Richard Martin profile pic

Richard Martin

Northern Football Writer

📝 Bio: I'm a football writer covering Manchester United and Manchester City. I am a regular at Old Trafford and The Etihad Stadium and am often found at the City Football Academy or United's Carrington Training Ground for press conferences. I covered Spanish football for 10 years at the height of the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi era, witnessing Real Madrid win three consecutive Champions Leagues while Barca scooped multiple La Liga crowns. I moved back to my former home of Manchester in 2023, in time to cover City swooping to the treble and a record-breaking fourth successive Premier League crown, plus the never-ending melodrama unfolding at United. Highlights while working for GOAL include interviewing Julian Alvarez, Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot.

⚽ My Football Story: My first game was seeing Manchester United getting destroyed 4-1 by Tottenham in 1996, aged eight. It did not put me off and I have since been to over 700 matches across 16 countries and three continents, from standing on the terraces at River Plate and Napoli to filing match reports from the World Cup final in Moscow or the Europa League final in Bilbao. I live and breathe terrace culture but I equally enjoy analysing the game's top players and coaches.

🎯 Areas of Expertise:

  • Manchester United & Manchester City
  • La Liga
  • Fan culture

🌟 Favourite Footballing Memory:

Reporting from the Copa Libertadores final between River Plate and Boca Juniors in Madrid, a once-in-a-lifetime event and a privilege to experience live.

 

 

 

Articles by Richard Martin
  1. Take a stand, Ruben! Man Utd must avoid farcical friendlies

    There was an air of resignation in Ruben Amorim's voice when he addressed reports of Manchester United's potential plans to jet off to Saudi Arabia in the middle of the season to play friendly games. The Portuguese is a coach that talks of the importance of focus, on having lots of training sessions, of being fully committed to the cause of reviving the club's fortunes. And exhibition tours fly in the face of all that.

  2. Mount opens up on pain of Man Utd's 'difficult' results

    Mason Mount has revealed how much Manchester United players are struggling with their difficult start to the season. The Red Devils got some relief after losing three of their opening six games by beating Sunderland 2-0 on Saturday thanks to first-half goals from Mount and Benjamin Sesko. The midfielder highlighted how important the win was to the whole squad and to under-fire coach Ruben Amorim.

  3. Amorim confident Man Utd players 'don't want to change coach'

    Ruben Amorim said he could feel that his Manchester United players do not want him to get sacked after they beat Sunderland 2-0 to ease the pressure on the coach. Goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko gave United a third win of the season and soothed the pain of last week's defeat at Brentford, which led to high profile figures such as Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney fiercely criticising Amorim.

  4. Mount & Sesko slay Sunderland as Lammens stands tall

    Ruben Amorim can put his feet up and enjoy the international break knowing his job is safe for now after Manchester United enjoyed a surprisingly comfortable 2-0 win over Sunderland. Mason Mount struck early to get the Red Devils off on the right foot before Benjamin Sesko pounced after waves of pressure from the hosts, who deservedly won a third home game in a row.

  5. Amorim confirms Man Utd's mid-season friendly plan

    Ruben Amorim has confirmed that Manchester United will play mid-season friendlies to raise extra revenue and gave his backing to the prospect of playing extra games abroad. The coach's admission has raised the likelihood of United facing Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia in the near future. United have extra time to play the games due to missing out on European competition.

  6. Amorim: My biggest concern is players listening to the media

    Ruben Amorim has made light of the deep criticism he has received in recent weeks amid Manchester United's dismal start to the season by insisting it is nothing like what he used to face back in Portugal. Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher all took a swipe at the United boss in the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat at Brentford but he insists he takes it all in his stride.

  7. 'Nothing to do with system!' - Amorim blasts back at Neville & Rooney

    Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim insists his system is not to blame for his team's poor run of results after he faced scathing criticism from club legends Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney as well as Jamie Carragher. The coach's 3-4-3 shape has come in for fresh scrutiny after last week's 3-1 defeat at Brentford although he claims that there are other reasons why his team have lost three of their first six Premier League games.

  8. Rooney makes surprising revelation about Ronaldo wink

    Wayne Rooney has finally revealed how he really felt towards Cristiano Ronaldo after he was sent off during England's World Cup quarter-final tie with Portugal in 2006. Ronaldo and Rooney were Manchester United team-mates at the time but their relationship looked to be threatened after Ronaldo played a role in Rooney getting a red card and then winked towards the Portugal bench.

  1. Sunderland are showing Man Utd how a football club should be run

    Welcome to Wrexham showed the pain and glory of British lower league football to the world but it would never have existed without Sunderland Till I Die. Rob McElhenney watched the documentary on the recommendation of his actor friend Humphrey Ker and was immediately hooked. After finishing the series he instantly decided he wanted to invest in a lower league club and soon his ambitious project with Ryan Reynolds was born.

  2. Late penalty denies City after Haaland heroics

    Erling Haaland was on the prowl and at his most dangerous but he was left disappointed as Manchester City were denied victory in the Champions League at Monaco by a late penalty given away by Nico Gonzalez. Haaland scored his 51st and 52nd goals in Europe's top competitions to tie Mohamed Salah as the 10th highest scorer. But City were pegged back, first by a scorching strike from Jordan Teze and then by Eric Dier's penalty in the 90th minute.

  3. The great Foden revival: How Man City's starboy got his mojo back

    It was only a few months ago that Phil Foden was so worn out physically and mentally that he asked not to be selected by England. Now he is putting his hand up to play games that he wouldn’t normally be considered for. The fire within him that almost burned out is raging again and he has rekindled Manchester City’s fortunes, fuelling their impressive return to form from their worst start to a season in 20 years.

  4. What's stopping Man Utd from sacking Ruben Amorim?

    To outsiders, the fact that Manchester United have not sacked Ruben Amorim yet is one of the great mysteries of our time. There have been several occasions when the Portuguese would have been given his marching orders at many other top clubs. Can you imagine Real Madrid sticking with a coach that had lost eight out of 12 league games between last December and February?

  5. Get him gone! Six reasons Man Utd MUST sack Amorim

    Ruben Amorim claimed after Manchester United's defeat at Brentford that he is never worried about losing his job and that is just as well because, sooner or later, he is going to get his marching orders at Old Trafford. The results speak for themselves. His team have lost 17 of their 33 Premier League matches while winning just nine times. If you want to find a United coach with a worse win percentage in the league, you have to go back to before the Second World War.

  6. Haaland is the difference for Man City - again!

    Never write off Erling Haaland. Even when he hasn't scored after 90 minutes. The Norwegian looked like he was having a quiet game as Manchester City laboured to victory over Burnley but he came alive right at the end, signing off with two goals as well as an assist. Before the striker's stoppage-time blitz, City were grateful to two own goals from Maxime Esteve and one from Matheus Nunes, set up by Haaland.

  7. More Man Utd misery as Maguire & Bruno royally mess up

    Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty and Harry Maguire had a day to forget as Manchester United sank to a worrying 3-1 defeat at Brentford which leaves Ruben Amorim's reputation further in tatters. The Red Devils were hoping to make the most of a bad start by Brentford and record back-to-back wins in the Premier League for the first time under their coach but it all went horribly wrong and piled more pressure on their beleaguered manager.