We love Bazball and Gazball, now England Rugby needs Borthball June 23, 2023 Wow. What a conclusion that was to the opening Ashes Test on Tuesday at Edgbaston between England and Australia. From day one to five it was so entertaining. England lost but I wasn’t sulking about the result. Instead I was thinking about the opening shot on the first day, Joe Root’s reverse ramp shot for [...]
Chelsea owners caught in backlash over investment in French club Strasbourg June 22, 2023 Chelsea and co-owner Todd Boehly are facing a backlash from Strasbourg supporters as they close in on a deal to buy a large minority stake in the French football club. Confirmation is said to be imminent that the Blues have acquired a shareholding of around 40 per cent in the team from Alsace. Strasbourg would [...]
Dear England review: Gareth Southgate play hits the back of the net June 22, 2023 There is something inherently cruel about making English people sit through a play about their national team taking penalties. Much of our collective psyche seems tied up in our ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, failing in the most heartrending possible way. This new play written by the prolific James Graham follows [...]
Chelsea begin clear-out and raise almost £100m by selling Havertz and Kovacic June 21, 2023 Chelsea have begun a major squad clear-out and raised almost £100m by agreeing deals to sell Kai Havertz to Arsenal and Mateo Kovacic to Manchester City. Germany forward Havertz, who scored 32 goals in 139 goals during three seasons at Chelsea, is set to move across London to Arsenal for an initial fee of £60m, [...]
Q&A: Why Premier League gave Chelsea’s Paramount Plus sponsorship the red card June 20, 2023 Chelsea’s hunt for a new main shirt sponsor hit the news this week when it emerged that the Premier League had refused to sanction a potential deal with Paramount Plus. Here’s why the agreement was not allowed, why this situation isn’t unique to Chelsea or the top division of English football, and what it means [...]
Is Trent Alexander-Arnold the missing piece in Gareth Southgate’s England jigsaw? June 20, 2023 Trent Alexander-Arnold has shown he can thrive in midfield for England like he has with Liverpool – and Gareth Southgate deserves praise for finding the right role for him. Valuable lessons are thin on the ground in Euro 2024 qualifying — especially when, as in England’s case over the past few days, your opponents are [...]
What the TV rights fight means for the Fifa Women’s World Cup June 20, 2023 With just five weeks before the Women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand, Fifa has finally reached a deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to air all 64 matches in Britain, Spain, France and Germany – ending the threat of a blackout in Europe’s top football nations. While ITV and BBC [...]
Bournemouth hire Andoni Iraola as head coach after sacking Gary O’Neil June 19, 2023 Bournemouth have moved quickly to appoint Spaniard Andoni Iraola as their new head coach after ruthlessly sacking Gary O’Neil. Iraola, who rejected a move to Leeds United last season, joins after a three-year spell at Rayo Vallecano, who he led back into LaLiga and to an 11th-placed finish last term. The 40-year-old becomes the fifth [...]
European football chief Ceferin plays down fears of talent drain to Saudi Pro League June 19, 2023 Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin insists he is not worried about the Saudi Pro League’s ambitious transfer policy stripping European football of its top stars. Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Neves have already followed Cristian Ronaldo in moving to Saudi, where a major investment programme from the Public Investment Fund is also reported to be [...]
20,000 abusive social media posts made during Fifa World Cup, England v France with the highest proportion June 19, 2023 There were almost 20,000 abusive social media posts aimed at players, teams and officials during last year’s Fifa World Cup, according to a new report by the sport’s governing body and player union Fifpro released yesterday. The 19,600 abusive messages came from 12,600 accounts during the showpiece event held in Qatar last winter. Fifa went [...]