Few players have been talented or brave enough to represent both of Spain’s behemoths - Real Madrid and Barcelona - fierce rivals in every sense.

These 10 somehow pulled it off, some in style, others with the carcass of a farm animal thrown at their feet.

Luis Figo

A pig’s head nestled on the Camp Nou touchline will forever remain one of football’s most infamous images, hurled by an incandescent Barcelona supporter towards a player recently adored in Catalonia, now loathed.

Luis Figo’s €62m switch between Spain’s two giants still retains a good dose of shock value nearly a quarter of a century on. At Barca he was part of a brilliant attacking trio with Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert, their goals contributing to two La Liga titles.

At Real, the slaloming Portuguese great won a further two league titles as well as the Champions League. He also gained the key ingredient to a rustic soup.

Real Madrid and Barcelona remain perennial favourites in Champions league betting  markets, but Figo is only remembered fondly at one of the Clasico clubs. 

Ronaldo

The original, and arguably the best Ronaldo bedazzled both Camp Nou and later the Bernabeu and it says much about his genius and geniality that he is still cherished by both fan-bases.

It took a world record fee of €19.5m to dislodge the generational talent from PSV in 1996 yet Barcelona only had him for a season until Inter Milan swooped with another world record sum.

What a season it was though, with the Brazilian ace scoring 47 goals in 49 games, some of which should have been hung in a gallery.

At Real, injuries sustained in Italy had started to take a toll but there was still magic to spare.

Luis Enrique

Before becoming one of the world's best managers, Luis Enrique made 157 appearances for Los Blancos, his scheming from midfield engineering a league title in 1995. Yet, love from the Bernabeu faithful always eluded him for reasons that are hard to fathom.

Sometimes a player and the fans just don’t click. Sometimes they’re better as friends.

Any budding friendship however went out of the window when the 26-year-old moved on a free to Real’s historic rivals, quickly ingratiating himself in Catalonia with a series of displays that brought silverware to its capital.

Two La Liga titles were secured, with Enrique installed as captain before he moved into management, guiding Barca to a further two league successes and a Champions League triumph in 2015. From the East Stand to the Gol Nord, he was loved.

Alfredo Di Stefano

Only five other players have scored more La Liga goals than the legendary Argentine with almost all his astonishing haul of 227 converted in Real’s famous white shirt.

The rest came at Espanyol and it’s an understatement to say he would be a real betting favourite today for such prolificacy.

Did that mean he fired blanks during his short stint at Barca? Not a chance. When Di Stefano played, he usually found the net so complete a player he was. The problem was, he never actually turned out for Barcelona in a competitive fixture.

To explain this is to get to the heart of the perennial ill-feeling between the clubs.

In 1953 both Real and Barcelona fought for the emerging superstar’s signature and eventually the courts got involved, declaring that each club must share him, one season at a time.

Real got the forward first, despite the fact he had already played several friendlies in blue and red and somewhere along the line, the legal agreement became fudged.

Di Stefano stayed in Madrid with their rivals forever suspecting the country’s hated dictator and Real-supporting Franco was behind the duplicity.

Michael Laudrup

The ‘Prince of Denmark’ was never less than a joy to watch, dancing around flailing challenges and spraying passes across the Camp Nou pitch.

As the creative force behind Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’ of the early Nineties, Laudrup orchestrated four consecutive La Liga title successes and on a rainy Wembley evening in 1991 helped Barcelona secure their first ever European Cup.

Unfortunately, if a player thrived under Cruyff they always tended to fall out with the Dutch master and a bitter dispute in 1994 saw the finest talent to ever come out of Scandinavia pointedly join Real, guiding them to a league crown in his opening season.

Our La Liga predictions are influenced by the Dream Team to this day.

Bernd Schuster

The outspoken German midfielder rarely enjoyed harmonious relationships with his coaches but given license to play to his strengths few were better with the ball at his feet.

The box-to-box maestro reached double figures in all-but-one of his eight years in Catalonia and was a commanding presence in the Camp Nou centre-circle.

A switch to Barca’s hated rival in 1988 seemed fitting for an always-contentious character who retired from international football aged just 24 due to differences of opinion with his head coach, several team-mates and the German FA.

Samuel Eto’o

Brought over from the Kadji Sports Academy in Cameroon, a teenage Eto’o struggled to make the grade at Real and this hardly surprises considering the wealth of attacking talent the club possessed at the time.

Raul, Davor Suker and Fernando Morientes all blocked the promising striker’s pathway to a first team jersey.

A move to Mallorca therefore made sense for all concerned, and 54 goals on the island was enough to convince Barcelona to shell out €24m for his services in 2004, one of the biggest La Liga transfers of that era.

Five years of outstanding forward play from the lethal frontman ensured it was a decision they never regretted. 

Gheorghe Hagi

At the turn of the Millenium, World Soccer magazine voted the ridiculously skilful Romanian in as the 25th greatest player of the 20th century.

The ‘Maradona of the Carpathians’ was a genius on his day and merely a very special talent the rest of the time.

Alas, if his timing in possession was unerringly metronomic, Hagi was less attuned to judging when to sign for big clubs, arriving at both Barcelona and Real Madrid during fallow periods in their history.

Only two Spanish Super Cups from a combined four years is a poor return for one of the most gifted stars of his, or any other, generation.

Julen Lopetegui

In the summer of 2018 Lopetegui, a former goalkeeper who was largely a back-up at both Real and Barca, was the talk of the footballing world on being sacked as Spain’s manager just prior to the World Cup.

His crime? Revealing that he had accepted an offer from Los Blancos to manage them after the finals.

To compound his misfortune, he was sacked once again just three months later, as his tenure at the Bernabeu started badly, then went worse.

Now, the studious 55-year-old is in the process of rebuilding his managerial reputation, taking Sevilla to the giddy heights of a title challenge with the latest football odds pitting the traditional outsiders as genuine contenders.

There are no prizes for guessing who they are up against.

Josep Samitier

Before La Liga there was the Campionet de Catalunya, a league format that was absolutely dominated by FC Barcelona who won it a remarkable 21 times from 1904 to the start of the Second World War.

Pivotal to 12 of those successes was Samitier, a midfielder who single-handedly reinvented the role with his unusual – for the time – actions leading to his lifelong nickname of ‘The Surrealist’.

It was an apt moniker in another way too, as one of his best friends was Salvador Dali.

And it was friendship that ultimately led to this Barcelona legend moving west to Madrid, as the veteran all-rounder reunited with two former team-mates in 1932.

He was also quite pally with Franco by all accounts but let’s overlook that as it’s otherwise quite a feel-good tale.

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*Photo in this article belongs to Adobe*

• The Premier League has gifted us unforgettable drama in its three decades

• From the comedic to the crazy to the unbelievable, these moments have become iconic

• The Premier League’s greatest moment of all reverberated around the globe

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This year, the Premier League celebrates its 30th birthday, born an elaborate idea that soon exploded into a phenomenon the scale of which sport has never before seen.
In those three glorious decades we have been treated to thousands of goals along with drama by the bucketful.

There have also been moments, unforgettable and often unbelievable moments, that will stay with us forever. Here are ten that brightened our world while shaking it on its axis.

10) Let’s Be ‘Aving You (2005)

Norwich City supporters are presumably swerving the Premier League Odds markets right now, with their team so heavily backed to drop this term.

Back in 2005 they were averting their gaze from the pitch instead as their majority shareholder and all-round national treasure Delia Smith took to the pitch at half-time to bellow out an unforgettable call to arms.

Unsteady in her high heels the legendary cook was responding to her beloved Canaries conceding two first-half goals to Manchester City as they battled against relegation. In her opinion, more atmosphere was needed to inspire the hosts.

“Where are you?” she implored, holding the mic like Karen from accounts on a works night out that ends in a karaoke bar. “Let’s be ‘aving you.”

Not for the first time in her life, Smith had found the recipe for TV magic.

9) Pizza-gate (2004)

Also known as the ‘Battle of the Buffet’, the infamous fracas that took place down Old Trafford’s tunnel in the autumn of 2004 will forever be shrouded in rumour, accusation, and counterclaim.

What we know for certain is that following a highly contentious Manchester United victory over Arsenal – that ended a remarkable 49-match unbeaten streak by the Gunners – a jubilant Sir Alex Ferguson was struck in the face by a flung pizza, the culprit much later being confirmed as Cesc Fabregas.

Ferguson, it is claimed, was breaking up a scuffle at the time involving Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, the striker pleading his innocence after injuring Ashley Cole during the fractious clash.

These two Premier League giants created a rivalry for the ages but here it descended into farce. Wonderfully so.

8) Cantona Goes Kung-Fu Fighting (1995)

Close your eyes and it’s still so easy to conjure up the surreal proceedings that shocked the watching world at Selhurst Park over a quarter of a century ago.

There’s King Eric, striding towards the tunnel having been sent off. His collar up. His face a picture of unnervingly calm incandescence after kicking out at Richard Shaw, his man-marker for the evening.

There’s Matthew Simmons, racing down the steps to the advertising hoardings, shouting out – or so he later claims – “Off! It’s an early bath for you Mr Cantona.” 

And then there’s the instant snapping of logic as the Manchester United legend awkwardly lunges through the air, his boot connecting with Simmons’ chest.

It was English football’s JFK gunshot and even today it resonates.

7) Beckham Announces Himself (1996)

David Beckham was undoubtedly the Premier League’s first homegrown megastar, a player whose face and fame transcended the sport, gaining permanent residence in the tabloids.

Marrying a Spice Girl and becoming celebrity royalty didn’t exactly help in this regard.

With a ball at his feet however, we were regularly reminded of who he really was, beyond the glamour and the headlines and that dodgy sarong.

On the opening day of the 1996/97 season, with the teenage Beckham at that point barely established in Manchester United’s first eleven, he attempted the impossible and impossibly it came off, when he lobbed Wimbledon keeper Neil Sullivan from all of sixty yards.

It was a goal from the gods, struck inside his own half, that declared something important only back then we didn’t know precisely what.

“When my foot struck that ball, it kicked open the door to the rest of my life,” Beckham later related in his autobiography though let’s be honest, he probably didn’t write that line.

6) A 4-3 Classic (1996)

Kevin Keegan’s buccaneering Newcastle United side of the mid-Nineties were adopted by a great many fans, loved for their sense of adventure, and refreshing philosophy that amounted to: you score two and we’ll score three.

In this instance, on a famous night at Anfield, Les Ferdinand, David Ginola and Tino Asprilla fulfilled the Magpies’ end of the bargain but alas their title rivals Liverpool went one better, finding the net four times in one of the most engrossing and frankly ridiculous games of football ever witnessed on these shores.

When Stan Collymore slotted home the Reds’ late winner Keegan slumped in the dug-out. His team had aimed for the heavens but shot themselves in the foot.

5) Di Canio’s Fair Means & Foul (1998 and 2000)

It feels like a cheat to merge two moments a couple of years apart and count them as one, but each incident could be included on merit while together they illustrate the polar extremes of a player who placed a rocket up English football’s posterior.

In 1998, Sheffield Wednesday’s fiery striker Paolo Di Canio saw red on seeing red and shoved referee Paul Alcock in the chest, the official falling to the ground in increments. The very Italian Italian was banned for 11 games and fined ten grand.

Two seasons later and now at West Ham, the sinner-turned-saint found himself in the game’s good books after catching the ball and eschewing a goal-scoring opportunity at Goodison on seeing the opposition keeper down injured.

His act of sportsmanship earned Di Canio a FIFA Fair Play Award.

4) Keegan Combusts (1996)

The titanic title-tussle that played out between Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle and a formidable Manchester United in the mid-Nineties unquestionably made this one of the best seasons in Premier League history. It was unmissable. Iconic.

After the Magpies had relinquished a 12-point lead post-Christmas, it was now neck-and-neck and with just a handful of fixtures remaining tensions were rising.

It was at this juncture that Sir Alex Ferguson turned to mind games, suggesting their rival’s next opponents, Leeds would go easy on them.

The resulting meltdown from Newcastle’s emotive manager – unravelling live on Sky with over-sized headphones on to give it a comedic bent - has consequently become so seared into popular culture that almost every line is committed to memory.

“He went down in my estimation when he said that”. “He’s got to go to Middlesbrough and get something”. “I will love it if we beat them”. As stated, it was iconic.

3) Foxes Fairytale (2016)

The football odds had Leicester City down as 5000/1 to win the Premier League in 2016. That was the same price as Elvis to return from the grave and put on a one-man show in Vegas.

The previous May, the recently-promoted Foxes had escaped an immediate return to the Championship by the skin of their teeth, having spent exactly half of their campaign rock bottom of the league.

But now Claudio Ranieri took the reins, signing unknown midfielder N’Golo Kante soon after. Now there was a new beginning.

Kante was magnificent that year as too Riyad Mahrez who won the PFA Player of the Year. Jamie Vardy meanwhile bagged 24 in the league alone as he and his team-mates embarked on a fantastical adventure.

Even now it’s difficult to explain how or why everything clicked so dramatically for the East Midlanders bar putting it down to once-in-a-lifetime alchemy.

2) Slippy G (2014)

If a Hollywood scriptwriter had penned the fate and fortune of Steven Gerrard throughout the spring of 2014 they would have been laughed out of every studio.

It was all too apt; too perfectly cruel for even a screen villain to endure, never mind a bona fide legend.

After Liverpool had hunted down Manchester City in a thrilling title-race they now stood on the precipice of a first Premier League crown. All that stood between them and historic renown was Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Newcastle.

“We do not let this slip,” the Reds skipper intoned, caught on camera in a team huddle after a crucial late-season victory over Norwich, only Gerrard did slip one week later against Chelsea.

First came the mis-touch, then the panicked clamour to re-address his balance. Then Demba Ba hared away and scored. Lastly, we got the memes. The perfectly cruel memes.

1) Aguerooooo! (2012)

According to our Premier League predictions, Manchester City are favourites to lift this season’s crown, their fourth in five years. There will be celebrations. There will be plaudits.

Nothing however, can or will ever surpass the ludicrous manner in which the Blues attained their first league trophy for nearly half a century back in 2012, coming from behind to beat QPR with two last-gasp goals, the second a strike by Sergio Aguero that reverberated around the globe.

“I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again”. That’s what Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler shrieked in sheer disbelief as the Etihad erupted into bedlam.

At 3.48pm on Sunday, May 13th 2012, 93 minutes and 20 seconds into Manchester City’s final game of their season, a million and more minds were blown.

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*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

 

FIRST PUBLISHED: 23rd March 2022

• Manchester City have been blessed with many legends down the years

• Two of their greatest ever talents were goalkeepers who changed English football

• Their finest player is the undisputed King of the Kippax

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Manchester City have been blessed with some exceptional talent down the years, with four different successful eras producing a pantheon of legends.

Honourable mentions must go to Eric Brook, Mike Summerbee and Alan Oakes, but here are the ten greatest ever players to adorn the famous sky blue.

10) Francis Lee

Barrel-chested and squat with an uncle’s face even in his twenties, Lee conjures up the kind of comic-book hero from yesteryear who would be called ‘Thunderboots’ or ‘Hotshot’.

He was an all-action mix of skill and tenacity who primarily played as a forward but liked to drop deep to begin attacks. In this regard he was decades ahead of his time.

A widely revered 33.3% of the Holy Triny of Lee, Bell and Summerbee who propelled City to greatness in the Sixties, Lee would be loved today by those who indulge in football betting online due to his unerring ability to win spot-kicks.

It even gained him a popular nickname, the rather un-PC by today’s standards, ‘Lee Won Pen’.

9) Yaya Toure

When newly-minted City paid Barcelona £24m for Toure’s services in 2010 the misconception was that they had signed a defensive midfielder. In fact, the Ivorian was one of the best box-to-box talents of the modern age.

With the ball at his feet, it was an exhilarating sight, seeing his towering frame bulldoze through defences, while opponents bounced off him almost comically. His habit of scoring goals in big games meanwhile was priceless for the Blues.

Toure helped bring several titles and cups to the Etihad but it was his incredible 2013/14 season that comes most readily to mind. From August to May that year he was simply unplayable.

8) Vincent Kompany

A totemic leader who demanded and cajoled success from his team-mates, Kompany arrived a week before the club’s takeover and became the extravagant project’s heart and soul.

Without the Belgian, it would be logical to knock a couple of trophies off City’s honours roll, maybe more.

Though a magnificent and cultured defender in his own right, it is principally his captaining of the Cityzens to four league titles that earned him a statue, situated outside the Etihad, and – like Toure – Kompany also possessed a handy trait of scoring crucial goals at crucial times.

Two-hundred-and-fifty-plus defensive masterclasses would have been infinitely more were it not for a cruel succession of injuries.

7) Sergio Aguero

Sometimes sports betting is surprisingly straightforward and that was largely the case when Manchester City played competitive football between 2011 and 2021.

The strategy during that decade was simple: firstly, ensure that Sergio Aguero wasn’t injured or suspended, then back the Argentine to score.

Which he did with startling regularity. No other player in the club’s long and illustrious history has ever scored more goals, 260 all told by the time he gave defenders a well-deserved break.

No other striker has notched more Premier League hat-tricks while, firmly illustrating his rare calibre, he boasts the best minutes-per-goal ratio in the Premier League.

This was a player who defined himself by goals, as clinical as they come.

6) Peter Doherty

Not to be confused with the raffish singer though both were libertines in their own way.

Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Northern Irishman forever redefined the inside-left position, not by doing anything remarkably different to his predecessors; simply by executing the role better and with oodles of style.

Indeed, there remains a legion of older Manchester City fans who insist Doherty was the superior of Colin Bell and David Silva, the all-time best of the best, but alas scant footage of his football unfairly counts against him here.

5) Billy Meredith

Meredith made his final appearance for City aged 49 years and 245 days old, retiring as football’s first bona fide superstar.

He then hung up his boots partly disgraced, partly forgiven, and never less than an extraordinary figure who changed the blueprint of the sport forever.

The ‘Wizard of Dribble’ was a household name in 1905 when an opponent alleged that he had been offered ten pounds by Meredith to throw a forthcoming FA Cup fixture.

Though it was one player’s word against the other, the forward was subsequently banned for 18 months.

In due course, the Welshman returned to City but not before winning two titles with arch-rivals Manchester United. Our Premier League predictions suggest it will be a while yet before the Reds add to their historic haul.

4) Frank Swift 

A former employee of Blackpool Gas Works, Swift revolutionised goalkeeping in the Thirties, using his enormous hands to throw the ball out to team-mates rather than launching it into the great unknown. Pep Guardiola would have loved the gentlemanly giant for sure.

Aged 21 and playing in a FA Cup final against Portsmouth in front of 93,000, the stopper affectionately nicknamed ‘Frying Pan Hands’ due to his colossal finger span of 30cm, fainted on his goal-line at the final whistle, requiring smelling salts to come around.

“Fancy a strapping lad like me fainting in front of all those people and the king,” he later said. On the following Monday, King George V sent a telegram enquiring about his well-being.

Swift made 376 appearances for City and captained England on numerous occasions. He tragically perished in the Munich Air Disaster, covering United in a journalistic capacity.

3) Bert Trautmann

Trautmann’s incredible life story has been well-told in books and film yet revisiting it again still prompts utter amazement.

Refusing an offer of repatriation following the cessation of the Second World War this German paratrooper, who was captured by British forces and held as a prisoner-of-war, turned out for St Helens each Saturday afternoon, astounding all who saw him with his outstanding ability.

Manchester City came calling, his signing causing nationwide protest but over time – via patience and a sustained series of brilliant and brave displays - a soldier in possession of an Iron Cross arguably did more to help heal Anglo-German relations post-war than any other individual.

Famously, Trautmann broke his neck during the 1956 FA Cup final, playing on to the end and even attending that evening’s post-match banquet.

2) David Silva

When the magical midfielder nicknamed ‘Merlin’ began his Premier League odyssey it was thought he would be too wispish a talent to thrive in an English centre-circle.

These days, it is hard to imagine any top-flight team not inhabiting their midfield half-spaces with an out-and-out ball-playing schemer. A Silva type.

His bewitching skills, supernatural vision, and unerring balance of a Subbuteo figurine made him a firm favourite of the neutral while for City his contributions were both aesthetically beautiful and substantial, orchestrating numerous title wins and domestic cup honours.

The latest Premier League odds have City down as the likeliest to secure the 2021/22 crown. Had Silva not returned to Spain two years ago those odds would be even slimmer.

1) Colin Bell

The undisputed king of the Kippax, Bell was a complete footballer in every sense, imbued with unnatural stamina that had him nicknamed ‘Nijinsky’ after the racehorse, and a poise that saw him compared to the Polish ballet dancer of the same name.

A shining light of City’s luminous Sixties collective, who won the league and European honours, this otherwise shy and introverted individual spoke so eloquently on the pitch, making 394 appearances for City and scoring 117 goals.

Only three other City players have notched more, each of them forwards. Whereas Bell was a midfielder if very much a complete one.

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• Only ten Premier League teams have strung together 25 matches or more unbeaten
• Manchester United have managed the feat on three different occasions
• Arsenal’s record run saw them crowned as ‘Invincibles’

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Titles and silverware are not the only barometer to measure a great side. Avoiding defeat week after week, month after month is also the mark of an elite team, several levels above the rest.

These ten built up momentum then ran with it, stringing together wins and draws for so long it felt like nothing or nobody could ever stop them.

Nottingham Forest (1995) – 25 matches

Frank Clark’s Forest are largely overlooked when the great Premier League sides are recalled, a consequence of how briefly they shone and how far they fell when it all went wrong.

Just two years after posting a third-place finish in the early days of the competition, the Tricky Trees plummeted to the Championship.

Across much of 1995 however they were an absolute joy to behold, with Stan Collymore scoring for fun and nostalgia-inducing midfielders such as Kingsley Black and Ian Woan always productive.

After avoiding defeat from February that year to November, Clark’s men were shockingly trounced 7-0 at Blackburn. It was all downhill from there.

Manchester United (2016/17) – 25 matches

What an odd season this was for the Red Devils. On the one hand, they finished sixth, a distant 24 points behind champions Chelsea and unquestionably more had been expected from Jose Mourinho’s first year in charge.

On the other, they hoovered up three trophies, or two depending on how you view the Community Shield.

Then there was this extended run that further muddied the waters. Remaining unbeaten for two-thirds of a campaign would usually see a team challenge at the top but with so many draws included – 12 all told – it merely kept United in the reckoning for Europe.

The ultimate take-away from United’s season was that Mourinho had made them hard to beat. Not even that held true for long.

There are plenty of football bets being made right now backing against the current-day side securing a top four spot this term, as their struggles continue.

Manchester United (2010/11) – 29 matches

Whereas this was more like it; this was the Manchester United we admired and feared in equal measure, who gobbled up silverware with the entitlement of a side that knew it was admired and feared.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s indomitable Reds marched to a twelfth Premier League crown by swatting aside allcomers until February, the highlight of which was a seven-goal hammering of Blackburn with Dimitar Berbatov scoring five.

By the time Wolves got the better of them as Spring approached, the destination of the title already felt like a foregone conclusion.

Chelsea (2007/08) – 29 matches

When Avram Grant got the ‘Chelsea dagger’ in May of 2008 it was arguably one of the most unjust sackings in recent times.

Admittedly, his team had failed to win a trophy that season, finishing runner-up in the league and losing two finals, the latter a Champions League clash with Manchester United that went to penalties.

But given the state of flux he inherited that September, taking on a side in crisis following Jose Mourinho’s departure, it was little short of astonishing how quickly the Israeli coach had orchestrated positive change.

As evidenced by an unbeaten run that began a couple of days before Christmas and lasted until the end of the campaign.

It was a sustained streak that announced the Blues were back in the business of winning games on a weekly basis. Regrettably that was not enough.

Manchester United (1998/99) – 29 matches

A surprise loss at home to Middlesbrough during the festive period gave way to several months of dominance in the league, a stranglehold made even more imposing by ruthless thrashings doled out to Leicester and Nottingham Forest as Yorke, Cole and Solskjaer ran riot up front.

The famed Class of 92 were at their peak during this period and with Peter Schmeichel and Jaap Stam both residing on other planets at the back, and Roy Keane consistently playing like Roy Keane, nobody domestically could touch them.

The same could be said of course for European opposition, as the Reds completed an incredible treble mere moments before the 1998/99 season drew to a dramatic close.

Manchester City (2017/18) – 30 matches

The sceptics were out in force for Pep Guardiola’s first season in England with four-goal thumpings at Leicester and Everton giving rise to the belief that his tiki-taka ways wouldn’t cut it in the Premier League.

Indeed, so focused was the media on his perceived shortcoming they failed to acknowledge that City greatly improved as the season wore on, signing off with eight unbeaten outings.

The following August, Guardiola had a squad he was now happy with and twelve months of his schooling took full affect from the get-go as the Blues roared into an insurmountable lead at the top.

City went 22 matches undefeated and ultimately became the first team ever to reach 100 points. Our Premier League predictions tip the reigning champions to make it four titles in five years this term.

Arsenal (2001/02) – 30 matches

Between December 2001 and October 2002 the Gunners were imperious, winning a league title with style to spare along the way as Arsene Wenger’s Gallic revolution took hold.

Testing trips to Anfield and Old Trafford were successfully navigated and home bankers banked but if the results impressed, they paled to the manner in which Henry, Bergkamp and company achieved them.

It was always going to necessitate something special to halt their swaggering victory march and it duly came at Goodison when a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney curled a beauty past David Seaman in the final minute.

“Remember the name,” commentator Clive Tyldesley intoned that day. We should remember the team he scored against too because they were special indeed.

Chelsea (2004/05) – 40 matches

Jose Mourinho had arrived at Stamford Bridge just months earlier from Porto and the self-anointed ‘Special One’ wasted no time in moulding a formidable collective that at times felt like half a team, half a machine.

An October loss to Manchester City was taken in stride after an otherwise encouraging start to Mourinho’s reign.

From that day forward, Chelsea were different gravy amassing a stunning 95 points on route to the club’s first league title for half a century.

The following season, the Blues were just as unassailable, racking up ten straight wins before eventually being downed at Old Trafford.

Highlighting to what extent a back-line of Cech, Terry and Carvalho contributed to their success, those 40 games included 24 clean sheets.

Liverpool (2019/20) – 44 matches

For a full calendar year and more, Jurgen Klopp’s ‘Mentality Monsters’ could not be stopped, accumulating wins and draws week in, week out, between January 2019 and late February 2020.

Up front, a ferocious trio of Mane, Salah and Firmino struck fear into every rearguard, great, good or otherwise, while bolstering the frenzied brilliance Virgil Van Dijk was a totem of calm.

It is a testament to Manchester City’s equal esteem that Liverpool was restricted to a single title triumph – as memorable as it was – from a period that saw them lose only once in 66 league games.

In any other era, the Reds would boast a collection of trophies, regarded as the high watermark of their day.

The current Premier League odds may have the Merseysiders down as second favourites for this season’s crown but recent history tells us not to take anything at all for granted.

Arsenal (2003/04) – 49 matches

When Arsenal were a significant number of games in to their 30-match unbeaten run two years earlier, Arsene Wenger dropped his cautious guard and admitted that he dreamed of going an entire season undefeated.

At the time it felt possible, so consistently magnificent were the Gunners, yet also surely it was impossible. How can any side ace a whole campaign without experiencing a single off-day?

The record books inform us of course that it was subsequently done, and with 38 games of Arsenal’s 49-match spell of supremacy encompassing the entirety of the 2003/04 league season, the North London giants were acclaimed invincible.

During that vintage year Patrick Vieira was immense, as too Thierry Henry and Robert Pires while that summer Wenger strove to improve on perfection, bringing in Cesc Fabregas on a free.

The latest football transfer odds show slimmer pickings are presently available for an Arsenal seeking to rebuild on past glories.

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*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

 

FIRST PUBLISHED: 23rd March 2022

• Martin Tyler has voiced our football for nearly fifty years
• The legend behind the mic led a broadcasting revolution
• His love of Woking FC has taken him to the dug-out

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Martin Tyler was born in Chester, England on September 14th, 1945.

A keen sportsman, he captained Surrey schools under 18s at cricket and played football to a non-league level before attending the University of East Anglia in the 1960s, where he gained a degree in social studies.

His entry into journalism came from ghostwriting a column in the News of the World for the legendary Jimmy Hill and it was Hill who advised he accept a job offer working behind the scenes at London Weekend Television, the network that made The Big Match.

There Tyler learned the ropes, sending his bosses home-made commentaries in the hope of one day securing his dream role behind the microphone. Eventually they ceded.

On December 28th 1974, with Southern Television’s regular commentator unwell, Tyler was drafted in, making an impressive – if somewhat squeaky-voiced – debut.

Soon after, he received a congratulatory telegram from John Motson that included some priceless counsel: Talk little but say a lot.

Tyler went on to cover games across the regions, broadcasting for Yorkshire, then Granada, before becoming a familiar voice in the nation’s living rooms when he commentated on the 1982 World Cup.

His star was soaring but by the end of that decade he had grown frustrated at being considered ITV’s number two commentator to the great Brian Moore. A new challenge was needed.

Sky Sports

In 1990 BSB, a fledgling satellite television enterprise, needed a respected presence to voice their footballing coverage and Tyler was the obvious choice.

A year on, with viewing figures low, the company merged with Sky, and in doing so the Sky Sports channel was founded with Tyler retained as their lead commentator.

Twelve months later came a pivotal moment in the then 46-year-old’s life, and indeed a momentous turning point for English football when the Premier League was formed.

With Sky in possession of exclusive broadcasting rights to live games they broke new ground with their in-depth coverage and it could be argued that Tyler was the voice of a broadcasting revolution.

As their advertising campaign had it at the time: this was a whole new ball game.

A popular double-act with former player Andy Gray was forged, with Tyler describing the action and Gray providing invaluable tactical insight and this same successful chemistry is in evidence today with Gary Neville adding on-pitch expertise to Tyler’s prose.

It is prose that has been honed over many years with a thirtieth anniversary at Sky alone celebrated in 2021 and his ability to heighten the drama of a football match, then narrate that drama has made Tyler a household name.

Some Premier League predictions envision a close title race in 2021/22 between Manchester City and Liverpool. It’s closing stages just wouldn’t be the same without Martin Tyler putting words to the action.

Famous Martin Tyler Lines

Every well-known commentator is ultimately defined by those unforgettable moments that sport very occasionally throws up.

The most famous instance of course is Kenneth Wolstenholme noticing out loud that fans were encroaching onto the Wembley turf in 1966, believing the World Cup final was all over.

Thankfully, for Tyler’s big moment he rose to the occasion, as befitting a broadcasting legend, when in 2012 Manchester City were in desperate need of a third goal against QPR to secure their first league title for several generations.

With the final whistle imminent Sergio Aguero struck, in doing so rocking the watching world on its axis, and Tyler’s accompanying words have gone down in footballing folklore.

"I swear you'll never see anything like this ever again,” he intoned, his voice breaking in disbelief. “So watch it, drink it in.”

His natural response to a supernatural season’s finale has become much cherished by supporters of every club bar one.

Elsewhere, a far more elementary ‘Oh yes’ captured the zeitgeist of Anthony Martial scoring a debut goal for Manchester United while Tyler pre-empts each game these days by uttering what has become a catchphrase – And it’s live.

Premier League odds have Manchester City firm favourites to lift another league crown. Surely it won’t go to the wire again, will it?

FIFA Games

When the FIFA video game franchise began in 2005 it was a no-brainer for EA Sports to approach one of the best football commentators around to voice all of the simulated action, pre-recording thousands of lines in serious, sometimes excitable tones to accompany the action.

With ex-Arsenal striker Alan Smith on co-comms it gave gamers an infinitely more authentic experience and from a 16-year association Tyler became synonymous with what has become a genuine marketing phenomenon, thus giving the veteran broadcaster a new and younger appreciation society.

Sadly, the pair were not asked to commentate on the 2021 version of the best-selling series, leading to outrage among the gaming community.

Martin Tyler Woking

If the most high-profile commentators are celebrated for their famous lines they are regrettably denigrated for supposed bias against certain clubs with fans under the firm belief they support a main rival.

It says much about Tyler’s impartiality across the decades that Manchester United fans suspect he favours Liverpool while Liverpool supporters staunchly insist his heart resides at Old Trafford.

In fact, having first fallen in love with the game at Kingfield Road in the early Fifties it is Woking FC he supports, passionately so, and in 2018, aged 72, Tyler’s career took an unexpected left-turn when he took up an assistant coaching position, a role he balances with his Sky duties.

Plaudits

In 2003, Tyler was voted the FA Premier League Commentator of the Decade, a well-deserved honour for a widely venerated broadcaster whose body of work spans nearly half a century.

In that time football has changed immeasurably, with matches televised as events featuring multi-millionaires, and video games celebrating the sport becoming immensely popular along with football betting online heightening our weekend’s enjoyment.

The timeless Tyler has embraced it all, never allowing himself to become associated with the past.

Yet for all his outstanding achievements what he’s most proud of is missing only one game throughout his career, even soldering on with food poisoning that rendered him speechless for the last 15 minutes of an Everton game.

Thankfully, as he later regaled, nothing happened of note. 

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*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

 

FIRST PUBLISHED: 23rd March 2022

• Wycombe striker has become a cult idol

• According to a video game he is the strongest footballer in the world

• The journeyman forward is a legend in a legend’s eyes

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Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa was born on May 10th 1982 in Islington, North London, growing up on a council estate in the capital.

As a teenager he joined Watford’s youth academy but when a first-team spot continually eluded the forward he took a highly unusual detour at the beginning of his career, joining Lithuanian side FK Atlantis.

There he scored the winning goal in a domestic cup final and participated in European competition, but disgraceful racial abuse followed him from ground to ground, prompting the youngster to head back to the UK after two seasons, signing for Welsh side Barry Town.

At an age when most footballers are still breaking through, Akinfenwa was already amassing a distinctly unusual C.V. but his journeyman status is only one reason why he has become such a popular figure in the game, a cult idol no less.

His former employers may be plentiful but there really is only one Adebayo Akinfenwa.

Akinfenwa Clubs

Not many players have turned out for five different clubs in a single season but that was the dubious distinction achieved by Akinfenwa in 2003-04 when Barry released him due to the club experiencing financial difficulties.

Brief and unsettled spells at Boston United, Leyton Orient, and Rushden and Diamonds swiftly followed before the powerfully-built forward found his feet at Torquay United. On the south coast he stayed for all of five months.

Now a well-seasoned 39 years of age, the striker can boast a very respectable 137 goals from 450 professional appearances, and has represented 13 clubs in all, each of them – bar FK Atlantis – plying their trade in the lower rungs of the English ladder.

The longest he has stayed with any one outfit was a two-and-a-half year stint with Northampton.

Such an itinerant career has made the target-man a familiar presence across League’s One and Two but focusing on this does Akinfenwa a disservice.

He has won a Player of the Year merit for four clubs - Torquay, Northampton, Wimbledon and twice with current club Wycombe - while for the Dons he notched a famous FA Cup goal against his boyhood favourites Liverpool.

In 2018, aged 35 he was selected for that season’s PFA Team of the Year. Wimbledon may be out of this year’s FA Cup but the sports betting offers up decent odds for the latest underdogs.

How Much Is Adebayo Akinfenwa Worth?

The burly forward nicknamed ‘The Beast’ may have exclusively played his football beyond the Championship but he has still accrued a healthy bank balance with his salary only making up a portion of it.

Furthermore, there is his autobiography, The Beast: My Story, that sold well on publication along with a clothing range called Beast Mode On that capitalises on his bulky stature, selling work-out wear including vests and hoodies.

On his website, the player promotes training plans that can be purchased via an app.

It is impressive how the striker has monetised his popularity, as well as carving out a brand for himself that positively inverts what was initially intended as a slight.

Akinfenwa vs Liverpool

When Akinfenwa struck against Liverpool in 2015 – briefly sending those of us indulging in football betting online into a spin until the top-flight giants restored some order – it meant the absolute world to him.

As a kid he idolised John Barnes, and with his love of the Reds never waning he half-jokingly threatened there ‘would be trouble’ if any of his team-mates beat him to Steven Gerrard’s shirt after the game.

On achieving promotion with Wycombe Wanderers in 2020 meanwhile, he urged Jurgen Klopp to ‘hit me up on WhatsApp’ during his post-match interview, a clip that went viral.

Brilliantly, the German gaffer responded to the call, sending a video message of congratulations to the aging hit-man for finally reaching the second tier. Again, this was widely shared across social media becoming a rare and welcome feel-good story.

The latest Premier League odds have Liverpool a lengthy distance behind Manchester City for this year’s title but to Akinfenwa they will always be the champions.

Career Highs

In addition to the goals and promotions and cup adventures, Akinfenwa has achieved much in the game, some trivial, others worthy of high acclaim.

Earlier this season he was called a ‘legend of English football’ by none other than Pep Guardiola after the Chairboys encountered Manchester City in the EFL Cup.

Both clubs have now exited the competition but a sensible football prediction is that the Blues will lift the trophy again sometime soon.

There are also his dance moves to consider, with an eye-catching shimmy grabbing the public’s attention and becoming a trademark celebration that delights all who sees it.

Lastly, and much more importantly, Akinfenwa deserves huge praise for the manner in which he has repeatedly tackled racist abuse over the course of his career, speaking eloquently and passionately on the subject to anyone wise enough to listen.

We end as we began, by stating a simple truth. There really is only one Adebayo Akinfenwa.

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*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

• Gareth Barry is widely considered one of the finest talents of the Premier League era

• No other player has made more Premier League appearances than the no-fuss midfielder

• His lengthy career at the top has resulted in considerable wealth

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Born in Hastings on 23rd February 1981, Gareth Barry is a widely respected former footballer whose career spanned three different decades, the vast majority of which was spent plying his trade at the highest level.

Indeed, by the time the midfielder hung up his boots in 2020, he proudly held the record for making the most appearances in the Premier League.

His steady marshalling of centre-circles gained him the nickname of ‘Mr Reliable’ and subsequently Barry came to epitomize the kind of player hugely appreciated by his club’s fanbase but under-valued elsewhere.

In truth he was one of the finest midfielders England has produced in the Premier League era.

Beginning his long footballing journey as a trainee at Brighton he was head-hunted by Aston Villa as a teen, going on to make the bulk of his top-flight appearances in the Midlands over an 12-year period.

At Manchester City he won trophies then later, as he gained veteran status, Barry finally gained the widespread respect his ability warranted as he played out his final seasons at Everton and West Brom, as reliable as ever.

How Much Is Gareth Barry Worth?

Such longevity doesn’t only bring a player admiration and records in modern times. It also makes them seriously wealthy.

With 20 of his 22 years spent as a regular starter in the lucrative realms of the Premier League, Barry’s estimated fortune lies just north of £10m, much of which is derived from excelling for a sustained period at the top of the English game.

A drawn-out contract negotiation at Villa in the mid-2000s saw his earnings eventually soar, as his employers were keen to fend off interested parties.

Two years later, Manchester City swooped, instantly doubling his weekly wage to £100,000 a week. It was at City where Barry won his only league title and many Premier League predictions tip them to repeat that feat this season.

Gaining international recognition with England early in his career ensured his profile rose substantially and by becoming a household name his earning power would have also greatly increased.

Factor in too, a boot deal with Adidas and many years of highly rewarding bonuses and it’s fair to surmise that Barry was set for life at a young age, thereafter only getting richer.

Though his earnings dipped to £61,000-a-week on joining Everton he was significantly compensated at the tail-end of his career with a bumper signing-on fee from West Brom with Barry a free agent.

Gareth Barry House

There is no better illustration of the player’s considerable wealth than his former home, that was put on the market in 2018 for £4.5m.

Set in 30 acres of Cheshire land, the seven-bedroomed mansion contained the obligatory, spacious games room that all successful sportsman have as well as a tennis court outside and numerous stables.

There was additionally a home cinema and indoor swimming pool and even a 3,500-square-foot former aircraft hangar on the grounds, used to house Barry’s collection of cars.

With no sale forthcoming the property was reduced in value to £3.6m three years later.

Gareth Barry Achievements

Starting out as a left-back for Villa, Barry was soon brought inside to the midfield berth he is now so associated with and there he consistently displayed attributes that made him one of the best ‘holders’ in recent years.

He was calm in possession, a master at linking up play via a varied range of passing while without the ball the player handed the captain’s armband in his early twenties by the Midlands giant was tough but fair in the tackle.

Still, over a decade at Villa Park brought only an Intertoto Cup medal to his trophy cabinet but that all changed when Manchester City came calling in 2009.

At a club very much in the ascendancy, Barry secured a Premier League title in 2012 while lifting the FA Cup a season earlier.

Personal merits include winning a Player of the Year award at Everton after putting in a series of vintage performances at Goodison throughout 2015/16 but, as already stated, what most impresses about Gareth Barry is his astonishing longevity.

After surpassing Ryan Giggs in making the most Premier League appearances, the too-often under-rated midfielder ultimately racked up 653 outings for Villa, City, Everton and the Baggies.

Those of us who indulge in football betting online treasure a player such as Barry because we know where we stand with him. He was after all, Mister Reliable.

Gareth Barry England

Barry represented his country at various youth levels before receiving his international bow courtesy of Kevin Keegan in 2000.

Then a marauding full-back his opportunities were limited due to the prominence of Ashley Cole but several years later, after reimagining himself as a central midfielder many further caps followed, including appearances at a Euro tournament and the ill-fated 2010 World Cup that saw England fall at the first.

Our sports betting odds suggest the Three Lions will fare much better in Qatar this year.

In total, Barry played 53 times for his country, scoring three goals, with a particular highlight coming against Egypt in 2009 when he was made captain.

Gareth Barry Family

In 2007, Barry married his childhood sweetheart Louise in a low-key wedding that typified their approach to celebrity.

Neither have an online presence of any note and both value their privacy with Barry’s guarded nature once leading his manager John Gregory at the time to claim he had a ‘perfect poker face’.

The player has however previously gone on record, stating how supportive his wife has been, attending games and being his rock during a tough period early in their marriage when the Villa faithful publicly deemed him a ‘Judas’ for leaving their club.

The pair went on to have two children, a son Oscar and daughter Freya with Oscar a promising footballer himself, hoping to make the grade at Walsall.

Who is to say the Premier League odds in the near future won’t again include the probability of a Barry to score or be cautioned.

Regarding his wider family, Barry was the youngest of four brothers but tragically the close-knit clan endured an awful loss in 2018 when his older sibling Marc was killed in a traffic accident. 

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*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

 

FIRST PUBLISHED: 23rd March 2022

• Tim Sherwood enjoyed a long and successful career as a Premier League midfielder

• His two spells as a top-flight manager have been short but eventful

• Two decades at the top and punditry work have made him very wealthy

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Timothy Alan Sherwood was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire on 6th February, 1969.

A football obsessive from the get-go, he showed sufficient promise to be snapped up by Watford’s youth academy going on to make his professional debut for the Hornets aged just 18.

A well-regarded and largely successful career followed with Sherwood making just shy of 500 appearances for six different clubs, leaving three on good terms, the others in more acrimonious circumstances.

Our latest football transfer odds reveal such bitter parting of the ways is still commonplace today.

On drawing a close to nearly two decades of competitive action, Sherwood entered club management, taking the reins at Tottenham and Aston Villa for a season apiece, always wearing a gilet waistcoat on matchdays, an item of clothing that soon became a trademark of sorts, gaining him widespread attention.

He is now a pundit, airing his thoughts on the game across numerous platforms. All of which has made Tim Sherwood a well-known figure in the game in addition to being a very wealthy man.

How much is Tim Sherwood worth?

The 53-year-old has a reported wealth of £1.5m though this is an extremely conservative estimate given that he played the bulk of his career during a period when football’s popularity exploded leading to players being lavished with enormous riches.

The average wage of a top-flight footballer in 1992, the year of the Premier League’s founding, was £77,000 and this was the same season when Sherwood signed for ambitious Blackburn, being awarded a bumper contract and the captaincy too.

The latter detail is pertinent as his greater status would have unquestionably resulted in individual sponsorship deals and better earning power.

By 2002/03, the player’s swansong campaign in the Premier League, the average wage had sharply increased to £611,000.

Such considerable income afforded a five-bedroom house in Berkhamsted, an area where property prices are considerably above the national average while Sherwood drives a luxury 4x4 that seems to be obligatory these days for footballers and managers alike.

Beyond the training ground and TV studios, he is a director of a limited company that he runs alongside his wife, Mia.

Managerial rewards

Sherwood’s salary on taking charge at Spurs in 2013 varies according to different sources, with some putting the figure at £1m per year, while others suggest it was double that.

Anyone who indulges in football bets will know that nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to Tottenham.

What is more certain is that he was remunerated to the tune of £2m per year when later at the helm in the Midlands, leading Aston Villa to a FA Cup final in 2015 and keeping them safe from the clutches of relegation.

This is public knowledge because Sherwood’s compensation package on being sacked was the equivalent of a year’s salary and the fired gaffer walked away with a cool couple of million.

In 2020 it was revealed that QPR made enquiries about his availability. Sherwood reputedly asked for £1m per year from the Championship side.

Since finding managerial jobs harder to come by, the sometimes outspoken figure has turned to punditry, commentating on topical matters for Talksport, Al-Jazeera Sport, and Amazon Prime among others.

While these are well-paid commitments, they are done in a freelance capacity therefore exact figures remain unknown.

Family Life

Sherwood met his future wife Mia at the height of his footballing fame in the Nineties and they remain happily together nearly thirty years on.

They have raised four daughters in the stable environment of a family home the player purchased on leaving Blackburn for Tottenham in 1999, a move that came about because Sherwood wanted to return to his roots in Hertfordshire.

What presumably keeps him grounded is that nobody else in the family unit has any particular interest in football.

In 2015, with Aston Villa set to face Liverpool in a FA Cup semi-final, Sherwood revealed his youngest daughter wanted the Villans to lose because a foreign holiday had previously been booked and she wanted to go swimming.

To further illustrate how detached his personal life is from his professional adventures, Mia has only watched her husband play on eight or so occasions, claiming to be forced to go each time.

On initially meeting, Sherwood pretended he was an artist, not a footballer, his fib only unravelling when Mia asked that he draw her.

Playing career

An all-action, box-to-box midfielder with an eye for a pass, Sherwood first made his mark at Watford before bigger clubs inevitably came calling.

First there was Norwich, who back then resided in the top division as they do now. Sadly, our Premier League predictions tip the Canaries to slip from their perch once again this season.

His stint in East Anglia was followed by lengthier spells at Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham before a long and impressive career was wound down at Portsmouth and Coventry.

By the time he hung up his boots in 2005, the Premier League star boasted a league winners medal with Blackburn, excelling that season to such an extent that he was included in the PFA Team of the Year.

He also enjoyed promotion from the Championship with Portsmouth. International recognition meanwhile accompanied his rise, with three England caps all gained in 1999.

Banter

Since joining the long queue of football managers out of work Sherwood has carved out a path in punditry, often finding himself the butt of online jokes for his somewhat leftfield opinions.

Recently he came under flak from Newcastle supporters for staunchly defending his friend Steve Bruce and furthermore suggesting the problem lay with the fans.

On a more light-hearted note, the retired midfield ace succumbed to the dreaded curse of the commentator when covering a Tottenham game at Anfield in 2020.

With Liverpool about to take a corner in the final minute, Sherwood insisted he wasn’t worried because the visitors had been dominant at set-pieces all afternoon. Reds striker Roberto Firmino promptly headed home.

To his enormous credit, the former England star typically takes any derision in his stride and has even been known to instigate the attention.

In 2014, with his struggling Spurs side cruising to a rare victory, Sherwood invited a vocal fan to take his place in the dug-out, even loaning his stunned critic his prized gilet jacket. It was, he said later, ‘just good banter’.

Premier League odds suggest Sherwood’s ex-club may no longer be offering much banter to rival fans since Spurs have improved under new boss Antonio Conte. 

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*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

 

FIRST PUBLISHED: 23rd March 2022

• Jose Mourinho remains one of the best paid managers in world football

• Via salaries, commercial deals, and severance packages he has accrued enormous wealth

• The legendary coach insists family is more important than football

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José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix is unquestionably one of the most famous, infamous, and successful football coaches of all time.

While his achievements in the technical area have brought him widespread acclaim and the biggest jobs, his personality and sharp tongue has led to hyperbolic headlines and intense media scrutiny many times over.

Born on January 26th, 1963, in Setubal, Portugal, the son of a professional footballer and a primary school teacher, a young Jose inherited his father’s talents and carved out a living as a midfielder, though he never hit any great heights. “The second division was my level,” he later admitted.

As a coach however he truly excelled, finding his calling after initially making inroads into the profession working as a translator for Sir Bobby Robson at Sporting CP.

In a 15-year period, that took him from Porto to Manchester United, the self-titled ‘Special One’ lifted 25 trophies, including two Champions League triumphs and league titles in four different countries.

It is a highly impressive C.V. that has made him a household name across the globe and inevitably furnished him with enormous wealth.

How much is Jose Mourinho worth?

Mourinho has an estimated net worth of £89m, a substantial sum even for an individual who has scaled the highs of a multi-billion pound industry for two decades.

His appointment at Chelsea in 2004 saw his earnings sharply rise while later moves to Inter Milan and Real Madrid had the in-demand coach well rewarded with £8.3m-per-year and £9.1m-per-year salaries respectively.

It made him the best paid manager in the world at the time.

It was in the Premier League though where he was most lavishly remunerated. Indeed, it was once calculated that his two stints at Stamford Bridge, and subsequent spells at United and Spurs all combined equated to pre-tax income exceeding £40,000 a day.

Such riches have afforded Mourinho a £25m home in Belgravia, London, purchased for £6.5m in the early 2000s, as well as an extensive property portfolio that includes five houses in his native Portugal and a luxury villa overlooking Lake Como in Italy.

More so, few managers have better capitalised on their reputation for commercial gain, and the outspoken 59-year-old has never shied from attaching his name to brands and campaigns, especially in recent years.

These include Samsung, American Express, Heineken, Braun, Jaguar and Adidas. In fact, the list goes on.

There are also severance packages to factor in, an unpopular aspect of modern football that essentially sees a manager rewarded for failing.

His recent £18.1m pay-off from Spurs was the latest example of which there are several throughout Mourinho’s career.

Presently, he is said to be earning £6.4m a year at Roma, a decrease on his hefty wage at Spurs, yet in 2021 it was still reported that Jose Mourinho is better paid than all his peers bar Diego Simeone and Pep Guardiola.

Being one of the best football managers around is evidently a very lucrative area of expertise.

The Special One

A noted tactician whose will to win can sometimes take him close to the edge, Mourinho’s ability to forge successful teams was most in evidence at Porto and Chelsea.

He defied the odds by winning the Champions League with the Portuguese underdogs in 2004, then constructing a side in West London that dominated the English footballing landscape for years.

The current Premier League odds cast Chelsea as outsiders to claim their seventh crown. With Mourinho at his peak at the reins those odds would dramatically tumble.

A second Champions League triumph followed in 2010 with Inter but perhaps Mourinho’s greatest achievement was navigating Real Madrid to La Liga glory in 2012 during an era when Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona reigned supreme.

Jose Mourinho Controversies

Feuds and controversies have accompanied Mourinho’s career almost from the start, displaying a dark side to an otherwise engaging character.

At Chelsea a running battle with Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger – who, as a person and particularly as a manager can be considered Mourinho’s opposite – once resulted in the pair squabbling and pushing each other on the touchline.

In 2005, the Blues boss called the Frenchman a ‘voyeur’, insisting his rival ‘speaks and speaks and speaks about Chelsea’.

Premier League predictions have both Arsenal and Chelsea to only challenge for a top four spot this season with those days as fractious title contenders a distant memory right now.

Pep Guardiola is another managerial nemesis, though their relationship has thawed in recent years.

With each man at the helm of Spain’s two giants, Mourinho often took great pleasure in getting under the Catalan’s skin, repeatedly throwing barbed comments in his direction and suggesting that officials routinely favoured his team.

Family Life

Mourinho met his wife of 30 years Matilde when they were teenagers, with the pair marrying in 1989, both aged just 18.

Seven years later, a daughter - also named Matilde - was born followed in 2000 by a son, Jose Mario Jr and the football-obsessed coach has previously gone on record stating that family and being a good father are the most important things in his life.

Of the two children it is Matilde – nicknamed ‘Tita’ – who is most prominent in the public eye, promoting her jewellery range on her Instagram account that has 38,000 followers and hanging around with famous friends that include members of One Direction.

Mourinho In Decline?

Though Mourinho’s two-and-a-half years at Manchester United is generally deemed to be a disappointment it did bring two major honours in 2017 as well as a Community Shield.

Those however remain the last trophies won by one of the greatest coaches of his, or any other, generation.

Since leaving Old Trafford a troubled spell at Spurs has bled into a troubled spell at Roma and a manager who for so long was held in the highest esteem is now viewed very differently.

The common opinion is that the game has moved on, becoming more expansive and adventurous and that has left the arch-pragmatist in the past. Many believe his best days are behind him.

Certainly, there was a time when those who indulge in football betting online would back a Mourinho-team because the salt-and-pepper haired genius was in the dugout. Like Arsenal and Chelsea’s shared dominance, those days are a distant memory.

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FIRST PUBLISHED: 23rd March 2022

• Andrew Castle is a former British tennis player turned broadcaster

• Castle has become a prominent media figure since his retirement, even having his own LBC show

• Read below for more on Castle’s life, past and present

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Andrew Castle’s time as an active figure in tennis betting odds was pretty limited.

Turning pro in 1986, Castle retired from the sport only six years later with just 22 singles wins to his name. A media career beckoned, with the Epsom native becoming a presenter on GMTV and for numerous sports on Sky.

His voice has been heard during major live betting events. His opinions have often provoked debate or proven controversial.

After a tennis career that was never going to live long in the memory, though, he has crafted a second act in media that has maintained a celebrity status for three decades.

Followers of tennis predictions will be familiar with Castle the commentator and pundit. Some will have tuned into his radio work or presenting elsewhere. There’s still plenty to learn about Andrew Castle’s career so far – so let’s take a look.

Net Worth

Andrew Castle net worth is reported to be somewhere between £2 million and £3 million.

Castle will have collected plenty of cash through his decades in media, though the second career was a necessity after collecting just $344,000 in prize money through his years as a professional tennis player.

While tennis is a sport often associated with privilege, Castle’s upbringing wasn’t cosy financially.

Speaking in an interview in 2015, he explained what he learned about money from his parents.

“When you’ve got it, don’t squander it. My parents ran a fish and chip shop and they had five children. The overall feeling in our house was one of constantly trying to earn enough money to get by.”

With only 10 pence per week in pocket money as a child, Castle was used to making the most of what he had. This was particularly useful during his time in Kansas.

“When I was a student on an athletics scholarship at Wichita State University in Kansas. I lived on potatoes for a month and gave blood to pay my rent. They took plasma and gave me ten bucks.”

Castle might not be the wealthiest of former tennis players, but he’s been able to afford a comfortable lifestyle, including treating himself to a TVR after winning the Dunlop Masters in Japan.

He’s got a couple of properties, one of which has soared in value. 

“I’ve got a five-bedroom house in Balham, South-West London, and a place in Spain. I am also a partner in a Spanish property development company, TM Real Estate.

"We bought our house in Balham 15 years ago for £606,000. We’ve invested quite a lot in it so it’s now worth more than £2 million.”

He might have never possessed the fastest tennis serve, yet Castle has accumulated wealth throughout his life in media and tennis.

Playing Career

A talented tennis player from a young age, Castle landed a scholarship at Millfield School as a teenager.

His parents separated when he was 15, however, forcing him to leave the school. A scholarship in Kansas was the next step, sending him on his way to professionalism in 1986.

While his singles career perhaps underwhelmed, Castle spent a lot of time as the British number one.

His singles performances didn’t inspire the fervour of Tim Henman or Andy Murray, but Castle was competitive on occasion, reaching the third round of Queen’s and enjoying his best Grand Slam performance at the 1987 US Open.

He won two matches before falling to Boris Becker in four sets.

Doubles was where Castle enjoyed most of his success. He never got above 80th in the world in singles, but he reached the Australian Open final in mixed doubles with Anne Hobbs and was ranked as high as 45th.

He reached five other doubles finals, winning three of them. Representing Britain and two Olympics, Castle was also a prominent member of the Davis Cup team.

Broadcasting

Following his retirement from playing in 1992, Andrew Castle signed up with Sky to commentate and present tennis, basketball, motor racing and golf.

Eight years later, he had made a name for himself as a presenter, attracting the attention of GMTV. He was a regular on the programme for a decade, which slotted in alongside his other work presenting shows and commentating.

Castle is a stalwart of the BBC tennis team. He has led the commentary on every men’s singles final since 2003, and while he missed out on the longest tennis match to Ronald McIntosh, Castle has provided play-by-play for many historic moments.

Over the years, Castle has also been involved in a lot of non-sport shows.

Perseverance, Divided and 71 Degrees North are just a few of the programmes to feature the former British number one, and he has featured extensively on the radio, including with The Great American Songbook.

Recently, he has been awarded his own talk show on LBC.

Strictly Come Dancing

Andrew Castle was partnered with Ola Jordan for the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Despite some underwhelming scores, he was safe through the first few weeks, but slumped into the bottom two by Week Four. Castle and Jordan survived, though it was short-lived as they were eliminated in Week Seven.

The judges weren’t impressed with Castle’s Samba, the dance which was ultimately his downfall.

Bruno Tonioli said, “The samba should have the excitement of the Brazilian Grand Prix and this was a Brazilian grand flop: no bounce, poor hip action...”

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*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*