Dr Clive Chijioke Nwonka and Matthew Harle’s much-anticipated new book, Black Arsenal: Club, Culture, Identity, can be essential. In what already feels like a vital, seminal text, Black Arsenal weaves together insight from professors, artists, fans, coaches, photographers, ex-players, and journalists alike, in charting Arsenal Football Club’s pioneering relationship with Black British culture in the […]

What do we want in the owner of our favorite soccer club? We want someone who cares and whose primary interest is the success of our club. We want them to spend whatever it takes to win, whatever that means. Fans prefer them to be local and to have gone on the same emotional roller […]

Brazil is to soccer what New Orleans is to jazz – the most beautiful form it can take. Brazil is always a contender to win the men's World Cup or any other competition it plays in. The national side sacks managers for only reaching the quarterfinals but no further. A last-eight finish is a waste […]

Don Revie was Jose Mourinho, Sam Allardyce, Kenny Dalglish and so much more wrapped into one. Yet, today, many younger soccer fans cannot name him or point to why he is relevant. Except, of course, that he was played masterfully and villainously by Colm Meaney in The Damned United. To many fans, especially those supporting […]

How do they do it? When confronted with a dramatic situation for our favorite club or a stressful moment in an engaging match, we usually regress to unintelligible sounds or a series of annoying semi-connected syllables. Broadcasters, conversely, not only need to keep their cool and convey the moment, but transmit the gravity of what is going […]

The World Cup is upon us, and whether this is your first or fortieth year of watching the world's greatest tournament, each one has its own unique story. Certainly this one in the winter and in Qatar is historic, but also complicated and controversial. To help the casual soccer fan navigate the Qatar World Cup, […]

When the US Men's National Team roster was announced for the 2022 World Cup, the club names of the players were dazzling: Arsenal, Barcelona, Juventus, among others. The "kids" playing in Qatar in the red, white, and blue are part of a new generation of soccer players. Top clubs covet these names with contributions pouring […]

A few weeks back, American superstar Christian Pulisic made waves in the media with quotes about his relationship with then-manager Thomas Tuchel. Excerpts from his book, Christian Pulisic: My Life So Far, describe his disappointment with alleged promises of playing time in the Champions League, plus highlighting areas of disagreement during his Chelsea tenure. The […]

The beautiful game has an ugly side. This is what soccer fans quickly learn as they grow as fans. They learn about match fixing, the violence, the seamy characters and the political manipulation. It is this last one getting full attention as the first November World Cup takes place in Qatar. Just four years prior, […]

If talent alone won a World Cup, the Netherlands would have at least one, maybe two stars on their crest. Brazil would go decades between losing World Cups. And the Germans, well, they would still be winning on penalties. Joking aside, winning a World Cup takes more than just the most talented 23 players. It […]

Berlin is an interesting place. I remember my first visit a few years back when I went for a work conference. My first reaction was how big of a city it was. In many ways, it felt like a city in Texas: sprawled out, impossible to see all of it, and full of different zones […]

The football fan autobiography is a classic genre on our sports’ bookshelf. Soccer, more than any other sport long invited fans and authors to write about their rooting experiences. These develop into valuable recruiting tools in places where European football fandom continues to grow. This author is a fan of Arsenal because of Fever Pitch, […]

Tracking the American soccer scene is a full-time job. Fans require time, energy and resources to go beyond MLS and learn how we got to the present as a soccer nation. Those who search find the repetition of tearing down American soccer only to be "rebuilt" again. Consequently, there are years of history and stories […]

Review: World Soccer Talk's Robert Hay Jr. details the autobiography of Paul Mariner, My Rock and Roll Football Story. Universal shock and dismay in the soccer world came in response to the passing of Paul Mariner this summer. Mariner was the epitome of a 'jack-of-all-trades'. Mariner won near universal praise for his larger-than-life personality and kindness […]

The Global Game – Writers on Soccer. Edited by John Turnbull, Thom Satterlee & Alon Raab. Bison Books. 296 pp. $19.95. Living in the States, you are about as likely to find a good book about soccer/football right off the shelf at your local bookstore as you are to get Anne Hathaway's phone number after […]