09/07/2020 - Former Blackburn player replaces Bolton-bound Ian EvattCumbrians are back in Football League after 48-year absenceDavid Dunn has been appointed as the manager of newly-promoted League Two side Barrow.The former Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City attacking midfielder has signed a two-year contract after leaving his role as a first-team coach at Blackpool. Related: Championship roundup: Pep Clotet leaves Birmingham after Swansea loss Continue reading... Collapse

29/06/2020 - This season started with such expectation. For some families, it ends with empty seats that represent lives that have been lostBy When Saturday Comes, part of the Guardian Sport NetworkApril 18 was supposed to be Swindon Town’s last home game, when the team were crowned League Two champions after a magnificent season. It was also supposed to be a day we paused to remember, as just before the kick-off the names of those supporters who’ve passed away during the year are read out.Each year is different, and each year is the same. It might be a meaningless mid-table meander, or maybe more significant; either way, within 10 minutes I’m moaning about a throw-in here, or applauding a deft pass there. I’ve moved on from thanking my lucky stars that while I may know some of those names, none of them carry my surname. Related: The joys of taking up 11-a-side football in your late 30s Related: The goalkeepers’ union: why do they stick up for each other? Related: The trials of life with no Collapse

18/06/2020 - Given the existential issues in which lower division clubs are currently bound it is hard to describe the return of play-off football as an overwhelmingly positive advert for the Football League’s health. For long periods of this first leg it was hard to muster enthusiasm for much more of this fast-forwarded promotion shootout, but then Cohen Bramall produced a late winner that took Colchester halfway to Wembley and reminded everyone watching exactly why it is so worthwhile.Bramall is a dynamic left-back whose career path, which has brought him to East Anglia from Hednesford Town via Arsenal, has few equivalents. He had already come close with one set-piece, drawing a save from Lewis Ward in the 20th minute, when he was given the chance to size up another at an angle on the right side of the penalty area. It was not an obvious shooting position and Ward, realising his mistake after Bramall took aim, scrambled to his left. But the execution was too good and the goalkeeper too late; he Collapse

14/06/2020 - Can the UK’s favourite sports answer the questions posed by Covid-19? The restarting of the Premier League will offer some clues“There can be no summer in this land without cricket,” wrote Neville Cardus, the long-time Guardian cricket – and indeed classical music – correspondent. So far this summer we are having to test his hypothesis. In the most gorgeous weather imaginable, bats have remained stowed, wickets uncut, fields empty of fun and flowing strokes. At the beginning of July, all being well, we will finally get some cricket – Test matches between England and the West Indies in Manchester and Southampton, three in three weeks (an absurd schedule but these are strange times), played in “biosecure bubbles”. It will have nothing of the rhythm of a proper Test series; there will be no crowd; players might struggle for motivation in empty, noiseless bowls; Cardus would probably give it short shrift. But to cricket lovers starved of any games this season, it will be something on Collapse

08/06/2020 - Oxford, Pompey, Fleetwood and Wycombe resume trainingThis is not a fair process, says Tranmere’s Nicola PaliosSeveral League One clubs are in uproar at their rivals training and being tested for Covid-19 before the critical vote on Tuesday to decide how to complete the interrupted season. It is understood the four teams set to be awarded play-off places if a majority of clubs vote to support the English Football League board’s proposal to curtail the campaign via an unweighted points-per-game model – Oxford, Portsmouth, Fleetwood and Wycombe – are those who have trained and been tested.The EFL confirmed on Sunday that 135 players and staff from four clubs were tested from last Wednesday to Saturday, with zero individuals returning positive results. Peterborough, who would miss out on the play-offs under the EFL’s proposed framework, and Tranmere, who stand to be relegated if the points-per-game system receives a majority vote , are furious that a handful of teams have resumed Collapse

27/05/2020 - How much do you remember about the last 30 years of Wembley play-off finals?Who are the only club to have won play-off finals in successive years?Blackpool MillwallNotts CountyWolverhampton Wanderers Wembley has been hosting play-off finals since 1990. Two other grounds have also hosted them: the Millennium Stadium and … HillsboroughOld TraffordStamford Bridge Villa Park Which of these players has not scored hat-trick in a play-off final at Wembley?Clive MendoncaScott SinclairSteve ClaridgeJermaine BeckfordHow many clubs have appeared in the Football League play-offs since they started in 1987?75 8995102Which of these current Premier League clubs has never appeared in the play-offs?ChelseaManchester City Newcastle United EvertonLast year's play-offs attracted a record aggregate attendance. How many people attended the 15 games (12 semi-final games and three Wembley finals)?250,335 320,335370,355 430,355Which club has been promoted to the top division via the play-offs four Collapse

25/05/2020 - The argument for financial reform is at last beyond credible dispute as historic clubs face ruin owing to the Covid-19 crisisEven before football was plunged into crisis by the Covid-19 pandemic, influential people in the game were discussing the need for the Premier League’s improbable fortunes to be shared more equally. As historic, stalwart lower-division and semi-professional clubs stare at ruin, and promised investment could drain from the grassroots, the argument is finally beyond credible dispute.However the Premier League resolves its struggle to finish this season so that it can clutch the remainder of the TV money, it will still be a huge draw for broadcast billions when normal life finally returns. The pre-pandemic position, that the big clubs keep 93% of the current, 2019-22, £8.65bn TV deals, handing most of it to players in wages while trickling drops down for good works, does not look sustainable following the crisis. Related: Two more Watford players isolate while UK Collapse

20/05/2020 - Manager Simon Weaver believes EFL rules mean the team second in the National League will be promoted but a new stand and replacing a 3G pitch have to wait for nowWork has resumed on bringing Harrogate’s Wetherby Road stadium up to Football League standards but who pays for the new Family Stand, and who plays in front of it next season, are only two of the uncertainties that surround the North Yorkshire club. Their day of reckoning is approaching.Harrogate were second in the National League when the remainder of the season was cancelled on 22 April because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last Friday League Two clubs voted to curtail the rest of their season but to retain automatic promotion and play-offs but, crucially as far as Harrogate are concerned, suspend relegation to the National League. The decision has not been ratified by the EFL board and will be discussed at its meeting on Wednesday. Related: League Two clubs agree to call off regular season but want play-offs Continue Collapse

12/05/2020 - Expense of playing behind closed doors may prove prohibitiveTesting players before matches could cost £2m per divisionThe English Football League is expected to be given fresh guidance from its clubs this week with League One and Two increasingly unlikely to resume because of the prohibitive cost of playing matches behind closed doors. Clubs will convene via conference call on Friday following an EFL board meeting on Wednesday, when discussions are set to centre on determining a solution to the season. Related: EFL chief says parachute payments are 'an evil that must be eradicated' Related: Player wages and contracts will bankrupt EFL clubs: it's time for the PFA to act | Mark Palios Continue reading... Collapse