Cultured Football #202
Battle over Bedford. Life in a Multiple Club Group. Bojan at Barca. Boavista on the Edge. Abandoned Grounds.
‘He treated us like idiots’: the crypto mogul and a bitter battle over Bedford’s football clubs
By Ben Bloom for The Guardian
In 2002, a crypto entrepreneur took over a tiny club in Bedford and set about transforming it to meet his vision and ambition. Before that, however, he had failed in a bid to take over its much bigger cross-town rival. Now, with the club he owns on track to take over the one he failed to buy, he is pushing to bring the two together. A fascinating story on a delicate situation: for fans who have dedicated decades to support a club, the fear of losing everything is not an easy one to contemplate.
Bonus Read: Why more fans are turning to non-League’s affordable community culture
[Andy Lyons / Editorial x When Saturday Comes]
“The non-League boom is a positive by-product of an otherwise negative development in English football, with many supporters feeling excluded from the game at higher levels.”
Bonus Read: Will Germany’s Fourth Tier Adopt The English Model?
[Ben McFadyean x World Football Index]
The promotion from Germany’s fragmented fourth tier is structured in a manner that will massively disappoint at least one club. That could be about to change.
MCG Pathways: City Football Group
By Neel Shelat for Analytics FC
Have you ever wondered how clubs within a multiple ownership structure work and share playing resources? Think that it sounds like a good idea that will funnel talent to the top? Well, get answer to those questions and find out what the reality of the City Football Group is like (so far).
Wonderkid Bojan guiding Barcelona's next generation
By Gary Rose for BBC
Bojan Krkic was once expected to be the next big thing out of Barcelona’s La Masia. It didn’t exactly pan out that way but he still carved out a decent career for himself. Now he’s looking to use what he learned to help those trying to follow a similar path.
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A fish rots from the head down: The rapid decline of Boavista
By Zach Lowy for FotMob
Boavista are one of two clubs to have ever broken the Big Three’s stranglehold on Portuguese football but the days where they challenged for the honours are long gone. Indeed, in recent years the club has suffered relegation to the amateur divisions and, whilst they’ve since fought their way to the top league, the presence of an owner who has condemned two other storied European clubs has placed them on the edge of oblivion.
Bonus Read: Bouncing back from the well
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Cordoba dropped from La Liga to the fourth tier in just seven seasons but with smart management, a passionate fanbase and good owners they're looking up.
Afterlives: Millmoor
By for
Walking through the empty stands of the abandoned football stadium, you can almost hear the echoes of past cheers, the distant roar of a crowd that once brought the place to life. Faded banners and overgrown turf whisper stories of glory and heartbreak, frozen in time yet slowly fading into memory. I don’t often (ever) get the opportunity to do so which, perhaps, is why I enjoy it so much when others describe their experiences like this at Rotherham’s former home Millmoor.
Every Saturday, Cultured Football brings you five great football articles you will enjoy reading. And you get a free copy of the book Master of the Azzurri.
Last Week’s Most Read: Defeats teach you nothing at all
By Clive Tyldesley for Clive’s Substack
“Defeat teaches you about as much as a punch in the face. It hurts and haunts you, it climbs into bed with you and keeps you awake. It turns you against the world, then it turns you against yourself. It infects your reason and your judgment.”