EDITOR’S LETTER

Here are a selection of my personal highlights from 2017, in no particular order: getting a dog onto the cover (thanks Dele), seeing Gabriel Jesus pull wheelies on a child’s bike, being replaced by Lionel Messi for an issue and seeing five of Borussia Dortmund’s best young players attempt to tackle a space hopper. It’s been some year, and the highlights keep rolling.

Starting with two of football’s nice guys, Peter Crouch and Juan Mata, who both feature in this issue celebrating the best of 2017. Mata’s Common Goal initiative is truly commendable for a current player, while Crouchy is the undisputed People’s Champion and is lauded as such on p12. We also have a chat with Emma Hayes, the most successful young English manager in the country, find out how Tom Brady’s inspired Harry Kane and relive the success of England’s Young Lions.

To top it all off, we’ve launched a free kids’ magazine, Goal! It’s currently at the pilot stage, so we would love to hear your thoughts: what do you like, what don’t you like and how often would you like to get a copy? The more we know, the better it will be. All of this is just one more reason why you might want to gift a subscription of FFT this Christmas, because how else do you get the above for less than the cost of an average replica kit? Enjoy the issue and have a fantastic festive period.