The former Chelsea captain’s dive into the murky world of NFTs raises questions. Is it OK? And what is he doing there?As the transfer window enters its endgame there has been a familiar sub-plot over the last few days, another chapter in the ballad of Ousmane Dembélé.This is the strangest of sporting lives. Dembélé is only 24. He joined Barcelona for £96m as long ago as August 2017, one of several deals that were steroid-fed by the state of Qatar’s inflationary lust for Neymar. Continue reading...
As John Terry knows, acquittal in a court of law on the basis of ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ does not mean the FA will not take action on the balance of probabilitiesIt is coming up for seven years now since John Terry found himself in the dock of Westminster magistrates court on charges of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand and, though I could never say sitting through that week-long trial was a particularly fulfilling experience, there is one memory that offers some light relief amid all the other numbing details.It goes back to the penultimate day, when Terry was being taken through some of the evidence related to his exchange of words with Ferdinand, then of QPR, and having to repeat...
No 26 did not deliver destiny for Villa in the Championship play-off final against Fulham and now Steve Bruce has problems preparing for another promotion tiltSurely football’s gods would not deny Aston Villa this time: 26 May was the 36th anniversary of the club’s European Cup victory when the team in claret and blue, against all the odds, beat the bluebloods of Bayern Munich. The number 26 was on the back of Villa’s captain, John Terry, the warrior central defender who would pass his 38th birthday back in the Premier League, taking a couple of days off when his adopted club play Chelsea to whom he said goodbye a year ago in the 26th minute.That was to be the narrative except...
This is where we all are at the moment, gushing at news that Fulham’s teenage wing-back can use a household applianceTo south-west London, where startling news emerged when Fulham’s Supporters Trust held its AGM on Tuesday. An awed hush fell over the room as Alistair Mackintosh, the club’s CEO, told an anecdote that left everyone wiping away the tears. On one occasion this season, Mackintosh revealed, Ryan Sessegnon had a doping test after a night game and by the time he was done everyone had gone, the kit man included. So Sessegnon took his kit home, washed it and ironed it before bringing it in the next day.The story ended there, leaving us to speculate whether Fulham saw fit to...
From John Terry at Villa to vegan pies and Harry Kewell the manager there are fresh stories aplenty when the English Football League kicks off on FridayHaving brought down the curtain on 22 glorious years at Chelsea with that 26th-minute substitution, John Terry decided to prolong his career by dropping down a level. The former England captain was not short of offers but eventually he was lured to Aston Villa by a series of flattering texts from Steve Bruce, who hopes the centre-back’s class will allow him to deal with nippy Championship forwards. Related: Sunderland continue to pay the price for more than 10 years of mismanagement | Louise Taylor Related: Championship, League One and League Two: how will your club...