JAMES NALTON celebrates Ruben Blades’s song Patria – played before Panama’s game against Ghana — a song inspiring hope instead of hate
IN FREEZING cold weather conditions on a Thursday night amid the post-Christmas and new year lull, you could forgive a football stadium for not being at its best, but somehow, even in the most testing times, Goodison Park always turns up.
It continues to do so despite the Everton FC of recent years playing some of its worst football since a notoriously bad spell in 1994. At times, it might even have been worse.
As football grapples with overloaded calendars and commercial pressure, the Mariners’ triumph reminds us why the game’s soul lives far from the spotlight, writes JAMES NALTON
With climate change, commercial overload and endless fixtures, footballers are being pushed to breaking point. It’s time their unions became a more powerful, unified force, writes JAMES NALTON
STEVEN ANDREW welcomes a fine introduction to FC United of Manchester, the team set up in opposition to Manchester United


