Firstly, congratulations to Roberto Di Matteo and his West Brom side who clinched the second automatic promotion berth and will be once again in the top flight next season. The sound coming from West Brom fans is that they're desperate for their team to spend money and cement their place in the Premiership, as in […]

Trust the football supporters of Middlesbrough, from the north east of England, to come up with a comical banner poking fun at the Newcastle United supporters who were positioned to the right of the above banner. "Trophy Virgins," the banner reads with a picture of the Newcastle United team crest featured on the banner. The […]

If you hadn’t been paying attention to Middlesbrough last season or the first half of the current campaign in the Championship – and let’s face it – most people don’t pay much attention to Middlesbrough – you won’t have seen how good Adam Johnson is. A graduate of Middlesbrough’s fantastic youth academy, many Boro people […]

I remember when the January transfer window first came to football. Forgive me if I can't remember the exact year but I remember FIFA decided that it was a good idea to help all the small clubs hold onto their top players for larger parts of a season. Nobody could have predicted the level of […]

The third round of the FA Cup is like Christmas to me. There's always a surprise or two that you never expect. Plus, I usually get up early in anticipation of the matches that are before me. And this year, it was great to see the added touch of snow across England to make the games […]

Apologies for a lack of updates lately, with the amount of work I’ve been doing lately my life mirrors the 'congested holiday fixture list'! Unfortunately this weekend we have once again discovered that the UK is the only country more efficient in a world war than being in a snow 'storm'. Early season promotion favourites […]

After winning 2-0 on Tuesday night, Gareth Southgate was relieved of his duties as manager hours after the game. Despite being quite a popular player for the club, Southgate could never quite get the same level of support in his time as manager; despite a number of hardships being put on him such as the […]

Newcastle and Middlesbrough entered the Championship from the wrong direction yet still boasted two of the most talented squads in the history of the division. With Newcastle's off-field dramas threatening to do serious damage, many expected Middlesbrough, with their more settled structure, to prosper. Newcastle were always likely to lose the likes of Owen and […]

The English First Division came into being in 1888 and within 4 years, a young man named Steve Bloomer signed for Derby County from local league side Tutbury Hawthorn. Whilst he may have been highly thought of in the local area, such was the turnover of young men trying their hand at football; Bloomer could […]

Of the 24 teams that kicked off the Championship just under a year ago, eleven now have new managers. In the majority of cases, the manager was removed due to perceived failings. Being a Championship manager is like being a duck at a shooting gallery. It's a question of 'when', not 'if', no matter how […]

Newcastle fans must have watched Leeds United's loss to Millwall in the League One play-offs and shuddered. It was like watching The Ghost of Football's Future. Two clubs of similar size with similarly raucous fans, they are teams that by rights should never experience relegation from the top flight, let alone into League One. But […]

With West Bromwich Albion's fate sealed last week we can now prepare ourselves for a dramatic conclusion to the Premier League season on Sunday. The neutral (including yours truly) will relish it and will want to see as many twists and turns as possible. Anyone supporters involved will have struggled to sleep for a week. We all have our […]

So, how's your nerves? Sky Sports News have today been running an article about stress relief for fans for Sunday. Tips included having a hot bath, avoiding alcohol and meditating to stay relaxed in the build up to the final round of matches in the Premiership. Which will be no help to any of the […]

All they needed was a win to make sure they were free of being dragged in to the final day relegation battle against a side guaranteed Premiership Football for next season but Portsmouth proved a bridge too far for Sunderland. They will now go in to Sunday's final round of matches knowing whatever happens they […]

Gareth Southgate’s Middlesbrough look al but destined for the drop after a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon. Sanli Tuncay scored their only goal, which was a sublime overhead kick. But the impotence of the Boro’ attack was apparent as they failed to convert one of the many chances they fashioned. With only […]