Heart of Football

Category: Featured

  • Debate – Cups

    Debate – Cups

    1. What is your fondest personal memory of the FA Cup? Does the competition still hold the importance nowadays that it once enjoyed? Simon Toye: I have two FA Cup experiences; weirdly they both involve Man City. The first as a boy going to Man City vs Halifax at Maine Road in 1998 (I was…

  • Matchdays: Ulsan

    Matchdays: Ulsan

    It was a normal Saturday in the bustiling South Korean city of Ulsan. The sun was shining and the beers were flowing, after a lull in the conversation, one of the gang suggested we go to the game. “Tickets are only 5000 won for foreigners” he said. After some deliberation it was agreed. We hopped…

  • Interview – Blaine McKenna: A coaching odyssey

    Interview – Blaine McKenna: A coaching odyssey

    Blaine McKenna is not your average coach. In the modern game one must strive harder than ever to stand out, and the Northern Irishman has succeeded with a bold and forward-thinking approach. In a career that has already spanned 11 countries on five continents, McKenna has already accumulated considerable experience. He sat down with Heart…

  • Matchdays: Turin & Castelnuovo di Garfagnana

    Matchdays: Turin & Castelnuovo di Garfagnana

    Blinking into the blazing Tuscan sunshine I had to stop for a moment and catch myself. Looking back, it was verging on scandalous that I didn’t appreciate the sumptuous charm sprawling out before my aching eyes, but at that point I wasn’t in any state to take stock. Not a soul stirred as the valley…

  • Football’s most unique cup competition: the Coupe de France

    Football’s most unique cup competition: the Coupe de France

    “The greatest cup competition in the world is back”: a phrase commonly trotted out amongst English pundits and supporters this time every season. It is the first weekend of a new year, the weekend of the third round of the English FA Cup. After eight previous rounds, the first of which being the extra-preliminary round…