Gary Johnson: The manager took Yeovil into the league now aims to lift them higher

The Championship play-off is billed as the richest match in football but wealth is relative. For Brentford and Yeovil Town, the League One play-off has the potential to be just as transformative.

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`Suicidal' Tories in tatters as MP defects to Labour

THE TORY PARTY was reeling last night after its brightest young "progressive" MP defected to Labour. Senior figures warned that the Conservatives were committing electoral suicide.

Football: Deadline extended to assist rescue bids for Palace

CRYSTAL PALACE'S administrator has extended the deadline for bidders for the financially-troubled First Division club until the end of this week. The move will allow the directors' consortium, which includes the acting chairman, Peter Morley, and the former director, Simon Hume-Kendall, three more days to finalise the details of its takeover plan.

Football: Noades invited to return to Palace

TWO RIVAL consortiums that have been bidding to take control of Crystal Palace are now working on a combined plan to save the club and bring back the former owner, Ron Noades.

Drug runner to sue Customs for return of pounds 10,000 emerald

A COLOMBIAN drug runner imprisoned in Britain has won the right to sue Customs and Excise for the loss of a stone which, he claims, was a pounds 10,000 emerald handed down to him by his grandmother.

Property: Hot Spot Isleworth, Middlesex - Sells like Thames spirit

Isleworth may not have the cachet of pricey Chiswick or Twickenham, but it's got the same waterfront charm

Going Out: Jazz & Blues

The acid-jazz sound that has taken the London club scene by storm in recent years owes no small debt to vibraphonist Roy Ayers (above). With a career stretching back to the early Sixties, Ayers, who appears at Ronnie Scott's, Frith Street from Monday, has been a prime mover in the development of the soul/ jazz and R&B/funk styles that are proving so popular.

Obituary: Rose Whitlock

THE ENGLISH canal system was a prodigious symbol of the Industrial Revolution, but it never succeeded in meeting the competition of its younger rival, the railways. It lacked co-ordinated capital investment, but provided a brilliantly conceived, boldly executed, though haphazardly planned, network of inland waterways for commercial freight.

Football: Brentford set sights on title

Brentford 4 Swansea 1

Football: Graydon's success at first time of asking

NATIONWIDE ROUND-UP

Football: That was the weekend that was: McFarland in right fix over fixture backlog

THE RUMOUR in Nottingham is that Forest supporters might have to stomach a Derby man at the helm now that Ron Atkinson has announced his retirement. But Roy McFarland, tipped along with Brian Little and Stuart Pearce as possible successors to Big Ron, has a job to complete at Cambridge United before he can switch his thoughts elsewhere.

Sports Letter: Wrong again

Wrong again

Football: Coppell points the finger at Noades

STEVE COPPELL, the Crystal Palace caretaker manager, has blamed the club's former owner, Ron Noades, for the Eagles' desperate financial problems.

Comedy: mel and sue

It's not every comedy act that promises you a free make-over or hairdo if you arrive early for the show. But that's just what Mel and Sue are offering. It is typical of their quirkily different approach. Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, who met at Cambridge a decade ago, have made a name with their off-beat and irreverent Channel 4 chat shows, Light Lunch and Late Lunch. Now, after a gap of several years, they are returning to live comedy with a sketch show entitled "Back to Our Roots". Health and beauty regimes apparently feature heavily.
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Johnny Marr talks relationships and reunions

He's worked with Modest Mouse, the Pet Shop Boys and Beck, to name a few, and recently released his first solo album. So why, wonders Johnny Marr, do people still hark on about The Smiths?
After the flood: From Haiti to Britain, one man has captured the devastation of our increasingly deluged lands

In pictures: After the flood

From Haiti to Britain, one man has captured the devastation of our increasingly deluged lands
Death becomes her: Meet the very modern mortician who champions 'cool' funerals

Death becomes her: A very modern mortician

Ever considered baking a loved one's remains into a cake or putting their ashes in fireworks? If so, talk to Caitlin Doughty, champion of the alternative death industry.
How long can the 'Keep Calm' trend carry on?

How long can the 'Keep Calm' trend carry on?

At first it seemed clever and cute. Then the 'Keep Calm' motif went mad, spawning endless offshoots.
The man who built Brum: A lament for the demise of John Madin's Brutalist Birmingham

John Madin: The man who built Brum

The architect's buildings were supposed to leave an indelible, futuristic mark on his beloved hometown but they are now being inexorably torn down.
School of chop: Learning the art of butchery at the Ginger Pig

School of chop: Learning the art of butchery

How do you butcher a lamb? Or make Mexican street food in a British kitchen? Christopher Hirst finds out.
James Pembroke: The man who's eaten everywhere

The man who's eaten everywhere

Few people know more about restaurants than James Pembroke, who only spent five mealtimes at home during his entire childhood.
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?

The young JFK praised 'superior' Nordic races during visits to Germany
Banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to attend Cannes Film Festival 2013, his first public appearance since prison

Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival

Mohammad Rasoulof to make his first public appearance since being imprisoned three years ago
Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

Seeing the larger picture: Inspiring images of space

An exhibition explores images how photography has shaped astronomy
Eat Spam and carry on: Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating

Eat Spam and carry on

Wartime pamphlets could teach us a thing or two about healthy, thrifty eating
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence

Facial hair

Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

The 10 Best salt and pepper sets

Whether they're for everyday use or to make your dining table look just right, it's worth getting a stylish shaker...
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed

Chief executive says trophies will come if a 'core' of suitable players is in place
Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

Thomas Müller: We couldn't handle losing a Champions League Final again

The Bayern Munich forward tells Tim Rich his side have to shed chokers' tag after two recent final defeats