By Andrew Warshaw
April 4 – As widely anticipated, Italy’s Antonio Conte is the man chosen as Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor to revive the fortunes of Chelsea. Conte, currently head coach of Italy, will move to London after this summer’s Euros on a three-year contract following the departure of Mourinho in December, prompted by Chelsea’s worst start to a top-flight campaign for more than 30 years.
April 4 – This time last year Leicester City’s fans were chanting “we are staying up” as their team put together the greatest ever survival feat in Premier League history.
April 4 – The four English clubs – three of them in the Premier League – named in the athlete doping allegations at the weekend have all issued statements denying the claims.
April 4 – Round 32 of Premier League fixtures after the international break delivered near capacity crowds in eight of ten home fixtures but at Aston Villa despair found a new level on Saturday.
By David Owen
April 1 – Unfashionable Burnley have quietly become one of the most profitable clubs in English football, the Leicester City of football finance. The team in claret and blue from an old East Lancashire cotton town has posted a pre-tax profit of £34.6 million for its year to 30 June 2015 – just £500,000 less than Arsenal and Manchester City managed between them.
April 1 – Already without the services of former England midfielder Adam Johnson, imprisoned for six years after his conviction on charges of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl, struggling English Premier League team Sunderland have now had to sack one-time Arsenal fullback Emmanuel Eboué, who has been banned from football for 12 months by FIFA because of an unpaid debt owed to his former representative.
By David Owen
March 31 – Queens Park Rangers, the west London club back playing in the second tier of English football after ending last season as the Premier League’s bottom club, have reported a substantial pre-tax loss of £45.7 million for the year to 31 May 2015.
March 29 – With England preparing for their game against Holland tonight at Wembley, Premier League clubs will be preparing for another bumper set of attendances this coming weekend after figures for round 31 of fixtures set a season high average attendance of 97.51% – beating the opening day figure of 97.36%.
March 22 – The promise of the east has lured the might of Manchester United to make their 2016 pre-season tour to China for two games this summer.
March 18 – Liverpool and Manchester United, fierce rivals on and off the pitch, as anticipated have been charged by UEFA following crowd trouble during their Europa League last-16 second leg on Thursday.
March 15 – Liverpool have announced that chief executive Ian Ayre will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of May 2017.
March 14 – Liverpool have unveiled a series of artist impressions of facilities that will be available in their Main Stand which opens later this year.
By Mark Baber
March 11 – As West Ham supporters pay their respects to the Upton Park/Boleyn Ground, the club’s Board has revealed that it is working to increase the capacity of their new home to 60,000.
By David Owen
March 10 – Aston Villa, the Birmingham club marooned at the foot of the Premier League table, have reported a £27.8 million loss for the year to 31 May 2015. The deficit, which compares with a loss of just under £4 million the previous year, is the biggest among Premier League clubs yet to have reported, just ahead of Chelsea.
By David Owen
March 10 – High-flying Leicester City, the shock Premier League leaders, are not just a transformed proposition on the pitch. Their financial prospects suddenly look as bright as Riyad Mahrez’s revelatory forward play or manager Claudio Ranieri’s post-match demeanour.