At the beginning of August, as some of you may have read on here, I spent 6 days living it up in Copenhagen. The primary reason for me being out in Scandinavia was to watch the second leg of Swansea’s Europa League qualifier against Malmö FF, but with my Scandinavian base set up in Copenhagen, of … Continue reading
Since the day I found Gavin Newsham’s book Once in a Lifetime sitting on my brother’s bookshelf of football non-fiction, I’ve fallen in love with the story of the New York Cosmos. For those unfamiliar with the story of the Cosmos, a bit of history first. This was the buccaneering North American Soccer League (NASL) club who … Continue reading
Foreign players making the move to Welsh football is not a common occurrence Of course, Swansea City have turned themselves into a global club over the past few seasons; a Spanish invasion, a cluster of Dutchmen and a host of other nationals, ranging from the Caribbean to Asian, have all helped propel the Swans up the … Continue reading
“Oh, lovely Spain! renown’d, romantic land!” Lord Byron, from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage Swanselona. Estadio Liberty. Viva La Swansea. Swansea have embraced the continent with particular emphasis on all things España; Byron’s ‘renown’d, romantic land’ is a rather fitting statement when placed in the modern footballing context with the Iberians being the ultimate embodiment of the beautiful game’. As Swansea’s … Continue reading
Who is David Ki? While riding the subway home from an FC Seoul match a few years ago, a brassy young Korean lad seized the chance to practise his decent level of English with the foreigner sitting next to him. With no warning or greeting, he asked me, “Do you know David Ki?” Coming from … Continue reading
“They will love him. He’s a character.” Swansea’s original Spaniard, Angel Rangel, on how Chico Flores will be a hit with Swansea fans. On Saturday 18 August 2012, Swansea City fans were introduced to a player who is destined to become a cult hero at the club. By the time the highly impressive Michu was … Continue reading
I’m not a ‘real’ football fan. That was the conclusion I came to after reading Brian Phillips’ excellent piece (The Real Problem) in issue five of The Blizzard. Reading Phillips’ comparison of the more traditional, ‘real’ fan and his modern, global counterpart, it became apparent that I had far more in common with the latter. … Continue reading
Listening to BBC’s World Football phone-in has become a Saturday morning ritual for me. I have yet never stayed up until the early hours of Saturday morning to listen to it, but my podcast usually downloads into my ITunes by my waking hours on a Saturday morning – if you have never listened to it, … Continue reading
“Who is the best player in history? Michael Laudrup.” (Andres Iniesta) Quite simply one of the greatest footballers to ever grace the game. Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Zidane, Messi – Laudrup sits comfortably in this elite group. No greater compliment can be played to the player than the fact that he is still lauded by BOTH Barcelona and Real Madrid … Continue reading
“Swansea is the graveyard of ambition.” Dylan Thomas The famous words penned by Dylan Thomas was supposed to reflect how Swansea seems to devour any hope the people of Swansea, or visitors, have of leaving Swansea. Some see the line as a being a positive description of how the city is so enrapturing that it … Continue reading
Lost Boyos 