Football News, Results & Other Worldwide Articles in General

Blackpool attack: Football fan dies after post-match brawl at pub..

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Tony Johnson, 55, was found with a serious head injury near The Manchester bar on the Promenade in Blackpool at 19:00 GMT on Saturday.

Blackpool Football Club said they were "deeply shocked and saddened" by the grandfather's death.

Mr Johnson's partner said his family were "heartbroken" and "devastated". Supporters had clashed after the match between Blackpool and Burnley.

In a tribute, his partner said: "I am devastated to have lost my best friend, life partner and soul mate in a cruel act.

"We all, as a family, are so heartbroken and our lives are never going to be the same."

Officers from Lancashire Constabulary administered CPR before Mr Johnson was taken to hospital.

Det Ch Insp Tracey McMurdo said: "Sadly Mr Johnson died in hospital overnight and his family are understandably devastated."

She appealed for any footage that might assist the police investigation and asked anyone who did have video not to post it online because "at the heart of this is a grieving family, who are incredibly distressed".

Lancashire Police said there was no suggestion Mr Johnson was specifically targeted.

The force earlier said it was working with both Blackpool and Burnley football clubs to establish what had happened.

Blackpool have opened a book of condolence in the Moretti Lounge for supporters to pay their respects.

Head coach Mick McCarthy, players and supporters have left floral tributes at the Stan Mortensen Statue behind Bloomfield Road's north stand in honour Mr Johnson.

The club said: "All of the thoughts of everyone at the football club go out to Tony's family and friends. Rest in peace, Tony."

Blackpool Tower will be lit up tangerine later to "show support to the BFC community and everyone affected by the devastating news", the council said in a tweet.

The Armfield Club, a Blackpool supporters' club, tweeted it was "deeply saddened" by Mr Johnson's death, adding he was "Blackpool through and through".

Burnley said they were "shocked and saddened", adding: "We share our thoughts and condolences with his family, friends and everyone at Blackpool Football Club."

A fundraising page set up to help pay for the "loyal and true" Seasider's funeral has raised more than £10,000.

A 33-year-old man who was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of wounding has been bailed pending further inquiries.

Blackpool drew 0-0 with Burnley in the Championship clash at Bloomfield Road.

Barcelona charged with corruption over payments to former referees' official..

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Joan Laporta was elected as Barcelona president for a second time in March 2021 having previously held the role from 2003-2010

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Barcelona have been charged with corruption over payments the club made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee.

Last month it emerged that Barca have paid Negreira and a company he owns a reported total of 8.4m euros (£7.4m) between 2001 and 2018.

A Barcelona court heard on Friday that Barca, former club officials and Negreira had been indicted for "corruption", "breach of trust" and "false business records".

These lawsuits, brought by the Barcelona public prosecutor's office, target the club, as well as former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell.

La Liga chief executive Javier Tebas said last month that current president Joan Laporta should resign if he was unable to explain the payments.

Laporta responded by saying he will not give Tebas "what he'd like by stepping down" and the charges come three days after Laporta insisted his club had "never bought referees".

"Let it be clear Barca have never bought referees and Barca have never had the intention of buying referees, absolutely never," he said on Tuesday.

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Argentina forward Lionel Messi, 35, will be offered 220m (£193m) euros per year to move to a Saudi Arabian club when his Paris St-Germain contract ends in the summer.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi passed 100 international goals as he scored his seventh international hat-trick in a friendly win at home to Curacao..

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The 35-year-old forward reached the landmark when he opened the scoring on 20 minutes in Santiago del Estero.

He added two more before the break to complete a quickfire treble.

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez also scored, before Argentina paraded the World Cup trophy in front of more than 42,000 supporters.

It was Argentina's second match on home soil since beating France in Qatar on penalties in December to win the World Cup.

Messi scored his 800th career goal - and 99th for Argentina - in a 2-0 win over Panama in Buenos Aires last week as part of the team's World Cup homecoming tour.

The Paris St-Germain striker reached three figures for his country when he took a pass from Villarreal's on-loan Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani lo Celso and fired a low shot into the bottom corner.

Three minutes later Nicolas Gonzalez outjumped goalkeeper Eloy Room to head home from four yards before the Fiorentina winger set up Messi for his second of the night.

Fernandez made it 4-0 with a shot from distance before Lo Celso released Messi to notch his third in just the 37th minute.

Angel di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel rounded off the scoring in the second half but the night belonged to Messi, who extended his record as Argentina's all-time record scorer - Gabriel Batistuta is a distant second on 56.

He remains third on the men's all-time international scoring list behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Iran's Ali Daei (109).


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Aleksandar Mitrovic: Fulham striker receives 8-match ban for pushing referee..

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Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic has been given an eight-match ban by an independent commission after pushing referee Chris Kavanagh in their FA Cup loss at Manchester United.

The Serbia striker received a three-match ban for the sending off, three for violent conduct and an additional two for "improper, abusive, insulting and threatening" language.

He will also receive a £75,000 fine.

Fulham manager Marco Silva will serve a two-match ban after he was sent off.

In addition to an improper conduct charge for allegedly throwing a water bottle in the direction of the assistant referee, Silva was charged with misconduct for comments he made in a press conference following the FA Cup defeat.

Silva said in a statement he had apologised to Kavanagh and that he "regrets what happened" in the match on 19 March, after he was also charged with abusive behaviour towards match officials.

One game of Mitrovic's ban has already been served, meaning the forward will be available for Fulham's last three Premier League games of the season, the first coming at Southampton on 13 May.

Following Mitrovic's straight red card for protesting against Kavanagh's decision to send off Willian, the Football Association said its standard punishment for his dismissal at Old Trafford was "clearly insufficient".

The 28-year-old denied this but it was upheld by the independent commission, and Mitrovic separately admitted the charge that his behaviour and language after being sent off was improper.

In an apology to team-mates and the club's supporters, he said: "On a personal level, I regret my actions that led to me being sent off.

"I allowed my frustration to get the better of me, and how I reacted was wrong."

Fulham have also received a £40,000 fine for failing to control their players.

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton had called for Mitrovic to be given a 10-match ban - which was echoed by former referees' chief Keith Hackett.

Naples: A city on the brink as Napoli close in on first title in 33 years..

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Naples is a city on the brink. You can see it, hear it, feel it. It's in the eyes and the smiles, the playful chatter and swaggering strides. Neapolitans can taste it, they're living every moment of it.

Napoli are 16 points clear in Serie A and cantering towards a first title since 1990. Flags hailing what will be the club's third championship hang from balconies, banners with "100% campione" ripple in the breeze. Even the usually superstitious Neapolitans can't help but acknowledge this is their year.

Clinch the Scudetto too early and some fear the city won't cope with a party 33 years in the making. Win the Champions League too? Well, the "skies will fall," beams Daniele 'Decibel' Bellini. "It's magical."

Provisions are in place for a party on 4 June - the final day of the season - but Napoli's wait for a first championship since Diego Maradona strolled these narrow streets could end in the next few weeks. Fifteen points from their final 10 games will make it certain, even if second-placed Lazio win all of theirs.

In the Quartieri Spagnoli, throughout Naples' historic centre, up to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Fuorigrotta and beyond, the streets are decked with blue and white festoons. Buildings and steps have been painted the same hues.

Life-size cutouts of the current squad stand in one piazza, club shirts and player posters are pegged to washing lines in alleyways and youngsters queue for half a block to buy Napoli-coloured panino at popular sandwich shop Con Mollica o Senza.

Hotel rooms for the next couple of months have nearly all gone. Expats wanting to celebrate, football fans intrigued by Napoli's story and visitors unexpectedly caught up in this historic moment are descending on the city. Sporting success coincides with a tourist boom.

"Naples is experiencing a moment of self-recognition and rediscovery of its greatness," says author Angelo Forgione.

When Maradona inspired Napoli to a first Scudetto in 1987, fans placed a banner outside the city's largest cemetery proclaiming: "You don't know what you've missed." Now, a generation too young to remember such glory are living it themselves.

"I was six months old in 1990 but I grew up watching VHS of Diego Maradona," says Vincenzo Credendino, from CalcioNapoli24 TV. "Now this Scudetto is like reconnecting with that time."

Tributes to Luciano Spalletti's players intertwine with endless Mardaona artwork. He is everywhere in Naples' charmingly gritty and dizzyingly chaotic labyrinth of streets - bar windows, bumper stickers, on billboards and etched across crumbling walls in giant murals.

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At Bar Nilo, a strand of Maradona's hair rotates as part of a shrine to the Argentine. In an underground museum the belongings acquired by his maid's son when Maradona left the city are on display.

"Maradona is like God here," says 23-year-old fan Maria Roberta De Iesu. "He gave people hope. Neapolitans see themselves in Maradona."

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When Maradona arrived for a world record fee from Barcelona in July 1984, the city was still on its knees from an earthquake that killed almost 2,500 people four years earlier. Feuds between the Camorra, the region's mafia, were as bitter as ever, unemployment was huge and the Bank of Naples was facing bankruptcy.

"Yet in a Naples on the bottom, Napoli, with the help of politics, managed to buy the strongest and most expensive footballer in the world and touch the sky," adds Forgione.

Then president Corrado Ferlaino had to lean on the city's mayor to help finance the deal, fans offered contributions to help get it over the line, anything to get Maradona.

'El Pibe de Oro' was everything to Naples, and Naples was everything to him. The city resonated with its Golden Boy not just because he inspired their club to two Serie A titles and a Uefa Cup but because they recognised him. He was anti-establishment, he echoed their principles and shouldered their concerns.

"Maradona was really good with his tongue, his mouth, his attitude," explains Credendino. "He understood how to get the heart of the Neapolitan people, he touched the right chords."

Maradona, despite his relationship with the Neapolitan mafia, brought "justice to the people" after struggles against the north that date back more than a century to the unification of Italy, says culture expert Francesco Carignani.

"He had many problems in his life but in Naples we only remember him for the joy," adds fan Paolo Cimmino. "We connect him as a man to a conqueror - the south won versus the north."

No club south of Rome has won Serie A since the Napoli of Maradona, Careca, Ciro Ferrara and a young Gianfranco Zola in 1990, and Neapolitans still endure hostile taunts from their northern rivals about crime, poverty, cholera outbreaks and calls for Mount Vesuvius to erupt over the city.

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Son Heung-min: 'Top man, top player' and the first Asian to reach 100 Premier League goals..

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Son Heung-min is arguably Asian football's first global superstar - and he is now the continent's first player to hit 100 goals in the Premier League.

Since joining Tottenham Hotspur from Bayer Leverkusen in August 2015, the South Korean has blossomed into one of the world's best players, while maintaining the same humble and infectiously upbeat personality he's become famous for.

"He always finds it easy to laugh and talk with people. He tries to motivate everyone. When the dressing room is sad for some reason, he's always there to make you smile again," said former team-mate and close friend Moussa Sissoko.

"Sometimes you come in after training, or after a game, when you've had a bad moment, and to have someone like him is very important. Sonny is this type of player. If you ask anyone, they'll tell you the same. He's a top man, a top player, a top human being."

A steely determination lies behind that winning smile. His father was a professional footballer too and his influence has shaped the 30-year-old's career.

Self-critical and dedicated to improving his craft, becoming the first Asian player to reach the 100-goal milestone in the English top flight is a huge achievement and a piece of history.

Son's understanding with Kane has been finely honed, creating one of the deadliest partnerships in world football. Intelligent and intuitive players, they're well-versed at reading each other's movements and seem to link up almost effortlessly on the pitch. Together, they have combined for a record 43 Premier League goals, more than any other duo.


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Burnley 2 Sheffield United 0

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Burnley midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson had not scored since December before scoring twice against Sheffield United



Championship leaders Burnley celebrated their return to the Premier League with victory over second-placed Sheffield United who played most of the game with 10 men.

The Blades had goalkeeper Wes Foderingham sent off after 17 minutes for bringing down Nathan Tella just outside the box.

But the visitors kept Burnley, who sealed an immediate return to the top flight on Friday, out for the remainder of the first half at Turf Moor.

Substitute Manuel Benson came close to giving Burnley the lead after the break when he fired against the side netting with a shot from outside the box.

Fellow substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson then scored twice in 10 minutes with two cool finishes as Burnley eventually made their advantage count to seal a 26th league win of the campaign.

Eddie Colquhoun: Sheffield United legend dies aged 78..

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Sheffield United legend Eddie Colquhoun has died at the age of 78.

The Scot made 433 appearances in central defence for the Blades between 1968 and 1978.

"He was a real stalwart here and I think the fans could relate to the way he played," boss Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"There'll be a lot of fans at the game [on Tuesday against Bristol City] who will have watched him and he'll have been one of their favourite players."

Colquhoun, who represented Scotland 11 times, ended his career in America after leaving Bramall Lane but returned to South Yorkshire after retiring.

His grandson is Rotherham United midfielder Ben Wiles.

Total career stats: Played 660 & Goals 29