Bale wins his Spurs with first goal since return from Real life
November 2 – The relief and joy were palpable. Seven years after his then world record move to Real Madrid, Gareth Bale has become Tottenham Hotspur’s match-winner once again.
Premier League
Toon Army to get staged season ticket refunds
October 30 – Premier League Newcastle United will refund season ticket holders for behind-closed-doors games this season after weeks of lobbying by the club’s fans.
Man Utd say Old Trafford could safely hold 23,500 fans
October 29 – Manchester United say they have modified their Old Trafford stadium to accommodate 23,500 socially-distanced spectators – roughly one third of capacity.
Clubs vs country: Premier League wants Brexit visa rules relaxed to keep its foreign player flow
October 27 – The English Premier League is reportedly plotting to bypass the country’s FA in an escalating row over what happens with player visas in the post-Brexit era, according to reports.
Axa ensures its Liverpool position with naming rights deal to new training ground
October 27 – Premier League champions Liverpool have boosted their deal with AXA who have taken the naming rights to new club’s new Training Centre that becomes operational next month.
Life on the margins: Premier League call on FIFA to help clear up offside chaos
October 26 – Following a number of contentious calls in recent weeks, the English Premier League is reportedly pushing FIFA to implement a ‘linesman’s call’ to deal with the most marginal offside decisions.
Report finds 43% of players in EPL racially abused on social media
By Andrew Warshaw
October 22 – A new report into the extent to which professional footballers are attacked online has thrown up damning and disturbing findings, with 43% of English Premier League players surveyed having experienced “targeted racist abuse”.
Man Utd post £20m loss, but commercial strength limits the Covid damage
By David Owen
October 21 – Manchester United today fired the first shot in what is set to be an extremely sobering Premier League financial results season, reporting a pre-tax loss of £20.8 million for the year to end-June 2020.
Hands-on Aguero looks set to escape sanction
October 20 – Manchester City’s Argentine striker Sergio Aguero will reportedly avoid retrospective action after being caught on camera placing his hand on the shoulder of a female assistant referee during last Saturday’s Premier League win against Arsenal.
Pickford wipes out Van Dijk’s season as Liverpool protest VAR failures
October 19 – English champions Liverpool have been a dealt a massive blow after it was confirmed that central defensive talisman Virgil van Dijk will endure a long layoff after suffering a serious cruciate injury in Saturday’s hotly contested Merseyside derby draw against league leaders Everton.
West Ham’s late triple spoils Bale’s return to Spurs
October 19 – Gareth Bale’s much-anticipated homecoming to Tottenham Hotspur was overshadowed by his team squandering a 3-0 lead with just minutes remaining against London rivals West Ham on Sunday.
Premier League clubs reject Man Utd/Liverpool plan but release another £50m for EFL
By Andrew Warshaw
October 15 – Just days after radical plans for a major overhaul of English football became public, the proposed shake-up led by Liverpool and Manchester United was rejected Wednesday by Premier League clubs.
FA would block breakaway ‘Big Six’ Champions League slots; EFL clubs eye the cash
By Paul Nicholson
October 14 – With battle lines being drawn around the ‘Project Big Picture’ proposal that would restructure professional football in England, the FA has said that it would use its veto to kill off any English breakaway league and take away Champions League qualification from those clubs.
Premier League’s Big Picture starts to get foggy as anger rises over Covid power grab
By Paul Nicholson
October 13 – The radical ‘big picture’ plan led by Liverpool and Manchester United to restructure leagues, refinance the EFL and take voting control of the Premier League, and in effect the lower three tiers of England’s professional game, have met with mixtures of silence, anger and some optimism from clubs hunting for an immediate cash windfall.
Anger over Man Utd and Liverpool power grab that would change face of English football
By Andrew Warshaw
October 12 – Could it be the saviour of English football or death knell for the game as we know it? Is it handing power to a cartel of money-grabbing clubs or an invaluable rescue package for the lower professional leagues?