The most complex World Cup qualifying process yet? England’s path, the role of Qatar, the Nations League and Russia in the race for Europe’s 13 spots March 23, 2021 When Bill Shankly quipped that “football is a simple game complicated by people who should know better” he could have been talking about the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers. This week, England and the other 54 European national teams kick off their campaigns to reach next year’s tournament with a triple-header of matches. And the [...]
Is Now A Good Time? is a brilliant phone play that will make you pine for office life March 22, 2021 It’s less than two months until theatres are tentatively slated to reopen, which will be a huge milestone for a London cultural scene that’s been brought to its knees over the last year. During that time we’ve seen innovative ways of overcoming social distancing, from entire theatres booked out for micro-performances for one to six [...]
Thomas Tuchel has turned Chelsea into a winning machine – but the football is surprisingly dull March 22, 2021 Thomas Tuchel’s transformation of Chelsea from freewheeling self-saboteurs to uber-efficient winning machine continues apace. Days after reaching the Champions League quarter-finals by beating kindred spirits Atletico Madrid, they marched into the last four of the FA Cup with minimal flourish against Sheffield United on Sunday. So serene has their recent progress been that media-shy Roman [...]
Women’s Super League nets £21m in groundbreaking TV rights deal with Sky and BBC March 22, 2021 Sky and the BBC have agreed a landmark TV rights deal with the Football Association for the Women’s Super League (WSL). Under previous contracts, broadcasters have only paid production costs to show the WSL. The new three-year deal, which starts in September, is worth at least £7m per season, making it the most lucrative of [...]
International spectators banned from entering Japan for Olympics March 20, 2021 International spectators will be barred from entering Japan during this summer’s Olympic Games amid concerns over the pandemic, the organisers said today. Officials met earlier today to discuss whether foreign visitors would be allowed to travel into Japan after about 1m tickets were sold abroad. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organising Committee said tickets purchased by [...]
Falcon and The Winter Soldier Episode 1 review March 19, 2021 *** WARNING: this review contains spoilers for Falcon and The Winter Soldier *** Just a couple of weeks since we said goodbye to Westview, Marvel is back with another series to follow up WandaVision’s success. Falcon and The Winter Soldier puts Captain America’s (Chris Evans) best buddies in the spotlight – Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), [...]
Women’s rugby has just showed it is streets ahead of the men’s game with new competition WXV March 19, 2021 “It’s not as good as men’s.” That is such an obvious response to any number of women’s sports. As if to evidence such a lowly perception of women’s sport, the recent announcement of the Women’s Six Nations postponement was met with a deluge of misogyny and comments from men who said they simply “don’t care”. Initiated by Stef Evans of Bristol Bears, the women’s rugby community countered in [...]
Ollie Phillips: Angry France will keep Six Nations in balance by unpicking Wales; England must reproduce last week’s brilliance to win in Ireland March 19, 2021 England’s win over France by the width of a blade of grass last weekend was the best match of this Six Nations by a country mile. The quality and intensity of rugby, especially in the first half, were world class. France were phenomenal, as they have been throughout this tournament, and England finally performed as [...]
Dale Vince interview: Forest Green Rovers chairman and green energy tycoon on climbing the football leagues while saving the planet March 19, 2021 With a large green Union Jack behind him and a casually dishevelled appearance, Dale Vince brings to mind the leader of some rebel republic when he appears on the Zoom call. Being cast as a revolutionary is nothing new to Vince. In business, the former New Age Traveller has turned once-leftfield ideas about green energy [...]
Justice League review: The Snyder Cut is a cut above March 18, 2021 There have been many ways in which films have found a new audience over the years. We’ve had director’s ruts, R-rated cuts, special editions with updated effects, all of which take the theatrical release and shake it up, adding bits and perhaps re-ordering in a way that fits the original creator’s vision. However, none of those [...]