The Guardian

Pointless after eight games, Karen Hills’ team are struggling to compete against clubs with chunkier wallets Played eight, lost eight. Welcome to the Women’s Super League, Charlton Athletic, a club in danger of being chewed up, toyed with and spat straight back out by the top tier. Bruised by their 6-0 defeat against Chelsea on Sunday, last season’s playoff winners are finding WSL life tough, con…

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Ulsterman insists was no intention on his part Laporta leads Abu Dhabi Championship Rory McIlroy was handed a two-shot penalty after his first round at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Thursday, with officials ruling he improved his lie on a hole where he made double-bogey to spoil his card. McIlroy’s score of six at the par-4 12th hole turned into an even uglier eight and left him posting a two-und…

Only 3,587 people live in his family’s village but the streets of Navahermosa were fuller yet quieter to mourn the Tenerife striker at his funeral The narrow streets of Navahermosa in La Mancha were fuller than they have ever been on Thursday afternoon and quieter too. Silence accompanied the funeral cortege as its made way from the funeral home to the parish church of San Miguel Arcángel carryin…

Some of Brian McDermott’s players will arrive home a week after their early exit from the tournament By No Helmets Required England players would have been well advised to ignore the advert outside their North Bay hotel in Wollongong over the weekend: “Everything that truly matters is possible,” it read. Not quite everything, it turns out. While England women packed their cases and headed out of …

The Wallabies have a squad capable of magic but doubts remain over whether their talents can be knitted into a great team There are moments when Australia look like a team that can take on the world. Moments when they’re trailing by two in the 83rd minute at Twickenham and all of a sudden Len Ikitau has snapped an underhand pass through to Max Jorgensen and he’s haring down the wing to score in t…

Dallas teammates say they split more than a year ago Bueckers rejects claims relationship influenced draft Pair decry hostile messages sent to friends and family Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd have confirmed they ended their romantic relationship more than a year ago, with the Dallas Wings star backcourt tandem rejecting suggestions that their relationship influenced the team’s decision to select F…

Sunday’s hosts need to stop looking for excuses and focus on what they can control to kick off the Nations Championsip against battle-hardened Australia Several things are increasingly guaranteed from an English rugby perspective around this time of year. Bang on cue the injury news and the weather both start to worsen. Cracks in the relationship between the players and their head coach, in this …

Concern among counties due to reliance on ECB funding Optimism that eventual figure could be reduced to £35m The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is forecasting losses of tens of millions of pounds next year despite hosting the Ashes, with county executives told last week that the deficit could be as large as £50m. The anticipated shortfall, after posting a profit of £12.6m in 2025, is due t…

Jude had asked head coach to scout Dortmund midfielder ‘It will be beautiful for Jude to have his brother close’ Thomas Tuchel has given a first England call-up to Jobe Bellingham , admitting the midfielder’s older brother, Jude, had nagged him to do so, as he set up the prospect of their family dream being realised. Tuchel’s inclusion of the younger Bellingham for the Nations League ties against…

Panic building among fans as club visit Craven Cottage but head coach has resolute support of hierarchy At least Matthias Jaissle has a sense of humour. “There’s a lot of storm at the moment,” reflected Newcastle’s head coach on Thursday. A wry smile suggested he was not referring to the north-east weather. Jaissle has seen his tactics, team selection, man management and entire philosophy rubbish…

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off ⚽ Today’s Football Daily | Live scores | Table | Mail Scott There’s no Jack Grealish in the Everton squad, by the way. But then did anyone really expect that? Coventry City are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. They’re unchanged following last weekend’s 3-1 home win over Sunderland. Continue reading...

Crowds once flocked to see ambling athletes pull off amazing feats of stamina. Edward Payson Weston was chief among them More than $1.4bn has been staked on prediction markets for this week’s US midterm elections, according to CNN . Though a lot of people are about to win – or lose – a lot of money, it’s hard to imagine any wagers as consequential as the election bet that birthed a sporting craze…

Stripped of his WBO world title and numbed by violent deaths of friends in Battersea, the middleweight is determined to press on in pursuit of fights and titles “I’ve been very reluctant to tell my story,” Denzel Bentley says as he sits upstairs at his gym in Essex and opens up about his testing life in and out of the ring. Before he addresses the latest maddening round of boxing politics, Bentle…

The Scuderia are hopeful of being in the world championship mix next season but risk puncturing their chances if they can’t corral their men in the cockpits Going into this weekend’s São Paulo Grand Prix, all indications are that the status quo at Ferrari will no longer suffice for Lewis Hamilton if the Scuderia’s ambition to return their first drivers’ F1 championship since 2007 is to be taken s…