Euro 2008 – Group A

It’s that time again. The closing date for the squad lists to be submitted to UEFA for Euro 2008 is the 28th of May, but we already know enough about who will be there and who won’t to be able to start having a look at the groups for the finals of this year’s European [...]

The European Championships – 2004

Depending on who you ask, Greece’s victory at Euro 2004 was either a victory for the footballing romantic or a dour triumph of defensiveness over attacking flair. Greece, who had only ever qualified for the tournament once before, in 1980, arrived in Portugal with a pretty straightforward philosophy – we know our limitations and will [...]

The European Championships – 2000

So, a new millennium, and a new concept for UEFA – for the first time, the finals of the European Championships would be jointly hosted between two countries. This was an excellent tournament, freed from much of the defensive football that had blighted the previous two competitions in England and Sweden, and would end with [...]

The European Championships – 1996

Time, then, to debunk a couple of old myths about Euro 96. First of all, the tournament was not the stunning success that many of the history books would tell you that it was. It was certainly a success when compared with the worst, most doom-laden prophecies that the media could come up with, but [...]

The European Championships – 1992

The years between 1988 and 1992 were the most eventful in the history of Europe since the end of the Second World War. The collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe meant that the 1992 European Championships saw the first entry of a reunited German team and, in the light of the dissolution of the Soviet [...]

The European Championships – 1988

So, Euro 88. That was the one that the Dutch won at a canter, all crowned by Marco Van Basten’s magnificent volley against the USSR in the final, right? Well, yes and no. The Netherlands were, in their pomp, an extraordinary team to watch when in full flow. However, they were beaten by the USSR, [...]

The European Championships – 1984

After a fairly disastrous opening tournament, the European Championships were given a lick of paint for the 1984 finals, with rules being changed to prevent a repeat of the torpid affair that had taken place four years prior. It was still an eight team tournament, but this time there would be no pointless third/fourth place [...]

The European Championships – 1980

As you may have noticed, we’ve had a little lick of paint this afternoon ahead of this summer’s festivities and, to get you in the mood still further, we’ll bringing you a quick round up of the previous European Championship tournaments, along with some brief highlights of some of the great matches from the tournament’s [...]

Euro 2008 – The National Anthems!

High on the list of things that are usually part of the tradition of international football tournaments but probably won’t be for much longer are the national anthems. For those of us watching at home, the national anthems are one of the great traditions of these tournaments, and are also one of the ways in [...]

What Not To Wear – 2008 Edition (Part Two)

Back in the day, of course, it didn’t really matter that much. Teams wore their shirts, and if they both wore identical colours, one of them would have to change into something different. At the 1978 World Cup, France and Hungary both turned up in their home shirts (red & blue respectively), and France were [...]