Tom Maston

Tom Maston

Features Editor

📝 Bio: After starting out as an intern all the way back in 2012, I've been part of the GOAL editorial furniture ever since, taking on a number of roles within the news operation before switching focus to features in 2020. Previously a regular at Premier League grounds around the north and Midlands before covering the 2018 World Cup on the ground in Russia, it's now my role to oversee our wide-ranging feature output, including the annual NXGN awards for the world's best teenage players. A lifelong Leeds United fan, I've learned to take the rough with the smooth in all aspects of life via my football club's various plights, while I harness a soft spot for Liverpool so as to avoid issues within my marriage!

My Football Story: I attended my first Leeds game as a six-year-old, and by the turn of the millennium I was hooked on all aspects of the game and could regularly be found with my head inside a Match annual or book of historical football facts so as to ensure I was aware of the most important figures and teams from both the past and present. I was a season-ticket holder at Elland Road in my early teenage years (just as things started to go wrong!) and played (badly) for my local side until suffering a serious ankle injury aged 15. An old soul, I refuse to watch Premier League goals on social media until I've seen Match of the Day and listen to Saturday 3pm games on the radio rather than searching for illegal streams - it's the only way to live IMO.

🎯 Areas of expertise:
  • Opinion and analysis of the Premier League, Champions League and the global game
  • Superstars of the future
  • Ballon d'Or and what's required to win it
🌟 Favourite footballing memory: Marcelo Bielsa's post-spygate press conference and public undressing of Frank Lampard's Derby County - an afternoon that began in absolute panic that the great man was about to resign and ended in hilarity. Quite how Leeds got so lucky to have him in charge I'll never understand!
Articles by Tom Maston
  1. Ederson to United is done! Red Devils make rare sensible signing

    For some football fans, the summer is the part of the calendar that they look forward to the most - and that's not just because it's filled by a World Cup every four years! Rather, it's because the end of the season means only one thing: It's time for transfers! The 2026 window is likely to once again be bust, with some huge names set to make big-money moves before deadline day on September 1.

  2. RANKED: Top 20 managers of the European season

    The 2025-26 European season is over, and it ended just as the 2024-25 did 12 months earlier, with Paris Saint-Germain lifting the European Cup at the end of the Champions League final. Saturday's win over Arsenal in Budapest was a much tighter affair than their thrashing of Inter in Munich, but was greeted with no less joy by the French giants and their supporters as they clinched a double having already won Ligue 1.

  3. 30 players who will define the summer transfer window

    And there we have it. The 2025-26 European football season is in the books, capped by Paris Saint-Germain beating Arsenal in the Champions League final to defend their continental crown. Soon the past nine months or so will become distant memories, such is the speed at which the footballing world moves on, especially when major tournaments on the horizon.

  4. BDO Power Rankings: Could Dembele grab Golden Ball No.2?

    With the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly presumably disappearing into the rearview mirror, the battle for the Ballon d'Or hasn't felt so open for the best part of 20 years, with countless players now beginning each campaign believing they have a chance of claiming the most prestigious individual prize football has to offer. Ousmane Dembele emerged from a career plagued by injuries and inconsistencies to win the Golden Ball in 2025, and he is among a crowded field of contenders again in 2026.

  5. RANKED: Top 50 players of the European season

    The European football season is almost over. Just one game remains - the Champions League final, as Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain prepare to do battle in Budapest on Saturday. Both sides come into the game having won their own domestic titles, with PSG looking to defend the crown they won for the first time last season, while the Gunners are aiming to secure their first European Cup.

  6. RANKED: Top 20 signings of the European season

    The 2025-26 European season is almost in the books. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain will face off in Saturday's Champions League final after both secured league titles in England and France, respectively, while there was joy for Bayern Munich in Germany and Inter in Italy as both won domestic doubles. Rounding out the 'Big Five' leagues, Barcelona successfully defended their crown in La Liga as Real Madrid tailed off in chaotic circumstances.

  7. EPL Manager of the Year: Every top-flight coach ranked

    The 2025-26 Premier League season is over, with top-flight players around England making their plans for the summer, whether they involve holidays or, for the lucky few, a chance to put on a show at the World Cup. Even those internationals will get the chance to switch off at some stage, but for their managers, the work never stops, with plans likely already being drawn up for the transfer window and next season.

  8. RANKED: Top 50 players of the Premier League season

    And there you have it - the 2025-26 Premier League season is over. Arsenal are the champions while West Ham have been relegated alongside Wolves and Burnley as Tottenham secured survival on the final day. While the football hasn't always been the most scintillating, it's been a campaign full of twists and turns at both ends of the table, making it difficult to predict any result given the increased parity among the teams in the English top-flight.

  9. Spurs are staying up! Palhinha powers Tottenham to safety

    Tottenham ensured that they avoided relegation from the Premier League as they edged out Everton 1-0 on a nervy Sunday in north London. Joao Palhinha proved to be the hero as he netted the only goal of the game shortly before half-time, with Spurs then able to see the game out and condemn West Ham to the Championship despite their own victory over Leeds United across the capital.

  1. Sublime Semenyo secures FA Cup glory for Pep & City

    Manchester City secured their second trophy of the season as Antoine Semenyo's second-half goal secured a 1-0 win over Chelsea in Saturday's FA Cup final. Pep Guardiola's side edged what was a pretty lifeless affair at Wembley, and Semenyo's sublime flick, scored with 18 minutes left on the clock, proved to be the difference as City won the competition for the eighth time in their history.

  2. Quick-thinking Enzo brings end to Chelsea's losing run

    Chelsea brought an end to their run of Premier League losses as they battled back to earn a 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Saturday. Enzo Fernandez's free-kick earned Calum McFarlane's side a point on Merseyside, though their hopes of sneaking into the Champions League via a sixth-placed finish continue to fade away after failing to record a much-needed victory.

  3. Alvarez goes missing as shot-shy Atleti come up short

    Atletico Madrid once again came up short in the Champions League as they suffered a 1-0 loss at Arsenal on Tuesday that meant they succumbed to a 2-1 aggregate defeat in their semi-final tie. Diego Simeone's side mustered just two shots on target in north London as their hopes of facing either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest on May 30 went up in smoke.