Sports Poets Society

“It never happens for people like us, you know.”  After 25 years, with one in League Two and three in exile from their city, the Sky Blues are in the top tier again under Frank Lampard . Skipper Matt Grimes and their last Premier League boss, Gordon Strachan , share their joy  Words Joe Donnohue  Additional reporting Ed McCambridge, Chris Evans FOUR FOUR TWO - August 2026 So reads the third line of We’ll Live And Die In These Towns , by The Enemy . The Coventry band’s 2007 single has been the unofficial anthem of the city’s football club for several years now.  After 25 years outside of the top flight, Coventry City fans could be forgiven for self-indulgently attributing that one particular line to their plight of recent decades. This season, those fans will sing it to a worldwide Premier League audience for the first time.  Coventry romped to the Championship crown with 95 points and deservedly earned their spot in the top tier once more, under the managem...

Had every Championship fixture been decided on expected goals last season, Hull City would have been relegated – instead, they returned to the Premier League via the play-offs after a nine-year absence . Significantly outperforming their xG at both ends of the field, the Tigers overtook Wrexham on the final day of the season to climb back into the top six after coming from behind to beat Norwich . Despite being 6/1 outsiders to win the play-offs, they then defeated a Millwall side that had finished 10 points ahead of them, before Oli McBurnie ’s late goal downed Middlesbrough at Wembley.  They’d originally been due to play Southampton, of course – the south coast side’s disqualification was only the second time in EFL play-off history that a team had been booted out. Back in 1990, financial irregularities did for Swindon, after they beat Sunderland in the play-off final – the Wearside club took their place in the top flight, but were swiftly relegated a year later.  Hull simi...

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/don-nelson-golden-state-warriors Don Nelson Retired NBA The Players Tribune - Jul 20, 2016 Fifty years ago, a wise man said something to me that I never forgot. “We are going to play fast.” That quote may come off as little more than a general statement. But coming from coach Red Auerbach of the world champion Boston Celtics, it meant a great deal to me because it meant that I was going to be part of a new and exciting brand of basketball. It was 1965 and I had just signed as a free agent with the Celtics after struggling through my first couple of years in the league. I was drafted in 1962 by the Chicago Packers , who later changed their name to the Chicago Zephyrs — and who also waived me after my rookie season. The Lakers claimed me shortly after and I played in L.A for two years, averaging a little more than six minutes a game in my final season. I was excited to sign as a free agent with the Celtics because I had always admired the way ...

DOMENICO CIPPITELLI/SHUTTERSTOCK Villa had to wait for a court ruling before  they could play Brian Madjo in competitive games Fine Super Cup display in defeat by PSG shows why club were patient for towering teenager’s registration ‘He has had to be patient until he could play,  so I think that says a lot about his character’ 14 Aug 2026 - The Guardian Ben Fisher At first there was the usual stuff: the wide smile, the guttural release, the punch of the air, teammates quickly on the scene to offer congratulations. But then the real celebration followed for the 17-year-old Brian Madjo . After scoring his first Aston Villa goal 45 minutes into an unforgettable debut, the teenager clasped his hands behind his back and then unlocked them with the kind of force he exhibited on the pitch. “No distractions, I’m free,” he posted on Instagram after finally being cleared to pull on a Villa shirt in a competitive game. After confirmation that the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) had u...

Après le scandale provoqué par son projet de filiale commerciale au sein de la Fifa,  le patron du foot mondial voit son avenir compromis. Attaqué ­de toutes parts,  il s’accroche à son poste. Récit d’une déroute. ÉDITIORIAL Par Alexandra Schwartzbrod Assainir 14 Aug 2026 - Libération Dans ce monde dominé par des autocrates se croyant tout permis, la crise ouverte à la tête de la FIFA a quelque chose de rassurant. Elle montre que le sentiment de toute-puissance rend ­aveugle et donc fragile. Voilà un homme, Gianni ­Infantino , qui se livrait aux pires turpitudes et aux pires ­bassesses depuis 2016, sans que grand-monde y trouve à redire (publiquement) et qui, soudain, convaincu de son impunité, a pris la ­mauvaise décision de trop, celle qui pourrait l’empêcher d’être réélu à la présidence de la puissante fédération de football. Certes, rien n’est joué, l’homme a de la ressource, des réseaux, des moyens et des dossiers. Tout reste ­possible. Mais une brèche s’est ouverte avec ...