Rugby’s Biggest Rivalry Meets Unrivaled Hospitality at The Showdown 5 January 21, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is one of the UK’s finest stadiums – but did you know it’snot just Premier League footballing action taking place on the pitch? March 2025 sees the return of Saracens to their home from home in N17 for The Showdown 5. Once again locking horns with local rivals Harlequins in the ultimate [...]
Football regulator: Tory peers right to question changes, says Collins January 20, 2025 Former Culture, Media and Sport select committee chair Damian Collins has defended Conservative peers’ thorough questioning of the Labour government’s beefed-up plans for an independent football regulator. Sport Minister Stephanie Peacock last week accused some Tory peers of submitting amendments “cynically designed to dither, delay and block” the progress of the Football Governance Bill through [...]
English football’s record year for legal spending – can it stay secret? January 19, 2025 Before the Christmas break the Premier League published an article posing the question: what Premier League records for a calendar year can still be broken? While fans watched the glut of fixtures over Christmas, another record had already been set: 2024 was the year that English football was dominated by legal disputes. The Premier League [...]
Destination Calcio: Why a little-known website bought Serie B media rights January 18, 2025 Destination Calcio only popped up last summer and has a modest audience but has snapped up the live rights to Italian football’s Serie B in the UK and US until 2027. What’s going on? Serie B may be at the niche end of football fandom, especially for British lovers of the game, but the Italian [...]
Why the football regulator shouldn’t ignore clubs below National League January 18, 2025 The case of Ebbsfleet United shows why the incoming football regulator’s powers are needed throughout the English game, says Damian Collins. The deeply entwined relationship between English football clubs and the communities they serve is never more evident than at the midpoint of the season and the turn of the year. Whilst most Europeans enjoy [...]
American fund interested in minority stake in Chelsea January 17, 2025 The founder of Angel City FC Kara Nortman is reportedly interested in buying a stake in Women’s Super League club Chelsea FC Women. Monarch Collective, a £123m fund launched by Nortman, is interested in a minority stake in the WSL champions Chelsea, according to Sky News’ Mark Kleinman. National Women’s Soccer League club Angel City [...]
Haaland Manchester City deal could be worth £247m, reports January 17, 2025 Manchester City golden boy Erling Haaland’s nine-and-a-half-year deal could be worth over £245m for the Norway international. The striker, who reached 100 goals for Pep Guardiola’s side in September last year in 105 games, could stay at the Etihad Stadium until 2034 should he play out his entire near-decade contract. It is suggested that his [...]
Soft power: Hard-headed diplomacy January 17, 2025 A new Soft Power Council convened by the government will bring leaders from sport, education, culture and business together to craft a unifying narrative that will enhance Britain’s influence around the world, says foreign secretary David Lammy Almost ten years ago, relations between the United Kingdom and South Korea took a big step forward. In [...]
Brady’s Football Regulator views are desperate protests, say governance firm January 16, 2025 Governance experts have hit out at Baroness Karren Brady over her stance on the Football Governance Bill, claiming she’s making “desperate protests” in the House of Lords on behalf of the Premier League. The West Ham United chair slammed accusations that the Premier League was effectively dragging its feet over topics relating to the Football [...]
Baroness Brady rebukes ‘wrong’ Football Governance Bill accusations in Lords January 15, 2025 Baroness Brady launched a sensational rebuke in the Football Governance Bill discussion in the House of Lords last night, defending the Premier League against accusations of effectively dragging its feet. West Ham United chair and Apprentice sidekick Baroness Brady tabled six of the 150-plus amendments that were placed on the record after the government introduced [...]