Features
On this day in transfer gossip history . . . December 5th 2002
The biggest sides were having a quiet time of things back in 2002, with newspapers just warming up for the first January transfer window without realising that people were interested in reading transfer rumours for January from about mid-September. On this day in BBC’s transfer gossip column in 2002, struggling clubs needing emergency repairs were [...]
On this day in transfer gossip history…November 21st 2004
On this day in BBC’s transfer gossip column, Ryan Giggs’s Manchester United career was coming to an end, Robinho was on Chelsea’s radar (though there was no sign of Chelsea shirts with Robinho printed on the back just yet), foreign investors some way west of Thailand and the Abu Dhabi were eyeing up Manchester City, [...]
On this day in transfer gossip history . . . October 24th 2008
A quiet day for the papers this time last year led to many rumour-mongerers reverting to type: Manchester United and Real Madrid chase Brazilian wonder-kid; Arsenal chase a number of young Europeans; and struggling Blackburn chase anyone who might be better than their struggling first team. The one rumour from BBC’s transfer gossip column last [...]
Sports thoughts from the weekend - Remarkable turnarounds and the man who can do everything
The curious case of Jenson Button
After flirting with the prospect of throwing it all away in the style of Newcastle under Keegan in ‘96, Button finally sealed the World Championship with a race to spare with a fantastic drive to finish 5th after starting at 14th on the grid. Some detractors have suggested Button doesn’t deserve [...]
On this day in transfer gossip history … October 17th 2004
On this day in 2004, the papers were inventing commitment issues for key players at Europe’s biggest clubs, the one guy they said definitely wasn’t leaving is the only one who did, and every rumour looked plausible compared to the barmy double act the News of the World dreamt up for Rotherham to cap a [...]
YouTube - A magnificent seven . . . Goalkeeper blunders
As we have already noted, certain sections of the media have had painful memories stirred of that fun night at Wembley two years ago when Croatia ended England’s hopes of unconcvincingly reaching the quarter finals of Euro 2008 and losing on penalties. Inextricably linked with those fateful defeats against Croatia are memories of some former [...]
On this day in transfer gossip history … September 6th 2008
On this day in BBC’s transfer gossip column last year, the transfer window had slammed shut, but as one window shuts, another opens and in that window is plenty more gossip and rumour to keep football fans interested until January. Last year, two clubs methods in the transfer window made their managers mad, causing both [...]
On this day in transfer gossip history…August 29th 2002
The oldest entry to this column yet, 2002 offered an early incarnation of the BBC’s transfer gossip column, pulling together a small number of rumours under a very stylish graphic of a football and some symbolic arrows pointing both ways, just in case nobody reading it knew what a ‘transfer’ was in the context of football.
Manchester [...]
On this day in transfer gossip history… August 22nd 2004
On this day in 2004, BBC’s transfer gossip column caught the News of the World on a hot streak, announcing that Sol Campbell would stay with Arsenal for life and putting Rooney in the frame for a switch to Real Madrid whilst confidently ruling Manchester United out, and spelling the end for Peter Taylor at [...]
YouTube - A Magnificent Seven… Players who could win the Ashes
And so we move onto the Big One. The Oval, with the series all square with one to play. The Aussies, by virtue of winning the last series 5-0 (despite everyone pretending in the build up to this series that that series never happened) have the upper hand, with a draw good enough to retain [...]