“Present and future,” wrote Brighton and Hove Albion, posting a proud photograph on X of 17-year-old Harry Howell being congratulated by 39-year-old team-mate James Milner following his debut senior ...

The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello! The talk of the Toon? It’s Alexander Isak. Coming up: 📈 ...

We've all been there: you fly into a tackle during a kickaround and, while you've taken nothing but ball, your opponent has raked you to pieces and left you clutching a severely grazed shin! Avoiding ...

Football fans have noticed a trend of some professional footballers wearing barely-visible shin pads during matches - but why are they used instead of regular-sized pairs? The simple answer is that ...