FourFourTwo UK

X @JamesAndrew_ E james.andrew@futurenet.com Monday, June 11, 1990 was the first time I remember watching Gary Lineker play. His goal gave England the lead against the Republic of Ireland at Italia 90, in a 1-1 draw. I was six at the time and don’t remember much else about the game, but his further strikes against Cameroon and West Germany made him a hero in my fledgling years as a football fan. Saturday, August 14, 2004 was the first time Lineker presented Match of the Day with my team Fulham as a top-flight club. A draw at Manchester City was the first time I’d seen our highlights preceded by the iconic theme music and Lineker’s links. It felt like we’d made it (we had been promoted three years earlier, but ITV…

HISTORY, AT LAST LONDON, ENGLAND Fittingly, television coverage was still in black and white when Newcastle won the Fairs Cup in 1969. The red of Liverpool has shone brightly in the age of colour, but last month’s League Cup final went retro with celebrations in monochrome. Finally, the Toon’s glory day had arrived. Pic Liverpool FC/Getty “WHICH PLAYER DO I MARK, GAFFER?!” PARIS, FRANCE Fixtures between PSG and Marseille are usually bedlam, such is the rivalry, although chaos was manufactured this time thanks to a clever composite image of various moments from the match. It’s added-time multi-ball! Pic Hector Vivas/PSG/Getty A LEAP OF FAITH LONDON, ENGLAND Forget the Rumbelows Sprint Challenge, when ’90s players raced each other in 100m dashes up and down the land. Now, it’s time for the Ryan Sessegnon…

Aged 33, Xherdan Shaqiri is back where it all began, transformed by what he achieved while he was away. Having left Basel as a hot prospect in 2012, he returned in 2024 as an all-time Swiss great. It was an emotional reunion, as the forward was greeted by thousands of fans outside St Jakob-Park. Basel were Shaqiri’s boyhood club, and the launchpad for a hugely varied career which has seen him play in six different countries. The Kosovan refugee has lifted multiple trophies, including the Champions League with Bayern Munich and Liverpool, and earned 125 international caps before retiring from Switzerland duty last year, having scored at six major tournaments. Yet he has faced adversity, too. He has toiled on the sidelines at super-clubs or as the star man in…

01 Bayer Leverkusen lost just one match in all competitions last season – who finally got the better of them in the Europa League final? 02 Which player has scored the most goals in Champions League finals (1992-present), with four strikes? 03 New England manager Thomas Tuchel began his coaching career with which Bundesliga outfit? 04 Former Blackburn and Aston Villa defender Alan Wright holds which ‘physical’ Premier League record? 05 Southampton, Leicester and West Ham are among Premier League clubs to have changed manager this term. Which men were at the helm when the season began in August? 06 Newcastle’s 2025 League Cup Final win against Liverpool ended how long a wait for domestic trophy success? 07 Which Dutch playmaker, once of Tottenham, scooped the very first Golden Boy…

On Sunday, May 18, you’ll struggle to find a dry eye at Goodison Park. It’ll be the final goodbye; the last league game to be played at The Grand Old Lady. There’s sadness among Evertonians as Goodison opens its gates for the final few times, after 120 years hosting Everton FC. Supporters, players and legends of the club are all savouring the last memories they’ll get to share at the ground. It’s one of the Premier League’s charming old stadiums. The super-tight tunnel emerging from underground to pitchside; the concrete walls and tiny gangways that get crowded at half-time as fans queue for a pie and a pint. Its blue and white seats set so close to the pitch that the front row can almost touch it. The Gwladys Street…

“I GOT ON THE PITCH, HAD A LOOK LEFT AND REALISED I WAS IN MIDFIELD WITH BORO BOSS CHRIS WILDER” What was the first game you ever attended? Middlesbrough vs Inter in 1996. It was a pre-season friendly and I was in the North Stand, our hardcore stand at Boro. We’d just signed Fabrizio Ravanelli – I think that was his first game. Do you have a matchday routine? You get off the train and there’s a long walk past a few pubs and the Transporter Bridge. For the first games I went to, we’d go to the pubs by Ayresome Park – I think there was a pub called The Ayresome and we’d go there. I’d get to the ground pretty early, watch the teams warm up and buy…