Up to 10,000 sports fans to be allowed back to stadiums from 17 May, says Prime Minister February 22, 2021 Sports fans will be allowed to return to stadiums from 17 May, with up to 10,000 spectators permitted in the largest venues. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the relaxation of rules today as he laid out his plans for emerging from lockdown. The announcement means that crowds should be in attendance for Euro 2020 matches [...]
West Ham and David Moyes have gone from laughing stock to Happy Hammers – at an ideal time for their owners David Sullivan and David Gold February 22, 2021 Hands up who didn’t afford themselves a wry chuckle when David Moyes, on his return as West Ham manager in December 2019, declared: “That’s what I do, I win.” It was a bold claim from a man whose stints at Sunderland, Real Sociedad and Manchester United might generously be described as chequered. Coming as West [...]
Week in Sportbiz: England Netball weighing up approaches from private investors; plus Manchester City’s humble new partner club and ‘super spikes’ February 18, 2021 Netball’s prodigious growth has not gone unnoticed by the private investors who have embarked on a trolley dash of sporting properties. England Netball successfully launched its Covid-adapted 2021 Superleague season last weekend – another feather in the cap of an organisation that has doubled participation in a decade. The governing has renewed its broadcast deal [...]
All Premier League games to be televised until fans return to stadiums February 17, 2021 The Premier League has committed to televising every match until clubs are allowed to reopen stadiums to supporters. All games have been available on Sky Sports, BT Sport, the BBC or Amazon Prime Video for most of the pandemic – save for short-lived experiment with pay-per-view. That arrangement has now been extended indefinitely, with a [...]
Too much of a good thing: Are round-the-clock matches giving you football fatigue? February 16, 2021 As I’m sure most readers of this publication will be aware, one of the characteristics of money is that there is a limited supply of it. Scarcity equals value, and that’s something which the football world might soon need to take into account. The pandemic’s impact has condensed the football season and, for many of [...]
Why Manchester City’s 16-game winning streak is even better than you think February 15, 2021 Let’s start with what is indisputable: Pep Guardiola has turned Manchester City back into the best team in England. Through the flames of the dumpster fire that is Liverpool’s title defence, City have marched to the summit like a team of indestructible terminators. Seven points clear and with a game in hand, only a monumental [...]
Is Liverpool’s defeat by Manchester City a sign that history is repeating itself for Jurgen Klopp February 13, 2021 To paraphrase Liverpool owner John Henry, what do you think they’re smoking at Anfield? Because something is up with the champions. Losing to your main domestic rivals is one thing. Losing to them 4-1 at home is another. And losing to them when you are 27 points down on your tally at the same stage [...]
Week in Sportbiz: English football puts the boot into Twitter and Facebook; Rolex deal shows value of golf tours’ alliance; dystopian snack marketing February 11, 2021 It is rare to see all of English football sing from the same hymnsheet. But that was in evidence today as the game’s leading bodies joined forces to demand more action from Twitter and Facebook against racist, sexist and threatening behaviour. The Premier League, Football Association, English Football League, Women’s Professional Game, players’ union the [...]
Should football brace itself for a dementia claims crisis? February 10, 2021 Last week the Football Association’s head of medicine, Charlotte Cowie, announced the governing body was considering “likely risk factors” for dementia among players. The review comes as concern grows across contact sports around the potential link between neurodegenerative disorders and head trauma. The concern isn’t new – Alan Shearer’s 2017 documentary Dementia, Football and Me [...]
Sport on TV: How to watch India v England, the Six Nations, Liverpool v Man City and Super Bowl LV in the UK February 6, 2021 What better way to beat the lockdown blues than by gorging on a feast of sport on TV? Answer: none. And this weekend’s fare is the most abundant yet this year, with an England Test series on terrestrial TV, the first round of the Six Nations, a Premier League title showdown between Liverpool and Manchester [...]