Europe's 55 football nations in one season
The Africa Cup of Nations was in Germany. I wore Mali’s famous eagle shirt to Ukraine’s emotional 2-1 win over Slovakia in Düsseldorf. An Irish man spotted my unusual attire in the stadium toilets. “Mali eh.” I was the only … Continued
Marco skipped into my Milan hotel lobby sporting dark glasses, jeans and stubble. He gave me a hug. It had been five years since television director Marco had covered my visit to Crotone for Quelli che … il Calcio. We … Continued
Spain’s third largest urban area is a city of layers. It was founded by the Romans as Valentia, controlled by the Moors and overtaken by Christians accompanied by a lucky bat. The bat is now the symbol of the city, … Continued
I picked up a cheap replica of the Phaistos disc in a tourist shop outside the Minoan palace of Knossos. The Phaistos disc, an inscribed clay circle housed in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, has never been translated. I pulled the tiny … Continued
Ultimate traveller website NomadMania divides the world into 1,301 regions based on territory, population, diversity, economy and tourist appeal. I had visited 373 of the world’s 1,301 regions (England rank: 43 / International rank: 600) as at September 2021. NomadMania … Continued
Europe United tells the story of my football travels across 55 UEFA nations in a single season. It was an amazing feat that seems even more surreal nowadays. The hardback/eBook have sold in over 30 countries and the paperback is published … Continued
After publishing a classic early interview in July 2017, the Guardian ran a second feature in October 2019. “A dog, a cat and 22 fans: watching European football’s worst top-flight team”, an edit of the San Marino chapter in Europe … Continued
Santa Clara, the leading club from the Azores, are the most westerly team competing in top division European football. Europe United features a second-tier match when Santa Clara played at Varzim, overlooking a very different stretch of the Atlantic, in March 2018 … Continued
A flashback to the 55. Apart from watching the game, the only other thing I had to do was ask someone to take a photograph of me at every stadium. The backdrops varied whilst some 55FN photographers struggled with my … Continued
It became a pre-match ritual. I wrote down the previous matchday line-ups for the home and away sides in my notepad, the squad numbers and surnames an exciting foretaste of every step of my almighty challenge. As a result, I … Continued