„A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing.“

„We're facing the greatest challenge there is in football: to play against an Italian team that only needs a draw.“

—  Jürgen Klopp German association football player and manager 1967

Klopp before second leg clash against Juventus in the Champions League.

„I do have one instruction for you, General. Do something about that damned football team.“

—  Dwight D. Eisenhower American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961) 1890 - 1969

Said to William Westmoreland in 1960 when Westmoreland assumed the post of Superintendent of West Point.
Cited in [Atkinson, Rick, The Long Gray Line, First Pocket Books printing, 1991, Simon & Schuster, New York, ISBN 0-671-72674-9, p. 79, Year of the Tiger]
1950s

„It seemed a pity so much Argentinian talent is wasted. Our best football will come against the right type of opposition—a team who come to play football, and not act as animals.“

—  Alf Ramsey English association football player and manager 1920 - 1999

Ramsey's indignant opinion of Argentina after England beat them 1–0 in a bruising quarter final in the 1966 World Cup. [World Cup medal honour for Sir Alf, http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/world_cup_medal_honour_for_sir_alf_1_173288, 1 April 2012, ipswichstar.co.uk, 26 June 2009]

„I like technical players who can also think in terms of the team's interests. I've already mentioned Iniesta and Xavi, who disprove entirely the theory that only physically strong footballers with a lot of running ability can play in their positions.“

—  Johan Cruyff Dutch association football player 1947 - 2016

reported in Johan Cruyff (2016). My Turn: The Autobiography.

„A team is not made up of isolated individuals. Always stay in the game. Don’t be passive. Football is a team game. No one plays alone. Success depends on your whole team being a single unit.“

—  Pelé Brazilian association football player 1940

„Football is a team sport, and there is no one individual who is bigger than the next person.“

—  Emmitt Smith American football player and sports broadcaster 1969

Fred Mitchell (January 26, 1994) "Self-Doubt Will Never Plague Dallas' Smith", Chicago Tribune, p. Sports: 2.

„I am ashamed that we had football players, Americans, on the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars team who knelt for our national anthem, and stood for the British national anthem. I am disturbed to know there are teams who will just stay in the locker room during the playing of our anthem. This is an issue that the American people and football fans need resolved. Americans want to check out of politics sometimes and just enjoy a good sporting event. Sadly, there appears to be no “safe space” away from the progressive socialist agenda.“

—  Allen West (politician) American politician; retired United States Army officer 1961

2010s, Here’s what I wish the president had said about this NFL business (24 September 2017)

„People who are rich want to be richer, but what's the difference? You can't take it with you. The toys get different, that's all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It's all relative.“

—  Martina Navrátilová American-Czech tennis player 1956

Martina (Alfred A. Knopf, 1985), p. 210.

„Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?“

—  Jim Bouton American baseball player, writer 1939 - 2019

„I was in the hockey team in school, played football. One of the challenges for me was to make the team feel better. It helped me evolve, so batting at different positions was never a problem.“

—  Rahul Dravid Indian cricketer 1973

„I am constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.“

—  Pelé Brazilian association football player 1940

„In football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.“

—  Jean Paul Sartre French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary cri… 1905 - 1980

„You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but in the very least you need a beer.“

—  Frank Zappa American musician, songwriter, composer, and record and film producer 1940 - 1993

Wariant: You can't be a Real Country unless you have a BEER and an airline — it helps if you have some kind of a football team or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a BEER.

„To me, Arsenal played much better football two or three years ago. They won matches and were exciting to watch. They create excitement so how can you say Chelsea are the best in the world?“

—  Rafael Benítez Spanish association football player and manager 1960

We don't need to give away flags for our fans to wave (2012)

„In football, yeah, sometimes you get these multitalented individuals where that’s all they want to do: when the team’s got the ball, I’ll play but, when we haven’t got the ball, I’ll go and have a rest.“

—  George Graham Scottish footballer 1944

Interview, Sport.co.uk, 14 January 2011

„Can you appreciate music without playing it? Yes, you can. You can appreciate baseball without playing it. Many people attend a football game merely for the crowd, the excitement, the color.“

—  Jascha Heifetz Lithuanian violinist 1901 - 1987

„We need men who can dream of things that never were.“

—  John F. Kennedy 35th president of the United States of America 1917 - 1963

„There are three things that none of the young men of the present generation can do. They can't sit over their wine; they can't play at wist; and they can't pay a lady a compliment.“

—  Wilkie Collins, książka The Woman in White

Źródło: The Woman in White

„To borrow a simile from the football field, we believe that men must play fair, but that there must be no shirking, and that the success can only come to the player who hits the line hard.“

—  Theodore Roosevelt American politician, 26th president of the United States 1858 - 1919

Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, NY http://www.trsite.org/content/pages/speaking-loudly (October 1897)
1890s