Columnist

Peter Simpson

Peter Simpson is a China-UK based journalist and the SCMP’s former Beijing 2008 Olympics news editor. He has covered major international news and sporting events, most recently the London 2012 Olympics and Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Peter is a Premier League season ticket holder at newly promoted Southampton FC.

Psychedelic rockers’ performance at the preserved Roman city recalled in showcase of photos and memorabilia – and music

Travel

Pink Floyd in Pompeii: exhibition explores band’s 1971 Italian trip

16 Mar 2018 - 8:42pm

Patrons of Wentworth Club have been locked in a drawn-out battle with the club’s new owners in recent years. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Gagging order at English golf club backfires on Chinese owners

23 Jun 2017 - 5:37pm 4

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is hoping he can snatch a top-four finish. Photo: Reuters

Football

Premier League prize-money permutations guarantee fiery finale

19 May 2017 - 8:04pm

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho gestures during the Premier League match against Swansea at Old Trafford. Photo: EPA

Sport

United’s Old Trafford bore draws sum up drab Premier League

12 May 2017 - 8:32pm 1

Leyton Orient fans collect money outside the ground. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Never-say-die: Leyton Orient are down but not out

5 May 2017 - 10:17pm 2

Newcastle United managing director Lee Charnley (right), pictured with owner Mike Ashley, is under investigation. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Death, taxes and football’s greed the three certainties in life

28 Apr 2017 - 10:05pm

Brighton and Hove Albion fans celebrate their team’s return to the Premier League. Photo: AP

Opinion

Seagulls seek to ruffle feathers of Premier League’s eagles

21 Apr 2017 - 9:35pm 1

Tottenham Hotspurs’ Dele Alli and Watford’s Heurelho Gomes. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli must temper fire to forge greatness

21 Apr 2017 - 5:15pm

Sunderland manager David Moyes. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Football must slap down the PC brigade and their outcries

17 Apr 2017 - 12:59pm

Jean-Marc Bosman has had a bigger impact on the game than Cristiano Ronaldo (above) and Lionel Messi, thanks to his judicial challenge of football transfer rules. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Book Belgian crusader Bosman for his part in Brexit

31 Mar 2017 - 10:21pm

Leyton Orient’s club assets total £5.5 million. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Players, not fans, should cough up to save football’s heritage

24 Mar 2017 - 10:34pm

Tottenham Hotspurs’ Son Heung-min celebrates scoring against Millwall with teammate Dele Alli. Photo: EPA

Opinion

The blurred line between racial hatred and good honest fun

21 Mar 2017 - 2:08pm

An England fan evades a smoke grenade thrown by riot French police during clashes with Russian supporters. Photo: EPA

Opinion

Beaten and bruised by Russian desire for a hooligans’ league

10 Mar 2017 - 10:12pm

Southampton's Manolo Gabbiadini looks dejected after his goal was disallowed. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Will a lack of video replays really kill the football star?

3 Mar 2017 - 10:03pm

Southampton players applaud their fans after their League Cup semi-final victory over Liverpool. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Southampton hope to add to a week of shocks

24 Feb 2017 - 9:33pm

Zlatan Ibrahimovic heads the ball to score against St-Etienne but is ruled offside. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Football must resist calls from scaremongers for heading ban

17 Feb 2017 - 9:32pm

An Arsenal fan holds up a banner calling on manager Arsene Wenger to quit. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Defeat by Hull could see Wenger chased from the Emirates

10 Feb 2017 - 10:55pm

Odion Ighalo signed for Changchun Yatai for an eye-watering £20 million. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

No comfort for Chinese club fans after bargain basement raid

4 Feb 2017 - 10:19am

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger clashes with fourth official Anthony Taylor before being sent to the stands. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Set an example and throw the book at Arsene Wenger

26 Jan 2017 - 9:36pm

Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United are back on top of soccer’s rich list. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

United top Real in soccer’s rich list but China misses cut

20 Jan 2017 - 9:15pm

Fifa President Gianni Infantino says World Cup expansion is also about development. Photo: EPA

Opinion

World Cup expansion no more than a money-grabbing ruse

13 Jan 2017 - 9:12pm 1

Premier League official Mike Dean often takes up the role of pantomime bad guy. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

A baddie ref is vital to the football pantomime

6 Jan 2017 - 9:13pm 2

The Chinese Super League is hoping to lure referee Mark Clattenburg. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Clattenburg should book CSL for trying to buy credibility

30 Dec 2016 - 9:24pm

Alan Pardew is sacked by Crystal Palace but left with praise for the club and its owners. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Alan Pardew’s Palace sacking came with smiles all around

23 Dec 2016 - 8:14pm

The England national team have been left in the hands of new coach Gareth Southgate, who was appointed permanent coach on December 1. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Wisdom is wasted on football’s elderly white men

16 Dec 2016 - 9:37pm

The Spanish tax authority says Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho is up to date with his taxes. Photo: AP

Opinion

Taxman coming for players shaming football’s image

9 Dec 2016 - 9:48pm

Fans of Atletico Nacional light candles as they pay tribute to the players of Brazilian club Chapecoense killed in the recent airplane crash, in Medellin, Colombia. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

The world of sport could do without the curse of Lady Luck

2 Dec 2016 - 10:08pm

Referee Milorad Mazic shows a red card to Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Photo: EPA

Opinion

2016 hacks its way into the history books with a two-footed tackle on trust, decency and the game

25 Nov 2016 - 10:06pm

Chris Hughton during his time managing Norwich City. Photo: AP

Opinion

Initiatives like the ‘Rooney Rule’ crucial to ensuring opportunities for minority managers in England

18 Nov 2016 - 11:04pm

Donald Trump owns golf clubs and he likes to shoot the sporting breeze. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

There’s no denying it, a Donald Trump-inspired ‘drain football’s corporate swamp’ chant has terrace appeal

11 Nov 2016 - 8:49pm

A Chelsea Pensioner pays his respects at the Poppy Wall outside Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

A load of poppycock: Fifa insults us (again) by refusing our right to honour war dead

4 Nov 2016 - 9:42pm

TV viewing figures are falling. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Just as the video killed the radio star, the digital revolution might be killing TV football

28 Oct 2016 - 9:36pm

What will Brexit mean for football? Photo: AFP

Opinion

What does Brexit mean for football in the United Kingdom?

21 Oct 2016 - 9:31pm

Football fans experience enormous highs – and lows – but there is no ‘How to Cope’ guidebook for them. Photo: AFP

Opinion

To beat the ‘Black Dog’, depressed players should get off the shrink’s couch, walk the talk and go fishing

14 Oct 2016 - 9:54pm

Aston Villa’s Chinese owner Dr Tony Xia. Photo: AP

Opinion

A word to the wise, Dr Xia: get off Twitter, turn up for an Aston Villa game and heed the advice of Teresa May’s special ‘Svengali’

7 Oct 2016 - 10:44pm

Sam Allardyce has brought the game into disrepute – again. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

We do not like greed and graft, Sleazy Sam-I-am. Not here, or there or anywhere

30 Sep 2016 - 11:08pm

Jose Mourinho’s loyalty to Wayne Rooney is costing Manchester United. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Put him out to pasture: Mourinho must accept Rooney has run his race

23 Sep 2016 - 11:00pm

Handing over £3 million of British taxpayers’ money to teach the Chinese how to play football still rankles. Photo: Imaginechina

Opinion

Sycophantic handout to China football is a dangerous game for the United Kingdom

16 Sep 2016 - 10:36pm

Manchester United's Paul Pogba. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

On collision course: Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola prepare charges for the most expensive game in Premier League history

9 Sep 2016 - 11:34pm

New England manager Sam Allardyce wants to have a bit of fun in motivating his squad but he has to prove he is no fool. Photos: Reuters

Opinion

England are that desperate – maybe comedy is the answer to their woes

2 Sep 2016 - 9:34pm

Referee Mike Dean shows a yellow card to Manchester City's Raheem Sterling. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

If the Premier League was the Wild West, referee Mike Dean would be the sheriff

26 Aug 2016 - 9:01pm

West Ham plays their first Premier League home match at London Stadium this weekend against Bournemouth. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

West Ham set to cash in on ‘property deal of the century’ at London Stadium

20 Aug 2016 - 12:53am

Paul Pogba will be one of the stars of this year’s Premier League after Manchester United paid a record transfer fee to acquire him from Juventus. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

To the rescue: Premier League is ready to deliver after Rio descends into sham

12 Aug 2016 - 9:54pm

Leicester fans, enjoy your natural high: manager Claudio Ranieri, left back Christian Fuchs and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel savour the moment with the Premier League trophy. Photo: AP

Opinion

Victory in the Premier League is sweet when it is won from the heart

13 May 2016 - 4:59pm

Leicester City supporters celebrate clinching the English Premier League title at a tavern in Leicester. Photo: EPA

Opinion

Leicester City are unique, a one-off – but the most stunning champions of England in Premier League history are the real deal

6 May 2016 - 4:45pm

Leicester look set to become only the second team outside of the traditional ‘big four’ to win the Premier League title. Photo: AP

Opinion

As Leicester prepare to bust through the glass ceiling, can the moneyed elite still buy their way to the top?

29 Apr 2016 - 5:23pm

Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy points at referee Jonathan Moss after being sent off against West Ham. Photo: AP

Opinion

Jamie Vardy may feel even worse if Leicester fail to win Premier League

23 Apr 2016 - 9:20pm 1