The FA say they did challenge John Terry in their interview with him but were unable to provide the full interview. ibid.
Five days after making their [FA] decision, the England manager Fabio Capello resigned from the job. ibid.
Diego Maradona rose from street urchin to become a footballing god. But he was never to see out his later years, dying at just 60. The cause of death was given as heart failure, but what really killed Diego Maradona? What Killed Maradona? DiscoveryPlus 2020
He also relied on a cocktail of pharmaceuticals to maintain his world-beating performance. ibid.
A story of trauma from the humblest of beginnings. ibid.
Maradona hard-wires himself to be in complete control of the ball. ibid.
Injuries and increasingly the use of painkillers are becoming ever more frequent. ibid.
In 1982 Maradona is bought by Barcelona for the record sum of $7.6 million. Joining such an important club as the star player is a huge honour. But the move would have a terrible effect on his body and his mind. ibid.
Maradona is starting to show signs of addiction to alcohol and cocaine. ibid.
It’s a dirty secret but it’s also a hidden secret deep inside you. Football’s Darkest Secret I: The End of Silence, Andy Woodward victim, BBC 2021
I just had to pretend it never happened and block it out. I knew it could never come out and I was absolutely petrified. ibid. Steve Walters, Guardian article
The sex abuse scandal in football continues to snowball as more former players come forward and more offenders are named. ibid. BBC news
The inquiry into child sex abuse in football has broadened in scope beyond what anyone could have imagined. Football’s Darkest Secret II: Missed Opportunities, BBC news
So why have the English FA never offered guidance to clubs on preventing child abuse or made any checks on those coaching? ibid.
A former football coach who molested young boys has been jailed for six years. George Ormond of Wickham View in Newcastle carried out the attacks over a period of twenty-five years. Football’s Darkest Secret III: The Reckoning, local news
Bob Higgins was found guilty at retrial of 45 counts of sexual abuse against 24 boys. He was sentenced to 24 years in jail. ibid. caption
Barry Bennell was found guilty of 50 counts of sexual abuse against 12 boys. He was sentenced to 30 years in jail. In October 2020 he was sentenced to an additional four years in jail for offences against two boys. ibid.
I was absolutely shattered. Thank God that’s over. Finding Jack Charlton, re end of 1966 World Cup game, BBC 2021
The thing that gave us to change the way people saw us was football. Four men brought our team back from the dead. They did it in the face of danger taking on the establishment proving that every now and again football can change the world. Different League: The Derry City Story, BBC 2021
‘The club became a casualty of the conflict when a group of masked youths took away and burnt the team bus … In 1972 Derry City went out of business.’ ibid. television news
The Gang of Four … made it their mission to get professional football back. ibid.
103,501. If Derry City wasn’t welcome in the Northern Irish league, then why couldn’t they apply to join the league in the Republic of Ireland? ibid.
What a player this boy is! He’s got another! George Best: All by Himself, Kenneth Wolstenholme commentary v Benfica, BBC 2017
He was out of reach in so many ways. ibid. colleague
Perfect footballer. ibid. Mike Summerbee
And it really was sheer enjoyment. ibid. Best
He should have a bit of sense now. ibid. mother
The goals that broke so many records in what was a truly amazing year for the little magician. Magic of Messi, Sky Sports 2012
22 goals in 13 games. ibid.
He ended the season with 14 goals in the Champions League – a record; 50 goals in the league – another record. ibid.
A story about the soul of the city. The warmth of the city. And its community. Its people. My tribe. Manchester is an intriguing city. The United Way, Cantona’s commentary, Sky Documentaries 2021
Busby’s babes: a band of brothers with the world at their feet. ibid.
Charlton, Best, Law, the Trinity. This was football that made cynics fall in love. ibid.
‘We were all in awe of Eric from the first moment he arrived at the club.’ ibid. Beckham
George was a footballer. He never wanted to be a role model. ibid.
I needed to be loved. To belong. To be part of a family. ibid.
I was accepted. I was born to play for Manchester United. ibid.
The most watched football league in the world was born in 1992 built on a multi-million pound gamble that would change our national game for ever. Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League, caption, BBC 2021
‘Football was going nowhere in the ’80s. Let’s be honest, you know. Such bad press. Stadiums were empty. And I think people were scared to go to football matches.’ ibid. Paul Merson
In the 1980s football was a source of shame. Ordinary fans were turning their back on the once beautiful game. The Sunday Times branded it, ‘A slum sport played in slum stadiums and increasingly watched by slum people’. ibid.
The multi-million pound injection from Sky would have an immediate impact. The money would be shared between 22 teams but not equally: the higher up the league table a side finished, the more money they would get. ibid.
‘Eric Cantona was a producer’s gift from God.’ ibid. promoter
As the curtain came down on the first season, United were to be awarded the premier league trophy after the final game against their ambitious rivals, Blackburn Rovers. ibid.
By the start of the third Premier League season a new financial reality was dawning on English football. Manchester United had broken the British transfer record to sign Roy Keane for nearly £4 million. Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League II
This David & Goliath story would begin in the first head to head of the season with Blackburn welcoming the reigning champions Manchester United to their new stadium. ibid.
I’ve got a choice in life, now: I either go back to the booze and the gambling and the drugs or I go the other way. ibid. Paul Merson, press conference
David Beckham was part of the first generation to come of age in the Premier League era. The youth team he joined at Manchester United would go on to dominate British football for a decade. Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League III
As this generation came through, they were entering a new world where footballers were transforming from sportsmen into celebrities. ibid.
He [Ferguson] surprised everyone with the huge gamble on his young players. ibid.
Gillespie was losing thousands at the bookies, but his team [Newcastle] were delivering win after win on the pitch. ibid.
The 1995/6 season is the closest Newcastle United have come to winning the premier league. During his career as a footballer, Keith lost millions of pounds to gambling. In 2010 he filed for bankruptcy. ibid.
Arsene Wenger brought something different. And I think that Sir Alex felt threatened a little bit. Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League IV, Peter Schmeichel
‘It’s like a religion; it’s something to believe in.’ ibid. fan
In 1996 Rupert Murdoch’s Sky agreed to double its offer to secure the TV rights for the premier league. ibid.
Wenger’s style of football was winning over the fans. ibid.
‘He’s [Wenger] come here from Japan and he’s telling English people how to organize our football. He should keep his mouth firmly shut.’ ibid. Ferguson
Since Alan Shearer left, it’s just pathetic from everybody. ibid. Blackburn fan
A new feud had now gripped the nation’s fans and media. One that would define a new era in the Premier League: Wenger v Ferguson. ibid.