Find a Football Team

Find a Football Team

Bookmark and Share Home »    

Mount Pleasant Sports

Address
Nuneaton Road, Bedworth, Nuneaton, CV12 9EQ
Teams
Adult Male
View map

Football Team News

» Ruben Amorim issues worrying Benjamin Sesko injury update after star forced off
Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko lasted just 30 minutes before being taken off with an injury during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur and Ruben Amorim has now offered an update
» Sesko, Casemiro, Maguire, Mainoo - Man Utd injury news after triple blow vs Tottenham
Manchester United rescued a point in the final stages of their Premier League match with Tottenham, but there were one or two fresh injury set-backs for Ruben Amorim.
» Man Utd next five fixtures compared to Liverpool, Arsenal and more after dramatic Spurs draw
Manchester United stretched their unbeaten run to five games in the Premier League after Matthijs de Ligt's late equaliser at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday
» Alan Shearer sticks the boot in on Man Utd AND Tottenham after dramatic draw
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur battled to a dramatic 2-2 draw in North London on Saturday afternoon with Alan Shearer far from happy with the performances of both sides
» Man Utd player ratings as Bryan Mbeumo shines but 2/10 star struggles vs Tottenham
Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw by Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, with Bryan Mbeumo among the standout performers in the dramatic draw
» Rob Edwards to Wolves latest as Middlesbrough release brutally honest statement
Wolves approached Middlesbrough about Rob Edwards on Thursday evening and they have now given their head coach permission to speak with the winless Premier League club
» Alan Shearer's short verdict as daughter Chloe announces engagement to rugby star
Chloe Shearer, the daughter of Premier League legend Alan, has announced her engagement to former rugby star Micky Young, with her father sending a cheeky response.
» Man Utd get out of jail with late goal to stun Tottenham after collapse - 5 talking points
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2-2MANCHESTER UNITED: Mathhijs de Ligt was the hero for the Red Devils as he denied Spurs a late comeback through Mathys Tel and Richarlison
» Tottenham fans get immediate response after booing unpopular Thomas Frank decision
Thomas Frank was met with a chorus of boos when he decided to replace Xavi Simons with Mathys Tel during Tottenham Hotspur's clash against Manchester United.
» Man Utd suffer DOUBLE injury blow as Harry Maguire and Benjamin Sesko forced off vs Tottenham
Harry Maguire has been in fine form for Manchester United this season but the England defender was forced off in their game against Tottenham with an injury issue
» Arne Slot agrees with Jamie Carragher as Liverpool boss aims dig at Premier League rivals
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Arsenal and other Premier League rivals ahead of his side's clash with Manchester City this weekend
» Jurgen Klopp shows true colours with Pep Guardiola message ahead of milestone
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has received a touching message from the former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp before taking charge of his 1000th match this weekend
» Mikel Arteta issues Arsenal transfer verdict after Gabriel Jesus injury update
Gabriel Jesus has returned to training and Mikel Arteta has provided an injury update on the Brazil forward, while also discussing his future at Arsenal
» Liverpool face anxious Ibrahima Konate wait as new club make contact over transfer
Liverpool face the prospect of losing Ibrahima Konate this summer with his contract winding down but Bayern Munich are now ready to rival Real Madrid for his signature
» Ruben Amorim explains Jack Fletcher selection as Man Utd save 88-year historic record
Manchester United have Jack Fletcher, son of their former central midfielder Darren, in their matchday squad for the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur
» Ronaldo makes Cristiano Ronaldo stance clear after snub - 'I don't agree'
The Real Madrid and Brazil icon has made his feelings clear about Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese star nears the end of his career.
» Adam Wharton claims barren run 'doesn't affect me' and rejects Twitter gripes
Adam Wharton is yet to score for Crystal Palace despite his notable influence, but the midfielder insists the any mention of his lack of goals doesn't concern him
» Ruben Amorim issues Bruno Fernandes warning over his future Man Utd role
Bruno Fernande has been Manchester United's best player in recent seasons but Ruben Amorim has sent the midfielder a warning over his future role at the club
» Man Utd's historic 88-year tradition saved by Darren Fletcher's son after injury scare
Manchester United have maintained a stunning 88-year record that was in danger of coming undone against Tottenham after the Red Devils suffered an injury blow to Kobbie Mainoo
» Wolves manager search takes next step as top target stood down hours before kick-off
Wolves have been looking to appoints Middlesbrough's Rob Edwards as their next manager and, despite having their approach denied, the Championship club have stood down their manager ahead of Saturday's game
» Who is Jack Fletcher? Son of Man Utd legend has twin brother who captained different country
Youngster Jack Fletcher is expected to be part of the Manchester United squad that faces Tottenham in north London on Saturday afternoon
» Adam Wharton makes surprising Man Utd transfer admission - 'Nothing special'
Adam Wharton has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United in recent months and the Crystal Palace midfielder has now broken his silence on the speculation
» Declan Rice has already made Arsenal point clear amid Paul Scholes criticism
Declan Rice has been in good form for Arsenal this season, but that hasn't stopped Paul Scholes from criticising the midfielder in recent weeks
» Match of the Day star Gabby Logan achieves 'career goal' as she lands new role
Match of the Day host Gabby Logan is set to take on a new role later this month and the presenter has claimed that it is a career-long ambition
From

Football resources

» The FA
» BBC Sport
» SportsCoach
» Little Kickers
» Kiddikicks

Other sport news:

» Everton v Fulham, West Ham v Burnley, and more: football clockwatch – live

⚽ Updates from 3pm GMT kick-offs across the leagues
Live scores | Edwards in talks with Wolves | Mail Barry

Premier League: A deflected shot from Mathys Tel has levelled proceedings at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with just six minutes of normal time remaining. Follow the action with Tim De Lisle …

West Ham: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Todibo, Diouf, Fernandes, Potts, Lucas Paqueta, Bowen, Wilson, Summerville.

Continue reading...
» De Ligt snatches last-gasp draw for Manchester United in chaotic finale at Spurs

A wild ride took everyone back where they had started. The one certainty arising from an affair of low quality and, from nowhere, scarcely credible drama was that only a fool would hang their hat on Tottenham or Manchester United right now. The ignominies of last season may be at some remove but it remains anyone’s guess what either of these scratchy, neurotic sides will produce on a given occasion.

It briefly seemed they had conspired to hand Spurs a first league win on home turf since the opening day. That would have been a head-scratcher of its own given they were going nowhere until Mathys Tel, who had only been on the pitch for five minutes, offered a moment of incision they had barely signposted. When Richarlison glanced in Wilson Odobert’s shot early in added time it felt like a potential lift-off: Thomas Frank, so embattled in defeat to Chelsea last week, must have sensed as much as a largely sullen venue erupted around him.

Continue reading...
» Sunderland v Arsenal: Premier League – live

⚽ Premier League updates from the 5.30pm GMT kick-off
Live scores | Edwards in talks with Wolves | Mail Scott

Here’s an illustration of the size and scope of the task facing Sunderland today. Arsenal last conceded a goal at 5.05pm on 28 September. Since then, they’ve only allowed 12 shots on target in 12 hours and 56 minutes of football, over eight-and-a-half matches, a sequence that equals a club record established in 1903, when they were still knocking around in Woolwich. Nick Ames digs deeper.

Sunderland are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. They name the same XI that started the 2-1 win at Chelsea and the 1-1 draw with Everton. This will be the first time Granit Xhaka has faced Arsenal since leaving the Gunners two years ago.

Continue reading...
» Alessia Russo earns draw with Chelsea but Arsenal rue controversial decisions

The boos rang out at the Emirates Stadium as the officials exited the pitch at the final whistle, the result of two disallowed Arsenal goals the second of which would surely have turned a 1-1 draw into a 2-1 home win if it had stood. Alessia Russo’s late equaliser did at least keep alive the Gunners’ slim hopes of remaining in the title race, the gap between them and Chelsea, the league leaders, remaining at five points, but the question has to be asked: why aren’t we providing the referees with the technological support to ensure they can get big decisions right through video assistant referees (VAR)?

Renée Slegers had warned that her team would “have to be ready from the get go” against the defending Women’s Super League champions, but the message had not stuck. It was Chelsea that stepped on to the pitch with an almost unplayable intensity coursing through them and the Gunners could not cope. The Chelsea press was exceptional in the first 20 minutes, with the players alert to every move, ready to stifle the home side from stringing passes together over and over again.

Continue reading...
» Championship roundup: fast-rising Hull turn up heat on Portsmouth
  • Hull up to fifth; Millwall and Preston draw at the Den

  • Derby beat Blackburn in Eustace’s Ewood Park return

Joe Gelhardt scored his fifth goal in six games as in-form Hull defeated struggling Portsmouth 3-2.

The Leeds loan signing showed supreme calmness to dink the ball over goalkeeper Josef Bursik after he latched on to Charlie Hughes’s long ball in the 79th minute to settle the match.

This story will be updated

Continue reading...
» Middlesbrough give Rob Edwards permission to hold talks over Wolves job
  • Boro coach was stood down from Birmingham match

  • Edwards poised for Molineux move after Pereira sacking

Middlesbrough have agreed to let Rob Edwards hold talks with Wolves over their managerial vacancy, with a deal for the Boro head coach expected to be completed within the next 48 hours.

Edwards had earlier been stood down from taking charge of Saturday’s match at home to Birmingham, with the 42-year-old now set for a return to Molineux.

Continue reading...
» Irish football chiefs pass vote seeking Uefa ban on Israel from European competition
  • Republic of Ireland body alleges two statute violations

  • FAI approved a resolution to submit a formal motion

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has approved a resolution to submit a formal motion to Uefa urging it to ban Israel from European club and international competitions.

The governing body’s resolution – proposed by the Dublin club Bohemians – cited alleged violations by the Israel Football Association (IFA) of two provisions of Uefa statutes. They are its alleged failure to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy and the organisation of clubs in occupied Palestinian territories without the consent of the Palestinian FA.

Continue reading...
» Zohran Mamdani has upended US politics. Now he should take on Fifa | Jules Boykoff

New York’s mayor-elect has taken on powerful institutions. With the World Cup taking place in his city, he should challenge Fifa next

After winning the election for mayor of New York City, an exuberant Zohran Mamdani took to the stage at his victory speech and said, “If there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.” He was alluding to Donald Trump, but the sentiment also applies to Fifa, the world’s governing body for soccer.

In September, Mamdani’s team kicked off a “Game Over Greed” campaign targeting Fifa’s use of dynamic pricing for 2026 men’s World Cup tickets, calling it an “affront to the game.” His petition demanded that Fifa cease its rapacious dynamic pricing scheme, place a price cap on tickets that are resold on Fifa’s ticketing platform, and reserve a tranche of tickets for local residents. Mamdani, a longtime Arsenal fan, told the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast, “I have long been quite troubled by how the supposed stewards of the game have opted for profit time and time again at the expense of the people that love this game.”

Continue reading...
» Silence over Sudan: why do Manchester City’s owners get away with so much?

Two midweek matches in England had a backdrop of war and geopolitics, but only one drew large protests

How would you feel if the owner of the football club you support was implicated, even as those implications are repeatedly denied, in famine, ethnic cleansing and the deaths of 1,500 men, women and children?

Compare this with the more familiar list of bad things football club owners do, the real sack‑the‑board stuff. Failure to buy a striker. Inadequate Showing Of Ambition. The hiring and/or firing of David Moyes. Mike Ashley was pretty annoying. He had shops full of quilted coats hung really high up close to the ceiling.

Continue reading...
» Explosive ending cannot mask flaws of Tottenham and Manchester United | Jonathan Wilson

This match was as dismal as last season’s Europa League final and in a routine league game nerves are no excuse

Never underestimate the haplessness of this Manchester United. Never underestimate the haplessness of this Tottenham Hotspur. Never underestimate the capacity of the Premier League to uncover drama in the least plausible situation. The embers of a game of little quality seemed cold and dead but somehow burst into glorious flame in the final six minutes plus stoppage time.

What it means is anybody’s guess, other than that these are two sides who remain deeply flawed. The shadow of Bilbao and last May’s Europa League final was unavoidable; in purely technical terms, that game was just as bad as the first 84 minutes of this one, but it at least had a sense of edge. Nervousness is permissible if there is something to be nervous about. Such scrappiness in a routine league meeting is far less explicable.

Continue reading...
» ‘We could be winning or losing – it doesn’t matter as long as we’re together’: the friendships forged on football terraces

It starts with singing, banter or enthusiastic goal celebrations – and leads to so much more. Six groups of fan friends share how they met

Like so many football fans, I have my own routines and rituals with which I tie together the home games of a league season. Last year, one such routine involved the older gentleman in the seat to my right. I’d nod hello and, above the strains of pre-match music, ask him what he thought of Norwich’s chances – 23 times I asked, and 23 times he replied along the lines of: “We’ll probably get thumped” or “I don’t see where our goals are coming from.” A shred of contempt would be spared for the referee. Always, the referee was known to him and, always, I’d be forewarned that this or that referee was an “arsehole”, a “wanker”, or – once – “an arsehole and a wanker”.

This neighbour of mine was a retired engineer, a Norfolk boy, and a follower of both first team and academy, home and away. He was just one of thousands with a season ticket at the back of Carrow Road’s lower Barclay stand: a Saturday afternoon companion, a stranger at the start of the last season who became a little less strange as the matches went by. I was able to glean, for example, that after decades of loyal (if pessimistic) fandom, he would soon be moving to Yorkshire with his partner, unable to ignore his dreams of the Dales. He had already decided that he wouldn’t be renewing his season ticket. My first year in this part of the ground was his last.

Continue reading...
» Your Guardian sport weekend: England v Fiji, F1 heating up and Premier League

Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports

Continue reading...
» Tuchel open to staying as England manager regardless of World Cup fate
  • ‘Fans will understand if we go out with pride’

  • Tuchel ‘re-energised’ by time in charge of team

Thomas Tuchel has opened the door to staying on as England’s manager after next year’s World Cup and has said his future does not necessarily depend on leading the team to glory.

Tuchel, who handed recalls to Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden on Friday, signed a contract with the Football Association in October last year only till after the tournament. That arrangement gave a short-term feel to the role, but the German has hit his stride in recent months and has said managing England has rejuvenated him after draining spells at Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

Continue reading...
» Slot rejects Wenger claim that Wirtz at No 10 has ‘destroyed Liverpool’s midfield’
  • Arne Slot: ‘Florian needs time to adapt to teammates’

  • Head coach hopes to have Isak available for City clash

Arne Slot has rejected Arsène Wenger’s theory that playing Florian Wirtz as a No 10 has “destroyed Liverpool’s midfield” and insisted the £116m signing will prove a special talent wherever he operates for the Premier League champions.

Wirtz impressed when playing off the left in the Champions League defeat of Real Madrid on Tuesday, having previously struggled to make an impact in a central attacking role. The Germany international’s difficult start in the Premier League – where he is yet to score or assist before Sunday’s visit to Manchester City – prompted a withering assessment by Wenger before the visit of Real.

Continue reading...
» Joey Barton found guilty of sending offensive posts on social media

Former footballer guilty over posts directed at football pundits Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko, and broadcaster Jeremy Vine

The former footballer Joey Barton has been found guilty of six counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

A jury at Liverpool crown court found that Barton, 43, of Widnes, Cheshire, had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with a series of posts made to his more than 2 million followers on X between January and March 2024. He was cleared of a further six counts.

Continue reading...
» Preston’s Osmajic gets nine-match ban for racial abuse of Burnley’s Mejbri
  • Incident took place during February game with Burnley

  • North End criticise FA’s decision to dish out punishment

Preston have been left “extremely disappointed” by the Football Association’s decision to ban Milutin Osmajic for nine matches over allegedly making racist comments to Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri.

Mejbri alleged Osmajic made the comments during last season’s Championship derby between the two Lancashire sides at Deepdale in February, which ended 0-0. The FA said an independent regulatory commission found the allegations to be proven after Osmajic was charged with an “aggravated” breach of their rules over conduct, while the Montenegro forward denied the charges.

Continue reading...
» Bellingham and Foden earn England recalls as Wharton and Scott also picked
  • Attacking pair back for games against Serbia and Albania

  • Bournemouth’s Alex Scott called up for first time

Thomas Tuchel has recalled Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden for England’s World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania. The attacking duo were left out of last month’s squad but have been handed opportunities to work their way back into Tuchel’s plans.

The situation with Real Madrid’s Bellingham has dominated the buildup to Friday’s announcement and there has also been intrigue around Foden, who has struggled with form and fitness since Euro 2024. But Foden excelled during Manchester City’s 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday and has done enough to earn his first call-up since March.

Continue reading...
» Tuchel wants Bellingham’s fire so long as England’s ace leaves his ego at door | Jacob Steinberg

The Real Madrid midfielder is part of an attack-minded squad but the manager will be watching him carefully

One snub was enough. Another and it would have started to look vindictive from Thomas Tuchel, who is far too wily not to know that winning the World Cup is probably going to require help from Jude Bellingham, even if it is also on the midfielder to fit into the tactical structures and squad hierarchies required with England now that he is back in Tuchel’s warm embrace.

The manager wants Bellingham’s edge, his fire, but it is about using it in the right way. Individual quality matters but England know from bitter experience that there is a price to pay when celebrity takes over. Still, a point has been made.

Continue reading...
» Frank Lampard: ‘I want to prove everybody wrong all the time – it’s a good driving force’

Coventry’s manager on rejuvenating the Championship leaders, coaching highs and lows, and why the ‘golden generation’ debate is overplayed

“I’ve got a bit of a fat ankle, you can probably see the swelling,” Frank Lampard says, legs crossed, looking towards his right foot. At first glance it could be mistaken as evidence of his hands-on approach at Coventry training, collateral damage from partaking in those snappy rondos. The reality is a world away from frontline coaching. “I twisted it playing with the kids in Hyde Park on a Sunday,” he says, breaking into a broad smile.

It is Lampard down to a T. As a youngster he was ticked off by his late mother, Patricia, for wearing football boots to bed and once spent a weekend in Bournemouth at his uncle Harry Redknapp’s housebreaking in a pair of moulds. Lampard has always been immersed in the game, from joining Heath Park boys’ club and fulfilling his dream of pulling on a West Ham shirt to cementing his place as one of England’s greatest midfielders across 13 years and countless trophies at Chelsea. Those days have gone – Coventry represents his fourth club as a manager – but the 47-year-old still believes in being in the thick of things.

Continue reading...
» The impossible job? Just how do Manchester City replace Rodri

The Ballon d’Or winning midfielder is still missing but Pep Guardiola is not short of options and needs to make one of them stick

In the 14 months since Rodri sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, the midfielder has played only 588 minutes for Manchester City due to a series of setbacks, the last of which excluded him from Wednesday’s 4-1 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. While Pep Guardiola says “he will not be out for a while”, the 29-year-old is fundamental to the manager’s vision of the game. His alternatives are assessed …

Continue reading...
» Teenage picks: the young players lighting up the Premier League

Some of them are not old enough to drive to training but they are driving results for the biggest clubs in the country

By WhoScored

When Max Dowman came off the bench for Arsenal against Leeds earlier this season, he became just the third 15-year-old to play in the Premier League. A few days later, when 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha scored Liverpool’s winner against Newcastle, it felt like a confirmation of a trend: teenagers are not just filling gaps in squads, they are driving results.

At a time when clubs can spend more than £100m on a player – Liverpool did it twice in the summer – the Premier League is witnessing a quiet revolution: the rise of the teenagers. Teenagers made 430 appearances in the league last season – the highest in 19 years – and they have already made 130 appearances this season.

Continue reading...
» Fraught, tense and visceral: there’s never been a football match quite like Maccabi’s visit to Aston Villa | Barney Ronay

Undeniably strange and redolent of wider horrors at one remove, this was a groaning platter of geopolitics with a tiny little sprig of sport dusted across the top

You could almost, almost have played it for laughs. If it wasn’t so bleak, or so profoundly unsettling. But then, this is Birmingham, so there does have to be some gallows humour buried in there.

Either way an hour before kick-off on the streets outside Villa Park it became clear that the 700 police officers present were being asked to keep apart three distinct, and equally energetic factions: pro-Palestine, pro-Israeli and pro YouTubers.

Continue reading...
» Joe Cole: ‘Anything which generates the money you get in football means the parasites come’

Former Chelsea and England maverick on being portrayed as spoilt at 16, Max Dowman’s future, his admiration for Mikel Arteta, and a big dream of managing England

“Someone who worked a lot with rock stars told me that the age that they become famous is the age they stay for the rest of their life. I thought: ‘That doesn’t bode well for me,’” Joe Cole says ruefully. “I was in the public eye at 16 and thrust in front of the media. You grow up, you become a dad, but you’re still a footballer. And then, all of a sudden, it stops but your whole identity is still wrapped up in it.”

The former West Ham, Chelsea and England footballer, a gifted maverick who always felt a man out of time, playing a game years ahead of most of his contemporaries, smiles when I ask how old he feels now: “Forty‑four. I’m 44 [this Saturday]. My wife will laugh if she reads this, but you emotionally mature quite quickly as a footballer.”

Continue reading...
» Former Canada coach convicted of sexual assault not included on public sanctions lists

Bob Birarda, jailed in 2022 for assaulting players, is not listed by Canada Soccer or BC Soccer. The country’s new Safe Sport director says the omission exposes a major gap — and is calling for a global registry of banned coaches.

Two years after receiving an 18-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting players under his care, a former Canada women’s national team coach is yet to appear on any public sanctions list published by Canada Soccer or BC Soccer, the regional governing body for soccer in British Columbia, where the crimes took place.

The revelation has prompted the executive director of the Canadian organization newly appointed to manage reports of abuse and misconduct to call for an international registry of offenders to track individuals who have been banned from sports for misconduct.

Continue reading...
» NWSL playoffs 2025 predictions: can anyone stem the Kansas City Current?

Our panel breaks down the parity-packed season, the state of the league, the dark horses and danger teams – and why everyone is still chasing the Current

… Kansas City’s dominance. The NWSL, like all US sports leagues, is usually built on parity. The Current made a mockery of that notion, winning 21 and drawing two out of their 26 games to finish 21 points ahead of second-place Washington. Their goal difference was an absurd plus-36, scoring seven more goals than any other team and conceding 12 fewer than anyone else. Beau Dure

Continue reading...
» Manchester United teenager James Overy handed shock Socceroos call-up
  • 17-year-old defender named in Australia squad for friendlies in US

  • Irvine and McGree back from injury to face Venezuela and Colombia

Tony Popovic has opened the door for a Socceroos World Cup selection shock by including 17-year-old fullback James Overy in the squad for two crucial friendlies later this month.

The Manchester United youth player has trained with the first team at club level since returning from Australia’s campaign at the U-20 World Cup in Chile last month, reportedly impressing Red Devils coach Ruben Amorim.

Continue reading...
» Gio Reyna returns to USMNT squad as Pulisic and McKennie miss out

The Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder returns to the national team for the first time since March as injuries and recoveries rule out regulars

Gio Reyna and Joe Scally will make their US men’s national team returns in the upcoming international window, while Christian Pulisic is among several regulars set to miss out. But while the Milan midfielder has just recovered from an injury suffered during his most recent time with the national team, Weston McKennie’s absence is a bit more surprising.

Reyna and Scally, both of Borussia Mönchengladbach, are among a 25-player squad named by manager Mauricio Pochettino for two friendlies: against Paraguay on 15 November at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, and against Uruguay at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on 18 November.

Continue reading...
» We love football because of moments like Van de Ven’s goal, not the Fifa Peace Prize | Max Rushden

Gianni Infantino has a new idea, and like most of his ideas it’s not one many are going to like, except maybe Donald Trump

A perfectly friendly-looking American guy, sharp suit, early 50s is wandering around Miami. He tells me that in the past 10 years the city has turned into a “magnet for dreamers, doers and visionaries, a launchpad where ideas take flight, where connections spark movements, where legacies are born”.

I nod sagely, pretending to know what that means before clicking the X in the top right of the YouTube tab. The man in question is in fact the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, encouraging me and other leaders of industry to pay lots of money to attend the America Business Forum. The website tells me “America Business Forum comes to the United States for the first time” – which begs the question where they’ve held it previously. I’m no chief executive, I don’t keep a diary, but I’d have put America right up there as a location to hold a forum on American business.

Continue reading...
» Mary Earps’ book furore illustrates how women’s football fandom can turn toxic | Jonathan Liew

Fallout from the goalkeeper’s autobiography a reminder of the danger inherent in sport becoming a disposable human drama

“Why do you write like you’re running out of time?
Write day and night like you’re running out of time
Every day you fight, like you’re running out of time
Keep on fighting in the meantime …”
Hamilton (2015)

But let’s leave Mary Earps to one side for a moment. Let’s leave Hannah Hampton and Sarina Wiegman and Sonia Bompastor, and who did what, who said it when. Let’s talk about you. How do you feel you’ve conducted yourself during the past few days? How would you rate your words and actions? To what extent do they stack up against your own personal morals and values?

Continue reading...
» Why Saudi money hasn’t transformed Newcastle into title contenders | Jonathan Wilson

Eddie Howe’s team have the richest owners in the world. But they are still to mount a title challenge since the Public Investment Fund came knocking

Eddie Howe is not a manager given to histrionics or grand public pronouncements. So by his standards, his press conference after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to lowly West Ham counts as a furious tirade. His side took an early lead but West Ham were ahead by half-time, as well as hitting the post and having a penalty overturned by VAR, leading Howe to make a triple change at the break.

“That was the frustrating thing about the first half,” Howe said. “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think that was a reflection of where we were in that moment in the game and it’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I don’t think I have since I’ve been manager of Newcastle, so I felt the team needed some shaking up at half-time. That’s why I did what I did.”

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.

Continue reading...
» Women’s soccer faces plenty of serious threats. So why the panic about trans players? | Lesley Ryder

Angel City’s Elizabeth Eddy was rebuked by her own teammates for an op-ed on trans players. It’s easy to understand their objections

On 26 October, Angel City FC’s Elizabeth Eddy made her first post on X in nearly two years. In it, Eddy in essence responded to the Guardian’s report that the NWSL had quietly dropped its inclusion policy for trans and intersex athletes, leaving the league’s future stance on the matter undecided.

The New York Post gave Eddy’s writing a signal boost the next day, republishing it in full.

Lesley Ryder is a writer and host covering women’s soccer in Chicagoland.

Continue reading...
» David Squires on … George of the Generic and the future of football

Our cartoonist on how even a comic-book hero could become a greedy narcissist if the game continues to eat itself

Continue reading...
» How often do Premier League teams actually win five games in a row? – video

In October 2024, lifelong Manchester United fan Frank Ilett vowed not to cut his hair until his side won five matches in a row. Now, more than a year later, Ilett is still waiting for a trip to the barbers as his hair grows ever larger. 


But how often do Premier League teams win five-in-a-row and how likely are United to achieve the feat this season?

Continue reading...
» A night with Gareth Southgate: jokes, waistcoat chat and a bagful of lessons

Former England manager was engaging with selfies and sharing his sense of purpose on the York stop of a promotional book tour

Gareth Southgate has a good story about cockapoo vomit. Alone, exhausted and about to leave England’s impossible job, it was the first thing that greeted him on returning home from defeat in last year’s European Championship final. Obviously, he immediately set about clearing it up and consoling the pup suspected of overeating. Another moment of pathos in a life that has experienced the extremes of the public eye, another hurdle cleared.

Southgate is on a promotional tour but you wouldn’t guess at first glance. He has a book coming out this week and has only just started talking about it. After a swift round of interviews with the BBC on Monday morning, in the evening he moved to the Barbican in York; a perfectly commodious venue with decent acoustics, but not a customary place for launching a nationwide media blitz.

Continue reading...
» Mary Earps extract: ‘I felt sick and anxious. Then came the words I’d waited 12 months to hear’

In an exclusive extract from her autobiography, goalkeeper reveals the painful road to her shock England exit

England felt like such a safe space for me. It was usual to have a team review after a big tournament and after the Euros in 2022 we came together in the Club England meeting room at St George’s Park, the team’s headquarters.

The emotional security that I felt within England was bolstered by the culture and values that had underpinned and contributed to our success. Non-collegiate behaviour was not tolerated. We came back together to the news that Hannah Hampton had been dropped from the squad: her behaviour behind the scenes at the Euros had frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources.

Continue reading...
» Mary Earps: ‘I don’t look back with bad blood. It worked out well for everybody’

Former England goalkeeper reveals full story behind her international retirement, her problems with eating and alcohol, and why she’d struggle on The Traitors

“I’ve learned a lot about what truly matters in life,” Mary Earps says on a quiet and cloudy afternoon as, at Paris Saint-Germain’s training centre on the outskirts of the French capital, the former England goalkeeper reflects on the achievements and drama of her last five years. “My life has accidentally come into the court of public opinion. People talking about your performance comes with the territory but when it starts to become about your character, and assumptions people make about you, that can be really, really challenging.”

Between 2020 and 2023 Earps overcame depression, a drinking problem, eating issues, won the Euros with England, forced Nike to change their attitude to female goalkeepers, saved a penalty in a World Cup final and won the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.

Continue reading...
» Next Generation 2025: 60 of the best young talents in world football

From PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye to Brazil’s next hope, we select some of the most talented players born in 2008. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019and go even further back. Here’s our Premier League class of 2025

Continue reading...
» Next Generation 2025: 20 of the best talents at Premier League clubs

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020and go even further back. Here’s our 2025 world picks

Continue reading...
» Football Daily | From slapstick to slick cats: Sunderland are purring with Xhaka leading the way

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Sunderland have come a long way since their Netflix documentary b@nter-era nadir. It was a time of turmoil. A time when TV cameras were welcomed into the Stadium of Light to record their Brentian chief executive using a cryo-chamber studiously avoided by the players whose recovery it was supposed to aid. A time the club hierarchy famously spaffed £4m on a flame-retardant Will Grigg in a deadline-day panic buy. And a time when Jack Rodwell took up residence in the treatment room on his £70,000 per week League One contract. While local club staff worked as hard as they could to maintain their dignity in the most trying circumstances imaginable, Sunderland suffered back-to-back relegations from the Premier League and became marooned in the third tier and something of a laughing stock due in no small part to being co-owned by a posh bloke who thought an Ibiza house anthem was more suitable than Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights as player walk-on music and often wandered around Wearside wearing red trousers.

I think Gianni Infantino may be sending us a subliminal message with his new Fifa Peace Prize, Football Unites The World (yesterday’s Football Daily): ‘FU The World’” – Peter Allan.

So Infantino believes that ‘football stands for peace’. He obviously never saw Tommy Smith, Vinnie Jones or the entire Leeds team of the 1960s and 70s play” – Ian R West.

While I share Football Daily’s scorn for Fifa’s ludicrous Pretend Peace Prize, on the flip side I am very much looking forward to the awards ceremony for this year’s inaugural Nobel goal of the season” – Phil Taverner.

Oh go on, I’ll bite, as if I need to further prove my lack of a life. The kit car minibus based on Nissan parts you so desire (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition) has passed through four pairs of hands since old Wembley shut, has never been on the road, but hasn’t been scrapped and is registered off the road, somewhere. It’s got a weird little engine, so what four people wanted with a sluggish, underperforming ragbag of this and that loosely connected to football is beyond me. Mind you, it would suit the Daily, I guess” – Jon Millard.

Continue reading...
» Nigeria head coach Justine Madugu: ‘As Africans, we love expressing ourselves’

Library science graduate who made the Ballon d’Or shortlist has Wafcon title defence and World Cup in his sights

At 61, most top-level head coaches have nostalgic moments as they reflect on the high points of their topsy-turvy careers. But for Justine Madugu, who made the 2025 Ballon d’Or shortlist for women’s team coach of the year after dramatically leading the Super Falcons to a record 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title in Morocco in July, his managerial odyssey is only beginning.

Returning to Morocco to win an 11th Wafcon title for Nigeria is the next feather he desperately wants to add to his cap. It could have been so different for the library science graduate of Bayero University, in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, who looked as if he would never get a crack at international management, after being an assistant coach of the Falcons for 12 years.

Continue reading...
» ‘There’s this buzz of excitement’: Emily Fox on USWNT and Arsenal ambitions

Right-back discusses Emma Hayes’s tactical messages, new blood in the national team and how Champions League win changed her

Emily Fox made her 68th appearance for the United States in the first of two recent friendlies against Portugal and the Arsenal right-back has been a steady hand for Emma Hayes.

Hayes has her eye on the 2027 World Cup after winning Olympic gold 15 months ago, and has used 2025 to evolve and evaluate the pool of players. Over the course of 10 wins and three defeats in that timeframe, Fox has been a dynamic force difficult to dislodge from the right flank of a new project. Her speed and skill are essential to the team’s defence and intrinsic to their attack.

Continue reading...
» Champions League review: Bayern shine, Cypriot history and Rooney v Van Dijk

This week’s action saw Vincent Kompany’s men roll on, surprise results and a brilliant performance from a Liverpool defender

• Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich. They rule supreme in Germany and are on a 16-match winning streak. Beating the defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, on Tuesday was further proof of Bayern’s credentials. Luís Diaz, whose combativeness is sorely missed by Liverpool, scored two, but he took the aggression too far when his challenge on Achraf Hakimi led to a first-half red card. That meant the second half became a test of defensive credentials that Bayern passed. “I also want us to enjoy it when we have to defend,” said Kompany. He was by no means his club’s first-choice as coach in the summer of 2024 – relegation from the Premier League with Burnley had damaged his reputation. But in Bavaria, the noise from the boardroom has been quelled – for now – by the brilliance of his team’s play.

Continue reading...
» Liverpool are back and Van de Ven scores a goal of the season contender – Football Weekly

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Liew and Nicky Bandini as Liverpool earn a huge win over Real Madrid and Spurs run riot against Copenhagen

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today: Liverpool beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the Champions League. But for Thibaut Courtois it would have been much, much more – this was Arne Slot’s side’s best performance of the season.

Continue reading...
» The Mary Earps autobiography causes a stir – Women’s Football Weekly

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Sophie Downey and Emma Sanders to discuss all the reaction to former England goalkeeper Mary Earps’s new book, All In. Plus, the panel discuss the talking points as the WSL returned after the international break

On today’s pod: Mary Earps’s new book hasn’t been short of headlines. From personal admissions of past struggles to her strained relationship with the current England No 1, Hannah Hampton. People in the game have shared their opinions on the content, but Faye, Suzy and the panel look as well at some of the decisions that went into publishing such a tell-all book now.

Elsewhere, the WSL returned from the international break with the top five all winning and a six-goal fun-fest between Aston Villa and Everton.

Continue reading...
» Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Arsenal’s run without conceding goes on, Thomas Frank plays down tensions, and Eddie Howe’s gamble backfires

First the P45, then the pints. Vítor Pereira could be excused for having a drink on Sunday after his departure from Wolves, with the silver lining for the Portuguese being a decent payout. It is the fourth mid-season dismissal this campaign – there have never been more permanent sackings in Premier League history at this stage of the year (3 November). And while Evangelos Marinakis might have something to answer for, trigger-happy owners and directors are becoming increasingly erratic: that Pereira lasted just 45 days into a new three-year contract reflects as badly on the Wolves board as on the manager, just as Erik ten Hag’s sacking this time last year, coming less than three months after his own contract extension, reflected badly on the Manchester United hierarchy. Backing a manager and then pulling the rug so quickly is baffling, while a board’s desire for a “new manager bounce” so early in the season stinks of desperation and should be seen as an admission of guilt. Michael Butler

Match report: Fulham 3-0 Wolves

Match report: Burnley 0-2 Arsenal

Match report: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Manchester United

Continue reading...
» Women’s transfer window summer 2025: all deals from world’s top six leagues

Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

Continue reading...
From
© Find a Football Team 2025
| Privacy | Website design, Search marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) by The Online Marketing Shop