July 15 – James Johnson, who heads the Professional Football Department at FIFA, has been shortlisted by Leaders and the Aspire Academy for the second annual Leaders under-40 awards, the global search for the best talent in the business of sport under the age of 40. In other words, the next generation of decision makers.
By Samindra Kunti
July 13 – English referee Mark Clattenburg led the Euro 2016 final as the tournament climaxed with a prolonged encounter between hosts France and Portugal. Clattenburg was omnipresent with 2,774 meters of high speed running (14 to 20 km/h) and 999 meters of very high speed running (> 20 km/h) during the match. In the 109th minute Antonio Eder scored the winning goal with a fine strike from outside the box.
July 13 – A household name in English football but little known overseas, Sam Allardyce is emerging as the frontrunner to take over from Roy Hodgson as England manager.
July 13 – Joachim Low has decided to stay on as Germany’s head coach following their semi-final exit at Euro 2016.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 13 – Who on earth was Brendan Rodgers, the new manager of Scottish giants Celtic, trying to kid? Perhaps just himself. “There’s no embarrassment,” said Rodgers after his side were beaten 1-0 by Gibraltar part-timers Lincoln Red Imps in their Champions League second qualifying round first leg on Tuesday.
By Paul Nicholson
July 5 – The US Soccer Federation has officially announced a new 25-club Girls’ Development Academy that will start matches in the Autumn of 2017. The academy structure is “an initiative designed to accelerate the development of world-class female players” in the World Champion nation.
June 2 – Liverpool have added a third US fixture to their pre-season schedule. Already competing in the International Champions Cup (ICC) tournament, they will now play AS Roma from Italy’s Serie A in St Louis on August 1.
By Paul Nicholson
May 30 – The Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) and US Club Soccer have combined to launch a new national competition platform for boys that will challenge the national US Academy competition that the US Soccer Federation has been promoting to clubs across the country.
May 30 – England Under 21 beat France 2-1 Under 20s to win the Toulon Tournament their first win since 1994, having qualified for the third place play-off for the past two years.
May 26 – England virtually guaranteed their place in the final of the Toulon Tournament with a storming 4-0 win over closest group rivals Paraguay. France need just one point from their final group game tonight to join them.
May 24 – The Toulon U23 tournament became a goal fiesta last night as England’s Under 21s hammered seven past Guinea to top their group above Paraguay on goal difference.
May 18 – The Barcelona trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez fill three of the top four best performing big-5 league strikers, according to the CIES Football Observatory. The surprise is that Suarez, who has had a storming goalscoring end to the season is the fourth ranked striker.
By Samindra Kunti
May 10 – Qatar’s Belgian investment at Eupen has come good with the club’s ascendency to Belgium’s top flight, but only after a farcical kerfuffle of Belgian bureaucracy.
May 9 – Tottenham Hotspur’s Moussa Dembélé and Dele Alli come top and fourth in the CIES Football Observatory ranking of ‘box-to-box’ midfielders in Europe’s Big 5 league. The Bayern double act of Arturo Vidal and Xabi Alonso topped the rankings defensive midfielders.