Article Archives ⋆ An Old International

60 years and a little bit wiser

Compared to the development of football since the late 1870s, 60 years is not a long time, let alone would it be seen as old age. However, considering the twists and turns of history, 60 years can be a long time. Taking into account that within the first decade of its existence, Magdeburg had won…

Cretinous

If you ever needed proof that FIFA has become a farce, watch this clip. The person who has posted this, sincerely believes in what he has written in his tweet.

Business is Paramount

It is common knowledge that since 2010 FIFA has left the path of candour and become a corrupt organisation. This may have been the case before, but in December 2010, it became clear to the wider public that the core of this organisation is rotten. In contrast UEFA has held out against this trend. Until…

No remorse? No job!

News broke late last week, over the weekend that Jerôme Boateng is about to return to Bayern Munich to gather work experience as a coach. While this is laudable as he has won a few trophies throughout his career, the news nonetheless sheds a dubious light on the club and poses serious questions to German…

Magdeburg: 1-0-7, 7:19

Here we are: the autumn internationals are behind us and FC Magdeburg have parted ways with their coaching staff in a move that appeared overdue. With a quarter of the season played, Magdeburg are thoroughly rooted at the bottom of the table with three points from eight games and a goal difference of 7:19. This…

UCL Qualification: Paris FC (F) – Austria Vienna (F)

And before you can count to two, summer has gone: the evenings are still light but the temperatures have dropped to more enjoyable levels after almost three months of summer heat. It also means the start of the Champions League and other European Cup Competitions. Today the women of Paris FC were hosting their counterparts…

The mysterious affair of the drawn window blinds

The football establishment had something to mull about at the end of last week (August 25-29). An email from St. Pauli to FC Magdeburg was published online; it’s phot has been taken through a drawn window blind, adding some spice to the entire affair. The mail was sent from St. Pauli‘s sporting director about the…

Home – where is it and how many are there?

The telegram channel of BBC Sport published a message today informing its subscribers that Evan Ferguson is moving to AS Roma in a season-long loan. His club in England are Brighton & Hobe Albion.

However, there is a little issue with this message. It reads

An Irish man abroad

This is, of course, correct. Born in Ireland and playing for Brighton & Hove he is already abroad, which renders this post recalling his origins outdated.

£1.000.000 and 46 years

News stations were reporting that Olivia Smith broke the £1m barrier after signing a contract with Arsenal’s womens team. In men’s football, this sum is peanuts. It shows the gap, no the gulf between either games. In 1979 the English club Nottingham Forest, then managed by Brian Clough, paid more than £1m to sign Trevor…

Bloated

Global football has become somewhat of a joke in recent years. The World Cup was awarded to countries which have to be considered autocracies or oligarchies. The number of teams participating has multiplied since the first post-war edition of 1950, when there were only 13 teams competing in Uruguay. The format with 32 teams appears…