Best of 2022: How Freed From Desire became an England football anthem December 31, 2022 This piece, originally published during the World Cup earlier this year, charts how Gala’s Freed From Desire, a 90s dance hit about Buddhist philosophy, became the official goal music for the England team, via Irish football and the lower leagues. Lashed home by Harry Kane, dinked by Bukayo Saka or headed by Jude Bellingham, each [...]
Best of 2022: Simon Shaw on why rugby must act on concussion December 30, 2022 In June of this year, Morning Wire spoke to former England rugby player Simon Shaw about his experiences with concussion and what tech can do to change the game. Article originally published on 15 June 2022. It was a project hatched over a pre-arranged dinner, but the cogs that were left turning once the bill [...]
Best of 2022: Claressa Shields v Savannah Marshall and the rise of women’s boxing December 30, 2022 Women’s boxing enjoyed unprecedented prominence in 2022, not least when Britain’s Savannah Marshall and American Claressa Shields met in a blockbuster fight at the O2. This preview, originally published in October, set the scene for the biggest night of women’s boxing ever seen in the UK. The last time Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields met [...]
Middle East investment in Manchester United or Liverpool: Sports law predictions for 2023 December 29, 2022 As has become traditional at this time of year, Morning Wire has called on the wisdom of Mishcon de Reya’s Simon Leaf and Tom Murray to dust off the crystal ball, don their best Mystic Meg outfits and offer their sports law predictions for next year. So here is our take on 2023 – and [...]
Sacked: Football clubs change chiefs at four times the rate of top UK firms December 29, 2022 Football clubs have proved they are a more ruthless group than Britain’s biggest firms this year as top clubs sacked their bosses at four times the rate of FTSE-100 firms.
Best of 2022: Greg Norman explains LIV Golf’s blueprint for transforming the sport December 29, 2022 In this exclusive interview from June 2022, LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman explains how the Saudi Arabia-backed big-money circuit plans to disrupt the sport and amplify the earning potential of the world’s top players. Greg Norman has conquered some of the world’s finest golf courses and forged a successful career as an entrepreneur but he [...]
Ring of steel: Wembley Stadium chiefs plan fencing to prevent Euro 2020 final repeat December 29, 2022 Wembley Stadium bosses plan to erect a ring of steel around the venue in the hope that fences will prevent repeats of the crowd trouble at last year’s Euro 2020 final. The move was one of the recommendations of a report by Baroness Casey into the chaotic scenes, which marred England’s appearance in a first [...]
Liverpool kick off January transfer window with £37m signing of Cody Gakpo December 29, 2022 Liverpool have fired the starting pistol on an intriguing January transfer window by confirming the £37m signing of Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo. The Reds beat rivals Manchester United to Gakpo, who arrives on a five-and-a-half year contract from his boyhood club PSV Eindhoven. “There is a lot to like about Cody,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen [...]
Sport business predictions for 2023 with Deloitte’s Tim Bridge December 28, 2022 Deloitte’s Tim Bridge looks back on the last 12 months and makes his sport business predictions for 2023. The final whistle of the men’s football World Cup concluded an epic year for sport which included the Winter Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the Women’s Euros, the Rugby League World Cup, as well as women’s World Cups [...]
Leeds United owner Radrizzani confirms plans to sell Premier League club December 28, 2022 Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani has confirmed that he intends to sell the Premier League football club in the near future. US investment group 49ers Enterprises has been tipped to make it minority shareholding a majority one at the end of the current season. “Perhaps Leeds can grow further, but in the future they will [...]