Table of contents for May 2021 in FourFourTwo UK

Several players have graced the front of FFT on multiple occasions, but it’s always nice to have a brand new star. Bruno Fernandes gets his own cover for the first time this month, and there’s no doubt about the huge impact he has made – both at Manchester United and on the Premier League in general – since his arrival in England last year. In an exclusive chat, we find out what makes Bruno tick. This is our 325th issue of the magazine, and one person who will have seen all 325 covers is David Kermack, a loyal subscriber since the beginning. His family got in touch to tell us he has every edition of FFT stretching back to 1994 – thank you David, and all our subscribers for your…

Cruzeiro 1 Sao Paulo 3 November 8, 1995 Brazilian Serie A “My debut for Sao Paulo had actually come a few days earlier against Parana, but this particular afternoon at Mineirao stadium was remarkable for another reason. I came on as a substitute at the start of the second half, replacing none other than Toninho Cerezo – one of my great heroes who I looked up to when I began playing football in Taquaritinga, my hometown in the countryside of Sao Paulo state. Toninho represented the Selecao at two World Cups and won many titles in Brazil and Italy, so he was an inspiration to me. When I came off the bench, I took it as my big life chance – I stood out and we won.” Lyon 2 Monaco…

You know when you reach the end of a holiday, and you get an overwhelming urge to take some kangaroos home with you? For Bohemians, the temptation was too great. Formed in 1905 as AFK Vrsovice, the club were originally named after their local district in Prague – when they were invited to tour Australia in 1927, they switched to the more anglicised Bohemians to make clear which part of Europe they were from. They were awarded two live kangaroos at the end of the tour, passing them on to Prague Zoo. Bohemians have been nicknamed The Kangaroos ever since, although the club has undergone 15 name changes in its 116-year existence – becoming Spartak Praha Stalingrad in 1953, after a Soviet-backed coup in Czechoslovakia. They became Bohemians once more…

Is there an issue you feel strongly about? Contact us: fourfourtwo@futurenet.com FourFourTwoUK FourFourTwo PLAY ON, REF I know this has been discussed a lot, but football’s gone a bit soft, right? If there was ever any proof, it was your ‘This Means War’ piece [FFT 323]. As much as that Everton-Leeds game in 1964 sounded brutal, I loved Derek Temple’s description of Bobby Collins as “one of the best players around... but he’d kick his own gran if it made him a few bob.” I’m not saying that I was anywhere near as ‘committed’ as Collins, but I remember one or two slide tackles I made as a 12-year-old girl – perfectly taking the ball, player, a stray dog and passing car. OK, the two-footed jump into Derek sounded like…

50 COLIN KAZIM-RICHARDS DERBY COUNTY  POSITION FORWARD AGE 34 Few players can boast a career like Kazim-Richards. Beginning with Bury, the forward has spent spells in Turkey at Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Bursaspor, also rocking up in France, Greece, the Netherlands, Scotland, Brazil and Mexico, before signing for Derby in October. His goals have taken the Rams away from relegation and earned him a new contract. 49 NICKY CADDEN FOREST GREEN ROVERS  POSITION MIDFIELDER AGE 24 Considered something of a coup following his performances in the Scottish second tier last season, Cadden has delivered, which is fitting given the 24-year-old’s wicked output on the left flank, from where he’s been a menace. Rovers frontman Jamille Matt has benefited handsomely from the wideman’s precise crosses. 48 MALLIK WILKS HULL CITY  POSITION FORWARD…

Those who had to reach for the tissues watching Next Goal Wins will remember the tear-jerking moments that led to American Samoa’s ultimate moment of redemption in November 2011. When Shalom Luani raced onto a through-ball and let his instincts kick in, it wasn’t just the magic of editing that made the world slow down for a second. The finish was lush – a delightful lob over Tonga goalkeeper Kaneti Falela that earned Luani a clouting. But it didn’t matter: the ball looped in, and American Samoa went 2-0 up en route to their first ever victory in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. After securing a draw against the Cook Islands in their next game – Luani again scoring in a 1-1 draw – fate almost took the forward elsewhere…

GEORGE BEST BOURNEMOUTH, 1983 CREDENTIALS Best’s life may now be pored over with a sigh, but in 1968 he was the world’s greatest player – a European Cup champion and Ballon d’Or winner at the peak of his powers. He scored 32 goals in 53 games as Manchester United conquered Europe, but they were heights neither would scale again together. Best’s love of good times and Miss World conquests never dimmed, and by 1972 he was out on a curious 10-year tour that took him to Scotland, South Africa, the US and Hong Kong – with stints at Dunstable and Fulham throw in to boot. Then, in March ’83, came his switch to third-tier Bournemouth. HOW’D IT GO? Months after saying Kevin Keegan “was not fit to lace my boots”…

1 BLY BLY, LADS Peterborough only played their first Football League campaign in 1960-61, but immediately set an English league record when they plundered 134 goals in 46 Fourth Division matches. Summer signing Terry Bly dropped down a division to smash home 52 of them, setting a post-war Football League record that hasn’t been topped. Brutal. 2 POSH VS SPICE In 2002, the UK Patents Office revealed that Victoria Beckham was taking on Peterborough in the courts – all over a squabble about trademarking their ‘Posh’ moniker. The nickname is older than the club itself, but it didn’t stop the former Spice Girl attempting to claim dibs. A judge eventually told her to stop right now, thank you very much... 3 ONE-TWO In September 2000, United managed…

THE GAFFER DICK ADVOCAAT “I worked with him for many years, for club and country. He’s a winner who always gave 110 per cent. At Feyenoord now, I see the same man as 30 years ago: always hands-on, always focused.” THE SUBS 01 WIM JONK 02 CLARENCE SEEDORF 03 DENNIS BERGKAMP EDWIN VAN DER SAR “Edwin was really focused and able to coach his team-mates so well. With his height, he was a massive presence in the penalty area – whenever he caught the ball, he wouldn’t waste any time bringing it back into play. He knew where all the outfield players were on the pitch, making him excellent in transition.” BERRY VAN AERLE “A real team player who gave 100 per cent in every single game. Perhaps not many…

TEAMS (PLAYER) 1980-81 Whyteleafe 1981-83 Epsom & Ewell 1983-84 Corinthian-Casuals 1984-86 Dulwich Hamlet 1986-87 Yeovil 1987-91 Crystal Palace 1991-95 Charlton 1995 Tottenham (loan) 1995-97 Barnet 1997-98 Reading TEAMS (MANAGER) 1999-2003 Reading 2003-06 West Ham 2006-08 Charlton 2009-10 Southampton 2010-14 Newcastle 2015-16 Crystal Palace 2017-18 West Brom 2019-20 ADO Den Haag When you look through the list of Premier League Managers of the Season, very few of them started their career dangling from the side of a 600-foot tower. Alan Pardew had a rather different route into football than Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte & Co, but it didn’t stop him ascending to three stirring FA Cup finals, not to mention becoming the only Englishman to win both Premier League and LMA managerial awards at the same time. He was even linked…

BASTA Marco van Basten (Cassell, £20) ●●●●● Italian newspapers competed to conjure up superlatives for Marco van Basten at the peak of his Milan powers in the late 1980s and early-90s. One moniker was Il Cigno di Utrecht (the Swan of Utrecht). Another was Ghiacciolo (‘cool as a cucumber’). The Dutch striker displayed grace and an almost balletic ease on a football pitch, yet this autobiography reveals a dark undercurrent to his life as both a player and a coach. The attention lavished on him by his father irked older siblings, causing serious tension. After botched ankle operations ended his playing career aged just 31, Van Basten was tormented by constant pain from his injuries, plus demands from the Dutch tax authorities. Van Basten believes that the already reduced mobility…

If you’re a regular reader of FFT, you’ll probably know by now that we compile our list of the best players in the Football League at this time every year – and we always do it by asking you. We polled fans of every Football League club, from Accrington Stanley to Wycombe Wanderers. Gladly, that was a total of 72 teams this year – back up to the full complement, after Bury’s expulsion reduced the EFL to just 71 sides last season. To decide the top 50 from outside the top flight, we asked supporters to choose the best performers in their team’s division – but not at their own club – and handed out points according to the rank they gave them. It was democracy in action, so if…

Bloody Sunday is the reason James McClean won’t wear a Remembrance poppy. The Stoke midfielder grew up on the Creggan estate home to six of the men shot dead, and he sticks to his principles despite the abuse sent his way without fail every autumn. At Wigan, McClean even wrote an open letter to owner Dave Whelan, explaining his stance: “For people from the North of Ireland such as myself, and specifically those in Derry, scene of the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, the poppy has come to mean something very different. Please understand… every person still lives in the shadow of one of the darkest days in Ireland’s history – even if, like me, you were born nearly 20 years after the event. It is just a part of who…

One of Batigol’s most iconic goals came against Arsenal in 1999, but his first competitive meeting with English opposition was actually against Southend United. Fiorentina’s unexpected foray into Serie B in 1993-94 meant they entered into the Anglo-Italian Cup, a competition that saw second-tier outfits from England and Italy go head-to-head. The Shrimpers went to Florence for the opening fixture. Ricky Otto & Co were no match for Batigol, who scored two in a 3-0 win. Batistuta’s next assignment was at the Victoria Ground. Could the great striker do it on a Wednesday night in Stoke? Well, no – Fiorentina were held to a scoreless draw. He didn’t feature in wins over West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth, and despite 10 points from four group games, La Viola were pipped to…

XI BEST: Brad Friedel, Ronnie Clayton, Colin Hendry, Ryan Nelsen, Graeme Le Saux, David Dunn, Tugay, Damien Duff, Bryan Douglas, Alan Shearer, Matt Jansen. WORST: Alan Fettis, Bradley Orr, Shane Duffy, Scott Dann, Christian Dailly, Danny Murphy, Dino Baggio, Radosav Petrovic, Kevin Davies, Corrado Grabbi, Anthony Modeste. PLAYER B: Shearer [right]. Four seasons of pace, power, headers, free-kicks, penalties, screamers and tap-ins. Some 130 goals in 171 games was Shearer at his peak. W: Davies. How Southampton laughed at their quick tenfold profit while we witnessed just one league goal for our £7.5 million outlay. Then we endured a decade of him being good at Bolton. MOMENT B: Lifting the Premier League trophy at Liverpool in 1995 [right] – the crowning moment of an extraordinary four years. W: Wigan’s late…

What were your best memories growing up as an Everton fan? I was very fortunate that Everton won loads of trophies when I was a kid. I was at Anfield when Graeme Sharp scored a great winner at Anfield in 1984. We got to the FA Cup final three years in a row between 1984 and 1986, so we came to expect a day out at Wembley every spring. I remember being seven years old at Villa Park when Everton beat Luton in the 1985 FA Cup semi-finals. After the game, I managed to get on the pitch, have a quick runabout and celebrate. Did you spray ‘Thank you Arsenal’ on a wall the night they beat Liverpool 2-0 to win the league in 1989? No, that wasn’t me personally!…

You joined Manchester City from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2007. How did the deal happen? I’d been in great form at Shakhtar and ended up returning to the Brazil national team. Back then, we were playing some of our friendlies in London, including a 3-0 win over Argentina at the Emirates Stadium when I scored twice. My agent, Giuliano Bertolucci, called and said City had been watching. A few months later, they came up with a good offer and I had no doubt about joining. Why did the first season go so well for you? We had a brilliant atmosphere in the dressing room and a top boss in Sven-Goran Eriksson. He was the most important person for me in English football – someone who allowed me to play with freedom.…

What was the first game you ever saw live? I think it was Fulham against Aston Villa when I was about five or six. My clearest memories of it are the smell of hot dogs and cigars, but also the sound of those huge wooden rattles. The atmosphere was great and so noisy. But the second game I went to was Chelsea against West Ham, which wasn’t nice – that was a very different atmosphere altogether. I was about 10, I went with my mate’s dad and he’d managed to get seats in the new East Stand, which was really posh. I remember looking over at The Shed, where there were Chelsea and West Ham fans, watching huge waves of people going backwards and forwards, like the murmuration of starlings.…

You left Sion last March after the club terminated the contracts of nine players, for refusing to take a pay cut. What happened? That came out of the sad situation of the pandemic. We were still together in the dressing room and playing on the pitch while everyone else was at home, so we didn’t really know what was happening. One day, we received a message on WhatsApp saying there was no more training and we should all stay at home. Then we had another message telling us that we should all accept a salary reduction. I didn’t go to Sion for the money, so what they asked didn’t affect me. But some of the players wanted more explanation of what it meant. If they cut the salary now, do…

“I was a mini ultra,” Bruno Fernandes tells FourFourTwo, as a grin flashes across his face. “I used to go and watch Boavista games when I was a boy. I was the ball boy, and then a mini ultra behind the goal. I like the atmosphere of the ultras when it’s expressed in the right way. I like to be part of the atmosphere when they try to push the players on and motivate them.” Boavista are based in Porto and Fernandes grew up in Maia, six miles north of Portugal’s second city. “I’m a Boavista supporter and started to watch them play because of my cousin, Vitor Borges, who came through the youth system to make their first team. I wanted to follow him and make the same steps.…

For more than 10 years, Nicky Salapu shouldered the biggest burden of his life in a world that didn’t truly understand. For 10 years, he woke up with the same sense of frustrated yearning that ate away at his thoughts. He’d never forget what it felt like to represent his country aged 20, and the sense of crushing humiliation that went with it. For 10 years, he wanted only one thing: to banish those demons of April 11, 2001 and win a football match with American Samoa. To finally make his people proud. In 2011, Salapu got his wish when the world’s worst international team claimed their first ever victory in a FIFA-recognised match against Tonga, documented in the terrific Next Goal Wins film, which made a star of him…

DAVID TURNBULL CELTIC LOWDOWN While his team-mates have been ripped to shreds by angry Bhoys watching the disaster unfold from home, Turnbull – a £3 million arrival from Motherwell last August – has emerged as a late contender for Scotland’s Euro 2020 squad. At 21, the midfielder secured a first-team spot midway through this campaign, demonstrating a penchant for the spectacular while carving opposition teams apart as one of the top flight’s most creative players in 2020-21. HIGHLIGHT On his European bow at home to Lille in December, Turnbull crossed for Christopher Jullien to net Celtic’s opener, then hit the winner. He’s proved undroppable ever since. THEY SAID “He gets into good areas and he’s a bit different from normal midfield players these days,” said his former Bhoys boss Neil…

You were tipped to earn an England call-up when you suffered a horrendous injury in 2000, playing for Leeds against Besiktas in the Champions League. Are you bitter that it denied you a glittering career? No, not really. When I snapped my leg out in Turkey, I was told I’d never play again. So, in one sense, everything that came afterwards was a bonus. I spent another 15 years in the game – OK, it wasn’t at the highest level, but there’s no bitterness in me. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have come up to me and said I lost a wonderful opportunity to become an England international, but I’m a believer in fate. Things happen for a reason. I wouldn’t have met my wife and…