Premier League teams reject controversial Project Big Picture reforms October 14, 2020 Premier League clubs have renounced controversial plans for English football’s biggest shake-up in almost 30 years. ‘Project Big Picture’ proposed reducing the number of teams in the top division and giving the six biggest clubs sweeping powers in exchange for a major package of financial aid for the wider game affected by Covid-19. But clubs [...]
English football clubs ‘will not be allowed to go bust’ due to Covid-19 October 14, 2020 Clubs in the English Football League (EFL) will not be allowed to go bust as a result of the coronavirus crisis, a senior government minister has said. Oliver Dowden, secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, said he had received assurances from both the EFL and the Premier League that they had the [...]
Premier League restructuring plan is ‘power grab’, cultural secretary warns October 12, 2020 A radical plan to restructure the Premier League looks like little more than a “power grab” by English football’s elite clubs, a top government minister has warned. Manchester United and Liverpool are among the teams to back a Covid-19 rescue package for lower league football that would spark a major shake-up of the game. The [...]
Ladbrokes owner GVC raises full-year outlook as online gaming surges October 8, 2020 Ladbrokes owner GVC Holdings has raised its full-year outlook as revenue jumped 12 per cent in the third quarter helped by a surge in online gaming and sporting events.
West Ham install ‘Covid tunnels’ at training ground – could fans be next? October 7, 2020 Premier League club West Ham United have installed sanitisation tunnels at their academy training ground to protect staff and players. The tunnel operates initially as a temperature scanner before misting individuals with a controlled, odourless, water-based solution to disable bacteria and viruses. Taking just three to five seconds in total, the technology could in theory [...]
Own goal? Arsenal make mascot Gunnersaurus redundant October 5, 2020 Arsenal have made Gunnersaurus, arguably the world’s most famous football mascot, redundant as part of a cost-cutting drive. First reported by The Athletic, the move will see Jerry Quy – who has donned the mascot’s costume since 1993 – leave the Emirates Stadium. Quy was a part-time member of staff and does not count as [...]
Prem clubs ‘trade deficit’ hits £781m as critics of Covid-19 response mount September 29, 2020 Premier League clubs spent £781m more on bringing players into the league in 2019/20 than they received for selling players abroad, a new report reveals. The twenty top English clubs spent a record £1.61bn in the season just gone on incoming players from other leagues, but clubs brought in only £829m. Read more: Real and [...]
Crisis in football: Former Culture chair calls on government to bailout lower league clubs September 28, 2020 MPs have called on the Culture Secretary to arrange a bailout of lower-league football clubs or risk “the collapse of the national league structure we have known for over one hundred years.” Damian Collins, former chair of the Culture Select Committee, has written to Oliver Dowden this morning warning him that the “government itself needs [...]
UK sports bodies call for emergency government support September 22, 2020 Britain’s leading sports bodies have called for emergency government support to prop them up through a second wave of coronavirus, as ministers prepare to scrap the scheduled reopening of stadiums across the country. A coalition of more than 100 organisations including the Premier League, Rugby Football Union and the England and Wales Cricket Board have [...]
Exclusive: Premier League Covid-19 testing firm raises $15m for UK rollout September 18, 2020 The company behind the Premier League’s coronavirus testing programme has raised $15m (£11.6m) in fresh funding as it eyes a UK rollout for its new rapid Covid-19 test. Biotech firm Prenetics said it will use the cash injection to advance its rapid testing technology, which promises results in 15 to 30 minutes. Prenetics played a [...]