Football prints

Franco Baresi (born 8 May 1960 in Travagliato, Italy) and Paolo Maldini (born 26 June 1968 in Milan, Italy) are AC Milan legends, and widely renowned as two of game’s greatest ever defenders. Both players spent their entire professional careers at Milan, many of them together. Baresi put in 20 years from 1977 to 1997 playing 719 times, whilst Maldini...

John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE, was born 7 November 1963 in Kingston, Jamaica, and is widely regarded as one of the best wingers in the history of English domestic league football.The English national side had missed out on a place at Euro 84, and as a result embarked on small tour of South America. The highlight of the trip was...

Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (born 24 May 1966) is a French actor and former footballer who began his professional football career with Auxerre in 1983. It has been commented that, at nine, Cantona was already playing like a fifteen-year-old. Though he possessed unquestionable creative ability he was also a volatile character and soon became involved in a catalogue of disciplinary...

Paul John Gascoigne (born 27 May 1967, Dunston, Gateshead, England), commonly referred to as Gazza, joined Newcastle United as an apprentice in 1983. His talent as a youngster was recognised by manager Jack Charlton who handed him his full first team debut in 1985. He spent three more years at St James' Park where he won the PFA Young Player...

Jose René Higuita Zapata is a former Colombian football goalkeeper nicknamed 'El Loco' – 'The Mad One'. Born 27 August 1966 in Barrio Castilla, Medellín, he pioneered the Scorpion kick and was notorious for his over-confident outfield play which included dribbling the ball out of defence and acting as sweeper. This same over-confidence led to some incredibly bad decisions in...

Ruud Gullit (born as Ruud Dil, September 1st 1962 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch footballer turned manager, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. Raised in the school of ‘Total Footall’, he remains one of the most prestigious and accomplished players of the beautiful game and his incredible versatility allowed him to play as defender, midfielder and forward. In...

In 1905, a group of Italian immigrants who lived and worked in the port of a south-eastern barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, decided to found a football club. They agreed to honour their poor riverside neighbourhood named ‘La Boca’ (the mouth of the river). Today, the club has grown into arguably the biggest in South America - Club Athletico Boca...

Bruce David Grobbelaar, was born 6 October 1957 in Durban, South Africa. He was goalkeeper for a number of clubs in South Africa, Rhodesia and Canada before making the number one spot his own at Liverpool during their dominant period throughout the 1980s. Grobbelaar played 627 times for Liverpool, being a trusted servant to three of Liverpool's greatest managers; Bob...

Inherent within Diego Armando Maradona’s nickname of El Pibe de Oro (golden boy/kid) is a sense of mischief impossible to translate verbatim. The pibe is a classic anti-establishment rogue, street smart and full of guile. Diego was born 30th October 1960, in Villa Fiorito, an impoverished district of Buenos Aires. By the time he was 10 he was already a...

RIP Johan Cruyff: April 25, 1947 - March 24 2016. Born in Amsterdam, Holland, Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (Cruyff) was one of the most famous exponents of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels for Ajax of Amsterdam and KNVB. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He was described as 'Pythagoras in...

The River Tyne and the magnificent Tyne Bridge are the city of Newcastle's most popular icons and a symbol of Tyneside and the North East of England's rich industrial heritage. Support for the city's team Newcastle United, is ubiquitous. Football is religion to the Geordie faithful. The team and fans are referred to as Magpies interchangeably. The stadium, St James'...

Alexander Chapman Ferguson, Kt, CBE, popularly known as Sir Alex or Fergie, was born 31 December 1941 in Govan, Glasgow. Having presided over 23 years of phenomenal and sustained success at Manchester United, he is rightly regarded as the modern game’s greatest manager. Infamous for his uncompromising, competitive nature and ferocious temper - Sir Alex’s reputation for letting his players...

Athletic Club defender Andoni Goikoetxea Olaskoaga (born 23 May 1956 in Alonsotegi, Biscay) produced one of the worst tackles in the game’s history when he broke the ankle of a young Maradona. He is known as the Butcher of Bilbao and was given a 16-match ban for the incident. It was by no means an accident on the Butchers part as...

Battle of Santiago (Chile v Italy 1962). The 1962 FIFA World Cup Chile was marred by violence. The infamous first-round match between host Chile and Italy (2–0) is known as the Battle of Santiago. It is probably the most violent game in the history of the World Cup. The match saw repeated, deliberate attempts from players on both sides to...

Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish MBE (born 4 March 1951, Glasgow, Scotland, UK) is most noted for his phenomenal successes playing and managing Liverpool FC. On 10th August 1977, Liverpool manager Bob Paisley paid £440,000, a British record at the time, to bring Dalglish in from Scottish club Celtic, as a replacement for Kevin Keegan, an Anfield hero. He made his LFC...

During the 1980s, the French national team exhibited an elegant, skilful, and attacking style of play. Similar to their South American counterparts the team earned the nickname of the "Brazilians of Europe". They flourished under their coach Michel Hidalgo, and were led by the immensely gifted playmaker and captain Michel Platini, who, alongside Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse, and the tough...

Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, born 19 February 1954 in Belém do Pará, Brazil. one of the great midfielders and most compelling characters in modern football history, Sócrates captained the Joga Bonita Brazil squad in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. In the same period he graduated from the Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, receiving a...

Zinedine Yazid Zidane; born 23 June 1972, in Marseille, France, is regarded as one of the game's all-time greats. One of only two three-time FIFA World Player of the Year winners, the French talisman’s career accomplishments are almost unequalled. Yet he left professional football under a cloud. Towards the end of the 2006 World Cup final he was dramatically sent...

Boban's cause and affect. A skilled playmaker renowned for his passing range and vision, Zvonimir Boban, born 8 October 1968 in Imotski, Croatia (formerly Yugosalvia), captained the Croatian national team to third place at the 1998 World Cup. Croatia never lost a match when he scored. A known patriot, Boban is much loved in Croatia. In May 1990, whilst captain...

Claudio Caniggia was born 9 January 1967 in Henderson, Buenos Aires. He played 50 times for his country and was a key player in both of their 1990 and 1994 World Cup campaigns. Over a 20 year period he controversially played for both Buenos Aires giants and fiercest of rivals - River Plate and Boca Juniors. He also went on...