Search: 'John Barnes'

Philip Cornwall was far from alone in idolising a traditional English centre-forward in 1986, even if his choice was unusual. A lot has changed since, starting with Gary Lineker

Wayne Larkins has long been one of my favourite footballers. Though if he crossed your consciousness at all it was probably as a Northamptonshire and (occasionally) England batsman, my cup runneth over when his winter off from the county I support became a move to my non-League home town side, where he made a striking impression.

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We boast about the Premier League being 'the best league in the world', but  the domestic superiority of England's elite clubs is not reflected in their European form

At least once a year there are rumours of a breakaway “Atlantic League” or some such, a competition for the dom­inant clubs in smaller football countries where the domestic title is only ever contested by at most three teams. The next time it’s floated expect to hear that Arsenal, Manchester United and Chel­sea have been approached about joining, on the grounds that they, too, would get stronger competition from, say, Porto, Anderlecht and Ajax than from any of the other 17 clubs in the Premiership.

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Matthew Brown on player power, principles and racism in the modern game

Suddenly player-power seems to be all the rage. But the England squad weren’t the first footballers this season to stand up to their employers on a matter of principle. Just a few weeks earlier, former Chelsea striker Mark Stein and two of his team-mates declared they would never play for Dagenham & Redbridge again following allegations of racism against the Daggers manager Garry Hill and the club chairman Dave Andrews’ instant and unequivocal backing for his man.

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David Stubbs reviews David Thomas's new book on Bruce Grobbelaar's corruption trial

Some scandals never go away. Just as the News of the World is leading on match-fixing allegations about John Fashanu, out comes a book detailing the previous legal difficulties of the former Wimbledon star, along with Hans Se­gers and, above all, Bruce Grobbelaar.

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David Beckham has done a lot for hairdressing but he’s also brought curlers into fashion. Philip Cornwall considers our changing approach to free-kicks

Free-kicks are about hope. Most chances in a football match arise too late for firm emotions to attach themselves before they are taken or lost. But the attacking free-kick is a transparent opportunity to score yet one which you, your neighbour and the players are given plenty of time to contemplate.

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