Philipp Herrmann

Match Preview UEL - Hartpury

Philipp Herrmann — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 19:18:46 GMT

UEL gets another result on the road

Philipp Herrmann — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 17:12:05 GMT

The UEL Men’s football team got another big result on the road, getting a point at Hartpury. After another long travel day, the Phoenix had a good start creating a few chances and showing a disciplined defensive performance, making it hard for Hartpury to break through. Still after 31 minutes the home team managed to get through to score and make it 1:0. Despite the score the Phoenix stuck with their plan and took the deficit to halftime.

With the start of the second half the game stayed the same, with UEL still being disciplined and not offering the home team a lot, while still getting their chances to get forward to create opportunities. In the 67^th minute the Phoenix managed to tie the game up. After a beautiful cross from Justin Bituin, Philipp Herrmann headed the ball into the net to make it 1:1. UEL held on to the tie, with Hartpury slightly increasing the pressure with set-pieces, but other than that not really creating scoring opportunities from open play. Also, the Phoenix had some promising counterattack chances but couldn’t take advantage of them. With the game coming to an end UEL focused on still staying disciplined defensively and to secure the tie.

The Phoenix showed another great and mature performance away from home they can build up on. UEL is up next against Bristol at home next Wednesday, where they are looking to get their first points at home.

Phoenix make a statement in Cardiff

Philipp Herrmann — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:49:12 GMT

The University of East London Men’s Football team bounces back from losing their first game of the season. The team travelled to Wales to play against Cardiff Met and got a 2:0 win away. After last week the Phoenix needed a reaction and showed it. Despite the long travel UEL started sharp and concentrated into the game. They were dominating the ball in the first half and making it hard for the home team to create any chances. The Phoenix had some promising opportunities in the first half but either missed the last pass or the right moment to shoot mostly. At the end both teams went with a 0:0 into halftime.

In the second half it got an open game, both teams were going for it and tried to get forward quick. The midfield got skipped and the game went box to box. Both teams battled each other trying to score first. That’s when the Phoenix managed to score and get the lead. After playing around the box and a few lucky bounces the ball landed on Edward Olaniyis feet. He took the shot just outside the box and with a little deflection the ball ended up in the top right corner. 1:0 for the Phoenix. After that Cardiff Met tried to apply more pressure creating good chances, but also UEL’s defense was on point defending everything they could. And when Cardiff got a shoot through Kacper Zapieraczynski was there to make the save. Around 5 minutes until the end, UEL had a counterattack ending Remi Onabanjo getting fouled in the box and winning a penalty for the visitors. Philipp Herrmann took the penalty, putting it in the bottom right corner to make it 2:0 shortly before the end. Cardiff Met tried to show a reaction, but they couldn’t make a comeback anymore.

The Phoenix showed a reaction after last week’s loss, winning in Cardiff with a great team effort and keeping a clean sheet. Next week they will travel to Hartpury and hope to get their next result on the road.

Match Preview UEL - Cardiff Met

Philipp Herrmann — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 09:44:32 GMT

Match preview with Harry Rixon, Captain of UEL, before the game in Cardiff

FC CLASSICO X WELL BEAN CO - CAFE

Philipp Herrmann — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:05:05 GMT

On Sunday the 11^th of October we had the opportunity to host our first Pop-Up Shop event for FC CLASSICO at the Well Bean Co – Café in the Docklands. The day has been a great success making all of us looking forward for more and what’s to come. It was great welcoming the community and let them have their own look at the products, giving them the opportunity to feel the stock in hand and try it on as well. We managed to have a good environment allowing people to get a coffee, get into chats with the team or other people from the community and have a look at our stock. Also, they had the opportunity to take pictures with our special guests, cardboard figures of Ruud Gullit, Zinedine Zidane and the one and only Diego Maradona. Legends of the game. As a special we also had some new shirts we didn’t publish on the website yet to give incoming people the chance to see them for the first time. Shirts from across the world, every decade, legends and as well a huge variety of national teams and clubs. A 2007/2008 Barcelona Away shirt with Messi still wearing No. 19, a Manchester United Away shirt from 1999/2000 with Roy Keane on the back and the Napoli Maradona tribute shirt are only a few of the great shirts we had on display. There was something for every taste. Next to the traditional retro shirts we got to display our new pieces from COPA and NR, which were fitting perfectly with their reissued collections. Especially the NR Serie A classics are outstanding, worth to look at if you want to add a unique piece to your collection. A great addition to the event was the UEL football team coming in and a good number of players helping to run the pop-up and creating a good atmosphere for incoming costumers. From helping to load stock on to the van to helping to run the pop-up and cleaning the space up afterwards was a great effort and is really appreciated. We also had other UEL sport scholar programs and students attending just looking at our stock and some of them leaving with a new shirt in their collection. It was great to see the Docklands community showing up for the event and to get closer with each other, while putting ourselves out there. We really appreciate the Well Bean Co – Café for their cooperation and the opportunity to give us a space for the event. We are happy how the event went and hope everyone who attended had a good time as well. Thank you all for joining us for that special day and can’t wait for our next event. Hope we will see you there again and make FC CLASSICO grow together.

Phoenix denied in BUCS season opener despite second half response

Philipp Herrmann — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:06:30 GMT

The University of East London Men’s Football Team started with a 2:4 loss at home against the University of Exeter into the new BUCS Prem season. After a slow start from the Phoenix, they managed to get better into the game and to start dominating possession with also creating a couple of chances threatening Exeter’s goal. In that phase Exeter caught the home team with a long ball behind their back line, getting one of their attackers through to take the lead. The Phoenix kept being dominant in possession but didn’t really create scoring opportunities. A little bit later in the 1^st half the visitors caught UEL again with a long ball behind their back. They could not clear it, and the attacker had an open path to extend Exeter’s lead to 0:2.

For the second half the Phoenix made a push to get back into the game and got rewarded by a goal scored from Karim Bay to make it 1:2 getting them back into the game. The momentum didn’t last long, right from kickoff Exeter managed to combine to the front and making it 1:3. A little bit later Exeter even extended their lead by clipping the ball forward once again, causing misunderstanding in UEL’s defense and making it 1:4. Misha Djemaili scored to make it 2:4 from a corner to cut the lead once again, but it wasn’t enough for the Phoenix to get back into the game and to change the final result.

The UEL Men’s Football team will travel to Cardiff next Wednesday to take on Cardiff Met and hope to bounce back from their loss for the start of the season.

Match preview East London - Exeter

Philipp Herrmann — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 17:25:10 GMT

Match preview for University of East London vs. University of Exeter in the BUCS Prem, where I got joined by UEL manager Jason Murray.

Don’t Bend 50+1, Apply It

Philipp Herrmann — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 22:23:11 GMT

On Monday, the 5^th of October, the men running the German Bundesliga told the 36 clubs what they should’ve told years ago: 50+1 only survives when it is applied for everyone. The Bundeskartellamt has approved the rule legally, but only if it appears the same for every club and consistently. Now the presidium is talking about compromise, timetables and the risk of lawsuits and the example of the Premier League makes tempts some to wave a white flag already. They should do nothing of that. Bayern Munich is third in the Money League. German stadiums never have been fuller. And in England, where all the investors are, Chelsea just lost 262m pounds in a year. That is not an example the Bundesliga should strive for. The problem for the Bundesliga is not 50+1; the problem is clubs spending years to bend the rules. The simple answer is to enforce it, not abandon it.

Despite having big investors, the Bundesliga and the clubs can still compete in international football. Bayern Munich made it to the Champions League semi-final, being eliminated by later winners PSG. SC Freiburg made it to the Europa League Final getting defeated by Aston Villa. 2024 Borussia Dortmund made it to the Champions League Final loosing against Real Madrid. Now Stuttgart is making its proper way back to Champions League football, which shows the pathway is open with good work and good decisions.

In Germany the stadium and the atmosphere is the product. The leagues average attendance of 42.000 per match is the highest compared to the other big five leagues. It is the Bundesliga’s identity and sets it apart from other leagues. England opened for investors and lost their whole atmosphere. Real fans can’t afford tickets anymore; tourists and good earning people are the new target for clubs. It’s not about passion anymore, it’s about being an event and entertaining the people. The Premier League sacrificed its atmosphere for money and investors. So, hand control to investors and you will lose the asset you can’t replace, the fans and their passion.

Probably the weakest point of 50+1 is, that it is not applied equally. Leverkusen and Wolfsburg are officially exempt because of being part of Bayer and VW. RB Leipzig often is criticized for many reasons. Not being open for new members, being a marketing club of Red Bull or being part of the whole Red Bull sports family. That’s why RB Leipzig will never get accepted by German football fans and fans are still protesting about the project RB Leipzig. The last point is the Hannover affair. Before the investor vote in December 2023, the club told Martin Kind to vote against the investor plans. Because the ballot was secret nobody knew what he voted for, but more clubs gave out public statements with their voting, it was easy to narrow down that he voted for investors and therefor voted against the interests of his club. There definitely needs to be improvement when it comes to applying the rule equally, being open to new members and making sure club representatives vote as their clubs want.

The presidium has already warned of lawsuits either way because of the difficult situation. With things going too fast, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg could sue. If they stay, other investors could still find a way to get in during that timeframe and challenge the rule as unequal. The presidium wants a solution and says “short-sighted and premature decisions” would endanger the rule. That caution is understandable, but the Bundesliga must come up with something. A compromise that preserves the exemptions only helps the opponents’ arguments. The regulatory is already saying trying to save Leverkusen and Wolfsburg is insufficient. Delaying it more is a risk for the Bundesliga and is more a sign of surrender. The Bundesliga must show action soon.

The power is in the clubs’ hands when they vote on 50+1 in December. A member of Eintracht Frankfurt already filed a motion for the meeting on the 19^th of October, urging to push for the revised rule “immediately and without any further deadline. I would go further than the presidium. There must be a firm and public deadline for the exemptions. An open voting membership at every club, this must also apply for RB Leipzig. And don’t make the votes anonymous, make it verifiable and 50+1 stops being a rule with risks. It would be and stay Germanys competitive identity.

Germany will not win a spending war with England, the Premier League is too far away already. The Bundesliga’s advantage are that clubs belong to someone, that the stadiums are full and their finances survive a bad year without losses being in the hundred millions. 50+1 is worth to protect it. The Bundeskartellamt has given the league the room to do it and they should do it. The only question is if clubs are brave enough and have the nerve to enforce their own rule and not try to find ways to bend around it again.