English Premier League

As I write this column, the final round of the English Premier League is underway. By the time you read this, a champion will have been crowned, while three teams at the wrong end of the ladder will be staring at a season, or more likely several seasons, in a lesser league.

English soccer doesn’t really float my boat. Although it’s clearly one of the world’s two best leagues, it’s always seemed odd that we fiercely parochial Australians should develop an emotional attachment to football teams hailing from one or another dreary UK towns or suburb.

But you’ve got to love English soccer’s relegation system. After all, we live in a cut-throat society. If we don’t like a government, we dump it at the polls. If workers are incompetent, we sack them (assuming industrial relations laws permit it). There’s a good argument that hapless sporting teams deserve the same treatment.

Continue reading "Relegation would be a revelation for Aussie sport" »

It’s an intriguing subject. How your football team fares doesn’t change who you are or what you have. But it overrides whatever else is happening in your life.

That type of emotion has fallen on a whole city, Manchester, in anticipation of one massive game of football in the English Premier League.

Manchester City and Manchester United face off at 5am Sydney time tomorrow morning. To the winner, so much more than a regular feel-good moment. So much more than getting one over your nearest rivals. This time, every part of the world will be watching; 650 million people, give or take a few. Sky Sports in the UK are expecting their biggest audience for a premier league fixture.

Continue reading "Showdown of the century!" »

In Manchester the world turned on its axis as City staged a palace coup in the Theatre of Dreams, smashing rivals United 6-1 away from home to take a five point lead in the race for the English Premier League and stake their claim as the new kings of English football.

If you know anything about football, and even if you don’t know anything about football, you’ll know that Manchester United are the biggest soccer club on the planet. Yes, Spain’s Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have hundreds of thousands of members and passionate Latin American support, but since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, no team has won more devotees around the world than the Red Devils.

United’s reputation has been built on sustained footballing excellence, millions of pounds of match day revenue, and the simple human desire of fans around the world to back a winner. Or shameless glory-hunting as it is otherwise known.

Continue reading "Man, what a power shift as the world unites behind City" »