FA chairman Greg Clarke resigns after using racial slur in diversity meeting November 10, 2020 Greg Clarke has resigned as Football Association chairman after using the term “coloured” to refer to black football players when talking to MPs about diversity. Clarke described black players as “coloured footballers” when talking to members of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee via video link this afternoon. The FA chairman [...]
Five substitutions and fixture congestion: Won’t somebody think of the rich Premier League superclubs? November 9, 2020 It was a good weekend for sales of tiny violins in football’s moneyed north-west heartlands, as familiar debates about five substitutes and fixture scheduling bobbed to the surface. On Sunday, Pep Guardiola revealed he and Jurgen Klopp enjoyed a touchline grumble about the cap on mid-game changes after Manchester City and Liverpool’s draw. Twenty-four hours [...]
The Week In Sportbiz: Premier League set to axe pay-per-view (for now), Formula E gets cosier with Extreme E, and Gosper gives US his World Cup vote November 6, 2020 Less than a month after its introduction, Premier League clubs are expected to ditch their unpopular pay-per-view service. Since debuting on 17 October, half of all games have been restricted to those willing to pay £14.95 a time. Fans groups protested the extra charges by successfully urging people to donate thousands of pounds to food [...]
Premier League, EFL and FA chiefs to be grilled by MPs over Project Big Picture and bailout impasse November 5, 2020 MPs have demanded to grill Premier League, English Football League and Football Association chiefs over Project Big Picture. A Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee wants to quiz Richard Masters, Rick Parry and Greg Clarke next week. The session is focused on a failure to agree a rescue package for clubs outside the [...]
Marcus Rashford and the new player power: it won’t be long until clubs and sponsors put a price on it November 4, 2020 Just when you think that 2020 can’t throw up any more surprises, Marcus Rashford, a 23-year-old footballer, becomes the government’s loudest source of opposition. At the time of writing there’s been no U-turn on extending the provision of free school meals when faced by Rashford’s campaign. But by generating support and sentiment through his 3.7m [...]
Pride tinged with sadness for devoted AFC Wimbledon fans locked out of Plough Lane homecoming party November 3, 2020 This isn’t how AFC Wimbledon’s long-awaited first match back at Plough Lane was meant to be. The return of football to this corner of Merton on Tuesday evening, when Doncaster Rovers visit the Dons in League One, should have been a huge party for supporters. Instead, the only fans present will be the cardboard cut-outs [...]
Manchester United and Arsenal leave Premier League looking like a one-horse race November 2, 2020 For a moment back then, there was an intoxicating sense of possibility about this Premier League season. Liverpool’s aura of invincibility looked to have been shredded by a seven-goal humiliation at Aston Villa. Villa, like Everton, were riding high and reviving memories of past glories with swashbuckling displays. After three years of duopoly, the league [...]
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on missing football, black managers getting less time, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea and dabbling in property October 30, 2020 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is bellowing instructions at a plumber amid the chaos of a building site as he answers the phone to City A.M.. The former Chelsea, Leeds and Holland striker and, more recently, promising manager is overseeing works at what will be a new family home for the Hasselbainks. When the 48-year-old is not [...]
The City A.M. Punter Pocast EP:15 Haydock Sprint Weekend October 29, 2020 Trainer Clive Cox discusses the 3 year old Golden Horde’s chances as he takes on older horses once again in the big sprint race of the weekend at Haydock Park, but how will he cope with the expected soft underfoot conditions? Long time owner Julie Wood tells us how she got into racing and how [...]
Champions League trends in six charts: Goals, possession, set-pieces and most effective goalkeepers and forwards October 27, 2020 How many goals per game do you get in the Champions League? How are those goals being scored? And is it all changing? Uefa’s technical report on last season’s Champions League answers all those questions and more. It’s a goldmine of insights that reveals how football is subtly shifting at the very highest level. The [...]