Tom Burrows

Football writer @TheAthleticFC | Sports fan | Music lover

[Tom Burrows @TBurrows16]

I spent four months in the company of #Millwall captain Jake Cooper

It was an eventful period that ended with a painful defeat in the playoffs this week

This tells the story of that time and what life looks like for an EFL footballer

(Free to read)

https://t.co/XFFLdp5BkN

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

A cargo ship, a floodlit metal cage, 24 of the world's best players, and Eric Cantona holding court.

Over three breathless, Elvis-soundtracked minutes, Nike's Secret Tournament turned a thousand playground daydreams into reality — or something like it.

It was impossible to wrench your eyes away. Nearly a quarter of a century later, it still is.

Here is an oral history of one of the greatest football adverts of all time, told by those who made it.

📝 @JackLang

Free to read 🆓

https://t.co/n04mUK4Nyo

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Forty-eight nations, each with a distinct football culture.

The fans who believe their team is cursed.
The country where early adopters were ridiculed and abused.
The supporters who will bring 'the whip' with them.
The nation where football has united the people when all else has failed.

Over recent months, The Athletic has been speaking to supporters of every team that will compete at this summer's World Cup to explore each one's rich and diverse football culture.

From Algeria to Argentina, Canada to Curacao, the Netherlands to New Zealand and all other corners of the globe, this new series takes in traditions, psychology, food, history and much more.

Welcome to The Language of Soccer.

🔗 https://t.co/38GZcz6npe

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

They have achieved two successive promotions and will play in Ligue 1 again next season after a 16-year absence.

They also count a string of famous sportspeople — Novak Djokovic, Felipe Massa, Kevin Magnussen and Thibaut Courtois — as investors.

Their stadium is located inside the Circuit de la Sarthe, host of the iconic Le Mans 24-hour race, one of the showpiece events in the motor racing calendar and held every June.

Welcome to Le Mans FC, the French side with lofty ambitions who have drawn similarities with Wrexham and Como 1907.

📝 @TBurrows16

🔗 https://t.co/7XDPFkQejZ

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Arne Slot has been sacked as Liverpool head coach.

The decision has been taken by owner Fenway Sports Group after a dismal season saw Liverpool finish fifth in the Premier League with just 60 points, their lowest total for a decade.

It brings to an end the Dutchman’s two-year reign since he was appointed as Jurgen Klopp’s successor in the summer of 2024.

More from @JamesPearceLFC ⤵️

🔗 https://t.co/vzPmtShkLJ

[Tom Burrows @TBurrows16]

Le Mans FC are back in Ligue 1 - after a 16 year absence

They have achieved successive promotions and count Djokovic, Massa, Magnussen + Courtois among their famous investors

I spoke to their new ownership group + Massa about their plans

#AllezLEMANSFC

https://t.co/5bHqibObMD

[The Athletic @TheAthletic]

Is this the most dangerous race in the world?

With top speeds of over 200mph on a course that winds along public roads, the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race is supremely exhilarating… and inevitably lethal.

Between this race and the annual August Manx Grand Prix, there have been 271 deaths.

@GregOK went to the Isle of Man to find out what about this race motivates riders to take such great risks.

FREE READ 🔗 https://t.co/J7ZNlopqZz

[James Pearce @JamesPearceLFC]

Ibrahima Konate is set to leave Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of June.
Just too big a gap between the financial package the French defender wanted to stay at Anfield and what #LFC were willing to pay.

https://t.co/oKRL2XmHdQ

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

The 1990s were big for Éric Di Meco. He was a Champions League winner with Marseille in 1993 and went to Euro 96 with France too.

But ask him about England in 1996 and he is more likely to talk about a certain pair of concerts at Knebworth in August, because these days Di Meco is the bass player in an Oasis tribute band.

He spoke to @TBurrows16 about his football career, and his love for Britpop.

FREE READ: https://t.co/zFFtdRK3fv

[Tom Burrows @TBurrows16]

Éric Di Meco won the European Cup with Marseille in '93

He now plays in an Oasis tribute band

Ahead of this year’s #UCL final, we spoke about that famous OM side, the match-fixing scandal, Euro ’96, meeting Noel Gallagher - and his favourite Oasis songs

https://t.co/q8PvsBUPCS

[Second Tier podcast @secondtierpod]

“I came here to keep Hull in the Championship.

“I failed.”

Sergey Jakirovic 😂😂😂

[Sam Lee @SamLee]

The inside story of Pep Guardiola’s decade at City, told by his players and friends

Featuring:
🎤 Noel Gallagher
🇩🇪 Ilkay Gundogan
🇧🇷 Fernandinho
🇵🇹 Bernardo Silva
🇭🇷 Josko Gvardiol
🇫🇷 Bacary Sagna
⛳️ Tommy Fleetwood & more…

Read for FREE now 🎁

https://t.co/GuNcVJpKqd

[Jack Pitt-Brooke @JackPittBrooke]

Tottenham Hotspur 2025-26. The year when the whole club fell apart before De Zerbi put it back together again. So much drama on and off the pitch, and they’ve ended up in the same position: 17th, but with everyone feeling unusually unified.

My piece:

https://t.co/Ucyvec3ksK

[Tom Burrows @TBurrows16]

Title celebrations continue for delighted #AFC supporters at the Emirates Stadium this evening, a proper party atmosphere

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

West Ham United have been sleepwalking towards relegation since August. Many might argue the drift began long before then.

This season has been an unmitigated mess on and off the pitch, with leadership voids, managerial turnover, a scattergun approach to recruitment and unrest in the stands.

Nuno fell out with players and coaching staff, at times he did not speak during half-time or after games, and there is uncertainty over his future at the club.

Plenty of players will be on the move, with relegation meaning West Ham need to raise £150m in sales this summer.

@RoshaneSport provides the inside read on their calamitous relegation from the Premier League.

Free to read: https://t.co/QZaLNkEHl6

[Tom Burrows @TBurrows16]

Antonin Kinsky has played a big role for #THFC in securing survival

Huge save in the closing stages against #LUFC + another brilliant stop to deny Tyrique George today

Some story given his brutal substitution against Atletico under Igor Tudor just two months ago

[Sky Sports Premier League @SkySportsPL]

What a SAVE from Kinsky!! 🤯

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Even the most optimistic Hull City fan must have thought this season would be a struggle.

They had only just avoided relegation last season. They appointed a little-known coach. They were under a transfer ban and could only bring in free transfers and loans.

And yet now they are heading for the Premier League…well, once they get back from an almighty party in Las Vegas

@TBurrows16 on how Hull went from relegation fears to the Premier League ⤵️

🔗 https://t.co/dBDwY0PSZG

[Tom Burrows @TBurrows16]

'If there’s a fairy tale in the league this season, it’s probably us'

How Hull City - who only stayed up on goal difference last year before being hit by a transfer embargo - defied the odds

Central to their revival has been head coach Sergej Jakirovic

https://t.co/CFHQK0HQOR

[Tom Burrows @TBurrows16]

Hull City’s players and fans join together to belt out Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ in the Wembley sunshine

Promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since 2017

[Tom Burrows @TBurrows16]

A picture that says it all

Late drama in the Championship final takes Hull City - who only survived relegation on goal difference last season - into the Premier League. An incredible achievement

Oli McBurnie, who has been brilliant for Hull City all season, the match winner

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

The inside story of England's World Cup squad selection - and the fallout from it:

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Why Gibbs-White did not expect to be selected
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 How Tuchel and Toney relationship was repaired
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The factors that influenced decision to omit Maguire
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The role of an incognito coach

📝 @Dan_Sheldon_

Free to read: https://t.co/5rGp1caDpx