6 years on from the passing of Dutch icon Johan Cruyff, we take a look back at the turbulent and excting career of one of the greatest players of all time.
April 25 1947March 24 2016
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ALSO: A DEEPER LOOK AT THE INFLUENCE OF MONEY ON FOOTBALL, THE BEST UCL GAMES OF ALL TIME, LIVERPOOL 7 MANCHESTER UNITED 0 AND MUCH MUCH MORE.
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1 Remembering Cruyff
3 Money: The Killer of Football
5 Hills
7 Something in the water in Norway...
9 Liverpool 7 - 0 Manchester United
10 Liverpool Legends vs Celtic Legends
11 How have Marine Developed since dream
FA Cup Tie?
12 3 Men from Marine
13 The BEST UCL Games of all Time
15 The Harsh Truth of Academy Football
16 Wigan v. Birmingham Match Report
17 University Futsal
19 Dave Edwards: Curtain Call
21 ELSEWHERE IN SPORT: A Different type of Polo
22 Footballer to Quality Surveyour
23 The GOLAZO Quiz
This month marks seven years since Dutch footballing icon Johan Cruyff sadly passed aged 68. The pioneer of the ‘Cruyff Turn’ and the captain of his country at the final of the 1974 World Cup, has forever left his mark on football.
Having been to both the Nou Camp and the Johan Cruyff Arena I can say that Johan Cruyff is someone who I have been so mesmerised by ever since I was younger. Despite never getting to see him play, I have spent years refining my knowledge and understanding of not only Johan Cruyff the player but also Johan Cruyff the person. What an incredible player and person he was.
Cruyff was Eredivisie Champion a record nine times throughout his career and having played just twelve seasons in his home country, he made his debut aged just 17 becoming the first of many exceptional academy talents produced in Amsterdam over the years. The soon-to-be legend marked his Ajax debut with a goal in 1964, a glimpse of what was to come further down the line for the young prodigy.
Cruyff soon became the best player in the league by far, winning Ajax six consecutive league titles between 1965 and 1973, with his ability being recognised by all after winning two Ballon D’or Trophies. Johan had added to his cabinet during his time at his boyhood club, with a further four Dutch cups; one UEFA Supercup; one Intercontinental Cup and three consecutive European Cups (Champions League titles).
However, all was not easy for Cruyff, after failing to qualify for the 1972 European Championships, pressure was mounted upon the 25 year old at the time. Dutch manager Frantisek Fadrhonc decided to hand the captaincy of the National team to Cruyff, which was almost as guaranteed as anything has ever been, to pay off. The greatest Dutch player of all time, fired in seven goals throughout the World Cup qualifiers and allowed The Netherlands to qualify for their first Tournament since 1938, 9 years before Cruyff himself was born.
Prior to the World Cup, after nine years and many trophies, the ‘flying dutchman’ made the switch to Catalan club FC Barcelona for a record breaking fee of £922,000. The iconic ‘shadow striker’ managed to secure Barcelona their first La Liga Title in 14 years and converted 16 goals whilst doing so becoming the second highest scorer for Barca in the 1973/74 campaign.
After having such a successful first season, he was adored instantaneously by the fans. However, the footballing genius was further adored by the fans for the way he immersed himself in the culture of the city itself off of the pitch. Naming his son a famous Catalan name, Jordi, something which Catalonians are eternally grateful for.
However, he was also adored by his fellow players and perhaps most importantly to his career, Rinus Michels who managed both Ajax, Barcelona and the national side in which Cruyff was so important.
Michels was appointed as the manager of The Netherlands National team after they had qualified for the biggest tournament in 34 years. Most of the national team during this time had impressive trophy cabinets in their native country, having played alongside Johan during his time at Ajax where they were so successful.
The Netherlands has an extremely surprising and successful 1974 World Cup where they had managed to reach the final and go one goal ahead jut two minutes into the game against West Germany. The West Germans equalised after 25 minutes and then scored just before half time through another football legend and German Icon of the game, Gerd Muller. The Netherlands were unable to find a reply and lost the final 2-1, despite beating all odds of getting there after such a long absence from the competition.
On a personal note, Johan Cruyff had a superb tournament where he notched up three assist and three goals across the tournament, taking the golden ball home and further putting his name on the map as the best player in world football in 1974 by adding his third Ballon D’or.
Cruyff went on to play in Spain for five years, making 180 appearances for FC Barcelona, registering an incredible 83 assists and 60 goals during that time.
Then Cruyff briefly retired, but lost a lot of money in financial investment scamming schemes such as pig farms, and played for the Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats and Levante before returning to Ajax in 1981.
Once he returned home, he managed to win two titles in two years back with Ajax but after a dispute with the board with regards to him not being offered a new contract, he moved to fierce rivals Feyenoord and secured the league title in his only season there alongside Dutch starlet Ruud Gullit.
Cruyff then retired and stepped back from the game itself for two years, before trying his hand on the side-lines as a manager. He began with the club in his heart and where he had a fruitful playing career, Ajax. In his three-year tenure at Ajax, it was very clear to see he was elite at both the playing and management side of the game, winning two Dutch cups in his time there.
Then after having been a success at Ajax, Cruyff made the poetic return to Spain where he took over as the manager of Barcelona, and with his fast, free-flowing attacking play style managed to continue his success for the Catalan giants. He was in charge for 8 years at Barcelona, where he left as a very successful manager having won the league four times; the European Cup and UEFA Super Cup; the Spanish Cup and three Spanish Super Cups.
Cruyff then left the management role at Barcelona in 1996 and spent 13 years out of the limelight before returning as the Catalonia National team manager from 2009-2013.
Then just three years later, one of the greatest footballers to ever grace the pitch, passed away aged 68 in Barcelona, but his memory lives on through the footballing world. His grace on the pitch and his genius as a manager will never be forgotten.
Ajax changed the name of their stadium to the Johan Cruyff Arena on October 25th 2017 and have simultaneously dedicated the majority of the stadium tour to the establishment in which Cruyff played a huge part in building. FC Barcelona have also dedicated a stadium to Johan Cruyff called the Estadi Johan Cruyff which is located in the clubs training facility and similar to Ajax have dedicated a large portion of the stadium tour to the Dutch maestro.
by Connor Leese
Greed: One of the seven deadliest sins, defined as ‘intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.’ Evident in high profile European football, the thirst from those in charge of the game is putting the power of money at a higher regard to the consolidation of the soul of the game.
Every week we hear stories of teams exploiting financial rules, governing bodies shutting down attempts at regulations, accusations of bribery at FIFA and rising ticket costs. The game originated from a working class back ground, from factory workers and church goers, but is slowly becoming a sport of corporate clients and middle easter relocations.
The human rights issues concerning Qatar’s World Cup bid was highly reported and rightly scrutinised, but was still, surprisingly, a polarising topic, debated over whether a country that criminalises homophobia and was accused of using modern slavery to construct it’s stadiums is one that’s fit to host the biggest sporting competition in the world. Those at FIFA allegedly recieving brown envelopes filled with cash were not interested in those debates. The success of this World Cup was clearwith the final arguably being the best game of all time - and the middle east should not be excluded from the world of football, at least with no changes to their inclusivity of those around the world, but the privilege of hosting a World Cup should not be awarded from bribes.
Also highly documented, the proposals for the European Super League sent the game into disripute. 12 of the biggest clubs in the continent
brandished themselves as ‘founding members’ of a new competition, one that would have no relegations and would guarantee set income to those involved, regardless of performance. There were rumours of games being moved to different countries, for example a Chelsea vs Barcelona fixture could be played in California, USA - completely going against the idea of football clubs being a representation of the area they are within. Tension from fans saw Manchester City and Chelsea withdraw, quickly being followed by the other English clubs and then the Italian’s, leaving just Real Madrid and Barcelona. Regardless of this outcome, it is not a question of ‘if’ the Super League will return, it’s a question of ‘when’.
With every Champion’s League final we hear more and more tickets are taken up by corporate clients, as much as half the stadium was for corporate clientell for Liverpool’s UCL final vs Real Madrid. Those seats allocated for fans were then bumped up in cost, pricing out any working class fan.
As fans, our enemies are not rival clubs, rival fans or even referees - but is instead those running the game at the highest level, and their greed.
By Matt Groom
Two hours.
Two hours is what it took for an incident to scar all involved for life and for the trajectory of them to change forever. Whether that be a physical or mental impairment, it is felt by all involved to this day.
It was a warm afternoon in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and a few thousand Liverpool fans descended on the city in hopes of another wonderful day out, as they were familiar with at the time. After the match kicked off it was a mere six minutes until it was abandoned. People were being crushed into the fencing as at the time it was common to have it up to stop pitch invasions.
Lee was a young local man there that day and was excited to watch his team in yet another semifinal that would hopefully lead to their fourth FA Cup trophy win. When asked about his feelings before the game began, he said he felt, “Hugely confident, you know most clubs don’t always get the opportunities that we do. You know, we regularly play in these big, exciting games so it was nothing new for us as a club.”
It wasn’t until he got further into one of the five standing sections that he realised that something was amiss, as the long queues outside seemed normal due to the huge size of the club.
“I started to feel quite squished, more than normal at an away match. We just were constantly being pushed forward even though there was no room. I was one of the lucky ones that day. I got out, lots didn’t, and I feel guilty about that sometimes. You know what’s so special about me?” He said. It was extremely hard to cope with for fans all across the city, especially when they were wrongfully blamed for the 95 deaths at the time. It unfortunately became 96 in 1992 and 97 in 2021.
Lee recounted his annoyance saying, “It was disgusting if I’m being honest with you. Being blamed for something after everything we had been through. It felt like a huge slap in the face. They said it was drunken idiots who caused it, but everyone knew that wasn’t true. Trying to come to terms with it was impossible when that was what we were getting from the police.
“I still struggle to trust them now to be honest, it’s just always been a thought in the back of my head. They caused it that day not us.”
After almost 34 years of injustice nobody has had criminal charges brought against them despite years of agony for Liverpool fans. Several attempts have been made over the years to hold people accountable, but people involved have only ever been punished for a few minor offences.
The Sheffield Wednesday club secretary was found guilty of a health and safety charge, but as of 2023 that is it.
“Obviously I am happy that someone has at least been punished, but it isn’t enough. People act like we should appreciate the bear minimum and be happy with it. On the legal side I don’t think there is anything else that we can do so it’s really annoying.” Lee said. He also explained his annoyance at the rise and acceptance of the Hillsborough chanting around the country, “It does hurt me I’m not going to lie. It happens every week too. It’s not just something that happens when we play United or City, everyone does it now. Even Forest a couple of months ago and they were at the other end in 1989. It could have just as easily been them that day and they still did the chants.
“I’m not too sure how we can calm the chanting down .The clubs can put out as many statements as they want, but without actually punishing the fans who do the chanting it just carries on. For so long we were blamed for something we didn’t do, now we have to deal with all the stick that comes along with that.
“I don’t even think trying to educate people on the disaster would help, it’s all pointless at this rate.”
The songs are mostly heard when the Merseyside reds meet with the reds from Manchester.
Due to the horrendous nature of the obscene chants Liverpool Football Club and Manchester United put out a joint statement condemning it. Jürgen, “One of the main reasons why the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United is so special is that it is so intense, and no-one should ever want to change this. But at the same time, when the rivalry becomes too intense it can go to places that are not good for anyone and we do not need this.“We do want the noise; we do want the occasion to be partisan and we do want the atmosphere to be electric. What we do not want is anything that goes beyond this and this applies especially to the kind of chants that have no place in football. If we can keep the passion and lose the poison, it will be so much better for everyone.”
Ten Hag said: “The rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool is one of the greatest in world football. We all love the passion of the fans when our teams meet, but there are lines that should not be crossed.
“It is unacceptable to use the loss of life — in relation to any tragedy — to score points, and it is time for it to stop. Those responsible tarnish not only the reputation of our clubs but also, importantly, the reputation of themselves, the fans, and our great cities.
“On behalf of myself, our players, and our staff, we ask our fans to focus on supporting the team on Sunday and representing our club in the right way.”
Despite the disaster being over three decades ago Lee and his fellow Liverpool supporters have finally received an apology from the police.
Andy Marsh said, “Policing has profoundly failed those bereaved by the Hillsborough disaster over many years and we are sorry that the service got it so wrong.
“Police failures were the main cause of the tragedy and have continued to blight the lives of family members ever since.
“When leadership was most needed, the bereaved were often treated insensitively and the response lacked coordination and oversight.”
Despite the seemingly heartfelt apology Lee rejects its significance,
“I don’t accept the apology at all.
If those lot were sorry, they would have done it 30 years ago and not now when it has no change in my life whatsoever. If they didn’t apologise, then they should have just left it.”
by Ella Percy30 years on...
To this day Liverpool fans are left frustrated as to why a ground that has had several problems in the past with spacing, was allowed to hold such a big event...
There’s a resurgence of footballing quality coming out of Norway, and there’s two young Premier League stars leading the charge...
You don’t have to look very far to see the impact Erling Haaland has had on Manchester City’s attack since his £60 million move from Germany. The 22 year old striker has already notched 42 goals in all competitions, with 28 coming in the premier league, and he had provided six assists in the process – two more than the supposedly more creative Harry Kane. The combination of Haaland’s instinctive finishing along with the heat seeking missile passes of Kevin De Bruyne have resulted in six goals so far in the Prem this term. Even when ignoring numbers the striker’s style of play is clear – minimal touches of the ball, bullying centre halves and getting into the right position to tap the ball into the net. City are now starting to look like a complete team, with quality in all areas of the pitch able to exploit and abuse rival teams all just to find the Norwegian ready to put the icing on the cake in front of goal.
However, despite all of this, it’s not Manchester City sitting at the top of English football – it’s Martin Odegaard’s Arsenal. Promoted to club captain in July of last year and now spearheading the most dominant team in England to a potential Premier League title. Odegaard’s rise hasn’t perhaps been as meteoric as his compatriot’s, and could even be considered as more of a revival, but the pairs’ respective influence on a football pitch are more than comparable. Despite playing in a deeper role than Erling Haaland, it’s clear that Odegaard knows just how to find the net, as well as how to put the ball on a silver platter for his teammates.
It would be easy to forget that Odegaard is only two years Haaland’s senior as, while he may still look only 13, even casual football fans remember the hype surrounding this player when he came on for La Liga giants Real Madrid at just 16 years and 156 days old, replacing the Cristiano Ronaldo way back in 2015. We’ve been hearing about this kid for nearly 10 years, but for the majority of that time it seemed he was starting to slip away into mediocrity – another player destroyed by the pressure of such huge expectation. Madrid shipped him away to the Netherlands in 2017 for a loan at Heerenveen, where he failed to impress – scoring just two goals all season. The following season he continued his Dutch tour with a loan at Vitesse, this time managing eight goals in seven less games, but still only showing glimpses of his talent. Still only 20 years old, Madrid decided to test the youngster on home soil, sending him to Real Sociedad for the season. 31 games and just four goals later he returned to Real Madrid – looking condemned to fall in and out of the squad before being released and picked up on a free. It wasn’t until Arsenal decided to take a chance on him that he came back into the public eye.
A struggling Arsenal team were able to offer him first team football and that, as well as Mikel Arteta’s vision with the club, was enough to convince the Norwegian to England in January of 2021. 2 years later, with the loan move being made permanent to the tune of £35 million, and he’s one of the league’s best players with consistently brilliant performances coming with every game week. If it is Arsenal perched at the top of the table come May, it will be him lifting the trophy and bringing it back to North London.
Erling Haaland, however, has always been familiar with life in England. Born in Leeds to a Norwegian mother and father (more on him soon), Erling spent the first three years of his life up north as dad Alfie turned out for Manchester City. City’s current quality is a far cry from the team Alfie was part of, which yoyo’d between the Championship and the Prem during his three seasons at the club. City paid just around £4 million for the midfielder, but it never would’ve been known that the knock on effect of this move would result in the club signing the worlds best number nine 22 years later.
Erling burst on to the scene akin only to a young Micah Richards. He was the top goal scorer of the U-20 World Cup for Norway in 2019, despite only playing three games and not scoring until the third (Which probably had something to do with putting nine in the back of the net in that game). Ever since then there’s been eyes on him from every one involved in football and his stock has rose astronomically. His stint at RB Salzburg showed he was capable of playing at the highest level in Europe and his season and a half at Dortmund made him the most highly sought out player on the planet. A release clause put into his contract when he signed meant he was going on the cheap too. It was eventually Manchester City that got the signature, a club with obvious ties to his family and upbringing.
It’s not overly clear what is happening in Norway for two of football’s brightest young stars to have hailed from their academy’s. Perhaps there is something in the water, or perhaps they’re both some kind of experiment, but one thing is clear – a Norwegian player will be holding the Premier League trophy at the end of the season.
by Matt GroomThe red half of Merseyside beat Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield on Sunday evening in a record-breaking match that the reds won’t soon forget in a hurry.
Goals from Cody Gakpo, Darwin Núñez, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino sealed an unexpected thrashing on The Red Devils.
Liverpool were looking to gain on their top four rivals as the pursuit for a Champions League spot intensifies with Fulham, Tottenham and Newcastle all losing away from home over the weekend.
A recent pick up in form for the Kopites injected a glimmer of hope that Manchester United would not get their first win at Anfield since the scouser Wayne Rooney got the winner back in early 2016.
United started off brightly with Diogo Dalot whipping a ball into the box for Bruno Fernandes, who headed it across goal and narrowly missed making the visitors go 1-0 up.
As it was looking like the first half was going to end in a stalemate, Gakpo had other ideas. From 40 yards out Andy Robertson cleverly passed the ball through several players to reach the number 18, who patiently waited to put the ball away to make it 1-0.
The red side of Manchester were barely able to get accustomed to the second half before Núñez doubled Liverpool’s lead. Fabinho dinked the ball to Salah, who tried to cross the ball in, but he was blocked by Luke Shaw. The Red Devils unlucky streak would continue as it rebounded to Harvey Elliot, who passed it to Núñez to smartly head it away for their second.
The magicians from Merseyside gave the mancunians no rest as a mere three minutes later Salah left Lisandro Martinez feeling dizzy after taking him for a spin. He was clear through on the right-hand side and passed it to Gakpo who scored from a very tight angle to make it 3-0 to Liverpool.
With the momentum clearly blowing towards the kop end the scousers were desperate for their team to take advantage and the players were determined to deliver even more. A poor Manchester United corner gave the reds the opportunity to do just that. The on-form Núñez slid in Salah who hit a booming shot from inside the box that rattled off of the crossbar and into the net.
It only took the reds nine minutes to dampen the away team’s spirit even more as Jordan Henderson crossed the ball in for Núñez, who headed it in to make it five.
The Egyptian king couldn’t resist getting down on the scoresheet again to make it eleven for the season so far. It was a scramble for the ball inside the box, but it bounced of Firmino to Salah, who made it six.
It was all smiles for Mo Salah this week as he broke yet another Liverpool record by becoming the highest all time premier league goal scorer for the club in the Premier League with 129 goals in 205 appearances.
Just when they thought the torture was over and it couldn’t get any worse, Firmino added insult to injury by slotting away a clever ball from Salah with his signature no look style to make it a record breaking 7-0 in this fixture.
After it was announced this week that Firmino will leave at the end of the season, Liverpool fans will hope that he will score many more before the Brazilian that joined back when Brendan Rogers was at the front of the helm departs.
The boys in red yet again have left Manchester United red in the face after two hours of utter humiliation that they can only hope is forgotten about quickly.
Match Report by Ella Percy.
Liverpool faces of old give the fans something to smile about amidst troubles for the youngsters in the league as the Legends win 2-0 at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
A powerful ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from all four sides of Anfield sets up what was going to be a great day for both teams, as both sides were packed full of experience.
The proceeds from the match go to the official charities of both teams, which help the most deprived areas in their cities.
Celtic had a good start with several passes up the pitch, but the final touch just wasn’t there for the visitors.
The Celts thought their luck had changed after the Irishman Keane put the ball away, but the celebration of 4000 traveling Scotsmen was not to last after the linesmen put his flag up for offside.
The ball was smartly passed up to Robbie Keane again who headed it agonisingly wide of the open goal.
Martin Skrtel, with a shocking full set of hair, ran into the box at the Anfield Road end and was taken out by Darren O’Dea.
The penalty master himself, Steven Gerrard, stepped up against a sea of white and green to slot away the penalty with ease and then
proceeded to over celebrate in front of the Celtic fans after being berated all game.
The first half was filled with lots of half chances for both sides, but the reds came out on top.
Mere moments into the second half, Mark Gonzales collected a through ball from Djibril Cisse to strike into the back of the net at the Kop end to seal a victory for the delighted home fans.
After having a fairly quiet afternoon between the sticks Jerzy Dudek sprung into action like it was 2005 to make a save after Ross Wallace’s attempt.
Bad luck was raining down on the Scottish legends as O’Dea looked to be forgiven for his earlier penalty mistake, but it was revealed that the ball went out of play during the build-up.
It ended 2-0 in a fairly even charity match for both sides, but Celtic fans may think that they deserved more.
Paul Lambert had this to say about Celtic’s ruled out goals, “The offside goal, I don’t know how a ball can go out the pitch and then hit the front of the bar? Unless there was a hurricane in that goalmouth, I don’t know? I think some decisions went against them.”
by Ella Percy
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Northern Premier League side Marine, when they faced Tottenham Hotspur on a cold January evening on Merseyside.
The third round tie generated more than £300,000 for the non-league club through virtual sales tickets, after the match was moved to play behind closed doors due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The club sold £10 virtual tickets to the match as fans could not attend and more than 30,000 people purchased a ticket, ending the clubs fears on missing out on over £100,000 in commercial revenue if the game was played under normal circumstances.
Jose Mourinho was among the 30,000 people who purchased a ticket, Spurs’ Portuguese boss showing the utmost respect to the Northern Premier League Division One North West hosts by fielding a side boasting an aggregate 402 international caps.
Despite losing 5-0 to the Premier League giants, it felt like a victory to the home team as it became one of their most memorable nights in the club’s history. Carlos Vinicius scored a 13-minute hat-trick, whilst the other two goals came from Lucas Moura and 16-year-old Josh Devine.
Although, every Marine supporter can remember when their dream nearly came true in the first 15 minutes of the game when Neil Kengni’s 25-yard attempt beat keeper Joe Hart before hitting the bar when the match was goalless.
Spurs and Mourinho were very appreciative of them after the game and left them a bag full of shirts and promised to send them their match shirts once they had been washed.
They have grown massively over the last two years, with improvements made to their stadium, merchandise and fan experience following a refurbishment. The Merseyside-based club currently stand seventh in the Northern Premier League after 32 games played and have their eyes set on a top-five finish come the end of the season.
The Merseyside club has said: “Marine in the community has thrived, by helping a great many local people feel a part of something special whilst bringing together people from all walks of life, from different ages, genders, and backgrounds to create a social hub of involvement and participation.”
The club have also recently advanced into the semi-finals of the Liverpool Senior Cup after beating Everton’s U18’s 4-1, proving that they are in good form and have a great chance of succeeding in the next round.
There has been no better time than right now to be a Marine fan, as thousands continue to show their support on social media. One fan wrote: “The support has been amazing, the crowd that turns up home and away every week is just incredible. Let’s keep going!”
With constant youth talent coming through their side, there is no telling where manager Neil Young could take his team in the future.
Their leading goal scorer in all competitions is Sol Solomon with six goals in 13 appearances, with James Barrigan and Andy Scarisbrick behind him with two goals each this season.
Marine have come so far since that historic night against Spurs, so what is next for them?
As they press on to finish in the top five of their league this season, they also have a semi-final round coming up. If they can progress to the final of the Liverpool Senior Cup it would be a huge step for them, and possibly have the chance of grabbing the silverware. Young insists that his side must take each game by game and focus on maximising results, as they are only three points off Bamber Bridge in fifth position, so every point in crucial.
With the clubs future ahead of them, Marine can only go above and beyond from here and with the relentless support from the fans, they can achieve great things.
by Sadie MeakinAmidst the struggle of the cost-of-living crisis, Steve Moore, Jason Porter, and Paul Hughes walked from The Marine Travel Arena in Crosby to The Skuna Stadium in Atherton and raised £2,260 for South Sefton Food Bank. The Marine FC fans took on the 20 mile route, and when speaking to Steve he said that “whatever we can get for food banks we will try and do.”
Moore described how Sefton’s food bank is struggling and said: “Even though the likes of Liverpool and Everton have fan supported food banks, because of the area that we are in, South Sefton do not get any help with it. It all goes to the Walton and Anfield area, so we started doing a collection around Sefton.”
The three men have raised up to £2,260 from the walk to Atherton and aren’t stopping there as they are planning to do food collections at the rest of Marine’s home games, with a bucket collection as well as they are aiming to raise £2,500. The 53-year-old explained how they are asking for people to give “whatever they can spare to help others who are struggling” and how “every little helps.”
The recent boost in popularity for the Marine first team has massively helped communities all around Liverpool as they are generating more ticket sales and money than ever.
The Merseyside-based club faced Tottenham Hotspur at home back in 2021 in the third-round of the FA Cup, and the game which was played behind closed doors generated more than £300,000 for the non-league club through virtual sales.
They sold £10 virtual tickets to the match as fans could not attend and more than 30,000 people purchased a ticket, which ended the clubs fears of missing out on over £100,000 in commercial revenue if the game was played under normal circumstances.
Steve said: “Everything has changed since the Spurs game, it definitely had an impact on the club. There used to be about 300 fans on match day but now it is around 1200, it’s amazing.”
When asked about watching
football from a young age, Moore said: “I have been supporting Marine since about 1985 so for about 35 years, and I think Jason is the same. We tend to go home and away and do collections for food banks every month and we’ve done that for the past year.” Steve spoke about the physical difficulty of the walk, he said: “I definitely ached a bit the next morning, it took us about 10 hours and we started at 3 in the morning. I’m not as fit as the other two lads so it was a struggle to keep going at times, but we just powered on. Plenty of food and water was key, and a few red bulls!”
The man from Seaforth was “surprised” at the response and how much food and supplies they have managed to collect for Sefton Food Bank.
He said: “Jason decided to do this walk, he’s my cousin and asked if I fancied doing it, and I said yeah why not. Paul is also doing the London marathon at the end of April, so he asked if he could come along and do it with us to get some miles in his legs.”
The cost of living crisis has affected thousands of families across the UK, and Steve shared his empathy about what people must be going through: “It’s something that me and my family have been affected by, so I can’t imagine what others are battling with. So even if we can help just a little bit, we know it can make a big difference to some people. That is the main reason why we have done this walk, to help people. The price of food right now is crazy, so we know how much people can benefit from food banks at a time like this.”
The life-long Everton fan also discussed doing more walks like this again in the future and said he would “definitely do more of them as long as they are helping out a good cause.”
Moore said: “We just want to help families that are struggling at the moment, just knowing that what we have done has helped someone makes it all worth it.”
By Sadie Meakin Images accreditted to Steve MooreWith the Champions League Quarter-finals on the horizon, many will be reminiscing about those that have been and gone before, what new scripts will be written and consigned to the history books of European football’s greatest competition? Will any be quite as entertaining as these? Let’s hope so…
Barcelona vs Arsenal: (6-3 on aggregate, 2010) Of course, we can’t talk about the best moments in Champions League history, at any stage of the competition, without mentioning Lionel Messi and this occasion isn’t an exception.
The first-leg, played at the Emirates, saw Arsene Wenger’s title contenders go pound-for-pound with Pep Guardiola’s side who had completed a remarkable treble, the previous season. With Barcelona 2-0 up on the hour-mark, thanks to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace, it looked like the Gunners’ conquest for an elusive Champions League title was over before this tie had properly started. However, a Theo Walcott goal and Cesc Fabregas penalty meant that Arsenal would go into the second-leg on level terms – while Barca would be without captain Carles Puyol, who was dismissed for conceding Fabregas’ penalty.
In the return leg, it looked like a formidable comeback was complete – with a Nicklas Bendtner goal turning the tie on its head.
However, not going quietly, Messi decided to take matters into his own hands. The Argentine toyed with the Arsenal defence all evening, dispatching four goals – each remarkable in equal measure and leaving the Arsenal players red-faced, as they were dumped out of the competition.
Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur (4-4 on aggregate – Tottenham win on away goals, 2019)
A solitary goal from Heung-Min Son, in Spurs’ maiden European fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium saw them hold the advantage, ahead of what would prove to be an electrifying second-leg at the Etihad Stadium. The opening 21 minutes saw the two sides exchange five goals – the quickest five in the history of the competition. Raheem Sterling brought the tie level, after four minutes – before Son turned the match around with a brace, followed by Bernardo Silva and Sterling turning it on its head. City were finally handed the advantage, when cometh the hour, cometh the man –Sergio Aguero gave them a 4-2 lead on the night, with half an hour of normal time to play.
AS Roma vs Barcelona (4-4 on aggregate –AS Roma win on away goals, 2018)
At the same stage of the competition as Manchester City and Spurs’ titanic tussle, this tie from the previous campaign had the same scoreline – with the added bonus of a colossal comeback.
However, Spurs’ Fernando Llorente would prove to be the hero – stunning the stadium with a goal that gave Mauricio Pochettino’s side the lead, on away goals. There was more to come, as VAR came into play, as Aguero was adjudged to be offside – putting an end to Sterling’s goal celebrations and City’s hopes of a first Champions League title.
Whereas Roma’s compatriots AC Milan had been subject to the revival of Barca’s fellow Spanish club Deportivo la Coruna, 14 years prior – this time it was the Italian club’s turn to overhaul the deficit.
Following a resounding 4-1 win for the Catalonian giants, at the Nou Camp – many fancied them to match that performance, or at least hold out for the return leg at the Stadio Olimpico. However, once again, an early goal would change the landscape of this tie – when Edin Dzeko’s finish after five minutes had Barca on the ropes. Dzeko would play another significant role, winning a penalty just before the hour mark – which saw club legend Daniele De Rossi, who scored an owngoal in the first-leg, put I Giallorossi within a goal away from advancing to the semi-finals.
With less than 10 minutes of normal time to play, Cengiz Under’s corner was flicked home by Kostas Manolas – he too avenged his own-goal from the first-leg. Roma had “risen from their ruins”. Barcelona’s hopes of European glory were in ruins.
Manchester United vs Real Madrid (5-6 on aggregate, 2003)
Manchester United had a mountain of great magnitude to climb in this tie, having to overturn a 3-1 deficit against the reigning champions, as they returned to home soil. It wasn’t for the want of trying for Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils, though – as we had seen throughout his reign, they were capable of the incredible. It looked like there could have been another remarkable overhaul, but all hopes of this happening were all but shattered – when Ronaldo, more on him shortly, opened the scoring after 12 minutes.
Future Los Blancos forward Ruud Van Nistelrooy reduced the deficit just before half-time, but for O Fenomeno to have his say on proceedings, once more.
Following Ivan Helguera’s own-goal, Ronaldo would complete his hat-trick – putting Real Madrid in front, for the third time that evening, before being given a rousing reception from the travelling and home faithful alike, as he was substituted.
A brace, including a textbook free-kick from future Galactico
David Beckham, saw United lead for the first time, that evening – but it wasn’t enough for them to advance.
by Liam McDermottKeely Archbold has represented England at youth level but has decided to move onto another big stage and pursue a career in music.
After having never been interested in football until her teenage years, Keely Archbold has achieved an extraordinary amount during her five years in football. The former Wolverhampton Wanderers forward, moved to live in Cyprus age 11 and only played rugby, a sport in which she said: “I played because I was good at it, but I just didn’t enjoy it.” After three years of living on the ‘Island of love’, her family moved back to England and with Keely looking to play a new sport she toyed with the idea of playing football.
Having been scouted by Wolverhampton Wanderers after just one full season of football, everything looked up for the West Midlands starlet. And things continued to look up, with England’s head coach at the time selecting Keely to represent her country, an incredible achievement having only had two years of playing the game. With a reminiscent smile upon her face, she said: “I had gone from playing no football to representing my country in two years, it was just a crazy season for me but it felt amazing to be starting off my career.”
accepted and this is where she felt her career would really kick on. Despite having the passion for music since a young age, the now singer/songwriter had never once thought she would leave football but this became the drive for her success, adjusting her chair to speak about her passion she said: “After finishing football, I wanted to try something I didn’t think was a possibility before, I met a lot of new people and I learnt a lot about university.”
Similarly to her time in football, Keely adored everything about the art of creating and performing, however things at Leeds Conservatoire ended abruptly, with Keely deciding to drop out after the first year. When explaining her choice to leave she said: “The beauty of music just started to become another chore as there was a lot of pressure on us all throughout the course, I understand that it was getting us ready for the real world and how a career in songwriting would be but I just felt myself in a writers block constantly because of the amount of pressure I felt.” As opposed to football, music is something which the 20 year old has continued to pursue after her year at university, with her staying in Leeds for another year working in a pub in which she also performed her songs, her smile widened as she said: “Whilst working there, I found that I could play and enjoy my music again without the pressure I had at uni but the year I spent in Leeds after university was a big eye opener for me as this was my first year living alone with very little money or career aspirations.”
However, five years and many goals later, Archbold decided that she wanted to stop playing football. She said: “ The reasons were just a mixture of everything, when I started playing for Wolves I believed that this was what I wanted to do for my life and my career, but probably by the third season the sport became more of a chore than a pleasure.”
With relief etched across her face, the former Wolves number 9 began to explain the importance of self care with regards to both your physical and mental well-being, something which she openly admits to having struggled with during her career. She said: “I don’t regret making the decision to stop football as it made me realise a big thing about myself and that I can’t physically be tied down to one thing and since I’ve left football I have had so much time for my other hobbies such as music, climbing, outdoor adventure, travelling and I have been able to explore and find out more about myself.”
After leaving the academy set up, Keely was looking to explore new opportunities in a different industry and with singing and songwriting being more of a hobby throughout her teenage years, she knew that this was something that she wanted to explore further. With an archive of old videos on Facebook of her singing and an audition for the X Factor, it seemed like she had too much talent to let go to waste. With a clear passion and desire to perform, her application to Leeds Conservatoire was
With little career aspirations in the UK and a passion for travelling, Keely has decided to take a huge leap of faith and explore yet another opportunity, teaching at a summer camp in America. With hopes to travel the world and perform her music worldwide, with dreams to gather enough inspiration to begin a project in which she wants to work on to further her music career.
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Wigan Athletic salvaged a point by the skin of their teeth – against misfiring Birmingham City. It didn’t take long for the visitors to open the scoring, with Juninho Bacuna, arguably the star performer of the match, converting his free-kick from 25-yards with aplomb – sending the travelling faithful into raptures, after just four minutes.
With that flying start in mind, John Eustace’s men must have thought that they would have a field day against a side seemingly struggling for confidence. However, that didn’t tell, as Max Power, known for his emphatic long-range goals, showed great awareness to win the ball and chest it down – but his half-volley from 25-yards out could only hit the top of former England goalkeeper John Ruddy’s net.
In a side devoid of goals, Shaun Maloney elected to bring on Will Keane at half-time. With 10 goals to his name this season, the former Manchester United man very nearly made an immediate impact – forcing Ruddy into a smart save, from his shot on the turn. The home side now had momentum in abundance and wouldn’t have to wait much longer to earn their reward – with another former Manchester United frontman, Ashley Fletcher, sweeping James McClean’s pass home for the equaliser.
However, all of Wigan’s hard work was very nearly undone just five minutes later, with the electrifying Bacuna winning a contentious penalty for a foul by Ryan Nyambe. This struck fear into the hearts of the Latics contingent, but fortunately for them, Hogan’s spot-kick struck the woodwork.
It wouldn’t be the last time that the away side would be denied by the woodwork.
First, Tahith Chong saw his well-calculated shot hit the foot of Amos’ post – then Maxime Colin’s glancing header just moments later hit the same post, all this just two minutes after Hogan’s penalty failure.
The home side very nearly punished Blues’ inability to find the net, with Charlie Hughes showing great tenacity to carry the ball out of defence before picking out Fletcher, who in turn, found Keane –but his effort from an acute angle could only hit the side-netting.
Ultimately, there wasn’t anything to separate the two sides – it’s a precious point towards survival for Wigan who are now off the bottom of the table, having lost just once under Maloney’s six-game management.
As for Birmingham, they will wonder how they couldn’t turn one point into three – one win from their last six leaves them in the precarious position of 19th, just seven points above the dotted line.
Image by Liam McDermott
By Liam McDermott
We find ourselves in a St Helens café amongst the frantic frenzy of an early Sunday afternoon, following Joe Bickerstaffe’s return home from Loughborough, where he has been studying since 2020 – and has been a mainstay between the sticks for the university futsal team.
But it wasn’t always this way, cast your mind back to the mid-2000s, in the infancy of Bickerstaffe’s life.
“I was an outfielder to begin with, playing for Haydock aged six or seven, and I scored a few goals as a striker. But the keeper broke his arm, so the coach asked who wanted to go in net –to which I said that I would. My Dad didn’t want me to, but the rest was history,” he says. This would start a long-lived love affair with goalkeeping that has seen the 20-year-old play for a host of academies, before venturing down a different avenue in the form of futsal – in which he has achieved the privilege of performing on the national stage.
‘Bickers’ who had spent 12 years in academy systems was first acknowledged for his goalkeeping prowess at Bolton, before spending time at Bury – but he forged a true connection during his four-year tenure at Tranmere Rovers, where he signed a scholarship.
“I spent a lot of time there and I got to see a different side to it, with it being a full-time job,” he reminisces fondly.
But often is the harsh reality of professional football, particularly as a goalkeeper, that in the midst of lockdown, Bickerstaffe’s time at the club came to an end.
However, over the course of his time there, he says that the lessons he learned at the club were of greater value than those that he learned in Manchester City’s academy. And such is his character that, despite what felt like an earth-shattering set-back at the time, he has used this as a tool for motivation.
“I didn’t really know what to do, obviously I hadn’t planned to get released and I’d been training well, pre-lockdown. It was a shock to the system and I was upset, but I’ve got a good framework behind me, always telling me to keep my options open and to have a back-up plan. So straight away, I went to Loughborough and started studying my degree in Maths,” he says.
“I can be so selfish, I just want to be the best. When the England team comes back, I want to be in there”:Image courtesy of Taylor’d Management
“That was probably the first time that I thought: ‘I might have to give up football’,” he says, dismayed.
“I’m thinking: ‘This will help me get to the next level’ and the manager even said: ‘You’re not going to be playing every game, but we’ll give you the minutes to improve you and get you going.’
“But then as soon as COVID hit and everything just stopped, I was like: ‘what do I do now?’ because I was obviously still at Prescot under-18s, but was too old, the next season.”
Of course, success comes with sacrifices, irrespective of what you intend to achieve – football isn’t an exception.
Likewise, the attribute of resilience or ‘bouncebackability’, to use a term coined by Iain Dowie, comes with failure.
For anyone who has been setback by rejection and failure, in a footballing capacity, Atkins says: “Don’t give up, just keep playing football, because you’ve been in an academy for a reason. People know what you’re like, you might think or say for example: ‘Oh, I was only at Everton. Only Everton know who I am.’ It’s not true, there are scouts out there from all over the country and you don’t realise. So for anyone that’s been dropped by an academy and your confidence is gone, just go playing Sunday League.
“If you wait for a few weeks and then just start messaging clubs saying: ‘This is my history, I’ve been released and I’m looking to get my confidence back up’ They may say: ‘Alright, come down for a trial,’ and you will get your confidence back up. Eventually, you might not get back into academy football, but you might go back to a good semi-professional team so it’s always worth the risk.” These trials and tribulations have shaped, not just the player, but the person that Atkins is today. The hitman has been a revelation at his new club, so much so that he has even received, but subsequently rejected lucrative offers from clubs in the Cymru Premier – something that he couldn’t have foreseen, a year ago.
“Last season I was awful and then obviously I hit the ground running at Prestatyn. So, for Welsh teams to come in and offer me contracts, I’m thinking: ‘Wow, you’ve only known me for six months, what’s going on here?”
As a lifeguard and semi-professional footballer, Atkins’ story is alike to that of West Ham forward Michail Antonio – who also was employed in the same occupation, when he was playing at a semi-professional level. However, he feels that his footballing ability is akin to that of Luis Suarez, who he grew up idolising.
“He just doesn’t stop chasing and he scores from anywhere. Obviously, he’s got his antics but take those away and I personally think he’s the best number nine in the world,” he says. This season, Atkins has proven to be a scorer of great goals, as well as a great goalscorer –which has resulted in him being named the league’s ‘Player of the Month’, on two occasions. Ultimately though, with this lifeguard making a splash at Prestatyn, he will be hoping that this can result in them moving up and out of the deep end of the Welsh footballing pyramid.
Image by Ray Hibbsy
Former Wales International Dave Edwards had finally received his much anticipated and deserved send-off from both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Shrewsbury Town fans after he had created and participated in a charity match this Sunday.
Having spent the majority of his footballing career at both clubs, Edwards decided to arrange a match in which raised money for two great charities, the Shrewsbury Town Foundation and the Little Rascals Foundation.
The first goal came for Wolves through Matt Jarvis who beat two men to get into the Shrewsbury box before driving the ball low and hard into the opposite corner.
The man of the hour, Dave Edwards began the match in the colours of old gold where he managed to score one of his trademark goals after a run across the front post to tap it home.
However, it was the second half where the game come to life, with the changes of Marc Pugh and former Wolves loanee Grant Holt for the Shrews. With Pugh scoring a sublime Free-Kick just 15 minutes later.
Then just 10 minutes later, Derek Asamoah left Sam Ricketts for dead before smashing the ball home underneath the goalkeeper to bring the game level. Buit the goals kept flowing before Pugh smashed the ball into the Wolves net to complete the comeback and make the scoreline 3-2!
However, five minutes after a Pugh masterclass, Matt Jarvis decided to show everyone which former EPL winger who is boss and curled in a free-kick which David Beckham would be proud of.
The game produed one final moment of magic with former Norwich Talisman Grant Holt taking the ball down superbly and executing a sublime chip over Carl Ikeme in the dying minutes of the game. The game finished up 4-3, a perfect scoreine for an amazing cause.
The day began with a deafening applause for current Celtic and Former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart who began his footballing career on the Welsh border with Shrewsbury Town and he has often been an ever-present face since despite leaving the club.
Around 1,000 autographs and pictures later, Hart headed up to his families box as the players walked out of the tunnel to a rapture of whistles and clapping. Both sides were blessed with talent and some very likeable characters on and off the pitch including Stephen Hunt who spent his afternoon aiming to take out players in a charity event.
The event was a chance to say goodbye to both sets of fans for mhis former clubs, something which felt like ufihshed business for many. He said “ It was a really friendly atmosphere and saw two clubs come together. I spent most of my career at the two clubs and from a really selfish point of view, it was so nice to have a bit of a curtain call for my own career.”
“I never got the chance at either club to do that. My last season at Shrewsbury was in Covid and at Wolves it all happened so quickly.
“So from a selfish point of view, to be able to put this on and give my thanks to everyone that turned up, that was very special and I can’t thank them enough.
However, amongst all of the players on display there were two standout performers, both former Premier League wingers too. Matt Jarvis who earned himself a cap for England, showcased that he has still got it and looked extremely sharp throughout with some neat touches and an excellently controlled finish into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 to wolves inside 25 minutes. Then during the second half, Jarvis won a free kick and took it upon himself to stand over it also. Continuing his impressive performance, the former West Ham winger buried the ball into the top left corner of the goal, an exceptional performance capped off by an unbelievable finish.
Marc Pugh who had only recently retired from football was the other standout performer, this time for the Shrews. Another Premier League player to have scored a brace on the day with one also being an excellent free-kick, Pugh with his very best Matt Jarvis impersonation. Pugh however, remained on the bench for the whole first half and was introduced for the final 30 minutes, and what an impact he went on to make. With the final score being 4-3 to Shrewsbury despite going in at half time with a two-goal deficit to overturn.
The game was played at an exceptional pace despite the majority of the players having lost a yard or two and having put on a pound or two also.
With over 3,500 people in attendance, the pot of cash that goes towards both nominated charities will be extremely healthy and will massively help both groups in their push to raise as much money as possible.
The Charities mentioned are two of which are very important to Dave Edwards, having already contribued a lot to the organisations, this match was another opportunity in which to raise as much money as possible.
“The Little Rascals Foundation helps children with disabilities and this money will hopefully be enough to build a sensory room on their site. That was the main driver. Unfortunately we had to move sites after our lease ran out and we had a sensory room that that was used so much. The new site hasn’t got that.
“The cost is probably £15,000 and hopefully this will make a big dent in that. It makes it all worthwhile.”
The event was all in all a very big success and the smooth running of the event was all thanks to Dave Edwards. An exceptional professional on the pitch and an exemplary hman being off of it.
Standing next to an outdoor swimming pool wearing jeans and a t-shirt wasn’t exactly how I’d planned on spending my Thursday night, but when I was invited to attend a training session for canoe polo, a sport I know very little about, I was more than intrigued. Getting the chance to sit down after the session, my shoes now soaked through, with Angus Boyle, a member of Team GB’s U-21 team, gave me the perfect opportunity to get my head wrapped around the sport. While I’d hope I would be able to perfectly explain the rules now, using Angus’s own words would be far more understandable: “Canoe polo is a team sport that involves two teams of up to eight players, five players on the pitch at once and three Subs. You play on a pitch similar to a water polo pitch with the objective of scoring the ball into the goal. The goals in canoe polo, unlike water polo are two metres elevated from the water, so strung up in the air or floating, so yeah, it’s whoever scores the most, wins the game. A game starts with a sprint start so both teams start on their backlines and the ref throws the ball on the pitch and a player from either team competes in a race to win the ball in
the middle. Teams set up in a defensive structure and an attacking structure and there’s a 60 second shot clock - so if a shot is not made within 60 seconds, or the balls not turned over, it’ll be an automatic change of possession to the other team.”
The sport’s played at an amateur level, so isn’t currently a feature in the Olympic games, however World Championships take place every two years, with European or regional competitions sandwiched in between within the World Games.
Angus got into canoe polo at a young age, ferried to and from training by his father, he said: “My dad is a big kayaker and has been kayaking his whole life. He started taking me and some of my mates kayaking after school and I eventually started an after school club for kayaking which then led to kayak polo once we developed, and from then it became a polo club. We’d train three times a week, on the weekends and summer camps and schemes to try and promote the club and bring more kids into it. Once we’d formed a team, we’d start going to competitions for youth that my dad would host. It’s just been developing and developing ever since.” This developed has given Angus the
opportunities to travel Europe with the team, competing at the highest standard at U-21 level: “Being able to play at the top level of an amateur sport is so amazing because you just get experiences you wouldn’t have with professional sport. Especially in the countries where there’s a large crowd, like, last year in France there was a few thousand people in the crowd for the final and it was just surreal, the atmosphere was unreal.”
There’s optimism within team GB that the next two years will bring good fortune, as well as Angus’s club team hoping to improve even further, he said: “I’ve been playing now for four years at the under-21 level – I have two years left and I want to win one of the major competitions. We have Europeans this year and Worlds next year. There was a lot of set-backs last year to stop us getting to that but with the Team GB U-21 we believe that if we put everything together right we can be competing for the top places in the Europeans, and at my club level for Ulster in Belfast we hope to be coming in the top half of competitions.”
by Matt GroomFrom playing football all his life to not at all, Daniel Roberts has had a rollercoaster of a career. Since playing from the age of five, he continued to play as a centre-back until he was 32 at non-league clubs all around Nottinghamshire.
An all-round family man with a wife and a two-year-old son, he now has a passion for running and golf as well as providing for his family. Being a commercial manager of a large building firm was definitely a dream of his as he was recently promoted to the highest position at his job, and he loves what he does.
The last club he played for was South Normanton Athletic, finishing his playing career in 2017. His best season at this club was from 2014-15 as he made a total of 45 appearances, scored six goals and took home ten player of the match awards.
Daniel played for more than six teams across his playing career, and also played against Nottinghamborn Jermaine Jenas when he was in the Clifton All-whites team. Jenas later on went to play for Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and QPR. Daniel described him as “driven” as he never took his eyes off of the ball, even at a young age.
Daniel was the Captain of every team he has ever played for, but he was never in over his head. He was known as “Danny Roberts” in the dressing room and by the fans, and he always turned up to games wanting to give his all for the team.
As he thought about the answers to my questions, we both took in our surroundings of the small café and let the overwhelming smell of coffee fill our nostrils as we spoke about the struggles he faced whilst playing football.
He said: “The abuse that was thrown at
me and the lads never bothered me, I didn’t really care what people thought. I was just there to play football.”
He prided himself on his strong mentality as hate didn’t affect him on or off the pitch, it only spurred him on to play better. Playing at a semiprofessional level was good enough for him, and the reason he never become professional was simply because he didn’t like football enough. He grew up watching and playing football and it became a part of his life, but he admitted he wasn’t passionate enough about the sport to devote his life to it.
Daniel said: “That is what people couldn’t understand, I just didn’t love football enough. I’d happily play and get on with it but I never really dreamed that I would become a professional footballer. I didn’t want to be famous or have the spotlight on me, it was just something that I did every week.”
He admitted that he was “probably talented enough” to play in a higher league but he had no desire to push himself to that level, so he finished his degree in quantity surveying and got on with the rest of his life. Daniel spoke about his life from a more personal perspective, especially when talking about his Grandad who recently passed away at the age of 86. It was his Grandad who got him into watching and playing football, he recalled when his Mother was working, his Grandad would take him to training from being a young age.
His Grandad, ‘Papa’ as he was more well known as, was the reason he grew up as a Liverpool fan and he can remember being taken to games at Anfield. He played a huge part in Daniel’s football career as he went to every match to support him, and even became a local legend in South Normanton. Daniel chuckled as he recalled the memory from many years ago about how all of the lads in the first team would ask how his Grandad is, and everyone would make the effort to speak to him after the match. Daniel said: “After he passed away last year, I kind of fell out of love with football as he was the main reason I watched and took part in it. Nowadays, I only follow Liverpool and some of the Premier League games, I just don’t really watch it anymore. Looking after my two-year-old takes up enough of my time, and I wouldn’t change that for the world.” I saw him
chuckling to himself as he spoke about his little boy, Charlie.
He also admitted that he is not very keen on his son playing football when he grows up, even though he is very active and coordinated for his age. Asking him why this was, he said: “I just don’t want him to feel the pressure that he has to play football, there’s a million things for him to do so I just want him to do what he loves. He loves playing with his new cricket set at the moment, so I’d love for him to be able to play cricket.”
Daniel also was the captain of Eastwood Town Cricket Club and he admitted that he enjoyed cricket more than football, as it was a lot more laidback which suited his personality. The 36-year-old said: “I still play for the Cricket Club now in the summer if they need an extra man, and most of my mates still play there so it’s good fun.”
Daniel Roberts was definitely the footballer who did not love football enough, but he is more than happy with his life now as he has been married for five years and has a house with his wife. He spends his free time now with his family or goes down to his local pub on the weekends with his mates, as well as playing golf occasionally on a Sunday morning. He described playing football as “a whirlwind of emotions” from the lows and highs of non-league football and said it was a shame he did not enjoy it enough to do it professionally.
by Sadie MeakinTest your knowledge in Golazo’s very own quiz, with a focus this issue on the lower league clubs in English football, as well as a 10 team wordsearch.
Who is the current Southport FC manager?
Who is Marine’s top goal scorer in all competitions this season?
Which team in the National League North nicknamed The Magpies plays at Victory Park?
Which two trophies did Liverpool win last season?
Which team are currently at the top of the National Leage table?
Can you guess the former or present Premier League star?
1) I have played in England, Switzerland, Italy and Egypt. I was teammates with Kevin De Bruyne and I have been managed by Murat Yakin. Who am I?
2) I have played for Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. I have been managed by Pep Guardiola, Brendan Rogers and Graham Potter. Who am I?
3) I was born in Merseyside. I have played for Wigan Athletic, Leeds United and Sunderland. Who am I?
4) I was born in the Ivory Coast and spent 15 years in the United Kingdom. Who am I?
5) I played in England my whole life. I have managed three different teams and had two spells at one team. Internationally I have only played for England Under 21’s. Who am I?
6) I am originally from the Northeast of England. I currently play for a club in Merseyside but have played for a total of eight clubs in my career. Who am I?
7) I am also originally from the Northeast of England. I have played for three clubs in my time and have spent almost 12 years at my current one. Who am I?
8) I have played at three different international levels and I spent my youth career at Sheffield United and currently play in Liverpool. Who am I?
9) I have played for two clubs in my career and spent 26 years at one including my youth career. I am from the Merseyside area. Who am I?
10) I am an England international footballer with six appearances. I spent my youth career at Coventry City and the first season I played for a certain club, we got promoted to the Premier League. Who am I?
11) I am 29 years old and have not played for my national side since 2014. I have played in a major European final and lost. I currently play in England. Who am I?
12) I had won four premier league titles by the age of 21 and I have scored 33 league goals. Who am I?
ANSWERS: 1. Mohammed Salah 2. Raheem Sterling 3. Joe Gelhart 4. Kolo Toure 5. Eddie Howe 6. Jordan Pickford 7. Jordan Henderson 8. Dominic Calvert-Lewin 9. Steven Gerrard 10. Callum Willson 11. Loris Karius 12. Phil FodenAll images are the property of Golazo, used with permission, are of the public domain or accreditted appropriately
