When Bolton Wanderers’ Fabrice Muamba collapsed during a televised Premier League football match, the issue of potentially fatal heart conditions among young footballers made the headlines. Muamba was one of the lucky ones, as medical teams from both Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur managed to revive him on the pitch. More than 80 professional and semi-professional players have died while...

Grassroots referees in England have suffered a torrid time in recent years. Rising levels of verbal and physical abuse have led to thousands of FA referees leaving the game for good. And despite the relaunch of the Respect campaign, England’s match officials came perilously close to a nationwide strike last year. A major advertising campaign and a new, zero-tolerance approach...

The Football Association is at a crossroads in its illustrious history. Facing threats of forced modernisation by the government, the game’s governing body in England knows it needs to be more representative of the game it promotes. Finally, it seems that the constant threats from MPs are finally having a positive effect, as the FA has just announced plans to...

In this age of instant rewards and gratification, it is often too easy for youngsters to give up on their footballing dreams at the first sign of trouble. But had Mo Salah taken that attitude, he wouldn’t now be one of World football’s hottest properties. The prolific Liverpool forward’s rags to riches story is truly inspirational, and it should be...

One of football’s greatest mysteries is why China and India haven’t performed on the World stage. Combined, these countries account for around 40% of the global population, yet they both struggle to make any sort of impact in the World’s most popular sport. But something is happening in India, and it could be the start of a footballing revolution. A...

The potential link between repeatedly heading footballs and brain injury has been discussed many times over the years. However, the BBC documentary Alan Shearer: Dementia, Football and Me seems to have taken the discussion to the next level. Following intense campaigning from key figures in both football and the medical profession, a study into the connection between heading and brain...

This Christmas there could be some disappointed Premier League football fans that were hoping to wake up to their team’s football kit as research from The Soccer Store shows the cost difference between replica football kits is huge. Fans keen to snap up a Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, or Chelsea kit can expect to pay over £100, while other diehard...

A number of County FA’s observed a Silent Sidelines weekend this month in an attempt to improve the behaviour of coaches and spectators at grassroots youth football matches. Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire’s FAs both held a “Respect Weekend” that involved strict guidelines on what coaches and spectators could do during matches — and by all accounts the initiative was a complete...

Switch on to Premier League football, and there’s a good chance that, sooner or later, you’ll see an example of unprofessional behaviour from the game’s big stars. Unfortunately, we’re now conditioned to accept this as part of the game, but this definitely shouldn’t be the case. The highest paid athletes in the UK are swearing, intimidating officials and opposition players...

The Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 tragically killed 96 Liverpool FC fans on a day that should have brought joy. One of the legacies of the catastrophe is the continued ban on standing in the upper echelons of English football. However, there are signs that the stance of the FA, the Football League and the police is softening. It’s important to...