Sport
English club in unprecedented £66m purchase
MANCHESTER City have been tipped to deliver a David Beckham-like boost to US football after agreeing a pioneering £66m deal to buy a franchise in Major League Soccer.
TOTTENHAM and Arsenal both earned more than Chelsea in centrally distributed Premier League broadcast income last season, despite finishing below the Blues in the table.
ENGLAND striker Andy Carroll could be on the verge of joining West Ham after the east London club agreed a fee, in the region of £15m, with Liverpool.
CHELSEA’S interim-boss Rafael Benitez is the shock favourite to take the vacant Stoke City manager’s job, after Tony Pulis left his post at the Britannia Stadium yesterday.
S TUART BROAD and James Anderson are as good a bowling partnership as there is in world cricket at the moment.
WORLD No2 Andy Murray has revealed he will not compete in next week’s French Open after seeking medical advice on a recurring back injury.
CYCLING: Three-time world champion Mark Cavendish celebrated his 28th birthday by retaining the points jersey in stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia. Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali continues to lead the general classification race.
GOLF: New legislation has been passed by governing bodies Royal and Ancient, as well as the US Golf Association, to outlaw anchored putting from 2016.
REAL Madrid last night paved the way for Jose Mourinho to complete a widely anticipated return to Chelsea by announcing the manager is to depart the club next month by mutual consent.
TOTTENHAM midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson believes it would be impossible to replace sought-after Player of the Year Gareth Bale, as the club hopes to convince the Welshman to pen an improved contract this summer.
SEVEN more Godolphin-owned horses have tested positive for banned substances as the doping scandal surrounding Sheik Mohammed’s world renowned stable deepened yesterday.
ANYONE attending the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth this week is in for a treat, as all but one of the victorious European Ryder Cup team, plus captain Jose Maria Olazabal, are set to play.
THE BRITISH and Irish Lions fly to Hong Kong on Monday to commence their packed summer schedule, but head coach Warren Gatland has revealed in-form fly-half Jonny Wilkinson will not be a late addition to his 37-man party.
ENGLAND’S new football kit, modelled above by captain Steven Gerrard, goalkeeper Joe Hart and striker Wayne Rooney, was revealed yesterday ahead of its debut in next week’s friendly against the Republic of Ireland.
RUGBY UNION: Saracens backs Alex Goode and Joel Tomkins have withdrawn from England’s summer tour to Uruguay and Argentina due to injury. Uncapped Luther Burrell and Stephen Myler of Northampton Saints will replace them.
CRICKET: Spinner Daniel Vettori, 34, has been drafted into the New Zealand squad for their second Test against England at Headingley on Friday. The former Black Caps captain replaces Bruce Martin, out with a calf injury.
FORMULA ONE: Former McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe will reunite with British driver Lewis Hamilton six months earlier than planned and join rival team Mercedes as executive director next month.
But Tottenham vow to keep Bale despite European failure
ENGLAND began the summer of Test cricket with a resounding 170-run victory over New Zealand at Lord’s yesterday, thanks to a frenetic fourth day that saw 14 wickets tumble.
FORMULA One chief Bernie Ecclestone has tipped BMW to make a comeback to follow Honda and return to the sport, having quit in 2009 due to the recession.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 vs SUNDERLAND 0
IF YOU don’t like David Beckham, there is clearly something wrong with you.
ENGLAND captain Alastair Cook hailed bowler Stuart Broad as an “absolute nightmare” for opposition batsmen, after the seamer tore through New Zealand in yesterday’s landslide first Test win at Lord’s.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 0 vs ARSENAL 1
TOULON’S Nick Kennedy has hailed fellow Englishman Jonny Wilkinson after the veteran fly-half’s match-winning turn in their Heineken Cup final triumph over Clermont Auvergne on Saturday.
GOLF: Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell won the World Match Play Championship in Bulgaria yesterday, beating Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee in the final 2&1.
RUGBY UNION: Former Australian Rules Football star Israel Folau has been included in Australia’s 25-man squad to face the British and Irish Lions this summer.
Expansion of martial arts sport UFC next on the agenda, he tells Frank Dalleres
ICONIC former England captain David Beckham, the most famous footballer of his generation, has announced his retirement.
ENGLAND batsman Jonathan Trott defended his side’s slow scoring after closing on 160-4 on the first day of the first Test against New Zealand.
WORLD Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson is held in such high-esteem by Toulon fans he will be immortalized in the city if he inspires them to Heineken Cup glory against Clermont, according to team-mate Simon Shaw.
BRITAIN’S Sir Bradley Wiggins will decide today whether to continue his Giro d’Italia campaign, after miserably struggling through stage 12 with a chest infection.
ENGLAND centurion Ashley Cole is expected to turn down the chance to captain the side against Republic of Ireland next week.
CHELSEA midfielder Frank Lampard thanked billionaire owner Roman Abramovich for making his “dream” come true by extending his Stamford Bridge stay for a further year.
RUGBY UNION: Two tries from James Short saw Saracens beat South African Barbarians 19-0 in the City last night.
FORMULA ONE: Japanese manufacturer Honda will become McLaren’s engine supplier from 2015.
FOOTBALL: Brighton have suspended boss Gus Poyet pending an inquiry into a possible breach of contract.
BEN CLEMINSON AND BILL ESDAILE BRING YOU THE BEST FOOTBALL AND RACING BETS OF THE WEEKEND
THIS year’s Group One Lockinge Stakes (3.50pm) at Newbury has a vastly different look to 12 months ago when Frankel, the 2/7 favourite, won his 10th straight race from Excelebration.
Injury-time winner adds Europa League title to roll of honour
BENFICA 1 vs CHELSEA 2
NEW Zealand captain Brendon McCullum says he will not be afraid to take risks in an effort to earn the tourists a first Test match win over England at Lord’s since 1999 when play begins this morning.
WORLD No2 Andy Murray virtually ruled himself out of competing in the French Open later this month, after a recurrence of a back injury forced him to retire from his Rome Open second-round match with Marcel Granollers.
CHELSEA could be forced to drastically rethink plans for their post-season American tour if they are drawn into a Premier League play-off with Arsenal for third place.
QUEENS Park Rangers striker Loic Remy was arrested on suspicion of rape yesterday.
CHELSEA’S Europa League final-winning goals could not have come from two more fitting players on a night when their never-say-die attitude proved the deciding factor.
CYCLING: Team Sky’s Sir Bradley Wiggins remains fourth in the Giro d’Italia after finishing stage 11, won by Lithuania’s Ramunas Navardauskas, in the peloton.
ATHLETICS: UK Athletics head coach Peter Eriksson has resigned just five months after taking up the post.
FOOTBALL: England defender Rio Ferdinand has announced his retirement from international football.
OLLIE DREW PREVIEWS ENGLAND’S FIRST TEST AGAINST NEW ZEALAND AND BILL ESDAILE LOOKS AT THE DANTE MEETING
NEW Zealand aren’t the only opponents England will face at Lord’s during the first home Test of the summer.
