For the first time since 1988, Aston Villa won't be playing in the top flight of English football. The last time the club was relegated from the top division to the second flight was in 1987. The Villans soon returned to the top flight, now known as the Premier League, where they've been for the […]

Beijing (AFP) – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said Sunday he was ready to go home as the club's pre-season tour of China threatened to descend into farce. The final match of their China tour is first Manchester derby outside the UK against City on Monday and Mourinho suggested he couldn't wait for it to […]

Beijing (AFP) – Pep Guardiola rejects any suggestion he would not shake hands with arch-rival Jose Mourinho and insisted relations would be friendly when Manchester City play Manchester United in Bejing on Monday. "We are polite guys, why not?" Guardiola said Sunday when asked if the pair would extend hands, despite an acrimonious rivalry which […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes scored early goals and the Los Angeles Galaxy ended the Timbers' nine-match unbeaten streak with a 2-1 Major League Soccer victory in Portland. Zarek Valentin scored for reigning MLS Cup champions Portland, who lost veteran defender Nat Borchers to what looked like a left ankle injury […]

After the disappointment of Euro 2012, World Cup in 2014 and Euro 2016, Roy Hodgson’s position as England manager had become untenable. If anything, he had been given too long a rope. The team’s tactics were confused and difficult to fathom. Plus difficult selection questions, such as what to do about Wayne Rooney, were repeatedly […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure is poised to be reunited with his former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers at Celtic although the 35-year-old won't feature in the forthcoming marathon trip to Kazakhstan for a Champions League tie. Toure, who has also played in the English top flight with Arsenal and Manchester City, was […]

London (AFP) – New England manager Sam Allardyce told his players to use their shock Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland as motivation for the future on Saturday. The 61-year-old was named on Friday as the successor to Roy Hodgson, who resigned after his team bowed out of the Euros in France with […]

Glasgow (AFP) – English Premier League champions Leicester City secured a penalty shoot-out victory over Celtic after a 1-1 draw in an International Champions Cup friendly in Glasgow on Saturday. Last season's PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez grabbed the opener for Claudio Ranieri's Leicester in the opening minute of the second half with […]

Louis van Gaal’s tenure at Old Trafford ended with a trophy, the FA Cup no less, but you’d be hard pressed to find a Manchester United fan labeling the Dutchman’s two seasons at the club a success. Sandwiched in between the dreaded ‘P’s ‘philosophy’ and ‘process’ was a serving of sterile, unambitious football that found […]

London (AFP) – Sunderland have appointed former Manchester United and Everton manager David Moyes to replace Sam Allardyce as boss at the Stadium of Light, the perennial Premier League strugglers said on Saturday. Moyes — the northeast England club's ninth permanent boss in less than eight years — signed a four-year contract with the Black […]

London (AFP) – Steve Bruce resigned as manager of Premier League newboys Hull City on Friday, just days after he was being linked with the England national job. The 55-year-old Englishman, who lost out to compatriot Sam Allardyce for the England post, had taken Hull up for the second time into the Premier League last […]

London (AFP) – Sam Allardyce will hopefully prove the England job is not an impossible one tweeted former England striker Gary Lineker as the football world reacted to his appointment on Friday. The 61-year-old Englishman has been given a two year contract with the priority of first guiding England to the 2018 World Cup finals […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Dutch international Georginio Wijnaldum's eye-catching performances for Newcastle in their failed battle against relegation last season saw Premier League giants Liverpool sign him for a reported £25million on Friday. The 25-year-old, who scored 11 goals in 38 Premier League appearances for the Magpies last term after signing from PSV Eindhoven, said he […]

Paris (AFP) – Three candidates to succeed the disgraced Michel Platini as president of UEFA made the shortlist on Friday for the vote to take place in Athens on September 14. The three are Slovenia's Aleksander Ceferin, Michael van Praag of the Netherlands and Spain's Angel Maria Villar. Spanish football federation chief Villar, 66, is […]

London (AFP) – Sam Allardyce is the new England manager after the Football Association officially appointed him on Friday, 10 years after he failed to convince them he was the right man for the job. The 61-year-old Englishman — who lost out to Steve McClaren 10 years ago after Sven-Goran Eriksson left — signed a […]