Dan's Debate: There Is More Good In Football Than Bad

By Dan Sampayo

“Someone once said to me, ‘to you, football is a matter of life and death!’ and I said ‘listen, it’s more important than that.”

Bill Shankly’s most famous quote, possibly the most famous in football, defines life for a football fan. Any boy or girl who grew up playing football in the park with their dad, or craning their neck above fat men in smoky pubs trying to watch the match will understand. Kids that stayed up late on a Saturday to watch Match of the Day and players like Paul Scholes, Michael Owen and Thierry Henry will instinctively know the passion.

The death of Gary Speed last weekend, however, threw this quote into stark reality. Is football truly a matter of life and death? Of course not.

Dan's Debate: Football needs to lose its heads, before it loses its head.

By Dan Sampayo

Sepp Blatter has, since his tenure began in 1998, constantly been in the media spotlight. From financial mismanagement, to lurid slurs on women’s football and most recently his ludicrous claims that racism can be solved with a handshake, Blatter has somehow remained in his position as the most influential and important man in football.

After a week of relentless criticism that has been levelled at the 75 year old, Blatter has now claimed that the case is over, closed, no more – but somehow he’s still the President of Fifa.