The Guardian

Club’s ruthless approach was always at odds with their public image and this inglorious story has further to run There is no episode in English football’s history that even resembles a precedent for the epic Manchester City disciplinary drama, which encapsulates the modern game at breaking point. Here was a grand, stoic old club, taken over in 2008 by Abu Dhabi royalty and mega-funded to imperiou…

Updates from the premiership decider at the MCG First bounce in Melbourne is 2.30pm AEST Any thoughts? Get in touch with an email How did Fremantle and Brisbane take the last step to the grandest stage? Only with a victory in one of the more remarkable weekends of football in memory. The Lions’ nail-biting win over the Hawks has strong claims to be the best game of Australian rules football ever …

Despite attempts to legally filibuster the charges out of existence for the past three years, we’ve rightfully failed It couldn’t have been more prophetic. In 2008, 15 years before Manchester City were charged with financial fraud, fans started singing “City’s going down with a billion in the bank” to the tune of Yellow Submarine. This was because the former Thailand president Thaksin Shinawatra’…

A week after Canada ended their winning run, England’s World Cup winners face a New Zealand team aiming to inflict more pain at Twickenham A wounded animal is the most dangerous. The Red Roses might not have lost to Canada last Saturday but they did not win either, for the first time since 2022. England’s 40-game unbeaten streak continues with a blemish and when things do not go to plan they usua…

Warwickshire are seven wickets from victory over Leicestershire and only need a draw after Somerset toiled against Surrey Surrey are 378-8 in Taunton with the non bat owning Dan Worrall at the crease alongside Adam Thomas. Lofty heights. Worrall does own a guitar though, I saw some clips of him strumming away on the boundary edge yesterday with just a hint of David Brent/gap year campfire energy.…

A million tickets under $100 have proved popular but next week’s main release will be a litmus test for the expanded 24-team format in Australia There is just over one year to go until the men’s Rugby World Cup, the world’s third best-attended sporting event, kicks off. It promises to be an international celebration that also unites Australia, and an opportunity to bury the memories of Jonny Wilk…

Harlequins 17-33 Bath Argentinian full-back scores stunning try on counter Last season’s top two kicked off the season in opposition to last season’s bottom two. Bath duly completed the expected, joining Northampton with a bonus-point win to open their account. The team the Saints succeeded as champions last season travelled to the Stoop to remind Harlequins how much more they have to work on if …

Spain have won back-to-back major tournaments, but there is still one more to go to draw equal with feted team of 2008-2012 “I’m going to tell you a story,” Luis de la Fuente said. “As soon as the game finished on 19 July, before anyone had cooled down at all, just two or three minutes after the final, one of the players – and you’ll have to forgive me for not telling you which one, but it was on…

Europe lead Team World 3-1 after opening day Alcaraz wins doubles match with Jakub Mensik By the time Casper Ruud had completed his typically tenacious comeback to capture victory in the opening scuffle of this year’s Laver Cup, Carlos Alcaraz was on the floor. The Spaniard had worked harder than any other player on the sidelines as he repeatedly cheered, animated the crowd and offered a steady s…

France beat 10-man Turkey 1-0 to start Zidane era Italy 0-2 Belgium, Georgia 0-1 Northern Ireland Kylian Mbappé limped off with an apparent knee injury, moments after scoring France’s winner against Turkey in the Nations League on Friday. The Real Madrid striker rifled in a low shot in the 55th minute after he was set up by Michael Olise. Soon after his record-extending 67th France goal, Mbappé s…

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Northampton 59-26 Newcastle Backs both score hat-tricks in nine-try victory The new season is up and running and so are the defending champions. Northampton’s attacking game was wonderfully slick at times in this nine-try dismissal of Newcastle Red Balls and here was an opening night warning to all their rivals that they are serious about becoming the first club for seven years to win consecutive…

Leeds 12-14 Warrington Late penalty clinches Old Trafford trip Warrington Wolves reached their first Super League Grand Final in almost a decade after emerging through an absorbing playoff semi-final against Leeds Rhinos to move within 80 minutes of a first league title in over 70 years. The Wire have not been at Old Trafford since 2018 and remain without a league title of any kind since 1955, on…

Fast bowler won the Ashes and two World Cups but those successes were punctuated by long spells out with injury To reach for the career stats on Cricinfo is no way to go about it. This is a full-on YouTube job: boil the kettle, load up those spells at Headingley, St Lucia and the rest, and take in the whippy, absurd, mesmerising sight of perhaps the fastest English bowler there has ever been. Tha…

Manager is not responsible for underlying weaknesses but there are reasons for optimism in the buildup to Euro 2028 In the end, Steve, Brian, Gaz or similar, he’s just not done the job he was hired to do. The job? The one he was hired to do? He’s not done it. How can I put this? There are three things here. The job. The being hired. The doing it. And him. Four things. And if you put those things …