Football Daily | From the Euro 2024 final to the big kick-off in League Two? | Guardian.co.uk (2024)

Will Unwin

FRIENDS REUNITED

These are exciting times for Bromley as they enter the Football League and start their new glamorous life in the picturesque setting of Harrogate on Saturday. For some Ravens it has been a lifetime’s dream to poke their head through the non-league ceiling and they will be living out their ambitions in Yorkshire at 3pm on Saturday. But there will also be a fair few eyeballs away from the pitch, with heads swivelling hoping to clasp eyes on one man.

The average attendance last season at what is now known as the Exercise Stadium was 2,710 and they will be eager to welcome former England manager Gareth Southgate for this weekend’s opener. The concerned local resident would not be showing up to complain about parking issues when the match is on, though; instead his best mate is Andy Woodman, the Bromley gaffer, and that’s what friends do.

Southgate has kept a low profile since reaching another Euros final, resulting in defeat to Spain and heading out the door marked ‘Do One’ (of his own accord). But where better to announce your return to football and mainstream society than Wetherby Road, Harrogate? The former Crystal Palace defender has been in, arguably, the most highly-profile football gig on mainland Britain for eight years and it will have taken its toll, so he needs to be eased back into the sport he has given his life to.

It is partly down to Southgate that Harrogate are in League Two; he went into the club to give an inspirational speech prior to their playoff final triumph in 2020. Maybe Woodman will use the same tactic in the away dressing room this time. If Southgate does attend, it might overshadow Bromley’s day for some but for those with perspective it would be what sport is about from the start: fun and friendships. The glory – even if it that glory arrives in leaving with dignity still intact – comes later, as Southgate can tell the teams.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Are there no other referees in Brazil? There are young referees, without bad habits, who can make mistakes but who shouldn’t be as biased as him. He has a standard behaviour that does not allow football to evolve. If he can’t evolve, he needs to do one thing: reform himself! If he can’t lose weight, he should reform himself! We only ask for maximum demands from everyone, just like we have from our clubs, players, and our work. We demand excellence from all sectors involved in football, just as we demand excellence from [the] CBF, journalism, refereeing and the pitches” – there’s backing your boss, and backing your boss. Having watched Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira get sent off against Flamengo after slo-mo VAR caught him for an “obscene gesture” – rubbing his nethers suggestively – his assistant, João Martins, goes full Rui Faria in backing the gaffer by turning his guns on referee Anderson Daronco.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

In yesterday’s Football Daily letters, the conversation has morphed to getting from Fulham to Arsenal. As any informed person knows, the best way to travel from north London to Fulham is by bicycle. A beautiful trip through the city’s parks, the Serpentine and past the Royal Albert Hall. Less than 40 minutes and a great workout to boot” – Andrew Kluth.

Appreciative and intrigued as I am at the detailed travel suggestions provided by your various correspondents, I still have one question. If I’m at Arsenal, why would I want to go to Fulham?” – Tim Healy.

Alas, I didn’t make it past The Eight Bells at Putney Bridge” – Neil Baynham.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Neil Baynham. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

SAINTS AND SINNERS

Regrettable scenes you really don’t want to see but actually love to see always add spice to pre-season friendlies. Not that there was much friendship on show when freshly-promoted Southampton “welcomed” Lazio to St Mary’s. In the words of Russell Martin, the game “obviously descended into a little bit of carnage and chaos” as Charly Alcaraz and Alessio Romagnoli were shown red cards following what was politely termed “an altercation”. What that actually meant was, after a couple of forceful challenges, the pair got involved in a full session of “hold me back”, including a punch thrown by Romagnoli, as teammates and coaches joined the ruck. “I like the fact they look after each other, but it wasn’t ideal for the game,” mused Martin. The score? Oh that: 1-1, with new Saint Ben Brereton Díaz on the mark.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

The Premier League, Football League and a number of other major governing bodies have attended an emergency call with the government to discuss how they can help to calm the rising tension amid the UK’s civil unrest.

Lee Carsley is in line to be England caretaker boss, with the hunt for Gareth Southgate’s replacement likely not done in time for September’s Nations League fixtures. Previous temporary England managers: Joe Mercer, Kevin Keegan, Howard Wilkinson, Peter Taylor, Stuart Pearce and Gareth himself.

After 312 appearances for Fulham, Tim Ream is taking his talents off to MLS and Charlotte FC.

Newcastle are in possession of a shiny new striker: Denmark Under-21s’ William Osula. “William is a talented young forward with all the attributes to be an exciting player,” roared Eddie Howe.

More friendlies news: Villa have beaten Athletic Bilbao 3-2, while Arsenal can presumably claim possession of Granit Xhaka after seeing off Leverkusen 4-1.

And former Premier League ref Jon Moss can’t wait to begin his new job as the SFA’s first VAR manager. “I’m really excited to work with the team to evolve the implementation of VAR in Scottish football,” he whooped.

RECOMMENDED SHOPPING

There’s a new David Squires tome out soon and you can order it now to get a discount at the Big Website Bookshop.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

If you’ve yet to get your ears around the latest Football Weekly podcast, here it is (a Football League special and all).

STILL WANT MORE?

It’s almost time for the new Championship season. Louise Taylor runs the rule over the contenders, hopefuls and strugglers.
Premier League previews No 7: no Olise, probably no Guéhi, so can Crystal Palace shine under Oliver Glasner like they did last spring? And No 8: Everton: no owner, a new ground on the horizon and an almost certainly vain hope for a season of calm.
Here’s part two of Ben McAleer’s suggested summer transfer targets for Premier League clubs.

Oxford City face a marathon season in the National League North, as Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere explains.
And Alex Abnos picks over the USA USA USA men’s latest woes, citing why the next coach must rediscover the means to punch above their weight.

MEMORY LANE

The Big Sports day football reaches the finals this weekend, so let’s throw it back to London 2012, when an all-conquering USA! USA!! USA!!! team took women’s gold, after two goals from Carli Lloyd. And, in a big shock, one that led to Neymar tears, Mexico shocked Brazil with a 2-1 win, both goals scored by Oribe Peralta, who played all his football in Mexico. Héctor Herrera, once of Porto and Atlético and now at Houston Dynamo, was the outstanding player.

‘묘한 너와 나 두고 보면 알겠지’

A staple of dystopian science fictions is an inner sanctum of privilege and an outer world peopled by the desperate poor. The insiders, living off the exploited labour of the outlands, are indifferent to the horrors beyond their walls.
As environmental breakdown accelerates, the planet itself is being treated as the outer world. A rich core extracts wealth from the periphery, often with horrendous cruelty, while the insiders turn their eyes from the human and environmental costs. The periphery becomes a sacrifice zone. Those in the core shrink to their air-conditioned offices.
At the Guardian, we seek to break out of the core and the mindset it cultivates. Guardian journalists tell the stories the rest of the media scarcely touch: stories from the periphery, such as David Azevedo, who died as a result of working on a construction site during an extreme heat wave in France. Or the people living in forgotten, “redlined” parts of US cities that, without the trees and green spaces of more prosperous suburbs, suffer worst from the urban heat island effect.
Exposing the threat of the climate emergency – and the greed of those who enable it – is central to the Guardian’s mission. But this is a collective effort – and we need your help.
If you can afford to fund the Guardian’s reporting, as a one-off payment or from just £4 per month, it will help us to share the truth about the influence of the fossil fuel giants and those that do their bidding.
Among the duties of journalism is to break down the perceptual walls between core and periphery, inside and outside, to confront power with its impacts, however remote they may seem. This is what we strive to do. Thank you.