EUROPA League
LIKE NOW, 10 YEARS AGO, FOOTBALL FACED CRISIS
Though the current COVID-19 shutdown is unprecedented, football has had to contend with peculiar circumstances before, including 10 years ago when European air travel shut down in the aftermath of an Icelandic volcano.
Ten years ago, on April 14, Eyjafjallajokull erupted and propelled ash several miles into the atmosphere, making it dangerous to fly in case the debris got into aircraft engines.
Being a globalised game with plenty of international travel at the top level, football was forced to amend quickly, and its repercussions were significant.
By the time the dust had settled, metaphorically as well as literally, West Ham had completed an ownership change, Jose Mourinho had taken advantage of Barcelona’s two-day coach journey to Milan and Sam Allardyce was cursing his luck for missing out on Robert Lewandowski.
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker travelled more than a thousand miles over land and sea to present the programme having been in Madrid the night before.
‘It reminded me of my football days – once you’ve got a target and put your mind to it, nothing stands in your way,’ he said on his bleary-eyed arrival to the BBC studios.
Of course, the volcano had serious repercussions. Though some restrictions on flights were lifted within a fortnight, air travel wasn’t completely back to normal in England until the middle of May. Until then, the old-fashioned team coach returned to fashion to replace the charter plane.
The most prestigious fixtures to be affected were the first legs of the Champions League semi-finals. The holders Barcelona, at their peak under Pep Guardiola, had to travel 625 miles by coach to Milan to face Jose Mourinho’s Inter, the journey broke up by an overnight stay in Cannes.
Inter won 3-1 with Lionel Messi and Xavi subdued and understandably leggy after 14 hours on a bus. ‘Something should have been done not to give this advantage to the home team,’ complained Barca’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who now occupies the same position at Manchester City.
Inter went on to reach the final 3-2 on aggregate and in the other semi, Lyon also went out having had to travel 450 miles by road for their first leg against Bayern Munich.
In the Europa League, Liverpool had a 24-hour trip to Madrid for their semi-final against Atletico, travelling by rail to Bordeaux before being allowed to fly the rest of the way. They lost the tie on away goals though Fulham were able to reach the final despite a 570-mile road trip to Hamburg.
The most eye-catching sacrifice was made in another sport. Eventing rider Oliver Townend took a £1,600 taxi ride to Madrid in order to fly to America and compete in an event in Kentucky.
Though life returned to normal for most sports people relatively quickly – certainly compared to today’s crisis – there were some longer-term repercussions.
For West Ham’s Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson – and his bald-headed consortium partner Eggert Magnusson – already reeling from the banking crisis in his country the previous year, the volcano was the final straw. He surrendered majority control of the club to David Sullivan and David Gold in May, having seen them buy 50 per cent of the club in January. After the ash cloud, Magnusson and Co disappeared like dust.
Up at Blackburn, Allardyce was foiled by flight cancellations. It scuppered his chance to meet Lewandowski, and up-and-coming striker with Lech Poznan.
‘I had watched him play, but didn’t get the chance to meet him. His agent said he couldn’t come over because of the ash cloud,’ said Allardyce. The centre-forward later moved to Borussia Dortmund and the rest is history.
More than 100,000 flights were cancelled in total by the eruption. Across the world, events were either cancelled – like the Japanese Moto GP – or disrupted, with several star runners unable to compete in the London Marathon.
Although European flights were affected worst, it had global knock-on effects with large swathes of European air space dangerous to use.
It was Newcastle United’s misfortune that, at the height of the problems on April 19, they were slated for the longest trip in domestic football, an away match at Plymouth.
Instead of flying as normal, Newcastle had to make the 916-mile round trip by road but won 2-0 to clinch the Championship title with goals from Andy Carroll and Wayne Routledge.
In this current climate, it’s a tiny reminder that better times can be around the corner.
-Daily Mail
UEFA has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace until the French club’s relegation has been confirmed, European football’s governing body said on Monday.
The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).
Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.
UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.
League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Ange Postecoglou, the club said on Friday, little more than two weeks after the Australian guided the London club to a first major trophy in 17 years with victory in the Europa League final.
While Postecoglou’s fate has split opinion amongst the fans, the 59-year-old ultimately paid the price for an horrendous Premier League season which saw Tottenham finish 17th.
“The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place,” Tottenham said in a statement.
“Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season.”
Postecoglou leaves two years to the day after his appointment and 16 days after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao for the club’s first silverware since 2008, a win that also put them in next season’s Champions League.
The former Celtic manager has had to face questions over his future for several months, yet delivered on his claim early last season that he always wins a trophy in his second season in a job
He also took Tottenham to the League Cup semi-final but their league campaign was their worst since 1976-77, the last time the club suffered relegation from the top flight.
Several of the club’s first team have voiced their support for Postecoglou since beating United, but chairman Daniel Levy is now searching for his fifth full-time manager in six years since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in 2019.
“At times there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign,” the club said. “Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”
Several managers have been linked to the Tottenham job, including Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner.
GOOD START
Postecoglou will walk away with his pride intact and a handsome bonus, but his recent comment to fans at the Europa League victory parade that the third season of a TV series is always better than the second now looks hollow.
It all started so well for Postecoglou. He began the 2023-24 campaign by guiding Tottenham to their best start to a top-flight season since the 1961 title-winning team.
That form soon dipped though and despite finishing fifth in his first campaign the momentum had long since gone.
This season Tottenham earned only 38 points and lost 22 top-flight matches. They managed five points from their last 12 league games and the only win they earned during that run was against a Southampton side who narrowly avoided becoming statistically the worst team ever in the Premier League.
Postecoglou has pointed to a long injury list which denied him the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Son Heung-min for significant periods.
But while it has clearly been one of long-serving chairman Levy’s toughest calls, he has concluded that Postecoglou is not the man to lead the club forward.
“We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision,” the club statement said.
“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future — he will always be welcome back at our home.”
Many fans reacted to the news of Postecoglou’s sacking with surprise, but England manager Thomas Tuchel said that sometimes even winning a trophy is not enough.
“I feel for every manager and I have huge sympathy for every manager in these moments because I was in the same spot,” the German, who was sacked by Chelsea despite taking them to the Champions League title, said on Friday.
“If the trust is not there anymore then sometimes it’s not enough to win a trophy.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
UEFA apologised for running out of winners’ medals during the Europa League final trophy ceremony on Wednesday after more Tottenham Hotspur players lined up to receive their prizes.
Spurs captain Son Heung-min and two other players, the last to line up for individual medals, were left empty-handed after their team beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the club’s fourth European title on Wednesday.
Son lifted the trophy without a medal around his neck.
“To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count …” British media quoted European soccer’s governing body as saying on Thursday.
“More team members – including injured players – participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated.
“The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- OBITUARY2 days ago
BREAKING: Nigerian Goalkeeping Legend Peter Rufai is dead
- Nigerian Football2 days ago
Football Agent John Shittu Demands Retraction and ₦250 Million Damages from Samson Siasia Over Bribery Allegation
- WAFCON1 week ago
Super Falcons Land in Morocco, Eye Historic ‘La Decima’ Women’s AFCON Title
- FEDERATION CUP1 week ago
Kwara United Clinch Historic First Title as President Federation Cup Final Goes to Penalties for the 18th time
- FEDERATION CUP1 week ago
Rivers Angels Crowned 2025 Female Federation Cup Champions After Penalty Shootout Thriller
- OBITUARY2 days ago
Peter Rufai looked lean when I last saw him, says mourning NFF President, Gusau
- OBITUARY2 days ago
Family issues statement on Peter Rufai
- IMMEMORIAL2 days ago
Peter Rufai’s Death Adds to Long List of July Tragedies in Nigerian Football