Table of contents for April 2026 in FourFourTwo UK

X @JamesAndrew_ E james.andrew@futurenet.com With January underway and 20 Premier League matchdays played, it was beginning to look as though the season was done and dusted. Nottingham Forest had just beaten West Ham to open up a seven-point gap between the two sides, while at the top, Arsenal were six points clear of Manchester City. The fear was it could be a procession until May, with very little changing in the positions in the table that really mattered. By mid-February though, West Ham and Manchester City had narrowed those respective gaps to remind us once more that nothing is ever certain in the Premier League, before we reach the business end of the season in April and May. In this issue of the magazine, we celebrate the footballers who make…

01 James Milner has played with or against what percentage of Premier League players ever: 29 or 49? 02 This season saw Anatoliy Trubin become only the fifth goalkeeper to score in the history of the Champions League. Who does he play for? 03 Antoine Semenyo is the first Man City player to score four goals in his first five games for the club since which fellow African forward in 2009? 04 Whose penalty was saved to finish the 2006 FA Cup Final shootout between Liverpool and West Ham? 05 January saw Sheffield Wednesday become the third team in English history to play seven games in a month and do what: score in every game or fail to score in every game? 06 Which duo had combined for the most…

Jorn Andersen had few illusions when he became head coach of North Korea in May 2016. There was no talk of politics or symbolism, just a job taken at a time when his options had narrowed and something unfamiliar presented itself. “When you sign a contract with North Korea, you know what awaits when you arrive,” the former Norway international tells FourFourTwo. “I didn’t go there to play politics. I went to train the national team, and focused on that.” The job was secured quietly in Europe. Meetings were held in Munich with a delegation from Pyongyang, who had a clear preference for a coach shaped in Germany. Andersen had managed Mainz and Karlsruher, plus been assistant at Borussia Monchengladbach. He became North Korea’s second foreign coach after Hungarian Pal…

They don’t make football teams like the Entertainers any more. The shampoo shimmy of David Ginola, the caffeinated caprice of fur coat-clad Tino Asprilla. There may never have been a group of playground ballers more beloved in English football by neutrals – the last true romantics of the Premier League, led by ultimate heart-on-sleeve boss Kevin Keegan. During 1995-96, Newcastle were 12 points ahead of Manchester United at one stage of the engrossing title race. That advantage was cut to just four by early March – albeit the Magpies had a game in hand – thanks to the return of Hollywood lead Eric Cantona from his kung-fu kick ban and Sir Alex Ferguson’s masterclass in mind games. Manchester United’s visit to St James’ Park was more than a title showdown…

For 69 seconds, England fans had hope, then Nico Williams took it away. In Berlin, the second half of the Euro 2024 final had just got underway. The score was 0-0 – during the interval, Spain had lost their centrepoint Rodri to injury, and Three Lions supporters began to wonder whether it could be the day when a major trophy finally came their way, 58 years since the last. Then Dani Carvajal flicked the ball to Lamine Yamal, allowing the 17-year-old to dart infield and pass for the onrushing Williams. In a flash, the Athletic Bilbao winger crashed an angled effort into the far corner with his left foot, just over a minute after the match’s resumption. Asked about that moment now, Williams instantly gives FourFourTwo a wink, prompting laughter…

Sometimes it’s the things you least expect that have the biggest impact. That’s certainly true for Dave Kitson, who unexpectedly found himself in the dugout as a rookie boss, despite intending to stay away from the touchline. The former Reading striker was approached to become performance director at non-league Maidenhead United and discovered that as well as agreeing to oversee dozens of different age group teams, he’d also become manager of the Magpies’ women’s squad. The closest Kitson had previously got to management was with the Nauru national team, but plans for the Pacific Islanders to play their first international never got off the ground, so getting the chance to realise that ambition was a bonus. “I’d been chairman at Arlesey Town, which was my non-league club when I started…

On a January day at Ewood Park, the only sign of concern among Blackburn’s hierarchy was a concourse discount on half-time pints and pies. A group of fans had attempted to cajole fellow Rovers supporters into boycotting the match – a Championship home game against Watford – leading the club to tempt bodies through turnstiles with the offer of cut-price refreshments. While the seditious fans in question had made enough noise for the club to issue a statement encouraging people to get behind the team, little else on the day suggested a groundswell of anger. The official attendance of 11,640 was, in fact, marginally higher than the last home fixture against Charlton – though the boycott’s organisers still dispute that figure. Freedom of information requests by the group to police…

Liverpool’s all-time record appearance holder reveals how he almost joined Everton as a boy, and what made Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley such legends You played 857 games for Liverpool between 1960 and 1978, making you the club’s record appearance holder. What does that title mean to you? It means a lot, being a local lad. It’s not just the appearances, it’s what we achieved during that time. The first time a club wins a trophy, it means so much. I remember in 1965, winning the FA Cup for the first time was just unbelievable, then to do it again 12 years later to win the European Cup for the first time was a big highlight too. I started out as a 15-year-old lad who had the chance to go…

OUT OF THE RUINS GAZA CITY, PALESTINE Gaza may have been almost completely flattened during a devastating war, but a love for football remains. In Gaza City, Palestinians headed to a five-a-side pitch to distract themselves from destruction all around them, with only a few buildings still standing. Picture Omar Al Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images SPEEDY RESPONSE MANCHESTER, ENGLAND Despite Jim Ratcliffe later apologising, it’s fair to say his claim that the UK has been “colonised by immigrants” didn’t go down well. Activists quickly paid for a billboard outside Old Trafford hitting back at the billionaire, who now lives (as an immigrant) in the tax haven of Monaco. Picture Jess Hornby/Getty GO AHEAD, BUT THEN MESS IT UP DEVENTER, NETHERLANDS Passionate fans were behind Go Ahead Eagles during the league stage of the Europa…

From the swanky Bernabeu in Madrid to the proper cups of tea at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin, what a difference 24 hours can make on a whistle-stop week away from home covering European football. Visiting different cities and stadiums around the continent is one of the best parts of my job. Munich and Milan, Porto and Paris, every city is reflected in their stadiums and each venue offers something unique. The real beauty is that no two ever look or feel the same. There’s always an extra bit of excitement going to a new stadium, and this season I got my first trip to Stade Velodrome in Marseille. I’d heard such good things, yet it was still much cooler than I expected. There’s a huge stairway from the busy…

Tony Bloom has a habit of making accurate predictions. But as the billionaire gambler turned football club owner revealed his forecast for the season ahead, after announcing a 29 per cent investment in Hearts last summer, it seemed a little far-fetched, even for him. “We’ve got a very good chance of at least being second this season,” Bloom declared at a supporters’ rally before the new term kicked off. “I understand there will be a lot of Celtic and Rangers fans, maybe Aberdeen and Hibs fans, who will be laughing and saying, ‘I’ve heard it all before’, and that’s fine. I’m just saying it as I see it.” There was some giggling at the back. The Edinburgh club had finished seventh during 2024-25, fully 40 points behind champions Celtic and…

June 29, 1950. A player with a broad grin on his face is being carried shoulder-high by a group of excited local fans in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. His name is Larry ‘Joe’ Gaetjens and his team, the United States of America, have just beaten England 1-0 in the group stage of the fourth edition of the World Cup. Gaetjens scored the goal, and although it was a header, it soon became known as ‘the shot heard round the world’. Gaetjens wasn’t even a US citizen at the time. He arrived in New York from Haiti in 1947, having won a scholarship to study accountancy at the prestigious Columbia University. To help make ends meet, he took a job washing dishes in a German restaurant. Back in Haiti, he’d played football…

XI BEST: Paul Gallacher, Andy Tod, Scott Wilson, Andrius Skerla, Greg Shields, Scott Thomson, Barry Nicholson, Gary Mason, Josh Edwards, Craig Brewster, Stevie Crawford. WORST: Chris Smith, Youssef Rossi, Yannick Zambernardi, Alex Keddie, Andy McDermott, Paul Burns, Victor Wanyama, Mark Kerr, Jim Paterson, Georgi Hristov, Andy Campbell. PLAYER B: In the 15 years that followed the establishment of the Scottish Premier League in 1998 – and excluding those who played for Celtic or Rangers in that time – only two players hit more goals than local lad Stevie Crawford’s 63. His duo with Craig Brewster was a joy. W: For all the fanfare Victor Wanyama’s arrival at a relegation-threatened Pars drew, it was nothing more than a bit of short-lived PR. A truly dreadful debut, sent off for a ludicrous…

The manager talks about crossing the Second City divide, his short-lived Egyptian stint and convincing Scott McTominay to represent Scotland After a long and distinguished playing career, mainly with Aberdeen, you became a manager in 1994. How did you find the switch? It seemed like a natural progression at the time. I got a call from Motherwell and actually signed as player-manager. We had a fantastic first season and ended up sandwiched by Rangers and Celtic. At that point I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this is dead easy.’ Then you find out the difficult times when you’re trying to recruit and come back down to earth. I just tried to emulate my old boss Alex Ferguson a wee bit. The one thing that I always stressed in every one of my dressing…

READ Angels with Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina, by Jonathan Wilson A chronology of football and politics – and how the two have occasionally intersected – Wilson charts Argentina’s search for identity and how they found one through football. It’s an engrossing read, beginning slowly, but providing key background for the pay-off with anecdotes from, and about, familiar names towards the end of the 20th century. WATCH Vittorio Angelone’s Ireland and UK Tour The Irish comic is one of the up-and-coming names in the UK stand-up scene with his offbeat, often introspective, identity-based routines. He’s unapologetic about his Irish roots and the anti-establishment material that underpins his gigs. Above all, Angelone is very funny and knows how to work a crowd. Fancy a taste before grabbing a ticket?…

Few players have won as many major trophies as Marcelo – and his shirt collection is impressive, too. The Brazilian has welcomed FFT into his office in Madrid and is showing us the jerseys he gathered during a stellar playing career – Francesco Totti’s Roma shirt, Kaka’s Milan shirt, Marco Reus’ Dortmund shirt, the list goes on. Despite the rivalry, the Real Madrid great even has a few from Barcelona. “So many memories,” he smiles. Marcelo won 25 trophies during 15 years at the Bernabeu – surpassing Paco Gento’s long-standing club record, even if he’s since been usurped himself by Luka Modric. The 37-year-old Rio de Janeiro native retired last year, but there’s still plenty to keep him busy – not least Doze (‘Twelve’), a company named after his number…

STEVENTON 6 DIDCOT 0 Youth game, 1999 “I may have got some of the details of this game wrong, because I was 10 years old and it was 26 or 27 years ago, but this was the start of my love for football. I was never really into it until then, but this one game made me fall for it. I was only filling in for someone who didn’t turn up, I didn’t really play before that and wasn’t bothered about football, but ended up scoring what I was told was a perfect hat-trick – header, right foot and left foot. After that, I just loved playing. I wanted the ball at my feet all the time – in the park, at school, inside the house, out in the front…

A decade ago, Bryne FK launched the career of a certain Erling Haaland – the striker must be cursing the day he left his hometown club, now he’s seen what’s on offer to their current squad. Bryne is a town of just 12,000 people in Norway, and is where Erling grew up after dad Alf-Inge moved back there at the end of his playing career. Haaland Jr played 16 first-team games in 2016 as Bryne were relegated to the third tier, before being snapped up by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Molde. Bryne subsequently rose to Norway’s top flight, before unveiling some bizarre man of the match awards last season. Having already allowed a group of fans to watch games from a pitchside tractor, the club decided to hand the best player…

Palermo’s Serie B clash with Spezia is two days away, and fresh suits embossed with the club’s logo are being unloaded from a van outside the Stadio Renzo Barbera. FourFourTwo are going for a typically Italian lunch and an espresso at BarBera, located beneath the main stand – on a television screen inside, the club’s kit launch for the current season, titled The Birth of a Palermo Fan, plays on a loop. Just a few short yards away, on the stadium’s playing surface, inside an iron gate complete with pink graffiti declaring ‘Siamo Aquile’ (‘We Are Eagles’), World Cup winner Filippo Inzaghi is putting his players through their paces. On Sunday, 25,000 supporters will file through the adjacent turnstiles and witness history. Palermo are owned by City Football Group (CFG),…

LEWIS MILEY NEWCASTLE, 19 The North East of England has a rich history of producing future England internationals – some of football’s greatest stars began life on Newcastle United’s doorstep. The Toon Army have missed out on plenty over the years, allowing the Charlton brothers, Alan Shearer, Michael Carrick and Peter Beardsley to slip the net, even if some eventually came back to Tyneside – just like current defender Dan Burn. Others such as Paul Gascoigne and the great Jackie Milburn were nurtured by the howls of St James’ Park. Miley has a long way to go before he’s spoken about in the same breath as those names, but the midfielder has time on his side and, compared to many of his England Under-21 peers, vast experience and exposure to…

How did you become Macclesfield’s assistant manager in the summer? When I stopped playing, I went straight into coaching – I went back to Everton, worked voluntarily for a couple of years, got my coaching badges and loved it. I had six or seven years there, then moved to Ipswich as assistant [to Paul Cook], Oldham as first-team coach under David Unsworth, and Saudi Arabia with Robbie Fowler. I didn’t work for two years after, until Robbie Savage left Macclesfield and their new boss John Rooney rang me. John is Wayne’s younger brother and a fellow ex-Evertonian. Presumably you knew him previously? We went to the same school, although I’m a few years older, and I coached him at Oldham. He needed to bring in some experience – I was…

When Ben Foster risked EFL sanctions to put a GoPro camera in his goal for Watford’s derby clash with Luton in 2020, he never anticipated it would lead to a visit from Robbie Williams. That’s what happened two years later, during the ex-Premier League keeper’s journey into a fully fledged YouTuber and podcaster. “Robbie got in touch and said, ‘Love everything that you’re doing, I watch every episode – if you ever want me on as a guest, I’d love to,’” Foster tells FFT now. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s Robbie Williams!’ He did the podcast, then sat with us for another hour, just chatting. Such a lovely guy. He doesn’t watch the telly, he just loves watching YouTube. He loves Mark Goldbridge!” Williams has been one of…

The Spanish midfielder on Diego Simeone’s Atletico impact, the ups and downs of his time at Stamford Bridge, and new-found happiness in Brazil You were already at Atletico Madrid when Diego Simeone became manager in 2011. How important was he to your career and the club generally? Diego Simeone was the first person who believed in me. He’s almost a god at Atleti, but he’s earned that status. He has changed the club’s history and played a decisive role in its success. You can see it in the number of years he’s been there and in the stability he has provided. Simeone’s greatest gift isn’t how he trains, but his ability to transmit ideas. He’s managed to make players do anything for him. When did Atletico start believing they could…