A Year Of Just-Football

This past week Just-Football celebrated its first anniversary; an achievement that, though small, we feel is worthy of a mention and maybe even a small pat on the back. It is amazing to sit here now and think that a year has already passed since the first article was published last November in the wake of England’s failure to make it to EURO 2008. Back then we tried to assess exactly what the real problems were with the England setup as recriminations flew all over the place. We looked at the potential English candidates to take the nation in a new direction. And we highlighted issues we felt were being seriously overlooked amongst all the mud-slinging taking place in the mainstream press. From there the site began to grow, and Just-Football began to develop.

Just one year ago Harry Redknapp was at Portsmouth, Sam Allardyce was up on Tyneside managing Newcastle United, Alan Curbishley was a Hammer and Steve McLaren was considered a failure. Juande Ramos was the new kid on the block. Juergen Klinsmann was kicking it back on a beach in California watching the job offers pour in, Jose Mourinho was locked up in a house in Portugal plotting his return and Game 39 was unheard of, just the pipe dream of a crackpot FA executive (it still is). The best teams in Africa were preparing for the African Cup of Nations 2008, a tournament we covered extensively, Dave Kitson was doing anything but prepare for the FA Cup and Barnsley were preparing a massive upset.

Since the site’s inception we have strived to bring you an insight into football from around the world and have covered issues from Angola to Spain, from Al-Ahly to Ebbsfleet United, as well as focussing on players and personalities across the football sphere, from Romario to Sergio Ramos.

In the last year we have had readers logging into Just-Football from more than 90 countries around the globe, from Argentina to Zambia, and I personally continue to be amazed and honoured to continue to have you the reader tuning into this small part of the vast pantheon that is the cybersphere to read up on the topics that we cover. Just-Football’s photo pool on Flickr has also attracted hundreds of contributions and continues to grow.

Over the coming weeks and months we will be looking at new ways in which to improve the site, hopefully including a shiny new makeover, if indeed I manage to find someone tech-savvy enough to help provide us with a new look (hint hint – if you feel you are that person please drop us a line!). Of course we will also strive to continue bringing you an analytical look at football culture around the globe, highlighting the stories and news that we feel aptly reflect the passion of the game we all know and love.

In the meantime, please continue to leave your comments and opinions on the articles we produce. It remains a pleasure to hear from each and every one of you and we hope more of you will feel inclined to contribute to Just-Football in the future, be it through your own articles, opinions on the site itself, or simply your comments and thoughts on articles we produce.

If there is anything you would like to see more (or indeed less) of in the future, please let us know. This is as much your football site as it is ours. Thanks for reading, please continue to do so and here’s to many more years of Just-Football.

Oh, and to celebrate, here’s a present for you – one of the best goals ever scored. Happy Birthday us!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt49QZwpru4]

AC Milan, Announcements, George Weah, Great Goals