Former top-flight player acted as game-rigging fixer, court told
April 14 – An Ex-Premier League footballer searched for players to help “fix” lower-league matches, a English court has been told.
England
Saints join swelling ranks of Premier League’s financially virtuous
By David Owen
March 31 – Southampton have joined the stampede of Premier League clubs reporting unusually strong profits for last season. The South Coast club, currently lying an impressive sixth in the league table and playing consistently well under Dutch coach Ronald Koeman, have announced that after-tax profit for the year ended June 30, 2014 reached £33.4 million, compared with a £7.1 million loss the previous year.
Wonga keeps flowing in at Ashley’s Newcastle
By David Owen
March 30 – Newcastle United have become the latest Premier League club to report strong financial figures for the 2013-14 season. For the year ending June 2014, the Magpies generated a record after-tax profit of £18.7 million, not far off double the £9.9million achieved in 2013, and the fourth consecutive year in the black for the club which is owned by businessman Mike Ashley.
Liverpool score record breaking £26million kit deal
By Mark Baber
February 5 – Liverpool FC announced on Wednesday that sports apparel manufacturer, New Balance would be the club’s official kit supplier from the 2015/16 football season onwards in a deal described as record-breaking.
Virgin bid to scupper Premier League TV sales pitch fails
February 5 – The English Premier League’s sale of television rights for 2016-19 will go ahead as planned after UK broadcasting watchdog Ofcom rejected complaints from cable operator Virgin Media.
Hammers duck FA Cup axe but hit with FIFA fine
February 5 – English Premier League club West Ham have been fined 100,000 Swiss francs and reprimanded by FIFA but have avoided being thrown out of the domestic FA Cup after fielding Senegalese striker Diafra Sakho just 18 days after he withdrew from his country’s Africa Cup of Nations squad.
Premier League lifestyle fraud lands Kakuta imposter in court
October 23 – In a bizarre case of deliberate mistaken identity, an English lower-league professional footballer who fraudulently posed as a Premier League star in order to live a glitzy celebrity lifestyle has wound up in jail.
Medi Abalimba, a court in Manchester heard, went on a £20,000 shopping spree, stayed at exclusive hotels and even hired a helicopter.
A tale of two stadiums in the City of Liverpool
By Mark Baber
September 16- Liverpool FCs expansion of Anfield stadium has been recommended for approval by Council planners, with a Planning Committee vote expected next week, whilst, not to be upstaged, Everton have revealed they intend to build a new stadium in Walton Hall Park.
Managerial spat develops into far more sordid saga
By Andrew Warshaw
August 22- What started out as an English top-flight club unexpectedly losing the manager voted the best in Premier League last season has developed into a sordid saga that has made back-page headlines and tarnished the integrity of the game.
All bets off as FA clamps down on English pros
May 22- All professional footballers in England will be banned from betting on football matches from next season following a string of damaging incidents that have rocked the domestic game.
English football faces bleak future unless home-grown player plans take root
By Andrew Warshaw
May 9- Radical proposals to halt the decline of English football at national level have been met with a mixed reaction but must be implemented to prevent a bleak future, according to English FA chairman Greg Dyke.
On Thursday proposals were unveiled to change the lower-division structure to enhance opportunities for England-registered players, reduce the number of foreign imports and boost the chances of national team success.
Sven says English need a winter break to catch up with Europe
By Andrew Warshaw
November 5 – Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has ruled out any chance of the country winning the World Cup next summer. The multi-travelled 65-year-old Swede, currently coach of Chinese Super League team Guangzhou R&F, led England to the quarter-finals in both 2022 and 2006 but doubts they can improve on that in Brazil.
English grassroots get £102m and a ‘new’ funding body
October 24 – English grassroots will receive a £102 million boost over the next three years via a new fund that will contribute to new facilities and coaching initiatives throughout the country.
Manchester United to tour Premier League trophy worldwide
By Mark Baber
October 16 – Manchester United, and their official logistics partner DHL, are to tour the Premier League Trophy to 31 destinations in 24 cities worldwide in the coming months to celebrate last season’s Premier League triumph.
Townsend scores on Twitter after big England performance
By Tom Parsons
October 15 – One week ago Andros Townsend was on the receiving end of 3-0 home defeat to West Ham. A week later, Townsend is being hailed as a national hero after his heroic performance for England against Montenegro last Friday.