LEOPOLDO LUQUE: born on this day in 1949 The striker —who played for Rosario Central, River Plate, Racing Club & Santos FC, amongst others— scored Argentina's first goal of the 1978 World Cup, adding three more as la selección won their first World Cup on home soil

London 14/5/26 World Cup preview evening @ The Volley, Old St. I'll be speaking about my book 'Blood On The Crossbar: The Dictatorship's World Cup', which focuses on the 1978 World Cup. Come along!

#OnThisDay 24 March 1976 🇦🇷 A coup in Argentina saw a military junta take control for seven years, during which an estimated 30,000 people 'disappeared' during the 'Dirty War'. @rhyswrichards.bsky.social wrote a brilliant book about how the junta impacted the 1978 World Cup #NuncaMas

Twenty Twenty Six.

I watched the final episode of this last night - Jerry Jones & Jimmy Johnson's reconciliation. I didn't expect to be in tears watching a documentary about a team I don't even like. Superb storytelling. Goosebumps all over with Jimmy's 'How bout them Cowboys?!' cry!

If Rachel Traitors survives the game of chance, she's blotted her copy book a bit. It's not a convincing win. Like when a team wins a tournament but has a few penalty shootout wins along the way.

Great to see Gabriel Jesus put his injuries behind him and score again. Jesus comebacks don't get much bigger than this!

Christmas sport hierarchy: 1: World's Strongest Man ...everything else a distant 2nd.

NEW POST 🗞️ I know a lot of my followers are interested in South American football, so here’s a list of the Best Books on South American Football 🌎 Features @jonawils.bsky.social @hylland.bsky.social @rhyswrichards.bsky.social and more... Any you’d add? open.substack.com/pub/outsidew...

Mi libro ‘Los Leones: La Historia Única Del Athletic Club’ ha sido traducido al castellano y verá la luz con El Gallo de Oro el 10 de noviembre. Mila esker/ Eskerrik Asko a todos los que me habéis acompañado en este camino - ya sabéis quiénes sois 🙌🏻 🔴⚪️ #AthleticClub 🎥 Maitane Recio

♾ DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA: the playlist Diego Maradona should be celebrating his 65th birthday on Thursday 30th October, to celebrate I present a thread of songs written in homage to El D10S. (Spotify link at end of thread) Nowhere does music and football better than Argentina! 🎸⚽️🧵

Just shows, you're only one asteroid away from disaster.

📺No domestic football on TV for 6 months 👊fans rioting 🆔ID cards ⚡️electric fences 😨people crossing the road to avoid you That was football fandom in 1985/86. Thank God for Saint & Greavsie. Read all about it in THE SLUM SPORT - the story of 85/86 Links below⬇️⬇️

Really enjoyed chatting to Chris Lee on the excellent @outsidewrite.bsky.social podcast about the Basque refugee children in Caerleon and those who went on to play for the likes of #AthleticClub and #RealMadrid. Have a listen in the usual places 🎧👍🏻 #RefugeesWelcome #StopWar #Euskadi #Gales #Cymru

Xi Jinping is preparing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump – and there will only be one winner | Simon Tisdall

🚨 NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 Following Inshallah United, I am chuffed to bits to announce my second book - Assalam Alaikum, Our Kid! A story of being Muslim, Manc and mad for it in the new millennium Pre-oder with 25% off at @Waterstones using the code OCTOBER25: www.waterstones.com/book/assalam...

Cymru 2 - 4 Belgium. We've got some good players, but we definitely create more problems for ourselves than for our opposition. It's an anxious experience watching this team, at the moment.

I'm happy to announce that Blood On The Crossbar is being re-released on paperback in time for the 2026 World Cup 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇲🇽 Pre-order from @waterstones.bsky.social ⚽ Use the code enter “OCTOBER25” at the checkout to redeem the 25% discount from Tue 14 to Fri 17 Oct 2026. Link below 👇

Any given Sunday. Especially last Sunday! #SKOL #NFLTottenham #Vikings

Chelsea are quite likeable under Maresca. Beating Liverpool won't hurt that.

As the comms said - Vikings were resuscitated several times in that game. Still a kick in the teeth to see them flatline after a half a dozen sacks and interceptions, though. #NFLDublin

Rams snatching defeat from the jaws of victory Vs Eagles. Never seen back-to-back blocked kicks before!

The existence of a Buendia and a Buonanotte in the Premier League suggests that there's also a 'Buenostardes' playing somewhere, waiting to be signed by Brighton.

A bunch of my friends who went to Kazakhstan to see Cymru (a) last week, wouldn't go to Swansea last night because it was too far. My decision to not attend was far more legitimate, of course. It was raining.

Levante 2-0 up v Barcelona. Never a penalty, but worth it for the chaotic vibes.

Looking forward to listening to @davidgoldblatt.bsky.social & @philippeauclair.bsky.social tomorrow night at the launch of David's latest book organised by @stanchionbooks.bsky.social at The Volley

Reassuring to see Everton are still absolutely honking. Unflappable consistency, year on year.

La Liga on Disney +. Vamos!

I think the most absurd thing about the Palace demotion is that being so pedantic and hardline on this case doesn't actually touch the multiple problems that multi-club ownership actually throws up. As someone in Uefa put to me, it's being strong on the negligible aspects.

Me, after a week in France: it's so refreshing to see them prioritise family and community over the rampant capitalism we have in the UK. Me, after three weeks in France: Fuck me, is anywhere ever open?!

Bayonne street art #BasqueCountry

The shagadelic Bluebirds are top of league one!

Newport's Athletic Club inspired shirt to commemorate the Basque child refugees is cool. Wrexham's Wladfa inspired shirt is lame. Those are the rules.

England women win the euros. Big day for centrist park run dads.

Pool side reading. I heard recently that men my age don't read very much fiction (true in my case). I've even tried to go off-genre. Although, admittedly, this is dystopia-adjacent.

A sad day for metal but a good day for bats.

What a wanker www.bbc.com/sport/americ...

Mr President, a second cooling break has hit the Club World Cup final.

20 minutes to hang on and win a game of rugby for the first time in years. Come on Cymru. Get it done.

Impressed by Olivia Rodrigo's Glastonbury set. Big riffs, great presence and a Robert Smith guest slot. The kids are alright, I guess.

This guy from The 1975 is such an insufferable gimp.

This Club World Cup feels like it's been on forever, already.

This is the country whose money enabled Fifa to stage the Club World Cup. Nothing else should matter. cpj.org/2025/06/saud...

Sam Fender, St James' Park Weekender.

Guantanamo Bay (a)

Bruxelles or bust #WalesAway

Why state ownership is different. @jonawils.bsky.social Libero 023 out now.

NEW EPISODE @miguellpereira.bsky.social joined us to talk about his latest book: Pasión. We crammed a lot into the episode, including chat about fan-owned clubs in Spain, our favourite Spanish stadiums and the rise of Spanish defensive midfielders. open.spotify.com/episode/0DHYSe…

What is happening with Unbound Publishing does not really surprise me. In my experience, right-on independent publishers and record labels are even worse at paying their writers and artists than the Sonys and the Hachettes of this world. There are exceptions, yes, but they're that: exceptions.