Football

“I recently stumbled upon this article about Tony Hibbert signing for an unbeaten Sunday league team in 2017 and missing a penalty for them in a 1-0 defeat on his debut. Which other former professionals have extended their careers into Sunday league football after retiring,” asks George Jones. The smell of liniment oil and the thrill of almost being cut in two by a hungover centre-back would appear to be quite the draw for ex-pros as there have been a few turning out for Sunday teams over the years. “I remember Julio Arca, formerly of Sunderland and Middlesborough, playing for his local team Willow Pond FC in Sunderland for a period after he retired in 2013,” writes Robert Kelly. “He later played for South Shields at a higher standard.” Ali Tabari can go one better. He has a former Premier League player being managed by a former Premier League player in the pock-marked fields of Warwickshire. “My friend until recently played for a team near … [Read more...] about Which former pros have played Sunday league football after retiring?

Mesut Özil seems to have accepted his days at Arsenal are numbered, having made just a paltry two appearances for the club in all competitions this season. With his manager Unai Emery reported to be unimpressed with the playmaker’s attitude in training, a January move elsewhere looks increasingly likely even if his current employers are forced to heavily subsidise his £350,000 weekly stipend. Turkish newspaper Takvim, which your polyglot Rumour Mill has delivered daily, report that Fenerbahce have opened talks with Arsenal about a loan deal and say the “dream move can come true in January”. Not for the first time in recent months Manchester City are mulling over the possibility of trying to sign Nathan Aké, having identified the central defender as the man to help plug the conspicuous Aymeric Laporte-shaped hole in their beleaguered defence. Speculation linking Aké with City during the summer ultimately came to naught, but knowing how desperate … [Read more...] about Football transfer rumours: Mesut Özil to leave Arsenal for Fenerbahce?

The former England striker Peter Beardsley has been banned from football for 32 weeks after being found guilty of three charges of racially abusing black players while coach of the Newcastle under-23 team. A Football Association independent panel found that Beardsley had called a player of black African origin a monkey during a game of head tennis and had told black players “you should be used to that” on a team‑building trip to the outdoor adventure park Go Ape. Beardsley, who left Newcastle in March, was also found guilty of questioning the legitimacy of a black player’s age, which the panel said was “a negative stereotype that players of black African origin commit fraud as to their true age”. The 58-year‑old’s comments were, the panel concluded, “obviously racist and wholly unacceptable” and it found him guilty of three aggravated breaches of FA Rule E3. He is banned from all football and football-related activity until 29 … [Read more...] about Peter Beardsley barred from football for seven months over racist language

Kick off your evenings with our football roundup. We’ll deliver the day’s news and gossip in our own belligerent, sometimes intelligent and — very occasionally — funny way Try our other sports emails: there’s weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day round-up of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap. Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter *** Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you *** The Guardian’s newsletters include content from our website, which may be funded by outside parties. Newsletters may also display information about Guardian News and Media’s other products, services or events (such as Guardian Jobs or Masterclasses), chosen charities or online advertisements. Topics Football The Fiver Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via … [Read more...] about The Fiver: the Guardian’s take on the world of football

A fact-filled profile of the snowboard champion Katie Ormerod and a thrilling basketball match report have been revealed as the winners of the inaugural Guardian and Football School Young Sportswriters of the Year award. The winner of the category for writers aged seven to nine, eight-year-old Caleb Waterhouse, wrote about Ormerod, who attended his primary school in West Yorkshire. In the category for ages 10 to 12, Billy Taylor, 12, wrote about the time he saw an NBA game in Los Angeles. Hundreds of students entered the competition, whose judges included the Guardian columnist and former England footballer Eni Aluko and the World Cup-winning footballer Per Mertesacker. “Caleb wrote a moving article that shows he’s learnt a valuable lesson from Katie to stay active and positive, even in disappointing situations,” Aluko said. “The standard was so impressive, it was a hard to choose a winner,” Mertesacker added. “It was a pleasure to read these … [Read more...] about ‘Impressive and moving’ – Football School/Guardian Young Sportswriters of the Year revealed