Stevenage FC launch share offering as they seek £1.2m boost to promotion ambitions June 3, 2019 For clubs scrambling to scale the ultra-competitive English football pyramid it can pay to go against the grain. Ambitious Stevenage FC are doing just that with an innovative equity offering designed to give them a leg up into League One and, later, the Championship. Chairman and majority owner Phil Wallace hopes to raise £1.2m by [...]
How Liverpool dialled down their heavy metal football to beat Tottenham in the Champions League final June 2, 2019 Six was the magic number for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp on Saturday night when a deserved yet unspectacular display in the stifling heat of Madrid yielded a 2-0 win over Tottenham. But while a sixth European Cup victory was the guiding motivation for all involved with Liverpool, the number also held personal significance to Klopp. [...]
Jurgen Klopp’s reliance on home advantage could cost Liverpool the Champions League May 30, 2019 If Anfield has become synonymous with magical European nights, then Jurgen Klopp is similarly linked to falling at the final hurdle. The stark fact is that, for all the entertaining football Liverpool have produced, they remain trophyless in his almost four-year tenure. The German has lost six successive finals – three at Liverpool, three at [...]
Trevor Steven: Tottenham have more to gain from Champions League win but Liverpool’s need is greater May 30, 2019 I couldn’t be any more excited about the prospect of a Champions League final between two English teams who possess all of the ingredients for wonderful, dynamic, modern football. Liverpool have stepped up another level again this season, as their astronomical Premier League points tally of 97 shows, steamrolling almost everyone in their path. They [...]
Champions League final prize money 2018-19: What Liverpool and Tottenham can earn and how winnings have trebled in a decade May 30, 2019 When Barcelona conquered Europe for the first time in Pep Guardiola’s reign, beating Manchester United 2-0 in the 2009 Champions League final in Rome, it banked the club prize money of €31m. A decade on and the winners of this year’s competition – either Tottenham or Liverpool, who meet on Saturday night in Madrid – [...]
Tottenham v Liverpool: Why Champions League final could prove the tipping point for delicately balanced Spurs May 30, 2019 After the late thrill of Barcelona, the precision of Borussia Dortmund, the rollercoaster of Manchester City and, finally, the unforgettable comeback of Ajax, winning Saturday's Champions League final would cap a brilliant European campaign and provide the biggest moment in Tottenham’s history. Just as for Liverpool, success in Madrid would be the perfect conclusion to [...]
Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal: Eden Hazard seals Europa League trophy before bidding Blues farewell May 29, 2019 They don’t want him to go, but if this is goodbye it’s a sweet one from Eden Hazard. He took his time, but when the chances came to shape the Europa League final it was Chelsea’s star who shone the brightest to light up a strangely subdued and distant – in more ways than one [...]
Trevor Steven: Strike pair can give Arsenal edge over Chelsea in Baku May 28, 2019 There is very little in the way of form to go on when teams have a 17-day gap from their last fixture to their next, as is the case for Chelsea and Arsenal in Wednesday’s Europa League final. Instead, a match like this is usually decided by fine margins and small advantages. I have a slight [...]
More at stake for Arsenal and Unai Emery than Chelsea and Maurizio Sarri in Europa League final between managers with points to prove May 28, 2019 When Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri pitched up in London a year ago they did so with something to prove. For the Spaniard, it was that his failure to deliver the clean sweep of honours that Paris Saint-Germain’s hierarchy craved owed more to the unique ecosystem of France’s richest club than his own shortcomings as [...]
Aston Villa hit £170m jackpot after promotion gambles pay off against Derby County May 27, 2019 It tends to take a gamble to escape the bear pit of the Championship. Aston Villa have bet bigger than most and now, with victory in the play-off final over Derby County on Monday, they have scooped the £170m jackpot that promotion to the Premier League guarantees. Villa were rewarded for rolling the dice on [...]