By Joe Heslop

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Last night the highly anticipated fight took place between British former Olympic Champion Anthony Joshua (AJ) and Mexican-American heavyweight Eric Molina in Manchester Arena. Joshua showed his class as he won by knockout in the third round to take his record to 18 wins by knockouts out of 18 fights. After the fight, his promoter Eddie Hearn took to the ring to announce that Joshua’s next fight will be against former World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium on April 29th.

Joshua looked dominant from the first bell as Mexican-American heavyweight did his best to stay out of reach of AJ’s big shots and frustrated him. However, he stayed calm and picked his shots until the third round where he won on the knockout in brutal fashion.

Before Joshua took to the ring though the final undercard of the night featured Dereck Chisora and Dillian Whyte, two heavyweights with a past and conflicting stories of why they dislike each other so much. Both talk of a sparring session as the start of their bitter relationship. However, while Whyte claims Chisora threw an illegal punch to the back of the head, Chisora claims that he beat Whyte so much, that he had to pay for a taxi for him to a hospital.

It was a heated week for the two boxers with the press conference ending in madness after Chisora threw a table at his opponent, sending the room into disarray. On the night though it was a slugfest with both boxers giving their all and both seemingly going for a knockout. The two Londoners traded blows for the full 12 rounds before Whyte was crowned King of the ring on points after the judges scored it 115-113 and 115-114, while the third judge scored it 115-144 to Chisora. After the result was confirmed both boxers hugged out of respect for each other as the crowd applauded the fighters.

Elsewhere in the undercard fights Irish boxer, Katie Taylor made it two out of two wins as she beat Viviane Obenauf by a 60-53 margin. She impressed throughout as she dominated the fight knocking down her Brazilian opponent in the second round and outclassing her with a fine performance.

Scott Quigg also won on the night following a ninth-round knockout against Jose Cayetano, with Callum Smith, Frank Buglioni, Luis Ortiz and Kal Yafai also coming out on top in their fights last night.

By Samantha Habgood

The start of the new season shows a third of Premier League clubs are still set to miss their own deadline to meet basic access standards for disabled fans.

Only three Premier League clubs have meet accessibility guidelines. To upgrade the facilities of the other 17 clubs it would cost £29m.

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However, with the revenue from broadcasting rights increasing over the next three years to £8.3bn, and summer transfer window where clubs spent £1.165 billion on players. Nevertheless, the richest clubs in the league have accepted they cannot reach accessibility guidelines.

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Even Liverpool FC have proudly opened their new Main Stand, spending £100m. These improvements do not reach the requirements, Liverpool FC decided not to comment.

Joyce Cook, chair of Level Playing Field, has called this delay “unacceptable”. All Level Playing Field efforts are focused on removing these barriers in all sports.

There are 12.4m disabled people in the UK, with an estimated spending power of over £60bn per annum. It is safe to say they are not getting their money’s worth, when it comes to watching football.

The match day experience for a disabled supporter can be an awkward one, as they sometimes have to sit mixed in the stands with the opposition. Steve Snelling, Wheelpower Inclusive Sport Advisor has stated “Disabled people should have the opportunity to enjoy the sport they love in the same way as anyone else”.

An accessible stadium demonstrates the commitment a club has to the whole community, whilst also inspiring disabled supporters to participate in sport themselves.

By Samantha Habgood

I have been privileged enough to have attended a few of Crystal Palace DS Eagles training sessions on Wednesday evenings at 6-7pm. Sessions are based at Monks Hill Sports Center in South Croydon.

DS Eagles got a taste of their first match experience when they played Fulham Badgers in a friendly match.

After speaking to Hayden Habgood who went to support DS Eagles in their first game, he had this to say:

“It was really important to both teams but in particular DS Eagles as it was their first game.”

Parent, Sam, kindly answered some questions about her son, Max, and his love for playing football.

Q: Why do you think it’s important for young people with Down’s Syndrome to participate in football? 

A: When I was pregnant with Max, we had no idea that he was going to be born with Down’s Syndrome. So when he was, I set about reading everything I could about Down’s Syndrome/learning disabilities. One of the best…and most life-affirming lines I read was ‘different does not mean worse’. So why shouldn’t he play football like most other young boys therefore….he LOVES playing, he loves going to watch The Eagles play, he loves having the affinity to a team. But all this aside, if you’ve got Down’s Syndrome, you need fewer calories than ‘typical’ people. So logically, you either need to eat less or play more sport. Max loves his food so he needs to keep playing sport!

Q: How important do you think the game between DS Eagles and Fulham Badgers was to both teams and parents watching? 

A: Very important. Hugely exciting for everyone.

Q: How easy/difficult was it to find sporting activities for your child with a disability in your local area? 

A: Personally, I’m like a dog with a bone in terms of finding sporting outlets for Max. But it’s really not made easy for parents to find these opportunities. That’s a real shame.

Q: You saw a video of your child score the only goal from a free kick during DS Eagles game against Fulham Badgers, can you please explain how you felt seeing that. 

A: Like the proudest Mum in the world!

By Izabela Muczynska

Jacek Goralski, 24, plays in midfield for Jagiellonia Bialystok. He joined the team last season and made an instant impression on the fans. His teammates and fans have started calling Goralski ‘Piranha’ or ‘Pit-bull’ due to his style of play. His rise at club level was rewarded when he was called up to Poland’s national squad for the World Cup qualifying games against Slovenia and Romania.

Goralski made his debut during Poland’s 1-1 draw against Slovenia, where he made an impression on the commentators, fans and most importantly the manager, Adam Nawalka. Goralski received his first full cap when he started in the next qualifier against Romania. Poland won 3-0 and Goralski showed his potential playing alongside more experienced teammates such as Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak. Goralski showed his dominance in tackling and game awareness.

Jagiellonia’s midfielder is a very tenacious player. Once he approaches the ball, he won’t let anybody take it away from him. Goralski recently said, “when I play, I try not to kick the opponent and I look and focus on the ball only. If I hurt him somehow, I apologise straight away. That’s never my purpose”.

Nicknames used by his teammates and fans make him laugh, but he is just taking it with a pinch of salt.

“Those nicknames were created during my time at Wisla Plock, so I got used to them. However, I am not going to lie, I prefer when they call me ‘Goral’ (a nickname created out of his last name)” says the Jagiellonia Bialystok’s midfielder.

How did it all start? Football doesn’t run in the Goralski family, but he always enjoyed playing with his friends. His family, wanting to encourage this enjoyment took him and his brother to a football academy.

“When I was eight years old, my father took me and my brother for our first training session. We loved it; I had always been thinking that football is something that I want to do in my life. My brother ended his football experience at age 15, but I have decided to continue it and here I am” Goralski speaking about his first experience in football.

Goralski has constantly had to work hard, with many people saying at five foot six inches he was too short for football. This never stopped his determination to play; it only gave him more resolve to prove these people wrong and in doing so inspiring the next generation. Whilst at Wisla Plock, Goralski received encouragement from the manager who firmly believed height didn’t matter.

Under this support, Goralski grew as a player and now could become a key player in Poland’s national team.

By Izabela Muczynska

Jagiellonia Bialystok’s performance was not the greatest last season as they battled against relegation, finally finishing safely in 11th position. What was the reason? Jagiellonia did an amazing job the year before during the 2014-15 season, finishing in third and gaining a place in the Europa League.

They came narrowly close to becoming Champions of Poland, but Legia Warsaw took their dreams away. In one of the last games of the season, the referee had blown his whistle when Jagiellonia’s player accidentally touched the ball in the last seconds of the game. Legia Warsaw’s footballer Orlando Sa scored and Jagiellonia lost 1-0 and the dream of becoming champions ended. Upon analysis of the game, many experts found the referee should not have done that.

During the Europa League campaign last season, Jagiellonia qualified to the second round, but unfortunately the team lost to Omonia Nicosia 1-0. As the club is small, their key players had caught the attention of bigger and richer clubs and the offers were too much to turn down. Losing Patryk Tuszynski and Nika Dzalamidze to Caykur Rizespor, Michal Pazdan to Legia Warsaw and Maciej Gaios to Lech Poznan had severely weakened the team. New signings had been made but struggled to settle into the team.

This season is different. The Ekstraklasa table looks very surprising. Jagiellonia Bialystok have spent a long time in first position, so can this season be different from the others and they win the championship? If Jagiellonia hold on to win their first Ekstraklasa, it will be their greatest achievement in their history. Currently they share top spot with Lechia Gdansk with both teams on 36 points and six points ahead of the rest of the teams, but with the rest of the season to play another team can still spoil the party.

Jagiellonia will need to be careful for the remainder of the season, with many mistakes being made by the referee. The coach, Michal Probierz has begun to argue with the referees each time a mistake is made, which cause the team problems as the season continues. On the 4th of December Jagiellonia played a home game against Lech Poznan. A win would mean going back into first, but they not only did they need to play their opponents, but they had to face the referee as well. He accused Jacek Goralski of fouling Tomasz Kedziora; the decision was wrong. It was the other way round. After this free kick, Lech Poznan’s player, Pauluus Arajuuri scored to put the visitors ahead. However, Jagiellonia showed their spirit and won 2-1 returned to the top of the League.

Will they have a chance to become the Polish version of Leicester City’s story? Only time will tell.

By Leon Smith

Premier League Champions, Leicester City, were hammered 5-0 by FC Porto on a miserable night in Portugal, for Claudio Ranieri’s men.

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A frustrated Ranieri said after the game that “we wanted to see something different tonight, but it was too easy for Porto. We didn’t make them fight to score.”

Ranieri made ten changes from Leicester’s defeat to Sunderland at the weekend but it made little difference. Leicester, who had already qualified as group winners, started slowly and it took the Portuguese side just six minutes to go in front. Porto striker, Andre Silva, found himself unchallenged from a corner to head past keeper Ben Hamer.

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Leicester’s defending left much to be desired on the night and Porto doubled their lead mid-way through the first half, when Jesus Corona found himself unmarked and volleyed home from ten yards, into the roof of the net.

It got even worse for the Foxes just before half time when more poor defending in the box, allowed Yacine Brahimi to flick home his first goal of the campaign and his side’s third of the night.

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With Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani all left at home by Ranieri, the Italian turned to Marc Albrighton and Leonardo Ulloa, who replaced Jeffrey Schlupp and Ahmed Musa, both of whom had been less than in impressive in the first half.

Leicester showed glimpses of promise at the start of the second half with Shinji Okazaki going close with a header before Demarai Gray fired over from close range.

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However, the Premier League Champion’s night went from bad to worse. In the 64th minute, the returning Danny Drinkwater pulled down Andre Silva in the box and the striker picked himself up, before converting the penalty to score his second of the night.

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In front of 3,000 travelling fans, Leicester were a shadow of the team who won the Premier League six months ago and showed no signs of taking anything from the game.

FC Porto scored their fifth, when the Leicester defence allowed Diogo Jota to walk through the middle of their defence and slide the ball under the legs of Hamer.

It wasn’t until the 88th minute that Leicester had their first corner of the game. From the corner, substitute Ulloa hit the cross bar, which was met by sarcastic cheers from the Leicester fans who were still inside the Estadio Dragao.

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“I am sad for our fans. They deserved more. I didn’t see what I have seen in training on the pitch tonight,” said Ranieri. “I have a clearer idea about my players now. We need to focus on the Premier League and change our position.”

Leicester welcome Manchester City to The King Power on Saturday in the Premier League, hoping to register their first league win since October. The Champions will have to put tonight’s horror show behind them quickly, if they hope to turn their league form around.

By Leon Smith

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Gareth Southgate was appointed permanent manager of England last week after a spell of four games in charge as interim coach, where the Three Lions went unbeaten. Yet, there was still speculation on whether Southgate would take over full time.

The man in charge of appointing Southgate, FA Chief Executive, Martin Glenn said “You can see, like all of us, he has still got things to learn.” This probably explains why it took so long to make the appointment permanent and the FA have deemed this appointment, a gamble.

“I am extremely proud to be appointed England manager. However, I am also conscious getting the job done is one thing, now I want to do the job successfully,” said Southgate, after his appointment.

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After usually turning to the seasoned professionals with perhaps more glamourous CVs than Southgate’s, the FA have finally taken a chance. Southgate has the worst club managerial record in 20 years with all seven managers before him boasting greater success as a manager. He is the first manager since Steve McClaren to register more losses as a manager than wins, at club level. He did, however, win the Toulon Tournament last year but is that enough to merit the England manager position?

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It looks as if the FA have backtracked on their idea of a ‘fresh start’ which led to Allardyce’s appointment back in August. With Allardyce, the FA knew what they were getting but it was new for them and for England. Allardyce and his staff were to inject new levels of professionalism, energy and national pride. Although, all of this was still lacking when England beat Slovakia in Big Sam’s only game in charge.

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The FA have gone back to what they know, perhaps still embarrassed over Allardyce’s actions. Southgate is a man well on board with FA tradition. He first worked for them in 2011 before taking over the Under 21s in 2013. Southgate will not need time to settle into his surroundings that’s for sure.

The England team is full of internationals Southgate worked with and helped develop between 2013 and now. Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling and Eric Dier; all players who Southgate spent some time managing. His existing relationship with some of England’s future stars may have swayed the FA into looking more closely at Southgate this time and more than they did before they appointed Allardyce.

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That begs the question; If Southgate is the right man now, why wasn’t he four months ago?

Southgate stumbled upon the England job as the man ‘in the right place at the right time’. He had enough trust and respect from the FA already to carry the team through a four game period before a permanent successor was found.

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Southgate provides The FA with the perfect balance both on and off the field. He has relationships with most of the squad, particularly the younger players, who are at a vital stage of their own development. He also understands the FA values and expectations and will certainly not appear to be disgracing the organisation. He provides the change and gamble the England fans wanted but also the stability which is more important than ever for the FA.

Looking back now, Southgate seemed like the obvious choice all along, didn’t he?

By Curtis Bagley

With the Milan Derby being a stalemate two weeks ago, it remains one of the most infamous derbies in world football. It is joined by the ‘Old Firm’ derby, the Manchester derby and many more. The tradition of these fixtures are globally notorious. What about derbies elsewhere? Here is a selection of vicious world derbies that are less talked about.

Fluminense v Flamengo

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Fluminense v Flamengo, otherwise known as the Fla-Flu, is a Brazilian derby that dates back to the early 1900s. A group of disgruntled players from Fluminense departed the club, and went to Flamengo, who didn’t have any footballing teams. The matches take place at the iconic Maracana Stadium, in Rio De Janeiro, where both teams share and play their home games. In the carnival atmosphere of this game, pitch invasions and riots have been common. The record attendence for this game was in 1963, where an astonishing 194,000 fans tuned up to see Brazils most heated rivalry.

Al Ahly v Zamalek

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The Cairo derby, otherwise known as the ‘Egyptian Clasico’, is a match between Al Ahly SC and Zamalek SC, two of the most successful clubs in Egypt and arguably the whole of Africa. Between them, the two clubs have won 49 Egyptian league titles, with Al Ahly winning 37 to Zamalek’s 12. With it being Africa’s biggest match, over 100,000 people cram into the Cairo international stadium to watch this fiery affair. This rivalry is so fierce, that even numerous deaths have been reported. The record score for this game is a 6-0 thrashing from Zamalek, which as you can imagine, gives them bragging rights over their ferocious enemy.

Red Star Belgrade v FK Partizan

The Eternal Derby, a savage rivalry that dominates the Serbian Super League. The rivalry also takes place not only in Football, but also in Basketball and Handball. In 2009, the Daily Mail ranked the derby 4th in all time Footballing rivalries, showing just how prestigious the derby is. Following the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1992, the derby escalated, leading to multiple arrests, crowd trouble and many deaths.

East Bengal v Mohan Bagan

The Kolkata derby, is a match between East Bengal and Mohan Bagan in India. Many people haven’t heard of this derby, but it is extremely important to both teams involved. The two sides play each other 3 times a season, which doesn’t help the authorities. The derby has been compared to the likes of the Old Firm derby, due to

some of the East Bengal fans representing the immigrant population, similar to Celtic. Both sets of fans are extremely passionate and in 1980, 16 deaths were documented, after being crushed in a stampede from both fans after trouble flared. This took place at Eden Gardens, more familiar for its cricket and has been labelled the darkest day in Indian football.

Dinamo Zagreb v Hajduk Split

Finally the infamous Croatian Derby. This is a match between the two biggest clubs in Croatia, Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split. Funny enough, these two teams used to play in the same league as Red Star Belgrade and FK Partizan in the Yugoslavia First League, before the country’s break in 1992. Both sides before the matches prepare themselves, making large flags and special messages that are usually directed towards the opposing side. Although there is an element of physical violence, these supporters, otherwise known as ‘Ultras’, voice their hate through banners and flags. The two have met 208 times, with Zagreb leading the way with 88 wins, over Split who have 66.

By Curtis Bagley

With the new season well underway, clubs up and down the country have been diving into their piggy banks and willingly splashing the cash on squad additions. English top flight clubs now have heavier wallets due to the new £8.7 billion television deal from Sky and BT. The new television deal means that all clubs in the Premiership have a lot of extra cash to resort to. Leicester City astonishingly won the Premier League title last season which was the biggest shock in the leagues history.

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A huge £150 million has been added to the Leicester City kitty, but they’re not the only ones with growing pockets. All Premiership clubs are set to share a humongous £8.7 billion of TV windfall money. This new deal confirms that the English Premier League is the most powerful league in the world and all 20 English top flight teams will dominate the richest clubs leader board and all feature in the top 40. Overall it is positive for English football because it means that English teams can compete with the superior forces such as Real Madrid and Barcelona.

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Every season three teams lose their place in the Premier League, however, three lucky teams get promoted, which means they get rewarded the all important TV funds. But for the relegated teams to have around £100 million to spend in the Championship, it could improve the Championship league stature and popularity. This also means that the difference in team qualities could make the league a lot easier to accomplish. For example the difference between Newcastle and Burton Albion. Newcastle do not only have a bigger stadium and a better squad, but also a lot more cash for exploit.

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Already the Premiership has seen this impact with clubs splashing the cash on players. An example would be the ridiculous the £90 million transfer fee of Paul Pogba, which smashed the record held by Real Madrid, who splashed out a massive £86 million for Tottenham and Wales star Gareth Bale. With the television companies forever competing against each other, it is scary to think what the future may hold, as the money in the beautiful game keeps rising.

By Stefan Dagher

Last week, the world heard that one of the best ever players retired – Steven Gerrard.

He retires after a successful career. He won; 2 FA Cups, 2 Community Shields, 2 Carling Cups, 1 UEFA Cup, 2 Super Cups and 1 Champions League.

However, he never won the Premier League. Gerrard is not alone when it comes to great players hanging up their boots having not won this particular trophy.

Here is a look at 5 Premier League legend that have never won it.

1. Steven Gerrard

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He proved himself to be one of the finest midfielders and leaders in world football, who excelled in every area. He guided the Reds to numerous trophy triumphs, most notably that historic night against A.C. Milan in the Champions League. He never got his hands on the premier league trophy though. He’s been on the front line of Liverpool’s attempts to win the Premier League for the last 17 years, but in the end, even the efforts of the great Steven Gerrard didn’t prove to be enough. He came close 3 times. The most recent one coming in 2013/ 2014. Cruelly, he slipped in the game against Chelsea that cost them the title that year. This is sure to haunt Gerrard, but it does not overshadow an illustrious and astonishing Premier League career.

A true English legend, Premier League medal or not.

2. Jamie Carragher 

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Another Liverpool player, another Liverpool great. Like Gerrard, Carragher spent an incredible 17 seasons at Liverpool, and most of this as vice-captain. The Liverpool native played an impressive 737 games in all competitions for Liverpool. He was the heart and soul of the club for many years. Having had such a lengthy career at a big club like Liverpool, Carragher will be left frustrated not to have lifted the Premier League trophy.

3. Matt Le Tissier

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His dedication and loyalty to Southampton is honourable but a man capable of scoring goal of the season contenders virtually every game deserved to finish his career with at least one major honour. In addition to his astonishing technical ability and finding the back of the net, he is also one of the best penalty takers the game has seen with an incredible 47 from 48 record. In 1990, a moved to Tottenham nearly materialised, who he supported as a kid, and had the chance to help Tottenham to win a Premier League trophy but his love for Southampton and to the fans was too much. Furthermore, he became the first midfielder to reach a 100 premier league goals.

4. Gianfranco Zola 

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A true Chelsea legend. The Italian was Chelsea’s best attacking midfielder for years. We are fortunate enough to witness some impressive creative midfield these days in the Premier League such as

Coutinho, Hazard, David Silva… but many might say that Zola was the first one to play that style of football. He left Chelsea with six major trophies under his belt, but never the premier league. The closest he came to winning the Premier League was in the 1998/99 season. Chelsea topped the table throughout the whole first half of the season, but could not prevent Manchester United completing the first leg of a historic Treble.

Zola truly brought a lot to the Premier League with his style of touching the ball.

5. Jermain Defoe

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Yes Defoe! Most would consider Jermain Defoe a Premier League legend. Maybe not as big as the previous mentioned above, but still important. A truly underrated forward and still probably England’s most natural finisher. In his prime he was good enough to play for anyone. Unlike the other players, he is still playing and at 34 he is still scoring goals for fun. He is a one of few to have scored 150 goals in the Premier League. With the amount of goals he’s scored it is astonishing that he only has the one trophy to his name, a 2008 Carling Cup triumph with Tottenham.