Fans are right to protest but unless the game’s riches are better redistributed the super-rich benefactors are here to stay Whether you see in the demonstrations at Old Trafford last week an outrageous affront to law and decency or a legitimate mode of dissent, a public expression at last of long-held grievances, it is clear, perhaps for the first time in English football, that there is a real sense of militancy among fans. With the super-clubs in retreat, the possibility of change appears real – or at least more real than it has been for years. In which case fans should probably work out what they want.Already it is notable that the serious protests have been focused at the two...
Four-day sporting boycott has reinforced the need for Twitter, Facebook and others to kick trolls off their platforms – nowAs we enter the final hours of sport’s four-day online boycott, in protest at the social media giants’ pernicious failure to tackle hate, let’s try imagining an alternative reality. Just as now, it starts with trolls sending racist abuse at, say, Mohamed Salah or Marcus Rashford, or relentlessly attacking a female sports star or commentator. Only, in this parallel universe, a crack team of investigators spring into action.What might happen next? First the investigators would find out the culprits’ names, telephone numbers, and where they lived. Then the authorities would be alerted. Shortly afterwards, accounts would be closed down. And, in...
Amid the grievances that have brought fans into the streets in recent weeks there is a yearning to feel something againA lone saxophonist was playing in the sunshine outside Old Trafford on Sunday evening. This was after the tumult, after the crowds had been pushed back, after the police had regained control of the concourse outside the megastore, before the inevitable 0-0 draw between Manchester United and Liverpool had finally been called off. And on another surreal and poignant day in English football, it was possible to hear in those breezy notes a lament for something that had been lost, something that even now might never be recovered.Earlier in the day, by all accounts, the mood had been mutinous, bordering...
Super League shambles shows the focus must not be on short-term gain even as search for sustainability goes onThe European Super League saga may, for now, be over but fallout from the shambolic breakaway attempt rumbles on.“As soon as practicable after the start of the men’s competition, a corresponding women’s league will also be launched, helping to advance and develop the women’s game,” the ESL launch statement proclaimed. Related: ‘It’s been a pleasure and privilege’: Fara Williams to retire at end of the season Europe's most successful women's football team, Lyon, have hired a female coach for the first time with former academy director Sonia Bompastor replacing Jean-Luc Vasseur. Continue reading...
The team’s sense of tactical trepidation is a product of the decisions made by the Glazers and Ed WoodwardAccording to reports, the high‑powered meeting between Boris Johnson and Ed Woodward at 10 Downing Street earlier this month was actually a chance encounter that occurred when the two men stumbled across each other in a corridor. Instinctively, this feels about right. After all, these are two men for whom stumbling has been their defining professional technique: over decisions and into positions of immense and unanswerable influence.Who knows what was discussed? Perhaps the prime minister and the Manchester United executive vice-chairman bonded over their apparent shared indifference towards football, and the strain of having to feign otherwise. One thing we are told...