The concept of international football has been one that has functioned for as long as the game has been existence and in the past few months, the global coronavirus pandemic has bought its own existence into question. With all manner of new protocol required to play scheduled fixtures plus a rejigging of the calendar also required, thankfully the show has still managed to go ahead and with 120 encounters taking place in the month of October, it has meant change in the latest FIFA rankings.

You wait for one radical idea in football and then two come along almost at once, as no sooner has “Project Big Picture” been kicked into touch for at least the short-term, than plans for a European Premier League are announced. Plans that would produce another seismic shock within football’s global community and after one idea was eventually dampened only recently, it is time for some governing bodies to fan the flames once again.

When any Merseyside derby is contested between Everton and Liverpool, it is always set to be a feisty affair and the latest edition of what has been a storied rivalry for more than a century, was certainly no different. The history books will point to a 2-2 draw, as the Toffees continued their early local supremacy for the season and with Carlo Ancelotti’s men looking transformed since the start of the campaign, there are exciting times ahead at Goodison Park.

Although the Scottish Premiership has been in full swing for a couple of months, the three other divisions that make up the SPFL have only just kicked their first balls in anger and they do so without any fans lending their support. Of course, this has been widely the same situation within the Premiership, bar two test events which saw a limited capacity of 300 supporters at both Aberdeen’s Pittodrie and Ross County’s Global Energy Stadium.

With ‘Project Big Picture’ causing all manner of ructions within the English football community, the case for unity has been made by a number of parties and it is that notion of unity which has caused an issue for the EFL. In the initial proposals that were set out in the controversial proposal, the EFL clubs were set to receive a one-off payment of £250m and in return, this lifeline would see parachute payments from the Premier League subsequently scrapped.

Here’s what’s been making the headlines this week: CFA Secretary-General says football is a bridge between China and the world, 3.2M applications for just 6.3K League of Legends World Championship tickets, Vivo announces partnership with EURO 2020 & 2024, CSL final to allow for 10,000 fans in Stadium, NFL engages local fans with virtual experiences, China’s army basketball side quits CBA league, Western sports properties tackle digital in China and why DouYu & Huya had to merge. In this week’s From The Top, we spoke with Joseph Krassenstein, Marketing Director for MORE Sports, a Chinese mobile app and video platform that brings all-encompassing coverage to the complete lifestyle of sports with some of the world’s biggest athletes.

Sunday’s Serie A match between Udinese and Parma at the Dacia Arena was marked by a very special initiative. The side from Udine, who won the match 3-2 thanks to an 88th minute goal by former Watford striker Ignacio Pussetto, wore their second kit, which pays tribute to all the immigrants from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, where the club is from, around the world. The kit, made by Macron, the club’s sponsor, bears the names of the 140 towns where there is a Fogolâr Furlan, the Friulian immigrant associations which have been created around the world.

If you are of a certain age and were a fan of 16-bit video games, you may remember that the electronic football scene was rather primitive and although there were a plethora of titles available, the quality across the board was somewhat lacking. That was until the Electronic Arts studio teamed up with the global game’s governing body and after earning a license from FIFA, the first edition of the now legendary franchise was soon released on consoles such as the Sega Megadrive or Super Nintendo.

With Bury F.C.’s existence coming to a close at the start of last season, their agonising demise sent shockwaves throughout the English football community and the overriding message to come from this, is one that suggested this kind of act can never happen again. Fast forward to a year later and the North West of England has lost another club along the way and with Macclesfield Town being wound up in September of this year, their 126-year history has now come to an end.

It is hard to imagine a world without the sport, such is its ubiquitous nature, but soccer as we know it is relatively young in human history. In this piece originally published by Soccerex Media Partners, Goal, take a look at the history and origins of the sport.