Football

Luton's dream of building a revolutionary 20,000 all-seater stadium has been given the backing of the local council. Councillors gave the pounds 35m project the go-ahead last night, although many residents living close to the proposed site have vowed to continue their protest against the development.

Stig Inge Bjornebye, the Norwegian international, has signed a two-year extension to his contract with Liverpool which will keep him at Anfield until 1998. The attacking left-back has recovered from a broken leg sustained towards the end of last season.

Kevin Hales, the former Chelsea and Leyton Orient defender, has been named as the new manager of Welling, the GM Vauxhall Conference club.

Greg Stanley is to hand the chairmanship of Brighton over to his co-owner Bill Archer after four years in the post, but will remain on the board of the Second Division club.

Napoli president Corrado Ferlaino has warned that the debt-ridden Italian club are in danger of going out of business. Ferlaino claims Napoli need pounds 4m in the next 10 days to be able to begin the new Serie A season on 27 August.

FRENCH LEAGUE: Nantes 1 Auxerre 0; Monaco 3 Rennes 1; Bordeaux 1 Lille 0; Cannes 3 Lyon 0; Lens 2 Le Havre 0; Montpellier 2 Strasbourg 2; St Etienne 1 Nice 1; Guingamp 2 Martigues 0; Gueugnon 0 Metz 0.

FRIENDLIES: Gillingham 2 Araklis Salonika 0; Afan Lido 6 Merthyr 0.