By Andrew Warshaw
April 25 – The climax to Liverpool’s first season under their charismatic German manager Jurgen Klopp, highlighted by reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League this week, has been marred by their highly rated £18 million central defender Mamadou Sakho being unavailable at the worst possible time after failing a drugs test.
April 22 – Liverpool’s Anfield stadium will host the final of the Four Nations Rugby League tournament November 20, while the London (and by the West Ham’s Olympic Stadium) will host the final group game of the tournament between England and Australia.
By David Owen
April 21 – Just at the moment, everything Tottenham Hotspur touches is turning to gold. The North London club – the only team still realistically capable of derailing Leicester City’s Premier League fairy tale – is enjoying a dream season, with a Champions League slot for 2016-17 all but secured.
By Mark Baber
April 20 – The investors who took the plunge to save Swansea City in 2002 are poised for a multi-million return on their investments following a valuation of the club putting it at £100 million. On April 9 a Swansea City club statement said that US investors Steve Kaplan, Jason Levein and their investment group are finalising an agreement to take a controlling interest in Welsh club.
April 20 – Man Utd topped the attendance capacity chart for Round 34 of the Premier League, in a week that saw every home team fill their ground to more than 90% of capacity.
April 19 – Just days after being relegated for the first time in 28 years with a month of the season still to play, Aston Villa have been plunged into yet more turmoil with two board members resigning.
April 18 – Finishing fourth in the Premier League has traditionally been the goal for achieving Champions League football the following season.
The great gift the London Legacy Development Corporation, chaired by Boris Johnson, has given West Ham football club is the sort of gift that makes the money that David Cameron’s mother gave him to help avoid inheritance tax look like chicken feed. It also exposes the fact that when it comes to the national game not only are our political masters grossly unfair, favouring some clubs while penalising the vast majority, but there is also a huge question of whether football has lost its moral compass.
By David Owen
April 14 – A sharp cut in payroll costs was at the heart of Newcastle United’s impressive financial performance in 2014-15, with the wages and salaries bill tumbling below £57 million from £69.3 million the previous year.
April 15 – Newcastle United, battling for their top-flight survival on the pitch, have suffered a serious blow to their image off it after an employment tribunal ruled that their former Argentina midfielder Jonas Gutierrez had been dropped from the team because he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
April 14 – How many times have you seen elite players emerge from the team bus with headphones clasped to their ears, oblivious to the outside world, or twiddling with the latest software on their mobile phones?
By Paul Nicholson
April 13 – With the spotlight back on the detail of the deal made by West Ham with the London Legacy Development Corporation for their move to tenancy at the Olympic Stadium, more evidence was provided that the need for the club to get a bigger home was provided last weekend with another sell out at the Boleyn ground with just 39 seats left unfilled.
By Mark Baber
April 12 – West Ham’s move to London’s Olympic Stadium will come under increased public scrutiny following a ruling by the UK’s Information Tribunal which rejected in full the London Legacy Development Corporation (LDDC)’s appeal against an earlier Information Commissioner ruling to reveal full details of the secret contract enabling West Ham to move into the publicly owned Olympic Stadium.
April 12 – The minute imperious central midfielder Yaya Toure got the news that Pep Guardiola would be replacing Manuel Pellegrini as manager at Manchester City in the summer, he knew his reign as one of the team’s pivotal superstars would be over.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 11 – It’s less than 50 miles, a one-hour drive on a good day, between the respective grounds of Leicester City and Aston Villa in the English midlands. But the mood and atmosphere surrounding the two Premier League clubs could not be more extreme.