The Untold Game

13/11/2023

Martyn Green can't even work his whiteboard, and he's expected to take charge of one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

Great idea...

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/when-in-roma-rome-wasnt-built-in-a-day/

02/08/2022

As football grew in popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, there was an appetite to not only prove the dominance of a team against their domestic rivals, but also to test themselves against the best of the European neighbours. For some, this meant leaving their home country to embark on tours; for the most successful teams, invited to tour in the Western hemisphere, it sometimes even meant withdrawing from a league campaign for a season to accommodate what were usually very lucrative playing schedules. But the friendlies played in these tours conferred only dubious bragging rights. There was a need for something bigger, something more official, where the best of the best would play against each other for more than bragging rights.

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/football-in-division-unity-through-the-mitropa-cup/

As football grew in popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, there was an appetite to not only prove the dominance of a team against their domestic rivals, but also to test themselves…

01/08/2022

There are some things that every football fan just knows. Sir Alf Ramsey, faced with a lack of effective wing-backs, converted his side into a new formation and invented, for the first time, the 442. Arsene Wenger, as a young manager at Monaco, revolutionised the fitness and recovery of football players in a way that has been adopted by pretty much every professional club in the world. And counter-pressing, "heavy metal football", was invented in Germany by Ralf Rangnick, and passed through to Jurgen Klopp. Unquestioned truths of the game. But, as Mark Twain said, “it ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/dedushka-the-forgotten-football-pioneer/

There are some things that every football fan just knows. Sir Alf Ramsey, faced with a lack of effective wing-backs, converted his side into a new formation and invented, for the first time, the 44…

29/07/2022

Following their success at the 1966 World Cup, and the disappointment of a Quarter-Final exit in 1970, there was shock in 1973 when England, still under the command of Sir Alf Ramsey, was unable to qualify for the competition to take place in the following year. Jan Tomaszewski, branded a clown by Brian Clough, put in a man of the match performance for Poland, and Alf Ramsey left his post to be replaced by Don Revie. But that didn’t mean England had no representation at the tournament. Most famously, Jack Taylor refereed the final between West Germany and the Netherlands. But more intriguing is the story of Joseph Wilson, Lazio legend and Italy international.

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/the-darlington-maldini/

Following their success at the 1966 World Cup, and the disappointment of a Quarter-Final exit in 1970, there was shock in 1973 when England, still under the command of Sir Alf Ramsey, was unable to…

28/07/2022

“Who ate all the pies?” is a familiar chant around football grounds, directed at any footballer who happens to be a little larger, more sluggish, or slower than you might reasonably expect of a sportsman. Of course, in many cases, it’s a nonsense – I can quite happily admit that every player I’ve ever chanted it at is almost certainly fitter than I am – but the chant has lingered for over a century. The question is, where did it start, and who was the unfortunate player about whom it was created?

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/who-ate-all-the-pies/

“Who ate all the pies?” is a familiar chant around football grounds, directed at any footballer who happens to be a little larger, more sluggish, or slower than you might reasonably expect of a spo…

28/07/2022

Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently announced that he was looking to sign another contract at Milan, in his 40th year, having led the line alongside Olivier Giroud as the Rossoneri lead the Serie A table and look for a first Serie A win since 2011. He has helped the cause with more than just his eight goals this season; he is an icon, a gravitational presence that inspires and intimidates in equal measure. But he is far from the first Swede to make his way to the San Siro, and in the minds of many, he may not even be the best.

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/gre-no-li-milans-unstoppable-swedes/

Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently announced that he was looking to sign another contract at Milan, in his 40th year, having led the line alongside Olivier Giroud as the Rossoneri lead the Serie A table a…

28/07/2022

In 1939, Matthias Sindelar was found dead in his Vienna apartment. Sindelar had embarrassed the N**i authorities less than a year previous, celebrating his goal for an Austrian team against the German side a little too vigorously. He had refused to be a part of the Germany 1938 World Cup squad, which was eliminated in the first round. And he had been on a Gestapo watchlist. Question marks remain, but a blocked chimney was probably the culprit. It was a tragic, if less conspiratorial end to perhaps the greatest player of the 1930s, and his Wunderteam.

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/before-total-football-there-was-the-wunderteam/

In 1939, Matthias Sindelar was found dead in his Vienna apartment. Sindelar had embarrassed the N**i authorities less than a year previous, celebrating his goal for an Austrian team against the Ger…

28/07/2022

When you shoot for the king, you’d better not miss, or so the old saying goes. When that king literally has “Royal” in their name, and are undefeated in the European Cup – the pinnacle of continental competition – for five years, that saying goes double. So it was in the early history of the Europe’s premier tournament. Real Madrid, patronised by General Franco, won every iteration of the competition between its inception and 1960. And then, unthinkably, they didn’t.

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/the-curse-of-bela-guttman/

In 1962 Benfica looked set to dominate Europe. A Hungarian curse couldn’t derail that… could it?

28/07/2022

Manuel Francisco dos Santos is one of the greatest players to have ever put on the yellow shirt of Brazil, and yet he should never have been a footballer. He was born in 1933 with a deformed spine and one leg a full 6cm shorter than the other. He had crooked knees, with one bending inward and the other out. And, at a time when football was much more physical, he was small, leading his sister to give him the nickname that would stick for the rest of his life; Garrincha, or Little Bird. Despite his disadvantages, he showed immense talent at an early age, but worryingly for Brazilian football, little inclination to enter the sport professionally.

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/brazils-little-bird/

Manuel Francisco dos Santos is one of the greatest players to have ever put on the yellow shirt of Brazil, and yet he should never have been a footballer. He was born in 1933 with a deformed spine …

27/07/2022

A UFO sighting is probably the strangest reason of all time that a game has been postponed, but it stands in the record books and, to be honest, who would be able to play or watch a football match while something flew across the pitch. Even with Fiorentina leading 6-2, none of their players complained, and really I should think none of the players really noticed that the game had ended. Flying saucers and aliens are the stuff of science-fiction, not of football!

https://theuntoldgame.co.uk/when-ufos-stopped-play/

When fans filed into the Stadio Artemio Franchi in October 1954, the excitement was building for a thrilling derby between Tuscan giants Fiorentina and local rivals, and minnows, Pistoiese. Ten tho…