Sport / Harriet Marsden

Metro • 27th October 2020

I worry I might never watch live football with my 94-year-old grandad again

On the list of first things you’ll never forget, a Premier League football match comes close to the top. I was five years old, and Chelsea were playing Newcastle at home in Stamford Bridge. Totally discombobulated by the crowds, I clung to my grandfather’s hand as he manoeuvred me through the lofty herds, practically dribbling me between their legs like an expert forward.

Positive News • 26th October 2020

Moving the goalposts: the footballers using their influence for good

Of all the scapegoats in the Covid-19 pandemic, footballers were the most predictable. The health secretary Matt Hancock suggested they should “play their part” by taking pay cuts. MP Julian Knight, chair of the department for digital, culture, media and sport, condemned millionaire players taking full pay while non-playing staff were furloughed.

The Times • 10th June 2019

Plenty of empty seats but England and Scotland fans unite behind women’s game

To say that the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, the venue of yesterday’s much-hyped World Cup meeting between England and Scotland, is poorly located is something of an understatement.

The Times • 8th June 2019

Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert carries Scottish hopes of World Cup surprise victory over England

Which footballer best embodies the Scottish women’s team? For the coach and former captain, Shelley Kerr, it is Erin Cuthbert. This may surprise some, given the Chelsea midfielder’s relative juniority but Kerr, the first UK woman to manage a senior men’s team, knows something about Scottish spirit.

The Times • 13th June 2019

Estefanía Banini: The ‘female Messi’ fighting discrimination in Argentina now sets sights on England

To be compared to Lionel Messi, arguably the world’s greatest footballer, is heady praise for most athletes. But Estefanía Banini, the star of Argentina’s national women’s side, prefers a more personal approach.

The Times • 14th June 2019

Women’s World Cup: Early setback has put Japan’s hope of a second bloom in doubt

The Japanese word nadeshiko refers to a pink carnation found in the country’s mountains. It also describes a romanticised idea of Japanese womanhood: silent, still and picture-perfect. Somewhat incongruous, then, that nadeshiko is the nickname of the national football team who, eight years ago, were world champions.

The Independent • 8th February 2020

Child sex abuse, corruption and cover-ups: How football can and must move on from its darkest time

Andrew Woodward has no idea how many times he was raped as a child. In November 2016, the ex-footballer waived his right to anonymity and revealed that he had been a victim of sexual abuse for more than six years in the 1980s. The one-time Crewe Alexandra defender named his former coach, a convicted paedophile who police would later say had “almost an insatiable appetite” for young boys: Barry Bennell.

The Independent • 10th October 2019

‘This is not what we fought for’: The battle to end Iran’s ban on female football fans

When Iran beat Cambodia 14-0 in its home qualifier for the 2022 Qatar World Cup last night, only one corner of Tehran’s stadium cheered. A small section, ringed with metal fencing, was packed full of jubilant Iranian women, sporting painted faces and national flags. Hundreds more queued up outside. It was a pocket of celebration in a nearly empty stadium. Because for the first time in four decades, Iran had allowed women to buy tickets to a match. It was too late for Sahar Khodayari. Almost a m

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