London (AFP) – England manager Roy Hodgson felt reassured by the prompt reaction of the police and emergency services during Sunday's bomb scare at Old Trafford, he said on Monday. Old Trafford was evacuated following the discovery of a suspicious device in a toilet in the stadium's northwest quadrant shortly before kick-off in the Premier […]

Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong trailblazer Chan Yuen-ting became the first woman coach to take a men's football team to a top-flight title thanks to the toughness that earned her the nickname "beefball" and a teenage crush on David Beckham. Chan, 27, led Eastern Sports Club to win Hong Kong's Premier League in April […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – New York City FC defeated MLS Cup champions the Portland Timbers 2-1 as Patrick Vieira's resurgent side marched towards the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Goals from former Spain international David Villa and American midfielder Tommy McNamara secured a third consecutive victory for City after Portland's Fanendo Adi had equalized. […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Greater Manchester's mayor slammed the abandonment of Manchester United's game with Bournemouth over what turned out to be a fake bomb as "outrageous", and called for a full inquiry. Army bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion of a suspicious package which was later revealed to be a dummy […]

Vienna (AFP) – Born to a Nigerian father and a Filipino mother, David Alaba is an unlikely poster boy for an Austrian national team soaring unprecedented heights. Raised in Vienna, Alaba left his hometown just after turning 16 to join Bayern Munich's youth academy. As a youngster he idolised Patrick Vieira and dreamed of playing for Arsenal, […]

Reykjavik (AFP) – With his status as the star player of his country's golden generation and his prowess from a dead ball, it is no surprise that Gylfi Sigurdsson has been labelled the Icelandic David Beckham. The 26-year-old attacking midfielder with a fierce right foot shot admits that he loved watching England stars Beckham and […]

Lisbon (AFP) – For a player that has won almost everything on an individual and collective level, the one honour that agonisingly evades Cristiano Ronaldo is an international trophy with Portugal. Euro 2016 will be Ronaldo's fourth and at 31 possibly last European Championship finals. The previous three have all promised much only to end […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Departing Celtic manager Ronny Deila says the club's youngsters can play a big part for the Glasgow giants next season after several of them starred in a 7-0 thrashing of Motherwell on the final day of the season. Scotland's young player of the year Kieran Tierney started the scoring with his first […]

London (AFP) – The Premier League season's defining quirk was that with a vast tide of television money set to flood England's top flight, Leicester City's triumph showed that wealth isn't everything. While Manchester City and Manchester United's squads cost a combined estimated total of 800 million pounds ($1.16 billion, 1 billion euros), Leicester's title-winning […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United's final game of the Premier League season against Bournemouth was abandoned following a security alert at Old Trafford, as Arsenal snatched second place in the table from rivals Tottenham Hotspur. What should have been a celebratory last weekend of the league season around the country was overshadowed as bomb disposal […]

West Bromwich (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp is ready to turn his full attention to Liverpool's first European final for nine years after the Reds finished their Premier League campaign with a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion. Liverpool boss Klopp admitted his senior players were already thinking ahead to Wednesday's Europa League final […]

Newcastle (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Rafael Benitez admits his 'heart says yes' to staying at Newcastle as he leans towards pledging his long-term future to the club despite their relegation from the Premier League. Benitez held talks with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley after the 5-1 victory over Tottenham on Sunday that denied the visitors a second place finish on […]

Swansea (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manuel Pellegrini might be unsure about his own future but he is certain Pep Guardiola will be successful when he takes over as Manchester City manager. Pellegrini's side ground out a 1-1 draw at Swansea City on Sunday to ensure they pipped neighbours Manchester United to the Premier League's fourth […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – A Manchester United fan from Sierra Leone, whose hopes of watching his first game at Old Trafford were dashed on Sunday, saw his despair turn to elation after other supporters clubbed together for him to attend next weekend's FA Cup final at Wembley. Army experts blew up a suspect device […]

London (AFP) – Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has told his players to expect the full force of the Premier League's leading clubs when they attempt to defend their fairytale title next season. Leicester concluded their astonishing campaign on Sunday with a 1-1 draw at deposed champions Chelsea, Ranieri's former club, which left the 5,000-1 […]