Why this has to be the turning point in David Moyes and West Ham’s season February 26, 2023 Before West Ham United welcomed fellow strugglers Everton to the London Stadium last month, reports emerged that manager David Moyes might be for the chop if they lost to his old team. The Hammers duly won their first Premier League match in eight attempts and Moyes lived to fight another day. Five games later, having [...]
The cost of living, Will Smith and the future of Wasps and Worcester: This week’s best read stories on Morning Wire February 24, 2023 The rising cost of living and its implications dominated this week’s best read list, along with UCL researcher Rosie Collington’s challenge to the consultancy sector and One: Lloyds Bank’s profits to help cushion customers’ rising cost of living Lloyds Bank’s announcement that its profits are to be held back to help with the cost of [...]
Football regulator WILL have more powers to investigate club owners but WON’T block takeovers linked to Saudi Arabia or Qatar, says sport minister Stuart Andrew February 23, 2023 The incoming independent football regulator will be given wider powers to investigate prospective owners – but will not block takeovers by Saudi Arabia or Qatar. A regulator will have more scope to look into the backgrounds of would-be buyers of English teams, similar to the checks in place in financial services. “We are looking at [...]
Designer behind ‘Notre-Dame on fire’ proposal chosen to design Paris 2024 Olympic torch and cauldron February 23, 2023 A designer who proposed rebuilding Notre-Dame cathedral to make it look like it was on fire has been chosen to create the Olympic torch and cauldron for Paris 2024. Mathieu Lehanneur has also created projects for the Pompidou Centre and worked with brands including Veuve Clicquot, Cartier and Nike. Lehanneur, 48, is due to reveal [...]
England Rugby chief to hold crunch talks with Stourbridge over Worcester merger February 23, 2023 England Rugby chief Bill Sweeney will tomorrow travel to Stourbridge RFC to hold crunch talks about the club’s potential merger with Worcester Warriors. The chief executive is set to hear the views of a number of clubs in the area before the Rugby Football Union chooses to back or block any plans the Warriors’ new [...]
Former BBC sports commentator John Motson dies, aged 77 February 23, 2023 John Motson, the former BBC commentator who became one of the most recognisable voices in sports broadcasting, has died aged 77. Known affectionately as “Motty”, he combined an encyclopaedic knowledge of football with a palpable love for the sport that was reflected in his work. Motson, who also became synonymous with his trademark sheepskin coat, [...]
LIV Golf 2023: Year zero for LIV’s league format promises new dimension to circuit February 23, 2023 It is easy to forget amid the razzmatazz and rancour that characterised the first season of LIV Golf that its central tenet and primary point of difference to the game’s legacy tours was always that it was to be a US sport-style league featuring permanent franchises battling out over the course of a season for [...]
The gap between the football brand behemoths and the rest is likely to grow February 23, 2023 The bidders for football club Manchester United are now in a virtual data room, filling their spreadsheets and compiling their questions. The job of the Glazer family’s investment banking advisors, Raine Group, is now to find ways to squeeze every possible dollar out of this football asset. One trick of the bankers’ trade is to [...]
Government publish white paper on plans for football regulator February 22, 2023 The UK government will today publish a long-awaited white paper on its plans for an independent regulator for English football. The policy document will propose the introduction of a regulator tasked with stopping financial failings from occurring lower down in the pyramid, as well as a stronger owners’ and directors’ test. Fans will be given [...]
Premier League: ‘Regulator can’t damage success of competition’ February 22, 2023 Premier League chiefs have warned that the proposed independent regulator for English football must not damage its success. The UK government will today publish its white paper on plans to install a regulator to ensure clubs are financially sound and implement more stringent owners’ and directors’ tests to deter what the government describe as “unscrupulous” [...]