I haven’t updated the site much at all over the last few weeks, largely because (like most of you I’m sure) I have been watching this feast of football at the World Cup!

However, I have found some time to start putting together some more reviews as I have been working through the 1992/93 issues – the first Premier League season. These reviews, which are likely to be a little shorter than current season reviews, will hopefully be completed and uploaded prior the start of the new season.

Talking of the World Cup, you may by now have seen the official tournament programme.

This contains text in English and Russian and is a 180-page edition containing profiles of all the competing teams, as well as information on the stadiums. There is a brief history of the tournament and a few pages dedicated to explaining the use of VAR in the World Cup – a guide that most of the UK television commentators would do well to avail themselves of. I understand a separate programme will be issued for the final so I’ll look to provide some information on that in due course.

On the subject of international tournament programmes, I must also mention the programme for the Conifa World Football Cup, which took place in England between 31st May and 9th June.

This tournament features teams from football associations that, for various reasons, are not affiliated to FIFA, such as Tibet, Northern Cyprus, and Tuvalu. An excellent 84-page programme was issued for the competition, which provided a very worthwhile read, offering excellent profiles of the participating nations.

Both programmes can be picked up for reasonable prices on eBay.