There are very few figures in world football who have enjoyed managerial careers just as successful as their playing days.

As half-time fare it seemed a little unusual.

The Playhouse Theatre stands pertly next to the bulgingly prominent Omni Vue cinema complex within the cultural and commercial hubbub of Edinburgh’s New Town.

Constantine, the eastern capital of Algeria, is situated atop two steep plateaus some eighty kilometres inland of the Mediterranean coast. 

It’s ten minutes to five on a lush summer afternoon in Yerevan, Armenia, and Champions League history is about to be made. 

A day before Valentine’s Day in 1908 Patrick William Groves a former labourer with Edinburgh Corporation, passed away.

The duplicitous exposure of experience between Brazilian and European minds demands regulation. 

When you think of Dennis Bergkamp numerous superlatives instantly spring to mind; perfectionist, genius, artist, visionary.

Football and British politics may seem uneasy bedfellows with very little common ground. 

The war to end all wars, had itself finally ended in 1945; most of the World was in tatters either literally or monetarily, and in many places both.

Iraq is a nation not only known for its rich and venerated history as the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia and the birthplace of revered artistic talent like Kadhim Al Saher, but also for its cherished football culture and folklore.

Each World Cup leaves you with unique abiding memories, those stand out tournament moments that will live with you forever.

An African nation would win the World Cup by the end of the 20th century. 

Over the last five years we’ve regularly received messages along the lines of; “I’d love to write something for you, but I’ve no idea what to write about!”

Given the overwhelming presence of foreign footballers in English football, it might come as a bit of a surprise to learn that it took 110 years for a non-British or Irish player to net a century of top-flight league goals.

Thirty seasons ago, Hellas Verona won their first and to date only scudetto and most of Italy celebrated. 

With one of the longer names in British football, The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club or The New Saints to you and I, are football club based in the picturesque Welsh Marches that stretch the border of England and Wales.

Up on the roof on the eighth floor, the acrid smell of tear gas was beginning to waft up – not enough to incapacitate a person’s respiratory functions as is commonplace, but just enough to add some spice to the proceedings. 

A beautiful game manifested by the array of sportsmanship, leadership, brotherhood, honour and code, football as it stands, is a game which unites and seldom divides.

Life is a drama, a comedy and a tragedy. To make the best of it, you need a damn good cast of characters.

When a man of almost 56 years old opens a Twitter account for the first time, it’s fair to say one would not expect him to attract over 214,000 followers in as little as two hours, but that’s exactly what happened in September of 2014 to a Saudi man named Majed Abdullah.

Anyone who watched Jonathan Reis star for PSV Eindhoven in the late part of 2010 would have seen a player with limitless potential soon to be plying his trade at the very top of the European game. 

Ever since the ‘beautiful game’ spread across the globe - imbued with the late 19th century values of muscular Christianity and Empire - many aspects of football have been inexorably linked to politics.

If you've always wanted to write, or have previously written on music, film, art, history, culture or sports, from any region and any era, we'd be very interested to hear from you - especially so if music is your thing.