The Guardian

The most recent data shows stark levels of inactivity in one of the poorest areas in the country but the West Midlands is fighting back “Being in nature and among the trees, getting some nice air and oxygen and exercise, that’s what clears the mind,” says Kelvin Gilkes, the human dynamo behind the Pendeford Community Bike Hub. A place where he fixes old and abandoned bicycles and helps people rid…

NWSL newcomers attracted more than 60,000 fans to Mile High Stadium for landmark fixture against Washington On Saturday in Denver, the NWSL set a new single-game attendance record for the second time in less than a year. This time, it was the league’s 16th franchise, Denver Summit, who did the honors in their first home game, hosting 63,004 fans at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium (home to the …

Rival fans have raged after 11 of Mikel Arteta’s players withdrew from action with their countries before the season finale With the benefit of hindsight, Mikel Arteta’s response to a question before Arsenal’s victory over Everton last month about how the forthcoming international break might affect his squad was revealing. “We have really good communication with most of them,” Arteta replied whe…

Whether in the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, coaches and players at this NCAA tournament have found the fun in basketball again Kara Lawson’s Duke team saw their Final Four dreams dashed with a 70-58 loss to UCLA on Sunday. The Blue Devils had pulled an impressive, buzzer-beating upset of No 2 seed LSU in the Sweet 16 days before, but against the No 1 Bruins in the Elite Eight, they d…

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Nicky Bandini as Italy suffer World Cup heartbreak once again, and Spurs call on Roberto De Zerbi to rescue them from relegation Continue reading...

The IBF and WBC welterweight champion on returning to the ring, boxing politics and her imminent wedding A year ago, on a historic night for boxing when an all-women card of fights was held at the Royal Albert Hall last March , Lauren Price produced an imperious headline performance which should have led to a series of even more prestigious bouts. Her dominant display in outclassing the venerable…

Thomas Tuchel played down the significance of latest friendlies and history suggests team lineups can have little bearing on actual tournament “It’s just March,” Thomas Tuchel said after a winless international break. March doesn’t matter. March is for winding up the Wembley crowd by playing Ben White. For Phil Foden as a false 9. For Dominic Calvert-Lewin agonising over narrow misses. For Jason …

England’s full-backs struggled to contain Japan on a night when nobody playing did their World Cup selection chances much good Jordan Pickford Had no chance with Kaoru Mitoma’s goal. Saved well from Ritsu Doan as Japan pressed. 6 Ben White Struggled to contain Keito Nakamura and was booed again. His return may well be shortlived. 4 Continue reading...

After covering changes for matchgoing fans , Gavin Willacy assesses how coverage has transformed for fans at home By No Helmets Required Super League celebrated its 30th birthday in style at the weekend. The main party was at Headingley, where Leeds hosted Warrington in a repeat of one of the league’s original fixtures. As Sky Sports anchor Brian Carney welcomed guest after illustrious guest to r…

Woods focusing on his health and wellbeing after crash Florida judge grants his request to leave the US Tiger Woods has turned down the opportunity to captain the United States at the 2027 Ryder Cup, the PGA of America has announced. The former world No 1’s decision comes after he announced he would step away from golf for a period to focus on his health and wellbeing. Woods was charged with driv…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Watching 10-man Italy blow their last chance to qualify for this summer’s Geopolitics World Cup, Football Daily couldn’t help but remember the schoolmasterly ticking-off with which the legendary commentator Barry Davies admonished a similarly depleted team of their predecessors 24 years ago. That particular iteration of Italy had at least made i…

Roberto Baggio proposed an overhaul of talent pathway in 2011 but it was never acted on and the national team’s approach now is just not working The decline of Italy’s footballing expectations can be read in the headlines that greeted their third consecutive failure to qualify for a men’s World Cup. When the Azzurri lost their playoff against Sweden in November 2017, La Gazzetta dello Sport defin…

Japan’s goal wasn’t Palmer’s fault and Mainoo couldn’t track back, but Tuchel will now see the scale of what faces him To see a world in a grain of meaningless friendly. It has become a habit to say you don’t learn anything from these games. This isn’t strictly true. You just don’t learn anything new. But it’s all still there, ready to be decoded like a set of sporting tea leaves. On a strangely …

Arsenal ended Chelsea’s perfect record in Champions League quarter-finals, their 3-1 lead from the first leg was enough to counter the 1-0 defeat in a frenetic end-to-end encounter at Stamford Bridge. Sjoeke Nüsken’s injury-time strike gave Chelsea hope but it wasn’t enough. The manager, Sonia Bompastor, was sent off shortly before the whistle as emotions boiled over. The holders will play the wi…

Some countries, like Kosovo and Iraq, have only just qualified after playoffs while most have been fine-tuning in friendlies “There’s more talent and potential than in 2022,” Kylian Mbappé said ominously this week after France had beaten Brazil 2-1 despite having Dayot Upamecano sent off after 55 minutes. He may well be right. For the second game of this window, against Colombia, Didier Deschamps…