BT lines up Champions League bid as it looks to retain lucrative rights September 22, 2019 BT is gearing up to defend its control of Champions League TV rights as the telecoms giant cashes in on price rises in its broadcast division. BT Sport paid £1.2bn in 2017 to secure exclusive rights to Champions League and Europa League matches for three seasons, cementing its control of European football coverage. Read more: [...]
Tottenham Hotspur refinance more than £600m of stadium debt to secure financial future September 20, 2019 Tottenham Hotspur have refinanced £637m of loans taken out to help build its new £1.2bn stadium. The club borrowed the lump sum from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and HSBC to support the arena’s construction and were due to pay it back in full by April 2022. Read more: Olympiacos 2-2 Tottenham: Spurs stuck in [...]
Debenhams scores victory over landlords in High Court battle September 19, 2019 Debenhams has won a High Court battle with landlords to push through its CVA proposal that will lead to store closures. Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley had funded the landlords’ case after his significant shareholding was wiped out when Debenhams went private in a rescue deal. Read more: Sports Direct ‘trying to drive Debenhams into [...]
Chelsea 0-1 Valencia: Barkley misses late penalty as Blues fall flat at Stamford Bridge September 17, 2019 There were bound to be stern words in the Stamford Bridge home dressing room tonight after Ross Barkley took it upon himself to take a late penalty, only to waste a gilt-edged chance to equalise in a disappointing defeat against Valencia. The England midfielder, fresh off the bench, waved away regular – and reliable – [...]
Home form, a solid tactical base and key men: Norwich City have a template for survival September 17, 2019 For Norwich, beating champions Manchester City 3-2 on Saturday was more than just a big result; it was a reminder that anything is possible in the Premier League. That’s a lovely message to get into the dressing room of a promoted side at this stage of the season. The big teams won’t always play well [...]
Watford 2-2 Arsenal: Five things we learned as Sanchez Flores enjoys bounce September 15, 2019 New manager bounce is not reserved for brand new managers, as Quique Sanchez Flores proved on Sunday when his second spell at Watford began with a rousing come-from-behind draw with Arsenal. Trailing 2-0 against the run of play after two Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goals in the first 32 minutes, it looked like being a bittersweet return [...]
Norwich win over Man City highlighted all that’s exciting about new season September 15, 2019 There is an invigorating unfamiliarity to the new Premier League season, with some eye-catching displays from the promoted teams introducing a new cast of exciting players and, most surprisingly of all, a feeble start to their title defence from Manchester City. Norwich City’s improbable 3-2 victory over City on Saturday evening wrapped all of those [...]
Quique Sanchez Flores’ Watford return is fraught with complications after frosty exit in 2016 September 12, 2019 When Watford wrote in their parting statement with manager Quique Sanchez Flores in May 2016 that he “leaves with all our best wishes for the future and the knowledge he is always welcome at Vicarage Road” it appeared a generic gesture of good will. But three years and three months – and three managers – [...]
Crystal Palace’s trip to Tottenham is a chance to continue their remarkable record on the road September 12, 2019 Every season the first international break interrupts the flow of the new Premier League season, putting it on hold after just four matches. It tends to leave the league table in peculiar shape, this time with Leicester City and Crystal Palace in the top four, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United languishing in mid-table, and Watford [...]
England 5-3 Kosovo: Three Lions show all their colours in wide-open thriller at St Mary’s September 10, 2019 Fans often moan that international football is boring, that games are one-sided and that results are predictable. Those gripes were nowhere to be heard tonight as England and Kosovo served up an absurdly open, seesawing and incident-packed eight-goal thriller at St Mary’s. It was a crazy Euro 2020 qualifier which had it all, displaying all [...]