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    From Mourinho’s Special One to singer adored by Ant and Dec, can you guess the footballer dads of these glam girls?

    MICHAEL Owen is full of surprises. First, the former England ace rapped as a giant stack of doughnuts on ITV’s The Masked Singer. 
    Gemma, 18, is modelling her new swimwear rangeCredit: ogbeachwear
    Gemma as a toddler with dad Michael Owen in 2005Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
    Now, the baby-faced pundit has had us all doing a double-take by posting pictures of his stunning adult daughter. 
    And 18-year-old Gemma looks very different now to when we saw her in a mini Newcastle kit as a toddler in her famous daddy’s arms. 
    Dad-of-four Michael, 42, posted a picture of her modelling a white bikini from her newly-launched OG Beachwear and captioned it “Pretty damn proud of my daughter.”
    But Gemma, a former dressage rider, isn’t the only footie girl in a league of her own. Can you guess the footballing dads of this very glam first XI of daughters?
    Country singer
    Hollie Shearer, 26, is an up-and-coming music starCredit: Instagram
    Alan Shearer with his kids, Hollie, Will and Chloe, at Newcastle United in 2006Credit: Reuters
    Hollie Shearer, 26 – daughter of ex-England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer – is an up-and-coming music star with 15,000 monthly Spotify subscribers.
    Famous fans of hers include Gogglebox’s Scarlett Moffatt, Dragons’ Den’s Peter Jones and Ant and Dec.
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    The middle Shearer child, Hollie enjoys the finer things in life, like snorkelling in The Maldives and partying in London’s hotspots. 
    She was spotted at Wembley during Euro 2020, wearing one of her old man’s retro England shirts, along with her brother Will and sister Chloe. 
    Hollie, who went to music school in London, said: “Country music is a massive inspiration to me mostly because of how real and raw it is.”
    Another Special One
    Matilde Mourinho, daughter of Roma boss, Jose, is another Special OneCredit: matildefmf/Instagram
    Jose Mourinho with Matilde, right, and son, Zuca, at Stamford Bridge in 2005Credit: Getty
    Jose Mourinho – former Chelsea and Manchester United boss, currently head coach at Roma – isn’t the only Special One in the Mourinho family. His daughter Matilde has carved out an award-winning ethical jewellery business.
    The Portuguese beauty, 25, fell in love with bling at 18, when her parents gave her a gold bracelet for her landmark birthday. 
    She studied at the London College of Fashion before doing an MA and launched her business – which uses recycled gold and lab-grown diamonds – in 2020. 
    Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra is a fan and Matilde’s dad has been spotted wearing a bracelet from the men’s range. 
    WAG with a baby on the way
    Estelle Bergkamp is expecting a baby girl with Manchester United’s Donny Van De BeekCredit: Getty
    Dennis Bergkamp waves to fans with his family at a testimonial match in 2006Credit: Getty
    Dennis Bergkamp, former Arsenal and Netherlands forward, is set to be a grandad – and the baby is sure to have some footie skills.
    His girl, Estelle, 25, is expecting her first child with Manchester United’s Donny Van De Beek, 24, who is currently on loan to Everton.
    Estelle was born in London but grew up in Amsterdam, where she met midfielder Donny in 2019, and the couple moved to Manchester the following year. 
    The pair love travelling and have posted pictures from New York, Paris and Greece. 
    Estelle announced she was pregnant in November and later posted a gender reveal video to tell fans they are expecting a girl. 
    Back of the netball
    Alicia has followed her famous dad into sportCredit: alicia.scholesx/instagram
    Alicia with dad Paul Scholes and brothers Arron and Aiden in 2011Credit: Getty
    Alicia Scholes, 20, has inherited dad Paul’s sporting prowess with a career in netball. 
    She jumped from England U17s netball team to the U21 in the space of 12 months, and currently plays for London Pulse.
    Paul, former Manchester United midfielder, came in for some teasing on social media last October after Alicia posted a video to her 120,000 followers which appeared to show him giving his daughter a foot rub before nibbling on her big toe. She captioned it: “True love.”
    Alicia is also an ambassador for Sportingmindsuk, which offers mental health support to young people in sport, 
    Lashes expert
    Georgina Seaman runs her own eyelashes extension businessCredit: gsxx/instagram
    Pictured here with dad, David, at the Arsenal vs Chelsea cup final in 2002Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
    Glam Georgina Seaman must be as good with her hands as her ex-England goalie dad, David.
    The 27 year-old runs her own eyelash extension business, GS Unique, in Hornchurch, Essex. 
    Georgina likes the high life, posting pictures from Las Vegas, Dubai, California and Ibiza and flaunting her curves in skimpy outfits for her 67,000 Instagram fans
    Her mum, Debbie, divorced “Safe hands” David, 58, in 2010 on the grounds of adultery, after 11 years of marriage. The 6’4” keeper married his third wife, Dancing on Ice pro skater Frankie Poultney, in 2015. 
    Style icon
    Maria Guardiola has amassed fans on social media for her sense of styleCredit: FACEBOOK/MARIA GUARDIOLA
    Pep pictured with Maria and son Marius at a basketball game in Barcelona in 2011Credit: AFP
    Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is hailed for his style, and his daughter Maria has such a chic fashion sense, she even has a fan account devoted to her looks on Instagram. 
    Maria, 21, was at the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena when it was attacked by a suicide bomber in 2017, killing 22 people. 
    She is the eldest of Pep’s three children with businesswoman Cristina Serra. 
    Last October, she was rumoured to be dating Everton and England ace Dele Alli, 25, after the pair were spotted kissing in May last year. The pair were spotted together again in October, at a London restaurant. 
    Reality queen
    Bianca Gascoigne went from glamour modelling to reality TVCredit: INSTAGRAM/BIANCA GASCOIGNE
    Gazza with baby Regan, Bianca and her brother Mason in 1996Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
    Former glamour model Bianca Gascoigne – who was adopted by Newcastle and England midfielder Gazza after he married her mum, Sheryl, in 1996  – has carved out a reality TV career. 
    The 35-year-old won the original series of Love Island with fellow footballing offspring, Calum Best, in 2006.
    Since then, Bianca has appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, Come Dine with Me and Celebrity Coach Trip as well as shows like Loose Women and This Morning. 
    She won a celeb special of Gladiators in 2008 and, in December, came runner up on the Italian version of Strictly. 
    Bianca split from Katie Price’s ex Kris Boyson last year and is now dating new man, Arron Wright. 
    Argentine actress
    Dalma Maradona has followed her mother into actingCredit: dalmaradona/instagram
    Argentine legend Diego Maradona with Dalma, left, and Giannina, in 1989Credit: Getty
    With her surname of Maradona, Dalma needs little introduction.
    The 34-year-old – daughter of the late Argentine legend, Diego – began acting at just nine years old, on Argentine children’s TV series, Cebollitas, which fittingly told the story of child footballers at a neighbourhood club. 
    As a teen, she worked in theatre and TV and made her film debut in La Rabia in 2008. 
    Dalma went on to earn a degree in acting. 
    Her mother, Claudia Villafañe, who divorced Maradona in 1998 after 13 years of marriage, is also an actress and won the first series of Masterchef Celebrity Argentina. 
    After her dad’s death from a heart attack in 2020, Dalma posted a touching black and white photo of herself as a toddler with the superstar, with the words: “I’m going to remember you every day, every day missing you a little more.”
    Equestrian ace
    Chelsea Pearce has inherited her mother’s love of horse ridingCredit: INSTAGRAM/CHELSEA PEARCE
    She posed with her dad, Stuart, on the pitch as a youngsterCredit: INSTAGRAM/CHELSEA PEARCE
    Chelsea Pearce takes after her mother, Liz, with her talent for horseriding.
    The daughter of England and premier league defender Stuart Pearce – who was nicknamed Psycho for his aggressive style – competes for Great Britain in eventing and is a European silver medallist. 
    She is funded with a SportsAid UK grant and also teaches groups and individuals. 
    The 21-year-old started riding at two years old, taking after her mum, Liz, who split from Stuart in 2014 and kept racehorses at stables near the family’s £1.8m home near Marlborough, Wilts.
    At Stonar School, Wilts., she was on the netball, hockey, cross country running and swimming teams. 
    Street food savvy
    Jade Leboeuf has started her own street food pizza businessCredit: instagram/jade_leboeuf
    Jade and her brother Hugo pictured with dad Frank Leboeuf in 2000Credit: Alamy
    Jade Leboeuf – daughter of French footie star Frank – grew up in London, France and Qatar and is now a model and social media influencer, with 141,000 followers on Instagram. 
    The 31-year-old acted in American film, Everlasting, in 2016, but has since become an entrepreneur, launching a food van, Hyde Pizza, in Luxembourg, where she lives. 
    Jade is married to reality show star Stéphane Rodrigues and the pair welcomed their first child, Elon, in August 2020. 
    She’s clearly a fan of the gym if her abs are anything to go by.

    Danielle Favatto – daughter of Brazil legend Romario – is a social media starCredit: Instagram
    Jade with her superstar dad, Romário
    Her Brazilian superstar dad, Romário – now a politician – might be hailed as one of the world’s greatest ever players, but Danielle Favatto is making her own mark as a social media star. 
    The stunning brunette has amassed more than a quarter of a million Instagram followers since 2015. 
    One of six kids, Danielle, 24, posts pictures of herself enjoying the sun in Rio de Janeiro, admiring the sights in Paris and posing in bikinis at various exotic locations. 
    The model also appears to have a deal with a Brazilian swimwear company. More

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    Can you spot differences between WAGs & their celeb lookalikes – from ‘Italian Megan Fox’ to the spit of Kim Kardashian

    JUVENTUS striker Dusan Vlahovic is not just scoring like you’d never believe on the pitch, but it looks like he’s doing pretty well in his private life too. His rumoured new squeeze, 23-year-old Miss Italy Carolina Stramare, has been dubbed “the Italian Megan Fox”, with the same raven-haired locks and stunning physique as the Transformers actress.
    And it seems Carolina is not the only WAG who looks strikingly similar to another famous face.
    Katy Docherty picks a squad of soccer star partners with celebrity doubles. 
    Carolina Stramare – Megan Fox
    Carolina Stranmare has been dubbed the Italian Megan FoxCredit: Instagram
    The actual Megan FoxCredit: FREDERICK’S OF HOLLYWOOD/TNI PRE
    HER stunning looks have not only earned her the nickname “the Italian Megan Fox” but a super scorer boyfriend to boot. 
    Beauty pageant star and model Carolina, 23, was also named Miss Italy in 2019 before dating Dusan Vlahovic, 22.
    The Transformers actress and her rapper boyfriend Machine Gun Kelly, 31, are no strangers to a fashion show.
    Juventus striker Dusan VlahovicCredit: Getty
    Carolina is said to be gearing up for Milan Fashion Week catwalks too. 
    Anara Atanes – Emily Ratajkowski
    Samir Nasri’s fiery ex Anara Atanes, 30, might be modelling her looks on Emily RatajkowskiCredit: ainhara/Instagram
    Emily RatajkowskiCredit: Instagram
    RETIRED Man City and Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri’s fiery ex Anara, 30, might be modelling her looks on American Emily, 30.
    The Portugal-born model – who has been linked to Ashley Cole and Kieran Richardson – publicly dumped Nasri in 2016 after a four-year relationship.
    Samir NasriCredit: Getty
    Anara accused Nasri of cheating on her with Jamila Sozahdah who was giving him a IV drop at her spa.
    Anara was the face of Britain’s Next Top Model while Emily found fame through music video Blurred Lines.
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    Vlada Sedan – Nadiya Bychkova
    There’s Strictly only one man for Vlada SedanCredit: v.lada_sedan/instagram
    Vlada’s doppelganger Strictly Come Dancing’s Nadiya BychkovaCredit: nadiyabychkova/instagram
    THERE’s Strictly only one man for Vlada Sedan and that’s Man City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko.
    But the Ukrainian defender, 25, could be tempted by his wife’s doppelganger Strictly Come Dancing’s Nadiya Bychkova, 32.
    Man City ace Oleksandr ZinchenkoCredit: Getty
    The TV reporter, 26, lashed out at Pep Guardiola for her husband’s team crashing out of the 2020 Champions league, calling the defeat “completely his fault”.
    Embarrassingly, Olesksandr issued a statement apologising on the couple’s wedding day.
    Larissa Saad Moura – Maura Higgins
    Larissa Saad Moura is the spit of Love Island’s Maura HigginsCredit: lariisaad/Instagram
    Love Island’s MauraCredit: Instagram
    WHILE Love Island’s Maura, 31, is still looking for love, lookalike WAG Larissa Saad Moura has already found hers.
    She started dating Tottenham Hotspur player Lucas Moura, 29, in 2015 when he was based in Paris.
    Tottenham Hotspur player Lucas MouraCredit: Rex
    The Sao Paulo native, 30, tied the knot in Brazil with the former PSG winger in 2016.
    Since then they’ve had two sons together – Miguel and Pedro.
    Izabel Kovacic – Rosie Huntington Whiteley
    Croatian Izabel Kovacic…Credit: izakova/Instagram
    And her celebrity double Rosie Huntington WhiteleyCredit: Instagram
    YOU might need to do a double take when faced with Croatian Izabel, 29, and model Rosie, 34.
    Just like Rosie – who has a range of underwear with M&S – entrepreneurial mum Iza has set up her own baby clothes company, Lunilou.
    Izabel married Chelsea player Mateo KovacicCredit: Getty
    The economics graduate married Chelsea player Mateo Kovacic, 27, in 2017 near capital Zagreb after seven years together.
    A year later Mateo transferred from Real Madrid to Chelsea for a reported £37.5million.
    Georgina Rodriguez – Kim Kardashian
    Cristiano Ronaldo’s girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez could easily pass for Kim KardashianCredit: Netflix
    Kim KardashianCredit: AFP
    A BROOD of kids, a luxury lifestyle and a reality show to boot – Cristiano Ronaldo’s girlfriend could very much pass for Kim Kardashian.
    The 28-year-old former shop assistant favours Kardashian’s sleek locks and high fashion thanks to Ronaldo’s £26million salary at Old Trafford.
    Manchester United star CristianoCredit: Getty
    Like Kardashian, 44, Georgina has four children – daughter Alana with her partner and three stepkids.
    She is now expecting twins with the Manchester United player.
    Marte Koepp – Molly Mae Hague
    Brentwood WAG Marte Koepp , 25, used to model – just like Love Island’s Molly-May HagueCredit: Instagram
    The real Molly Mae
    BRENTWOOD WAG Marte, 25, used to model – just like Love Island’s Molly-Mae.
    Her fiance former Celtic player Kristoffer Ajer, 23, could pass for Molly-Mae’s boyfriend Tommy Fury, 22, too.
    Marte’s former Celtic player Kristoffer AjerCredit: AFP
    Marte now works as a graphic designer for Norwegian company MedEasy.
    The pair got engaged in January – with the defender posting a snap of him and fellow Norwegian Marte on his Instagram. More

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    Despite the knee, I still get online racist abuse EVERY DAY

    TROY DEENEY had hoped the very public stand taken by professional footballers against racism might have ended the torrent of abuse faced by black players.Yet racist bile continues to scar the game he loves — and wider society.
    Troy Deeney has revealed he gets online racist abuse every dayCredit: The Sun
    The Watford FC hero believes players taking the knee has helped ‘create the conversation’ around racism but believes there hasn’t been ‘enough change’ to show for itCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
    Sun columnist Troy, 33, is still subjected to vile abuse “30 to 40 times a week”, he has revealed.
    Some comes at him in the street as Troy goes about his business, but the majority is on social media.
    The Watford FC hero, now with Birmingham City, says he ran into a brick wall after reporting the abuse to online giants.
    Now Troy, a dad of four, is campaigning to get black, Asian and minority ethnic history taught in schools.
    He has launched a petition and issued an open letter to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi stressing “the importance of education at an early age to inform identity and combat racist beliefs and stereotypes”.
    He writes: “As my mum always says to me, ‘You can’t understand where you’re going if you don’t understand where you’ve come from’. This is an issue I don’t want repeated for my own children.
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    “We need to lay a pathway for longer-lasting change for our kids, as I believe the current system is failing children from ethnic minorities.”
    Troy draws experience from his own upbringing in making the case.
    At the tough Birmingham comprehensive Troy attended, the Archbishop Grimshaw school in Chelmsley Wood, lessons in black history amounted to watching a US-made slavery mini-series.
    Troy said in a Zoom interview: “They wheeled in the VCR and said, ‘Here you go, watch Roots’. That was about it.”
    There were no lessons about ethnic minority authors or the British Empire and little to “empower” a boy from his background.
    Troy was left feeling that he was destined to failure. He was expelled from school, leaving at the age of 15 without sitting exams.
    He revealed: “I kept getting in trouble — too many little detentions and getting thrown out of classes for being stupid.
    “I think I held the record for the amount of detentions you could get in one year. I wasn’t allowed to sit my exams but I was allowed to play in school football matches.”
    Now the bustling attacker is trying to prevent another generation of youngsters suffering the same fate of being excluded from school and missing out on the chance to learn.
    He added: “I wasn’t taught about people who looked like me. If we did talk about race and slavery, it was as an American issue.
    “There was no one I heard about in lessons who made me think I could be successful.”
    Troy’s talent for football would take him from what was then Europe’s biggest council estate to shaking hands with Prince William before the 2019 FA Cup Final.
    But it is as a campaigner for equality that he now wants to make his mark.
    Troy believes players taking the knee has helped “create the conversation” around racism but believes there hasn’t been “enough change” to show for it.
    Footballers here began taking a knee before kick-off in the wake of George Floyd’s death in the US. The 46-year-old black man was killed in May 2020 by white police officer Derek Chauvin in an event that sparked protests around the world.
    For now, teaching ethnic minority history and experiences is optional in England, with the choice being made by individual teachers and schools.Black history will be added to the curriculum in Welsh schools from September this year.
    As part of his campaign, Troy commissioned a YouGov survey in which 80 per cent of teachers polled agreed that “introducing more culturally diverse, representational topics are vital and enriching”.
    ‘SYSTEM FAILING ETHNIC MINORITIES’
    He said: “Despite the Government’s assertions that diverse topics are already in place on the curriculum and sufficient teacher training is provided, this is clearly not the case and the support and desire to do more is there.”
    He added: “The current system in England is failing ethnic minorities. It’s not about removing Sir Winston Churchill from the curriculum or forgetting World War Two happened. It’s about adding more diverse topics to kids’ lessons.”
    Troy wrote in his letter to the Education Secretary: “As the proud father of four children, three of which are currently in the education system, this topic has moved front and centre in my own life.
    “I have seen more and more how important it is for my children to be able to see themselves represented in what they are being taught and to learn about the contribution and background of people who look like them.”
    The footballer said he would be more than happy to meet Mr Zahawi to discuss the campaign, adding: “He can give me a call now and I’ll start driving down.”
    And what of the “stick to football” brickbats Troy is sure to receive from online trolls?
    He said: “I get abuse daily anyway, it comes with the territory.”

    Troy has launched a petition and issued an open letter to Education Secretary Nadhim ZahawiCredit: The Mega Agency More

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    Worst football club fan food revealed as Man Utd serve up scrambled egg and mash while another has cheese slice on chips

    MANCHESTER United’s catering failed to score with BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey as he cried foul over the meal he was served at Old Trafford during the Red Devils’ clash with Southampton.He tweeted: “Scrambled egg and mashed potato. Wow. Thanks for lunch @ManUtd.”
    Jake Humphrey cried foul over the meal he was served at Old Trafford during the Red Devils’ clash with SouthamptonCredit: mrjakehumphrey/twitter
    But United’s Theatre of Dreams is far from being the only football ground to have received a kicking for its food.
    Twitter account @FootyScran is dedicated to finding the nastiest nosh – as well as the nicest – on offer at stadiums across the country.
    Lower-league clubs often come up trumps, putting bigger teams to shame, with giant portions and gourmet grub at bargain prices.
    Here we reveal the top scorers, as well as the overpriced offerings that deserve to be shown a red card.
    Dulwich Hamlet
    BEST – Chicken Gyros, £7
    Fans of this South London side can tuck into this tasty-looking Greek-inspired kebabCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Braintree Town
    Monster burger, £5.50
    The non-league Essex club should be top of the scran-pionship – thanks to its double pattie, bacon, onion and melted cheeseCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Birmingham City
    Cheesy chips, £4
    Fans get a real Brum deal at the Championship club – this portion of pricey chips with a slice of plastic cheese is a relegation candidateCredit: Twitter
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    Hull City
    Hot Dog, £5.50
    This mean chilli-dog, with juicy jalapenos in a home-baked crusty roll gives the Championship side’s long-suffering fans one Hull-uva kickCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Man City Women
    Pie and potato wedges, £5
    The club need to crust do better than this bite-size pie with five anaemic-looking potato wedges and gravyCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Weymouth
    Cheesy chips, £3.50
    When it comes to a portion of cheesy chips this is the Wey to goCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    FC United of Manchester
    Steak pie, peas and gravy with a pint, £6.40
    This Manc-y pitchside pie looks like it’s drowning in peas and gravyCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Rochdale
    Chicken Tandoori pie, £2.50
    This messy pie maybe cheap, but it won’t curry favour with fans of the League Two outfitCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Reading
    Chinese box, £10
    The Royals serve up a half-time feast fit for a Queen with its great value Chinese selection boxCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Tottenham Hotspur
    Salmon and noodles with a pint
    There’s something fishy going on with the North London side’s hospitality – this paltry portion is barely enough to feed a childCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Merthyr Town FC
    Sausages, chips and curry sauce in a cob, £4.50
    The semi-pro South Wales club has taken the chip butty to a whole new dimension of satisfactionCredit: FOOTY SCRAN

    St Albans FC
    Cheeseburger, £5
    A cheeseburger that was bought by a punter at the Hertfordshire club left quite a lot to be desired – including half its bunCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    West Bromwich
    Pizza slice, £4
    Hungry fans at this Championship club might wish they had stoked up outside the stadium if this measly little dried-up quarter of a pizza is anything to go byCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Nairn County FC
    Good Pie In A Roll, £2.50
    Known as a Wigan kebab – though the club is in the Scottish Highlands – the meat pie in a barm cake is a bargain at £2.50Credit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Boreham Wood
    Double cheeseburger in a hot dog roll, £5
    The Hertfordshire club’s Boreham burger offers two patties for the price of one – net result!Credit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Chelsea
    WORST – Hot dog, £5.90
    A fan was left with the blues after shelling out nearly six quid and getting this weeny wiener which was dwarfed by the rollCredit: FOOTY SCRAN More

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    Worst football club fan food revealed as Man Utd serve up scrambled egg and mashed potato

    MANCHESTER United’s catering failed to score with BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey as he cried foul over the meal he was served at Old Trafford during the Red Devils’ clash with Southampton.He tweeted: “Scrambled egg and mashed potato. Wow. Thanks for lunch @ManUtd.”
    Jake Humphrey cried foul over the meal he was served at Old Trafford during the Red Devils’ clash with SouthamptonCredit: mrjakehumphrey/twitter
    But United’s Theatre of Dreams is far from being the only football ground to have received a kicking for its food.
    Twitter account @FootyScran is dedicated to finding the nastiest nosh – as well as the nicest – on offer at stadiums across the country.
    Lower-league clubs often come up trumps, putting bigger teams to shame, with giant portions and gourmet grub at bargain prices.
    Here we reveal the top scorers, as well as the overpriced offerings that deserve to be shown a red card.
    Dulwich Hamlet
    BEST – Chicken Gyros, £7
    Fans of this South London side can tuck into this tasty-looking Greek-inspired kebabCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Braintree Town
    Monster burger, £5.50
    The non-league Essex club should be top of the scran-pionship – thanks to its double pattie, bacon, onion and melted cheeseCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Birmingham City
    Cheesy chips, £4
    Fans get a real Brum deal at the Championship club – this portion of pricey chips with a slice of plastic cheese is a relegation candidateCredit: Twitter
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    Hull City
    Hot Dog, £5.50
    This mean chilli-dog, with juicy jalapenos in a home-baked crusty roll gives the Championship side’s long-suffering fans one Hull-uva kickCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Man City Women
    Pie and potato wedges, £5
    The club need to crust do better than this bite-size pie with five anaemic-looking potato wedges and gravyCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Weymouth
    Cheesy chips, £3.50
    When it comes to a portion of cheesy chips this is the Wey to goCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    FC United of Manchester
    Steak pie, peas and gravy with a pint, £6.40
    This Manc-y pitchside pie looks like it’s drowning in peas and gravyCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Rochdale
    Chicken Tandoori pie, £2.50
    This messy pie maybe cheap, but it won’t curry favour with fans of the League Two outfitCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Reading
    Chinese box, £10
    The Royals serve up a half-time feast fit for a Queen with its great value Chinese selection boxCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Tottenham Hotspur
    Salmon and noodles with a pint
    There’s something fishy going on with the North London side’s hospitality – this paltry portion is barely enough to feed a childCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Merthyr Town FC
    Sausages, chips and curry sauce in a cob, £4.50
    The semi-pro South Wales club has taken the chip butty to a whole new dimension of satisfactionCredit: FOOTY SCRAN

    St Albans FC
    Cheeseburger, £5
    A cheeseburger that was bought by a punter at the Hertfordshire club left quite a lot to be desired – including half its bunCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    West Bromwich
    Pizza slice, £4
    Hungry fans at this Championship club might wish they had stoked up outside the stadium if this measly little dried-up quarter of a pizza is anything to go byCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Nairn County FC
    Good Pie In A Roll, £2.50
    Known as a Wigan kebab – though the club is in the Scottish Highlands – the meat pie in a barm cake is a bargain at £2.50Credit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Boreham Wood
    Double cheeseburger in a hot dog roll, £5
    The Hertfordshire club’s Boreham burger offers two patties for the price of one – net result!Credit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Chelsea
    WORST – Hot dog, £5.90
    A fan was left with the blues after shelling out nearly six quid and getting this weeny wiener which was dwarfed by the rollCredit: FOOTY SCRAN More

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    Worst football club fan food revealed as Man Utd serves up scrambled egg with mashed potato

    MANCHESTER United’s catering failed to score with BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey this weekend as he cried foul over the meal he was served at Old Trafford during the Red Devils’ clash with Southampton.He tweeted: “Scrambled egg and mashed potato. Wow. Thanks for lunch @ManUtd.”
    Jake Humphrey cried foul over the meal he was served at Old Trafford during the Red Devils’ clash with SouthamptonCredit: mrjakehumphrey/twitter
    But United’s Theatre of Dreams is far from being the only football ground to have received a kicking for its food.
    Twitter account @FootyScran is dedicated to finding the nastiest nosh – as well as the nicest – on offer at stadiums across the country.
    Lower-league clubs often come up trumps, putting bigger teams to shame, with giant portions and gourmet grub at bargain prices.
    Here we reveal the top scorers, as well as the overpriced offerings that deserve to be shown a red card.
    Dulwich Hamlet
    BEST – Chicken Gyros, £7
    Fans of this South London side can tuck into this tasty-looking Greek-inspired kebabCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Braintree Town
    Monster burger, £5.50
    The non-league Essex club should be top of the scran-pionship – thanks to its double pattie, bacon, onion and melted cheeseCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Birmingham City
    Cheesy chips, £4
    Fans get a real Brum deal at the Championship club – this portion of pricey chips with a slice of plastic cheese is a relegation candidateCredit: Twitter
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    Hull City
    Hot Dog, £5.50
    This mean chilli-dog, with juicy jalapenos in a home-baked crusty roll gives the Championship side’s long-suffering fans one Hull-uva kickCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Man City Women
    Pie and potato wedges, £5
    The club need to crust do better than this bite-size pie with five anaemic-looking potato wedges and gravyCredit: FOOTY SCRAN/
    Weymouth
    Cheesy chips, £3.50
    When it comes to a portion of cheesy chips this is the Wey to goCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    FC United of Manchester
    Steak pie, peas and gravy with a pint, £6.40
    This Manc-y pitchside pie looks like it’s drowning in peas and gravyCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Rochdale
    Chicken Tandoori pie, £2.50
    This messy pie maybe cheap, but it won’t curry favour with fans of the League Two outfitCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Reading
    Chinese box, £10
    The Royals serve up a half-time feast fit for a Queen with its great value Chinese selection boxCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Tottenham Hotspur
    Salmon and noodles with a pint
    There’s something fishy going on with the North London side’s hospitality – this paltry portion is barely enough to feed a childCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Merthyr Town FC
    Sausages, chips and curry sauce in a cob, £4.50
    The semi-pro South Wales club has taken the chip butty to a whole new dimension of satisfactionCredit: FOOTY SCRAN

    St Albans FC
    Cheeseburger, £5
    A cheeseburger that was bought by a punter at the Hertfordshire club left quite a lot to be desired – including half its bunCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    West Bromwich
    Pizza slice, £4
    Hungry fans at this Championship club might wish they had stoked up outside the stadium if this measly little dried-up quarter of a pizza is anything to go byCredit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Nairn County FC
    Good Pie In A Roll, £2.50
    Known as a Wigan kebab – though the club is in the Scottish Highlands – the meat pie in a barm cake is a bargain at £2.50Credit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Boreham Wood
    Double cheeseburger in a hot dog roll, £5
    The Hertfordshire club’s Boreham burger offers two patties for the price of one – net result!Credit: FOOTY SCRAN
    Chelsea
    WORST – Hot dog, £5.90
    A fan was left with the blues after shelling out nearly six quid and getting this weeny wiener which was dwarfed by the rollCredit: FOOTY SCRAN More

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    I don’t feel any different – my goal is to play at World Cup, says Christian Eriksen

    SHROUDED from view by his weeping teammates, Christian Eriksen “died for five minutes” as millions of Euro 2020 viewers looked on aghast.Today, less than eight months after having a cardiac arrest on the pitch while playing for Denmark, he’s preparing for a Premier League return as he begins training with his new team.
    Immediately after the harrowing collapse, Eriksen told the mother of his one-year-old daughter and son Alfred, three, there was ‘no way’ he would return to footballCredit: Instagram @chriseriksen8
    A trainer performed chest compressions on stricken Eriksen as the crowd fell eerily silentCredit: EPA
    We imagine what Erikson will look like in his Brentford kit
    And loyal girlfriend Sabrina Kvist Jensen is supporting his fairytale comeback at West London club Brentford — which he hopes will be the first step in fulfilling his dream of playing in this year’s World Cup.
    Midfielder Eriksen, 29, who spent six and a half  years at Tottenham, said: “If Sabrina had said, ‘I don’t want you to play any more,’ this would be a very different situation.
    “Of course, we have a trauma from June 12, but since then we have found our bearings so that Sabrina is OK with me going to the gym for a few hours and to the practice field.
    “She trusts that when I go, I always come back.”
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    Immediately after the harrowing collapse, Eriksen told the mother of his one-year-old daughter and son Alfred, three, there was “no way” he would return to football.
    The distraught hairdresser leapt over the barriers to be at his side when he collapsed at  Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium.
    According to Denmark’s legendary goalie Peter Schmeichel — whose son Kasper was their keeper that day — devoted Sabrina, now 27, initially assumed her partner was dead.
    Ex-Manchester United star Peter said: “You could see from the reaction of Kasper running over to her to say Christian is breathing, she actually believed he had passed away.”
    The Bees’ new signing will play with a pacemaker-type device called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) — and he is the only known Premier League player who has the  implement, which can restart his heart.
    He revealed: “Worst case, if it happens again, this thing helps me right away. It’s very reassuring.”
    But he isn’t content with merely returning to British top-flight football.
    Eriksen revealed: “My goal is to play at the World Cup in Qatar. This has been my mindset all along.
    “I’m sure I can come back because I don’t feel any different. Physically, I’m back in top shape.”
    Another person who will be delighted with Eriksen’s progress is his former team mate at Spurs, Harry Kane. The England skipper was “numb with shock” after the Dane’s horror collapse at the delayed Euros.
    The Three Lions striker led well-wishes to Eriksen as he lay in hospital. His wife Katie, 29, also called Sabrina to offer her support.
    The two couples would go out as a foursome after Eriksen signed for Spurs in 2013. They were spotted together at Zuma sushi restaurant in Knightsbridge and a Bruno Mars concert at the O2 Arena.
    The teatime Euro 2020 fixture between Denmark and Finland, when Eriksen collapsed, will remain indelibly etched on the minds of all who witnessed it.
    In the 42nd minute Eriksen — waiting to receive a throw-in — stumbled and fell forwards.
    The Danish players — some crying and others with their hands clasped in prayer — gathered around the fallen superstar to shield him from view.
    A trainer performed chest compressions on stricken Eriksen as the crowd fell eerily silent.
    It was nearly 20 minutes before the player was transferred to a stretcher and carried off the field.
    Fans around the globe were buoyed by the sight of a conscious Eriksen resting his hand on his forehead.
    Recalling the build-up to the game, he told Danish TV station DR1 last month: “I felt like normal. I remember (Joakim) Maehle’s throw-in. I remember being hit by the ball and I passed it back using my shin.
    “I felt a small cramp in my calf and then I blacked out.
    “When I woke up from the CPR it was like waking from a dream.
    “I don’t remember a thing from when I passed out. I’m on my back when I wake up. I feel them pressing on me. I struggled to breathe — and then I heard faint voices and doctors talking.
    “I’m thinking, ‘This can’t be me lying here, I’m healthy’. My first thought is that I broke my back. ‘Can I move my legs? I can move my toes . . . ’”
    The Danish team’s talisman clearly recalls fans singing his name as he was stretchered to an ambulance.
    He revealed: “I remember the white linen around me to shield me from view.
    “I look up and see the fans singing. I get carried out to the ambulance.
    “It’s not until I’m in the ambulance that I realise I had been dead.
    “I’m thinking, ‘Keep my boots, I won’t play again’.
    “I tell my fiancée Sabrina the same — ‘I’m not going to play again, no way’.”
    The then-Inter Milan midfielder added: “At the hospital, they kept saying I’d received more and more flowers. I didn’t expect people to send flowers because I’d died for five minutes.
    “It had an impact on so many people, and they felt a need to let me and my family know. That makes me very happy.”
    The footballer was fitted with an ICD and has returned to full health.
    ‘Besides being a superstar, he is very down to earth’
    Dr Malcolm Finlay, a consultant cardiologist  at London Bridge Hospital, describes an ICD as a “parachute”.
    He said: “It listens to the heartbeat and if the heart runs to a crazily fast rhythm, then the computer delivers an electric shock to the heart.”
    As Denmark progressed through the tournament to a semi-final encounter with England at Wembley, Eriksen admits he craved being out on the pitch. He explained: “I was happy they got so far, but I wanted to be there.”
    At just 29, the lure of top-flight football was still strong for this supreme competitor as the months went by. A wealthy man following a stellar career at Ajax, Tottenham and Inter, he still felt he had a footballing itch to scratch.
    To regain full fitness, he worked with a personal trainer at Swiss club FC Chiasso, a one-hour drive from his Milan apartment.
    Yet he could not continue with Inter as rules in Italy forbid players from competing with heart-monitoring devices.
    On transfer deadline day last week,  Brentford announced they had got their man on a six-month deal — the highest-profile player in the club’s history.
    Brentford’s Danish manager Thomas Frank, 48, said: “Besides being a top player and superstar, he is very humble and down to earth. That is a big quality. Because of what happened, some of the bigger clubs weren’t interested to take the chance.”
    Eriksen’s arrival has prompted  Brentford strips to sell at 30 times the usual rate as fans from South Korea, the US, Australia and Greenland snap up the red-and-white shirts.
    Brentford said for confidentiality reasons it won’t be releasing details of the stringent medical tests Eriksen has had.
    But Frank said: “The specialists that have seen him know that everything is perfect.”
    Professor Aneil Malhotra, lead cardiologist for clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City and Leeds, called Eriksen’s return “groundbreaking”.
    But ex-Bolton Wanderers star Fabrice Muamba, who retired from professional football after a cardiac arrest on the pitch, said he was “worried” about  Eriksen’s return. Muamba, 33, who also has an ICD, collapsed on the pitch at  Tottenham in 2012 and was resuscitated after 78 minutes.
    He revealed on his YouTube channel:  “I’m not saying it’s going to happen again but the medical staff will always say to you it might happen.”
    However, Eriksen says he’s not worried “in the slightest” about collapsing again.
    He said: “I have been cleared and monitored and tested.
    “I worried I would be afraid there (the pitch) but I’m not. So people can stop worrying.”
    After his first training session with the Bees today, manager Frank will assess when he can start his first game.
    The club’s head coach said: “It is going to be an unbelievable day when he steps on to the pitch.
    “It is a little bit of a miracle that he wants to play football again.”

    Players who got extra time
    CHRISTIAN Eriksen is not the only footballer to play on with an ICD.
    German Daniel Engelbrecht was 22 when he had a cardiac arrest on the pitch playing for third-tier Stuttgarter Kickers in 2013.
    The former striker said: “The love of football was bigger than the fear of dying. That was the reason I played again.”
    The ICD came to his rescue three times – in hospital, in a match and in training – before he hung up his boots in 2018.
    He told The Telegraph: “I wanted to play football at 100 per cent – and I only had 60 or 70 per cent.
    “The second point was that, every day I went to training, I was afraid to die.
    The third point was that my family told me their biggest fear was calling me after training or a game and never getting an answer.”Belgian defender Anthony Van Loo, 33, was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2008 but played on after getting  an ICD.
    YouTube footage from 2009 shows him collapsing during a match before a jolt from his ICD made him spasm and sit up.
    He collapsed during a game once more in 2018 and, despite making a recovery, he retired from football for good.
    In 2019, former Manchester United defender Daley Blind was fitted with an ICD after feeling dizzy while playing for Ajax. He was diagnosed with heart muscle inflammation known as cardiomyopathy.
    The next year his ICD went off during a pre-season warm-up match. He sat down but was able to walk off the pitch.
    Blind, 31, has continued playing, making 27 appearances for Ajax last season.

    Loyal girlfriend Sabrina Kvist Jensen is supporting his fairytale comeback at West London Club BrentfordCredit: chriseriksen8/Instagram
    The distraught hairdresser leapt over the barriers to be at his side when he collapsed at  Copenhagen’s Parken StadiumCredit: AFP
    Christian could not continue with Inter as rules in Italy forbid players from competing with heart-monitoring devicesCredit: AFP More

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    I dressed up as Tina Turner in fishnets and a mini skirt – and drunk men fancied me, says football legend John Barnes

    IT was one of the wildest decades in football — and John Barnes has revealed how he had Simply The Best time when he partied in the Eighties dressed as Tina Turner.The former Liverpool star has told how crazy antics were widespread before the Premier League transformed the top of the game into a slick, money-making machine.
    John Barnes had Simply The Best time when he partied in the Eighties dressed as Tina Turner
    John is shown in one photo kicking a banana away that had been hurled on to the grass
    On Kate Garraway’s Life Stories tonight he recalls how players were constantly going on booze binges celebrating the team’s regular triumphs.
    He tells Kate, who is making her debut as the show’s presenter: “In the late Eighties into the early Nineties we were celebrating most nights.
    “It got messy from an alcoholic point of view for a lot of the big drinkers.
    “But of course you couldn’t make excuses to not come into training and play properly.
    “If you want to be sick on the side of the pitch because you’ve drunk too much, that’s fine.
    “Our Christmas parties were fancy dress. It would go on until maybe eight or nine in the morning, then you just go in fancy dress straight to training. You’d come in your Mickey Mouse costume, or whatever it was.”
    ‘Dalglish let me have it’
    At one memorable party, John, 58, transformed himself into pop legend Tina Turner — and a few fellas gave him admiring glances.
    He said: “There was the fishnet tights, cowboy boots, the little fur coat and have the stockings just below the skirt with the garter belt, and the wig, the make-up.
    “During the night I had some close scares because after people got drunk they really didn’t know it was John Barnes.
    “If you’re in the toilet with a lot of drunk men and you were fairly attractive because I was a little bit slimmer then.”
    Recalling the next day’s training session, John added: “I didn’t have to turn up as Tina Turner because I could take my tights off and I would go in in the skirt and the boots.
    “It was fine, though, because Kenny Dalglish was with us — and he was the manager. You could get away with anything if you were a good footballer.”
    Nobody could argue that John wasn’t a top flight player. After signing for Watford in 1981, aged 17, he was playing for the national team within two years.
    In 1984, age just 20, John came to international prominence by scoring a memorable wondergoal for England against Brazil.
    Taking the ball on his chest, he began an eight-second run from the left, beating  six players before knocking the ball past keeper Roberto Costa.
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    The dazzled crowd  in the 56,000-capacity Maracanã stadium gave him a standing ovation — and that opening goal just before half-time  set up the Three Lions   for a 2-0 victory in the friendly.
    Left winger John signed for Liverpool in 1987. During his decade with the club they won two league titles and became adored by reds fans.
    He describes Scousers as “his people” and explains that is why he still lives in the city.
    But from manager Dalglish, the love was conditional. John  could get away with bad behaviour, until he didn’t perform on the pitch.
    He recalled the time he and a fellow player got drunk and decided to strip off before jumping into Liverpool’s Albert Dock.
    John recalls: “Kenny Dalglish got told the next day but never mentioned it.
    “But a month later I had a bad game and he came down at half time and that’s when he let me have it — because he’d remembered.”
    In contrast to other players seduced by the party lifestyle, he remained more anchored by being married to first wife Suzy, with whom he had four children — Jamie, Jordan, Jemma and Jasmine.
    He went on to marry a second time to Andrea, with whom he has two daughters — Isabella and Tia.
    His fame grew and reached a peak in 1990, just before that year’s World Cup in Italy.
    In the late Eighties into the early Nineties we were celebrating most nights. It got messy from an alcoholic point of view for a lot of the big drinkers. But of course you couldn’t make excuses to not come into training and play properly.John Barnes
    His rap was the standout moment on New Order’s official England single, World In Motion — and to this day he can recall every word.
    But only a handful of his team-mates turned up to the recording because they thought the track would be a flop like the previous World Cup song.
    John said: “The rest of the players said: ‘Well the song’s going to be rubbish again because it was in 1986’, so they didn’t turn up. Only six people did the song.
    “When we got to the studios and we saw that it was New Order we realised it was going to be a proper song with a proper group.
    “But before we did the song they said, ‘You can either get royalties or you can get £5,000 to share between all 25 of you.’
    “All the players got together and they said: ‘Do royalties mean if we don’t sell one record we don’t get any money?’ They went: ‘Yeah’ so they said: ‘We’ll take the £5,000.’
    “Then it was No1 for three months.”
    ‘Cowering in corners’
    After his playing career ended John went on to be a manager and a pundit. More recently he has appeared on a string of TV shows including Strictly Come Dancing, Who Do You Think You Are? and Celebrity Big Brother.
    He has also appeared on programmes such as BBC1’s Question Time talking about race and discrimination — a subject he has plenty of experience of.
    Born in Kingston, Jamaica, John came to the UK when he was 12 and lived in London.
    Like so many black players emerging in the game in the Eighties, he faced horrendous abuse, with chants and monkey gestures from crowds during games.
    In a defining image of the abuse that non-white players had to deal with at the time, John is shown in one photo kicking a banana away that had been hurled on to the grass.
    He said: “That picture with the banana, I don’t even remember doing that because it happened whenever we played.
    “You had National Front banners in the crowd. “This is what players had been through all the time so it wasn’t shocking to me because I’d seen this before.
    “But I did not endure the everyday reality of the black experience. I had it on a Saturday, but then on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, any restaurant I wanted to go to, if I wanted to go to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister (I could).
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    “Whereas the everyday experience of the black working class, this was something they had to deal with all their lives.
    “I remember going down the Holloway Road in London and I’m on a coach. I played for Watford and there were lots of Arsenal fans there and they’re throwing stuff at the coach and racially abusing me.
    “Interspersed among them you have average black people going about their everyday lives, shopping, and they’re cowering in corners — they’re ducking, they’re hiding.
    “I was an elite footballer. I was on the coach. But nobody is speaking for them.”
    Although fighting racism in football has come on leaps and bounds over the decades since then, John says he believes many black Brits still have to suffer discrimination on a daily basis — and says it has to change.
    He said: “Here we are 30 years later still talking about ‘the elite’ rather than what’s going on in the inner cities.
    “There’s invisible banana skins and unspoken racist abuse to black people every day of their lives. And nobody is talking about it.”

    Kate Garraway’s Life Stories starts tonight on ITV at 9pm.

    Kate Garraway’s Life Stories starts tonight on ITV at 9pm
    John’s rap was the standout moment on New Order’s official England single, World In Motion
    John said: ‘You could get away with anything if you were a good footballer’
    John transformed himself into pop legend Tina Turner — and a few fellas gave him admiring glances
    Ex England star John Barnes says football can’t solve racism problem on its own after Saka, Rashford and Sancho abused More