CommentaryEnglandNews The Wormburner: A Whole Lotta Questions (Fantasy Football, Draft)July 9, 2019 — by Rob Kirby
BrazilCommentaryHistoryPhotographyThe AmericasWorld Cup Dictators and Soccer: The Junta, Argentina 1978, Disappearings, Match Fixing and Early Deity Era Maradona (Argentina)July 11, 2014 — by Rob Kirby
CommentaryHistoryItalyLong ReadsNews Dictators and Soccer: Popes, PR and the Vatican Soccer Sin BinMay 17, 2013 — by Rob Kirby

main

Commentary

CultFootball Editors: “If we wrote for the Guardian, we’d have a million hits a week”

September 17, 2010 — by Sean

Give those guys at cultfootball some credit, ya tossers.
Today's statement by Fat Sam has set us thinking along the same lines here at the CultFootball headquarters. While we have historically ranged in the high double–low triple digit daily readership, we're of such quality that a more monied institution with better resources would 1. be lucky to have us, and 2. increase our hit rate thousands of times over. What inspiration is it you ask? Allardyce's "better than this" comments that were surely made from a pub stool: "I'm not suited to Bolton or Blackburn, I would be more suited to Inter or Real Madrid," Allardyce said. "It wouldn't be a problem to me to go and manage those clubs because I would win the double or the league every time. Give me Manchester United or Chelsea and I would do the same, it wouldn't

Read More

NewsSchedule

UEFA Europa League – Fixtures & Results

September 16, 2010 — by Suman — 1

The Europa League has pelotas
As Sean wrote last week, "It’s tough to care much about the beginning of the European footballing season. After the buzz of the World Cup and the always fun transfer drama, club football’s jerky starts seem less urgent."  But with the Champions League getting started over the past two days, and now the Europa League kicking off today, there are really just too many appealing matches to keep up with. To be brutally honest, we (or rather I) don't really understand the Europa League--who qualifies and how and why?  Who knows.  But at the end of the day, it means midweek games between the (not-quite-)top clubs in Europe. So w/o further ado, here is the link to the fixtures and results. Notable results: Man City beats Salzburg 2-0 in Austria, but La Liga table-toppers Atletico Madrid lose...to Aris Thessaloniki FC?! We don't know

Read More

Commentary

Champions League: What We Saw

September 16, 2010 — by Sean

What more can I do?
The cultfootball brain trust was huddled around a giant screen for three of yesterday's matches, though we tended to pause longer on Real Madrid v Ajax a bit more than the others. Whereas the Chelsea and Arsenal matches were blowouts, Real always looked like they might give one up on the counter, and Ajax are no slacks— though their real standout was the keeper Maarten Stekelenburg (who you may remember from the World Cup). We didn't have the chance to see the other games as we don't have Direct TV, the bastards. On a night when Real's strikers had ample opportunity to shut down the game, Stekelenburg consistently provided no angle for glory. There were nearly 20 shots between Higuaín, Ronaldo, and di María, and only Higuaín put the ball away (and only from very close range for what we thought

Read More

NewsSchedule

Champions League – Day 2 Fixtures (& return of the liveblog?)

September 15, 2010 — by Suman

It was a fun afternoon yesterday, flipping channels between the 4 games we eventually found on the dial, and we're looking forward to this afternoon, when it looks like we'll be able to flip in between 3 of today's 8 matches (on FSC, FSE & FSP). We'll most likely be watching Cesc Fabregas (left) lead Arsenal against visiting Portuguese side Braga, but no doubt we'll also look in on Mourinho-led Madrid hosting Ajax of Amsterdam (FSE), and Premier League powerhouse Chelsea visiting Slovakian side MŠK Žilina (FSC).  And we may just break out the liveblog this afternoon.. Here's the full list of today's fixtures: Wednesday, September 15 (all games kickoff at 14:45 ET) Group E Bayern Munich v AS Roma @ Allianz Arena (DirectTV; rebroadcast on FSE at 19:00 ET) CFR Cluj-Napoca v FC Basel @ Stadionul Dr. Constantin Radulescu (DirectTV) Group F Marseille v Spartak Moscow @ Stade Vélodrome (DirectTV) MSK Zilina

Read More

CommentaryNews

David Weir: Old Guy

September 15, 2010 — by Sean — 2

What's that, sonny?
While we flipped through the Champions League games today one man stood out: David Weir. Not for his defensive prowess, nor for any particularly stellar play, but for the fact that, during a close-up of the man yelling at the ref, he looked amazingly old. The captain of Rangers did indeed anchor an incredibly stubborn defense in a hostile Old Trafford this afternoon, and managed to hold together his troops without himself causing anyone a horrific injury (see further down for some home-shot video of Valencia's season-ending ankle break). Weir's elderly appearance set us looking for his record. The man is a sturdy 40 years of age, and seems to only be getting more sure with the passing years. He spent the first few seasons of his career in Scotland, working his way through Falkrik and Hearts before signing with Everton, where he

Read More

CommentarySchedule

Champions League starts today! Matchday 1 Fixtures

September 14, 2010 — by Suman

What is arguably the World Cup of club soccer starts later today--the UEFA Champions League.  Like the World Cup, it features most of the top players in the world, and consists of 32 teams that will compete in a group stage to advance to a knockout phase.   Unlike the World Cup, however, it's an annual affair--and stretches over 8 months, with this year's final to be played on Saturday May 28, on the storied pitch of Wembley Stadium. The group phase starts today, with "Matchday 1" consisting of 8 matches today (Tuesday Sept 14): 2 games in each in Groups and 8 matches tomorrow (Wednesday Sept 15).   Today's 8 matches feature the 16 teams in Groups A, B, C, and D, with tomorrow's from the other 4 groups (E, F, G, and H). Looking ahead, the group stage consists of 6 Tuesday-Wednesday "Matchdays" to allow for home-and-away round

Read More

CommentaryNews

Hércules Hércules! Shocker at the Nou Camp

September 13, 2010 — by Suman — 1

Valdez puts Hercules up 2-0 over Barcelona
The shocking result from this past weekend's La Liga fixtures was Barcelona losing on the Camp Nou to newly promoted Hércules by a score of 2-0, with Paraguayan international Nelson Valdez scoring both goals.  It was certainly an unexpected result, as Sid Lowe writes in the the Guardian: Barcelona are the league champions; Herculés are making their first appearance in the first division since 1997 – in fact, they've spent just two of the last 26 years in the top flight. Hell, they've spent half of the last decade in the regionalised, four group, eighty-team Second Division B. And Barcelona had not been beaten by a newly promoted side for a decade. Barcelona had won 17 out of 18 at home last season, drawing the other. They had not lost a league game at home for 16 months –

Read More

CommentaryPreview

Premiership Preview – As seen on TV

September 10, 2010 — by John Lally

Sir Tony admiring his horse?
A preview of this week's Premiership fixtures coming up, just as soon as I add some shows to my Netflix queue... Everton vs Man United (Saturday 7:45 ET) The game: Rooney returns to the club where he started his career; I can't wait to hear what the Everton fans sing at him... If these teams were TV Shows: Everton - Lost - a couple of their main characters are of interest (Arteta, Cahill, Jack, Locke) but you get the feeling they're ultimately going nowhere. Man United - The Sopranos - with Alex Ferguson as Tony: a ruthless leader, feared and respected by his men - both had unsuccesful stints as racehorse owners (though at least Rock of Gibraltar didn't have the same fiery fate as Pie-O-My) The Prediction: Everton just aren't good enough this season - 2-0 United Arsenal vs Bolton The game:

Read More

Newer PostsOlder Posts