With five losses in a row and a staggering 16 points from safety, it seems like time is well and truly up on Darlington’s Football League status.

The Quakers travel to Bury tonight with little hope of stopping the rot as the fans’ hopes of pulling off the great escape seem to fade more and more every week.

This was certainly not the vision that former chairman George Reynolds had for the club ...

John Bostock’s short career so far has been surrounded by controversy. Not anything sleazy, unlike some footballers in this country, but there are a few questions about the way the Tottenham midfielder has gone about his business over the last couple of years. When he moved from his boyhood club, Crystal Palace, in 2007 there was ...

Arsene Wenger is very good at developing young players – he has done it time and time again at Arsenal. Dropping them into the harsh environment of the first team is something he considers very carefully, for he realises that doing this too soon can actually result in more harm done than good. For this reason it is no surprise that we are yet to ...

Newcastle United’s first team may be storming away with the Championship title, yet it is their youth side which is causing a stir in the north east.

The Newcastle United under 18 side are in a rich vein of form having not lost in their last nine matches and won an incredible seven games in a row ...

Leeds United Chairman Ken Bates is beginning to tread a fine line with the supporters and the media over who exactly owns Leeds United.

League One promotion hopefuls Leeds United have not only appeared to have lost their way on the field but are facing building pressure from their supporters around who actually owns the club. Chairman

There have been many great Brazilian full back pairings: Djalma Santos and Nilton Santos in the 1958 and 1962 teams, the Leandro-Junior pairing in the 1980’s and the Roberto Carlos-Cafu combination recently. There is another pairing that could one day rival these former greats: Manchester United’s Brazilian twins of Fabio and Rafael Da Silva. Described by The Times as Brazil’s answer ...

Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole don’t like each other. Anyone with a passing knowledge in English football knows that. In the wake of the Terry-Bridge scandal, the ability of professional footballers to play competently alongside people they disliked was discussed frequently, with the general assumption in some quarters being that footballers should be unaffected, emotionless robots of some kind, unquestionably adept at soldiering on with a stiff upper lip, ...

Last week it was announced that Michael Owen has been ruled out for the rest of the season and the World Cup because of a hamstring injury sustained in the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa. This latest setback for Owen raises the question: should his career be regarded as a flop considering ...

There was a time when Chelsea appeared to be a winning machine. Under Jose Mourinho and his 4-3-3 system, the sight of Chelsea on your club’s fixture list was an ominous sight. Whilst today under Carlo Ancelotti the club arguably plays slightly more attractive football, there is a feeling amongst clubs that you ...

Whilst Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara maybe having the season of his life on loan at Portsmouth, but where does long term future lie?

The combative midfielder has impressed tremendously this season at Portsmouth having being loaned out by Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. Tottenham currently have ample options in the midfield with the likes of Luka Modric, Tom ...

The Premier League is a funny old place sometimes. The likes of City and Chelsea have the money to sign whoever they wish, but nobody wants to go there, whilst players are queuing up to sign for Liverpool, but the club has no money to buy them. The irony must not be lost on Liverpool supporters.

Countless players ...

The International Football Association Board are an odd bunch of people. As are FIFA, UEFA, and seemingly every group of assembled officials with vaguely unspecific and meaningless titles who convene when the moon is full to decide the crucial matters of football governance. The decision this week that the use of any technology in football is a definite no no should come as no no surprise to those who’ve followed the constant ...

Arsene Wenger has performed a sensational U-turn on the fitness of Cesc Fabregas, by refusing to risk the midfielder for tomorrow’s key Champions League clash against Porto, after the Arsenal captain suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury in the win over Burnley on Saturday.

Wenger previously said he ...

The influx of foreign players in the Premier League has dramatically increased. A report by the BBC showed that at the beginning of the 1992 Premier League season, 76% of players in the starting eleven were English; at the start of the 2007 season the figure had dropped to 37%.

In comparison only a few English players have chosen to move abroad. The English Premier league generates the most money through ...

So it seems Alexander Hleb could be on his way back to the Premier League. With the player himself insisting that he enjoyed his time in England, and Manchester City (unsurprisingly) and Aston Villa both showing an interest, it seems it could be time for the Belarusian to return. Would it be a wise move for a player who has struggled since ...

Friday’s news that Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves is set to make a comeback in the United reserves this week have provided a welcome boost for Sir Alex Ferguson. On the same day that Michael Owen was ruled out for the season through injury, Hargreaves’ imminent return could drastically improve United’s title chances.

The 29 year old

What must it be like to be a Manchester United youth prospect? All the best facilities and tutelage, all those illustrious names who’ve gone before you, the invaluable experience and insight you must get cleaning the boots of true genuine legends. Do they still do that? Probably not, but they probably clean something. Their Ferraris aren’t going to clean themselves are they?

Not all of ...

Seven games ago Mick McCarthy took the decision to deviate from his preferred 4-4-2 formation at Wolves. In his three-and-a-half years at the club he had rarely strayed from this tactic, but due to Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s unforeseen poor form, Big Mick decided the time was right to switch to a 4-5-1 set up. Of ...

After 35 years languishing in the bottom tier of the football league, it seems Rochdale are finally poised to seal their place in League One for next season.

Manager Keith Hill has been building a promotion winning team for over three years now and it is a testament to the Rochdale board for sticking by such an ambitious young manager when others would have lost patience.

Following an uncharacteristic slip-up with a 1-1 ...