World’s richest football clubs: Manchester City top Deloitte Money League for the first time March 21, 2022 Manchester City have been named the world’s richest football club in the latest edition of Deloitte’s Football Money League. City topped the list, which is based on revenue, for the first time after increasing their income to €645m (£571m) in 2020-21 – despite the effects of the pandemic. The Premier League champions climbed five places, [...]
Abramovich used football to wash himself clean, now Chelsea must tidy itself up March 21, 2022 The cynicism with which Roman Abramovich entangled good things into his ownership of Chelsea puts the real gains made under his tenure at risk. As a Chelsea fan, he was a person I felt some pride in. He invested in the club, and helped it win. He also created generational role models and changed the [...]
FA Cup: Crystal Palace ride crest of a wave all the way to Wembley semi-final March 20, 2022 Crystal Palace’s season goes from good to better under Patrick Vieira, despite some uncertainty in the boardroom at Selhurst Park. Vieira’s dynamic young Eagles thrashed Everton 4-0 in south London on Sunday to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup for only the second time since 1995. They had to weather early pressure but held [...]
Six Nations 2022: Free-flowing France leave static England with questions to answer March 20, 2022 Le tournoi est bleu. The words of a nation that has waited more than a decade to taste Six Nations glory. The tournament is indeed blue after they clinched the Grand Slam against England on Saturday night, and how happy so many were to see the day come. France play some of the most attractive [...]
Chelsea takeover battle: Broughton and Coe gain favour within government March 19, 2022 Sir Martin Broughton and Lord Coe’s takeover bid for Chelsea has received a warm welcome from within the government, it has been reported. Broughton and Coe are heading a consortium endeavouring to buy Chelsea after sanction-hit owner Roman Abramovich was forced to slash ties with the club. Treasury officials are to review the preferred bidder [...]
EP: 120 Hong Kong Derby Special March 18, 2022 Hong Kong racing expert Wally Pyrah discusses Sunday’s prestigious Hong Kong Derby race meeting at Sha Tin racecourse where the feature race, run over a mile and a quarter, takes place at 8.40am UK time. Local rivals California Spangle & Romantic Warrior head a 14 strong field for one of the major events in Hong [...]
England must treat French game like World Cup final, says Dallaglio March 18, 2022 Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio has urged Eddie Jones’s team to treat tomorrow’s Super Saturday Six Nations match with France as a World Cup final. England cannot win the title in Paris but do have a chance to end a disappointing championship on a high and deny one of the in-form international sides their first [...]
Ollie Phillips: England need to target French emotion in Six Nations March 18, 2022 France face the ultimate challenge tomorrow. Winning a Six Nations Championship is hard enough, but to win one when there’s just the English between you and a Grand Slam is even harder. Super Saturday is one of the great days of international rugby outside of the World Cup. Three games, five of the six highest [...]
NO DESERTING GALVIN IN GOLD CUP March 17, 2022 Bill Esdaile’s Gold Cup 1-2-3 Galvin Protektorat Royal Pagaille WEDNESDAY’S deluge at Cheltenham has meant the ground for today’s Gold Cup (3.30pm) will be on the soft side and whichever way you look at it, the 3m2f trip is going to take some getting. With that in mind, you’ve got to be looking for horses [...]
Irish pair Banbridge and I A Connect can go well in the Martin Pipe March 17, 2022 ALL THE talk in the build-up to the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (5.30pm) has been around last season’s runner-up Langer Dan who is back attempting to go one better off just a 2lbs higher mark. Dan Skelton’s six-year-old bumped into Galopin Des Champs this day 12 months ago and actually did well to get as close as he did when [...]