Published in June 2024, Issue Fifty Three and its five sections contains 14 articles including how Benni McCarthy was shaped by the gangster leagues of Cape Town; a conversation with Brian Stapleton, the scout who found Nathan Tella; Brendan Batson on the breaking of racial barriers at West Brom; the extraordinary story of the first mixed-race star of Brazilian football; an oral history of Dinamo Tbilisi’s victory in the 1981 Cup Winners’ Cup.
POWER PLAYS
Their Finest Hour – Igor Rabiner
An oral history of Dinamo Tbilisi’s victory in the 1981 Cup Winners’ Cup
Deeper into the Mire – Cassiano Gobbet
A decade on from the Mineirazo, what’s changed in Brazilian football?
Real Republikans – Jonny Coffey
The brief life of the team of Ghanaian all stars created by Kwame Nkrumah
Out of the Frying Pan – Sam Kunti and Pål Ødegård
Nine years after Gianni Infantino took office, what’s really changed at Fifa?
The Football Mystery – Paul Simpson
Philip Kerr, thrillers and why sport so rarely features in literature
GERMANY
The Globalised Game – Jonathan Wilson
Three days in the Ruhr and the nature of modern fandom
The Postman’s Eye – Jake Farrell
Talking to Brian Stapleton, the scout who found Nathan Tella
THE WAY WE WERE
Goodison Goodbye – Colin McPherson
Everton’s survival means their final season before their ground move will not be in the Championship
End of Innocence – Tim Quelch
Jimmy Greaves, defensive tactics, hooliganism and how the game changed
AGAINST THE ODDS
Underground in Plain Sight – Sean Jacobs
How Benni McCarthy was shaped by the gangster leagues of Cape Town
Champions at Last – Tom Williams
How Michel Platini’s influence – on and off the pitch – inspired France to European Championship glory in 1984
The Third Degree – Chris Lepkowski
Brendan Batson on the breaking of racial barriers at West Brom
El Tigre – Peter Speetjens
The extraordinary story of the first mixed-race star of Brazilian football
GREATEST GAMES
Manchester United 4 Manchester City 3 – Taha Hashim
Premier League, Old Trafford, Manchester, 20 September 2009
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17 x 24 cm