Outside the Box – Football on TV: Golden Oldies at Sky prove to be Masters

The legendary American comedian Bob Hope once quipped, “Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle”. This observation proved to be spectacularly apt as I tuned in to Sky Sports’ Grand Final Masters this weekend. If you’re unfamiliar with the annual Masters summer contest it runs...

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Whatever Happened to...Tomas Repka

Hard case defenders are a rare breed these days, with greater protection for ball players but West Ham United acquired an unreconstructed type when Tomas Repka arrived from Fiorentina in 2001. The Czech international has now racked up seventeen red cards during his career and he got two of them ver...

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Whatever Happened To.....Manchester United Youth Cup Winners 1992

As the 2010/11 season is about to begin, this may be the last campaign for Old Trafford superstars, Ryan Giggs andGary Neville . If so, their retirements would finally break the link to the famous FA Youth Cup winning side of 1992. On average, barely half of FA Youth Cup winning sides have decent c...

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Whatever Happened To?- Michael Bridges

In the 1999-2000 season Michael Bridges banged in 19 Premiership goals for a Leeds United side on the way to the Champions League. England caps would surely follow for a 22 year old getting better all the time. The player had moved to Leeds- then a growing Premiership force- for £5 million from Sun...

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Whatever Happened To? - Antonio Nunez

Rafa Benitez has made some brilliant signings from Spain- Fernando Torres, Xavi Alonso and Luis Garcia to name three, But it wasnt all success and in the early days his Spanish Armada shipped a bit of water. Some players like centre back Mauricio Pellegrino had gone past their best, others like ful...

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Whatever Happened To?- Newcastle's FA Cup Finalists 1998 & 1999

The late 1990s were heady times for Newcastle United fans but also ones of bitter disappointment. The much-awaited trophy never came despite the Premiership near-miss and successive appearances at Wembley. In their back -to-back Finals Newcastle actually used 23 players. Only five endured the agony...

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Whatever Happened To?- Igor Biscan

Igor Biscan was one of the players who struggled to make an impact under Gerard Houllier but then briefly found a role under Rafa Benitez. The Croatian took away a Champions League winners medal from his time at Anfield. Signed in 2000 for £5.5 million, Biscan always looked incongruous in the Premi...

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Whatever Happened To? - Jordi Cruyff

Pele sons decided to be a goalkeeper and Sir Stanley Matthewseldest took up tennis. Maybe they had the right idea. Stefan Beckenbauer did play for Bayern Munich briefly but moved on to other clubs. Jordi Cruyff really had it tough. His father was a legend with two clubs- Ajax and Barcelona- and Jor...

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Whatever Happened To?- Benito Carbone

Nowthat 60% of the players in the Premiership are from overseas its strange tothink back tothe 1990s when foreign stars were still exotic imports. A pair of Italians at Sheffield Wednesday brought a special brand of excitement to the game. Paulo Di Canio and Benito Carbone conformed to the stereoty...

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Whatever Happened To? - Enzo Maresca

A couple of weeks ago Colin Illingworth put a piece on Square Football looking back over West Bromwich Albions best players of recent years- and he invited Baggies fans to send in their opinions. Among the usual names one unexpectedone came up regularly- unexpected in that his impact inEnglish foot...

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Whatever Happened To: Middlesbrough 2004 FA Youth Cup Winners

The press speculation last week that Adam Johnson was on Real Madrid's radar pointed again to the phenomenal success of Middlesbrough's youth development programme. Boro won the FA youth Cup in 2004 and were runners up in 2003. A very high proportion of their players have made it to the their first ...

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Whatever Happened To: Manchester United FA Youth Cup Winners 2003

In the 1990s the Manchester United youth side delivered an unprecedented stream of talent to the first team but that flowering of talent is the exception rather than the rule. The 2003 United side are a case in point. Over 5 years on from lifting the FA Youth Cup against Middlesbrough, none of that...

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Whatever Happened To: Manchester United FA Cup Winners 2004

While pundits brood on Arsenal's troubles, Sir Alex Ferguson might empathise with his old sparring partner Arsene Wenger. The summer of 2004 was a time when Manchester United were being written off. Yes, United won the Cup Final at a stroll over a limited Millwall but Arsenal had cantered to the ti...

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Whatever Happened To: Middlesbrough 2004 League Cup Winners & 2006 UEFA Cup Finalists

Without beating Bolton in the 2004 League Cup Final, Steve McClaren would probably have never got near the England job, so this wasn't just a momentous win for Boro fans. 4 and half years on, not a single member of the starting eleven is still playing at the Riverside. There are faces around the pl...

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4598: Whatever Happened To Kim Grant

by : Paul Grech Traditionally, British players haven’t travelled well. Starting from David Beckham’s failure to learn Spanish despite his 4 year stay in Madrid – he still needs translators at press conferences – going back to Ian Rush who famously quipped that his stay at Juventus was ‘like living...

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4567: Whatever Happened to Berti Vog

by : Paul Grech Other new players, did decidedly better. Daniel Agger’s had spent the latter half of the previous campaign getting to terms with English football so when the new season started he quickly bedded in, taking Sami Hyppia’s place in the side with ease. Javier Mascherano, a mid-season ...

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4324: Whatever Happened To Steve Ant

by : Paul Grech Sex scandals involving footballers are nothing new and certainly not at all uncommon in the modern era where the news hungry media have become more ruthless than ever before. But the one involving former footballer Steve Anthrobus (naturally labelled as former star by anyone who pi...

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3419: Whatever Happened To: Cherno S

by : Paul Grech If the win over Paraguay seems like the only good news of the day, consider the fact that Group B rivals Sweden could only muster a goalless draw with supposed whipping boys Trinidad and Tobago in Dortmund. West Ham United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop is drafted in as a late replacement...

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3051: Whatever Happened to: Peter Re

by : Sam Cullen With the play-offs looming and their place already booked, Leeds fans have something to look forward to and cheer about again, as the club looks to secure a return to the Premiership. Few would like to remember the dark days of their relegation, season 2003/04, but it is true the ...

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3046: Whatever happened to: Alain Pe

by : Sam Cullen Portsmouth edged one step closer to safety at the weekend with their last minute 2-1 win over relegated Sunderland. It must seem a very long time ago to Pompey fans that they were managed by Frenchman Alain Perrin, but upon replacing him, Harry Redknapp criticised his predecessors s...

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