John Terry’s captaincy is irrelevant – England will be hopeless whatever | Marina Hyde
The football captaincy is a role less significant than regimental goat. By obsessing over it we keep setting ourselves up for a fallFor possibly only the second time in its history, the England football captaincy has become fleetingly relevant. You'll ...
Handshake is not the answer to Anton Ferdinand-John Terry stand-off
As Queens Park Rangers meet Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday, Ferdinand alone must decide how he handles his first encounter with Terry since the racism allegationsAnd so once more to top flight football, crucible of race relations debate in early 201...
Smash it! The reinvention of Andy Gray and Richard Keys
The two disgraced former Sky football presenters are offering their 'banter' on the after-dinner speaking circuit. Apparently they will answer any question …Look up "contrition" in the Premier League Dictionary and this is the picture you'll find nex...
This Sepp Blatter racism row shows England’s morals are better than its football | Marina Hyde
Despite England's outdated play, our attitudes on racism are progressive in comparison with fans of our footballing superiors"I cannot resign," explained Fifa president Sepp Blatter. "When you are faced with a problem you have to face the problem. To l...
Why John Terry has done his ‘fronting up’ for the last time | Marina Hyde
It feels as if football is waging a war on our language, but at least the death knell for the phrase 'fronting up' has been soundedFootball makes logocidal maniacs of many of us. Blame it on media training, blame it on journalistic laziness, but player...
Readers are so right: football fans need a bill of rights | Marina Hyde
The right to boo, the right to bare arms and the right to know who owns your club are among the hundreds of readers' suggestions for a supporters' bill of rightsWhen James Madison sat down to draft the United States Bill of Rights, he was working with ...
It is time to introduce a football supporters’ bill of rights | Marina Hyde
Perhaps a deathless document is needed to proscribe the limits of fans' rights in a civilised footballing societyInstinct suggests Saturday's 2-2 draw with Swansea will not permanently silence the booing Wolves fans – or rather the Molineux boo-boys,...
Snap judgments in the Patrice Evra-Luis Suárez dispute help no one | Marina Hyde
All accusations of racism should be taken seriously, but all players are innocent until proven guilty – contrary to what you may have readIs there anything less appealing than the absolute moral certainty with which some Liverpool fans automatically ...
Having a Football Man at the FA has been one big failure | Marina Hyde
Football Man's experiment ended in ignominy in Bloemfontein, in Gelsenkirchen, Shizuoka, Lisbon and CharleroiYes, but is he a football man?" For ever and a day, this has been the only question the FA appeared to consider when appointing directors to i...
Fernando Torres falls foul of football’s candour police | Marina Hyde
Supporters are not deemed too delicate and foolish to be exposed to what the people they pay to see are thinking - they are deemed too worthlessAnother week, another high-level probe for football's internal affairs investigators, who had to get to the ...
Cowell can find man to captain England – if Anfield cat lacks X Factor | Marina Hyde