Matt O'Connor-Simpson

2 months ago | goal.com | Matt O'Connor-Simpson

Pills, thrills and last-minute goals. Adventures in Clubland is a long-running MUNDIAL series where football fans tell us all about players who were at their clubs for a good time, not a long time. This week, our very own Matt O’Connor-Simpson reflects on what it was like watching Niko Kranjčar make all of his Pompey friends very, very happy…There’s only 3:20 on the clock. A thing like that should not be allowed to happen so early in a Premier League football match—in any match. It’s not normal.

2 months ago | goal.com | Matt O'Connor-Simpson

Going to the football isn't just about the football, is it? It's about everything else. Our new series, MUNDIAL Reviews, is about everything that surrounds a matchday. What’s it like getting there? Did you enjoy that liberating first pint near the train station? What made you smile, even when the opposition’s fourth goal went in? Yes, we have trimmed all the fat and condensed an afternoon at the match down to its most vital parts.

Mar 27, 2025 | goal.com | Matt O'Connor-Simpson

For Issue 33 of MUNDIAL, we went to Hamburg to see if the world’s most infamous anti-establishment club, St. Pauli, has still got it. As part of our investigation, we were lucky enough to spend the afternoon with Jackson Irvine and his wife, Jemilla. We met outside the Millerntor, St. Pauli's beautifully ugly home and weaved in and out of the graffiti in the ultracool district that gave the club its name, eventually happening upon one of Jackson’s favourite coffee shops.

Feb 15, 2025 | goal.com | Matt O'Connor-Simpson

The League of Ireland just might be the best league in the world, you know. Friday night football under the lights, stadiums small enough that you can still see, hear and smell every crunching challenge on the pitch and every flare in the terraces, and teams that play each other so frequently, every meeting is drenched in narrative and reopens historic wounds. The thing is, for a long time, a lot of people hadn’t realised this.

Jan 19, 2025 | goal.com | Matt O'Connor-Simpson

This interview first appeared in Issue 32 of MUNDIAL's print magazine, alongside a 20-page love letter to Boca Juniors, an exclusive interview with Big Mick McCarthy in Milan and the first ever investigation into the weird and wonderful world of football memes. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE TODAY“I must say something. I love football.” That’s Carlo Rivetti. A man who’s rather difficult to pin down.