The deal was as good as done. The year was 1978, and a 17-year-old Argentine phenom named Diego Maradona was set to become a Sheffield United player.
Harry Haslam, manager of the Second Division side, was on a scouting mission in Argentina and looking at a pair of players but couldn't come up with the requisite funds.
After 419 appearances and 140 goals for Watford, Troy Deeney is announcing his departure from the club. His playing career is not over though, as he joined Birmingham on a free transfer — a fitting move since Deeney has a Blues badge tattooed on his calf, a tribute to his favorite club in the city in which he grew up.
Fans of the Football League Championship will likely know that Cardiff City has been the division's most lethal set piece side over the past few seasons.
The Welsh club's 51 set piece goals since the start of the 2019/20 campaign have been by far the best in the league, which shouldn't be a surprise given that striker Kieffer Moore — who stands every bit of 6-5 — topped the team with 20 goals last year and led the league with 10.5 aerials won per match (winning 119 more aerial duels than the second place finisher).
With one swift kick and a mighty finish, Norwich City has us ready for the Premier League to kick off already. Even though fans have had plenty of international soccer to enjoy recently, the August 13 start date of the EPL could not come any sooner.
This incredible Todd Cantwell assist was set up after the midfielder received a pass shortly after making his way into the 18 (eyy). With a defender pressing him from behind, in two quick taps and a moment of sheer brilliance, he launched the ball over his body with a bicycle kick and across the goal for a near-perfect one-timer.
Few teams have experienced a more painful first half of 2021 than Derby County, and the year just got worse for Rams fans following a training ground incident on Monday involving manager Wayne Rooney.
Due to a shortage of first-team players, Rooney — who last played for Derby in November of 2020 — has been taking part in team training sessions.
The USMNT’s hero of the Concacaf Nations League final against Mexico has a new club to call home. Ethan Horvath was officially announced as Nottingham Forest’s newest player on Tuesday. The Horvath transfer came after weeks of speculation of the Colorado-native going to Huddersfield.
Welcome to The Reds, Ethan Horvath
After six years away, Blackpool FC is back in the Championship.
Following a 6-3 aggregate victory over Oxford United in the semifinals, Neil Critchley's side overcame a horrific start to the final to earn salvation at Wembley. Blackpool conceded the earliest goal ever scored in a League One Playoff Final through an own goal by Ollie Turton just 50 seconds into the game.
Turton's blushes would be spared by the most unlikely of heroes as teammate Kenny Dougall, who had scored two goals in his last 82 games, bagged a brace to secure playoff glory for Blackpool.
Pull out the Titanic old lady memes because after 74 long years Brentford is finally returning to England’s top flight. The Bees scored two goals within 20 minutes and held Swansea City at bay for a 2-0 victory in the EFL Championship promotion final in front of 11,689 fans on Saturday at Wembley Stadium.
The 2020-21 season was a banner year for Americans abroad. USMNT players have been winning trophies all over Europe, including regulars at Barcelona, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund; in a week, we’ll see an American win the Champions League for either Chelsea or Manchester City. But Saturday was not a great day for keeping U.S. internationals in Europe’s top flights, with a number of Americans relegated to lower tiers or unable to gain promotion.
In the lower reaches of the English Football League, teams are largely comprised of journeymen. Squad turnover at this level is high, and with shorter contracts and higher financial volatility, players often play on different teams from season to season.
But few footballing nomads have ever reached the migratory magnitude that goalkeeper Josef Bursik has achieved this season. Thanks to numerous injury dilemmas at the Championship and League One level, the 20-year-old Stoke City goalkeeper has played for four different clubs in the 2020-21 campaign alone.