Back Of The Net: football finds from the last week by Aaron› 7 Feb 2013

After a week off (lets call it an international break) we're back with another load of interesting stuff we've found around the web to distract you from your work this Friday, as we look forward to the return of domestic action this weekend and the resumption of all sorts of intriguing stories.

First of all this week, The Football League have dug up a great little league that's bound to start some heated debates - a list of where players in the English Football League were born. Our capital city is obviously top of the league, but after that its interesting to see which other cities are competing. As a Manchester company with a few Liverpudlians working here, it's already caused a stir in our office!

Normally here at Umbro we're all football and nothing else, but we're prepared to make a slight exception for a new site that we've discovered this week which covers football and cricket with equal enthusiasm. Also, you can choose to look at just the football stuff, so any non-cricketeers can visit Goals And Wickets and avoid any runs, leg-byes or silly mid-offs. The sign has a great range of articles with a focus on old magazines and programmes, such as this retrospective look at the Football League magazine.

Talking of magazines, one publication that inspires an instant blast of nostalgia for readers of a certain age is 90 Minutes, and there's a great read over on Obscure Music And Football that celebrates one particular piece that the mag used to feature. Imagine publishing a list of the worst players of the season, complete with stats to show just why that player was the worst in their particular position that year. That's exactly the kind of thing 90 Minutes used to do with their Nightmare League, and it's great to see such a piece reproduced here.

Nostalgia seems to be a bit of a theme for us this week, as another of our favourites looks back, but with a very different medium. The Football Attic have been looking back at the age of the Gameboy with this blog on the official game of the 1990 World Cup which must be up there as one of the strangest football games ever created. Even if you don't remember this pretty obscure title, it's a great read on what games were like before the hyper-realism that we love today.

Finally this week, forgive me a little indulgence, but when one of your favourite websites does a piece on an iconic player from your club, you can't help but notice. So, when In Bed With Maradona has a great article on Sir Tom Finney's great European adventure (well, playing in Ireland) you just have to share it. Even if you've never heard of the Preston Plumber, it's a great insight into another age.

Category:
Football Stories