Prøve GULL - Gratis

Eyes on the Ballers Welcome to the future of football, where the ability to entertain is king

The Guardian

|

April 01, 2025

The first ever goal in the UK version of the Baller League is scored by the influencer PK Humble, just in case you ever find yourself taking part in a pub quiz in 2045.

- Jonathan Liew

Eyes on the Ballers Welcome to the future of football, where the ability to entertain is king

Humble – a midfielder for Hashtag United and star of the recent YouTube series Inside – takes the ball out of defence, advances it at a frankly embarrassingly leaden pace and side-foots it past a goalkeeper who should really do better.

Welcome to the future of football. It’s faster, better and more exciting than the real thing. Albeit not faster in a strictly physical sense, or better in a strictly technical sense, or more exciting in the sense that you actually need to care about who wins. But it is, nonetheless, all of these things. Why? Because we said so. And don’t just take our word for it. Maya Jama says so too.

Look, I’m going to take a wild swing here: you’re probably not the target audience for Baller League. You probably don’t even care that a new influencer-driven football league was launched in London last week with celebrity managers and a player roster including Henri Lansbury, Marvin Sordell, Adrian Mariappa and Jordon Ibe. You probably have recycling to sort or something.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian

Check it out How chess has made a move into clubland

One of the liveliest spots on a Tuesday night in Brick Lane, east London, isn't a restaurant or a streetwear pop-up, it's a chess club - or chess club/ nightclub hybrid, to be exact.

time to read

3 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

Image of rare white Iberian lynx captured by amateur photographer

An amateur photographer in southern Spain has captured images of a white Iberian lynx, prompting researchers to investigate whether environmental factors could be at play as wildlife watchers revelled in the rare sighting.

time to read

1 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

'I love Leeds, but the club couldn't afford for me to stay'

Mark Viduka, 25 years on from four goals against Liverpool, on a journey taking in civil war and owning a coffee shop

time to read

5 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

Apec summit Xi shows his lighter side with phone gag

It would take someone with nerves of steel to joke about the security of Chinese smartphones in front of Xi Jinping.

time to read

2 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

'We need a bit of help' Frank urges Spurs fans to hold boos and carry team forwards

Thomas Frank has called for better support from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd after revealing that Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence had apologised to him for their reaction to the 1-0 home defeat against Chelsea on Saturday.

time to read

3 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

Reeves paves way for tax-raising budget with 'tough choices' talk

Chancellor to give candid speech amid pressure to break manifesto pledge

time to read

3 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Farage backtracks on promise to cut £9obn of taxes as spotlight falls on Reform's credibility

Nigel Farage yesterday retreated from his party's election manifesto promise to cut £90bn of taxes, accusing Labour and the Tories of \"wrecking the public finances\" and saying Reform UK would need to get public spending under control first.

time to read

3 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

AstraZeneca's Wall Street move drives a coach and horses through stamp duty regime

It was one of those votes where the majority was always going to be huge.

time to read

2 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Power play Fixation on forward rotation risks rugby clashes turning into damp squibs

There was a time in rugby union when the phrase \"Bomb Squad\" felt novel.

time to read

3 mins

November 04, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Attenborough nature series reels in viewers using tricks of TV dramas like Adolescence

David Attenborough's BBC series Kingdom has broken new ground by using the tricks of TV dramas such as Adolescence to immerse viewers in the action with cliffhangers and moving camera shots.

time to read

3 mins

November 04, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size