Magistrates have banned and fined the Manchester United supporter who was involved in an altercation with Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy.

Jake Clarke, 21, from Chorley, Lancashire, admitted a charge of entering the field of play when he celebrated Michael Owen's stoppage-time winner in the Manchester derby on September 12.

United won a highly-charged match 4-3 after a controversial late goal deep into stoppage-time.

Clarke was being restrained by …

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Arsenal's largest shareholder Stan Kroenke has further increased his stake in the north London club.

The American businessman has bought a further 80 shares at £8,500 per share to take his holding in Arsenal to 28.7 per cent.

He is now on the cusp of reaching the 29.9 per cent mark which would force him to make an offer for all of the remaining shares.

Kroenke has steadily …

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Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is hopeful that midfielder Steve Sidwell will shake off a thigh injury to feature against Manchester City on Monday evening.

The 26-year-old picked up a knock during the warm-up for the Carling Cup clash with Cardiff City last week, but has now returned to training.

O'Neill told …

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Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce has insisted that he will not try to rush some of his summer signings amid the pressure cooker of Premier League football.

Defender Michel Salgado, midfielders Steven Nzonzi and Elrio van Heerden and striker Nikola Kalinic are all new to English football and Allardyce is prepared to be patient to ensure that they succeed at Ewood Park.

He told the Evening Telegraph:"We are only six games into the season. When …

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Football FanCast columnist Kris Wilcox looks at
Arsenal's latest financial results and questions whether they suggest
Wenger has become too involved in the monetary side of the club. 

The news that Arsenal has made a new record pre-tax profit of £45.5 million will have come as a bit of a surprise to some fans, most tabloids and just about every major football pundit. For anyone that read my blogs over the …

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Betfair blogger Gareth Freeman wonders if Roy Keane is being too honest.

Things are not looking to pretty at Portman Road at the moment are
they?  The Tractor boys have endured their worst ever start to a league
season and sit second bottom in the Championship table.  In this scenario
you would expect the usual politician style comments from the manager, with suitable
ambiguity and open to any number of interpretations.  Town boss Roy Keane
has been refreshingly honest about his side's performances and his own
abilities …

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Football FanCast guest columnist Marcus Kilmer agrees with Sir
Alex Ferguson that Wayne Rooney is worth every penny.

When Gary
Neville came out and claimed that footballers are worth every single penny of
their weekly wage, he was roundly criticised by some supporters of needing a
dose of reality. Why I didn't agree with our Skip's sentiments wholeheartedly,
as there are many players who I would question (

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Football FanCast guest columnist Des O’Malley feels the banker’s ultimatum to Hicks and Gillett, to strike a deal
with potential investors, will end up killing two birds with one stone.

One of the great problems of Liverpool over the years has been their inability to communicate with supporters, which have subsequently left everyone uncertain …

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Football FanCast columnist Lewis Doe thinks that punishing Manchester City would be a dangerous trend to set
in motion. 

There is no doubt that a lot of people looked at how Emmanuel Adebayor
behaved, after he scored against Arsenal, and thought it was right that the FA
were all over the incident like a nasty rash. 

Although …

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Football FanCast columnist Lewis Doe believes that this is the last thing that Leeds United need. 

You may love or loathe, but nobody can ever say that Leeds United have had
it easy over the past few years as they have been hit with financial turmoil,
relegations and disputes over ownership. They have really gone through the mill
and just when things have started to look up, both on and off the field,
question marks have now emerged over …

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