#football

#football

Ah, team bonding. An opportunity to knit a diverse squad of footballers closer together and strengthen relationships, commonly used in periods of adversity. "I ended up fighting with Craig Gordon at go-karting," former Heart of Midlothian player and manager Robbie Neilson tells the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast. "He threw his helmet at me, I threw a punch, he threw a punch and then we all started fighting."

Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has denied allegations of raping two women and sexually assaulting a third. The 32-year-old footballer appeared at Southwark Crown Court this week, where he entered not guilty pleas to five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. The accusations relate to incidents said to have occurred between 2021 and 2022, during the period when Partey was a regular in Arsenal's Premier League squad.

A man has been charged with racially abusing Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu during a match earlier this year. The alleged offence took place as Ampadu left the pitch following Leeds' 2-1 win over Sunderland at Elland Road on 17 February. Steven Patterson, 66, of Stranton Street, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, will appear at Leeds Magistrates' Court on 17 October to answer a charge of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, according to West Yorkshire Police.

Based upon the investigation, self-reporting, and findings of Bishop Montgomery High School, along with CIF-Southern Section's own independent review, the Southern Section has determined that multiple students transferred to Bishop Montgomery High School to play varsity football for the 2025-2026 school year in violation of CIF bylaws. Notification has been sent to Bishop Montgomery High School administrators and parents/guardians of the football transfer student-athletes.

"It's not easy to defend a lot of long balls and not easy to defend a lot of second balls, so I'm happy with the result," Nagelsmann told BBC Sport NI. "It's not that easy when every set piece and ball that's free on the pitch they play a long ball and attack with 10 players with the second ball. "There are always a lot of players in our own red zone. It's not brilliant to watch, this way of soccer, but it's effective and it's not that easy to defend it. "I think we had 10 or 12 set-pieces to defend, and we only conceded one goal. It's really a strength of the Northern Ireland team. It's not that easy - we have better players but it's not that easy to defend this way of playing soccer."

John McAllister left his home in Barry over five weeks ago and on a largely overland journey of 5,000 kilometres involving 17 train journeys and 11 bus trips, has taken in 11 different football matches, an ice hockey game, some random Irish bloke's stag do and a heavy metal festival en route while compiling a fascinating YouTube travel vlog. Wales fan John McAllister took in Fenerbache's Champions League playoff home leg against Feyenoord on his way to Astana.

Lamine Yamal has become the most exciting young footballer on the planet after shooting to stardom with Barcelona and Spain but if anyone knows the potential pitfalls ahead of him, it's Freddy Adu. The American was hailed as the 'next Pele' after making his MLS debut at 14 and his senior international debut at 16, but struggled to fulfil his potential after spending his teenage years in the media spotlight.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Most of my life, if you told me to go right, I would go left. I think it has something to do with age that changes that and time and life experience, to where that defiance - I guess it doesn't always change in some cases, but for me, I've let go of the fighting everything. Because that's exhausting to live that way.

"In a new docuseries titled America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, filmmakers Chapman and Maclain Way cook up a Last Dance-esque portrait of the '80s and '90s-era Cowboys dynasty."

Jermaine Pennant warned Arsenal fans not to expect too much from new signing Viktor Gyokeres after a subdued debut against Manchester United, highlighting the challenges in the Premier League.

Michelle Agyemang has joined Brighton on a season-long loan from Arsenal after winning Euro 2025 with England, contributing crucial goals during the tournament.

Roma have done everything in their power to get the Jadon Sancho transfer over the line. Despite that, the Manchester United attacker has yet to sign off on the move himself.

Atlético Madrid is confident of signing Nicolás González from Juventus before the transfer window closes, with negotiations ongoing for weeks and willingness to accept Nahuel Molina as part of the deal.

Lausanne opened their domestic adventure with a downbeat run but excelled in European duties, winning 5-1 on aggregate against Astana and three of their last four matches.