Richard Lewington

I've been meaning to do an in-depth piece on FIFA president Sepp Blatter's proposal to introduce quotas on the number of foreign players that teams can field. Yesterday, FIFA held a vote and Blatter's proposal cleared its first major hurdle. The FIFA Congress delegates voted 155-5 in favour of the proposal which would limit the […]

ESPN reports that Internazionale have fired manager Roberto Mancini after much speculation that they were going to do so. Comments Mancini made after losing to Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League in March were cited as a major contributor to his eventual dismissal. This past Saturday's Italian Cup final loss to AS […]

Now that the Champions League final has passed and I've had a bit of a break, it's time for me to get back to work and start monitoring the transfer market. I've decided to not post much about rumours, though I will be posting a few articles, as there is already so much written on […]

Celtic claimed their third successive Scottish Premier League title after they defeated Dundee United 1-0 and Old Firm rivals Rangers lost 2-0 to Aberdeen. For Rangers it is a bitter end to a campaign which had promised so much right until the very end. Counting all competitions, it was Rangers' 67th match of the season […]

A quick shout out to Dutch side FC Twente (nicknamed The Tukkers or The Reds) for reaching the Champions League for the first time in their history. Like a more famous team nicknamed The Reds (Liverpool FC), "You'll Never Walk Alone" is loudly sung in the stadium before every kick-off. Twente are based in the […]

So, here we go with my version of the 2007-2008 Champions League awards. The English clubs dominate the awards here but I did single out some players from teams that were knocked out earlier in the competition as they gave some great individual performances. Player Awards Most Outstanding Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) Most Valuable […]

It's a stretch to compare the FA Community Shield to today's match but it was ten months ago that Manchester United launched their season with a penalty shoot-out victory over Chelsea. Manchester United repeated the feat today in the UEFA Champions League final with Edwin van der Sar coming up with the late heroics to […]

Today will be the second time a European cup competition has been contested by two English clubs. The 1971-72 UEFA Cup saw Tottenham Hotspur defeat Wolverhampton 3-2 on aggregate. The big news heading into today's match is the knock Ashley Cole took in training but otherwise both clubs have a full roster to select from. […]

After mulling it over for a few days, I've decided against live blogging during tomorrow's match as I find that for myself I am better able to soak in the match when I am not distracted with blogging. I pick up more of the nuances of the play and tactical details that I miss when […]

Chelsea have a major scare ahead of tomorrow's Champions League final after Ashley Cole was the victim of a stupid two-footed sliding challenge from team-mate Claude Makelele. Cole was helped off the field by two of Chelsea's training staff, who sprayed his ankle before wrapping it to give it support. After a few more minutes […]

Slovakian referee Lubos Michel will take charge of the Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea. Michel, you may recall, was the referee who awarded a highly-controversial goal (I'm still unsure!) to Liverpool against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the competition in 2005. The Daily Mail also mentions that Michel drew criticism from Martin […]

Are you getting pumped for the big match tomorrow? Are you devouring every scrap of information available? I can't say that I've read all the articles published but I do enjoy the hype leading up to this match. Unlike our colleagues over at EPL Talk, I don't think there has been too much hype. Like […]

Manchester City will play in next season's Uefa Cup after claiming a place via the Premier League's fair play table. England were awarded an extra place in the tournament after the Premier League came top of Uefa's fair play rankings. City had feared losing out to Fulham in the race for European football after centre-back […]

Manchester City will play in next season's Uefa Cup after claiming a place via the Premier League's fair play table. England were awarded an extra place in the tournament after the Premier League came top of Uefa's fair play rankings. City had feared losing out to Fulham in the race for European football after centre-back […]

The biggest news today is coming out of the Manchester United camp, as the Daily Mail has an article that states Cristiano Ronaldo has refused to commit his future to United. Real Madrid are apparently prepared to pay Ronaldo a staggering salary of £200,000 a week to join them. United insist Ronaldo is not for […]