Recent Member Blog Posts: Dedicated Page

As regular visitors to the Football Blog Directory may have noticed, the menu at the top of our page has changed. There is now an additional page on the site dedicated to recent member blog posts. This page provides details of the 100 most recent blog postings by listed blog members, along with an introductory paragraph and links to that blog article.

The whole purpose of this site is to drive more web traffic to football blogs and to raise awareness of the many football blogs available online. The recent member blog posts page is another way of increasing traffic to your blog. The page is fed from our RSS feed, so if your blog is listed on the directory but you do not see your articles appearing in the feed then please send us details of your RSS feed and we will make sure it is added to the list.

If you think of any other ideas that you would like to see included on the Football Blog Directory then please do not hesitate to email and let us know. Any ideas that will help increase traffic to the directory, and so then onto your blogs, will be greatly appreciated.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side....

Sean Mcconville - Even with his own uncle as assistant manager of Stanley, he decided to join Stockport County. A team which had suffered 2 back to back relegation's and were currently in the Blue Square Premier. I know what your thinking, why go there? Guess the reason? '£££££' - Money. Stockport had recently been backed by a man called Tony Evans who 'promised' to sort the club out and get it back on track, including a new stadium and a load of cash. With this money, they brought in ex-liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann as manager. They also offered Mcconville 'Double' wages which lured him away from the already weakened Stanley side....

Read the full article here!

Liverpool Beat Chelsea Again 2-0

Liverpool sensationally beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for the second time in 9 days.

They may thank Craig Bellamy for his role in setting up the two goals for Maxi and Martin Kelly in the 2nd-half.

The result stretches Liverpool's unbeaten run to 11 in all competitions and we kept another clean sheet.

Kenny Dalglish opted to rest several players after Sunday's draw with Man City. In came Coates, Kelly, Spearing, Maxi and Carroll.

Liverpool started quite well and were awarded a penalty when Alex handled in the box.
Carroll took the spot-kick but he hit a tame shot which Turnbull easily saved.
Chelsea never capitalised on the error though and Liverpool were the better side, Enrique had a shot saved on 40 mins.
Reina saved well at the feet of Malouda then Lukatu headed a Boswinga cross wide
So, nil-nil at half-time with plenty to play for.

See Full Report

Iñigo Martínez: Spain's New Scorer of Great Goals

There are great goalscorers and scorers of great goals. Spain has had many of both in its time, with Real Madrid legend Raúl and current Barcelona hitman David Villa instantly springing to mind as great goalscorers for the current World and European champions. A scorer of great goals however, is someone who may not be a regular on the score-sheet but when they do make trouble the back of the net it is usually in memorable fashion.

Iñigo Martínez - who he? - is fast becoming one of the latter, thanks to the spectacular start to his professional career. The 20 year old Basque born central defender has only been promoted to Real Sociedad's first team squad this season and introduced himself to the fans with this unforgettable strike from his own half against fierce local rivals Athletic Bilbao:



Read more at http://www.resultsbasedbusiness.co.uk/

A Proper Football Ground - Roots Hall

Although Roots Hall, home to Southend United, is quite dated, it is bursting with character. Every stand has its its own unique feature, making for a great setting. It’s a real shame that the club are looking to relocate from their home of nearly 60 years in the near future. So for anyone who appreciates a traditional stadium, this one needs to be seen while you still have the chance.

Click here to see the full review and set of photos.
Sorry this link has been reported as dead

Revolutionary Road

Another week passes and once again another manager finds himself under the overhanging cloud of impending doom and gloom. In August it was Arsene Wenger’s head being offered up as a sacrificial lamb to the ever-hungry gods of the managerial merry-go-round. November seems to belong to Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas. Not a week goes by without fans calling for Steve Kean’s P45 at Ewood Park and after a run of bad form, the Spotlight of Doom seems to be settling in on Steve Bruce at Sunderland. Round and round we go. Where it stops nobody knows.

As winter wraps its cold winds around us and the league tables begin to cement themselves after the flux of the opening exchanges, chairmen faced with fears of revenue losses begin to get jittery and aided by a panic-obssessed media, let their fingers hover over the eject button. It doesn’t seem to register that despite a slight improvement in performances after appointing a New Man, the roots of a club’s downfall often run much deeper than a hasty cosmetic makeover. It’s rare that real change can ever be implemented in time to avoid disaster, in whatever shape it may come - whether that be in demotion or failure to finish in a Champions League spot.

Read more here: http://dispatchesfromafootballsofa.com/2011/11/27/revolutionary-road/

Lawro Latest

The big news this week in Lawroland is that Manchester United have opened up a gap over their close rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. Chelsea and Arsenal hold the remaining two Champions League spots, while Sunderland remain in contention for a Europa League place.

Alan Pardew must be preparing himself for the annual NUFC P45 as his Newcastle team collected their 9th defeat of the season at Old Trafford and now find themselves escaping a relegation spot only on goal difference. No team has lost more games this season than the happless Magpies!



Click on the image above to see in more detail.

Let's wait and see what wonders Lawro has in store for us next week!

Football Blog Directory Facebook Page

The Football Blog Directory now has a facebook page. Please take the time to visit the page and hit the like button. Everything that we can all do to promote the site will have a knock on benefit to all of the blogs listed. After all, the more visitors to the site then the more visitors to the blogs listed. Everyone wins!



As well as promoting the directory, one of the purposes of the facebook page is to include a link to every newly added blog to the directory. This will, combined with the new layout of the category pages, mean that each new listing will get up to 15 quality and relevant back links to their blog.

Derby Days: Vikings vs Indians

At 8pm on Saturday evening, Madrileños, and many from across the globe, settled down to watch the Spanish capitals top two teams the 'Vikings' and 'Indians', go head to head. If your Spanish footballing nicknames are not quite up to scratch that's Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid respectively. We have spread our wings for this edition of 'Derby Days' and ended up in Madrid as this weekend’s El Derbi Madrileño is an occasion which more than fits into this humble feature's requirements.

This was the first meeting of the 2 sides this season, with Real aiming to repeat their 2 victories of last year against their city rivals and had home advantage with the match being hosted at the world famous Santiago Bernabéu. In the 146 matches between the 2 sides, Real have amassed a staggering 80 victories, to Atlético’s 35, with 31 games ending in a tie. There was more than just points at stake last night as the el Derbi Madrileño is a long established affair, which had its first league meeting on the 21st February 1929. This game took place at Real’s old ground Chamartín with the home side winning 2-1. Prior to this meeting Atlético had been founded by Basque students in 1903 who were later joined by rebels from the then Madrid FC, and have been seen as the southern working class side, an image which meant they were destined to rival the middle class Real from the north. 

Read the rest of the article at http://www.resultsbasedbusiness.co.uk/

There's No Place Like Home

There's no place like home, and for me, that home is the Pristfield Stadium. Priestfield has changed dramatically since 1995, with all four stands having been re-built. The ground is completely surrounded by terraced housing, while this is not a good thing in terms of ground development, I much prefer football grounds in this sort of traditional location as opposed to an out of town setting.

Click here to see the full review and set of photos.

Gary Speed

The news that Gary Speed has died at the age of only 42 is both shocking and tragic. While lots of the mainstream media seem to be turning this story into the usual circus we need to remember that this is very much a personal tragedy for his friends and family. Gary Speed was not only a very good footballer, but by all accounts he was a thoroughly decent and good man.

Everybody who knew him and who has recently been in contact with him seems genuinely shocked at the news. Whatever the details of what really went on - and that is a matter for his family and not us - the truth remains that the most important people now at this sad time are his family. Our thoughts and best wishes go to them.

In the meantime, the best tribute we can pay Gary Speed as football fans is to remember a great footballer, a promising manager and most of all a credit to the game of football and to give his family the space to deal with their sad loss.

Predicted Team Against City

  In Sunday's crunch-match I have gone for almost the same team that Kenny put out against Chelsea.

Bellamy is a real handful running at defences either wide or central as shown from his goal-scoring pass to Maxi.

Downing is a left-sided winger and he should be played there, with Kuyt to fill in on the right.

Jamie Carragher may or may not play against City on Sunday because Agger and Skrtel have formed a mean partnership in Liverpool's defence.

I can't wait for Sunday as I believe we will turn Man City over.

Taken from Friends Of Liverpool.

Do Spurs have the best Midfield in the Premier League?

RBB has come to the conclusion that Tottenham Hotspur has one of the best balanced, all round midfields going. You may scoff at the notion but think about it. Their midfield 5 is made up of Scott Parker's energy and Luka Modrić's pulling the strings in the middle, Gareth Bale's dynamic running and Aaron Lennon's pace on the wings, with the attacking vision, flair and brilliance of Rafael van der Vaart in the hole.

Now look to the Premier League's other big teams; Manchester United? Their midfield is both ligthweight and bereft of a genuine playmaker, look it says so here. Chelsea? Mikel is a liability, Essien is sadly a permanent fixture on the treatment table, and the endless changes to the midfield mean that no answer has been found to the problem caused by failing to sign Modric from Spurs. Liverpool? There are serious question marks over whether Downing, Adam, and Lucas are up to it at the very top level and they still don't have a regular fixture on the right wing. Manchester City? Well yes, now we're talking. Were it not for City's abundance of talent then there would be no 'one of' in the opening statement of this article.
Read more at http://www.resultsbasedbusiness.co.uk/

Too Busy Making Banners To Write Blogs?

Anybody who regularly watches Match Of The Day will know that Blackburn Rovers fans have a lot to say these days. There is a lot of pain there and they want the world to know. Well, I say that. It seems that they want the world to see their banners, but are any of them actually blogging about it? They may well be, but as things stand Blackburn Rovers are one of only two Premier League teams without a blog listed on the directory. So come on guys. Put the bed sheets down for 2 minutes and get your blogs listed. You can't blame Steve Kean for this one!!

The other Premier League team without a blog listed is Swansea City. First time ever in the Premier League - you'd think they would have plenty to say about that. As well as those two there are quite a few with only a single blog on the listings - we're on the lookout for more!

Its not that we're only after premier league blogs. Far from it. We're looking for blogs from all over the world and all levels. You have to start somewhere though, and once we have the Premier League fully covered we'll be moving on to our next victims.

So get submitting and add your blog to the site using our submission form.

Why RBB Love's Football

Football has had a bad press lately. FIFA President Sepp Blatter, has been at the centre of a racism scandal, whilst this weekend's La Liga fixture between Granada and Mallorca was banned after a home fan hurled an umbrella at the linesman, causing the match to be abandoned with blood streaming down the official's face. Throw in Carlos Tevez's one man mission to further the popular opinion that footballers are mercenaries, and many clubs again raising ticket prices despite the state of the economy, and the game's issues are as vast as they are plentiful. Despite the problems RBB loves football, and this is why you should love it too:

Great Goals: There are many wonderful aspects to the beautiful game but little brings such unbridled, delirious joy to a fan quite like a breathtaking goal. Supporters will cheer any goal from their side; a 5 yard tap in, a goalmouth scramble, hell even an own goal will do, but sometimes we get to witness something sensational. There are many goals that fans have enjoyed but there is always one that will warm their heart during the darkest of hours. For RBB, that goal is Steven Gerrard's stunning 86th minute thunderbolt against Olympiakos, so send Liverpool through to the next stage of the Champions League, which the Reds went on to win that year. The strike, the commentary, the celebrations, and the timing, make it one of the most dramatic and thrilling goals of all time.

Read the full article at http://www.resultsbasedbusiness.co.uk/

FBD Facebook Page

The Football Blog Directory now has a facebook page. Please take the time to visit the page and hit the like button. Everything that we can all do to promote the site will have a knock on benefit to all of the blogs listed. After all, the more visitors to the site then the more visitors to the blogs listed. Everyone wins!



As well as promoting the directory, one of the purposes of the facebook page is to include a link to every newly added blog to the directory. This will, combined with the new layout of the category pages, mean that each new listing will get up to 15 quality and relevant back links to their blog.

Its Not Just The Voice...

Picked this one up from one of Dan Walker's tweets. Hadn't heard of him before, but the impressionist is Paul Reid. I particularly like that it's not just the voices he nails on the head - look at those facial expressions!

New Categories Section

Now that we have well over 250 blogs listed on the Football Blog Directory I thought that it would be a good idea to redesign the categories section, and hopefully make it easier to use.

The left hand side menu on the category pages has now been simplified (rather than listing every possible category all at once). Now only the main sections are shown. Any category listed in blue is a link that will then expand when clicked on. So for example, if you are searching for an Arsenal blog, you would click on European Football, then English Football and then Premier League. Make sense? I hope so.

I'd appreciate any feedback of what you think of the new layout.

Football Blog Directory - Categories

Sunday, Bloody Sunday: My Left Foot

Wherein a milquetoast sends dispatches from the continuing kitchen sink drama of poorly organised sport…

“LEFT FOOT! LEFT FOOOOOT!!!”

I paraphrase, but that’s more or less the sum of my experience in playing Sunday league football against ‘clever’ right-backs. I am left-footed, and play as a left-winger. I occupy the philosophical space between derring-do and swashbuckling. I run at terrifying leg-speeds. When congested, I run so fast that it loosens phlegm, and leaves blurred lines trailing from my nose as I run, like lines of motion arcing from the limbs of a comic book character that is clearly moving very quickly indeed. Spectating old men watch in awe of this greyhound of a winger, fulsome in his old-fashioned wing-play, harking back to the days of Stanley Matthews, before he sold out and became a “Sir”. The fact of the matter is – I favour my left foot.

Read full article here.

Walcott Deserves Praise For Assists

Robin van Persie has hailed the importance of Theo Walcott's work on the pitch and said the assists are just as important as the goals.

Speaking to arsenal.com the Dutchman said that he wouldn't be getting the goals if it wasn't for the assists that he was being handed, and it's only fair that Theo gets his fair share of the praise.

'Theo has given me more assists than anyone else this year, I've certainly noticed it and that's why I really liked the fact that he gave me the ball for my 100th goal - it was meant to be.'

Full Article

Focus On The Valley - Charlton Athletic

The Valley is a fairly modern and imposing stadium that has been home to Charlton Athletic since 1919. The ground was extensively re-developed on three sides during the 1990s and early 2000s - those who saw The Valley when it was left virtually derelict between 1985 and 1992 would scarcely believe the rate of progression the club has made since returning home. Sadly for Charlton, the bubble burst on the pitch, with quick relegations leaving them in the third tier of football for the first time since 1981.

My first visit to Charlton was in early 2010, although the full review has only just been written. Click here to see the full review and set of photos.

Manchester United V Newcastle United

Overview
Finally it's back to writing about my favourite club Manchester United. I have been writing a lot about Newcastle  lately because of their surprising form which puts them 3rd in the English Premier League. Their real opponent starts last week with Manchester City and this week Manchester United followed by Chelsea. Sir Alex Ferguson's side are not looking sharp at the moment after the 1-6 defeat against Manchester City at Old Trafford. They have only scraped out three 1-0 victories in their last 3 English Premier League matches. They do not lack the fire power but have they lost their morale?

The Magpies have not won at Old Trafford for the last 10 years, with 2 draws and 8 defeats, conceding 26 goals and scoring just 6. Wayne Rooney had scored 9 goals against Newcastle and I expect him to score again on Match Day.

Read full article here.

Liverpool Reserves 5-1 Sunderland Reserves

Liverpool's Ressies easily beat Sunderland's 5-1 this afternoon at Melwood.

Rodolfo Borell had the chance to pick Jay Spearing, Jonjo Flanagan and Sebastian Coates from the first team squad thanks to Kenny Dalglish's wish to give them playing time ahead of the Carling Cup tie with Chelsea this night week. And it was Sebastian Coates who scored his first goal for Liverpool after only two minutes when he headed home a Suso cross from the right.

Full Report

250+

We have now passed the 250 mark for blogs listed on the directory. I would like to thank each and everyone of you for submitting your blogs to the directory. Thank you for your continued support.

For those of you who have submitted blogs that are still not listed - we're getting there. For those of you who have blogs that you havent yet submitted then please get in touch. The more we have listed then the more people will visit, which in turn means more visitors sent to blogs that are listed. Wins all round there!

The Future Of Football Blogging

The following is an extract from an article posted on Richard And Neil's Football Blog about the future of football blogging.

Recently there has been a gloom hanging over the football blogging world; a sense of disillusionment that has left some notable bloggers considering their future in the hobby. The reasons for this are, of course, varied, but there is one that seems to reoccur: money. With recession once again closing in it is natural to think of one’s future and security, however, it is not the bloggers that are moving to secure themselves, but the journalistic world tightening ranks and bloggers are losing out because of it.

Read the full article here.

The article is well worth a read for anybody with an interest in football blogging.

...And Back To Lawro

By his own low standards, the great moustached one (in Lawroland its a moustache not a beard) didn't have too bad a week. In Lawroland Chelsea may have beaten the Scousers and the Potters overcome QPR, but all in all he wasn't too far out. He also failed to spot a Blackburn comeback against Wigan, but then who would have predicted refereeing like that?

Speaking of Wigan, I don't know who is scheduled to turn on their Christmas lights this year but Lawro must be in with a shout. I think Lawro, Alex McLeish and His Royal Donkiness Heskey should be locked in a cage for a fight to the death, the three of them having been recognised as the only people who could possibly have Wigan level on points with Aston Villa. The winner gets to press the big red button and illuminate the Lancashire town. Just a thought.....

Once again, click on the image below to see the full Premier League table in Lawroland.

Reds Win At Chelsea

Liverpool beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge today with a fine solo run and shot by former Blue Glen Johnson went in on 87 mins.

The Reds opened the better and deservedly went ahead on 33mins with a Craig Bellamy pass to Maxi Rodriguez who calmly scored the opening goal of the game.

It was a keenly fought encounter between the two sides with Liverpool the better side in the first half.

Read full report here

Taking A Look At Aldershot Town's Recreation Ground

Since I decided to do the 92, I haven’t seen Gillingham – or the away crowd I’ve sat with during a neutral game – win away from home. This statistic was become more and more concerning as the games went by. With Aldershot's Recreation Ground being the 29th stadium, it really was about time the Gills won on their travels with me in attendance. With the Shots only being a few points behind Gillingham, we needed to get a win in order to keep the gap between us and the play-offs as small as possible.

Click here to see the full review and set of photos.

Worrying Reading For Chelsea Fans

I know its early in the season and way too soon to be jumping to conclusions, but they often say that one of the major factors that dictates the level of success you will achieve is how you get on against the teams around you. I was going to show a 'big six' league, but for the moment you can't ignore that Newcastle are sitting in third place - so for now its a big seven league.

Even this early in the season, the table that shows how these teams have got on in games against each other must be a major cause of concern to Chelsea fans.

It would be no surprise if the finishing order in this table at the end of the season was also the finishing order in the premier league. Chelsea can't afford any more slip ups against the top teams - and they haven't played the seemingly unstoppable Man City yet!!

Blogathon Update

With only two hours to go in Tom Hall's Blogathon over at The Scottish Football Blog, I just wanted to encourage all of you to pay a visit to his Blogathon and offer your support to the two causes that he is supporting.

Although he has reached his initial fundraising targets for both of these causes, that is no reason not to continue to give. I know we all get asked to support a lot of different causes these days, but Tom's efforts are a great way of doing good while at the same time showing the excellent work that can be done by football blogs. Every penny helps so why not donate even if its only a few pennies.

There are links to make easy online donations on Tom's site.

Visit the The Scottish Football Blog Blogathon.

The Blogathon - Great Cause To Support

Over at the Scottish Football Blog one brave soul is about to embark on a great idea to raise money for charity. Tom will be running a blogathon, writing a 500 word article every hour for 24 hours - which any blogger will know is a very daunting task.

Tom is raising money for Alzheimer Scotland and the Homeless World Cup. Please support this great idea by visiting Tom's Blogathon, by letting others know about it - or most importantly by donating some of your hard earned dosh. There are plenty of links on Tom's site to enable you to donate.

Good luck Tom!

The Scottish Football Blog Blogathon

Links To Your Blog Posts

Those of you who have blogs listed in the directory will probably have noticed that you each received an invitation to become a site author at the time that your submission appeared on the site. The purpose of this is to allow you to place a link to your new blog postings along with an introductory paragraph (see many previous entries for examples).

However, as Google (the hosts of this directory) limit the number of authors to 100, some of you may have noticed that invitations not taken up in the first few days have been cancelled and passed on to new listings. This is the only way that we can be fair to every blog listed. In time, no doubt, even those that have been accepted may well have to be shared around. If you would like to advertise your posts on the directory but now find that you no longer have the facility to do so, then please email us and we will re-arrange site authors to try and allow as many people as possible to take advantage of this facility.

Thanks for your understanding.

200+

We have now passed the 200 mark for blogs listed on the directory. While I appreciate that this landmark would have been passed quite a while ago if I had got off my lazy backside a little more often in recent months, I would still like to thank each and everyone of you for submitting your blogs to the directory. Thank you for your continued support.

For those of you who have submitted blogs that are still not listed - we're getting there. For those of you who have blogs that you havent yet submitted then please get in touch. The more we have listed then the more people will visit, which in turn means more visitors sent to blogs that are listed. Wins all round there!

If You're A Football Blogger You Should Read This!!

I don't often post direct links to blogger's articles. The facilities are available on the site for them to do that themselves if they want to. However, yesterday Les Rosbifs pulled off an amazing coup for an independent blogger by publishing an exclusive interview with ex England manager Steve McLaren.

You can read their interview here.

It was then that all hell broke loose. Basically the interview was morally (if not technically) stolen by many of the professional football sites without any sort of link to the original article.

A number of articles have since been written by bloggers commenting on this practice by the 'big boys.' I have picked one to link to from Twisted Blood but will gladly edit this post to include others if you want yours highlighted. It is worth taking the time to read both the original article and the articles commenting on yesterday's events because they have implications for all bloggers.

You can read the Twisted Blood article here.

I for one will be taking the advice from this article and avoiding the morally lacking sites who abused the original interview on Les Rosbifs blog.

Edit:
Additional story from footysphere here.

RSS Feeds

Just a quick note. Whenever we add a site to the Football Blog Directory we always check to see whether that blog has a link to an RSS feed on the blog. Where it does we then add it to our feed so that all of your new postings are advertised on this page (in the box below these posts).

However, some blogs do not have an obvious link to an RSS feed while others may be simply missed - the directory is run by humans (apparently) and not machines. If your blog is listed but your new posts are not appearing in the box below, then please contact us with your RSS details and we will gladly add them to our list.

Back On Track

Well - better late than never!

After a few false starts, we have finally started catching up on the huge backlog of blogs to be added to the directory. So far we have added over 20 new blogs to the site - and we're still going. If you have submitted a blog for inclusion and don't yet see it listed, then please bear with us. We're getting there!!

Predictably Awful!

So here we are eleven games into the Premier League season. Manchester City sit proudly on top of the Premier league closely followed in second place by their neighbours Manchester United. No shocks there then.

However, Liverpool are showing that their resurgence under King Kenny is still going strong as they remain unbeaten and occupy a Champion's League spot. Everton and Wolves are keeping up their good start to the season as they remain in contention for a Europa League place. Meanwhile Wigan sit safely in mid table, three places above a struggling Newcastle United who last time out suffered their seventh defeat of the season.

What alternative reality are we living in? The world according to Mark Lawrenson of course. We have totalled up all of the predictions from Lawro's predictions on the BBC website and turned them into a league table. So if you've ever wondered whether your team really do suffer from a Lawro bias then click the image below to see how his predictions compare to reality.

We will be keeping tabs on Lawro's predictions throughout the season so be sure to come back for another visit to see just how badly he is doing!