The Guardian

Fans upset at being unexpectedly ‘held back’ at the Valley Police action ‘uncomfortably like that from past decades’ The Metropolitan police has commissioned an independent investigation after receiving complaints over its treatment of Chelsea supporters after the west London club’s FA Cup tie at Charlton Athletic last Saturday. The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust called for action earlier this week af…

British roads will host the start of both races next year First time both Grands Départs have been outside France The men’s Tour de France will start in Scotland for the first time in 2027 and make its first visit to Wales when Britain stages the Grand Départ of the men’s and women’s races in the biggest festival of elite cycling on the isles since London 2012. Across six days of racing on Britis…

Scot recovers to deny Zhao Xintong 6-5 in the last eight Judd Trump faces Mark Allen in later Thursday match John Higgins benefited from an outrageous fluke as he came from 5-3 down to beat world champion Zhao Xintong 6-5 on the final ball and reach the semi-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace. Higgins made a horrible mess of a plant, only for one of the reds to fly into the opposite pocket…

There is still time before 2027 World Cup to rescue the drooping silver fern but rebuilding an international team is hard and New Zealand’s aura has faded As a keen surfer Scott Robertson is well aware how abruptly situations can change. One minute you are riding the perfect wave, the next you’re being dumped from a great height and having your world tipped upside down. Which is essentially how “…

Manager stresses squad harmony crucial at tournament Two friendlies in March to come before naming squad Thomas Tuchel stressed talent alone is not enough to make his World Cup squad as the right “social skills” and personality will be needed for England to stand a chance of glory this summer. It is just five months until the back-to-back Euros runners-up kick-off their quest for success in North…

Athletes played in NCAA as recently as last season ‘Bribe payments’ said to be up to $30,000 Federal prosecutors charged 20 people on Thursday, including 15 former college basketball players, in what they called a betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games. Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division I NCAA schools as recently as the 2024-25 season. The other fiv…

The teenager was at non-league Rochdale two years ago. Now he is the star attraction for a Premier League club By WhoScored Wolves were not supposed to find hope this season, certainly not from an 18-year-old who was at a non-league club two years ago. But on what many expected to be another drab afternoon for Wolves, with relegation seemingly inevitable after a run of 19 games without a win, Mat…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Milk. Littlewoods. Rumbelows. Coca-Cola. Worthington’s. Carling. Capital One. Carabao. No matter which name is above the door, the League Cup has maintained certain traditions and idiosyncrasies, including those two-legged semi-finals. The exploits of fourth-tier Bradford City aside, these double-headers tend not to linger in the collective memo…

Heitinga to have big role with defence, Frank says Moersen to serve months of gardening leave Tottenham have appointed John Heitinga, the former Ajax head coach and assistant to Arne Slot at Liverpool, to Thomas Frank’s coaching staff. Frank said one of the Dutchman’s main responsibilities would be to work with the defence. Heitinga’s arrival was confirmed after Spurs announced that Carlos Raphae…

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair, Dan Bardell and Sid Lowe as Xabi Alonso leaves Real Madrid and the Carabao Cup semi-finals begin. On the podcast today: Arsenal win at Stamford Bridge in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, but it was still a decent showing for Liam Rosenior in his first home game in charge at Chelsea. Elsewhere, in the other semi-final, Manchester…

Londoners have rejected €35m bid for midfielder Facundo Buonanotte likely to make Leeds move West Ham will sell Lucas Paquetá this month if the deal includes an agreement for Flamengo to loan the midfielder back for the rest of the season. Flamengo had an opening bid of €35m (£30.3m) rejected for the Brazilian and are prepared to raise their offer to about €40m. Paquetá has made clear to West Ham…

There would be no Australian Open were it not for the work undertaken in an unassuming underground room at Melbourne Park Underneath Rod Laver Arena, a group of tennis specialists cut and twist and weave – intently focused on their preparation for the action on the blue court a few metres above their heads. In the lead-up to the Australian Open, these experts maintain a consistent workload, train…

First-leg victory at Stamford Bridge displayed the hallmarks of another vintage Gunners team who refused to be bullied Nobody said it had to be pretty. And for large portions of Arsenal’s 3-2 win at Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg on Wednesday, it certainly was not. But for Mikel Arteta and his players, there was a beauty in the physicality, the remorseless levels of aggression. A…

Grand slam qualifying used to be an oasis for tennis hipsters but a game of one upmanship between the Australian and US Opens has set the standard for spectacular lead-in weeks During the early days of the US Open singles main draw last year, the tournament director, Stacey Allaster, was holding court with a small group of journalists ina suite overlooking Arthur Ashe Stadium. Much of the discuss…

US athlete said she was deliberately deprived of points Investigation says Canada acted within rules Canada’s skeleton team have been cleared of allegations they rigged a qualifying event for the Winter Olympics and denied rival athletes from qualifying for next month’s Games. USA’s Katie Uhlaender, a five-time Winter Olympian in skeleton, accused the Canadian team of deliberately pulling four of…