Rory Smith (@RorySmith) / X

Rory Smith

54.9K posts

Rory Smith

@RorySmith

Football Correspondent, The Observer. Also: @meninblazers @podcast_libero @bbc5live’s Monday Night Club. Author of Mister and Expected Goals.

Joined April 2010

Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Nov 22, 2018
Boca Juniors fans at a training session. A training session. There’s such a thing as liking football too much.
00:00
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Apr 12, 2022
Fede Valverde, who has been running around for 110 minutes, just blazed past Christian Pulisic, who has been running around for 27 minutes, lost the ball, turned round, ran back, and then sprinted past him again to regain possession. There's a good chance he's a cyborg.
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Aug 15, 2025
That's one of the most moving things I've seen on a football pitch, I think: Salah standing in front of the Kop, tears in his eyes, keeping the Jota song going. A really admirable public act of grief.
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Jun 5, 2024
At Wembley on Saturday, immediately before probably the third biggest game in their team's history, Dortmund fans held up a big banner criticising the club's decision to sign a (relatively minor) sponsorship agreement with Rheinmetall, one of Europe's biggest arms manufacturers.
Real Talk Manchester City
@RealTalkMCFC
Jun 4, 2024
Manchester City are about to take down the entire Premier League cartel. We have just declared war on the entire football elite. This legal battle will decide the future of football: either it will be monopolized by the big, traditional clubs or their monopoly will be crushed and
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Sep 16, 2021
Messi’s first interview on the day he joined PSG wasn’t with a TV station or a newspaper. It was with @IbaiLlanos, the Twitch streamer even the most elusive players are happy to talk to and, possibly, a pioneer of the future of sports media
Why Is Everyone Talking to Ibai Llanos? (Published 2021)
From nytimes.com
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
May 31, 2025
PSG’s fans have unveiled a tifo in honour of Xana, Luis Enrique’s daughter. That is quite beautiful.
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Oct 7, 2021
The way football is now conditioned to fetishise money is beyond grim, it really is. Not Newcastle, not Man City: all of it. All of us.
ESPN FC
@ESPNFC
Oct 7, 2021
Newcastle's new owners net worth vs. Man City's owners net worth 🤑
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Jan 14, 2021
How about instead of celebrating goals all the players shape their bodies in such a way to spell out “football is again being used as a distraction from broader governmental failures, this is just as inane a conversation as the one about scotch eggs”
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
May 28, 2022
The speed with which UEFA’s transparent attempt to blame fans for complete organisational failure has been swallowed despite literally gigabytes of available evidence is really dispiriting.
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Oct 2, 2023
The fact that your club has also been wronged by VAR isn’t proof that Liverpool shouldn’t complain, it’s proof there’s an issue with a system that has changed football quite drastically in pursuit of a perfection it isn’t delivering. Your club should also be complaining.
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Apr 19, 2021
It’s not sport if there’s no relationship between effort and reward. It’s not sport if success is guaranteed. It’s not sport if you can’t lose. It’s content.
Outrage About European Super League Is Muffled by Our Cheers (Published 2021)
From nytimes.com
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Jun 6, 2024
Wolves can now attempt a legal action to challenge the legality of VAR because they no longer wish to be oppressed by the tyranny of the majority
Martyn Ziegler
@martynziegler
Jun 6, 2024
Replying to @martynziegler
Wolves' proposal to scrap VAR was defeated by 19 votes to 1
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
May 19, 2022
Replying to @chris_sutton73
Yes, he’s done brilliantly to take them from 16th when he took the job to 16th now. Transformative stuff.
Rory Smith
@RorySmith
Mar 11, 2019
I asked Raheem Sterling about racism, abuse, public portrayals of black athletes, stereotypes, diversity in the media and double standards. He had a lot to say.
Raheem Sterling Has Had Enough (Published 2019)
From nytimes.com