FIFA's supposed plans to stage a World Cup every two years could cost leagues and clubs billions Former Arsenal manager and current Chief of Global Football Development at FIFA, Arsene Wenger is spearheading a consultation designed to adapt the men's football calendar starting in 2024. One of the most controversial proposals to come out of this thinktank is the idea of a biennial World Cup. While Wenger himself described a chasm in enthusiasm between younger and older generations, when responding to the uproar brought about by his suggestions, YouGov research commissioned by FIFA itself found that the idea is unpopular...

Jamie shares some stadium stories with us, as well as giving us his views on a host of topics on and off the pitch On this week's episode of the Sporticos Football Stories Podcast, Craig chats to Jamie Smith, Newcastle United fan and contributor to The Mag, and independent NUFC news site. Jamie and Craig don't hold back when discussing media representation of the club and its fans, Mike Ashley and his defenders, and the dark days The Magpies have been through. The boys also talk about the bright future ahead under the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. It...

The EPL's hotly anticipated new broadcasting deal has been agreed as the league continues its relationship with NBC Media giant NBC Universal has renewed its ownership of Premier League TV rights in the United States, extending a relationship that started in 2013. The two signed a six year deal last week. This latest agreement will start next season and run until the end of the 2027-28 season. NBC came out on top in a bidding war for the lucrative TV rights which also included the likes of ESPN (owned by Disney) and a cooperative bid from Warner Media and Fox...

We check in with the experts to talk about Griezmann, De Paul, Simeone, Saul and much more! It's been a mixed start to the season for Diego Simeone's men, not disastrous by any stretch, but not stellar either. They find themselves currently in fourth position, four points behind city rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. In the Champions League, back-to-back defeats against Liverpool have left them third in Group B, one point behind second placed Porto. They will probably need to do better than the 0-0 draw they played out with the Portuguese in their last encounter...

Craig Hanson reviews the season so far in the Premier League and beyond with the help of some old friends On this week's episode of the show, Craig Hanson picks apart the first quarter(ish) of the Premier League season, as well as telling a little of his own fan story, and touching on some clubs from lower down the pyramid and on the continent. Eight former guests come on to join Craig briefly to give an insight into how their beloved clubs are getting on. It was a pleasure hearing from some of our previous guests again and we hope...

Auction of the English top flight's US broadcasting rights is set to generate over $2billion The English Premier League is likely going to see a huge windfall of cash thanks to the auction of its TV rights in the US. The league as well as its clubs are set to profit hugely from any deal done with the predicted sale value standing at $2bn, double what they received for the last deal in 2015. At that time NBC paid around €1bn for the rights. This increase in income will be a welcome respite for clubs who have been stricken by...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have won only four of their last ten matches in all competitions After a somewhat promising start to the season which saw United win three of their opening four games in the Premier League, results have been mixed to say the least. A shock defeat to Young Boys in the Champions League set them on a run of three losses from four games in all comps. Cristiano Ronaldo rescued them in both Champions League group games against Atalanta with late goals but this only papered over the cracks of what is shaping up to be a...

Tom talks about his hero Duncan Ferguson, some of the club's great managers, the new stadium construction project, and much more On this week's episode of the Sporticos Football Stories Podcast, Craig chats to Tom Mallows, freelance sports journalist and lifelong Everton fan. Tom is the co-founder of Royal Blue Mersey, a Toffees blog on the SB Nation network. You can also find his work on other outlets including the BBC. The two discussed Carlo Ancelotti's controversial departure to Real Madrid, how well Rafa Benitez is being received by fans, the future of Tom Davies and much, much more. It...

The managerial merry-go-round shows no sign of stopping as the latest Premier League gap is now filled Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is returning to the Premier League, this time as manager of Aston Villa. He impressed during a three and a half year spell at Rangers, where he led the club to its 55th title and first since 2011, preventing Celtic from making it an historic 10 in a row in the process. Now Gerrard leaves the club four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership and moves south to take over at relegation threatened Villa. Already this...

Jurgen Klopp's side look back to their best and will likely be challenging on all fronts again this season Liverpool struggled for the majority of last season with some devastating injuries which all but decimated their defensive line. They lost arguably the world's best centre back in Virgil Van Dijk, as well as his partners Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, among others. The coaching staff frantically tried to find a solution, on occasion playing one or even two centre midfielders in the backline. The most notable problem came when Fabinho was forced to fill in at the back, where the...

Broadcasters will now be able to bid for five seasons of rights instead of three The bidding process for domestic broadcast rights to show La Liga matches has now begun. The process will deal with the sale of those rights for games starting from next season (2022/23) and will include Andorra. Previously, companies could only bid for three season periods but La Liga have extended this to five seasons, while allowing broadcasters to choose between bids of three, four or five seasons as they wish. This move was made despite recommendation to the contrary from CNMC, the country's competition authority,...

The former Bournemouth boss was in the stands to watch his new side draw away at Brighton on Saturday Eddie Howe is one of the most talked about young British coaches in football and for good reason. He did a spectacular job at Bournemouth in taking a club rock bottom of League Two and seemingly destined for the National League to three promotions followed by five seasons of Premier League football. It was a monumental achievement on every level. For a club the size of Bournemouth, whose Vitality Stadium only holds 11,364, to finish 9th, 12th and 14th in the...

Allen tells Craig about watching his club play at Anfield, how it felt to win the Europa League, the future of Unai Emery and much more On this week's episode of the Sporticos Football Stories Podcast, Craig chats to Allen Dodson, an ardent Villarreal fan based in California. For more than ten years, Allen ran Villarreal USA, a fan blog on the SB Nation network. Allen still contributes to the site today. The two discussed the long journeys that Allen made to watch The Yellow Sub play at home at El Madrigal and away against Liverpool at Anfield, how Allen...

We look at some of the key talking points surrounding the appointment including his track record and transfer targets Football is never short of surprises. Yesterday we got another big one. Former Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte has been appointed as the new manager of Spurs. Chairman Daniel Levy acted fast in dismissing Nuno Espirito Santo after only 17 games in charge and equally fast in appointing his successor just days later. Conte comes in as a serial winner, an expert tactician and a master motivator. On the surface he looks like just what the Tottenham dressing...

Steven Gerrard hopes to continue the good work he's done in Glasgow so far and bring home another league title An outsider would look at what the Liverpool legend has achieved north of the border and consider it outstanding, but not every Rangers fan heaps quite the same level of praise onto their manager. While finally winning the league again, and stopping Celtic from making it ten in a row, can only be viewed as a success, results in other competitions have been lacking. It's been a long time since the club have achieved anything in the cups and that...

Jeremy and Craig discuss the move to the Wanda Metropolitano, the return of Antoine Griezmann and much, much more On this week's episode of the Sporticos Football Stories Podcast, Craig chats to Jeremy Beren, an Atletico Madrid and fan, sports journalist and podcaster from Phoenix, Arizona. Jeremy is the Managing Editor of Into The Calderon, an Atletico Madid fan site on the SB Nation network. He also hosts Colchonero Chat, a weekly Atletico Madrid podcast. The boys get into what it was like for fans when the club moved from the iconic Vicente Calderon to the Wanda Metropolitano, reflect on...

Ange Postecoglou might just be the man to lead the Glasgow club back to brighter days Celtic fans' dreams of a tenth consecutive Scottish league title were dashed last season when Steven Gerrard led bitter rivals Rangers to their first crown since 2011, completing their long return from the depths of the fourth tier to the top of the football pyramid. To add insult to injury, they did it in style, ending the league campaign unbeaten and on a club record 102 points, 25 clear of Celtic. It was clear that the club needed to change direction unless it wanted...

Akash and Craig discuss the growing fan community in India, the immortal Jamie Vardy and much, much more On this week's episode of the Sporticos Football Stories Podcast, Craig chats to Akash Roy, a Leicester City fan and contributor to Sportskeeda India and Foxes of Leicester, a fan blog which is part of the FanSided network. Akash tells us all about what it's like being in the Foxes of India community, the crystallising moment which made him a Leicester fan, his thoughts on the season so far and much more! It was a pleasure to have Akash on the show...

Lethal marksmen are racking up the goals in England, Spain, Germany and beyond We haven't even hit November yet and the never ending carousel of football has already served up a bunch of goals across the continent. The usual suspects are at it again and some unfamiliar faces are making themselves household names with their goalscoring exploits. The top five domestic leagues in Europe haven't disappointed thus far and their most prized assets are scoring goals for fun. Here are the best from each country, and where you can watch them in action. Jonathan David - 6 Despite a lot...

Tushar and Craig discuss the growth of the Bundesliga around the world, the future for Erling Haaland and much more On this week's episode of the Sporticos Football Stories Podcast, Craig chats to Tushar Bahl, a Borussia Dortmund fan and site expert for BVB Buzz, a Dortmund blog on the FanSided network. Tushar explains to us what it's like to follow BVB from India, the development of Jude Bellingham, how the team is adapting to new coach Marco Rose and much, much more! It was a pleasure to have Tushar on the show and we hope you'll enjoy the podcast. You...

Ronald Koeman is under intense pressure with constant media speculation over his position at the club Around two months ago we reached out to the guys at barcacentre looking to get a word on everything unfolding at the club heading into this season. We asked about the departure of Lionel Messi, which was still very raw at the time, and talked about who was to blame for that devastating blow. We pondered how the club might move forward with spiralling debts and probably its weakest squad in decades. We wondered how long Koeman would be in the job. Leo offered calm...

AGCOM has put measures in place which it says the platform must adopt to prevent future malfunctions Italian football fans were left outraged in recent weeks when they experienced significant interruptions in coverage of Serie A matches provided by live streaming platform DAZN. Owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik, DAZN became the first online only platform to secure domestic rights to a major European league when it won the bid for Serie A back in March. The deal will last for three seasons and is worth €2.5bn. It contains a distribution partnership with the country's biggest telecomms giant Telecom Italia, who have...

After a promising start to the season, Jose Mourinho and his Giallorossi side are gunning for Europe Jose Mourinho has looked like a wounded animal more than once in his illustrious career. He's been written off even more. His stock had never been lower than it was after he was shown the door by Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy back in April just days before the London club lost the Carabao Cup final. There was talk of a sabbatical and many expected the Portuguese to be off duty for at least a few months, but it was barely two weeks later...

Right now it's very tight at the top with only three points separating the top four teams Despite popular misconception, the Eredivisie is one of the most unpredictable leagues in Europe in terms of who will win it. While Ajax have won the Netherlands' top division an astonishing 35 times, the trophy regularly changes hands and long periods of consistent dominance, like those seen recently at Bayern Munich and Juventus, are not the norm. In the last 20 years no team has won the league more than four years in a row and the trophy often switches between the three...

Pauly and Craig discuss the highs and lows of the Post Fergie era, the impact of Cristiano Ronaldo and much more On this week's episode of the Sporticos Football Stories Podcast, Craig chats to Pauly Kwestel, a Manchester United supporter and tactical analyst who contributes to The Busby Babe, a United fan blog on the SB Nation network. The boys get into what it's like to follow the Red Devils from New York City, Pauly's experience watching the team at Wembley and Old Trafford, and the tactical approach under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It was yet another fantastic episode, Pauly was...