Back Of The Net: some of the finest football things we've found online by Aaron› 4 Jan 2013

It's a new year, and the turn from December into January naturally brings along a string of resolutions. Aside from the promise that we're going to go to the gym at least once a week/month/decade, we're also going to promise to deliver our Back Of The Net round ups every week, making sure that you've got some interesting football stuff to tide you over in work until its home time and the weekend can kick in. As with all resolutions, lets see how long this lasts for....

January might be about looking forward, but its also about looking back at the past twelve months and picking out some highlights. There's lists of best goals, players and moments everywhere, but for something with a little more depth, this list of the best football writing of 2012 from A Football Report should provide you with enough to chew on for a few weeks at least. Covering everything from money in Brazilian football to why some players are good in the air, there should be something in this list to suit every type of fan.

Also discovered via A Football Report is a fascinating bit of photo-trickery bringing a Greek derby to life. Olympiakos versus Panathiniakos is the Greek El Clasico apparently (as everything needs to be related to that game now it seems), and Tourette Photography have used hundreds of still photographs to give a fascinating snap shot of the action and the atmosphere at the game. A great advert for their photography , and for the intensity of a derby game.

If reading more is one of your new year's resolutions, there's plenty of football books available, but sorting the good from the ghost-written autobiography can be tough. This list of 10 football books worth checking out, put together by Sabotage Times, picks out some interesting texts outside of the usual big names mentioned, and there's also plenty of cracking suggestions in the comments section if any of those ten don't float your boat.

Talking of books, the picture at the top of the page is a novel idea (NOVEL, GETTIT?????) from British designer Tommy Sauce. Tommy has created these Penguin book-style designs for 50 British clubs, giving literary-minded fans the chance to put something cultural on their walls whilst also nailing their colours firmly to the mast. Thanks to Shortlist for pointing us in their direction, and personally I can only hope that the 51st club Tommy chooses to commemorate is a Lancashire-based, double-winning original Football League founder member....

As we mentioned, the new year is a great time to look forward in anticipation, and the always interesting In Bed With Maradona have come up with an excellent way of doing so with The 100. Now in its 3rd year, The 100 is an annual list of the finest upcoming players in the world, which is then evaluated 12 months on to see just how these players have been getting on. This is the list you need to memorize if you want to be able to say 'I told you he was a good un' in a few months time, so we heartily suggest you head over there now and check it out. You can also read their reports on the class of 2012, to see who has kicked on and who hasn't.

Finally this week, we're looking immediately ahead to the next couple of days, as the FA Cup Third Round kicks off. The time when the big teams meet the lower leagues, the Third Round offers the best chance for an upset, and is full of potential stories, with The Guardian picking out 10 moments to look forward to. Of course the excitement might happen elsewhere, but this is a great place to start. We'll be tuning in over the weekend hoping for a slip up or two from the big teams, and we'll see you back here next week with more interesting stories we've dug up online....

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Football Stories