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A collection of long reads.
In his own words, Tommy Smith was "mentally done with football" in the summer of 2023, when his spell with League Two outfit Colchester United had run its course.
It feels as though the next chapter in Iliman Ndiaye's remarkable story is about to play out.
"It's been a while since Italian football was at its best," says Andrea Pirlo, a defeated look etched across his timeless face. "Football has changed and unfortunately we've been left behind."
As the exceptional Max Dowman made Premier League history by becoming the competition's youngest-ever scorer, another Hale End graduate was being inundated with minute-by-minute updates.
"I think I'm ready," says Hayden Hackney, his voice caught with emotion. "To be able to play in the Premier League would mean everything. It’s a dream. I would be so proud of myself for getting there."
On the evening of May 15, 2011, a second-string Barcelona side failed to score for the first time in 34 league games as they played out a 0-0 draw against relegation-threatened Deportivo La Coruna.
It was a comment that stuck with Evan Ferguson. “I remember Patrice Evra saying in one of his interviews that Italy is a completely different game,” the striker tells SPORTbible. “He also said England felt like he was on his holidays. I swear it’s one of the hardest things I’ve done."
Beau Greaves can remember throwing a dart for the first time. “My brother was playing FIFA on the Xbox and I just started chucking at the board in his bedroom,” she tells SPORTbible, a week before her World Championship opener. “He couldn’t believe it.”
“No one understands me," says Tyler Morton, his distinctive Scouse accent still very much intact. "I’ve done two half-time interviews so far and I swear to god, the translator tried to translate and just started laughing. He didn’t have a clue what I was saying!"
Like many onlookers at the time, Saul Isaksson-Hurst was convinced. “I used to tell his brother, ‘He’ll win the Ballon d’Or one day’,” the former Chelsea youth coach tells SPORTbible. “I still believe it. Rio Ngumoha has the potential to be one of the best in the world.”
As far as stories in football go, this one is extra special – even if Georgi Minoungou is too humble to say so. "I wasn’t supposed to be here," he tells SPORTbible. "I should’ve retired at 20. But now, every game is like a final to me."
"It’s kind of funny when I think about it now," says Oliver Provstgaard, his smile widening. "I arrived on the scene, won one of the biggest tournaments, and then just walked away. It almost felt disrespectful."
In his own words, Donny van de Beek feels like a footballer again. "I've played more minutes this season than the previous four combined," he tells SPORTbible from his home in northeast Catalonia. "It feels like I’m finally on the right path."
In late January, as the Spanish transfer window neared its conclusion, an incoming call from an old friend took Bebé by surprise. It was Paco Jémez. "From the first moment I called him, he told me he was coming," says Jémez with a wry smile.
Thierry Henry has given his thoughts on being compared to Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak as the in-form Swede continues to shine on the Premier League stage.
"I'm just so grateful to be playing again after everything I've been through," says Jack Harper, his eyes welling with emotion. "Football forgets about you quickly but now I'm working towards getting another chance."
In his own words, Loris Karius has done a lot of reflecting lately. "I feel like over the last few years, whatever I did — or however much effort I put into training — it still wasn’t good enough," he tells SPORTbible. "It has been difficult to recover from this situation."
As soon as he walked through the newly-refurbished doors at Carrington, Silva Mexes was impressed."He's got to feel like he’s in the right environment and you could tell straight away," says former Wales international Robert Earnshaw, who joined his son at the multi-million-pound training facility. "He was smiling a lot."
The date is February 21st. It has been 46 hours since Tom Huddlestone scored the decisive goal for Manchester United under-21s in their derby win over Manchester City and the post-match reaction from his latest outing is still being discussed by many.
Gael Kakuta woke up on the morning of February 19, 2024, to what can only be described as an overwhelming number of missed calls and unread messages.
It is a story that Patrick Williams, the founder of Bristol Inner City Football Academy, describes as being a “one in a billion” occurrence. “A young lad has gone from playing amateur football to Serie A,” he says. “This sort of thing just doesn’t happen."
“I’ll be honest. I didn't want to join Wolves," Fabio Silva says, three years after making a club-record £35 million move to Molineux. "It wasn't the right time to leave Porto. I wanted to stay for one or two more years. I felt like that was the best thing for my career."
"I've spoken to a few people recently and they've all said the same thing," says Fankaty Dabo, more than a year after a series of events changed the landscape of his career. “They say memories in football are short. Everyone forgets what's happened and who you are. I've learned that football is very cruel."
“For him to come out and say that meant a lot," says Maxi Oyedele, just days after former teammate Bruno Fernandes described him as humble, hard-working and technically brilliant. "To be honest, it's an unbelievable thing for a player like that to even mention me."
Every so often, a story that sounds more like a movie script will remind us of how incredible life can be. At around 9pm on Monday night, I wanted to get in touch with Spielberg himself after hearing Francisco ‘Paco’ Zuniga speak about his journey.
For more than a decade, the tight-knit community of Forráskút — a tiny village in southern Hungary — have treated their very own honorary citizen like family. Drive through its narrow streets and you might spot a local wearing the yellow and blue of Greek Super League side Asteras Tripolis; his latest team.
Fresh from lifting the Premier League trophy in front of more than 53,000 fans, Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku has transported himself back to the small district of Borgerhout in Antwerp, Belgium to reminisce about a special part of his childhood.
Six months and six days. That's how long Ruben Amorim had spent at third-tier Portuguese side Casa Pia when he made an announcement that would leave a dressing room in tears.
As the national anthem of Indonesia echoes around the 78,000-capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, the captain of Southeast Asia's largest country looks over to see his grandmother in tears.
"I've been through difficult times," Hachim Mastour says, over a decade after scouts from Europe's elite lined up on a bobbly touchline in northern Italy to watch him play. "I suffered from depression but I came out of it stronger. I've found my smile and pleasure in football again."
A fallen giant of Icelandic football have hired a devoted gamer with more than 13,700 hours of playing time on Football Manager as their new head coach.
If you're anything like me and spend an unhealthy amount of time watching nostalgia-based, football-related content on TikTok and Instagram, then you may have stumbled across Ollie Jenks; the face behind popular card-breaking channel Paolo Panini.
At a busy leisure centre in Wilmslow, Cheshire, there is a brief moment of silence as Nivaldo ‘Rodrigues’ Ferreira makes a quick dash into the entrance foyer. The 35-year-old shrugs his shoulders after another heavy downpour of rain. "The weather is not like this in Brazil!" he laughs.
It is 9:04pm on the evening of October 4th, 2023, and a collective gasp of anticipation echoes around a crowded executive box in the upper Milburn Stand. For what feels like the umpteenth time, several members of the Longstaff family are on their feet.
There are still a lot of things we don't know about Nick Powell. And for good reason.
Vincent Kompany made a statement of intent on the morning of Monday June 5, when newly-promoted Burnley returned to 'pre-pre-season training' at Barnfield, just 29 days after their final Championship game of the season against Cardiff City.
"I actually remember thinking, 'What’s happened to me? Have I fizzled out that much; to the point where a bigger team isn't going to take me on a free?’ I always wanted to be a free agent at this age but now it's come around... things are different." Like he has on several occasions during our hour-long chat, Danny Drinkwater is being open and honest about the past 12 months of his life.
Every now and then, a certain American pronunciation slips through the net when Charlie Trout speaks. For the most part, his broad East Midlands accent dominates the conversation as we chat over a Zoom call from Chicago, but after more than a decade in the States, his subtle use of the word 'soccer' feels almost illegal. "My mates from England always pick up on the way I talk nowadays," he tells SPORTbible. "It's been a while."
A concept from the Pixar-animated film Inside Out suggests we have five 'core memories' that can shape our lives. For Alex Scott, a conversation with his dad during a car journey in Southampton - and the significant events that followed - will go down as one of those defining moments.
"Do I miss England? Yes," says Morten Gamst Pedersen, his eyes welling up at the thought. "Every time I come back to Manchester, it feels like home. I spent almost 10 years there and they were the most important years of my football career. It will always be a special place for me. You never know... maybe I will come back one day."
It is a Monday afternoon in Milan and the excitement is already palpable on the cobbled streets of this charming city. We are just days away from one of the most eagerly-anticipated semi-final games in recent Champions League history when one of Europe's most in-demand defenders sits down with us, half an hour before the start of training.
At the age of 15, on a playing field near Brunton Park, I was told, without much explanation or reasoning, that I was going to be released by a League Two side after more than three years in their academy set-up.
In a Manchester City team that boasts five of Transfermarkt's top 10 most valuable Premier League players - Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva - it is an often underappreciated member of Pep Guardiola's side that is being recognised for his priceless contribution of late.
Even now, it's still hard for Charly Musonda to talk about that day in 2018 and the knock-on effect it had on a career that promised so much.
At his home in Utah, a state situated in the western part of the United States, Jeff Dewsnup is opening up on his decision to quit football. "I've finally reached the point where I'm comfortable talking about my mental health," he tells SPORTbible. "It was something I was struggling with.
It's been a while since Freddy Adu played a competitive game of football. Four years, one month and 25 days, to be exact. On the evening of October 13, 2018, a man that single-handedly catapulted 'soccer' into mainstream culture in America made his final appearance for the Las Vegas Lights -- an unspectacular 56-minute cameo against second-tier Sacramento FC.
"It was the last home game and he didn't put me on. I just thought, can you not put me on, even if it was just for the last five minutes so I can clap the fans and have a send-off? I felt like I deserved that, to be honest.”
It is almost 48 hours since he shared a pitch with seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi and Jamal Lowe is recalling the lowest point of his career to date. "At that point, I thought I'd never play football again," he tells SPORTbible. "I couldn't believe it. I was devastated."
Angel Gomes wants to set the record straight once and for all. "I think a lot of people got the wrong impression when I left United," he tells SPORTbible from his home in northern France. "When people ask me how difficult it was to leave, I try to explain.
If everything falls into place, Matty Cash will stand alongside Lionel Messi in Stadium 974 - a temporary venue made from 974 recycled shipping containers - when Poland face Argentina at this winter's World Cup. "I'll have played against the two GOATs this month," the 25-year-old tells SPORTbible, just days after facing Cristiano Ronaldo.
In his own words, Marcus Maddison was in a dark place when he contemplated crashing his car on the way to a game. "It's awful to say but I literally just wanted to take a picture of my car in a ditch, just to say I couldn't make it in," he tells SPORTbible.
It's an image that will go down in the history of internet culture. On the evening of May 8, 2002, in the bustling city of Rotterdam, a well-taken brace from set-piece specialist Pierre van Hooijdonk helped Feyenoord beat German champions Borussia Dortmund in a memorable UEFA Cup final.
On the evening of August 29, 2021, a record-breaking number of people in France sat down to watch Lionel Messi's long-awaited debut for Paris Saint-Germain. It was, according to figures, the most-viewed Ligue 1 fixture in history.
Eleven years ago, the chance of becoming Football's Next Star was just a dream but after 7,000 applicants, seven hour-long episodes and a tense final showdown, Ben Greenhalgh was offered a six-month professional contract with Inter Milan.
Fabrice Muamba pauses for a second. He takes a deep breath and looks at the man who helped save his life on that harrowing evening in north London. "Doc, you know when I was in the hospital, did you think I would have woken up?" "No," says Dr Jonathan Tobin, nine years on.
Like thousands of young hopefuls looking to make a career in the often cruel and unforgiving world of professional football, Ben Brereton was stopped in his tracks when Stoke City decided against offering him a full-time scholarship in 2015. The 16-year-old had a big decision to make.
"I had a bunch of paparazzi outside my door," recalls Wayne Shaw on the anniversary of pie-gate. "They were trying to get to my wife and children for a story. It was crazy. I was eventually whisked away and put in a hotel for two days."
It's 2:15pm on a Wednesday afternoon and Ruben Dias has joined a Zoom call with SPORTbible from the hydrotherapy area inside Manchester City's Etihad campus. "Hello, how are you?" he asks, holding the phone as he sits in an ice bath. A self-confessed man of routine, Dias knows the importance of rest and recovery.
Ronaldinho has landed in the "beautiful" city of Paris; a place that brings back fond memories for the Brazilian. "I made lots of friends in this city and left many behind," he tells SPORTbible from the French capital. "So when I have the chance to come back, it's a real pleasure.
"I will fight very hard to be there," says a determined Ansu Fati, just days before making his highly-anticipated comeback against Mallorca. "To be with the national team is always a dream of mine, especially during a World Cup. I've dreamt about winning that trophy my whole life, so let's see."
It is matchday and Rene Meulensteen is wandering around the FedEx Field stadium in Landover, Maryland as Manchester United prepare to end their three-week tour of America with a clash against European champions Barcelona. Two months earlier, the mighty Blaugrana secured another Champions League title after a dominant display against Sir Alex Ferguson's men at Wembley.
"Really? Oh sh*t, that's a lot," says Supat Rungratsamee, taken aback by the number of goals he scored for my Carlisle United side on Championship Manager 03/04. "I've never known someone to have scored so many in a single season."
On the morning of January 22, 2021, Jordon Ibe bravely opened up about his battle with mental health. In a statement on Instagram, the former Wycombe Wanderers, Liverpool and Bournemouth winger addressed his struggles to the world. "I've found myself in a dark place due to suffering from depression," he wrote. "It's no scheme for the media or to have my name in your mouths, I just find things hard, truly."
"You could say making your Premier League debut at 22 is quite late, but I've taken a different pathway. I'm so happy I did it." It was a process that helped define Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. A loan spell in England's second-tier has allowed some of the country's brightest talents to realise their full potential of late.
Me: "Neil, were you ever offered the England job?" NW: "No, give over!" Me: "Would you have taken it if they approached you?" NW: "You're joking? It's the worst job in the world. You can't win." Me: "Well then, let's make it happen..."
On an early morning Zoom call, former Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn and West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has just been told that he will be spending Newcastle United's gargantuan transfer kitty on the latest edition of Football Manager. "I've never had a £200 million budget before," he laughs.
Congo's largest city is overcast but inside a local hospital, away from the heavy winds and torrential rain, a baby boy brings a ray of sunshine to proceedings; a Championship Manager legend is born. Tonton Zola Moukoko's name will certainly resonate with hardcore fans of the popular football management series.
It is written all over his face. Bojan Krkic has transported himself back to a wet and windy Tuesday night inside the Britannia Stadium; a place he affectionately calls his second home. "Oh yes, the cold nights in Stoke," he says with a warm smile. "It's beautiful. It's just beautiful.
Morten Gamst Pedersen can feel a tear sliding down his cheek. "I tried to hold in all my emotions, but I couldn't." It is May 4, 2013, and a sentimental Pedersen is standing in the tunnel at St Andrew's as he prepares to make his 349th appearance for Blackburn Rovers; a final day of the season clash against Championship side Birmingham City.
Mika Aaritalo looks down at the ground and laughs. The game t hat catapulted his name into the spotlight has become a main topic of conversation. "There is nothing in real life that came close to my stats on Football Manager," he says, almost dejectedly. "It is like a second identity."
"When the Champions League anthem was playing, I looked up and realised how big this moment was. Then I remembered what he [Jurgen [Klopp] said to me before the game. It took a big weight off my shoulders. It gave me so much confidence."
In the football world, Nadia Nadim is a prolific Danish international with 98 caps under her belt. Last season, she played a crucial role in Paris Saint-Germain lifting the Division 1 title for the first time in their history, scoring 18 goals in 27 games.
How will people react? Am I going to get abuse from fans? Are players not going to accept me? Will I have to move to another club? These are just some of the questions going through Andy Brennan's head as he prepares to make one of the biggest decisions of his life.
With the unmistakable sound of Peter Drury's commentary still fresh in his memory, Siphiwe Tshabalala sits back in his chair and delivers a trademark smile. It has been 10 years since that life-changing moment in Johannesburg and here we are, watching the greatest moment of his career on a Zoom call.
It is April 2019 and an unemployed Florent Indalecio has just responded to a job advert on Gumtree. "I took a picture wearing all the clothes," he tells SPORTbible. "I said I had previous experience but I didn't.
It has been four years since David Cox tried to end his own life in the most horrifying way imaginable. After months of suffering from mental health issues, the former Kilmarnock and Annan Athletic forward decided to grab a knife from the kitchen.
Bobby Copping knew something was wrong almost immediately. After climbing to head away a routine cross during a pre-season training session in July last year, he fell to the ground. "The next thing I knew I was basically blind," he tells SPORTbible. "I couldn't see a thing."
Alessandro Arlotti knows he has sacrificed everything to be in this position. "Many people have said it's going to be hard, but I'm young," he tells SPORTbible from his new home in Boston. "I want to dream as much as possible. I will do everything that I can to make this happen."
Eleven years on and Alejandro "Álex" Sánchez looks back at that history-making substitute appearance in front of 50,000 fans as a life-changing chapter in his story. "It was the best moment of my life for sure. It was a dream come true. It was everything I had fought for since I was born."
It is a journey that begins around a dinner table in Preston. The year is 1996 and after a long day at school, the latest edition of Championship Manager brings an argument to the home of Shadab Iftikhar. His brother has refused to let him play, so a well-timed tantrum is thrown and mum intervenes.
Sharad was in a bad way so he flew home to Kuala Lumpur. Soon, he decided to try his luck and power up a game of Football Manager for the first time since his symptoms began appearing. As the loading screen flashed across his screen, he quickly rediscovered a love for the game... and his memory.
This time last year, on a bobbly pitch in East London, Kyrell and Kyreece Lisbie were playing Sunday League football with their mates after numerous setbacks at academy level. Last week, one of the twins received a call up to train with Watford's first team; three years after being told he wasn't good enough by the club.
Daniele Bellini wipes away the sweat from his hand and onto his trousers before taking a deep breath. He composes himself, raises a wide smile and lifts the microphone to his lips. "GOL PER Il NAPOLI!" he screams, as 55,000 people inside the Stadio San Paulo wait in anticipation. "THE SCORER...
Those behind the scenes at popular TV show Wayne Rooney's Street Striker arrive at a Powerleague pitch in the suburbs of North London. It's the height of summer in 2009 and hundreds of talented young footballers are desperate to impress onlooking scouts. The quest to find Britain's most talented street footballer has officially begun.
It's just 24 hours after Josh Hope made the hardest decision of his life. "The anxiety was crazy," he tells SPORTbible. "It's something I never really understood but was always aware of. I would go to sleep dreading waking up, and wake up dreading going to train.
On Sunday night, inside the famous Rhein Energie Stadion in Cologne, Manchester United winger Daniel James could make his 46th appearance of the season when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side come up against Sevilla in the semi-final stages of the Europa League.
Former Bayern Munich prospect Dale Jennings will spend his weekends this season playing for Runcorn Town, a semi-professional side in the ninth tier of English football.
