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James Lawton: Gerrard must regain control for Hodgson to limit damage

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Roy Hodgson was right to believe he scored a kind of triumph in Oslo and soon enough it was confirmed by the headline "The Roy [not Woy, please note] Done Good".

Steer clear of Euros, Campbell warns

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The former England defender Sol Campbell has warned fans to avoid travelling to Euro 2012 because of the threat of racism and violence.

Questions to be answered after manager's first outing

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Who is fit for the Euros?

Football in Brief: Baggies close in on Hughton; Cup win seals Brum's rise

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Baggies close in on Hughton

Robin Scott-Elliot: So far outside the box that it moves the goalposts, in a post-ironic way

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

I've clearly not been watching my zeitgeist tapes closely enough. As is the norm for these best/worst/ most shockingest programmes, a succession of comedians, actors, TV types and so on pretend to have seen the Czech Republic and Faroe Islands play a European Championship qualifier in the fog as well as the usual England penalty debacles. It was easier to identify the Czech players through Faroese fog than it was most of those making post-ironic – BBC 3 is, I believe, the home of post-ironism – remarks about the football.

The Last Word: Premier bullies devise youth system bound to end in tears

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The intruder, a foot soldier in football's dirty war, was discovered in a thicket of trees as an Under-14 match kicked off. He was marched out of the training ground, and warned that if he returned his car tyres would be slashed.

Outside the Box: Asia wants Champions' League final kick-off moved forward

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Chelsea supporters who struggled to get away from the Allianz Arena after the late finish to the Champions' League final and then had to pay for a Saturday night's accommodation might well approve of a proposal to make the final an afternoon kick-off, even if it comes for the most blatant of commercial reasons.

James Lawton: No easy feat for Hodgson to sort this mess out

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

As Roy Hodgson and the "bantering" Gary Neville conducted their amiable training session in the Manchester sunshine before flying off to Oslo it didn't do a whole lot of good speculating on how much further down the road were the likes of Spain, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Last Word: Terry's hijacking of centre stage was desperate

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

No wonder the English can't win Wimbledon. Their scandalised reaction, on learning that the Prime Minister indulges in an occasional game of tennis, implied the most infamous misuse of catgut since Rome burned. A saner view, surely, is that his cathartic thrashing of "The Clegger" offers a prototype that might be usefully adapted by others. If christened "JT", for instance, the same machine might cause such a proliferation of unplayable forehands throughout Europe that Djokovic himself would be overwhelmed, overnight, by a Bavarian butcher, Catalan baker and Neapolitan candlestick-maker. Come to that, you might even see a Wimbledon wild card for Frank Lampard.

BBC secure 'Match of the Day' rights for £179.7m

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:13:34 +0100

The BBC have paid £179.7million to keep their rights to the Match of the Day highlights programme of Premier League games for three years from the 2013/14 season.

You Write the Caption - 25/05/12

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:02:26 +0100

Go on, make us laugh. What might they be saying? Post your caption to this picture using the comment form below and our favourite will win a bottle of wine.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter labels penalties 'a tragedy' and seeks alternative

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:37:53 +0100

FIFA president Sepp Blatter today labelled penalty shoot-outs "a tragedy" and challenged Franz Beckenbauer to come up with an alternative.

PFA want racist abuse punishments increased

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:30:09 +0100

The Professional Footballers Association want to make racist abuse on the field a sackable offence next season.

'Sack players for racist abuse,' says PFA

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The Professional Footballers' Association is pushing to make racist abuse a sackable offence for players next season.

Howard Webb: If players feign injuries, others could die

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Howard Webb, England's leading referee and the man in charge of the game in which Fabrice Muamba collapsed, has cautioned players against "crying wolf" by feigning injury as it could increase the chance of on-field tragedy.

Goal-line technology to be tested during England's friendly with Belgium at Wembley

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:15:15 +0100

Goal-line technology is to be tested at England's friendly against Belgium at Wembley on June 2.

Referees to undergo drug testing reveals Fifa

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:24:21 +0100

Referees are set to be subject to drugs tests, FIFA's medical chiefs have revealed.

Sepp Blatter keen to keep Fifa on even keel

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Sepp Blatter is fond of a nautical metaphor. Here's how it goes: Fifa is a ship, he is its stolid captain and no matter how stormy the waters become, nothing will force him to seek safety below. He will remain on the bridge.

James Lawton: Gary Neville needs to find key to Wayne Rooney's desolate world

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

You might have thought that ruling yourself out of the first two games of football's second most important international tournament with a shocking flash of irresponsibility was quite enough to focus the mind of the nation's most gifted player.

Martin Hardy: Mark Hughes must decide if Joey Barton warrants place in QPR squad

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The headline will come from the number of games Joey Barton will serve in suspension for his actions at Manchester City on the final day of the season. Twelve. The ban is the longest ever handed out in the English game for altercations with the opposition.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter promotes 'lovely lady' but delays key reform

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Sepp Blatter's attempts to convince the sceptics that Fifa is actually making progress along its "road map" to reform were cast into further doubt yesterday when football's world governing body announced it was delaying – for another two months – the appointment of independent members to its new investigations unit

James Lawton: The Olympics is a place for serious football, not a David Beckham-Ryan Giggs sideshow

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Five years ago, at a mere 33, Ryan Giggs turned his back on international football, a prudent decision, most agreed, by someone wishing to extend his career with Manchester United. But now that he wants to join David Beckham in Great Britain's Olympic team, is it too much to hope that he will be effectively discouraged?

England fans warned after gay pride parade is ambushed by 500 ultra-right hooligans in Ukraine

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:51:48 +0100

Gay England football fans travelling to Ukraine for Euro 2012 have been warned to keep a low profile for their own safety.

Fifa appoint first female to executive committee

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:45:53 +0100

FIFA have appointed the first female member of the world governing body's executive committee.

Moving biography of keeper Robert Enke raises the bar at the British Sports Book Awards

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

When Nick Hornby began to chart his life's obsession with Arsenal Football Club two decades ago neither he, nor his fortunate publisher, could have had any idea of the phenomenon the memoir would launch. Fever Pitch, became a play, a film, and the progenitor of dozens of similar heartfelt paeans to clubs all the way from Bromley to Manchester United.

Football in brief - Darren Bent: We need a hungry manager; Eric Abidal home from hospital; Fernando Torres recalled by Del Bosque

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Bent : We need a hungry manager

James Lawton: Fernando Torres, stop shooting your mouth off and start hitting the target for Chelsea

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Isn't it funny – or maybe just sad – how often we touch up the more implacable realities of life with a dab or two from the palette of special pleading?

Best of the best: review of the season

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

BEST MATCH OF THE SEASON: MANCHESTER CITY 3-2 QPR

Trending: Reflected glory takes on a new meaning

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It was the most important moment in Chelsea's 107-year history. And the images of John Terry, Roberto Di Matteo, et al, lifting the European Cup on Saturday will go down in club lore.

Paul Eddison: This killed off Spurs' chance of ever dining at England's top table

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Inevitably, as soon as it was down to the Germans to win a penalty shoot-out, they lost their nerve and left Spurs staring at another year in the Europa League.

James Lawton: Has rouble dropped for Roman that Di Matteo is the way forward?

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

No, you don't have to be cowering behind the barricades of Arsenal or Tottenham choking on your angst to grasp that Chelsea's Champions League glory is one of the most outrageous assaults on the laws of probability in the history of football.

Sam Wallace: An amazing season of cats, dogs and fireworks

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Avere il braccino: it is the Italian phrase that Roberto Mancini started using in interviews and press conferences around the turn of the year and it means, literally "the arm grows short". Or, in other words, it is the failure to seize the moment. Yet in the end Chelsea and Mancini's Manchester City, for all the problems both have endured this season, for all the wobbles at times, were truly magnificent when it really mattered.

Robin Scott-Elliot: Holding's honeyed growl drowned out by Sky's Chelsea cheerleaders

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It's a personal suggestion for sporting heaven. The Saturday morning of the first Test of the summer, newspapers, coffee and David Gower caressing you into the day. Above all it is the sounds of a Test match morning that allow gentle waves to wash away the week.

The Last Word: Shankly spirit is reduced to a mere ghost

Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The scent of fresh lilies fills the lobby at the Melwood training ground, where men in late middle age wait at the gate with defiantly unfashionable scrapbooks. The eye is drawn to a bronze bust and an inscription, set in polished granite, which extends from floor to ceiling.

Owen hopes for the ultimate mad Hatters' tea party

Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

As a fall from footballing grace, it must be unparalleled. In the autumn of 2006, Luton Town beat Leeds United 5-1 to stand fifth in the Championship, raising hopes of a return to the highest level of English football; three successive relegations later they were out of the Football League altogether.

Outside the Box: Sunday best bettered? It could have made all the difference

Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Eight goals may seem a significant margin by which to win a title, as Manchester City did, even if they cut things a little fine in the end.

Champions ask for their ball back

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:16:04 +0100

Manchester City officials called in police after a teenage fan made off with the title-winning ball in the club's Premier League triumph.

The greatest European Cup finals

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:48 +0100

Bayern Munich take on Chelsea this weekend in the Champions League final.

James Lawton: Roman may have had key to his holy grail all along: Drogba

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Eight years ago Roman Abramovich moored two of his super-yachts on a bank of the Tagus in Lisbon in a show of opulence and financial power the like of which football had never quite seen before.

Ian Herbert: Modernity is fine but old-school ways still needed at Anfield

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Kenny Dalglish's second term as Liverpool manager felt like a personal fiefdom at times – such as on the morning, in the pit of the Luis Suarez/Patrice Evra saga, when he sat down with managing director Ian Ayre and director of football Damien Comolli to help illuminate his club's position. Dalglish took the middle seat, with Ayre and Comolli on the flanks. That said it all.

Villa Park to host FA Community Shield between Manchester City and Chelsea

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:20:41 +0100

Villa Park will host this season's FA Community Shield between Manchester City and Chelsea, it has been confirmed.

Pick me for Olympics 'on merit' David Beckham tells Team GB coach Stuart Pearce

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:00:08 +0100

David Beckham said today that he wants to compete at the Olympics on merit and nothing else.

The greatest Championship play-off finals

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:28:33 +0100

West Ham take on Blackpool this Saturday in the all-or-nothing Championship play-off final to determine who will be playing in the Premier League next season.

You Write the Caption - 18/05/12

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:48:57 +0100

Barack Obama: "I wear the pants around here!"

Ian Herbert: Fenway Sports Group have identified their Billy Beane in Roberto Martinez

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Roberto Martinez has always signed off his Wigan Athletic programme notes with the words sin miedo ("without fear"): he will need every ounce of that creed if he emerges from his encounter with Liverpool's American owners as the man to take over at Anfield.

The managerial sack race

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:47:46 +0100

Managers are never too far away from the sack in football, and this season has been no different.

World Cup winner Marcello Lippi appointed head coach of Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:20:38 +0100

Italy's World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi has been appointed head coach of the Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande, the club said today.

Putting the boot in to David Beckham

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:00:01 +0100

The world's most powerful man had a good laugh at the expense of the world's most famous one this week, as Barack Obama congratulated David Beckham's LA Galaxy team on their recent MLS title win. Obama – or should that be "o'Banter"? – said of Beckham, who is 37, that "half his team-mates could be his kids!" To the amusement of the players and assembled reporters, the President went on: "It is a rare man who can be that tough on the field, and also have his own line of underwear." Luckily for Obama, Becks can take a joke as well as he takes a free kick.

James Lawton: England manager Roy Hodgson gets credit in bank for being brave and decisive over Euro 2012 selections

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

For a man who must have felt these last few days like someone turning out his pockets in the hope of finding a little loose change, England manager Roy Hodgson put on a brave face yesterday. Better still, he gave the distinct impression that he was in charge of both himself and a European Championship squad which, frankly, looks barely competitive.

James Lawton: Kenny Dalglish didn't fail to recreate the past at Liverpool, he failed to face the future

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It was a good idea at the time and for a little while it might just have been a brilliant one.

Goal-line technology could start next season says Premier League chief Richard Scudamore

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:10:41 +0100

Goal-line technology could be brought in halfway through next season, according to Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore.

Pennant given suspended jail term

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The Stoke City winger Jermaine Pennant was yesterday given an eight-week jail sentence, suspended for a year, after he admitted drink-driving and driving while disqualified.

James Lawton: With Gary Neville in the camp, England's players should not fall prey to indifference

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

We can be cynical as easily as we like over the fast-tracking of Gary Neville into the hierarchy of the England team. We can ask if, for example, you were the new manager Roy Hodgson, would you rather have Red Nev at your side in the potential maelstrom of the European Championship – or lurking in a TV studio dreaming up the kind of line that hit David Luiz like an assassin's bullet?

Sam Wallace: End of an England era – and Rio Ferdinand will have a few regrets

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

By any measure it has been a remarkable international career, and one that has survived more than its fair share of ups and downs, but having been left out of the Euro 2012 squad, Rio Ferdinand has surely now played his last game for England.

Sam Allardyce starts legal action against Blackburn Rovers successor Steve Kean

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Sam Allardyce's legal representatives have sent letters to Steve Kean and Blackburn Rovers following video footage that shows the club's manager making disparaging remarks about his former colleague.

Sam Wallace: Former Manchester United defender 'Red Nev' Gary Neville is a rebel with a new cause

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:56 +0100

The Football Association will be in no doubt that by appointing Gary Neville as assistant to Roy Hodgson, the governing body has brought one of the English game’s most outspoken and, occasionally fiercely critical, figures into the fold.

James Lawton: An exciting league season? Without a doubt. But the best ever? No chance

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:07 +0100

There are two things to say about the Premier League season which is being so widely hailed as the best ever, if only to placate some of the more overwrought Manchester City fans who now seem to believe that what happened at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon was right up there with the relief of Mafeking and the storming of the Winter Palace.

Fan's eye view: Boring, drab, playing for a draw. Alex McLeish had no defence at Aston Villa

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

One of the less offensive jokes about our manager at Villa Park this season asked: What will Alex McLeish do when the fans, press and players turn against him? Play for a draw.

QPR captain Joey Barton threatens to 'expose' Gary Lineker and says of Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer - 'I despise him'

Mon, 14 May 2012 13:15:35 +0100

Joey Barton has gone on the offensive on Twitter, lashing out at Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer and the presenter of the BBC show Gary Lineker, following his dismissal in the dramatic match at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City's victory parade expected to attract thousands‎

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:07:28 +0100

Jubilant Manchester City fans have been warned by police not to let tonight's victory parade celebrations get out of hand.

James Lawton: Sergio Aguero delivers on his promise with golden shot to transform Manchester City

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It required a superior footballer – and competitive man – to impose a little order and quality and character on something that was otherwise destined to be remembered as one of football's most expensive and unbridled disasters.

Ian Herbert: Amid the lavish spending at Manchester City, Roberto Mancini's judgement should not be overlooked

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

When the dust settles on all of this, there will be a chance for those who by last night had turned Manchester into a sky blue sea to trace some title-defining moments from the 264 days which began when Sergio Aguero, a 60th-minute substitute, terrorised Swansea City and ended with him whirling around the same turf, shirt aloft.

Sam Wallace: Yes, it's another new Manchester United kit – but check out the Nike drivel

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Manchester United's new home shirt for next season was launched last week; an odd checked design but not nearly as perplexing as the marketing spiel that accompanied it. "The striking gingham print," Nike said, is "a tribute to the world-famous fabric that powered Manchester's growth from a small market town to a global centre of cotton textiles".

Robin Scott-Elliot: David Beckham trots towards the Olympics but what of his sporting afterlife?

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It's not a good time for Stuart Pearce, what with going from scrupulously planning the laundry schedule for JT, Lamps and the gang in Krakow this summer to Roy Hodgson deciding to leave him at home to sort his sock draw on his own.

The Last Word: Why City no longer belong to me

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

I was at Newcastle in May 1968 when Manchester City won their last championship with a thrilling 4-3 win. But I'm in Toronto today so I won't be at the ground to witness City's moment of glory around five o'clock this afternoon. Apparently, the latest information suggests that City's owner, Sheikh Mansour, isn't going to the match either.

Ian Holloway: Winning promotion at Wembley is a wonderful feeling, and I should know

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Unless you enjoy watching the same football game 25 times, don't come round to my house this week. I dug out a DVD of our play-off final win from two years ago and I have had it on non-stop. My wife is so sick of it she is on the verge of killing me.

Outside the Box: To win the European Cup you must wheel out your old guard

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

After ProZone, the statistical tool now widely used by many Premier League clubs, and sabermetrics, the system derived from baseball and featured in the book and film Moneyball, comes...wait for it... analytics from the International Centre for Sports Studies Football Observatory.

James Lawton: Last City side to win the title blazed all too briefly as Big Mal's magic burnt out

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Yaya Touré's declaration that Manchester City may well be about to rule the world is only excessive if you forget, or were not around, the last time his club became champions of England.

The Last Word: Some day your club may endure this nightmare

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

You know Swansea must be mustard going forward if a player as good as Stephen Dobbie can leave the Liberty Stadium with so many splinters in his backside. Surgery may well have been required to detach the Scotsman from the bench, when he was at last sent away for a second loan spell at Blackpool in March. Yet the perennial substitute now finds himself centre stage, with the chance of winning a third consecutive play-off final at Wembley next Saturday.

Simon Kelner: City's moment of truth. We can't cock it up, can we?

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:01:09 +0100

It started life back in the late summer of 2011. Since then, it has seen so many twists and turns, and endured a number of scandals, sensations and slanging matches. It is principally about money and power, and, for many months, its dramatic narrative has captivated much of Britain. Now, we are about to witness a climactic moment.

You Write the Caption - 11/05/12

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:58:35 +0100

The chicken: "I am more your old fashioned winger..."

The Invincibles: Teams that went through an entire season unbeaten

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:07:29 +0100

Should Juventus avoid defeat at home to Atalanta this weekend, they will join a select group of European teams to navigate an entire season without losing a single match.

Football for dummies: Goal-line technology inches closer to reality

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It is a footballing revolution that has not happened in a hurry but it is happening. Yesterday at a rain-shrouded St Mary's, home of Southampton, goal-line technology moved a step closer to being introduced seven years after it was first put to the test. It is not, though, going to be a sprint finish and it remains unlikely any system will be in place in time for the start of next season.

Former Chelsea assistant Ray Wilkins faces drink charge

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The former England, Chelsea and Manchester United player Ray Wilkins has been charged with drinking and driving.

James Lawton: Rio Ferdinand and John Terry should get on with it if they are professionals

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

When he was storming about on behalf of Leeds United and Manchester City, and 19 times for England, Danny Mills was not easy to mark down automatically as a potential football statesman. Whatever his other virtues, cool logic never announced itself uppermost.

New kit sees Manchester United sign another huge check

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

They may be "forged in industry, striving for glory" but Manchester United appear to have missed the mark with a new checked gingham kit design - the club's fourth in four seasons.

Colour blind: The most controversial sports kits

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:55:11 +0100

Cardiff City are considering a proposal to change the colour of their home kit from their traditional blue to red - quite a controversial move considering the Championship side are known as the Bluebirds.

Sky Sports pundit Ray Wilkins charged with drink-driving

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:51:16 +0100

Former England and Chelsea player Ray Wilkins has been charged with drink-driving, police said.

Chicken smuggling: a football fan's guide

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Much credit to the Blackburn fan who smuggled a chicken into Ewood Park to protest the side's owners, Venky's. But when most grounds check any kind of bag for booze, weapons or, God forbid, water, the question is – like when Inter fans smuggled a Vespa into the San Siro in 2001 – how did they do that?

Dropped points: the true price of a European place revealed

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It is difficult at this time of year as places are won in European competitions not to get distracted by the prestige of it all. Newcastle United, set for their first continental football for six years, must certainly be excited. But there is a note of caution this week: for all the glamour and class of midweek games, playing repeatedly without sufficient rest can seriously damage a team's health.

James Lawton: Premier League is to blame for owners acting like headless chickens

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

Having lamented the absence of Uefa president Michel Platini from last week's show of wealth and power at the Etihad Stadium, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore might now want to tell us how much he regretted the Frenchman's non-appearance at Ewood Park this week.

Premier League weekend in pictures

Tue, 08 May 2012 13:25:04 +0100

In another exciting weekend of football, Manchester City moved to within touching distance of the title and Blackburn were relegated to the Championship.

From cats to Cantonas: Weird things seen on a football pitch

Tue, 08 May 2012 13:23:27 +0100

About the only cheer for Blackburn fans during last night's defeat to Wigan was the sight of a chicken roaming around the pitch.

James Lawton: Time to walk away? No chance. Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson is up for his toughest fight

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It is the question that some say Sir Alex Ferguson, aged 70, will never face, let alone answer. Yet perhaps it has never carried a sharper edge than in these last few days when the 13th Premier League title he seemed to have conjured from, if not thin air, then extremely unpromising odds, has almost certainly been taken away.

Hillsborough Facebook site investigated by police

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

A Facebook page which mocked the Hillsborough football tragedy is being investigated by police. The page allegedly pointed fun at the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans who were crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final in April 1989.

Brazil to give free tickets to the poor at World Cup and Olympics

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

The Brazilian government will hand out free tickets to the country's poor and indigenous people for the 2014 World Cup finals and expect to do the same for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The host nation has already won concessions from Fifa over allowing students and pensioners half-price tickets but is determined to take that a step further.

Has this been the best Premier League season yet?

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

There is only one set of games left in this Premier League season of restorative excitement. English football has been shown up in Europe, unfortunately, but for the 369-game body of the season, the thrills and entertainment have been better than they have been for quite some time. A new shade to the title race, some daring attacking football and a quantity and quality of goals far outstripping what we had grown used to.

Hillsborough Facebook page investigated by police

Mon, 07 May 2012 16:44:22 +0100

A Facebook page which allegedly mocked the Hillsborough football tragedy is being investigated by police.

James Lawton: Yaya Touré displays the character that decides championships

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

For the briefest time there was a wild set of allegations made against Yaya Touré. They could be pared down easily enough. He was overpriced, overweight and over here.

Sam Wallace: Roy Hodgson's late booking offers prospect of thrills in Europe

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

A week today, Roy Hodgson is expected to name his England squad for the European Championship. Tomorrow he might just finalise his back-room staff. At some point this week he will look again at the facilities at England's pre-tournament training camp in Marbella and their Krakow base, but the first time he sees them for real will be when he arrives with his players. He still needs to pick a West Bromwich Albion team to beat Arsenal on Sunday. Do Marks & Spencer have a Football Association suit in his size? Put it on the to do list.

Robin Scott-Elliot: The greatest cup competition in the world – it takes up half of the weekend

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

It's David Bernstein I feel sorry for. After the week he'd had, a Saturday morning lie-in would have been something to savour. Instead he had to get up at the crack of dawn to let Rebecca Lowe, Jason McAteer, Pat Nevin, Craig Burley and all into Wembley. "Where in just over nine hours' time..." said Lowe, as part of her introduction to ESPN's exhaustive and exhausting coverage of the FA Cup final. This was a job for a workaholic midfielder rather than the prima donna striker, which is perhaps why Robbie Mustoe was included.

Ian Holloway: Don't rule out United until the very last kick

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:01 +0100

I have told my wife to turn off her phone today. We are going to plant ourselves on the couch and spend the whole afternoon watching the Premier League title race pan out. That is my idea of heaven.