London (AFP) – Most sports fans in England, Wales and Scotland would have no problem if their club signed a gay player despite a top football official claiming that he would not encourage stars to declare their homosexuality. A BBC radio poll took soundings from 4,000 people with 82 percent insisting they would be comfortable […]

London (AFP) – Ched Evans admitted he had behaved in a "childish" fashion as he gave evidence in a retrial for rape in Cardiff on Monday. Wales international Evans, who plays for third-tier Chesterfield, is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court accused of raping a woman in a hotel room near Rhyl, north Wales, in […]

London (AFP) – A woman allegedly raped by international footballer Ched Evans in a hotel room said Wednesday she had no recall of asking the Wales international to "join in" while she was having sex with another man, a court was told on Wednesday. The lawyer representing Evans accused the woman of "taking the lead" […]

London (AFP) – A teenager was so drunk she could not have consented to sex with former Wales football international Ched Evans, a court heard Tuesday as his rape charge retrial began. Evans, 27, is accused of raping a woman at a hotel in May 2011. The Chesterfield striker is facing a two-week trial at […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City suffered their first defeat under manager Pep Guardiola with a 2-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur that served notice of Spurs' Premier League title credentials. Here are five things we learned this weekend. Slick Spurs are title contenders With Jose Mourinho arriving at Manchester United, Manchester City snaring Pep Guardiola, Antonio […]

London (AFP) – One of the agents caught on film making sensational revelations of corruption against eight current and former English Premier League managers admitted to the BBC on Friday that he had lied. Italian agent Giuseppe Pagliara, who claimed he opened Swiss bank accounts for managers and worked through intermediaries to cover the illegal […]

London (AFP) – Eight current or former Premier League football managers were on Tuesday accused of taking kick-backs for player transfers, as part of a broader newspaper sting which led to England manager Sam Allardyce being axed. Three agents were filmed discussing corruption in football and the use of illegal "bung" payments to sign players, […]

London (AFP) – Premier League leaders Manchester City maintained their perfect start under Pep Guardiola as Manchester United returned to winning ways against champions Leicester City. Here are five things we learnt this weekend. No Rooney, no problem for Man United The Manchester United team sheet for Saturday's home game with Leicester City caused a […]

The big Premier League clubs get all of the attention. Between what matches are televised on important channels, and the players included in the PFA Team of the Year, the two Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea, & Liverpool usually dominate the limelight. Nevertheless, there are players from other teams in England’s top tier that should receive […]

Paris (AFP) – Sergio Aguero brushed off two missed penalties to score a hat-trick as Manchester City outclassed Steaua Bucharest 5-0 on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie in Romania. The result means that new City coach Pep Guardiola can breathe a huge sigh of relief as the Abu Dhabi-backed […]

One of the common narratives for the new Premier League season has been how wide-open the new campaign might be. There are plenty of strong teams, plenty of new managers; an influx of even more cash, meaning what usually is a fairly crazy league might be even more unpredictable. But after Leicester City won the […]

London (AFP) – The Premier League season began this weekend, with Hull City stunning champions Leicester City while both Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Manchester United counterpart Jose Mourinho made winning starts. Here are five things we learnt. Leicester left in the starting blocks Leicester's players cannot say they were not warned as the […]

London (AFP) – Ahead of Saturday's opening day of the new Premier League season, AFP Sport looks at five key questions to follow over what promises to be a gripping campaign: Rivalry renewed in Manchester In the season's most spicy Premier League sub-plot, Manchester's already intense rivalry will provide the backdrop to the renewal of […]

An upcoming Premier League season is always expected to be the most exciting of all time. Although as we stand on the brink of another nine months of frenetic action from English football’s top flight, anticipation is huge. Not only will last season’s surprise champions, Leicester City, be defending the crown they won with such […]

It's that time of the year to predict how you think the Premier League table for the 2016/17 season will finish. This is our ninth year in asking you, the reader, to share your picks. The challenge is that we ask you this before the season kicks off, and before the summer transfer window ends. […]