Sporting Intelligence

Clearing out my house after 20 years ahead of a move this summer, I've chanced upon a treasure trove of childhood football memories.

Sam Kunti's definitive book about Brazil in 1970 is now out in paperback: Carlos Alberto, Pelé, Gérson, Jairzinho, Rivellino, Tostão et al - a team like no other, before or since

With this summer’s men’s soccer World Cup just weeks away, and with the 48 squads for the competing nations being revealed thick and fast, I thought it was timely to re-publish a piece from the oringinal Sporting Intellligence website from 2015, about the history of the word “soccer”, which is in fact quintessentially English.

As a Sportingintelligence reader, you like quirky stuff alongside big investigations, nerdy stats and a broader look at sport. Here's a tip where to find more of the same...

More than 13 years after a huge investigation into a man who hoaxed newspapers, football clubs and Sky News, the follow-up: how he hoaxed lawyers and Whitehall

Never heard of Rob Beal, aka "the man who hoaxed The Times"? This look back in time to a big story I wrote in 2013 might surprise you.

Roberto De Zerbi has been appointed as Tottenham's new manager on a five-year deal worth a reported £12m a year. Up close at Brighton, I saw how he operates

Use burner phones. Beware of your social media. Have contingency plans. As thousands of reporters prepare to cover the FIFA World Cup, concerns grow over the Trump administration crackdown on critics

Some of the world's biggest and richest clubs were getting smashed to smithereens by opponents from clubs in fellow "Big 5" divisions. What on earth was going on?

Some of the world's biggest and richest clubs were getting smashed to smithereens by opponents from clubs in fellow "Big 5" divisions. What on earth was going on?

Do workload and riches explain the "chaos" of the last 16 in this season's Champions League? Plus by a first follow-up (of several) on last week's "Fraudizio" investigation

The Italian "influencer" who has never worked as a real journalist, has 100m+ followers on social media and leverages them for cash. This is a tale about modern sports media

Football's major governing bodies, not least UEFA, which governs the world's richest leagues, continue to help the biggest, richest clubs in getting richer and more powerful

On Tuesday, Southampton went to Leicester for a Championship match and were 3-0 down at half-time. But they won 4-3. It was utterly extraordinary, and here's why

What does a betting firm PR man have in common with a London lingerie model and a Malaysian punk singer? They have all been used as fronts for dodgy sports sponsors

What happens when a sporting superstar who has become a cherished national figure faces issues that need scrutiny? Tact, lawyers and PRs tend to collide in the fallout

Yesterday I wrote a piece about “the Epstein files” and some links to sport and how “document dumps” can be both a journalistic blessing and a curse.

Leaks of incendiary materials can be full of red herrings, banalities and bullshit. Diligent reporters sift the wheat from the chaff. It's not easy. But it can be fruitful

The Premier League began investigating alleged rule-breaking by Man City in late 2018, charging them with 115 rule breaches in 2023. Into an eighth year, the case rumbles on

Deloitte's latest 'Football Money League' dropped yesterday, detailing the richest 30 clubs in the world by revenue. Today I'll look at what their wage bills tell us about them