Soccer Archives - Hal Phillips https://www.halphillips.net/category/soccer Small-Batch Journalism & Comment Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:04:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.halphillips.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cropped-BNyb0KwmkKGrHgoH-C8EjlLlhlGBJrZchZqHQ_35-32x32.jpg Soccer Archives - Hal Phillips https://www.halphillips.net/category/soccer 32 32 The Essential Soccer Book for 2026: Sibling Rivalry now Available, from Bloomsbury https://www.halphillips.net/sibling-rivalry-halphillips-net?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sibling-rivalry-halphillips-net Fri, 13 Mar 2026 15:04:00 +0000 https://www.halphillips.net/?p=4987 Welcome to HalPhillips.net, where the lede headline remains the March 2026 publication of my new book. My publishers at Bloomsbury issued Sibling Rivalry: How Mexico and the US Built the Most Contentious, Co-Dependent Feud in World Soccer on March 5, 2026. Get your very own copy here, or click that handsome book cover. We recommend […]

The post The Essential Soccer Book for 2026: Sibling Rivalry now Available, from Bloomsbury appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> Heart-Stopping: My Big Day Out in Spokane https://www.halphillips.net/heart-stopping-my-big-day-out-in-spokane?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=heart-stopping-my-big-day-out-in-spokane https://www.halphillips.net/heart-stopping-my-big-day-out-in-spokane#respond Mon, 01 Dec 2025 03:20:26 +0000 https://www.halphillips.net/?p=5757 While I’m a “Masshole” born, bred and proud (the word’s now ensconced in the Oxford English Dictionary), I’ve made my home in Maine since 1992, and never has there been a bigger soccer story to hit the Pine Tree State than Hearts of Pine, our first-year entry in USL One. The club’s fairytale run finally […]

The post Heart-Stopping: My Big Day Out in Spokane appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/heart-stopping-my-big-day-out-in-spokane/feed 0 Decoding Distaff Indifference Toward Women’s Professional Sports https://www.halphillips.net/decoding-distaff-indifference-toward-professional-womens-sport?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=decoding-distaff-indifference-toward-professional-womens-sport https://www.halphillips.net/decoding-distaff-indifference-toward-professional-womens-sport#respond Thu, 27 Jun 2019 15:02:31 +0000 https://www.halphillips.net/?p=3653 LYON, France (June 27, 2019) — Ever wondered why women’s professional sports are watched and otherwise supported so meagerly by women themselves? The underlying premise here may strike one as obtuse, even churlish this week, what with thousands of women in the stands watching the 2019 Women’s World Cup in stadia all over France. But […]

The post Decoding Distaff Indifference Toward Women’s Professional Sports appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/decoding-distaff-indifference-toward-professional-womens-sport/feed 0 English Football’s unique Global Following Grapples with yet Another Reality Check https://www.halphillips.net/grim-realities-for-english-football-and-its-global-following?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grim-realities-for-english-football-and-its-global-following https://www.halphillips.net/grim-realities-for-english-football-and-its-global-following#respond Thu, 12 Jul 2018 14:15:44 +0000 https://www.halphillips.net/?p=3308 MOSCOW (July 12, 2018) — While their close neighbors and erstwhile enemies crow this morning over another anguished English exit from the World Cup, great swaths of the soccer-loving world suffer alongside the Albion faithful. Some of this cooperative hand-wringing is due to the sheer size of the cultural footprint left by the mother country, […]

The post English Football’s unique Global Following Grapples with yet Another Reality Check appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/grim-realities-for-english-football-and-its-global-following/feed 0 World Cup 2018 Digest: Why refs & linesmen so often get touch line decisions wrong https://www.halphillips.net/in-or-out-why-world-cup-refs-so-often-get-it-wrong?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=in-or-out-why-world-cup-refs-so-often-get-it-wrong https://www.halphillips.net/in-or-out-why-world-cup-refs-so-often-get-it-wrong#respond Thu, 05 Jul 2018 17:22:55 +0000 https://www.halphillips.net/?p=3299 MOSCOW (July 5, 2018) — We’ve reached the first 48-hour break in what has been a delightful frenzy of World Cup matches. The round of 16, our first knock-out stage, concluded Tuesday. Quarterfinals start Friday. Through the magic of YouTubeTV and its DVR function (we cut the cable cord in June), I’ve managed to see […]

The post World Cup 2018 Digest: Why refs & linesmen so often get touch line decisions wrong appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/in-or-out-why-world-cup-refs-so-often-get-it-wrong/feed 0 FulhAmerica Phenomenon Revisited https://www.halphillips.net/decade-old-yank-laden-fulham-phenomenon-revisited?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=decade-old-yank-laden-fulham-phenomenon-revisited https://www.halphillips.net/decade-old-yank-laden-fulham-phenomenon-revisited#respond Wed, 26 Jul 2017 14:05:28 +0000 http://www.halphillips.net/?p=2870 LONDON (March 26, 2007) — There are moments, sublime moments, when spectators sitting in the Johnny Haynes Stand at Craven Cottage can look to the far corner of the ground — where the perpendicular, geometric grandstands fail to meet — and see straight through to the Thames. The river fairly well glistens on sunny spring […]

The post FulhAmerica Phenomenon Revisited appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/decade-old-yank-laden-fulham-phenomenon-revisited/feed 0 USMNT 2017: Mr. Federation Man — Just how bare is thy cupboard? https://www.halphillips.net/usmnt-2017-mr-federation-man-just-how-bare-is-thy-cupboard?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=usmnt-2017-mr-federation-man-just-how-bare-is-thy-cupboard https://www.halphillips.net/usmnt-2017-mr-federation-man-just-how-bare-is-thy-cupboard#respond Fri, 24 Mar 2017 19:00:02 +0000 http://halphillips.net/?p=2690 SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (March 22, 2017) — Sixty minutes into what remained of the March 15 match here in the Costa Rican capital, BeIN color commentator Thomas Rongen festered aloud at the visiting Americans’ inability to go forward. He rightly identified the problem in the center of midfield, where 29-year-old Michael Bradley dropped ever […]

The post USMNT 2017: Mr. Federation Man — Just how bare is thy cupboard? appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/usmnt-2017-mr-federation-man-just-how-bare-is-thy-cupboard/feed 0 Of Hillsborough, Heysel & Stamford Bridge: Backstories amplify documentary of tragedy https://www.halphillips.net/of-hillsborough-heysel-amp-stamford-bridge-backstories-amplify-documentary-of-tragedy?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=of-hillsborough-heysel-amp-stamford-bridge-backstories-amplify-documentary-of-tragedy https://www.halphillips.net/of-hillsborough-heysel-amp-stamford-bridge-backstories-amplify-documentary-of-tragedy#respond Thu, 17 Jul 2014 20:14:50 +0000 http://theaposition.com/halphillips/?p=1800 This post was excerpted and adapted from, Generation Zero: Founding Fathers, Hidden Histories & The Making of Soccer in America (Dickinson-Moses Press, 2022). In joining the wide chorus of praise for director Daniel Gordon’s superb “30 for 30” documentary on the Hillsborough soccer disaster, we should be reminded of two things: First, the state of […]

The post Of Hillsborough, Heysel & Stamford Bridge: Backstories amplify documentary of tragedy appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/of-hillsborough-heysel-amp-stamford-bridge-backstories-amplify-documentary-of-tragedy/feed 0 Das Reboot: German Scraps Aid U.S. Soccer https://www.halphillips.net/das-reboot-german-scraps-aid-us-soccer?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=das-reboot-german-scraps-aid-us-soccer https://www.halphillips.net/das-reboot-german-scraps-aid-us-soccer#respond Tue, 15 Jul 2014 02:42:53 +0000 http://theaposition.com/halphillips/?p=1795 One of the practical joys of watching any proper soccer tournament is the breadth of exposure given to teams that matter. The group phase can be tedious. When the world’s best teams congregate, some also-rans are surely caught in the crossfire. But these three games provide an early indication of who’s got what, and the […]

The post Das Reboot: German Scraps Aid U.S. Soccer appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/das-reboot-german-scraps-aid-us-soccer/feed 0 A Modest Proposal: Award Penalty Kicks from the Spot of the Foul https://www.halphillips.net/a-modest-proposal-award-penalty-kicks-from-the-spot-of-the-foul?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-modest-proposal-award-penalty-kicks-from-the-spot-of-the-foul https://www.halphillips.net/a-modest-proposal-award-penalty-kicks-from-the-spot-of-the-foul#respond Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:32:09 +0000 http://theaposition.com/halphillips/?p=1789 While much of the soccer world at large is surely gratified to see Americans finally taking to the game — record Nielsen ratings (even for games not involving the Yanks) have been accompanied by admirable on-field performances — many international observers do worry the U.S. will eventually use its outsized cultural sway to exert undo, […]

The post A Modest Proposal: Award Penalty Kicks from the Spot of the Foul appeared first on Hal Phillips.

]]> https://www.halphillips.net/a-modest-proposal-award-penalty-kicks-from-the-spot-of-the-foul/feed 0