Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD
Get unlimited access to 10,000+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just
Try GOLD - Free
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.
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.
This story is from the April 01, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian
The Guardian
Dalby’s daring finish ensures Bolton's return
With Sam Dalby’s 81st-minute overhead kick, Bolton could start to plan for their return to the Championship, a division they left in 2019 as a club in turmoil.
2 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
Out-of-sorts Raducanu exits with a cough but Jones breaks her duck
Twenty minutes into her time at the 2026 French Open, Emma Raducanu already appeared to be on her way out.
3 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
'Disillusioned' The mood in Russia turns against Putin
Vladimir Putin pulled up to a hotel in central Moscow in a Russian-made SUV, dressed casually in jeans and a light jacket.
5 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
Usyk avoids upset as chaotic late stoppage ends title fight
Oleksandr Usyk, Ukraine’s unbeaten heavyweight world champion, stopped the Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven with one second remaining in the penultimate round to avoid what would have been one of the biggest boxing upsets of all time.
1 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
Burnley draw offers no relief for Jackson
Burnley’s interim manager, Mike Jackson, took no solace from not finishing bottom of the Premier League after the Clarets ended the season with a 1-1 draw against Wolves.
1 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
Pressure on Farage to prove hack claim
Nigel Farage is under mounting pressure to provide evidence for his claim that a state-sponsored Russian hack was behind the disclosure of the £5m gift he received from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
3 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
‘Massive’ school abuse scandal over French daycare assistants
France is facing a child abuse scandal as “monitors” or daycare assistants at dozens of state nursery and primary schools are investigated for violence, sexual assault and rape.
1 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
US close to peace deal with Iran as Trump faces fury from own party
Republicans criticise president's ‘disastrous’ handling of conflict
6 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
Apologies all round but it's West Ham who go down
Nuno says sorry as win isn't enough to save club from Premier League relegation
1 mins
May 25, 2026
The Guardian
Government will add 300,000 work experience roles
Ministers are to expand youth work experience and training schemes as the former cabinet minister Alan Milburn said yesterday that Britain was spending #25 keeping young people on benefits for every #1 spent helping them into work.
1 min
May 25, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size