€100m Gareth Bale proving the Real Deal

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Freddie Mickshik believes Gareth Bale’s sparkling performances could pave the way for a new wave of British players abroad…

Of the numerous British exports to Europe, few have delivered. This is undoubtedly due in part to a long era of Premier League dominance on the field coupled with financial clout off it, leaving little incentive for home-grown talent to fly the nest, and partly perhaps because the typical British-born player does not share the cosmopolitan outlook of his European or Latin-American counterpart.

Much has changed since the days of Kevin Keegan’s back-to-back Ballon d’Ors at Hamburg, let alone John Charles’ prolific spell at Juventus, which belongs to another age altogether. A low ebb of British football reached its nadir in the mid-1980s, with Keegan forging a trail for Brits in Europe followed most prominently and with greatly varying degrees of success by Gary Lineker, Mark Hughes, Ian Rush, Graeme Souness and Paul Gascoigne. Continue reading

Brand Bale Cranks it up to 11

Tottenham Hotspur's Bale celebrates after scoring during their English Premier League soccer match against Manchester City in Manchester

As Gareth Bale develops his iconic celebration into a brand, David Wild discusses the evolution of footballers and image rights…

The image has become synonymous with perhaps the Premier League’s current best player. Now Gareth Bale has bound his infamous heart celebration even closer to him and ‘Brand Bale’ by trade marking his own ‘Eleven of Hearts’ logo and factoring it into his image rights. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now and say that he didn’t notice that the negative space in the picture makes it look like Bale’s hands are gently clasping two small testicles (Thanks to my friend Pat McKenna for pointing this out.)

The Tottenham midfielder is applying for use of the logo on clothing, jewellery, headgear, and of course, being a footballer, footwear. According to the IPO website, he has also applied to use the logo on “animal skins, hides; trunks and travelling bags; umbrellas, parasols and walking sticks; whips, harness and saddlery.” Quite the range. Continue reading

Has Welsh Football ever had it so good?

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In the wake of Swansea’s glorious League Cup triumph, The False Nine editor James Dutton explores the state of the Welsh game…

As the dust settles on Swansea’s emphatic Capital One Cup victory over the unlikely opposition of Bradford City, Blue Square Conference leaders Wrexham are due to travel to Wembley next month for the FA Trophy Final. Cardiff City sit eight points clear at the summit of the Championship with a game in hand, whilst Newport County sit just two points behind their North Walian countrymen, also with a game in hand.

Swansea’s meteoric rise from the basement of the Football League pyramid in 2004 to the heady heights of the Premier League, and now League Cup winners just nine years later, is an astounding tale. Next year the Swans will be playing European football; a chance for Welsh football to showcase its burgeoning ascension on the continent.  Continue reading

Diving Debate No Black and White Issue

False Nine writer, Matt Malone, tackles the issue of diving, which took up many column inches and press conferences this weekend, and asks for more understanding of a trait of modern football that’s increasingly difficult to officiate…

Whilst the issue of diving has always been a serious bug bear of managers across the country, in recent weeks it seems to have gone into overdrive and now, particularly after the incidents of the most recent round of Premier League fixtures, finds itself almost perennially on the back pages of most newspapers. Now so notably in the front of the minds of most people connected with football, it must be addressed and the FA must clarify its guidelines regarding what is described in Law 12 of the Laws of Association Football as an ‘attempt to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)’. Continue reading