Inhaltsverzeichnis für February 2021 in FourFourTwo UK

ST PAULI: ANOTHER FOOTBALL IS POSSIBLE Carles Vinas, Natxo Parra (Pluto, £14.99) Despite their regular place in the second tier, Hamburg’s St Pauli have become known to fans across the globe. The club’s underlying ethos of tolerance and equality – not to mention their association with the Jolly Roger symbol – has made them a beloved second team for many – yet there’s more to St Pauli than politics. Carles Vinas and Natxo Parra take you on a journey, from the historical roots of football in the northern port city, through the reign of the Third Reich and beyond. Along the way, we meet ex-players, diehard fans, social workers, historians and others, and travel the globe to find out how St Pauli fans make a difference to impoverished, far-flung communities.…

You joined Chelsea from Chicago Red Stars in November 2019. How did the move happen? Europe had been high on my agenda for a long time, so it was always about when I would make the move. I spoke with Emma Hayes, the manager here at Chelsea, and I liked what she had to say, what the team were doing and how they played. It felt like the right move. It was more than simply football – it was the team culture, and I found that attractive. It’s not just about what we do on the pitch, it’s about what we do off it, too. I’ve really enjoyed it since arriving in England. I’ve felt challenged because it’s different to America and requires a different mentality. I feel like I’ve…

100 PETER CROUCH ASTON VILLA, SOUTHAMPTON, LIVERPOOL, PORTSMOUTH, TOTTENHAM, STOKE, BURNLEY LEGACY Crouch might be best known for his lofty stature, robotic dance moves and good-natured podcast patter – but real fans know there was so much more to his game. The Spurs academy graduate cut his teeth in Sweden and the second tier before finally getting his top-flight chance with Aston Villa in 2001. Graham Taylor fancied him; David O’Leary didn’t. It wasn’t until Crouch was flogged to Southampton in 2004 that his Premier League career got going. He netted only three goals before Christmas, but Harry Redknapp’s arrival – and James Beattie’s January sale – paved the way for nine goals in the new year. They couldn’t keep the Saints up, but did earn Crouch his first England…

David Ginola’s final cap for France came in September 1995 – in a 10-0 tonking of Azerbaijan. He made his 17th Les Bleus outing as a substitute in Euro 96 qualifying, helping his country to the biggest win in their history. Yet, manager Aime Jacquet never selected him again – Zinedine Zidane scored his first competitive goal for France, while Youri Djorkaeff’s brace and three assists cemented his own credentials. Both became key creative forces in the World Cup-winning team of 1998. Ginola was left out in the cold.…

02 CRISTIANO RONALDO MANCHESTER UNITED On August 16, 2003, a pair of substitutes made their debuts for Manchester United. The first went on to become one of the greatest players of all time; the second went on to become Eric Djemba-Djemba. Djemba-Djemba’s Old Trafford career was doomed before he had stepped on the field. Introduced only six minutes after Cristiano Ronaldo, he had already been left with an impossible act to follow. Manchester United were labouring against Bolton in their league season opener, leading 1-0 after an hour, when Ronaldo replaced Nicky Butt. Aged 18, with blond streaks in his hair that hinted at a certain confidence, the wonderkid had arrived from Portuguese side Sporting for £12.5m days earlier, taking the No.7 shirt vacated by David Beckham. The crowd greeted…

IN A PICKLES Four months before the 1966 World Cup, the Jules Rimet Trophy was snatched from a display case at Central Hall Westminster. Pickles the dog (right) eventually found it wrapped in newspaper under a hedge. Woof! SAMBA SNATCH Brazil were permitted to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy after winning a third World Cup in 1970, but the tormented prize was then pinched from the Brazilian FA’s headquarters in a 1983 heist. Four robbers were tried and convicted in absentia, while the famous cup was never recovered. OH NO, OSLO Two years after Norway won the 1995 Women’s World Cup, the original trophy vanished from the country’s FA HQ at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion during ground renovations. The cup was quietly replaced in 1999 and the theft not made public…

Nigel Pearson may have once fought off a pack of angry dogs baying for his blood – but not even he could beat the threat of coronavirus in 2020. The 57-year-old was caught up among a number of cases at Watford when the country entered lockdown in March, shortly before his sudden sacking at Vicarage Road was greeted by national derision. Several months later, as FourFourTwo catches up with the former Leicester boss to present him with our readers’ posers, Pearson is thankfully on the mend. “It’s been mixed – mainly not too good over the last few months,” he admits. “But I’m making progress. It’s been a test, like it has for many of us.” Luckily, Pearson has never been one to shirk a fight. He’s been part of…

“I ONCE WENT TO PLAY SNOOKER BUT WALKED PAST A GUN SHOP AND ENDED UP BUYING A RIFLE” Hello Jon. We were supposed to be speaking earlier today, but you were out walking and got lost. How is this possible in the modern age? Hello mate. I’m tired. We took a wrong turn and went four miles too far – we were out in the sticks around Barnsley, getting mucky. We should have taken an Ordnance Survey map, as we can’t even read maps on phones. If you did get fully lost in the woods, how well could you survive? I’ve got at least two month’s worth of fat reserves to draw upon, so I’d be OK. Would I be a decent hunter? No. Once, I went to play a…

25 JORG ALBERTZ 24 JIM LEIGHTON 23 LUBOMIR MORAVCIK 22 MARK HATELEY 21 DAVID NAREY 20 SCOTT BROWN 19 BARRY FERGUSON 18 BRIAN McCLAIR 17 SANDY JARDINE 16 CHARLIE NICHOLAS 15 RICHARD GOUGH 14 PAUL LAMBERT 13 ALEX McLEISH 12 ANDY GORAM 11 PAUL McSTAY 10 DAVIE COOPER 9 WILLIE MILLER 8 JOHN GREIG 7 PAUL GASCOIGNE 6 DANNY McGRAIN 5 GORDON STRACHAN 4 KENNY DALGLISH 3 ALLY McCOIST 2 BRIAN LAUDRUP 1 HENRIK LARSSON Henrik Larsson is, quite simply, the greatest footballer to have played in Scotland over the last 46 years. The Swede is one of few examples of a genuinely world-class player to spend his peak seasons in Scotland, when he could have undoubtedly had his pick of clubs. For Celtic fans, he was not only a…

What was the first match you ever saw live? It was Nottingham Forest vs Spurs, at the City Ground in 1989. I’m from Nottingham, so sat with Forest fans – but we won 2-1. I’d been Spurs from the age of seven. I was really into football, but didn’t have a team. My dad asked me if I wanted a football kit for Christmas, so I looked in my 1986 Panini sticker album and chose Spurs’ – the Hummel one with arrows going across it. I was a young full-kit wanker, but from there I became a Spurs fan. Who was your childhood hero and did you ever meet them? Clive Allen [above right]. They say never meet your heroes, and in this instance it’s very true. I did a…

REF’S ARE REAL It was great to read your article on Douglas Ross [FFT 321], who juggles politics with refereeing. I thought it was refreshing to hear from a ref’s side, to get a slant on how they see football through their eyes. It makes them sound almost human… But it also got me thinking more about the long-time issue regarding referees being interviewed after a game, and having the opportunity to justify their decisions. I feel it would take away the conspiracy theory reactions we get from some fans, and give the officials a chance to be respected for the difficult job they do. By the way, I don’t think Mr Ross would need to consider giving up his refereeing for politics in the near future – being the…

BARNSLEY Neil Redfearn Tykes fans boasted it was just like watching Brazil when their side got promoted – Redfearn took the role of Zico, scoring double figures from midfield in their solitary Premier League season of 1997-98. BLACKPOOL Charlie Adam Seasiders fans were never parched for entertainment in a goal-crazy top flight campaign – the Tangerines netted as many as fifth-placed Tottenham in 2010-11, with midfielder Adam scoring 12 times. BRIGHTON Lewis Dunk The centre-back has helped secure four consecutive seasons in the top flight for the Sussex side, and also became the first Brighton player to represent England since Steve Foster in 1982. Consistency personified. CARDIFF Peter Whittingham Cardiff’s maiden promotion to the Premier League would never have happened without Whittingham’s wand of a left foot, and he remained…

LIVERPOOL 4-3 NEWCASTLE (APRIL 1996) “This is the best game I’ve ever commentated on. It had everything that would attract you to football: drama and significance, because both teams were going for the title. People forget that Liverpool were, too. “It was a rollercoaster match – Liverpool scored after a couple of minutes, but didn’t lead again until stoppage time when Stan Collymore closed in… “On the night I remarked, ‘This is one of the greatest games ever,’ so it isn’t just hindsight. During lockdown, I watched it again with my son – he’d never seen the match and said, ‘Yeah, you’re not wrong’. He would have told me if I was! “We had to be moved on from the ground afterwards – we’d been in the presence of greatness…

46 DENIS IRWIN MANCHESTER UNITED Alex Ferguson said you were the only player guaranteed to make his best Manchester United XI. Why were you so loved by him? I went in and just got about my job. I wasn’t a star player, but Fergie still appreciated me. I didn’t cause him too much stress. My peers appreciated what I did, too. Maybe to the fan in the street I didn’t make headlines because I wasn’t a star player, but I didn’t want the limelight. I worked my socks off, trained hard and tried to learn from mistakes. Gary Neville was the same as me. Full-backs were pawns on a chessboard when I played. They’re more important now in the game. We had Giggsy or Becks in front of our full-backs…

Is it true you found out you would make it in football from a Ouija board? It is! That was when I was about 16, at Bournemouth, and hadn’t yet played a game. There were eight youth-teamers around a table and we asked, “Who’s going to make it as a footballer?” I don’t like those sorts of things, but the glass moved towards me – I’ve never known such fear and elation at the same time! After that it moved to Keith Rowland, who ended up having a career with Bournemouth, West Ham and QPR. We were both scared stiff, but it didn’t move to anyone else, so you can imagine all the other players were absolutely devastated. I’ve never done anything like that since. What were the best and…

How did your move to Arsenal come about? The first time I heard about their interest was at the 2005 Under-17 World Cup. I couldn’t have been happier, as I’d just been promoted to Sao Paulo’s senior team, too. Arsenal were actually after another Brazilian player called Ramon, who was at Atletico Mineiro. They’d got him flight tickets to London, but dropped out because of his off-pitch antics, I believe. Arsene Wenger used to say that if you didn’t have discipline, you wouldn’t play for him. He watched Brazil’s games [the Selecao reached the final in Peru] and then picked me. Bayer Leverkusen also spoke to my entourage, but once they’d told me Arsenal were interested, I had no doubts. It was a dream come true. What was it like…

Having supported QPR as a kid, how special was your Premier League debut for them in October 1994? I grew up through the QPR system from nine years old. To make my debut against Aston Villa and score was what dreams were made of. Paul McGrath was a brilliant defender, and I thought I might face him and not get a sniff, but he was approaching the end of his career. Scoring my first goal was amazing, in front of my friends and family. Les Ferdinand joined Newcastle in 1995, so you became QPR’s first-choice striker aged 20 – did you feel any pressure? When you’re young, you don’t really feel the pressure – you play with a lot more freedom. Myself and Kevin Gallen were both QPR fans, and…

We read that your real name is Rudolphus Antonius Makaay. Why are you called Roy? Actually, that’s not true. My real name is Roy and those are middle names. You can check my passport! [Laughs] I don’t know how that became a fact. I was baptised Roy Rudolphus Antonius – Rudolphus and Antonius were the names of my grandfathers. In your early days at Vitesse, you turned down the chance to join Louis van Gaal at Ajax, the reigning European champions... People said I was crazy – I was only 20 and had played two seasons as a professional. Van Gaal came over to my house to discuss the offer – it’s a little intimidating having him as a guest in your home, but we had a really nice chat.…

51 DAVID GINOLA NEWCASTLE, TOTTENHAM, ASTON VILLA, EVERTON Nearly 26 years on, David Ginola can still remember the bafflement he felt at his first press conference in English football. Ginola had just joined Newcastle from Paris Saint-Germain for £2.5m – a considerable sum in 1995. He had reached the semi-finals of the Champions League months earlier and been targeted by Europe’s biggest clubs. He was poised to become the second Frenchman to play in the Premier League, after Eric Cantona. But not everyone was aware of his talents. “When I arrived at the first press conference, a journalist said, ‘Can you tell us who you are?’” says Ginola, smiling as he reminisces to FourFourTwo. “In Paris, we’d won the league title, we’d won the cup twice and I’d been French…

30 GIANFRANCO ZOLA CHELSEA It was almost 11pm in Cheshire when the helicopter fell from the sky. Matthew Harding was making his way back to London, having watched his beloved Chelsea slip to defeat at second-tier Bolton in the League Cup. He never made it home. Along with four others, the Blues’ vice-chairman died on that fateful October night in 1996. Harding was a figure of hope, following an awful quarter-century for Chelsea. Between 1971 and 1996, the club won no major titles and finished outside English football’s top 10 on 21 occasions. Without their investor, their prospects seemed uncertain once more. A fortnight after Harding’s death, a new figure of hope arrived at the crucial moment. Gianfranco Zola was just 5ft 6in tall, but he changed everything. In the…

A REBRANDED LEAGUE ALSO GOT A REINVENTED PLAYER. PRODUCTIVITY REPLACED THE PROMISE 03 ALAN SHEARER BLACKBURN, NEWCASTLE Eras do not always begin and end when they are supposed to. The ’60s arguably only came to life in 1962, when The Beatles released their debut single Love Me Do and Mary Quant unleashed the mini skirt on an unsuspecting establishment. Liverpool are remembered for dominating the 1970s and 1980s, but their 18th league title actually came in the 1990s. The dawn of the Premier League, however, marked a clean break with the past; Manchester United, 26 years without a title, were champions in 13 of the first 21 seasons. On the opening day of a new age, Blackburn drew 3-3 at Crystal Palace. Their 22-year-old debutant, the costliest ever signing made…

It was just past midnight on the morning of Thursday September 12, 1895, and rumbles of thunder disturbed the skies above Birmingham. Three men stood in darkness on the flat roof of a boot and shoe shop in New Town Row, to the north of the city centre. They stripped back the zinc cladding from the roof before smashing a hole through the ceiling. Then, two of the men slowly lowered the other into the deserted shop. Inside, the thief opened the till and pilfered small change amounting to two or three shillings. His real target was elsewhere, sitting behind a sliding partition in the shop window. There, mounted on a stand and surrounded by football boots, was a shiny silver trophy – around 16 inches tall with handles, a…

THE GAFFER CARLO ANCELOTTI “I look up to Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Ancelotti the most, but worked under Carlo the longest at Chelsea. He takes advantage of his huge experience to handle superstars perfectly.” THE SUBS 01 FRANK LAMPARD 02 DECO 03 DIDIER DROGBA DIDA “I was a goalkeeper myself until I turned 15, then took keeper classes in order to be well prepared to work as a pundit, so I know this position too. Dida possessed all the required elements of a world-class No.1: he showed up in the big games and played a key role in his teams’ titles.” GIANLUCA ZAMBROTTA “Zambora had the ideal balance between his offensive and defensive duties. It wasn’t easy to fight with him for a place in the Barcelona team –…