Matthew Handley

Oxford history student, Debate Mate mentor, football fanatic

For fans of Manchester United, last night's 2-0 win away at Blackburn was a cause for delirious joy, taking their team five points clear at the top of the table. For everyone else it was a cause for grudging admiration and jealousy of a side that, despite being incredibly average at points this season has an unparalleled ability to produce results.

Stephen Maunder

Long-suffering Everton fan. Writes about football and houses.

The Premier League would be a much lesser place without the maverick. From the kung fu kicking of Cantona and hoarding bashing of Temuri Ketsbaia, to the loveable madness of Di Canio and Ravanelli, English football has always been peppered with players who will either leave you in the lurch or fire you to a glorious victory.

David Schneider

Actor, writer, comedian, fool

Yes, it's time to say good-bye to another Chelsea manager. AVB's departure means it's now mathematically easier to list who hasn't managed Chelsea under Abramovich than who has. So what went wrong?

Luke McGee

Assistant Blog Editor, Huffington Post UK

For the past 12 months being an Arsenal fan hasn't been particularly fun. This, I fear, is what mediocrity feels like. And I think we may have to get used to it.

Luke Bozier

Centre-ground political activist and entrepreneur

Brits - including our political leaders - prefer to sit around moaning. Our best days are behind us, they say. 'Little Britain syndrome' has taken ahold throughout the nation. I tell you what will get rid of it: a dose of British optimism to snap us out of our funk. We need that half-time ad, reminding us that we too are a great country capable of digging ourselves out of a hole.

Alistair Coleman

Writer and award-winning blogger

Thierry Henry has returned to Arsenal, where he was rightly recognised in his eight-year stay as one of the finest strikers ever to have plied his craft in the English leagues. This has - for enthusiasts of the round-ball game - engendered the same sort of excitement grandees of the Conservative Party must have felt when Winston Churchill returned to Number Ten in 1951 at the age of 76.

Sam Parker

Culture Editor of Huffington Post UK

St James' Park sits at the top of Newcastle like a colossus. I can see it from my window as I type. To a football-mad region, it is reassuring presence - a 52,409 seat monument that stands strong in the whirlwind of madness and mismanagement that has engulfed the club for decades.

Duncan Tucker

English journalist living in Mexico

The 13-goal mauling dished out by both Manchester sides to their north London opponents on Sunday raises an intriguing question: is this the future of English football?

Eliot Rothwell

20 year old freelance sports writer accredited for Euro 2012

Few things have the status of a national event in Britain these days. Christmas is one, a Royal Wedding is another, but the altogether more surprising event that has captured the attention of the nation occurs but twice a year.

Marcus Moore

Freelance writer and former teacher

Yes, folks, football is back: the beautiful game of two halves, with teams on paper setting out their stalls to give 110% to each game as it comes at the end of the day. Get ready for another season of missed's and bellowed youthfulness.