“It will be interesting to see what effect the (new independent football) regulator has. I think none of us are too sure quite how it is going to work and there are certainly grey areas there.
“I read clubs are going to be need to be licenced annually and if they can’t prove they are financially OK then they wont get that licence. Well, what happens to that football club then?
“New owners are not like apples from trees – it is really tough to find someone to back your football club.
“But on the positive side, if there is control over what (money) the Premier League give to the EFL and thereby the entire pyramid, then that has got to be a good thing.”
Stelling, who has been honorary president of Hartlepool since 2015, accepts facing up to the…
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Hoping to find a route back to the top of the Premier League table, Manchester City will welcome Tottenham to the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.
Manchester City
Starting with the hosts, mounting a stellar Champions League comeback earlier in the week as they secured a thrilling 3-2 victory at the Etihad, Manchester City have breezed their way to the knockout stage. Making real history last season as they became the first English club since 1999 to be crowned treble champions, Pep Guardiola’s men will know the importance of making a domestic statement here. Dropping points against Liverpool and Chelsea on either side of November’s international break, the Sky Blues have also lost their top at the top of the Premier League table. Howeve…
Chris Coleman maintains his only focus with his homeland in the throws of Brexit is to ensure Wales stay in Europe through their Euro 2016 campaign for as long as possible.
Voters in the UK decided by a margin of 52 to 48 per cent to leave the European Union on Thursday, with the majority of Welsh voters also in favour of that course of action that prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to announce he will step down.
Ahead of the all-British last-16 tie against Northern Ireland at the Parc des Princes on Saturday, Coleman was understandably forced to field questions at his pre-match news conference over a subject he feels his side simply cannot afford to be concerned with at this stage.
Talking about being in or out of Europe we re still in [Euro 2016] and that s…
Enzo Maresca is glad he has a tough choice to make in terms of his team selection as Chelsea prepare to face Brighton and Hove Albion.
Chelsea have won three in a row without conceding in all competitions, most recently beating fourth-tier Barrow 5-0 in the EFL Cup on Tuesday.
Christopher Nkunku scored a hat-trick in that third-round tie to make it six goals in nine games this season, yet he has made just one Premier League start.
Nicolas Jackson has himself been in good form with six goals in 10 games four of those goals in the league and looks set to return upfront for the visit of Brighton on Saturday.
They re both doing fantastic, Maresca said. Not only because they score, but because they work off the ball.
The way they sacrifice for the t…
China will play host to the Trophee des Champions in 2018 and 2019, the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) has announced.
The deal was made in partnership with the Kaisa Culture Sports and Tourism Group, with the games to be played in Shenzhen.
A third edition will also take place in China between 2020 and 2023.
The news comes just two days after the LFP announced a broadcasting deal with CCTV, the nation s predominant state television network.
The curtain-raiser has been contested outside of France since 2009, with last year s match between Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco, which the former won 2-1, taking place in Tangier.
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Ethan Nwaneri marked his first Arsenal start with a double as the Gunners swept aside League One side Bolton Wanderers 5-1 in the third round of the EFL Cup.
While Nwaneri was one of the youngsters included in a line-up that featured 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Porter, it was one of Arsenal s senior players that opened the scoring at Emirates Stadium, with Declan Rice curling in from the edge of the area.
The Gunners doubled their advantage eight minutes before the break, with Nwaneri sliding home to net his first senior Arsenal goal after being found by Raheem Sterling.
Nwaneri netted his second of the contest soon after the restart, with the youngster capitalising on a mistake by Chris Forino before squeezing the ball under Luke Southwood.
Mikel Artet…
World football will undergo a rethink over the coming years in a bid to make the game more attractive by the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Friday.
FIFA s executive committee accepted at a meeting in Zurich to set up a task force with footballing officials, coaches, players, referees and medical experts to come up with ways to improve football in all areas .
They will assess the present situation of football with the laws of the game, and rules and regulations, to see if there s something we can do to make football more attractive, Blatter told journalists.
Any changes that emerged from Task Force Football 2014 will be applied at the World Cup in Brazil, he added.
Referring to criticism of the game at the World Cup in Sout…
The only game in St Petersburg in our third full week out here was Sweden s forgettable 1-0 win over Switzerland.
One of the region s temporary residents of course saw off the Scandinavians this weekend, but England s game against Colombia provided a truly memorable moment for the Omnisport contingent as we took in the penalty shoot-out drama alongside some vocal and gracious South Americans.
There was time for an appallingly inaccurate prediction, dodgeball in Repino and American football on Krestovsky Island.
Saturday concluded with the vocal and defiant locals seeing Russia s unexpected run ended by Croatia.
…
Giorgio Chiellini is relishing coming up against Harry Kane in the final of Euro 2020, with the veteran Italy centre-back claiming he is a huge fan of the England captain.
Kane endured a lacklustre group stage before coming to life in the knockout stages of the tournament.
The Tottenham striker has four goals to his name, leaving him in with a shout for the Golden Boot when Gareth Southgate s men take on the Azzurri in Sunday s final at Wembley.
If Kane is to follow up scooping the same prize at the 2018 World Cup, he will have to get the better of Chiellini and his long-time ally Leonardo Bonucci at the heart of a formidable backline.
Italy had amassed 11 consecutive clean sheets before their 2-1 last-16 win over Austria and such solidity is a huge facto…
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have occupied the top two spots in the Ballon d Or voting in all but one of the past nine years, and 2017 promises to continue that trend.
The Barcelona superstar just holds the edge on his rival with five wins to Ronaldo s four, and if the trophy truly stands as the ultimate reward for individual brilliance as it claims Messi will extend that advantage at Thursday s ceremony in Paris.
Ronaldo took home the prize last year, at the end of a 12-month period that saw him claim European glory on both domestic and international fronts with Real Madrid and Portugal.
He has enjoyed a similarly stellar 2017, scooping a LaLiga winners medal as well as a third Champions League crown in four seasons.
But the Ballon d Or does n…