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      in Soccer

      How Sir Bobby Charlton rose from the ashes of Munich disaster to become player ‘better than Pele’

      by

      THE scene at the German airport that bitter February afternoon in 1958 was one of utter devastation.Pulled free from the twisted wreckage of the Munich air disaster, Sir Bobby ­Charlton rose to become one of the finest footballers England — and the world — has ever known.
      Sir Bobby Charlton survived the Munich air disaster and went on to win the World Cup for EnglandCredit: Allsport – Getty
      But for the rest of his life he would be haunted by the tragedy that left eight of his Manchester United teammates dead, including England legend Duncan Edwards.
      Sir Bobby said: “All my mates — I think about this fact every day of my life.”
      Over the next decade, he reached peaks of achievement no other domestic player has reached.
      An exceptionally gifted midfielder with a thunderbolt shot, he was the leading scorer for both United and England for more than 40 years until being overtaken by Wayne Rooney.
      READ MORE SIR BOBBY CHARLTON
      Partly because of the trauma of Munich, his character has been described as modest and reserved.
      Flamboyant former Manchester United boss Ron Atkinson once called him a “grizzlin’ old miser” — but on the field Charlton oozed a unique charisma.
      Renowned football correspondent Geoffrey Green summed up his brilliance in 1969, writing: “It is the explosive facets of his play that will remain in the memory.
      “His thinning, fair hair streaming in the wind, he has moved like a ship in full sail.
      Most read in Football
      “He has always possessed an elemental quality, jinking, changing feet and direction, turning gracefully on the ball or accelerating through a gap surrendered by a confused enemy.”
      In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Charlton was an enigma — unable to fulfil his talent consistently.
      But all that changed when he was switched from left winger to the role of attacking central midfielder for club and country.
      The national team was now under the management of Alf Ramsey, whose pioneering approach abandoned the use of traditional wingers.
      With more scope to dominate, Charlton flourished. In 1963, he said: “I’m in the game all the time. I could not be happier.”
      Sir Bobby Charlton led Manchester United to become the first English team to win the European CupCredit: Getty – Contributor
      He became the fulcrum of United’s forward line as the revived club won a host of trophies, including an FA Cup, three league titles, and, above all, the European Cup in 1968 — exactly a decade after Munich.
      Charlton was just as vital to Alf Ramsey’s world-beating England side of 1966.
      Squad member Jimmy Armfield said: “We had a trump card — every great team has one and ours was Bobby Charlton.”
      His typically spectacular long-range goal against Mexico kick-started England’s campaign, and his brace against Portugal saw England through to the final.
      Full-back George Cohen recalled: “He had that great acceleration and beautiful balance that gives great players half a chance at goal where there isn’t one.”
      It was a reflection of Charlton’s stature that in the 1966 final, the German maestro Franz Beckenbauer was instructed to sacrifice his own freedom to mark him, though that did not prevent an England triumph.
      Beckenbauer said: “I have more admiration for Charlton than any other player, even Pele.”
      Franz Beckenbauer famously said Sir Bobby Charlton was better than Brazilan great PeleCredit: Keystone
      Central to the admiration Charlton provoked was his supreme professionalism.
      Unlike his United team-mate George Best, who squandered his talent through alcoholic self-indulgence, Charlton was a role model in the way he conducted himself, never flinched from the fight and gave wholeheartedly to every team he represented.
      Even his signature comb-over — for which he was ribbed by some — was a mark of an unflashy man brought up in a Northumberland mining town.
      He appeared in more than 750 matches yet was only booked twice.
      Irish legend Johnny Giles, who began his career at United, said: “He always tried his hardest, no matter what the circumstances.
      “He would never hide on the field, even when he was not playing well. I never saw him give anything but his best.”
      His decency extended to his personal life, built on his happy marriage to Norma Ball, who was a receptionist in a fashion agency before she met Bobby in 1959.
      They had two daughters — Andrea and Suzanne, who went on to become a weather presenter for the BBC.
      There was never the slightest whiff of scandal about Sir Bobby.
      He was too restrained, too self-conscious ever to have been a playboy, and a secure domestic life as both loyal husband and devoted father suited him perfectly.
      Sir Bobby earned more than 100 caps for England and scored 49 goals for his countryCredit: Getty
      Ronnie Cope, who played 93 games for United with Charlton, remembered: “I have always said that marrying Norma was the best thing that ever happened to Bobby.
      “She was a smashing girl, very attractive and seemed to have an influence on him straight away.”
      But the advent of Norma into his life also caused a rift in his family, particularly with elder brother Jack and his mother Cissie — who came from the famous north-eastern Milburn footballing family and was very much the matriarch of the Charlton household in Ashington.
      Outspoken, domineering but warm, Cissie was similar in character to Jack, whereas Bobby took after his quiet father, Robert, a miner who worked down the local pit and was more interested in boxing than football.
      It was a tough life, and Jack and Bobby grew up in a small terraced house where they had to share a bed and use an outside toilet. They also shared an ability at football.
      From his earliest years in Ashington, Bobby had seemed destined for greatness, as his neighbour Walter Lavery recalled: “He stood out like a beacon.
      “He was different, far above the rest of the young players, as near a genius as you could get.”
      But Jack, while more limited, was still sufficiently effective as a defender to attract the interest of league clubs.
      Despite their differences, the pair did embrace when they won the 1966 World Cup.Credit: Getty
      He joined Leeds United at the age of 15, a year before Bobby signed for Manchester United.
      Despite embarking on the same career path, the two brothers were never close.
      Indeed, the differences between them were far greater than the similarities.
      Uninterested in academic work, Jack went to a secondary modern school, Bobby, more diligent, to a grammar.
      Jack was a rebel, always challenging authority, while Bobby was a conformist. Jack was a voluble Labour supporter, whereas Bobby was essentially conservative in outlook.
      Against this backdrop, Bobby’s marriage to Norma dramatically widened the chasm between the brothers. Norma and Cissie could not abide each other.
      Norma once said: “I was never accepted into the family by my mother-in-law. She has never acknowledged me or my children.”
      In her turn, Cissie admitted as much: “We got off to a bad start. I think we rubbed each other up the wrong way.”
      Inevitably, Bobby took Norma’s side, and Jack his mother’s.
      The result was that they were barely on speaking terms for much of their later lives.
      In the playing arena, there was an air of anti-climax for Bobby after 1968.
      United went into decline following the retirement of manager Sir Matt Busby, while Bobby’s England career ended on a sour note when he was substituted in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final defeat by West Germany in Mexico.
      On his departure from United in 1973, he had a spell as manager of Preston North End.
      But his habitual reserve and inability to connect with players much less skilful than him meant he was never cut out for such a role. He left after two seasons.
      More fulfilling were stints as an international ambassador for the FA — where he was the architect of a network of international youth coaching schemes, of which David Beckham was one product.
      As a director of Manchester United from 1984, he played a vital part in the success of Sir Alex Ferguson’s managerial career at Old Trafford.
      Bobby himself was knighted in 1994. No one was ever more deserving of the honour.
      Read More on The Sun
      And it was his elder brother Jack who presented him with a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
      Jack told his sibling: “Bobby Charlton is the greatest player I’ve ever seen. And he’s my brother.”
      In later years, the Charlton brothers rekindled their relationshipCredit: Getty More

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      in Soccer

      Meet Brit battling to set up world’s last national footy team in country where locals play barefoot & pitch is landfill

      by

      IN concrete basketball courts on tiny islands in the Pacific Ocean, bare-footed footballers dream of representing their country.Yet few other aspiring soccer stars have so much standing in their way as those on the Marshall Islands.
      The Marshall Islands is the last country without a national football teamCredit: Shutterstock
      Brit Lloyd Owers has been appointed as football technical director of the Marshall IslandsCredit: Paul Tonge
      The first problem is that it is the last country on the planet without a national team.
      Last year the nation — 1,225 islands 8,000 miles from Britain, some sitting atop submerged volcanoes — didn’t even have an amateur league.
      There are no football grounds and in the US-dominated culture there has been little interest in the beautiful game.
      But that is all changing in the country most famous for witnessing nuclear weapon tests on its Bikini atoll in the Forties and Fifties.
      READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS
      Three Brits are part of the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation, which is aiming to become a member of football’s governing body Fifa and to take part in World Cup qualifiers.
      They include football coach Lloyd Owers, who led the first training sessions on the islands this summer.
      The Marshall Islands will next year have a stadium with a proper pitch and in the summer intend to field a side against neighbouring islands.
      ‘Playing barefooted’
      They already have a football strip, which has been selling more than 100 replicas a week since it went on sale last month, even though there is not yet a team to cheer on.
      Most read in Football
      Lloyd, 34, from Oxfordshire, whose previous jobs include working as a scout for League Two Mansfield Town FC and under 23’s manager at non-league Oxford City, tells The Sun: “When we started in January there was nothing. There were no leagues, no kids sessions, no anything.
      “We want to be confederation members, we want to be part of the international stage qualifiers, Olympic qualifiers.
      “Long term, we want to be Fifa members, World Cup qualifiers, that’s genuinely something we want to do.”
      In many ways, it is surprising that the Marshall Islands, which has a population of 42,000, doesn’t have a national side.
      There are plenty of smaller coun- tries with one.
      The Marshall Islands football strip has been selling more than 100 replicas a week since it went on sale last monthCredit: Marshall Islands Soccer Federation
      Even the neighbouring commonwealth Tuvalu islands, with just 12,000 people, has a team affiliated to the Oceania Football Con- federation, which has 11 members af- filiated with Fifa, including New Zealand.
      And despite having only 760 citizens, Vatican City in Italy has managed to field a team for international friendlies.
      The Marshall Islands, which are named after the British explorer John Marshall, who visited the long-discovered islands in 1788, was fought over by several nations before gaining independence from the US in 1986.
      But America still has a military base on Kwajalein Atoll, with around a thousand personnel, and has a big influence on the isolated nation.
      As a result, basketball and baseball are the most popular sports.
      That, though, has changed since football superstars such as David Beckham and Lionel Messi raised the profile of the game stateside.
      When the son of oil worker Shem Livai, who lives in the capital Majuro, became a fan, the idea of a national side took root.
      Shem formed the federation in early 2020, became its president and, once the Covid pandemic was over, set about kicking off the team’s development.
      Lloyd, whose coaching consultancy work has taken him to the US, Canada and Sweden, wrote a blog which Shem read.
      The pair got into a conversation over the internet “quite randomly”, according to Lloyd, and he found himself taking up the part-time job of technical director for the fledgling football federation.
      By the start of this year Lloyd and his fellow Brits, communications director Justin Whalley and commercial director Matt Webb, set about raising sponsorship and the project’s profile.
      That included a competition in April to design the nation’s football shirt. “When the sales started rolling in, you realised how popular the project is. We sold 400 in three weeks in 40 different countries,” he says. In the summer Lloyd flew to the Marshall Islands for his first coaching sessions.
      It is a 46-hour journey — if there are no delays.
      Lloyd’s connecting flight from Hawaii to the islands was cancelled and he had to wait two days for the next one, although he admits that being stranded in Honolulu was no hardship.
      They are very tough
      When he got there he realised the scale of the task.
      He reveals: “It is an eye-opener, they are playing barefooted.”
      Locals would enjoy a kickabout wherever there was space, which was mainly on basketball courts.
      Lloyd developed a football programme for schoolsCredit: SUPPLIED
      The Marshall Islands has a population of around 40,000 peopleCredit: rmisoccer/instagram
      Lloyd set about organising a league, which now consists of four futsal teams.
      Futsal is a five-a-side game which can be played in smaller spaces and is good for developing skills.
      He continues: “The men’s futsal league takes place on concrete, the majority are still playing barefooted, they are very tough.”
      Lloyd developed a programme for schools and the government has agreed to include football in PE lessons. He also taught 23 locals how to coach the game.
      Playing the traditional 11-a-side game remains a challenge.
      Lloyd explains: “One of the battles is a lack of space. The main island of Majuro is literally a 24-mile drive from one end to the other, one long road with buildings either side and you are surrounded by water.”
      Climate change is only going to make that problem worse. The highest point on Majuro is only ten feet above sea level, and scientists have warned that the oceans could rise by six feet by the end of this century in a worst-case scenario.
      Lloyd says: “It is a real battle. When I visited, I went to one of the ends of the islands and that’s where it is going to be at threat.
      “There is talk that by 2030 that whole area could be submerged.”
      For this reason the country’s first stadium is being built on reclaimed land. The multi-purpose complex, which includes a track and field for athletics and a football pitch, is due to open in July next year.
      “The football stadium used to be part of the ocean, but they have built it in landfill, similar to what they did in Dubai,” explains Lloyd.
      On top of shrinking land, the nation also suffers from a shrinking population, with the Marshallese heading to Australia, New Zealand and the United States to find work.
      Tech billionaire Elon Musk used Kwajalein Atoll for his early SpaceX rocket launches.
      But the logistics of getting supplies to the remote eight-acre Omelek island proved to be so tricky that the staff reportedly mutinied in 2005 when they ran out of food.
      These days SpaceX operates in Texas.
      Fortunately, a free movement agreement with the US means there is a potential pool of players among expats.
      There are an estimated 30,000 Marshall Islanders in the US, with half of them in the state of Arkansas.
      Lloyd says: “We have had a few players contact us that play in the US college system, for example. They will be part of the plans over the next few years.”
      The main aim, though, is to develop a grassroots game on the islands themselves so the team has players with sand between their toes.
      The federation will need to show there is an established, competitive league to apply to membership of either the Oceania Football Confederation or Fifa.
      Lloyd says: “You need football to be regular, you need it to be benefiting every group possible, regular competition.”
      Read More on The Sun
      What gives him so much hope is the way the islanders pull together.
      He concludes: “It is very much a together community feel, everyone helps everyone. I have never been to a place which is so hospitable.”
      Progress is being made on the Marshall Islands’ new stadiumCredit: rmisoccer/instagram
      The Marshall Islands is a small South Pacific Island nationCredit: Shutterstock
      The Marshall Islands and Bikini Atoll on a map
      Nearby Bikini Atoll is known for being the site of breakthrough Atom bomb testsCredit: Getty More

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      in Soccer

      Football should be the beautiful game – but 2030 World Cup covering half the globe is an ugly kick in the teeth for fans

      by

      FOOTBALL is supposed to be the people’s game.It’s supposed to be about the fans as well as the players.
      Nobody outside a chosen few inside Fifa headquarters in Zurich was celebrating the latest brainwave pulled off by world football boss Gianni InfantinoCredit: PA
      Lionel Messi lifts the World Cup trophy in Qatar – a tournament allegedly powered by giant solar fields in the desert that NOBODY has ever seenCredit: Getty
      And the World Cup, the pinnacle of the sport, is supposed to be a global party.
      But nobody outside a chosen few inside Fifa headquarters in Zurich was celebrating the latest brainwave pulled off by world football boss Gianni Infantino.
      A World Cup covering half the globe, spread over 39 days and involving 48 teams and 104 matches.
      Starting with three games in South America, before the rest of the tournament is split between the Iberian peninsula and North Africa.

      Yet what was inconceivable is now, overnight, a looming reality, coming our way in just seven years, in 2030.
      A kick in the teeth for fans around the planet, who still love the beautiful game, no matter how ugly it can seem.
      And further irrefutable proof that what counts in football now is not the sport, the emotion and the passion.
      That went out of the window long ago.
      Most read in Football
      The brutal truth is that it is now only about the money, the politics, the deals and the TV contracts.
      Who in their right mind would conceive of sending fans halfway around the world — then back — for ONE match?
      Fifa, of course.
      The blazers in their ivory towers, who know they get executive travel, first-class seats and the biggest suites in the swankiest hotels, all meals and match tickets included, for nothing — plus £400 a day in cash for spending money just to keep them sweet.
      No worries about saving up for the journey for these men and women.
      The same Fifa that trumpeted the green credentials of a £185BILLION World Cup in Qatar, allegedly powered by giant solar fields in the desert that NOBODY has ever seen.
      That’s before you even get into the other issues in the Gulf state — the treatment of migrant workers and legalised homophobia.
      Yet it’s as much about the sheer cost of the concept as well.
      Playing the opening three matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay pays homage to the centenary of the tournament that was first played in Uruguayan capital Montevideo in 1930.
      Divide and rule
      There is a romantic element in that — although many real fans of the game will argue that the 2030 tournament should have been hosted entirely back where it all began.
      But Fifa is asking some fans to fork out thousands to fly 6,000-plus miles to see their team in action in South America and then back across the Atlantic for a tournament split between Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
      Where, of course, tickets will be at premium rates for travelling fans. Someone has to pay the bills. And it’s you.
      Does anybody in Zurich care about that? It doesn’t look that way, does it?
      For Fifa President Infantino, football’s version of The Hood from Thunderbirds, it is an ingenious, some would argue brilliant, solution.
      After all, he has handed six countries and three continents a piece of the action.
      That allows all the potential bidders to keep face at home and also ensures the maximum interest and pay cheques from the European TV companies who fund his global projects, pitches and training centres in countries that otherwise would not be able to afford them.
      Infantino may not have been a protege of former Fifa chief, disgraced Sepp Blatter.
      But he has learned from the Blatter play book of divide and rule — and brought it into the modern age.
      And seasoned, and cynical, Fifa watchers know what the real end game is here.
      It is less about 2030 — although that is what has captured immediate attention.
      Instead, it is more, far more, about 2034 — and giving Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman what HE has craved for years.

      The door for the Saudis to walk through and host that tournament is not ajar. It is wide open.
      Nominally, Australia could bid as well.
      But it would be a forlorn and expensive waste of money. The die is cast.
      “All the fish is sold,” as they say in Fifa land.
      It does not matter that there will be another desert storm of protest, that fans will not be able to get a drink — to be fair, the absence of booze in the stadiums in Qatar made for a far less aggressive and hostile atmosphere.
      Nor that the Saudi record on human rights is pretty compatible with that in Qatar.
      Indeed, the Qataris do not, as far as we know, have a track record of dismembering critical journalists in any of their embassies.
      Doha 1, Riyadh 0.
      Effectively gifting Saudi the tournament means another winter World Cup in November and December of 2034 — and another enforced six-week break for the Premier League.
      And because the new 32-team Club World Cup — Chelsea, Manchester City and almost certainly Liverpool play in the first version in the USA in 2025 — is held in the same country as the next World Cup, the situation will be similar 12 months earlier, with players going to Saudi in 2033.
      Scant consolation
      Two successive European club seasons ruptured in half, just to ensure MBS gets what he wants.
      Have the fans, players or even the clubs been asked about that? Of course they haven’t. They never are.
      The good news, the only good news, is that Infantino will not be around to bask in the reflected “glory” of his masterplan when it comes to fruition.
      Even after dismissing his first three years in the job as not counting, he must give up his place as Fifa President in 2031.
      Canada’s Victor Montagliani is a potential successor.
      But that will be scant consolation to the fans forking out money they really can’t afford to follow their teams in 2030 or four years later.
      They are barely an afterthought.
      Scenery for the TV pictures.
      Read More on The Sun
      Willing victims who pay for the privilege.
      As Sir Alex Ferguson once said, in very different circumstances: “Football. Bloody hell.” More

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      in Soccer

      The Sun launches Footie For All Fund to help protect kids’ clubs hit by the cost-of-living crisis

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      THE Sun is today launching a landmark Footie For All Fund to help protect kids’ clubs hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis.We have teamed up with Tesco’s Stronger Starts programme to hand out £150,000 worth of grants to grass roots youth football clubs struggling with funds.
      The Sun is launching our landmark Footie For All Fund to help protect kids’ clubs hit hard by the cost-of-living crisisCredit: Oliver Dixon
      Harry Redknapp has backed The Sun’s Footie For All FundCredit: Louis Wood
      Gary Lineker has backed The Sun’s Footie For All FundCredit: Doug Seeburg
      The cash can be used in any way that encourages more children to take up the sport or improves access to the game.
      Perhaps you are a local team that wants to offer parents help with membership fees.
      Maybe you need new kits or more pitch space to play on.
      Grants can also be used to help with transport or general running costs.
      READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
      Earlier this year we launched our Footie For All campaign to shine a light on how financial struggles were forcing kids to give up football.
      Figures showed that 94 per cent of grass roots clubs were concerned about the impact soaring costs were having on their membership, according to charity Sported.
      In the wake of our probe we have been inundated with stories of local youth sides — who make a huge difference to their communities — struggling to cover their costs.
      Clubs across the country also told us how some kids are being forced to drop out altogether as families can not pay their membership subs or for kit and transport.
      Most read in Football
      So today we urge grass roots clubs to apply for one of our fantastic £1,000 Footie For All support grants.
      Launched in conjunction with Tesco’s Stronger Starts campaign — which funds healthy food and activities for children — we will dish out 150 grants in total to clubs across the country.
      Christine Heffernan, Tesco group communications director, said: “The Tesco Stronger Starts grant programme provides £5million of funding to get more children and their families access to healthy and nutritious food and physical activities.
      “We thought that The Footie For All programme would be a great extension to that to help kids to thrive.
      “Any child should be able to do physical activity they enjoy if they wish, taking away the worry about paying for subs or kit for example.”
      Our campaign is being backed by big names in the game.
      Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker said: “I think grass roots is vital.
      “That’s where everyone starts. Some of us finish at the top, some don’t, but we all enjoy it.”
      Sun columnist Harry Redknapp added: “Grass roots football is important, and we need to ensure there are facilities for kids.”
      Reality star Joey Essex is also keen to see kids keep playing.
      He said: “Football provides an escape for so many kids from whatever else is going on. The Sun is offering families a lifeline.”
      To apply for one of our grants, see tescostrongerstarts. org.uk/footiefund.
      Grants will be awarded by The Sun with charity Groundwork, which runs Tesco’s grant-giving programmes, on a rolling basis.
      Applications must be made by October 29.
      SOMERTON TOWN
      YOUTH football club Somerton Town, Somerset, kept its membership subs frozen for three years to help families cope through Covid and the cost-of-living crisis.
      But organisers had to raise them from £95 to £120 this season after rises of up to 30 per cent in costs.
      Somerton Town kept its membership subs frozen for three years to help families cope through Covid and the cost-of-living crisisCredit: Chris Balcombe
      Since it was founded in 2001, Somerton have played a unique social role for its 187 players, across 11 teams.
      Chairman Justin Davies, 40, says: “We have a huge catchment area that contains areas with large-scale social and economic deprivation.
      “Playing football teaches young people about teamwork, respect and fair play.
      “Little things like shaking hands before and after a match to show respect to the other team is important.
      “When we put the prices up, 21 players left, with 20 not going on to join another club. It was a financial decision.”
      Justin Davis said: ‘Playing football teaches young people about teamwork, respect and fair play’Credit: Chris Balcombe
      HACKNEY WICK FC
      AFTER leaving prison in 2019, Bobby Kasanga started Hackney Wick FC, in East London, to stop other children falling into a life of crime.
      It now has more than 180 children on its books and a waiting list of even more who want to be part of its teams.
      For many families, the club is a way to keep their children on the right path – and Bobby, 37, who spent eight years inside for armed robbery, never turns anyone away.
      He says: “We try to do as much as we can to alleviate financial stress and often let kids play without paying or offer discounts if a family has multiple kids with us.
      “We’ve seen it getting worse recently, but we know turning anyone away could see them get taken in by gangs.
      “If we can’t have them, the gangs certainly will.”
      To play a year at Hackney costs around £250.
      But Bobby and his team are writing off around £5,000 of unpaid subs because they know families can’t afford it.
      He says: “We rely on our sponsors and they’ve been amazing.
      Last year, one covered the cost of 20 kids for a year. But it’s hard to keep our heads above water.”
      The club’s relationships with local businesses provide more than just financial help.
      Bobby says: “We’ve had four of our players taken on by one of our sponsors.
      “It means they have a stable income and a potential career for life.
      “That’s so important for helping them stay out of danger.
      “But even if they end up going down a bad path, the club relationships across the whole of East London may help diffuse violent situations.
      “They may stop an attack because they know the other gang member from football.”
      Bobby adds: “I never want anyone to go through what I went through growing up.
      “We are a family and I won’t take football away from them over money.”
      BLACKBURN EAGLES
      LIKE other clubs, Blackburn Eagles have also seen more kids struggling to pay – but it never turns anyone away.
      The club, which is the biggest in its area with 650 players on its books, feels it is vital for all kids to have access to the beautiful game and tries to keep its fees low.
      Blackburn Eagles feels it is vital for all kids to have access to football and tries to keep its fees lowCredit: BLACKBURN EAGLES
      In fact, the academy’s vice-chairman, Chris Hughes, 39, says prices have not been put up in around eight years.
      He adds: “We don’t turn anyone away.
      “We just take more children, create new groups, create new training sessions and create new teams.”
      But the club has recently had to take teams out of the Junior Premier League due to the cost of the four-hour round trips to play other teams across the North West.
      Chris says: “Football gives kids a good focus and can be a massive part of certain children’s lives.
      “It might be the one thing they’ll look forward to all week, and sometimes it gets them out of situations where maybe they don’t want to be at home all the time.”
      HOW TO APPLY
      WE want to hear the story of your club and the huge difference you are making to kids and your community.
      If you are a not-for-profit grassroots football club in England, Wales or Scotland working with youngsters under the age of 18 you could be eligible for one of our 150 grants.
      Funds can be used for anything that encourages more children to take part in the sport.
      Perhaps your club needs help with pitch fees or wants to sponsor funded places for children who can not afford membership.
      To apply and for full T&Cs, see tescostrongerstarts.org.uk/footiefund.

      WHAT THE STARS SAY

      A young Phil FodenCredit: Instagram @philfoden
      Phil says football ‘brings happiness for so many people’Credit: Getty
      “GRASSROOTS football is where it began for all of us.
      “It brings happiness for so many people and it’s so important nothing gets in the way of everyone having that opportunity.”

      A young Harry MaguireCredit: Instagram
      Harry says ‘playing with a team gives kids an outlet and a chance to learn discipline’Credit: Getty
      “I SPENT my childhood with a ball at my feet.
      “Playing with a team gives kids an outlet and a chance to learn discipline and to make friends with people they might not have met.”

      A young Raheem Sterling
      Raheem said that as a kid he ‘fell in love’ with football and ‘made friends for life’Credit: Getty
      “MY mentor got me in to football to correct my behaviour.
      “I found something I wanted to put my energy in to.
      “I fell in love with it – and I made friends for life.”
      READ MORE SUN STORIES

      A young Jarrod Bowen
      Jarrod said ‘football is for everyone and it’s massively important it stays that way’Credit: Getty
      “WE can’t let kids see their dream die simply because Mum or Dad can’t afford to pay for the subs, kit and travel.
      “Football is for everyone and it’s massively important it stays that way.” More

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      in Soccer

      Footie stars biggest fashion own goals from Haaland’s pyjama suit to Pogba’s cape – who do you think looks the worst?

      by

      HE’S a self-styled king of fashion with a £10m Gucci deal but Jack Grealish has been labelled Man City’s worst dressed player.It appears the winger scored an own goal after last year rating his teammates’ fashion sense on the club’s YouTube channel – and now they’ve got their revenge.
      Manchester City winger Jack Grealish was labelled the worst dressed footballer in the squad by his teammatesCredit: Eroteme
      He gave himself an A for style while downgrading Ruben Dias to a D and giving Kevin De Bruyne a C.
      Now Spanish midfielder Rodri – whose style Grealish described as “awful, awful” – has kicked the winger’s ego into touch in an interview accusing Grealish of actually being the worst dressed.
      The stunned winger, who has a six figure deal with BoohooMAN as well as Gucci, posted the clip on his Instagram page with a shocked face emoji.
      With sportsmen scoring big as fashion idols, bagging deals worth millions with brands such as Burberry, Dior and Superdry, there’s everything to play for when it comes to power dressing.
      READ MORE JACK GREALISH
      But there have been plenty of footie fashion faux pas over the years… and Grealish isn’t alone.
      Would he make the worst dressed XI All Stars team?
      Here are the stars who would be kicked into touch by the fashion police.
      Raheem Sterling
      Chelsea and England winger Raheem Sterling may need some longer trousersCredit: sterling7/instagram
      A JACKET that hangs off the shoulders may become tyre-some for Raheem – whose puffed-up outfit could be a nod to the Michelin Man.
      Most read in Football
      And we won’t even ask about those breeches, which make him look like a jockey.
      Surely he’ll not keep this look up furlong!
      Tom Davies
      Sheffield United’s Tom Davies wearing a dressing gownCredit: Getty
      DRESSING down or dressing GOWN?
      Former Everton ace Tom loves to make a statement with his clothing, and this get-up is no exception.
      He may have been going for a casual vibe, but looks more like he’s in his pyjamas ready for bed.
      You snooze, you lose, Tom.
      Dani Alves
      Former Barcelona defender Dani Alves is one of the best of his generation, on the pitchCredit: PA
      BRAZILIAN defender Dani could give Hugh Jackman a run for his money in this Greatest Showman-style suit, which he wore to a party in Paris back in 2019.
      Erling Haaland
      Record setting Norwegian striker Erling Haaland is not afraid to stand outCredit: BackGrid
      MANCHESTER City player Haaland is a ray of sunshine in this bright yellow shirt and trouser set.
      They could be posh PJs – or even 1970s- inspired party gear.
      James Maddison
      Spurs midfielder James Maddison has been on fire so far this seasonCredit:
      THE Tottenham icon is perhaps hoping to get a-head in the fashion stakes in this bucket hat, shorts and t-shirt combo.
      He’d fit right in at Glastonbury festival.
      Paul Pogba
      Paul Pogba may have been trying to keep a low profile with this unusual outfitCredit: BackGrid
      FRENCH footballer Pogba is a hero on the pitch – and off it, too, so it seems.
      The Juventus star channelled his inner superhero in this wacky hooded cape.
      Hector Bellerin
      Former Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin is as well known for his wacky style as he is for his performancesCredit: Getty
      THERE’s nowhere to hide for the Spanish right-back in this striking black leather coat.
      His laidback look, complete with shades, echoes Keanu Reeves’ in The Matrix.
      Oli McBurnie
      Striker Oli McBurnie’s odd tracksuit looks like it belongs a few decades ago
      SHEFFIELD United icon McBurnie goes for man of the match in this red and brown tracksuit co-ord.
      Wonder if the knee-highs are for added socks appeal?
      READ MORE SUN STORIES
      Dominic Calvert-Lewin
      This outfit is actually a tame one compared to some of the outlandish styles Dominic Calvert-Lewin has tried outCredit: Getty
      Everton player Dominic channels the Man from Del Monte in this number at last year’s Emporio Armani fashion show.
      He’s quite partial to a pastel and has also been spotted in a pink suit. More

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      in Soccer

      I’m David Ginola’s secret lovechild – we met for first time in 28 years, he said I was ‘a real Ginola’ then cut me out

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      FOOTIE legend  David Ginola’s lovechild has revealed she met him for the first time after 28 years and he said “Yes, you are a real Ginola” — then cut her adrift again.Joy Pinquier wept as the former France international finally admitted he is her dad and hugged her during an emotional meeting in her home town of Marseille.
      Joy Pinquier wept as former France international footballer David Ginola embraced her after nearly three decades apartCredit: Louis Wood
      Joy now says dad David has cut her adrift ever since their emotional meetingCredit: Rex
      David had met mum Joelle Pinquier in France where he was playing his football at the time
      But now devastated Joy claims she feels abandoned all over again  as following their hour-long meeting he severed any further contact.
      In an exclusive interview Joy said: “He looked me up and down and said, ‘Yes, you are a real Ginola.’ I replied, ‘Why did you ever doubt it?’
      “He took me in his arms and embraced me and it was a very special moment.
      “I had tears in my eyes because it was the hug I had always dreamed of having with my dad.
      READ MORE DAVID GINOLA
      “We talked for about an hour and it felt like we were connecting.
      “He kept saying we would go to a restaurant to get to know each other better but, 18 months later, I still haven’t seen him.”
      Ginola, 56, agreed to meet Joy after appearing on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in 2021.
      Joy, now 30, said: “Two years ago I wrote to him through his Instagram account and, much to my surprise, he replied.
      Most read in Football
      “I gave him my phone number and he called. We must have spoken on the phone for about two hours and after that we started exchanging messages on WhatsApp.
      “One day I saw he was going to Marseille, where I live, to play boules with his friends. I decided to head over to meet him.
      “I sent a text to let him know I was there and, as I walked over, I saw he had a big smile on his face. Now I realise that he never had any interest in being my father, he was just being polite.
      “It’s a horrible thing to say, but I feel like I have been abandoned a second time.”
      David with ex-wife Coraline, who is mum to his son Andrea and daughter CarlaCredit: Getty
      The meeting came despite Ginola refusing to have contact with her for the first 28 years of her life.
      He was married and already had his first son Andrea, now 31, with model wife Coraline, 54 — also mum to his 28-year-old daughter Carla — when Joy was conceived during a fling with Joy’s mum in 1991.
      A French court ordered Ginola to take a DNA test confirming paternity three times but he always refused.
      Under French law, he was then automatically declared the father.
      Ginola was ordered to pay €450 (£345) a month in child support until Joy turned 18.
      Her mum Joelle Pinquier, 56, was working as a secretary in Brest, where Ginola was playing for the local club, when they met.
      He went on to play for Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Everton.
      He was also capped 17 times by France before retiring in 2002.
      Ginola continues to work as a commentator in England and France and was one of the biggest stars of the 21st series of I’m a Celebrity, where he finished fourth.
      Joy said: “Mum had no idea he was married — he must have hidden his wedding ring in his pocket. I found out that he was my dad when I was six years old.
      “I remember we were playing a child’s game with a sticker album and when I came to his photo, I drew a heart on it.
      “That’s when my mother said to me: ‘I have a secret to tell you about that man, but I will tell you about it when you are old enough to understand.’
      “I said, ‘Tell me now’ and kept insisting. Eventually, she admitted he was my father.
      “It was difficult to comprehend. I loved watching football and he was a magnificent player and such a big star in France.
      “I would watch him on television all the time and I was in awe of him. Not having him around, it felt like a huge hole in my life.
      “I couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to be my dad.
      “A father plays such a hugely important role for a little girl.
      “Anyone that misses that is going to have a hard time and my childhood was tough. I stayed with my grandparents in Paris a lot as my mother struggled to raise me alone and we didn’t have much money.
      “I missed my dad and I needed his love and his guidance, but he did not want to take responsibility or own up to his mistake.
      “He was told to have a DNA test by the court — the first time was when I was ten or 11 years old — but he refused.
      “He started paying child support when I turned 13, but still he refused to see me and I felt his absence more and more as I got older.”
      Joy laid eyes on her dad for the first time when she turned 15.
      She said: “He asked to meet me at a lawyer’s office in Marseille, to see if we looked alike, but at the last minute he changed his mind.
      “When I got to the lawyer’s office, he was already leaving.
      “We saw each other across a spiral staircase and he looked at me and smiled.
      “To me, it looked like a smirk. It was horrible. By the time I got home I was in floods of tears.”
      Joy’s next close encounter with her dad came in May 2016, when she was 22. Ginola, who had recently separated from Coraline, collapsed during a charity football game in the south of France that month.
      He had suffered a cardiac arrest and was clinically dead for eight minutes but survived because his friend and fellow footballer Frederic Mendy performed CPR.
      Ginola was airlifted to hospital in Monaco where surgeons performed a six-hour quadruple bypass.
      Joy drove 136 miles to the hospital from Marseille as soon as she heard the news.
      She said: “I didn’t want the first day I met my dad to be when he was dead.
      “I got as far as his room. The staff outside asked to see my ID then refused to let me in.
      “Later that year, I was watching one of the games at the Euros in France when David appeared as a commentator on the big screen. I immediately burst into tears.”
      It would be another five years before their next contact.
      Joy said: “After we first spoke on the phone, he would write to me on WhatsApp and say ‘Happy birthday’ and things like that.
      “It gave me hope, but he never ended his messages ‘Dad’, he always ended them ‘David’.
      “Also, he refused to apologise. He told me he was not sorry because he had told my mother that he did not want to have a child — he was very harsh about the situation. I now realise that I can’t force him to be my father.
      “I am not interested in his money and I never wanted to attack him publicly. I always felt it my responsibility to defend his reputation.
      READ MORE SUN STORIES
      “But it’s got to a point where I feel a terrible anger and resentment towards my dad.
      “More than anything, I want to finally look him in the eye and ask why he treated me like he did.”
      Ginola enjoyed a successful career in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and EvertonCredit: Getty
      He appeared on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in 2021 and later agreed to meet JoyCredit: PA More

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      in Soccer

      Finally disgraceful Luis Rubiales has resigned but he’s not a ‘good guy’ & it’s not up to him to decide if he assaulted

      by

      FINALLY, Luis Rubiales has jumped. He says he did it because he was becoming a distraction, when in actual fact he became a disgrace.
      Ulrika Jonsson shares her thoughts on Luis Rubiales resigning after he shockingly planted a kiss on Jenni HermosoCredit: Getty
      Most of us had worked that out nearly three weeks ago.
      It’s not that I’m all for sacking people with immediate effect as soon as there is a hint of wrongful behaviour.
      We all make mistakes.
      But Rubiales’ suggestion that he is innocent and “a good guy” just doesn’t cut it, I’m afraid.
      READ MORE ON THE CONTROVERSY
      Of course, he would say that now, wouldn’t he?
      The kiss he planted on Jenni Hermoso’s lips made me audibly wince at the time and sent a shiver down my spine.
      It’s one thing getting caught up in the euphoria of the moment but quite another to actually forcibly land a smacker right on someone’s mouth.
      It was such an invasion of personal space – the grabbing hold of her – just moments after he’d ­grabbed his crotch while sitting alongside the Queen of Spain and her 16-year-old daughter.
      Most read in Football
      What Rubiales has failed to comprehend throughout this drawn-out tale is that it is not for him to decide whether there was any aggression – sexual or otherwise – associated with his actions.
      That is the job of the person on the receiving end.
      Perpetrators do not have the right to say what is and isn’t acceptable.
      Of course, we know football has a problem with women and needs a culture change to get rid of the sexism and misogyny.
      It needs a root-and-branch overhaul.
      Rubiales going is merely a snip at a bough.
      Wrong, but keep it in perspective
      By Laura Dodsworth
      I SYMPATHISE with Jenni Hermoso.
      When I was 21 my first male boss pinned me to a wall at a work do and tried to stick his tongue in my mouth.
      In the words of Hermoso, I did not enjoy it.
      Rubiales’ behaviour was inappropriate, even if it was a genuine expression of Latin exuberance.
      With the cameras rolling and in the face of his high spirits, Hermoso might have felt she had to go along with a kiss she would not have ordinarily consented to.
      But to get some perspective, it was just a second or two, happening after a hug and before a slap on the back.
      Kissing is more typical in some countries (such as Spain) and it is also a jubilant response to success.
      Do you remember Maradona and team-mate Claudio Caniggia sharing a kiss after a goal?
      Gary Neville even gave Paul Scholes a smacker.
      None of these celebratory kisses caused a scandal.
      While they didn’t share the same power imbalance, they could have caused a backlash of a different sort. But they didn’t.
      Rubiales should have reflected more humbly on the impact of this kiss and given an unequivocal apology.
      Yet he steadfastly refused to resign.
      And instead of being seen as a football heroine, Hermoso has been cast as a victim.
      Read More on The Sun
      One problem with the #MeToo scandals in the US was grouping together too wide a spectrum of sexual misbehaviour.
      This kiss has launched Spain’s #MeToo moment, but it shouldn’t ignite a Spanish Inquisition. More

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      in Motorsport

      How F1 legend Enzo Ferrari bedded factory workers, had secret love child & pushed drivers to brink

      by

      THE creator of the world’s most desired sports cars was a daring racer who lived his life on the edge – in the bedroom and the boardroom.Now the story of how Enzo Ferrari pushed himself, his loved ones and his drivers to their limits is being told in a new biopic starring Adam Driver and ­Penelope Cruz.
      Enzo Ferrari’s enduring love affair with motor racing began in his early days as a young driverCredit: Alamy
      Ferrari pushed himself, his loved ones and his drivers to their limitsCredit: Imago
      Adam Driver, who plays Ferrari, said the film ‘seemed like a subject I didn’t know much about and seemed daunting and exciting’Credit: Alamy
      The film, titled Ferrari, received a seven-minute standing ovation following its world premiere at last week’s Venice Film Festival.
      The tale of how Enzo, the son of a metal shop owner, survived World War One and built the first Ferrari after his factory was flattened during the Second World War would be enough for one movie in itself.
      But the high octane film, which opens in the UK on Boxing Day, focuses on an even more turbulent period.
      In 1957, with his company on the verge of going bust, Enzo bet that he could win the 1,000-mile Mille Miglia road race through Italy.
      Read More on Ferrari
      It was a highly dangerous challenge which resulted in the deaths of two of his drivers and nine spectators.
      At the same time he was struggling to save his marriage following the death of his son and amid a long running affair with the mother of a secret love-child.
      The genius behind the Prancing Horse branding, who died at the age of 90 in 1988, was not content with just one mistress.
      Not only did the insatiable businessman have three serious relationships on the go at once, Enzo also had a reputation for bedding the female staff working at his Modena factory.
      Most read in Motorsport
      There is already talk of Oscar nominations for ­Penelope, who plays Enzo’s wife Laura, while Shailene Woodley is praised for her performance as mistress Lina Lardi.
      It was this personal drama that attracted Adam Driver to the role.
      He says: “This version of Ferrari, whose internal engine was very much driven by grief, and the difference in his relationship with Laura versus Lina Lardi, all seemed like a subject I didn’t know much about and was daunting and exciting.”
      Enzo first tasted the thrill of fast cars and fumes at the age of ten when his dad Alfredo took him to see a race in Bologna.
      From that moment on he was a devoted petrol-head, filled with the dream of getting behind the wheel himself.
      That hope, as for so many young men in Europe, was almost taken from him by the outbreak of war in 1914.
      He suffered from the serious lung condition pleurisy while working with mules as part of Italy’s mountain regiment three years into the conflict.
      Discharged from the military on health grounds, Enzo set about making a name for himself as a driver at the then-fledgling sports car firm Alfa Romeo.
      He won the first of 11 Grand Prix in 1923, but the death of his friend and team-mate Antonio Ascari on the track two years later left Enzo fearful of pushing his car to its limits.
      The birth of his first son Dino in 1932 convinced him to transfer his talents to the safety of design and manage- ment.
      Having set up his own manufact- urer — Auto Avio Costruzioni — eight years later, he was soon told to makeair-craft engines for Italy’s fascist ruler Benito Mussolini and his factory became a target for Allied bombers.
      Not wishing to be associated with the stain of the despised regime, Enzo changed the firm’s name to Ferrari at the end of the war, and in 1947 a gleaming red 125 model rolled off the production line.
      He was a tough taskmaster whose motto was “the best Ferrari that has ever been built is the next” and worked all week long, wearing his trademark shades, even in his office.
      The business was a distraction from his personal turmoil.
      ‘Beyond reasonable limits’
      In his memoirs, Enzo said: “One must keep working continuously — otherwise one thinks of death.’’
      His son Dino died aged 24 in 1956 after a long battle with a severe type of muscular dystrophy.
      His dad and brother were killed by the Italian flu epidemic in 1916, and eight of his drivers were killed in his cars between 1955 and 1971.
      Adam explains: “He is absolutely instinctive, he’s impulsive, he’s making decisions in a vacuum because he’s used to doing them alone.
      “He’s built a way of coping with that, of death, and especially with people that he’s cared for — not only by his son, but team-mates who have died because of the metal that he has made.”
      The demise of so many of his daring drivers was not down to mechanical failure, but often due to the demanding races Ferrari competed in.
      The most notorious of all was the Mille Miglia, which saw 56 people die in its 30-year history.
      It was so dangerous that the dashing Spanish aristocrat Alfonso de Portago, who had flown a plane under London’s Tower Bridge for a bet, was wary about competing on the twisting roads.
      Penelope Cruz plays Enzo’s wife Laura in the biopic
      The businessman also had multiplel lovers
      Enzo once said: ‘I am convinced that when a man tells a woman he loves her, he only means that he desires her’
      He was right to be worried.
      Shortly after stopping to share a kiss with his film star girlfriend Linda Christian, Alfonso’s third-placed Ferrari 335 S blew a tire and swathed through the crowd.
      It was a moment of pure horror.
      Five of the nine spectators killed were children; Alfonso, 28, was scythed in half and his American co-driver Edmund Nelson also died.
      The photo of Linda and Alfonso was dubbed the Kiss Of Death and Enzo was charged with manslaughter.
      Even though he was eventually cleared of responsibility for the fatal crash, critics have claimed that the Ferrari boss over-stretched his team.
      The late British Formula One driver Tony Brooks, who raced for Ferrari, said in a 2004 documentary: “He would expect a driver to go beyond reasonable limits.”
      Enzo pitted his drivers against each other, including Italian Luigi Musso, who was a fierce rival of his English team-mates Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, the latter played by Jack O’Connell in the new movie.
      Musso, 33, died after going flat out on a bend while pursuing Hawthorn in the French Grand Prix in July 1958 and, a month later Collins, 26, was killed when his Ferrari struck a tree during the German Grand Prix.
      Most disturbingly, Enzo pursued Luigi’s young girlfriend Fiamma Breschi following his driver’s fatal crash.
      Fiamma revealed in 2004: “He started to desire me. At first he hinted at it, and later he made it very clear. He told me that he couldn’t imagine his life without me.
      “I refused him, but he kept writing to me about a passion that he said was literally consuming him. This lasted for years.”
      She was, though, only one of many women in Enzo’s colourful life.
      He married Laura in 1923, had a son, Piero, with his mistress Lina in 1945, and kept them both in his life.
      There were other short-lived affairs in the province of Modena, which Enzo rarely left.
      He once said: “I am convinced that when a man tells a woman he loves her, he only means that he desires her.”
      But even after his wife died in 1978, Enzo went to visit her grave every morning, which was situated alongside those of his son and parents.
      Devoted Lina and Piero were by his bedside when he died.
      Piero, 78, was given a ten per cent share of the Ferrari company and has been vice chairman of the firm ever since his father’s death.
      He is now a billionaire thanks to massive demand for the glamorous sports cars, which have a starting price of £166,000.
      Classic Ferraris are even more sought after, partly because Enzo would let them rot at the back of his factory once they had been replaced by a newer model.
      A 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO fetched more than £50million at auction five years ago.
      Ironically, though, Enzo drove a modest Fiat to work.
      Read More on The Sun
      His interest was not in creating desirable machines for the public, but in being first past the chequered flag.
      As he once said: “Racing cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.”
      The one remaining AAC 815, the first car built by Enzo Ferrari, pictured in 1973Credit: Getty
      A 2003 Ferrari EnzoCredit: Rex More