Britain went to the polls yesterday for the most significant general election since 1997. However you vote on 6th May, football is currently as much of a political talking point as it was thirteen years ago – when the English game was still riding a wave of optimism after Euro 96.…

If Steve McClaren secures the Eredivisie title for FC Twente on 2nd May for the first time in the club’s history then, the magnitude of that achievement notwithstanding, the goal difference column for this season’s Dutch league table will make curious reading for some time. Sitting in second place are Ajax,…

Portsmouth had been sinking inexorably towards the Championship long before West Ham picked up the three points against Sunderland on Saturday that relegated the south-coast club. To be demoted from the Premier League without kicking a ball summed up Portsmouth’s season. The club’s well-publicised off-field financial problems all but scuppered their chances…

As Nani prepared to take a Manchester United corner during the second half of the club’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, he paused and appealed to the referee for a few seconds’ respite. The winger was bent double, apparently catching his breath, but when he…

When Wayne Bridge learned of his ex-girlfriend’s relationship with John Terry, his friend and England colleague, the Manchester City defender expressed his hurt via statements to the press. Later, when he was faced by Terry in the team line-ups prior to his club’s Premier League match with Chelsea in February, Bridge…

David Beckham has been injured before in the run-up to a World Cup, but the sadness and disappointment that his torn Achilles tendon has caused amongst England fans this time is different somehow to the reaction in 2002 when Beckham broke a bone in his foot during a Champions League tie.…