Latest articles by Jon Spurling
10 of football's most ridiculous extravagances: Chelsea's barber, Wickham's champagne and more
Jon Spurling recalls some memorable instances of cash being splashed
FourFourTwo's 100 Greatest Footballers EVER: No.18 Giuseppe Meazza
FFT 100 Greatest Inter’s controversial, goalscoring superstar led Italy to World Cup glory in 1934 and 1938
FourFourTwo's 100 Greatest Footballers EVER: No.7, Franz Beckenbauer
FFT 100 Greatest The German bestrode European football like an elegant colossus, redefining what a defender could do and winning it all for club and country
Leigh Roose: The 'reckless', controversial war hero who kept goal for Arsenal
Arsenal October 7, 2016 marks the centenary of Roose's death. Jon Spurling remembers the maverick goalkeeper who enchanted early 20th-century football
What next for Stevie G? Here’s what 9 long-serving Liverpool heroes did after leaving
He won't be the next MK Dons boss, but his playing career is now officially over. Reds history suggests good things for the 36-year-old – but it's probably not a good idea to give Princess Anne a squeeze, writes Jon Spurling
Best Arsenal players: the 11 greatest ever
Arsenal Our selection of the greatest Gunners to have ever donned the shirt...
8 managers whose appointments were deeply, deeply unpopular
Lists Some poor gaffers have it hard from the start – and most find that they never even stood a chance in the first place. Behold…
Ranked! The 10 best Arsenal kits of all time
Arsenal Agree with our list of standout Gunners shirts? Jon Spurling adjudicates
What Herbert Chapman did for Highbury
Arsenal Jon Spurling, author of Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5, on the impact of Arsenal's innovative, influential moderniser...
The birth of ‘Le Sulk’: Nicolas Anelka’s Arsenal legacy, 20 years on from his move to Real Madrid
Arsenal It may have been a tidy bit of business for Arsene Wenger, but the saga surrounding the prodigious young striker’s transfer left a shadow over his career
10 of football's weirdest postponements (ft. Pop Idol, sewers and a solar eclipse)
Sheffield United Sure, Leyton Orient finished their 3pm kick-off at 6:50pm on Saturday – but they got there in the end. Jon Spurling recalls the strange tales of games that didn't get that far for all manner of reasons
What's the point of Arsenal?
Arsenal What do the club, and their manager, want to be? Jon Spurling says they must make up their minds quickly to avoid being left by the wayside for good in years to come...
What did George Graham ever do for Arsene Wenger? Here's what...
Arsenal Twenty years on from Graham's Highbury heave-ho, Jon Spurling argues it’s not just Arsenal fans who should remain eternally grateful to him for shaping the Gunners in his own vision...
How Valencia have thwarted Arsenal’s search for European glory before – but what’s different this time
UEFA Europa League Valencia have become a bogey team for the Gunners over the years, but Unai Emery has shown he is capable of guiding underperforming teams to Europa League success
The 11 most miraculous relegation escapes in English football
Top 10 Huddersfield could break records by being relegated this weekend. But could they do something even more incredible? Jon Spurling recalls the teams who memorably defied the drop...
5 fine reasons why Arsenal should enjoy the Europa League
Arsenal Jon Spurling explains why Arsene Wenger’s men should embrace Thursday nights and go all out for victory in Europe's secondary competition this term
What next for Mesut Ozil? 7 players ostracised by Arsenal
Arsenal Both Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka have found themselves out of favour this season. Arsenal have a history of freezing out first-team players, but a spell out in the cold doesn't always spell the end
How US soccer rescued Arsenal in the mid-80s – and changed English football
Arsenal With Arsenal in the middle of their US pre season tour, Jon Spurling explains how ex-vice chairman David Dein's obsession with stateside soccer helped transform an ailing club
Henry Norris: The man who moved Arsenal to Highbury – and became Tottenham's first true enemy
Arsenal Jon Spurling on the controversial figure who took Arsenal to Highbury over a hundred years ago
What Bruce Rioch did for Arsenal – looking back 20 years on from his arrival
Arsenal The hard-nosed Scot gets a bad rep for his ill-fated season at Highbury, but Jon Spurling says plenty of good was done too...
The craziest season in English football: when the champions got relegated and ‘Lucky Arsenal’ annoyed the nation
Action Replay Hapless title holders, unlikely contenders at the top and a glut of mid-ranking sides upsetting the established order – the 1937/38 season was mental from start to finish
9 times football fell victim to fake news: arrests, deaths and sex changes
Arsene Wenger has dismissed suggestions of first-team assistant Boro Primorac leaving as "fake news" – already a buzzword of 2017 thanks to a certain White House incumbent. But as Jon Spurling discovers, mistruths in the game were being reported long before Donald Trump got up in grills. Sad!
Highbury's curtain raiser: the beginning of an era
Arsenal Jon Spurling, in his book Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5, re-lives Woolwich Arsenal's Highbury opener against Leicester Fosse...
David Platt at Arsenal: why didn't it work out at Highbury for the England dynamo?
Arsenal Twenty years ago Arsenal took a step towards a new era by signing the England international from Sampdoria. It didn't all go to plan, however, as Jon Spurling explains...
Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo and football's altruists: 12 footballers with big, big hearts
Mesut Özil Mesut Ozil's generosity has resulted in 11 Brazilian children having life-saving surgery thanks to his foundation, but the Arsenal playmaker isn't the only star to demonstrate that not all footballers are self-obsessed prima donnas...
