Sport

Kevin De Bruyne to leave Manchester City in summer but Club World Cup availability unclear: football – live
Posted on Friday April 04, 2025

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekendRead Football Daily | And email Will with your thoughtsAn email: “On the subject of Ange Postecoglou,” writes Peter Wilkinson. “I’m not a Spurs fan so I don’t have a dog in the race but it amuses me that while fans give players and managers absolute pelters, as soon as they get a bit back the fans start clutching their pearls saying it’s a disgrace. If you can’t take it, don’t give it out.”A fair point well made, Peter. Ange is due to face the press shortly in an appointment he’s probably looking forward to with as much relish as a trip to the dentist for root canal surgery. It could get spiky, mate. Continue reading...

US and UK World Cup bid success boosts hosts but does little for global game | Tom Garry
Posted on Friday April 04, 2025

Tournaments in 2031 and 2035 are likely to be great events but will be hosted by those who need them the leastThere is an abundance of reasons why staging the 2031 and 2035 Women’s World Cups in the United States and UK respectively offers cause for delight. The countries have well-established and emotionally invested fanbases, a genuine buy-in to the women’s game and huge, modern stadiums to choose from. These two summer parties will surely eclipse anything women’s sport has seen and the countries, having invested in the women’s game more than any others in modern times, have frankly earned this.Yet the news that the US and UK are bidding unopposed to host these tournaments is also sad for the women’s game from a global perspective. The US’s NWSL and England’s Women’s Super League are the two most-watched women’s leagues in the world with the largest average attendances and the most professionalised facilities for players and therefore, while many will agree that means they deserve the Women’s World Cup the most, they are also the countries who need the tournament the least. Continue reading...

County cricket opening day: Essex v Surrey, Middlesex v Lancs, and more – live
Posted on Friday April 04, 2025

Latest updates around the grounds at season openersThis week’s edition of The Spin | Email Tanya or post BTL”Now then Tanya!” Hello there Tim Maitland.“Welcome back! ”Firstly, while you buggers might be basking in freakish sunshine for the start of the county championship season (how often does that happen?), here in the subtropics we’ve been “freezing”. We were down to 10C last weekend, which is unheard of in March. ”To put that in perspective, the many unheated, government-run, open-air swimming pools opened on Tuesday. Rather than lose three hours out of my day schlepping to the nearest heated pool, I went to my local baths on Wednesday. Afterwards the lifeguards, who scuttled into position on my arrival, told me I was their first customer of the year. ”If anyone is struggling to understand the subtext of this admittedly pointless story, it’s this: I hope you get snow over Easter. ”On a more important note, a suggestion for the ECB before it gets its snouts in the trough of the Hundred franchise sales and awards itself huge bonuses: stick enough of the money in trust and use the interest/proceeds to fund the counties, but only on expenditure that grows attendance or consumption of the championship itself. ”I also still believe the championship would benefit from a marketing spend and branding as “Proper Cricket” aimed at luring future curmudgeons into the so-called joys of the longer game. All done in suitable shades of off-white.” Continue reading...

While Harlequins forward focuses on Saturday’s Champions Cup test at Leinster, future opportunities are on his mindThere is a colossal game looming in Croke Park on Saturday afternoon and Chandler Cunningham-South’s pre-match routine is now established. First he likes to step into a cold shower to wake himself up properly. Then the big Harlequins and England forward will open the notebook he carries everywhere with him, pick up a pen and write down exactly what he plans to do to Leinster.The precise wording – “It’s quite personalised to me” – is less important than the confident mindset it encourages. The basic idea is to reinforce one of two key objectives – “It’s just confirming what’s in my head already,” he says – and ensures he goes into battle “with a clear mind”. Unthinkingly following the herd has never been his style. Continue reading...

Everton condemn abuse of Tarkowski and family after wife posts of death threats
Posted on Friday April 04, 2025

‘Such behaviour is completely unacceptable,’ Everton saySamantha Tarkowski calls abuse ‘beyond disgusting’Everton have condemned threats aimed at James Tarkowski in the aftermath of the Merseyside derby and pledged to work with social media companies and police on any investigations into online abuse.Tarkowski’s wife, Samantha, said the Everton defender had received death threats after Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat at Liverpool and that the family had also been the target of vile abuse. Tarkowski was booked for a reckless 11th-minute tackle on Alexis Mac Allister in the derby and Howard Webb, head of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, has admitted to Liverpool the challenge was worthy of a red card. Continue reading...

Japan F1 GP practice stopped four times but Tsunoda still delivers for Red Bull
Posted on Friday April 04, 2025

Four red flags include two fires and Doohan crashTsunoda close behind Verstappen; Norris heads timesWith the weight of a nation on his shoulders and under the most intense scrutiny of his career, Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda delivered with no little finesse in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix in his first outing for Red Bull. Lando Norris, meanwhile, appears well set to further advance his world championship ambitions, with a strong showing at Suzuka for McLaren, despite a second session interrupted by no fewer than four red flags, two caused by trackside fires.Tsunoda was drafted in from the sister team, Racing Bulls, only last week to replace Liam Lawson, whom the team unceremoniously demoted after just two races. The 24-year-old has four seasons in F1 under his belt but has never driven this year’s Red Bull before and it is a notoriously hard car to handle, as Lawson discovered. Continue reading...

Fury among families after senior Hillsborough officers absolved by police watchdog
Posted on Thursday April 03, 2025

Campaigners denounce ‘cover-up of a cover-up’ as IOPC clears officers of scapegoating Liverpool supportersA 12-year investigation into the Hillsborough disaster by the police watchdog has concluded that no senior South Yorkshire police officers were guilty of misconduct for falsely blaming misbehaviour by Liverpool supporters.That police case was wholly rejected in 2016 by the jury at the second inquest, who determined that no behaviour of Liverpool supporters contributed to the disaster, which happened on 15 April 1989 at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium. Continue reading...

Bunting ends Premier League darts drought in Berlin after Littler crashes out
Posted on Thursday April 03, 2025

Bunting beats Price 6-5 in final to break his duckLittler well beaten 6-2 by Dobey in opening matchStephen Bunting turned his Premier League form around in stunning fashion to claim victory in Berlin after Luke Littler crashed out early. Bunting had failed to win a match in the first eight rounds of the series but he saw off Nathan Aspinall to break his duck then eased to victory over Luke Humphries before defeating Gerwyn Price 6-5 in the final.Littler still has a comfortable lead in the table but this was an off night for the teenager, who struggled to land doubles and fell 6-2 to Chris Dobey in his opening match. Continue reading...