The Guardian

Under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick New England were ruthless winners. But new head coach Mike Vrabel has transformed the narrative around the team There used to be a simple rule: Anybody but the New England Patriots. From 2001 through 2019, the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick dynasty totaled six Super Bowl titles, 13 conference championship appearances and 17 divisional crowns. They were the Evil Empire…

Virgo, who won the UK Championship in 1979, enjoyed a long career but was perhaps best known for his TV work Snooker great John Virgo has died at the age of 79, World Snooker Tour has announced. Virgo, who won the UK Championship in 1979, enjoyed a long and storied career but was perhaps best known for his work as a broadcaster. He was an established part of the BBC’s snooker coverage as a commen…

England are bullish, France are in flux, while Wales will be hoping just to beat Italy and avoid the wooden spoon Fixtures: 7 Feb, Wales (h) ; 14 Feb, Scotland (a) ; 21 Feb, Ireland (h) ; 7 Mar, Italy (a) ; 14 Mar, France (a) Last year’s finish: 2nd Continue reading...

The Spurs captain is driven by an internal fire and is unafraid of dropping truth bombs on the club’s ownership Cristian Romero had been named as the Tottenham captain, a symbol of a new era, of fresh direction and hope. It was last September, the eve of the club’s Champions League return against Villarreal and it was time for him to speak to the English media. A rare appointment but one that cou…

What to look out for as the action gets under way in Italy despite the Games not yet beginning until Friday In my opening briefing last week , I wrote that organisers were banking on the cultural pull of Italy – its architecture, food, history and fashion – to cut through any political noise surrounding the Milano Cortina Games. So far, that has not been the case. And the Olympics have not yet of…

Plus: footballers’ weddings on live television, the most successful fictional teams, and more Mail us with your questions and answers “ Ian Muir played 95% of his games for Tranmere ,” writes Robert Abushal. “One-club players aside, who’s the closest to 100% without being 100%?” One-club men and women are among football’s more celebrated groups, the players who dedicated their entire career to on…

After prevailing in a gristly physical ballet with Chelsea, Arsenal’s season has now reached a point of pre-ignition Zamina mina. Waka, waka, hé-hé. By the end of this gruelling, bruising, deep tissue ache of a football match, it felt as though the opening 96 minutes had been staged simply as an extended tease for a startlingly carefree final 30 seconds. Up to that point Arsenal and Chelsea had p…

Watford hold Hull, Blackburn sink Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield United fight back to beat Oxford 3-1 Charlie Daniels praised Watford’s players for the way they secured a point and pushed for more in the goalless draw at the promotion-chasing Hull just days after Javi Gracia’s abrupt exit. The Spaniard ended his second spell at Vicarage Road on Sunday, having called for talks with the owner, Gino …

Barbora Votikova signs to provide necessary cover Chelsea offer for Jennifer Echegini rejected by PSG Arsenal signed the Czech Republic goalkeeper Barbora Votikova on loan from Slavia Prague, while Everton completed a move for the Slovenia midfielder Zara Kramzar from Roma late on the Women’s Super League’s transfer deadline day. The former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain player will pr…

Winning a career grand slam at 22 is confirmation the world No 1 is on a unique path and justified the decision to jettison long-time coach There were many things that could have rushed into Carlos Alcaraz’s mind following his attainment of a goal he has chased his entire life, the career grand slam , achieved by defeating Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. He could have thought about the imm…

League’s star said to be unhappy over his club’s transfer dealings and Karim Benzema’s move. Now he could face his first backlash Jurassic Park sounded great given the spectacular beasts on display, but there was chaos after they started to do their own thing. When Cristiano Ronaldo, surely the T rex, and Karim Benzema, perhaps a velociraptor, are scoring in spectacular fashion there are headline…

Manchester City manager opens up on global conflicts UN reports UAE have backed Sudan paramilitary group Pep Guardiola has spoken out against killings across the world, including in Sudan, where a paramilitary group backed by the United Arab Emirates, which in effect owns Manchester City, is embroiled in a civil war that has cost more than 150,000 lives. Guardiola named Sudan when talking about c…

Craig Halkett’s first-half red card proved costly for the Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts as they lost 1-0 at St Mirren after a late header from Miguel Freckleton. The centre-back was dismissed in the 29th minute for denying the Saints debutant Jacob Devaney a goalscoring opportunity. It was the third time in five league games that Hearts had been reduced to 10 men. Unlike the previous two oc…

Ranking points to be awarded at LIV events for first time Saudi-backed tour attacks ‘unprecedented restriction’ The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Tour has hit out at what it regards as victimisation from those presiding over the sport’s world rankings process, despite seeing their wait of nearly four years for recognition by the system finally end. It was confirmed on Tuesday that those competing …

Latest row to hit T20 World Cup raises difficult questions for the sport’s governing body, with lucrative TV deal to protect The announcement on Sunday , fittingly, was made by Pakistan’s government, a reminder that this episode goes well beyond a game of cricket. In a post on X, the government approved the national side’s participation at this month’s T20 World Cup, but with a significant caveat…