The Guardian

⚽ EFL updates on the first weekend of the season ⚽ Live scores | Wolves 2-2 Blackburn | Email Scott Down in League One, there’s a real humdinger going on at the Madejski Stadium. Reading were 3-1 up against Luton Town at the break, thanks to a Jack Marriott hat-trick – Jake Richards had given the Hatters an early lead, as well – but since the break, the visitors have hit back hard. Two goals in a…

Sparse crowds have marred European championships London has bid for world championships in 2029 Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, has played down suggestions that empty seats at the European championships could affect London’s bid for the 2029 worlds. The sparse crowds earlier in the week in Birmingham have been one of the big talking points of the championships, with criticisms of…

19-year-old killed on Friday by collision with van ‘We will continue to hold Fin in our hearts’ Finlay Tarling’s NSN cycling team withdrew from the Volta a Portugal on Saturday, the day after the death of the 19-year-old British rider in an accident during the race. Tarling, the younger brother of the Ineos rider Josh, was reportedly involved in a head-on collision with a vehicle unconnected with…

Puerto Rican suffered brain bleed in only defeat WBC blamed illegal blows to back of the head Colón had won his first 16 professional fights The boxing world was in mourning Friday following the death of Puerto Rican fighter Prichard Colón at the age of 33, 11 years after he sustained brain damage in the only defeat of his professional career. Colón’s death was confirmed in statements by the Worl…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! All new managers want to hit the ground running. But landing with a dull thud has never been a barrier to future glory, certainly not at Ibrox. Take Graeme Souness, whose start as Rangers’ player-manager put the ‘pish’ in ‘inauspicious’. On his league debut, away to Hibs, he was sent off in the first half after a revenge attack on the wrong mull…

Women’s football has much to gain from the kind of reforms that threats to snub upcoming tournaments might prompt. Infantino should be taken on “And I say to all the women … Pick the right battles. Pick the right fights. You have the power to change. You have the power to convince us men what we have to do and what we don’t have to do. You do it. Just do it. With men, with Fifa, you will find ope…

Through the Royal Photographic Society’s Eamonn McCabe bursary programme, Nathan McGill set out to explore women’s cricket across Bradford. What emerged was a close and extended engagement with one club: Bradford Park Avenue Ladies Cricket Club Interest in women’s cricket is expanding rapidly across the country. Attendance and viewing figures for this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in England reach…

With Oceania praising Fifa on Friday, all six confederations have finally had their say on the fallout from the World Cup sell-off plan The Oceania Football Confederation’s (OFC) decision to belatedly issue a statement following this week’s executive committee meeting praising Fifa’s “progress achieved over the last decade” means all six continental confederations have finally had their say on th…

As ESPN cuts expert voices and rewards viral argument, fans who want to understand basketball are building a smarter conversation elsewhere After the Phoenix Suns dumped the Golden State Warriors out of last season’s play-in, Stephen A Smith settled behind the First Take desk to explain why Steve Kerr might have coached his last game. Midway through the burial, he claimed the Warriors hadn’t “bee…

The 1996 US women’s Olympic team enter the Hall of Fame on Saturday after giving momentum to the WNBA and re-launching an era of American dominance For the US women’s basketball team, the 1996 Olympics weren’t just about winning gold in front of their home crowd. It was about the future of women’s basketball in America. The US women were knocked out of the 1992 Olympics in the semi-finals by the …

First Test, day three: Australia 198 and 161-4; Bangladesh 426 Cameron Green rides luck to remain unbeaten on 43 at stumps Australia will have to dig themselves out of a huge hole without their best batsman Steve Smith after Bangladesh kept their foot on the hosts’ throat in pursuit of an upset Test win in Darwin. Under-pressure all-rounder Cameron Green, who was bailed out by a stroke of luck, w…

The former Australia player says England Test coach Stephen Fleming brings the perfect blend of tradition and innovation, and doesn’t rule out joining his staff “He’d probably tell you the same thing now if you asked him. In that first year he often said to me, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing!’” If there is one man who can lift the lid on England’s inscrutable new Test coach, it is Mike Hussey. Th…

Spain defender on swapping Barcelona for Bromley, embracing the contrasting style of the WSL – and her newfound love for beans and crumpets ‘No, I can’t, I’m sorry, it’s a secret!” Mapi León roars with laughter, in response to being asked what persuaded her to join London City Lionesses. Does this bode badly for our interview? Fear not, the Spain centre-back is in as banterous and jovial a mood a…

Florentino Pérez pressed the Special One button again after two straight trophyless seasons at Real, but Lamine Yamal and co remain title favourites A lot has changed since José Mourinho was last appointed Real Madrid manager, but a lot has also not changed. Before his first game in charge in 2010, Spain had just become world champions , their extra-time winner in the final scored by a Barcelona …

Raúl Jiménez marked his return to Wolves with the stoppage-time equaliser that saved them from an embarrassing start to their return to the Championship. The Mexico striker, who scored against England during the World Cup finals, retained his composure to convert a penalty given for handball by Rayan Alebiosu that would have had VAR questioning whether the defender was in the area when Jackson Tc…