Former footballer Troy Deeney hopes his wildcard entry into the UK Open Pool Championship can help “push the sport forward”.
Deeney played in the Premier League with Watford and later had a spell at boyhood club Birmingham before a brief stint in coaching at Sky Bet League Two club Forest Green, where he was sacked after just six matches in charge having taken over following the dismissal of David Horseman.
The 35-year-old is set to switch his focus to the pool table when the UK Open event starts in Telford on May 7.
Former Premier League striker and Football League legend Troy Deeney will swap the pitch for the table at the Championship!
Find out more here
— Matchroom Pool (@MatchroomPool)
Deeney hopes his participatio…
New York Red Bulls have completed the signing of United States international midfielder Sacha Kljestan from Anderlecht, the MLS side .
The club used the top spot in the league s allocation order to wrap up the deal having previously acquired it by trading with Montreal.
The terms of the transfer were not disclosed, with the 29-year-old returning to Major League Soccer after four and a half years.
The central midfielder began his professional career with Orange County Blue Stars and he joined Chivas USA in 2006.
Kljestan enjoyed several very successful seasons in the MLS, bagging 15 goals in 114 league outings before moving to Anderlecht in 2010.
The USA international continued his rich vein of form in Europe, playing for the Belgian giants on dom…
Pep Guardiola cannot guarantee Sergio Aguero will play a prominent role for Manchester City against Southampton after the forward missed two days of training this week.
Aguero, who has endured fitness setbacks in the wake of knee surgery, made his first league appearance since October in Tuesday s 1-1 draw with West Brom.
He played only 14 minutes and Guardiola revealed the Argentina striker did not return to training until Friday.
Asked how much Aguero could be involved on Saturday, Guardiola replied: I don t know. After the game he could not train, yesterday no training, today he trained.
He trained really well but I don t know how many minutes [he will play against Southampton].
It s important he can make training sessions. Unfortunately aft…
England forward Beth Mead suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament against Manchester United at the weekend, her club Arsenal have confirmed.
The 27-year-old was substituted in stoppage time of the Gunners 3-2 Women s Super League defeat to United on Saturday.
In a statement on Tuesday, Arsenal confirmed she is set for an extended period on the sidelines .
Arsenal said Mead will see a surgeon in the coming days, after which a timescale for her return will be established.
The injury would appear to put her chances of participating in next year s World Cup in jeopardy.
Mead, who has scored three goals in seven WSL appearances this season, was one of the stars of England s triumphant women s European Championship campaign this year, winning the…
Hakan Calhanoglu scored twice to give newly-crowned Serie A champions Inter a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man Torino on Sunday, extending their unbeaten league run to 28 games.
It was a party atmosphere at the San Siro with confetti and fireworks before kick-off as the Inter fans continued to celebrate the Scudetto title they secured on Monday with a 2-1 derby win over Milan.
Inter s win over Torino moves them onto 89 points, 19 clear of Milan with four games remaining.
The Torino players gave Inter a guard of honour as they entered the pitch and Inter coach Simone Inzaghi answered the crowd s call for him to celebrate with them.
— Inter (@Inter_en)
In the first Serie A game to be officiated by an all-female refereeing team, four min…
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech said the Champions League holders will expect a fired up Juventus as they open their title defence.
The meeting with the Italian champions will be the west Londoners first game in the competition since they defeated Bayern Munich to lift the European Cup for the first time in May.
Juventus will line-up at Stamford Bridge without boss Antonio Conte, who is serving a ban for failing to report an approach for match-fixing at previous club Siena.
Despite being without their manager, Juve have made a perfect start to the new Serie A season, and Cech is well aware that they will put up a good fight in their Group E opener.
We re playing Juventus, who have been missing from the Champions League for a few seasons, so they will defin…
Roberto Mancini s new-look Inter get their Serie A campaign under way against Atalanta on Sunday but must do so without Mateo Kovacic.
Croatia international Kovacic completed his move to Real Madrid on Tuesday, with his departure somewhat dampening the mood at San Siro after what had been a positive close-season of re-building.
Inter have not claimed the Scudetto since 2010 but signings such as Miranda, Martin Montoya, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Stevan Jovetic have bolstered hopes that Mancini s side can challenge Juventus dominance this season.
Extended contracts for the likes of Mauro Icardi also added to the feel-good factor and while Kovacic s exit undoubtedly serves as a blow, former Fiorentina forward Jovetic who joined from Manchester City is eagerly ant…
Monaco striker Radamel Falcao described the performance of referee Clement Turpin in Saturday s Coupe de la Ligue final as a disgrace .
The holders claimed the trophy for the fifth year in a row thanks to a 3-0 win in Bordeaux, with Edinson Cavani scoring in each half either side of an Angel Di Maria strike.
Cavani s first came from the penalty spot after a lengthy VAR review, in which Turpin appeared to change his mind about awarding a spot-kick only to go back to his initial decision after checking a replay.
Falcao then saw a goal disallowed for offside with the score at 2-0, although even VAR s footage showed the decision was a close call.
And the Colombia forward pulled no punches in his assessment of the decisions after Monaco s second final defea…
Edouard Mendy should have been included on the Ballon d Or shortlist, but Thomas Tuchel hopes it does not bother the Chelsea goalkeeper.
Senegal international Mendy kept nine clean sheets during Chelsea s triumphant Champions League campaign last season – more than any other keeper in the competition. His save percentage of 91.2 also led the way among keepers to play at least six games in the 2020-21 edition of Europe s premier club competition.
While Chelsea team-mates Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, N Golo Kante and Mason Mount were named on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d Or, Mendy was left out.
But he produced a display worthy of such recognition during Chelsea s 1-0 victory over Brentford on Saturday, making six saves to earn his 20th clean sheet …
Manchester City s success is not boring or purely determined by financial reasons, head coach Pep Guardiola insists.
The Citizens are on the hunt for an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title, and could become the first team to win back-to-back doubles should they also prevail in the FA Cup final later this month.
Once again, City appear to be hitting form at just the right time, winning each of their last four matches by an aggregate scoreline of 15-1.
Guardiola s side are a point behind leaders Arsenal heading into the final week of the campaign, and will leapfrog the Gunners should they win their game in hand against Tottenham.
But the Spaniard rejected the claim City s success is becoming too predictable or that it is down to the money …