European Super League – Are There Any Good Guys?

Old trafford inside

It’s raining outside, so I guess I’m not jogging tonight. Perhaps I’ll do some writing instead. But it’s tricky; has there been anything worth writing about in the world of Football recently?

Of course I’m being facetious. The European Super League proposal involving 12 big names in European club Football breaking away from their national Football associations and UEFA entirely that was pitched early last week was so outrageous that it even got people who don’t usually talk about Football talking about Football. Yet as quickly as the idea raised its head, it got shot in the neck by a horde of arrows fired from several million bows disguised as Social Media platforms. So quick, so clear and so vociferous was the public reaction at this concept that one by one the 6 English-based clubs implicated in the cartel (the appropriate name for this posse) all announced their subsequent withdrawal from the league in the matter of days. Now, the concept hangs as limp as a used piñata.

Continue reading

Real Madrid’s Marketing Masterstroke

Real Madrid official store

One feature common to many cities across Catalonia is their “Rambla” – a surprisingly complex concept to describe when you stop and think about it. It is little more than a straight road (more or less), usually lined with trees either side that is located relatively centrally in the town in question. A suitable English translation could be something like “avenue” or “promenade”, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Continue reading

Five Candles

Ultras Real Madrid

To be honest, we at FBTG are not ones for anniversaries. We see more reason to celebrate current achievements and successes than to look back wistfully at events that mattered x years ago. That said, we have made it a tradition to create a post each time this small, independent Football culture blog ticks over another year each time January comes around. Work and personal commitments caused us to forego a gratuitous upload on our actual birthday earlier this month, so instead we chose to do something different to celebrate 5 years of Football culture blogging.

We took a big dive into our website traffic statistics in order to get better insights into what the past 5 years have meant in terms of numbers and data. In this post we present a few key insights about From Boothferry To Germany that are entirely thanks to you guys. Enjoy.

Continue reading

That’s An Absolute Liberty

Capitol hill thief meme

We have all seen the rather alarming news coming fresh outta the world’s most popular federation this week. While many are indeed shocked by the Capitol Hill…. episode, some of the footage and photographs taken during the event that have emerged in the digital sphere have proven far too fucking funny to avoid receiving the dubious accolade “meme-worthy”. In this spirit, we at FBTG wanted to jump on the bandwagon and take advantage of the internet’s favourite ginger thief to have a bit of topical Football-related fun.

Continue reading

Fans Are Coming Back….

Football league stadiums map

The big news story in the British Football press right now (besides the loss of one of the most popular figures in the world game) is the return of fans to English stadia. For the first time since early March 2020, up and down the country the top 4 tiers of English league Football will conduct competitive matches in front of a live audience. You might have stumbled across this blog post months or perhaps years down the line and think “what’s all the fuss about?” But right now, the possibility of getting back in to watch the boys seems very exciting. Last week I stumbled across the following image and got an idea for the post you are now reading:

Continue reading

Hull’s Geography Problem

Hull City fans Austria

The message “practice what you preach” is more relevant than ever. Social media’s ubiquity has facilitated the growth of a macabre, international market for the superficial and the vapid. The inability of platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok to accommodate depth in the content posted to them inadvertently promotes the expedient and the striking over the well-researched and the empirical. One negative side-effect of the global social media tsunami is the premium that popular culture places on virtuosity – regardless how selfless or benevolent an “influencer” may actually be away from the filters.

We at FBTG believing in practicing what we preach. Thus, after years of talking critically about fans from Beijing to Buenos Aires via Berlin, we are finally looking in the mirror and being self-critical about “our” Football club.

Continue reading

Gresik Is United

Gresik united fans

Having added the final signature, Fandi Ahmad Yani threw down the pen with a sigh, turned to his counterpart and extended a firm hand. As Kaji Riki (a representative of Ultras Gresik) shook it, a polite round of applause rippled among the journalists and reporters gathered in the conference room. The six men sat at the table congratulated each other on the business conducted that day before turning to force a smile for the photographers.

It had happened at long last. Gresik United Football Club is owned by Continue reading