Lists

A country's awarding of their footballer of the year award ultimately says a lot about the state of the game within that nation. For example, knowing that Argentina are loaded with talent but that one man has managed to win this individual prize on 10 occasions speaks to his standing as one of the greatest of all time.

For other nations, a player sweeping the prize time after time shows that he’s single-handedly carrying that nation to new heights à la Gareth Bale. These are the players that’ve utterly dominated their country’s player of the year award in recent times.

Christmas is widely considered to be the most wonderful time of the year by many, but football is different. There is no winter break and many teams will be thinking of the Boxing Day game as opposed to a turkey dinner, and it can be hard. What would make it even harder, however, is awarding those sides with what can only be described as the worst Christmas gifts of all time.

Chelsea — Crowd Noise Generator

The Guardian's annual list of the 100 best footballers is in the process of coming out. How does it compare with our list of 100 footballers? Check it out.

The18's 100 Footballers In The World

100-71

100. Joe Allen

99. Steve McNulty

98. Gabor Kiraly

97. Kolo Toure

96. Burrito Martinez

95. Hobbit Bermudez

94. Alex Teixeira

93. Fred

Football is a harsh business, particularly so for managers. Sometimes, simply winning matches isn’t enough to placate fickle supporters and owners. With exorbitant amounts of money being pumped into the game, the business of hiring and firing managers is a particularly trigger-happy one. 

With clubs only a loss away from entering crisis mode, the decisions made are occasionally downright stupid. In modern football, at the risk of sounding old, the men in charge aren't given enough time to succeed.

Here are 10 managerial sackings that history will not look kindly upon.

Up and down both Canada and the United States, there's a whole host of cities clamoring for a place in Major League Soccer. The love of the sport is growing with every passing day, and it's no surprise that everyone wants a piece of the action.

However, not every location has what it takes to participate in one of the fastest growing leagues in the world. Whether it's stature, popularity or overall appeal, not many places can touch these five when it comes to having the potential necessary for a long-lasting MLS club.

It was over eight years ago on a cold night in Moscow that Manchester United defied the odds to defeat Chelsea and win the UEFA Champions League, their first victory in the competition since 1999. It was a monumental achievement from the Red Devils, and, to this day, it remains the club's last great European triumph.

Eight years on, it's interesting to take a look at what the 14 players who appeared on the night are up to now.