March 18 – Bhutan, officially the world’s worst national team, have pulled off a second straight fairytale victory by defying all the odds – and this time progressed to the second round of Asian World Cup qualifying.
March 18 – The police chief in charge at the 1989 English FA cup semifinal at which 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death has admitted that his failure to close a tunnel was the “direct cause” of the disaster.
By Paul Nicholson
March 18 – New data from the CIES Football Observatory shows that the average cost of a squad has risen by 24.5% between 2009/10 and the current season. The CIES research looks at transfer spend in the Big-5 leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
March 18 – Premier League Liverpool have added a Malaysian stop to their 2015 pre-season tour. On the return leg from two games in Australia, the Reds will stop off in Kuala Lumpur to play a Malaysian XI at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Friday July 24.
By Mark Baber
March 17 – FIFA has postponed the Pakistan v Yemen World Cup qualifier, which had been scheduled for today, following Sunday’s twin bombings aimed at Christians in Lahore.
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 17 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia have begun a national roadshow to sell the ‘Levski is yours’ fundraising campaign. Jointly organised by the supporters trust Blue Bulgaria and the National supporters club of Levski, the tour will include 18 two-day events around the country as the club bids to broaden its ownership base.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – A week before he is due to be re-elected unopposed as UEFA president, Michel Platini has sought to play down any suggestion that power is beginning to go to his head after two terms of office.
March 17 – English Premier League club Hull City have been given the go-ahead to change their name to Hull Tigers next season – a move that seems bound to infuriate diehard fans of the club.
March 17 – The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has reported a number of players to law enforcement agencies over allegations they bet on their own team to lose.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – Ukraine’s government is back on the offensive over a potential boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia with organisers countering that such a move would be doomed to failure.
By Paul Nicholson
March 17 – The New York Cosmos, one of the world’s most iconic football club names, has announced that they will travel to Cuba for a friendly match against the Cuban national team on June 2. The Cosmos will be the first professional sports team to play in Cuba since 1999.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 16 – Serie A has extended its long-running sponsorship with Telecom Italia. The Italian top tier will partner with the company, through its mobile phone brand TIM, until 2018.
March 17 – Manchester United have launched their own on-line casino in partnership with the club’s online gaming and betting partner bwin. Played online and via an app, the 3D casino is set against the backdrop of Old Trafford.
“Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well.” Charles Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon was the 19th Century preacher whose sermons taught millions of Victorian Londoners how to apply Christian virtues to life in an often-Hogarthian city. His mark was far from permanent: Spurgeon’s famous fondness for self-restraint has hardly left behind a city steeped in self-denial. He would no doubt be dismayed by a nation that has responded to the financial crisis by gorging itself on debt.
By David Owen
March 17 – FIFA has backed down over the inclusion of the Amazonian city of Manaus on the list of venues for the Rio 2016 Olympic football tournaments.