Newcastle, Chelsea and Man Utd top attendance chart, Spurs are bottom again
August 28 – After three rounds of Premier League fixtures more 1 million tickets have been sold for 30 matches with 71,420 seats unfilled.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Scottish Women’s Premier League lands world’s oldest building society as title sponsor
August 28 – The Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) has signed a three-year six-figure title sponsorship with the Scottish Building Society, the first major sponsorship support of the two division league.
CL draw produces spectacularly unbalanced groups, just ask Spurs and Celtic fans
By Mark Baber
August 25 – The draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage has produced some fascinating match-ups as well as groups of wildly uneven strength.
End ban on Libya hosting internationals, says political leader al-Serraj. But don’t let him run security
By Mark Baber
August 25 – Libyan politician Fayez Mustafa al-Sarraj, whose official titles include Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya and prime minister of the Government of National Accord of Libya, has made a visit to Tripoli’s Al-Ahli football club on calling for an end to the “ban” on international matches in Libyan stadiums.
AFC marks 500 days to go to expanded Asian Cup with a reminder of its heritage
August 25 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has marked the ‘500 days to go’ until the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE with a short film celebrating the history and heritage of the region’s premier national competition.
£1.17bn spent, and more to come. Premier League smashes transfer spending records
August 25 – With five days still to go before the summer 2017 transfer window closes Premier League clubs have smashed their previous spending records and there is more to come.
Samara World Cup stadium behind schedule, but builder says it will meet year-end deadline
August 25 – Samara’s World Cup stadium has fallen 30 days behind its construction schedule, the contractor of the venue has announced. The venue is set to host six matches, including a quarter-final, during the 2018 World Cup.
Liverpool kit is flying off the shelves. So is transport to the matches
August 25 – Philippe Coutinho might be the only asset in Liverpool that isn’t selling at the moment. The club has announced that it has already sold out of some replica kit items while Irish airline Ryanair has said that its selling out of seats to Liverpool and Manchester on match days.
Ronaldo wins UEFA men’s player of the year, Holland’s Lieke Martens tops women’s poll
August 25 – He may feel unloved in Spain where he has been handed a five match ban for laying his hands on a referee after he had been sent off, but he was certainly feeling the love from the rest of Europe last night when he picked up the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award for the 2016/17 season.
While UEFA’s best are picking up awards, Neymar is chasing down even more money
August 25 – While Europe’s top players were focussed on picking up awards and Champions League draws, Europe’s most expensive player, Neymar, was focussing on what he is good at, chasing down money.
Man City’s Chinese mobile partner TECNO Mobile reaches out to Africa
August 25 – Manchester City’s Official Tablet and Handset partner TECNO Mobile has launched an African marketing activation that will see 13 youth players from across Africa spend a week being coached at the City Football Academy.
Cameroon political twist: normalisation committee adds to doubt over 2019 AFCON hosting
By Andrew Warshaw
August 24 – Cameroon’s flickering hopes of staging the 2019 African Nations Cup have been plunged into further doubt following FIFA’s appointment of a normalisation committee to run the national federation (FECAFOOT).
CFG add sixth club as Girona exploit their Man City links to join the corporation
By Paul Nicholson
August 24 – Manchester City owner City Football Group (CFG) has bought a 44.3% stake in LaLiga club Girona alongside Pere Guardiola, brother of Man City manager Pep, who will also own 44.3%. No value was put on the acquisition.
Second tier clubs can’t live on parachute payments alone, finds report
By Paul Nicholson
August 24 – Clubs that are relegated from one of Europe’s Big 5 leagues to their national second tiers will not be saved by parachute payments alone, that money will only soften the blow, according to research by KPMG’s Football Benchmark teams.
UEFA enrols Ronaldo, Messi and Pogba as it rolls out #EqualGame message
August 24 – Some of world football’s biggest stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba, are leading the #EqualGame campaign, a new digital and social media platform launched by UEFA to promote inclusion, diversity and accessibility to football.