
IN FREEZING cold weather conditions on a Thursday night amid the post-Christmas and new year lull, you could forgive a football stadium for not being at its best, but somehow, even in the most testing times, Goodison Park always turns up.
It continues to do so despite the Everton FC of recent years playing some of its worst football since a notoriously bad spell in 1994. At times, it might even have been worse.

Palestinian football has been decimated, its players killed, its stadiums reduced to rubble. Yet the global game has looked away silent in the face of genocide, and will remain a stain on the sport, writes JAMES NALTON

The Red’s title defence is built on clever recruitment, long-term planning, and data-led strategy. In contrast, the Magpies are falling behind — and blaming the wrong things, writes JAMES NALTON

With climate change, commercial overload and endless fixtures, footballers are being pushed to breaking point. It’s time their unions became a more powerful, unified force, writes JAMES NALTON