Sit down with an annual subscription's worth of magazines and the covers will tell you the tale of the year. It's especially true in football, where a year really is a long time and 12 months can sometimes feel like a lifetime ago.
The covers of FourFourTwo captured the essence of 2025. Line them up one after the other and you'll be reminded of a year of highs and lows, heroes and villains, and the fact that even in the year before a World Cup there's no calm before the storm.
In January, we took the temperature at Manchester United
Our first 2025 cover star was Ruben Amorim, head coach of Manchester United. He was just a few months into the job after leaving Sporting CP and the waters have been choppy.
United finished 15th in the Premier League in 2024-25. If they'd won the Europa League again, Amorim would have taken them into the Champions League at the very first opportunity. Instead, they lost the final and must work their way back into Europe the hard way.
It might have been so different. United chose to stick with Amorim and progress has been slow. With a pre-season under his belt and a vast sum spent on transfers, the margin of error is tightening.
February was our moment to herald the Premier League champions elect
2025 should have been Liverpool's year and by February we all knew it. FourFourTwo assessed the Reds' Premier League title charge in their first season under Arne Slot.
They went on to win the league in style amid joyous scenes at Anfield but the well documented tragedy inflicted on the city in the aftermath was a devastating coda. The heartbreaking loss of Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, will be felt at Liverpool for years.
Slot hasn't yet replicated Liverpool's title-winning form in 2025/26 and a spat with Mohamed Salah prior to the Africa Cup of Nations only served to amplify the sense of turbulence in what looks a doomed title defence.
In March, we met the man taking England to the World Cup
When we caught up with England boss Thomas Tuchel, there was little indication of how the Three Lions' World Cup qualifying campaign would unfold.
Straightforward but uninspiring victories appeared to be the order of the day before Gareth Southgate's successor freshened up his team and ignited a dominant autumn conclusion.
Tuchel wasn't hired to qualify and he knows it. He has the simplest brief in football: take England where they've never been before and win a World Cup in another country.
FourFourTwo spent time with a legend in April
Gary Lineker left the BBC in the summer of 2025 after presenting Match of the Day for 26 years. We met the former England marksman on the cusp of a new life as he prepared to swap BBC Sport for full-time podcast entrepreneurship.
Lineker's exit from the national broadcaster was overshadowed by a controversy over a social media post but his body of work over the better part of three decades marks him out as a true sports broadcasting legend.
With a bumper Netflix deal keeping him on our screens daily through the World Cup next year, Lineker's durability as one of Britain's foremost presenters continues.
We predicted the future in May
Mohamed Salah staring down Newcastle United's Alexander Isak was supposed to be about two of the Premier League's most dangerous attacking players competing for individual recognition.
Instead, Isak's year was about to take a turn as he angered Newcastle and their supporters by forcing a summer transfer to join Salah at Liverpool in exactly the ways fans dislike the most.
The Sweden striker hasn't had the most prolific of starts at Anfield. Salah's outspoken reaction to being dropped isn't the way we imagined his year would end either.
June paved the way for European Championship glory
Our summer began with a question on the cover: Can the Lionesses defend the title? The answer, of course, was yes. Sarina Wiegman led England to a second successive European Championship win.
Michelle Agyemang was magnificent, Hannah Hampton defiant. Lucy Bronze treated her own injury on the pitch. Chloe Kelly grinned her way through the biggest pressure penalties of the tournament.
England went to Switzerland with the absences of Mary Earps, Millie Bright and Fran Kirby dominating the headlines. They made nearly every game look difficult. Time and again, they had big characters for big moments when it mattered.
We were mad fer it in July
We marked the summer of Oasis with a rock 'n' roll special issue covered by the Gallagher brothers and leading on the story of the band and their relationship with Manchester City.
Of course, we couldn't call it a rock 'n' roll special without celebrating football's contribution, so that's exactly what we did.
We told the stories of Robin Friday and George Best, Ruud Gullit and Elton John's Watford, and we met with Dimitar Berbatov to talk about being a cult footballer and style icon.
In August, we ushered in a new season and a World Cup year
At the start of 2025-26, we previewed the season ahead and rated every team in England's top five men's divisions, the WSL and the Scottish Premiership. We'll come back to those at the end of the season but it's fair to say a lot has changed!
We caught up with former Premier League referee Jeff Winter and treated readers to an exclusive interview with Chelsea's exciting young Brazilian star Estevao.
John Terry answered your questions too, and we had a very close look at the backroom difficulties engulfing Cardiff City. The Bluebirds reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and the top of League One, but we're still keeping an eye on the Welsh capital.
We met the world's best footballer in September
Everyone knows that Ballon d'Or voting is heavily influenced by the major international and continental honours. In a year without a World Cup or European Championship, the Champions League is the best predictor of individual accolades.
So, when we sent Guillem Balague to meet Ousmane Dembele of first-time Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain, we knew we were talking about the future best player in the world.
Dembele was in the end a clear winner ahead of Lamine Yamal and Vitinha, his PSG teammate. The French striker and his manager, Luis Enrique, were also recognised by FIFA earlier this month.
In October, we assessed players on the move including the biggest transfer of all
With the summer transfer window closed and the smoke beginning to clear, we took a step back to evaluate the major moves made by every Premier League club.
Isak returned to the cover of FourFourTwo, now in a Liverpool shirt, as we looked in detail at the big spending of the Reds, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal as well as the lower outlays of other Premier League clubs and, in some cases, the financial restrictions affecting their plans.
We met with Troy Deeney and and the new owners of Morecambe, whose very existence had been under threat while the Premier League transfer bonanza was underway.
We chilled with a world champion in November
Conference League winners Chelsea didn't start the Club World Cup in the United States as favourites but they did end it as champions thanks to the instant impact of new signings and Enzo Maresca outmanoeuvring Luis Enrique in the final.
The impact of that extra summer tournament on players like Cole Palmer is yet to be fully understood.
The Chelsea playmaker is working his way back into form after early-season injury issues. With a World Cup now just months away, he'll be a welcome addition to Tuchel's weaponry.
Gazza opened up to us in December
Paul Gascoigne is one of a kind. The former England midfielder played the game in his own way, achieving heights few others have managed on the pitch but causing problems for himself along the way.
Gazza's issues away from football are no secret. Fans are always pleased to hear when he's doing well, so we were chuffed to find him in good form when we linked up with him on the south coast.
He was in a generous, honest mood. The result was his most revealing interview ever and an essential read for fans of one of England's best.
We ended 2025 by dishing out some awards
FourFourTwo ended the year with a brand new awards issue and another treat for fans of Chelsea.
Our exclusive interview with Joe Cole was every bit as disarmingly honest as our catch-up with Gazza, and we spoke to Joao Pedro about his blockbuster summer move to the Blues.
Frank Lampard updated us on Coventry City's evolution and the Championship promotion battle, and former Man United pair Morgan Schneiderlin and Nemanja Matic look back on their time at Old Trafford.
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