These Football Times

Let’s hear it then.

1️⃣ Your first World Cup:
😍 Your favourite*:
😤 Your one to forget:

*might be the same as your first but might not!

With the news that Premier League clubs have collectively agreed to remove gambling companies as primary shirt sponsors, can we suggest a return to snack-based sponsorship please?

Name your favourite attacking player from the mid-nineties to the late noughties, and there’s a fair chance Alessandro Nesta has kept him quiet for an evening.

One of the greatest to ever do it.

It’s the mid-2000s. Indie bands dominated the charts, the Motorola Razr was the must-have mobile, and Big Brother was a ubiquitous presence throughout UK life.

In football, the sands of power were beginning to shift. Manchester United’s dominance over the Premier League was coming under threat from Arsenal and Chelsea, and the British strikers of the nineties had been replaced by better, leaner, sharper variants imported from the continent.

At the forefront were Thiery Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Both goal-getters of the highest order but with radically different approaches to their craft. Henry was elegance and guile, the glint of a rapier flourished from beneath a cloak; van Nistelrooy was clinical ruthlessness, the final shovelful of dirt to a cold grave. While their clubs did battle at the top of the league table, the pair competed at the sharp end of the goal-scoring charts.

If Henry scored twice, van Nistelrooy wanted a hat-trick. If van Nistelrooy blanked, Henry would look to exert a lead over his competitor.

In England, Henry had the final laugh, four golden boots to van Nistelrooy’s one, albeit not without a caveat; on the final day of the 2001-02 season, Sir Alex Ferguson, having already conceded the title to Arsenal, dropped van Nistelrooy to thwart him becoming the league’s top scorer. The mantra: team glory comes above individual accolades.

In Europe, van Nistelrooy was the apex predator: three Champions League top scorer awards to Henry’s zero. Henry would claim Europe’s greatest club trophy in later years for Barcelona, though, while for van Nistelrooy, it would remain but a dream.

Their legacies in England are beyond reproach though. Sure, there are players with more goals, but none with a greater reputation. Ask anyone to name the greatest Premier League strikers of all time and everyone will have Thiery Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy on their list.

⚡️ It's last call for the new magazines, 𝐅𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐃 and 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘: 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟗/𝟗𝟎. Grab yours before we sell out at some point later. Read more and order below.

https://thesefootballtimes.shop

Introducing our brand new magazine series: Anthology. In it, we cover various competitions from each year of a decade, starting, naturally, with the 1990s. Join us as we explore 1989/90 first, from various domestic leagues and continental competitions to the World Cup.

We’ll release a new year alongside each magazine over the coming ten issues, which take the place of reprints. You’ll love the entire collection so grab the first issue now before 1990/91 is launched in July.

https://thesefootballtimes.shop/products/anthology-1990

For a while, Rotterdam was the centre of the footballing universe. Before Amsterdam became synonymous with Dutch excellence, it was Feyenoord Rotterdam, thanks to the revolutionary Total Football of Ernst Happel, who shaped the game. And what a side they had.

From Willem van Hanegem - the man considered by many to be equal to Johan Cruyff in the Netherlands - to the quiet class of Wim Jansen and the immortal genius of Coen Moulijn, Feyenoord were simply irresistible, as good as it got, lifting both the European Cup and UEFA Cup.

But the good times wouldn't last. Beyond the magical but controversial double winners of Cruyff, Gullit et al in 1984, it would take until 2002, led by Pierre van Hooijdonk and Jon Dahl Tomasson's iconic partnership, for Feyenoord to put their name back on the continental map. What followed - Van Persie, Kuyt, Slot, and so many others - defined a new era for the club.

This is 148 pages - a bumper issue - in gorgeous print, all dedicated to that iconic red and white jersey.

https://thesefootballtimes.shop/products/feyenoord

Introducing Feyenoord Rotterdam and Anthology.

First up, the immense history of the club that paved the way for Dutch glory in Europe, covering a century of legends from Willem van Hanegem and Wim Jansen to Robin van Persie and Pierre van Hooijdonk. It's a bumper issue at 148 pages.

Alongside it comes our brand new series Anthology, exploring various national and international competitions from each year of a decade. First up, 1989/90.

https://thesefootballtimes.shop/collections/magazine

“Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want Thierry and David to be afraid of how much they love me.”