Cultured Football #88

Is European football getting a salary cap and more

Dec 03, 2022

By Tifosy

This is a somewhat technical - but highly insightful - analysis of UEFA’s new Sustainability Rules that limit how much a club can spend on wages. Given the historical inability to enforce the Financial Fair Play rules introduced a decade back, this is an ambitious attempt by UEFA to ensure that there is some form of balance.

An Irishman’s Notion

By Cian Manning for Beyond The Last Man

It is impossible to think about how the game of football is played without considering the notion that a team that suffers a foul in the opponent’s penalty area is rewarded with a penalty kick. Yet that is what used to happen in the dawn of the game before an Irishman stepped forward and lobbied for a solution to the obvious problem. This, then, is the story of how the penalty kick came into being.

Barça Femeni’s Return to Camp Nou and the Bonafide Stardom of Claudia Pina

By Emile Avanessian for Urban Pitch

Beyond the World Cup there is still football being played and hunger by fans to experience those games as evidenced by the huge crowds drawn recently by the Barcelona Femeni side.

Championship half-season (ish) awards

By Lewis Oldham for Football 365

The World Cup stopped the Championship at precisely the mid-way point which is actually a great point to afford a look back at the major players of the competition so far.

VAR and the Slow Death of the Goal Celebration

By Jakob Barnes for Football Paradise

VAR adds drama and, in many cases, ensures that the right decision (by the strictest reading of the rules, at least) is taken. But it has also killed off the spontaneous joy of goal celebrations.

Something Else We Loved This Week

European Champions Italy did not make it to the World Cup and if, like me, you’re missing the Azzurri then check out this stunning gallery of curva photos.

Last Week’s Most Read: So you want to own a football club?

By Samuel Agini for the Financial Times // 2,600 words

The dream of owning a football clubs is very different from the reality of doing so, particularly in the lower leagues. Yet people still go for it, even experienced businessmen with a long history in the financial world like Simon Hallett, the owner of Plymouth Argyle. For him it is just ‘a bit of fun’ albeit with a club he has supported since his youth.