Andrew McKirdy is a sports writer for The Japan Times. His main beat is soccer, but he has also covered rugby, tennis, volleyball, golf and even tug-of-war. A native of the Scottish Borders, he has written for The Scotsman newspaper and organized filming for a program on Japanese soccer for ITV television.
For Andrew McKirdy's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
J. League club Vissel Kobe on Thursday announced the audacious signing of World Cup-winning former Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta in a deal reported to be worth over ¥3 billion a year. "This is a very special day for me," the 34-year-old Iniesta, who played his ...
Yokohama F. Marinos hit V-Varen Nagasaki with a second-half blitz to head into the J. League's World Cup shutdown on a high with a 5-2 win on Saturday. V-Varen, playing their first-ever season in J1, twice took the lead at Nissan Stadium through goals from ...
New national team manager Akira Nishino handed Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki a World Cup lifeline on Friday when he named all three in his 27-man squad for Japan's final game before he chooses his roster for next month's tournament in Russia. "You ...
While coaches all around the globe are putting the finishing touches to their squads for the World Cup this week, Akira Nishino will be making his first selection as Japan manager. The Japan Football Association's decision to fire Vahid Halilhodzic last month and parachute Nishino ...
I know that scores of heavily armed people are out there lying in wait to shoot me, but I can't see them. I know for a fact that one of them is carrying an M4 next-generation carbine rifle, Samurai Edge handgun and three nasty-looking Cyclone ...
The Sunwolves picked up their first win of the Super Rugby season in barnstorming style with a 63-28 demolition of the Reds on Saturday. Fly-half Hayden Parker was perfect from seven penalty and five conversion attempts as the Sunwolves dominated their Australian opponents in their ...
No one who watched Sanfrecce Hiroshima barely avoid relegation last season could have imagined that they would top the J. League table after 13 games of the 2018 campaign. But after racking up 11 wins and a draw to surpass their entire points total from ...
Kosuke Ota produced two free kick assists as FC Tokyo kept up its strong J. League form with a 2-0 win over defending champions Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday. Tokyo, which went into the game at Todoroki Stadium in second place, took the lead when full-back ...
Former national team manager Vahid Halilhodzic insisted Friday that he still had not "found out the truth" as to why he was fired two months before he was set to lead Japan at the World Cup. "This has been the most difficult time of my ...
International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates stressed Tuesday that the IOC will remain "politically neutral" toward North Korea's participation at the 2020 Tokyo Games and will not try to force the government to accept non-sporting visitors. "We are keen to see sport be available ...
