I arrived at the Stadio Olimpico two hours before last Wednesday’s Roman derby to pick up a pre-arranged press pass. Nobody knew from where I should collect it. "This is Italy,” said my Milan-supporting...
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Thursday 20 March 2008, 14:33
“There’s an exhibition of football photos on in town, shall we go on Sunday?” I thought my girlfriend was blagging. She might be Brazilian and claims to be an Internacionale fan, but the closest she’s...
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Monday 17 March 2008, 12:45
Manchester La Fianna equalised ten minutes into the second half on Saturday. It hadn’t gone well before then. We were missing both our wingers who have created so many of our goals this season. One, top...
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Friday 14 March 2008, 10:12
Manchester La Fianna are flying. We’ve won nine on the bounce and risen to the top of the 24-team Barcelona International Football League with eight games to play. We’re still in the cup and a post-season...
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Tuesday 11 March 2008, 18:09
I was reading The Sunday Times on the metro to the Camp Nou ahead of Barca’s title-denting defeat to a very well-organised Villarreal side. The excellent team spirit among the Villarreal players was evident...
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Friday 07 March 2008, 14:00
FC United, the breakaway club set up by disenfranchised Manchester United supporters in the wake of the 2005 Glazer takeover, play a cup game at Goole tomorrow. FC were league winners in each of their...
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Wednesday 05 March 2008, 14:43
Every metro station in Barcelona carries several illuminated posters advertising Manchester. It’s part of an airline promotion and a fine-looking shot of the city makes it look more Lisbon than Lowry in...
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Monday 03 March 2008, 19:42
Ruud van Nistelrooy was in form on Thursday and our chat lasted twice the 20 minutes agreed. Real Madrid were efficient and friendly to deal with, the AVE train was excellent and Ruud, aware that he was...
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Wednesday 27 February 2008, 16:57
“Bullshit.” That was the last word Ruud van Nistelrooy said to me as a Manchester United player. It was in New Jersey three years ago following a pre-season friendly between United and AC Milan. I’d asked...
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Monday 25 February 2008, 16:15
“New 11-a-side football team starting in the Barcelona International Football League. Players of all nationalities welcome. Interested? Email XXX.” That was the advert I placed in various publications...
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Monday 18 February 2008, 16:19
Ronaldinho has been less than spectacular so far this season, but he was on great form in the interview on Thursday. Getting the tone right with a player is crucial. It’s professional to keep a distance...
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Thursday 14 February 2008, 13:25
Sunday may have been the Manchester derby, but Saturday saw another all-Manchester clash – between Blue Square Premier strugglers Droylsden and Altrincham. Curiously, the visitors wearing blue also ran...
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Wednesday 13 February 2008, 11:34
My phone didn’t stop on Monday with the media wanting quotes about the Manchester United ‘fans’ putting their Munich memorial scarves on eBay. They called because for the last 18 years I’ve edited the...
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Friday 08 February 2008, 11:15
My team, Manchester La Fianna, won our final group game 4-0 last Saturday, our record of P11 W9 L2 easily good enough to qualify for the next stage to decide the Barcelona International Football League...
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Wednesday 06 February 2008, 09:06
On the morning of November 19 1991, two double decker coaches pulled onto the wintry Old Trafford forecourt. They had taken three days to reach Manchester on their journey from Belgrade, capital of a diminishing...
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Monday 04 February 2008, 10:37
It’s raining on the Camp Nou. Barca’s players are shaking hands with opponents Osasuna as the club’s stirring anthem – ‘Barca! Barca! Barrrrca!’ – rings round a half-empty stadium. Many home fans have...
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Friday 01 February 2008, 10:44
Greeting from the press box, high above the Camp Nou. It’s half time between Barca and Villarreal in the quarterfinals of the Spanish Cup and the place uncharacteristically buzzing after a Thierry Henry...
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Tuesday 29 January 2008, 21:10
Catalan national radio called yesterday to ask about the Munich air disaster. They're doing a one-hour documentary on the 50th anniversary next week. I told them that they would be better speaking...
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Monday 28 January 2008, 17:09
The big day of Manchester’s match against Strommen IF of the Norwegian third division finally arrived. Emotions were running high, not least in my own mind. I was dying to start the game, but as manager...
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Friday 25 January 2008, 17:19
So somehow we're playing a Norwegian third division team this weekend...
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Wednesday 23 January 2008, 18:53
An unusual week so far. A first trip to Saudi Arabia watching Manchester United in a friendly, which Sir Alex Ferguson’s side lost 3-2 to local big timers Al Hilal in the capital Riyadh. The £1 million...
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