Jon Spurling
Jon Spurling is a history and politics teacher in his day job, but has written articles and interviewed footballers for numerous publications at home and abroad over the last 25 years. He is a long-time contributor to FourFourTwo and has authored seven books, including the best-selling Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5, and Get It On: How The '70s Rocked Football was published in March 2022.
Latest articles by Jon Spurling
Review: Expected Goals by Rory Smith explores football's relationship with data - from scepticism to full-scale implementation
By Jon Spurling published
Delving deeper into football's increasing fascination with numbers and statistics
8 genuinely brilliant FA Cup replays that truly prove how worthwhile they are
By Jon Spurling published
FA Cup FA Cup replays are widely regarded as dull affairs and an unnecessary extra game in the calendar, but over the years there have been some incredible fixtures
Ranked! The 10 worst sides ever to appear at a World Cup
By Jon Spurling published
FIFA World Cup Sure, Qatar aren't great… but how do they compare against? West Germany’s filthy crew, England’s fake gold and the team that conceded 10 goals in one game?
The best Liverpool vs Arsenal games EVER: Andrey, King Kenny & Anfield '89
By Jon Spurling published
Premier League Jon Spurling dishes the dirt on more than 50 years of classics between the Gunners and Reds
9 goal celebrations that went badly wrong
By Jon Spurling published
Lists Andros Townsend cheesed off Cristiano Ronaldo with a "Siu" celebration - but the joy of finding the net can soon turn to despair, as Jon Spurling recalls
10 times footballers went AWOL – starring paintballing, weddings and dead grandmas
By Jon Spurling published
Lists Harry Kane hasn't reported to training - but at least Nuno knows where he is. Unlike this lot...
10 of football's weirdest initiation ceremonies
By Jon Spurling published
Forget a warm welcome - signing for a new club often involves scorched clothes, inappropriate swearing and toilet brushes...
When Manchester United won their first 10 games – and still gifted the title to Liverpool
By Jon Spurling published
Ron Atkinson's Manchester United set off like a train – but went badly off the rails as their bitter rivals steamed past them. Jon Spurling blows the dust off the history books
10 of football's most ridiculous extravagances: Chelsea's barber, Wickham's champagne and more
By Jon Spurling published
Jon Spurling recalls some memorable instances of cash being splashed
FourFourTwo's 100 Greatest Footballers EVER: No.18 Giuseppe Meazza
By Jon Spurling last updated
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
By Jon Spurling last updated
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
"Boring Chelsea" are no different to the best Arsenal teams
By Jon Spurling last updated
Arsenal The criticism levelled at Chelsea is unjustified and wrong-headed, says Jon Spurling (author of five books on Arsenal)...
10 things you need to know about the Manchester clubs' humble beginnings
By Jon Spurling last updated
Manchester City Forget here and now for a minute as Jon Spurling brings you tales of the pair's intriguing upbringings – including the dirty deeds that propelled United into a new era...
Leigh Roose: The 'reckless', controversial war hero who kept goal for Arsenal
By Jon Spurling published
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
By Jon Spurling published
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
By Jon Spurling last updated
Arsenal Our selection of the greatest Gunners to have ever donned the shirt...
8 managers whose appointments were deeply, deeply unpopular
By Jon Spurling published
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…
FourFourTwo's 100 Greatest Footballers EVER: No.19, Bobby Charlton
By Jon Spurling last updated
FFT 100 Greatest Tireless running and thundering shooting prowess from the man who brought glory to Man United and England
Ranked! The 10 best Arsenal kits of all time
By Jon Spurling last updated
Arsenal Agree with our list of standout Gunners shirts? Jon Spurling adjudicates
What Herbert Chapman did for Highbury
By Jon Spurling last updated
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
By Jon Spurling published
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)
By Jon Spurling last updated
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