Alex Connor

Breaking The Lines • 1st October 2023

Jude Bellingham’s Ascension into Real Madrid’s Kingdom

The world is at his feet. Jude Bellingham is just 20 years old and has already amassed over 180 senior appearances, establishing himself as one of the globe’s most mesmeric and daunting talents. Bellingham’s journey began at his boyhood club Birmingham City, but it was at Borussia Dortmund where his development skyrocketed at an incomprehensible level. A tremendous three seasons with Die Schwarzgelben earned the Englishman an £88.5m move to Real Madrid earlier this summer.

In his short time on

Football Bloody Hell • 13th January 2023

Didier Drogba: the inevitable marksman and political messiah

A striker who had an intense and unbridled love for his homeland. After spending the majority of his youth in Europe, Didier Drogba had a passport for both France and Ivory Coast, but described the idea of playing for his birth country as an “undeniable pull.” So when his nation was on its knees, he conjured up an eloquent and powerful message of change, and most importantly, peace, that poetically resonated with Ivorian society.

October 2005. Ivory Coast had just dispatched Sudan with a comfor

Football Paradise • 23rd May 2023

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia: Naples’ Immortalised Son

Napoli’s first Serie A title in over three decades was won in spectacular fashion, with the Partenopei dominating rivals all over the pitch. One player, the Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, has managed to grab headlines for his dazzling attacking contributions. He looks at home on a football pitch, writes Alex Connor, blissfully playing the game at his pace.

Depart at the Napoli Piazza Cavour station, and make your way down the Via Foria, which merges onto the Corso Amedeo di Savoia to the Via T

Football Bloody Hell • 12th December 2022

Mario Balotelli: The enigmatic and eccentric wunderkind who fought a battle beyond football

The anti-immigration and racist rhetoric of small groups within the right wing had rippled into football stadiums. In Italy, politics and football had been at an agonising and confrontational crossroads for years, and Balotelli’s citizenship ignited another painful reminder of this ongoing issue.

Although Salvini highlighted that he condemned racism, his sarcastic referral to Balotelli’s lack of ‘innocence’ can be latched onto and projects an extremely dangerous message that racism is unimporta

Football Paradise • 2nd December 2022

Five iconic matches from the 2006 World Cup

The World Cup generates an entirely different feeling to club football. All the animosity that fuels and creates the excitement of the domestic leagues is forgotten for a month of national unity. Hailed as the pinnacle of a career, and due to its rarity, the international competition is placed in a dimension of untouchability for most players. The daring dream of bringing 30,875 carats of gold back to your homeland. This is what the World Cup offers.

The 2006 World Cup tournament held in German

Football Bloody Hell • 20th December 2022

Eric Cantona: The untameable and magisterial playmaker

Paul Ince remembered when Eric Cantona entered the fray at the Manchester United training ground in 1992.

He endeared himself into Premier League culture with his impudent vision, ball control and touch to direct a trophy-laden period of domination whilst at Old Trafford.

The centre-forward also imprinted an unforgettable personality upon his illustrious six-year stint in England, nearly robbed himself and his adoring fans of this journey when he announced his retirement in 1991.

Cantona grew

Breaking The Lines • 12th December 2022

Jamal Musiala: The Naturally Gifted Phenomenon

Steffen Tepel is a former junior combined skier World Champion, who now specialises as a neuro-athletics coach. He believes football is heavily dependent upon your visual and cognitive skills, and mentors many elite footballers to help with their agility, peripheral vision and decision-making.

Tepel explained to SPOX how players should dribble without fixation upon the ball and focus upon a point in the distance. “Whoever masters the ball without constantly looking at it automatically has a hig

Football Paradise • 10th February 2023

Marcus Rashford is Back to His Devastating and Effervescent Best

“In this mood and this spirit, I think he is unstoppable.”

Erik ten Hag eulogised over the growing influence of Marcus Rashford, who picked up the ball in his own half at the City Ground in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. Nine seconds later the net was rippling. The winger weaved in between the desperate attempts of Remo Freuler and Joe Worrall to halt his relentless running, before he executed a classy finish with his weaker left foot past a helpless Wayne Hennessey. It was anot

Football Bloody Hell • 3rd March 2023

Petr Čech: the uplifting renaissance from the brink

Sammy Davis, Jr, the famous American singer, actor, dancer and comedian, who before his glitzy entrance into Hollywood stardom, was drafted into military service during World War Two. The African-American was relentlessly abused in the army. White Southern soldiers targeted Davis, who received a torrent of racist abuse. Upon return to his nation, he became an overnight sensation in 1951, thanks to his intoxicating stage presence and unique singing talent. Less than 7 years earlier, life seemed c