Sir Gareth Southgate has expressed his concern that “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers” are taking the place of traditional father figures in society and contributing to mental health issues among young men. The former England manager also questioned whether “winning a trophy is the only marker of success” after losing in successive European Championship finals, … Read more
A Bulgarian footballer who was honoured with a minute’s silence by his former club, despite not being dead, has shared his side of the story and admitted “being buried alive is quite stressful, really”. The life of Petko Ganchev was commemorated by the top-division side Arda Kardzhali last Sunday, after they were wrongly informed of … Read more
The Arsenal manager, Renée Slegers, said that improving pitch conditions is “the next step for women’s football” after the state of the playing surface at the Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano drew strong criticism during Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League quarter-final. A combination of heavy rain … Read more
Thomas Tuchel ushered in a fresh dawn with England by spelling out to the players that it was purely about winning the 2026 World Cup. The head coach delivered an inspirational address at St George’s Park on Monday, according to Dan Burn, who is a part of the squad for the first time, stressing that … Read more
Inothewayurthinkin, the six-length winner of Friday’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, will not attempt to become the second horse to win the Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season. He has been taken out of next month’s race at the latest forfeit stage. Inothewayurthinkin was handicapped for the Grand National on the basis of his … Read more
The survival of Newcastle Falcons as a professional team will require more than just a one-off £4m bailout from the remaining nine Premiership clubs, according to Steve Diamond, their director of rugby. He has confirmed Newcastle may have to negotiate a potential short-term loan to participate in next season’s Premiership, raising fresh doubts about the … Read more
Real Madrid stunned Arsenal at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano to put themselves in control of their quarter-final tie. Goals in either half from Linda Caicedo and Athenea del Castillo earned them a hard-working victory in the first leg against Renée Slegers’ team. This was the first competitive encounter between these sides and of the … Read more
The Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta has said he initially wanted to play on after suffering a gruesome ear injury in his side’s FA Cup win over Millwall. The Lions goalkeeper Liam Roberts was sent off for a horrific challenge that left the Frenchman needing 25 stitches after being rushed to hospital during Palace’s 3-1 … Read more
The Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he had thrashed out the circumstances of his lengthy exile from the national side with teammates on his return and hoped the controversy over his almost two-year absence was settled. The 32-year-old has not played for Belgium since June 2023 when he walked out before a European Championship qualifier … Read more
The Dodgers were a long way from Los Angeles on Tuesday but with Shohei Ohtani and two more Japanese stars they were the home team for Tokyo fans in a historic MLB season-opening 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Ohtani had two hits and scored twice, with starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting the win for five … Read more