The Nations League was brought in by UEFA in 2018 to replace friendly fixtures during international breaks and fills the gap between a summer tournament ending and the following qualifiers beginning. Unlike traditional qualifying where countries play against teams ranked in different coefficient pots, the Nations League is designed for countries at a similar standard to play against each other. There are four leagues (A, B. C, D), each with 16 teams divided into four groups (apart from League D which has six teams split into two groups of three). There is promotion and relegation between the leagues, with the League A winners and runners-up advancing into the quarter-finals for the chance to win the Nations League trophy after three rounds. Performance in the Nations League can benefit countries in qualifying for the World Cup and Euros, a second chance. CONCACAF also has a Nations League and AFC plan to start a Nations League in 2028.
The Nations League might be seen as a little halfway house, not quite a full competitive match but more than a friendly but it’s helped lower-ranked nations to build confidence over time. The extra qualifying spot has led to countries like Georgia and North Macedonia qualifying for European Championships through the playoffs designated to the lower ranked Nations League placings.
The Europa League is the 2nd competition in European football, organised by UEFA. Originally called the UEFA Cup from 1971 until 2009 when it was rebranded as the Europa League, team below the Champions League places in European domestic leagues qualify. Games are played on Thursday nights, and often feature teams on the up that are not quite ready for the Champions League or big teams who haven't quite made the grade in the previous season. The winners of the Europa League qualify for the following season's Champions League and also the European Super Cup which is the pre-season showcase against the previous season's Champions League winners.
Unai Emery is the master of the Europa League. He's won the trophy five times during spells as manager of Sevilla, Villarreal, and Aston Villa.
The modern game is all about the squad. The deeper your bench, the better chance you have of success, especially if you have a super sub. Substitutes are the players not selected in the starting 11. They can be brought on during the match to replace players, due to injuries, for tactical reasons, poor performance, or fitness concerns. In the Premier League there are 9 substitutes on the bench, 5 of which can be used during three substitution windows. The number of players on the bench increases to 12 for Champions League matches.
The first ever substitute in the English game was Keith Peacock of Charlton, who came on to replace the injured goalkeeper Mike Rose in a match against Bolton in August 1965. Before then, injured players would have to play on or leave the team with 10 men.
We’ve moved through the age of the player and manager into the age of the sporting director. The role is about shaping the club for the here and now but also into the future, looking after player and coach contracts, transfers, and helping to define and shape the playing style and progress of a club. A good sporting director will be the perfect bridge between ownership and manager/head coach.
In recent years there has been more focus on sporting directors and how successful transfer windows have been than on players and coaches at some clubs. Think of how high profile Edu was at Arsenal and then unsuccessful at Nottingham Forest, or Richard Hughes having success at Bournemouth but a mixed bag of results at Liverpool.
A player standing behind their penalty-taking teammate, mirroring their moves as they run-up to strike the ball. If the penalty taker side steps or does a stutter penalty, the player outside of the box does too in synchronisation. Is it superstition, a ploy to put off the keeper or just a tactic to be ready and in the right place for a rebound?
Youri Tielemans has history of doing a ‘ghost penalty run-up’. In the Premier League match against Ipswich, he copied Bruno Fernandes has he ran up to take a penalty, and at his previous club Aston Villa he was known to do the same.
Pro Ref is the new name for PGMOL, renamed for the start of the 2026/2027 season. It is the body responsible for referees in the English pyramid, from training and development through to appointing match officials for matches across the Premier League, the EFL, and all other FA competitions.
Seeing Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb on TV admitting error after the contentious winning goal in the Manchester derby was like having Déjà vu. How many times do we have statements and apologies from the referees? In this game, Enzo Fernandez was clearly offside and interfering with play for Haaland’s goal, yet VAR awarded it.
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). The former name of the official refereeing body in England responsible for the training, development, and match appointment management of referees and assistants for professional football matches in the English football pyramid. It was originally called the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB) and for the start of the 2026/2027 season has been renamed again to Pro Ref.
PGMOL admitted “significant human error” in October 2023 for an incident where Luis Diaz had an incorrect goal ruled out for offside for Liverpool away at Spurs, leading to the famous “Check complete” audio from the VAR gaining notoriety.
The ref. The man in black. The whistle. The man or woman in the middle. The referee is in charge of each football match, they blow the whistle to start and end the game, award fouls, and have a yellow card and red card ready to give to players committing fouls. They are basically the police on the pitch, sent by Pro Ref (previously PGMOL). They work each match alongside a team of assistant referees (previously called linesmen) and a 4th official on the side of the pitch looking after substitutions and taking verbal abuse from managers and coaches. Who would be a referee? They receive plenty of angry insults from the stands, players, and the touchline.
Maybe the most famous referee of all was Pierluigi Collina, known for his stern yet fair refereeing style and intense eyes. The Italian ref was a standout, had great authority and was respected by pretty much everyone from players and coaches to fans and commentators, a rare feat. He refereed a World Cup final, Champions League final, UEFA Cup final and Men’s Olympic Football final.
The 3rd competition in England, it involves the 92 clubs in the Football League. It is also known as the EFL Cup, and is currently called the Carabao Cup (the current sponsor). In the past it has been named the Milk Cup, Coca-Cola Cup, Carling Cup, Littlewoods Cup and Worthington Cup. This is all the clubs from the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two. The competition begins in August, with the teams playing in European competition entering at the 3rd round stage. The competition runs through till late February/early March. There is no VAR until the semi-finals, and there is still the quirk of two-legged semi-finals, with home and away ties. The winner qualifies for the next season’s Europa League.
Liverpool hold the record for most wins in the League Cup, taking home the trophy 10 times. In recent years Manchester City have dominated, winning it 5 times during the Pep Guardiola era.
To 'Park the Bus' means to play an ultra-defensive style. Often used to describe teams lower down the table when they play the top sides, digging in and playing 5 or 6 players at the back in the lowest of low block tactics. It leaves little space between the lines for attackers to exploit and relies on an aggressive defensive mentality with bodies on the line to block shots, stop crosses, and nullify any attacking play from the opposition side.
'Park the Bus' first became a popular phrase after José Mourinho used it to describe Tottenham Hotspur after a 0-0 draw with his then Chelsea side in 2004. He complained that Tottenham had "brought the bus and left the bus in front of the goal". It would later be used as a positive term to describe well-drilled, defensive teams who got good results using the tactic, much like Mourinho's later teams. In fact, in 2010, after a brilliant defensive victory for Inter Milan against Barcelona, Mourinho joked that his side "hadn't just parked the bus, but has 'parked the plane' because they were reduced to 10 men".