Best of travel: A psychedelic trip to San Jose Del Pacifico January 25, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. This week we revisit Alex Dymoke’s trip to San Jose Del Pacifico, where he discovered the darker side of psychedelic tourism. ••• It’s a beautiful day in San Jose Del Pacifico, a small village high in the [...]
Player welfare mustn’t be forgotten as rugby prepares to enter new era of commercialisation January 25, 2021 The summer of 2020 marked 25 years since the deal between News Corporation and Sanzar that changed rugby union forever, taking it into the unknown territory of professionalism. Today, there is more uncertainty than ever surrounding the future rules and scheduling of the game on a global level. Player welfare has become a hot topic, [...]
Frank Lampard sacked as Chelsea manager after 18 months in charge and tipped to be replaced by Thomas Tuchel January 25, 2021 Frank Lampard has been sacked by Chelsea, just 18 months after returning to the club as manager, with Thomas Tuchel set to replace him. Lampard’s departure comes less than 24 hours after Chelsea beat Luton Town 3-1 in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday. But the Blues have slipped to ninth in the Premier [...]
Former Formula 1 champion Jenson Button to make racing comeback in electric off-road series Extreme E January 25, 2021 British former Formula 1 champion Jenson Button has signed up to compete in Extreme E, the new electric off-road racing series. Button is launching his own team in the competition, called JBXE, and will be one of its two drivers. It is the 41-year-old’s most high-profile racing commitment since leaving Formula 1 at the end [...]
WandaVision Episode 3 review: a not-so-groovy 70s episode January 22, 2021 SPOILER WARNING: this review contains spoilers for all current episodes of WandaVision. Disney+’s WandaVision opened up with a double bill of episodes last week, presumably to introduce what is quite a trippy concept if you’re not Marvel literate. Avenger Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and her android lover Vision (Paul Bettany) are living in literal sitcom bliss [...]
Chorley FC, Marine AFC and the true value of a fairytale FA Cup run to non-league football clubs January 22, 2021 When Chorley FC take on Wolves in the FA Cup tonight, there will be more at stake for the non-league club from Lancashire than a place in the fifth round. If Chorley manage another upset against their Premier League opponents, they will earn £175,000 from broadcast payments and the FA’s prize fund alone. Chorley’s FA [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Fifa spooked into action by Super League talk; Uefa may rip up Euro 2020 plans; London Marathon chiefs eye records January 21, 2021 Is football governing bodies’ ultimate bogeyman the European Super League in danger of actually happening? Fifa and its six confederations, including Uefa, have been sufficiently spooked into warning they will ban any footballer who takes part in a putative breakaway competition from playing in World Cups and their regional equivalents, such as the European Championship. [...]
Glastonbury is cancelled, so what about other cultural events? January 21, 2021 Last year was a virtual write-off for the cultural calendar, with the year’s most hotly-anticipated events being brushed aside by the ceaseless march of Covid. This year the world seems to be drawing close to a solution to the crisis – but that hasn’t com in tiume to save Glastonbury. So what of the other [...]
Gloucester Rugby CEO Lance Bradley: Scrap relegation this season, it’s not right and would be catastrophic for any Premiership club January 21, 2021 “It would be catastrophic,” says Gloucester Rugby chief executive Lance Bradley, matter-of-factly, about the prospect of relegation. Gloucester sit bottom of the Premiership table after six rounds of fixtures, raising the spectre of another swingeing financial blow as all clubs count the cost of the pandemic. It hardly bears thinking about – and Bradley doesn’t [...]
Schemers review – Dave Mclean biopic is a flat B-Side January 21, 2021 Biopics that feature their subjects are not a new thing – Muhammad Ali and radio host Howard Stern both played themselves in the stories of their lives. However, they are rarely followed by rave reviews. Schemers is based on the early breakthrough of Dave Mclean, a music promoter who went on to work with some [...]