By Andrew Warshaw
May 24 – Manchester United have finally confirmed what the world has been reporting for 48 hours by announcing that Louis van Gaal has been sacked as manager, a sorry end to a saga that has left a sour taste in the mouth despite a massively under-achieving league season.
May 19 – China’s influence as an emerging new global commercial player in football has been further underlined with businessman Tony Xia agreeing to buy Aston Villa, the historic English club just relegated from the Premier League, for a reported £60 million.
May 19 – The Premier League may have finished slightly later than planned with the forced shift of Manchester United’s final home game against Bournemouth to Tuesday night because of security concerns, but fans set a record attendance across the country for the Sunday 3pm kick offs.
May 19 – Leicester City, the rags to riches English Premier League champions who have rewritten the rules on the pitch, have moved swiftly to expand their international footprint and are reported to be focussing on China with a plan to train Chinese youth players at their academy.
May 15 – Manchester United unveiled third quarter revenues up 29.9% to £123.4 million, predominantly the result of a controlled explosion in commercial revenues which rose 37.7% for the quarter to £65.8 million.
May 13 – Tottenham Hotspur’s Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino has signed a contract extension which commits him to the north London club until 2021.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 12 – They spent a whopping £80 million on new players since last summer and, when that didn’t bear fruit, brought in one of Europe’s most accomplished and respected managers late on to try and save them.
May 12 – Everton have sacked manager Roberto Martinez after three years in charge. Even before he was fired the managerial rumour mill for next season had already started with Frank de Boer reported to be in the frame to take over after agreeing to leave Ajax after five years in charge.
May 11 – West Ham United’s final match at its iconic Upton Park ground in East London after 112 years may have had the perfect denouement on the field, with an emotional 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Manchester United. But the carnival atmosphere turned distinctly sour courtesy of shameful scenes reminiscent of the dark days of English football.
May 9 – When Pep Guardiola agreed terms with Manchester City to take over from Manuel Pellegrini next season, he surely did so with the prospect of having another crack at the Champions League as well as turning his many talents to taking City back to the top of the pack domestically.
May 6 – Promotion to the Premier League could be worth around £170 million to the winner of Saturday’s sudden death decider between Middlesbrough and Brighton, according to financial analysts Deloitte.
May 6 – Tottenham Hotspur are getting closer to a deal to play home their Premier League games at Wembley, the national stadium, in the 2017-18 season as they complete building work on a new ground.
May 6 – Last weekend’s Premier League fixtures recorded a season high in terms of overall percentage of stadium capacities reported. With every home team reporting more than 90% of capacity, there were just 7,190 unsold seats out of 400,246 available.
By David Owen
May 4 – Just as Gareth Bale propelled Tottenham Hotspur to the top of the Premier League’s profit pile last time around, so Luís Suárez is responsible for Liverpool’s position of pre-eminence in the latest table.
May 4 – The Thai owners of shock Premier League champions Leicester City insist they will resist attempts by more glamorous clubs to lure away their top players following their remarkable triumph that captured the imagination of fans worldwide.