Back Page Football

1 month ago | backpagefootball.com | Jack Murray

Coming from Rayo Vallecano and in the midst of unrest on the south coast, former right-back Andoni Iraola has not only steered them well clear of the relegation zone, he has made Bournemouth one of the most feared attacking sides in the Premier League. Eddie Howe has been hailed as a hero at the Vitality Stadium, and rightly so, after guiding the Cherries to the top flight.

2 months ago | backpagefootball.com | Jack Murray

Football has become somewhat robotic these days. A lot of people blame Pep Guardiola and they’re probably right to do so. Too many managers and teams are so obsessed with keeping the ball and having the perfect shape that players, especially wingers, have lost some of their spark. We saw how electric Jack Grealish was at Villa, dancing around players and paving the way to make sure that they stayed in the top flight.

2 months ago | backpagefootball.com | Jack Murray

Irish football has had a tough time over the last five years. The expansive and sexy football we were promised to see under Stephen Kenny must’ve been hidden away somewhere, because we never got to see it. Instead, we got lackluster performances and some dreadful results that captured Kenny’s job after three years. Some bright sparks included the emergence of some of the young players that we had been told about in the past.

Jan 27, 2025 | backpagefootball.com | Jeff Weston

Enough of the experimentation now. Enough of the tinkering with the engine and the snipping of branches. Five games in (W 2, D 1, L 2) – plus a free Boxing Day ‘welcome party’ – Pete Wild, that son of Royton, that surpasser of Paul Scholes, that face and tongue of everyone, has shown Highbury his head coach credentials. He has roughed up and supplanted our normal back five. He has sold Carl Johnston for a decent sum and brought back club legend and master of controversy, Shaun Rooney.

Jan 5, 2025 | backpagefootball.com | Corey Almond

Despite a 2-1 defeat at Ternana with a game to go in the 2016/17 season, the Serie B title was SPAL’s if Benevento could beat promotion rivals Frosinone. Fabio Ceravolo struck late for Benevento, and back-to-back promotions sent SPAL back to Serie A following 49 years away. Their second season back in Serie A was the pinnacle of a rise from re-formation in 2013 to top-flight promotion in 2017.