Goal (website)

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Goal
Goal-com Logo.svg
Type of site
Sports journalism
Available in19 languages
Headquarters
London
,
England
Area servedWorldwide
OwnerIntegrated Media Company (majority)
DAZN Group (minority)
Founder(s)
  • Chicco Merighi
  • Gian Luigi Longinotti-Buitoni
ServicesAssociation football news
URLgoal.com
Launched2004[dubious – discuss]
Current statusActive

Goal is an international association football news website founded in 2004 by Chicco Merighi and Gianluigi Longinotti-Buitoni. Goal is the world's largest online football publication,[1] and second largest online sports publication, only behind ESPN.[1] Goal represents one of the largest football communities in the world with 19 language versions covering more than 50 countries.[2] The website provides users with live scores and the latest news from football clubs through its interactive website, mobile apps and social channels.

Goal is published in 19 languages, with 38 national editions and 600 contributors.[3] It is currently owned by Integrated Media Company (IMC), a division of TPG Capital.

History[]

Goal was acquired by Perform Group in 2011, paying £18 million to the website's investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners.[4][5][6]

In 2012, the website was investigated by HM Revenue and Customs department of the UK government over the use of unpaid interns.[7]

In August 2016, Perform Group launched the online sports video streaming service DAZN. In September 2018 Perform Group was split into two companies: DAZN Group (named after its streaming service) for its consumer content operations, and Perform Content for its business-to-business services. Under this new structure, Goal sat under DAZN.

In March 2019, DAZN re-organized the Perform Media division into DAZN Media, which includes Goal.

In late 2020, Goal, alongside Spox and Voetbalzone were packaged as a new company called FootballCo. Shortly after, a majority stake in FootballCo. was purchased by Integrated Media Company (IMC) which is a division of TPG Capital.[8]

Awards[]

In 2017 Goal won the Best Sports News Site award at The Drum Online Media Awards.[9]

Goal 50[]

Since the 2007–08 season, the best 50 players of the respective season are selected by Goal reporters and ranked as part of Goal's "Goal 50."[10] Starting from the 2018–19 season, the 50 players were divided into 25 men and 25 women, with a winner from both genders being crowned.

Men's winners[]

Season Winner Club(s)
2007–08 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo England Manchester United
2008–09 Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona
2009–10 Netherlands Wesley Sneijder Italy Internazionale
2010–11 Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona
2011–12 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid
2012–13 Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona
2013–14 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid
2014–15 Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona
2015–16 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid
2016–17 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid
2017–18 Croatia Luka Modrić Spain Real Madrid
2018–19 Netherlands Virgil van Dijk England Liverpool
2019–20 Poland Robert Lewandowski Germany Bayern Munich

Women's winners[]

Season Winner Club(s)
2018–19 United States Megan Rapinoe United States Reign FC
2019–20 Denmark Pernille Harder Germany VfL Wolfsburg
England Chelsea

NXGN[]

Since the 2015–16 season, Goal has ranked the 50 best players aged under 19 for that respective season, with selections made by Goal's network of journalists. The resulting list is known as the NXGN list, with the first-ranked players receiving the NXGN winner's award.[11]

Since 2020, a women's list and award has also been published and handed out.[12]

Men's winners[]

Season Winner Club(s)
2016 Belgium Youri Tielemans Belgium R.S.C. Anderlecht
2017 Italy Gianluigi Donnarumma Italy A.C. Milan
2018 Netherlands Justin Kluivert Netherlands Ajax
2019 England Jadon Sancho Germany Borussia Dortmund
2020 Brazil Rodrygo Spain Real Madrid
2021 Spain Ansu Fati Spain Barcelona

Women's winners[]

Season Winner Club(s)
2020 Germany Lena Oberdorf Germany SGS Essen
2021 Sweden Hanna Bennison Sweden FC Rosengård

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "The top 500 sites on the web - By Category". Alexa. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  2. ^ "About Us". Goal. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Goal.com". Perform Group. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  4. ^ Farey-Jones, Daniel (23 February 2011). "Perform challenges Sky with Goal.com acquisition". Campaign. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  5. ^ Wauters, Robin (23 February 2011). "Score! Perform Group Buys Goal.com From Bessemer To Go Direct-To-Consumer". TechCrunch. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  6. ^ Sweney, Mark (16 May 2012). "Perform buys data company RunningBall for £95m". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  7. ^ Malik, Shiv (23 December 2012). "Football site Goal.com investigated over use of 30 unpaid interns a week". THe Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  8. ^ "IMC sign agreement to acquire Goal | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  9. ^ "The Drum: Best Sports News Site". The Drum. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Cahill named in Goal 50 list". Socceroos. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  11. ^ "NxGn 2019". Goal. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  12. ^ "NxGn 2020: The 10 best wonderkids in women's football | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.

External links[]

  • International edition site (in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Indonesian, Arabic, Hungarian, and Japanese)
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