#EFL League One News

[therealefl]

Peterborough United Boosted By Opposition Injury Concerns

Bolton Wanderers could be without a number of key players for their clash against Peterborough United this Saturday, with Dion Charles already revealed to be a major doubt for this weekend’s match, according to the Peterborough Telegraph.  This will be a boost to a Posh side who have a terrible record away at Bolton, losing their last three when travelling up to Greater Manchester to play the…

[beckettj]

The Heart of a Villan - Chapter 2/5

Chapter Two - Operation Lion's Den

Summary: Three-thousand miles from home, Henry drags Emma into a land she never imagined venturing to; the realm of English football. She holds no interest in the sport but when she’s approached by Villa Captain Killian Jones, she determines that there could be something in the sport for her after all.

Words: 9536

Read on Ao3

Killian enters the home changing room, the last to return due to his flirty grovelling at pitch side, and is met by jubilant chaos. Someone already has their victory playlist at full blast, blaring from their phone, and Will – ever the life and soul of a party – has stripped to his boxers, dancing around the place with his shorts on his head.

Will spots his arrival instantly and prances over, slinging an arm over his shoulder and dragging him centre-stage, to the middle of the room.

“Wahey, look who it is! The man of the hour, the captain of the century!” Will exclaims.

He grabs Killian by the wrist and flings his arm into the air, as if proclaiming him champion of a boxing match.

“It would appear that three points and a man of the match performance is not all our captain managed to secure,” Robin notes.

As appreciative as Killian is for Robin’s pinpoint accuracy on the pitch – a lot of his goals have come from getting on the end of a Locksley delivery – he’s not so fond of it off the pitch. Will jerks Killian’s arm down so to look for himself.

“Emma,” Will reads and looks up at him, “is that the bird whose kid you clobbered?”

“The woman,” Killian corrects pointedly. “And I’d hardly say clobbered.”

“Well, I’ve gotta hand it to ya, mate, it was one hell of a bold tactic,” Will comments. “Keep going with audacious tactics like that and you’ll give the gaffer a run for his money!”

Killian playfully shoves Will off him, knocking the shorts off his head in the same movement.

“Alright, that’s enough of that! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have yet to seal the deal,” the aforementioned gaffer strolls into the room.

His arrival changes the atmosphere instantaneously. The music is shut off, attentive silence fills the room and the entire team scramble to find their seats. They all know the drill after a victory; the gaffer gives them a small time to celebrate whilst he converses with his coaches and then it’s straight back to business.

He steps into the centre of the room and stands to take in his captive audience. He’s a young man for his role, mid-thirties and some of his players are a fraction older than him but his presence is a notable one, no matter what room he walks into. His presence alone demands respect and attention. He could walk into the away dressing room just next door and elicit the same response.

The gaffer’s accomplishments in the beautiful game deserve such worship, and earns awe from all those he meets for the first time.

Killian remembers the gaffer’s first day, being called into his office at the training ground first thing to be warned that the new gaffer wasn’t adverse to switching things up, to stripping him of his captaincy and giving it to another player if he deemed it to be in the best interests of the team. Had the previous gaffer made such a proposal to him, Killian would have been outraged, diving into an argument of how such an action would be unjust and potentially dent his reputation, yet with the new gaffer he’d done nothing but nod dumbly as he stared, astonished, at the legend before him.

A Premier League footballing legend; he’d broken into the Manchester United first team at just nineteen years old, setting the midfield ablaze, raking in the goals and assists. At only twenty-five years of age, the gaffer’s career came to a tragically premature end when a mistimed tackle in a pre-season friendly broke his leg in two places, but not before he had won five Premier League titles, two EFL cups, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the best of the best; the Champions League. A mind-boggling achievement for only seven seasons in the senior game.

Killian’s own career – coming towards the end of his eleventh professional season – feels trivial in comparison; his highest accomplishments of note being a Championship Play-off final victory and runner-up in an EFL cup final.

So he’d lapped up every word the gaffer had spoken, followed every instruction, gratefully grasped every piece of advice the legend had for him. His efforts retained him his captaincy and the entire team’s belief in the manager’s structural changes, tactics and formations had the team preforming miracles.

With the gaffer being a former Manchester United player, the media had taken to facetiously questioning whether the Aston Villa manager has sold his soul to the devil to elicit such fantastical results in transforming a relegation battling team into one competing for a top four spot on the other end of the Premier League table.

It's somewhat ironic, Killian muses, as the gaffer clears his throat, preparing for a speech, that in the three times Aston Villa have faced up to Manchester United since their new manager’s appointment, the Villans had beaten the Red Devils all three times.

Football is a fickle sport. A man once hailed as a hero for bringing such success to the Devils since transforming into the Villan responsible for pilfering nine points from them.

“As of this moment, we sit in fourth. You all know as well as I do what that means; it’s a Champions League spot but the fat lady has not yet sung!” the gaffer proclaims. “There are still eleven games left of the season and we’re sitting on the brink of success. They believed we’d drop off by Christmas. Did we?”

“No!” comes the charged, unison response.

“And nor will we! But victory comes with a price,” the gaffer continues.

It’s his long old mantra, one Killian’s heard countless times during the gaffer’s thirteen month reign at the club.

“Victory requires focus, it requires determination, it requires grit and it requires hard-work. I have demanded a lot from you lads in the last year and I’d like to think the results speak for themselves, but there’s no time to rest yet. I want Champions League, you want Champions League, the fans want Champions league. Eleven more games, one final push; double the focus, double the determination, double the grit, double the hard-work and we put Aston Villa back where it belongs; back amongst the top clubs of Europe. Are you ready for that?”

“Yeah!” the teams roars, together once more.

The gaffer nods, satisfied, “Enjoy today’s victory. Enjoy your day off tomorrow. You’ve earned it. We go again Monday.”

As quickly as he’d arrived, the gaffer leaves, off to meticulously review the game’s footage ahead of the team’s Monday morning briefing.

--

Killian releases a leisurely sigh as he leans back, his elbows resting on the tiled edge of the recovery pool, the cold water tranquil and peaceful, as his muscles relax.

“Cannonball!”

The scream comes from Will, moments before he leaps from poolside into the water, sending waves crashing into the faces of Killian and Robin; the only two inhabitants of the pool.

“Watch it!” Killian growls.

“Careful,” Robin speaks simultaneously, a light warning as if he were speaking to his eight-year-old son.

The rest of the team has long left, leaving ‘The Three Fragilities’, as the trio were often mockingly referred to as, to their longer post-match recovery routines. Will, at the mere age of twenty-two, has already torn his ACL twice, spotlighting him, to the club’s physios, as one to watch and take extra care with. Killian has suffered with a weakened Achilles since childhood, subjecting him to the longer recovery processes throughout the entire course of his career. As for Robin, well…

“It’s not my fault you two are old and boring,” Will defends his actions.

“Hey, speak for him, mate,” Killian nods towards Robin, “I’m still in me twenties.”

Will scoffs, “Yeah, and barely clinging on! When’s the big three-oh?”

“Bloody cheek!” Killian huffs. “I’m barely more than a month into twenty-nine!”

“Like I said, clinging on,” Will jokes. “Fighting against the pull of retirement age.”

“Bugger off,” Killian returns and is adamant, “I’ve got at least six years of top-flight in me still.”

“Wonderboy’s eyeing up your captain’s armband already,” Robin observes, amused.

“Wonderboy can bloody dream on,” Killian remarks.

Will settles down in the water, sitting on the submerged seating. The trio promptly dive into a game of ‘Would You Rather’, their usual way of passing the time, and Killian gets splashed by both Will and Robin on multiple occurrences, whenever the other men don’t agree with his responses. Killian gives as good as he gets, particularly dousing Robin when he comes out with the nonsense of preferring to sign for Birmingham City over Derby County.

“Have you lost your bloody mind?” Killian questions, appalled. “You can’t sign for Birmingham from Villa!”

“Says who?” Robin questions.

“Says the universe! It’s an unwritten rule,” Killian reminds him. “City fans won’t want you and Villa fans would be calling for your head! Going to City is like… Luke turning to the Dark Side!”

“As a Forest fan from birth, signing for Derby is turning to the Dark Side,” Robin returns. “I may play in claret and blue and for the lion on the badge, but my heart will always lie with Nottingham Forest.”

“Ah, yes, I’d forgotten your allegiance to Forest,” Killian admits.

“Hence the ‘would you rather’, they’re not meant to be easy questions,” Will speaks pointedly. “Where the bloody hell did you think I’d pulled Derby County out of?”

“I learned not to question your mind within your first week at Villa,” Killian retorts.

Further would you rather questions leads to more splashing and before any of them know it, Robin’s alarm is ringing on his phone, calling the end to their recovery time. Will jumps up faster than a diving player whose just won his team a penalty.

“Time to go home, stick on fifa, and relax!” Will grins at the prospect of his evening’s freedom.

Killian and Robin follow him out of the pool.

“I remember those days,” Robin reminisces. “Now I’m going home to an excitable eight-year-old and a newborn who’s vastly opposed to sleep.”

Will pulls a face at the mere thought and comments, “Kids. Who’d have them?”

Emma… Killian thinks wistfully and catches himself just before her name can escape his lips.

He freezes and pretends to busy himself with selecting a towel, allowing Robin and Will to go on ahead, both so deep in conversation that they fail to acknowledge his lingering behind. His eyes are wide at his own mind’s thoughts.

What the bloody hell was that?

He recalls the initial incident leading to their meeting vividly.

The opposition players broke out of nowhere, forcing him to bust a gut sprinting back towards his own goal, throwing in a last minute, desperate slide tackle to block his fellow number nine’s slot. He lay on the grass, watching the flight of the ball, time slowing down as it hurtled towards a young boy. He remembered hoping for the boy, or the woman beside him, to look up in time to react to the oncoming ball. When it became apparent they were both too drawn into their hotdogs, he hoped a member of the crowd would pull out a world class save, diving to parry the ball away.

Hope was useless. The ball hit the boy square in the face.

Shit.

Killian threw himself into PR mode, well-versed from previous escapades. He went over straight away, was the one to attract the attention of the first aiders, apologised, briefly checked in upon their return from the first aid station, dedicated his winning goal to the lad, gave the lad his shirt, signed some things and then he had turned to the best trick up his sleeve and subtly responded to the woman’s flirting.

It had gotten him out of trouble on multiple occasions. A few years back he’d crashed his car into another person’s vehicle. The driver – a woman by the name of Eloise Gardner – had been enraged when she’d climbed out of her car, her fury increasing more upon inspecting the damage. Then she had recognised him and things had taken a turn for the worse when it became clear she was a Blues fan and timing was not on his side; he’d only scored the winner in the Second City Derby the day before, causing him to be a very unpopular man from the eyes of Blues supporters. She’d cursed at him and threatened to go to the police so he’d turned to his charm and talked his way out of trouble and straight into her bedsheets. He’d awoken the next morning to coffee in a Birmingham City mug, a cruel joke, and before he really knew it, Eloise Gardner had gone from angry woman to friend with benefits. And they were regular benefits. Just as there were also regular acts of sabotage, Eloise taking her chances to try and throw him off his game, turning off his alarms, making him late for training, team meetings and matchday coaches, and yet he kept seeing her. There was something of a thrill to it; to fornicating with the enemy, to being challenged by her, and it had pulled him in.

Then the new gaffer had arrived at the club, pulled him up on recent dips in performance and unprofessional behaviours, and threatened to take away his captaincy. Killian dived headfirst into proving himself; spent every waking hour focused on his career, on the pitch, in the gym, or reviewing footage of previous matches. There was no time for the distraction of Eloise Gardner and once he’d made sure his captaincy was secured, she never replied to his texts or answered his calls.

He didn’t care. It had been nothing serious. Just a way to get out of trouble and have some fun in the meantime.

And that’s all it was with Emma. Charming his way out of trouble. But then he’d done something he hadn’t intended to do; he’d invited her and her kid to dinner.

And then his thoughts had gone straight to her the first moment someone mentioned something which even remotely referenced to her. 

And he’s still thinking about her.

She’s nestled into his brain and there’s no shaking her.

He absent-mindedly plays with the red towel in his hand, noting the similarity of the red of the towel to the jacket she had worn. He wonders what she’s up to back at her hotel. He can clearly picture her lad bouncing on the bed, chatting enthusiastically to his mates on the other end of a phone call. He imagines Emma sat at the table, taking in the view of Birmingham out her window, a soft smile on her face as she listens to Henry’s excited recount of the day’s events and her eyes drop to her own phone, lying on the table, as she waits patiently for his call-

Wait.

He drops the towel. His heart pounds as a horrific thought swirls around his head. He recalls the light touch of her soft skin against his sweaty, warm arm as she’d written her name and number on his hand. The same hand which had been submerged in water, splashing and being splashed. He dares not look but he has to. His eyes reluctantly drop to his hand and his heart sinks. There’s faint scratching of ink, some stronger, some more faded, most of it gone all together. What remains is purely there to taunt him, to remind him of what he’d almost had, of what he had lost.

He's a bloody fool.

--

Killian has no idea what has gotten into him. The subtle, nonsense flirting and the offer of dinner had been for one purpose and one purpose only; to stop Emma from going to the press, claiming her five minutes of fame and allowing the newspapers to spin a tale which makes him look bad. The gaffer was big on no distractions and, as they had found out when Will crashed his car into the gates of a primary school, any news story proves a distraction.

Killian had been relieved to discover the morning paper contained no news story about a young lad requiring medical attention at the Villa game, determining himself in the clear.

And yet he finds himself sat in his car outside Villa Park on his day off, clinging to the only knowledge – beside her name – that he had; Emma and her lad had a stadium tour booked. He needs to see her again, if only to explain he hadn’t intentionally ghosted her, and this is his only chance.

A quick search on the Villa website had informed him that stadium tours were scheduled at ten-thirty in the morning and one in the afternoon. He’d arrived at Villa Park at nine sharp, in case her lad had been keen to explore the Villa store before the tour – the big store, not the half-arsed matchday one – when it opened at nine-thirty. He hadn’t. Those going on the morning tour had started arriving in dribs and drabs around ten-fifteen. He searched the group, both upon entering and leaving, for Emma and her lad; nothing.

By the time vehicles finally beginning pulling into the car park for the second, and final, tour of the day, he’s been sat in his car for three-hours-and-forty minutes. He sits up straighter in his chair, rubbing his tired eyes to focus on the people getting out of their cars.

Nothing.

He remains hopeful. The lad said they were coming and Killian doubts, from the impressive knowledge of Villa history that the boy had spouted at him, he would ever let his mother forget about the tour. Unless they haven’t forgotten. Maybe something’s happened; maybe the lad’s fallen ill, or has suffered complications from the impact of the ball. Maybe the lad’s wound up in hospital. Maybe his chances of ever meeting Emma again washed away with her number. Maybe he should start searching the local hospitals; he can start with Birmingham Children’s Hospital, he has a little pull there, visiting at least once a year with the rest of the Villa team.

As his mind spirals, he very nearly misses a grey taxi pull into the car park, only noticing it when it parks in the bay directly in front of his own. The back door opens the very moment the taxi stops and Killian breathes a sigh of relief when Emma’s young lad leaps out; he isn’t in hospital, he looks well in himself (except for the heavy bruising forming around his nose and left eye) and is full of energy, leaping excitedly as he eagerly coaxes his mother out of the taxi.

Killian has to stop himself from emulating the lad’s enthusiasm, very nearly leaping out of his own car when he sees Emma exit the taxi. He glances around the car park, taking in the growing number of people arriving for the stadium tour; he doesn’t want to cause a scene. He’s deep in Villa territory; there’s no chance of him not being recognised. A frenzy of picture and signing requests may well scare Emma off and he wants to speak with her, needs to speak with her, one-on-one (plus the kid).

He dons a black baseball cap and some dark sunglasses – it works in the movies – then slowly gets out of his car and follows after Emma and her lad, both on the move towards the stadium.

“Emma!” he softly calls out.

She turns, looking surprised to hear her name. Her head tilts slightly when she sees him and then her eyes widen with recognition before a cold stare falls over them and she straightens, standing tall and folding her arms across her chest.

“Jones,” she states coolly, hiding her initial surprise.

“She thinks you’re a jackass,” her lad speaks up conversationally.

Killian’s head has never turned so fast, snapping to stare at the boy; she what? Not a good first impression, work to do.

“Henry!” Emma exclaims.

“I don’t! You’re still my favourite player,” Henry covers quickly at Killian’s look then looks to his mother, “But I heard you on the phone to Grandpa. You said he was a jackass and that all professional sports players are egotistical jocks and that you never should have-”

“Okay, Henry,” Emma cuts him off and turns to Killian, “I was mad.”

That’s promising. Mad means she cares.

Cares! For a man she exchanged a few sentences with? She’s mad about her son being let down.

Or it’s a mixture of both.

The side of his mind fighting his corner dares to have hope. He takes a small breath. He’ll never know unless he shoots his shot.

“I would have called but I lost your number,” he starts to explain.

Her eyes shift to his side.

“Did you lose your hand too?” she remarks sceptically.

“The ink washed off,” he expands. “I was a bloody fool and didn’t save your details on my phone before– let me make it up to you. Lunch?”

He’s too eager, not even finishing his explanation before diving into his question. He’s mentally kicking himself.

What the bloody hell is he playing at?

“We’ve eaten already,” Emma tells him outright.

“I can still show you the city?” he offers immediately.

He wants the ground to swallow him up. He’s acting desperate.

“Henry’s been talking about this tour all morning,” she tells him.

It like taking a boot to the face, studs first; using her lad to let him down gently after her first attempt failed to dissuade him. He takes a resigning step back. He’s missed his shot; took too long, invited pressure, put it out wide. She’s taken possession, took her goal kick, and blasted the ball deep into the other half.

“Mom, he can come on the tour with us.”

The young lad dives in with a heroic save to keep the game alive.

Henry looks to his mother with big, brown puppy-dog eyes, seemingly eager to see his idea come to fruition. Killian looks to Emma and raises an eyebrow. If she agrees, there could still be hope.

“I guess he could,” she shrugs.

It wasn’t a no. He had a chance.

“Yes!” Henry cheers. “This is going to be so cool!”

“Aye, lad,” Killian agrees, glad that at least one of them is thrilled about his presence. “But let’s keep my presence between the three of us, okay? The club charges double the price for tours with ex-players present. I doubt they’d be too happy to learn that a current one spontaneously popped up at a standard tour.”

Whilst everything he says is strictly true, he’s talking utter nonsense. In truth, he has the duration of the tour to win Emma on side and he’s not going to be able to achieve such a feat if he’s having to share his time equally with the rest of the people on the tour. As much appreciation as he has for the support that Villa fans show him, they were not the reason he’s wasted half his day off sat in his bloody car; Emma is, and he sure as hell is not going to let those four hours become a waste of his time without a fight.

Henry gasps, “So it’s like a spy movie! You’re going in undercover. You’ve got to get in and out without being recognised!”

“That’s the aim,” Killian nods.

“The hat and shades are a good start,” Henry says, “but we need to name this mission.”

“Name it?” Killian questions.

“An operation name,” Emma expands, amused. “The kid loves his spy movies almost as much as soccer. He turns his aims into missions and names them. For example, Operation Cobra is his mission to get me to like your sport and refer to it as ‘football’.”

“Cobra? Why cobra?” Killian asks.

“Grandma says snakes are a symbol of rebirth and transformation because of the way they can shred their skin. The aim of Operation Cobra is to transform Mom into a football fan,” Henry explains then declares, “But right now we have another op to focus on, and this will be Operation Lion’s Den.”

Henry turns to take in the stadium before them and beams.

“Okay then,” Killian agrees. “Into the lion’s den we go.”

Killian steps towards the stadium entrance, aware that time is not on their side, the tour due to start any moment.

“Wait!” Henry yells urgently.

Killian freezes.

“Have you got an alias?” Henry asks him. “We can’t call you Killian. People might clock on.”

“Fair point, lad,” Killian concedes and considers, “How about Alex? Alex Rogers.”

“Okay Alex,” Henry agrees. “Now, Operation Lion’s Den can commence.”

--

Operation Lion’s Den was very nearly called off the very moment they had stepped into reception and approached the front desk. The booking under David Nolan had only two tickets to its name and the tour was fully booked. Killian dived in to save Operation Lion’s Den, revealing his true identity to the woman at the front desk, talking his way in and urging her to keep his presence discreet.

They had all received their passes, a claret lanyard on which holds a small claret square complete with the Villa badge and the lettering ‘STADIUM TOUR’, and entered into the Gas Lamp Longue just in time for the commencement of the tour.

Their tour guide is a young yet knowledgeable Australian woman named Belle who is such a fountain of Aston Villa facts – both present and historic – that even Killian finds himself learning new things about his club as they are shown around the hospitality areas within the North Stand.

Henry soaks it all up, chatting enthusiastically with Belle as she leads the way through corridors and up stairways, before the lad runs off to take photos of the view of the pitch from the latest hospitality area they are shown.

Emma lingers at the back of the group, keeping her distance from the avid Villa discussions being held amongst the friendly group, and Killian notices the way her gaze keeps lingering on the view of the stadium, staring longingly at the Holte End opposite, as if wishing to go back to the previous evening’s game.

Belle launches into a tale about the club’s late charge for promotion into the Premier League a few years back, and Killian leans towards Emma.

“You can’t fool me, you know,” he tells her, his voice low and hushed.

“Fool you how, Alex?” she returns pointedly.

“I saw you yesterday, after I scored,” his voice remains a low murmur, right into her ear, purely for the purposes of keeping his secret identity intact, and not because he longed to breathe in every bit of her enticing scent. “I saw the grin creeping onto your face, I saw your eyes alight with adrenaline, I know your heart was pounding in your chest as the roar of the crowd encompassed you.”

Her eyes flick once more towards the Holte End then back onto Belle.

“Is that supposed to mean something?” she challenges.

“It means that you let it in, maybe not consciously, maybe only for the briefest of seconds, but you let the claret and blue of Aston Villa touch your heart,” he tells her.

“Or maybe I was glad to finally see some kind of action in what was looking to be a goalless game,” she returns.

“Hmm, sure,” he replies, unconvinced. “You know, I remember watching my first Villa game. I was eight years old. I wasn’t sure about coming but my dad told me there was no pressure for me to be drawn into the club the same way he was. He said, ‘You don’t choose Aston Villa, Aston Villa chooses you.’. And for some people, that’s from birth, it’s all they ever know. For others, like me, like your lad, it’s more complicated; you find your own way to it, and it fills this gap you never even realised you had until one day you can’t remember there ever being a time in which Aston Villa didn’t hold a place in your heart.”

“That won’t ever be me,” Emma responds assuredly.

“We’ll see, love,” Killian shrugs. “We’ll see…”

--

Belle leads them into the heart of the Trinity Road stand, through hallways and up more stairways, until they finally enter the press room. Henry is at the front of the group with Belle, allowing him to claim front row seats and reserve two for Killian and Emma who maintain their pattern of lingering at the back of the group. With Henry’s enthusiasm, they can hide at the back no longer and are forced to take the seats right at the front.

When Belle asks for a volunteer to take centre-stage, Emma finds it funny to offer Killian for it and, since they’re seated at the front, Belle spots her right away, urging him up.

Henry looks utterly horrified at the prospect of Operation Lion’s Den being blown whilst Emma all but pushes Killian off his chair, leaving him with little choice but to join Belle behind the desk situated on the raised platform at the front of the room. She lowers her voice to exchange greetings, ask his name, and question whether he wants to take his sunglasses off and he responds with a hasty lie about light sensitivity.

Belle proceeds to lead the group into a fake press conference, introducing him as new signing Alex Rogers, unaware of how incredibly difficult she was making it for him to maintain his cover. To aid his jeopardised cover, Killian naturally slips into an Irish accent as he proceeds to face a bunch of questions from the fake journalists who play their parts well. Emma is stifling a laugh whilst he has to really concentrate on providing answers in the way a standard Villa fan would, and not submit to his years of media training instinctively screaming a standard, scripted answer at him. It’s only five minutes of questions but it feels like the longest five minutes of his life and when he finally escapes the unwanted spotlight, fake Irish Alex Rogers persona somehow intact, he’s sweating.

Belle offers the opportunity for photos behind the desk and light conversation soon floods the room as families take it in turns to have their picture taken at the press desk.

“That was awesome!” Henry exclaims, just about managing to keep his voice down. “They were interviewing Killian Jones and they didn’t even have a clue!”

“Mmm, someone almost blew Operation Lion’s Den,” Killian says, shooting a good-humoured glare at Emma.

She smiles and confesses, “I just wanted to see how you fared under pressure.”

“Because you didn’t see enough of that yesterday?” Killian shoots back.

“Maybe I liked what I saw yesterday,” Emma shrugs.

Henry promptly pulls Emma away to get his own picture at the press desk and Killian stares after her, taking the moment to collect his temporarily scrambled thoughts. It was a return to the previous day’s playfulness, a stark contrast to the cool, withdrawn woman in the car park.

He’s pushed her back into her own half, finally gaining a bit of possession for himself, making progress up the pitch.

He considers what must be left on the tour; the private boxes, the dressing rooms, the pitch and the dugouts. He’s got the better part of the second half of the game to go. He can still pull it back. He can still win it.

There’s time yet.

--

“We have private boxes available to buy for a game. If you’re interested in this possibility, you can get in contact with our hospitality department via our phone lines or through our website. Many of our players and sponsors also have their own private boxes, whether in this stand or the Doug Ellis on the other side of the stadium. Players’ friends and family will use the boxes during the games,” Belle tells the group as they walk along a hallway, closed doors on the left leading into said boxes.

“Grandpa looked into these,” Henry tells Emma. “They’re about three-thousand pounds per matchday! That’s not far off four-thousand dollars!”

“That’s obscene,” Emma remarks.

“Welcome to the world of top-level English football, love. The money in it is bloody ridiculous,” Killian acknowledges disdainfully for, whilst he benefits substantially from it, he doesn’t wholly agree with it.

Belle brings the group to a stop outside a door which Killian knows well.

“Club Captain Killian Jones kindly permits us entry into his box during these tours,” Belle informs the group, “enabling us to be able to show you the view from such luxurious viewing spaces.”

Henry grins knowingly at Killian as Belle leads the group into the box. Killian lingers somewhat awkwardly in the doorway as he watches the large group explore the space. He’s not used to seeing so many unfamiliar people in his usually remote, private spot. Upon entering after a game, he’s usually met by familiar faces and not the sight of people taking selfies with the view of the pitch behind them. As willing as he is to let the tours into his box – it seems the least he can do after all the support the Villa fans have given him over the years – it feels strange to actually see it happen.

“A whole range of people have watched matches from up here,” Belle tells the group and Killian can but wonder exactly where she’s going to go with her examples. “From family members and close friends to Hollywood actors and royalty. But Killian has also been known to regularly invite local foster families to games and host them here too.”

Emma looks surprised as she turns to him, an awe in her eyes as she murmurs, “Foster families?”

“I’m aware of the privilege I’m fortunate enough to have. If I can make even the smallest difference in the lives of those in less fortunate positions, it only seems right to do so,” he explains seriously and then smirks as he seizes the opportunity to call her out, “You see, not all professional sportsmen are egotistical jocks.”

“We’ll see,” she shrugs, nudging him playfully in the side then asks the burning question, “And royalty?”

“Oh, aye,” he confirms with a nod. “Didn’t you know the future king’s a villan?”

“Until yesterday, I didn’t know a villain was anything more than the bad guy in a movie,” Emma points out. “So, you’re telling me that you mix with royalty?”

“From time to time.”

She laughs.

“What’s so funny about that?” he questions, bemused by the reaction.

“I just can’t imagine you all… fancy and proper,” she tells him.

“I scrub up quite well, I’ll have you know,” he insists. “It’s not all sportswear and sweat.”

There’s a spark in her eyes as she returns, “Pity.”

--

“And now, the Villa dressing room,” Belle announces as she leads them through the double doors and into the room that, in the entirety of the stadium, Killian is most familiar with. “I’d like to direct your attention to the tactic board up here.”

She brings the group to a large whiteboard, positioned on the only wall not lined with player’s lockers and seats. Scrawls of the gaffer’s tactics remains in place from the previous day’s game.

“Now, as most of you are aware, past Villa managers have used similar tactics for every game which meant they’d furiously remove any signs of their tactics from this board before we’d have even a chance of stepping foot in here,” Belle addresses her attentive audience. “Adam Gold, however, we have all very quickly learned is just as world-class a manager as he was as a player. He’s a tactical genius; his tactics vary significantly from game to game, adapting to the slightest whiff of a weakness he assesses in opposition players, and so he’s more willing to leave us little insights into his great mind.”

She gestures to the board, a combination of circles and numbers to represent players, complete with arrows of various lengths and intensities.

“You can see his half time talk during yesterday’s game partly comprised of urging his front three to apply intense pressure to the back line, to not give them a second on the ball, forcing them to go long despite their forward players not boasting much height and preferring to receive the ball to feet,” Belle interprets the squiggles for those struggling to decipher.

Killian notes her use of the word ‘urging’ as soft. He recalls the gaffer’s instructions as a demand, an unspoken threat of being substituted if they failed to match the intensity he expected.

“And up here,” she points to slightly more legible writing in the top corner of the board, “is his mantra. It’s been here every week without fail since Gold took charge of the club last year. It’s rather inspiring and applicable outside football so I invite you all to take the opportunity to take in the wise words of Adam Gold.”

They’re words Killian has heard countless times since the gaffer’s arrival. Words he could recount in his sleep;

Victory comes at a price;

Focus

Determination

Grit

Hard-work

“Now feel free to explore and take photos,” Belle tells them.

The group immediately disperses around the room, taking photos on the seats beneath various players’ lockers and Belle throws further facts and information at them as they do so. Henry’s the first one to claim the seat beneath Killian’s name, shirt and locker, and Killian watches on amused as the lad flat-out refuses to budge for anyone until Emma catches up with him and takes his picture.

Even then, he’s not done.

“Kil-uh, Alex!” he calls, catching himself, a hint of panic flaring in his eyes, but he quickly continues, “I need one with you.”

Killian ducks his head as he crosses the room, sitting next to Henry and silently urging Emma to move fast as she takes the photo, well aware of the growing number of people waiting. The second he hears the click of the picture, he’s up and guiding the young lad away.

“What about Humbert or Booth?” he suggests to Henry.

The boy nods eagerly and hurries over to their lockers, positioned side by side, roping Emma into continuing to be his photographer. He ends up going around the entire changing room, taking photos under each player’s name and replica shirt. Killian even coaxes Emma to get into some of them with Henry, taking over her duties as photographer.

They eventually make it to the final player in the squad. Killian has Henry and Emma getting ready for a photo in front of Robin’s station when another member of the group steps into his shot and offers his hand out for the phone.

“Here, I’ll take it for you,” the man says. “You get in. As good as place as any to get an update for the family photo album.”

“Oooh,” Killian draws out, immediately noting the assumption. He points dumbly towards Emma and Henry, stumbling over his words, “I’m- he’s- she’s-”

“He’s just a friend,” Emma steps in to clarify.

Friend. He bloody hates the sound of that word on her lips.

But it is better than jackass, or egotistical sportsman.

Small victories.

One step at a time.

Killian refocuses, snapping the photo and returning the phone to Henry who proclaims he’s sending all the photos to Nicholas immediately.

“Okay, we are running short on time so can everyone follow me, and we’ll head out to the tunnel,” Belle announces.

The group are rather prompt in wrapping up on their various photos and following Belle out of the door. Killian sticks an arm out, successfully holding Henry back from being the first one out the door after Belle. As the door swings shut behind the final member of the group, leaving just him, Emma and Henry in the emptied out dressing room, Killian drops his arm back to his side.

“What are you doing?” Henry questions.

“I figured you’d want a proper photo,” Killian explains.

He removes his hat and sunglasses, chucking them onto Robin’s seat. By the time he gets to his seat, Henry’s already there – as eager as always  - so Killian ends up to the side, just as he had been in the first picture they’d taken. Emma takes the picture, just as the door swings open again and Belle returns.

“I do require everyone to stick togeth-”

She cuts herself off as the door swings shut behind her, staring at Killian and laughing in disbelief.

“Alex. Rogers.” Belle says the name with a light shake of her head. “I should have known something was up. Wha- What are you doing here, Killian?”

“Trying to keep a low profile,” Killian tells her, grabbing his hat and sunglasses, putting them back on. He nods to Henry, “The lad wanted to go on the tour as planned so I’m tagging along.”

Belle has quickly recovered from her surprise and tells it how it is, “Well, you’re doing a good job of disrupting the planned tour by not keeping up.”

The trio choose not to hang around any longer.

--

Killian stands staring at the European Cup in the display stand proudly situated in the centre of the tunnel. It’s a reminder every single home game, every time he comes and goes from the pitch, of where the club had once been, how far it had fallen, and what it was striving for once more.

Emma steps up beside him and reads the display tag, “European Champions, nineteen-eighty-two.”

“European Champion,” Killian breathes out dreamily. “Every footballer’s dream. That’s my ultimate goal, right there.”

“Does that mean the rumours are true?” a worried Henry pops up out of nowhere, appearing between Emma and Killian. “The ones about you going to Manchester City in the summer?”

“Off the record?” Killian checks, not that he can envision the boy to go running to the press, but the media training in him demands it. “I could go to City. Might very well go on and lift the trophy my first season there. Certainly a higher chance of it than if I were to stay here. But what does that really achieve? There’s almost an expectation on City to win it. Going to City, well, that just feels like bloody cheating. I want a story, an underdog story. My first season with Villa, we finished in the middle of the Championship. Eight hard years later and we’re pushing to be in competing in the Champions League next season. It’s a big, big ask but there’s every chance I could be lifting that trophy as a Villa player in just over a year’s time, and if there’s a chance of that, even a very, very slim one, I can’t possibly leave. From Championship mediocrity to Champions League winners; proving that focus, hard work and determination pays off, that’s the true dream.”

“So you are staying!” Henry grins.

“No definitive promises, lad,” Killian returns. “We’ll see.”

--

“And here we are. The conclusion of our tour, the dugouts,” Belle gestures to the team dugouts at pitch side. “Unfortunately, we can not go on the pitch today. We’re nearing the end of a long season and endured a horrendous winter so the groundskeeping team have been working tirelessly to keep the pitch at a top notch condition and have requested minimal disturbance to the playing surface. You are more than welcome to take your pictures in the dugouts and at the side of the pitch right here.”

On Henry’s disappointed look, Killian catches his eye and gives him a small nod – he’ll sort it.

The lad grins and rushes off to get his pictures in the home dugout, diving into the crowd of people doing similarly. Emma is back to playing photographer as Killian wanders over to Belle.

“This is the final part of the tour, right?” he strikes up conversationally.

“That’s right,” she confirms.

“So, you don’t mind if I stay back with two of your guests to give my own personal tour?” he checks.

“By that, you mean take them on to the pitch, which we’re under strict instructions not to allow,” Belle’s onto him in a flash.

“You’re under strict instructions not to allow,” Killian corrects, “and I shall neither confirm nor deny your accusation, that way you are not a willing accomplice in whatever I may or may not be up to.”

“Killian.”

“Come on, it’s not like I’m going to do anything to severely piss off Nathaniel, am I?” he remains persistent. “I’ll let you into a little known fact; us players are just as wary of pissing off that man as any member of the club staff.”

Nathaniel, the head groundskeeper, has a notorious reputation for getting severely pissed off with anyone who dares to touch a single blade of his grass on non-matchdays. Even on matchdays, players opting for a knee slide celebration upon scoring risked the incoming wrath of Nathaniel when bypassing him in the tunnel at half-time or full-time as he’s on his way out to tend to his precious grass. If the man had it his way, the matches wouldn’t even be played on the hallowed turf of Villa Park. There are very few people who dare to cross him; even the gaffer tends to give the man a wide berth.

“Fine!” Belle huffs reluctantly and points an accusing finger at him. “But I had no part in this, understood?”

“Crystal clear, love,” Killian confirms with a nod.

--

Killian has no bloody idea what he’s playing at.

He and Emma are finally alone. At least alone, if not for her lad. For the first time, there’s isn’t a crowd of people around, or a demand for him to be elsewhere. It’s just them in a completely empty stadium, an opportunity to get to know each other better, and things are great. Except for the fact that Emma doesn’t share the same love for football or Villa as he and Henry do. She’s probably longing to be in the group Belle had led to the exit of the stadium, the doors of freedom from the world of football, and he’s kept her from them.

He had promised her dinner. Instead, he’s given her an extended sentence imprisoned within Villa Park.

He’s a bloody fool. First the ink, next the stadium. He can only marvel at how his brain fails to function properly where Emma is involved.

“Are we going on the pitch?” Henry questions eagerly.

Making Henry happy is easy. Impressing football fans is easy. He has no clue where he stands with non-football fans. He needs to figure it out and fast. Until then, he can only stick to what he’s good at.

“We’re doing more than that, lad,” Killian manages a smile. “What’s the one thing every Villa fan wants to do?”

Henry’s eyes shift towards the goal in front of the Holte End and he dares to believe, “Score in the Holte?”

Killian nods, “Score in the Holte.”

He instructs Henry to hold fire, and his eyes linger for a fraction too long on Emma, sat in the dugouts with an unreadable expression on her face, before he jogs down the tunnel and fetches one of the balls they keep stored in the dressing room. He returns to find Henry exactly where he’d left him and the young boy’s eyes light up at the sight of the football.

Henry doesn’t just score in the Holte, he scores a whole series of goals in the Holte; left foot, right foot, headers, and volleys. He even attempts a bicycle kick which goes soaring into row Z and sends Killian clambering into the stand to fetch the ball. On his return to the pitch, Killian glances to the dugouts where Emma still sits, perched on one of the claret and blue seats, watching with a small smile on her face. He rolls the ball to Henry, who’s quite content scoring in an open goal, as Killian jogs over to the dugouts.

“Well, this won’t do,” he states as he stops in front of Emma, holding out a hand towards her, “I can’t have my best player languishing on the bench.”

She takes his hand, perhaps a little reluctantly, and he helps her to her feet, pulling her along with him onto the pitch and into the penalty box at the Holte End.

“Hey, lad, how about we let your mother have a go?” he suggests.

Henry collects the ball from the net of his latest goal and nods eagerly, “Can I be the keeper?”

Killian agrees and chuckles at the sight of young Henry, barely more than a dot when stood in the centre of the mammoth net. He places the ball Henry chucks at him onto the penalty spot and turns back to Emma.

“I’ve never kicked a soccer ball in my life,” Emma tells him, staring at the ball as if it were going to attack her.

“There’s for a first time for everything,” Killian returns. “All you have to do is kick it twelve yards. Anywhere but at the keeper and you’re pretty much guaranteed a goal, given his size.”

Emma gives a short nod, her eyes fixed on the ball, a hard determination fuelling her gaze, as if determined to prove herself. She steps up to the ball and pulls back her right leg.

“Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah!” Killian calls out, halting her actions just as she’s about to kick.

He moves over to her, placing his hands softly onto her shoulders and guiding her a few steps back from the ball. He stands behind her, his chest just inches from being pressed against her back, as he coaches her.

“You need to give yourself a run-up,” he explains his intervention. “Now, the temptation’s going to be to kick the ball with your toe; don’t do that. You have two options, you can either use the inside of your foot or get under it and hit it with your laces. For now, let’s keep things simple with the side of your foot. Statistically, most penalties are scored in the bottom left of the goal so my technique is to place it in that corner but, for now, just focus on getting it on target. Okay, so run up, generate power, hit with the side of your foot and direct goalwards.”

He releases his hands from her shoulders, encouraging her to take her shot. She charges forward, strikes the ball with the inside of her right foot and it nestles into the back of the net towards the bottom left. It’s not perfectly placed in the corner but it’s a very promising start and Killian is pleasantly surprised by the amount of power she had rifled into the ball; she’s either a good student or beginner’s luck is in play,

She cheers and he high-fives her before Henry charges over, diving onto his mum to celebrate with her.

They break into a mini game, pulling off their jackets and placing them on the ground to make small goals either side of the width of the penalty area; taking Killian back to the many hours spent playing football on school playgrounds and parks in his youth. Henry and Emma team up against him and Killian initially takes it easy, allowing the lad to score and doing very little as Emma dribbles the ball around him and slots it home.

There are wild celebrations as Henry and Emma go two-nil up and break into a teasing chant of ‘we’re beating the pro’ which sets Killian’s competitive side ablaze. He drives forward with the ball at his feet, knocking it through Henry’s legs as the lad makes a step in to block. He powers around Henry, taking a touch of the ball to knock it towards goal, just Emma to beat. He feigns a move left then swiftly knocks the ball to Emma’s right and he’s past her, sprinting goalbound, the ball at his feet. He’s in the clear, goal dead certain and is preparing himself to slot it home when contact is made with the back of his right leg. He loses his balance, barrelling over onto the grass, landing on his back in time to see a stumbling Emma following behind him, crashing down on top of him.

She puts her hands out quickly, onto the grass either side of his head, taking her weight off him, but she remains above him, looking down on him. He dumbly stares up at her, taken by surprise by both her sudden challenge and the position they since find themselves in. His mind’s scrambled, overcome by the light woody scent radiating from her, the faintest hint of cinnamon, and her warm breath tickling his temple.

“Can’t get past me that easily,” she tells him triumphantly.

“I did get past you!” he argues. “I was through on goal, and you took me out. That’s a dead cert red!”

“I have no idea what that means,” she confesses.

“It means your team are down a player, you’re off the pitch, headed for an early bath,” he explains.

“Do I get to take you with me?”

A faint gasp escapes his lips at her suggestive tone and her gleaming earthy eyes only draws him in closer, his head lifting off the grass, his elbows propping against the ground, lifting his upper body against hers. There’s barely anything between them and yet he still desires her closer, needs her closer. Her soft, red lips part; an open goal, inviting his forward move.

His lips brush faintly against hers.

“Mom!” Henry calls.

She’s gone instantly. Killian lets out a shaky breath and throws himself into the grass, squeezing his eyes shut. Bloody kids.

“Uh, Killian, this guy does not look too impressed. He’s actually carrying a pitchfork,” Emma’s comment pulls him from his sulking.

He jumps to his feet, looking towards the tunnel to see head groundskeeper Nathaniel stalking towards them, a thunderous look on his face.

“Killian Jones! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nathaniel bellows from the halfway line.

“Funnily enough, mate, I’ve been asking myself the same question all day,” Killian attempts to keep things light.

The groundskeeper does not see the funny side, a deep scowl piercing into Killian’s soul. If looks could kill, he would be flat out on the ground.

Killian throws his hands up into a surrender.

“Don’t worry, mate, your pitch is intact,” Killian tells him then glances at the scuff marks inflicted by Emma’s challenge and their subsequent falls, and amends, “mostly. My bad. I’ll make it up to you. We’ll be on our way now.”

Killian navigates Emma and Henry around the fuming groundskeeper, an onslaught of curses following his every move as they hastily leave the pitch behind them.

--

“So, how about that dinner?” Killian proposes.

They stand on the car park outside Villa Park, a safe distance from the fury of Nathaniel. Things have changed since she turned him down the just a few hours ago, and he’s fuelled with confidence for her coming response.

“I’m sorry.”

The response is unexpected and he clenches his jaw in an effort to hide his crushing disappointment.

“We’re due on a train back to London,” she explains.

He comes crashing down to reality. He’d forgotten they were tourists, forgotten they lived thousands of miles away, forgotten that things were much more complicated than winning over a non-football fan when his whole life is football.

“Ah, of course,” he nods. “How long are you in the country for?”

“We leave for Boston next Sunday,” Emma answers.

“I have a game in London next Saturday,” Killian tells her. “I can sort tickets for your whole family?”

“That’d be awesome!” Henry exclaims.

Killian grins at the lad then looks to Emma hopefully, “And maybe we can finally get that dinner after? Just me and you?”

Emma glances at Henry, falls deep in thought as she considers, as if a debate is raging in her head. They’d both gotten caught up in the moment on the pitch, they were both firmly back in reality where any long-term future is especially unlikely. She knows what he’s suggesting; a one-time thing.

“What the hell,” she throws any caution to the wind. “I’m on vacation. Let’s do it.”

“And this time I have my phone to hand so you can put your number directly into it.”

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and hands it over to her.

“Make sure you don’t drop this down the toilet,” she tells him warningly as she inputs her number.

He takes the phone back from her, holding it tightly.

“I’m an attacker by trade but this I will defend with my life,” he promises.

As she gets into the taxi waiting for her, Killian’s eyes drop to the new contact in his phone; Emma Nolan. He clicks on the edit button, adding one red heart emoji to her contact name.

For all the talk of her letting the claret and blue of Aston Villa touch her heart, he had well and truly let her touch his.

--

Tags: @teamhook @laianely @booksteaandtoomuchtv @exhaustedpirate @anmylica @hollyethecurious @kmomof4 @winterbaby89 @undercaffinatednightmare @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @stahlop @lfh1226-linda @darkshadow7 @fleurdepetite @captainswan-kellie @motherkatereloyshipper @soniccat @jrob64 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @jonesfandomfanatic @myfearless-love

[underwater-i-will-go]

i'm gonna ramble! here's how everton's season 23/24 looked like for one of their senior players that's been with them since 2017.

okay so the aston villa away 4-0 loss last season was basically the final nail to michael's coffin under dyche. he was awful and went on to start only three more games all season when we faced an injury crisis back in december. did well for one, that being burnley, then made a mistake during fulham in the elf cup .. wolves away .. we've all talked about that.

but this image from aston villa away. his face. haunts me everyday.

he went on to not applaud the fans for the rest of the season and basically just disappeared into the tunnel as soon as the final whistle was blown, understandably so given he no longer played, felt overall disconnected from the rest of the team, the fans etc makes me feel sick.

a little later on he ended up being subbed on during fulham in the premier league, scored a goal but it ended up being disallowed for no actual reason, apparently a "foul" of tarkowski against leno. absolute nonsense btw.

wolves away, december 30th. 3-0 loss, 64 minutes played. another great loss.

fulham efl cup, scored an owngoal that made the game end in a 1-1 draw, it went into penalties, which onana and gueye missed and had us eliminated. all on him technically.

dyche made him take one of the penalties (which he scored). he was the reason there was a penalty shootout to begin with. awful thing to do. imagine what he must've felt like lmao

despite his owngoal, he still did well. still ended up being punished with no more minutes, mykolenko did the EXACT same thing in the fa cup against luton, scored an owngoal that ended up in everton being eliminated, he started next game like nothing happened. rightfully so, but why always michael?

burnley at home, december 16th, 2-0 win. so dear to me. look at him shine.

genuine happiness, look at his eyes. he hadn't played all season and that one chance he was given, he used. might still be his last ever goal for everton, and if it is, it was meaningful one. look at what it meant to onana and doucoure, calvert-lewin. beautiful scenes.

a few other of his overall nine in total appearances for everton last season include when he was subbed on during the merseyside derby on october 21st, conceded a penalty, also played against chelsea in the 6-0 loss back in april, was subbed on when branthwaite went down, it was supposed to be godfrey but dyche went for michael because he was less important, we'd still have godfrey in case branthwaite's injury had been more serious, couldn't risk godfrey, too when the game was already down the shitter anyway. we were already 4-0 down, what was he meant to change anymore? still got blamed for the half an hour he played. imagine being him!!!

he was given a bit of piss take of send off during brentford on april 27th, played as a striker for 73 seconds, likely because of all the social media posts begging dyche to give him a chance as striker because of his finishing qualities in times when none of our strikers could score goals.

in other words, how would anyone expect him to have confidence or do well when he doesn't get to play, doesn't get to proof himself more etc. as it stands he'll remain a backup for next season since godfrey left. in other words, season 24/25 will just be like the last two seasons. i feel for him, no one else fucking does. he's 31 now, got one more year left on his contract. we collectively watched a player fade away, one that used to play for his country regularly, one that used to be good. but yeah he's "shit" so who cares about how HE feels, like he's not a human being. fucking hate this. nothing new.

[whitehartlane]

Been a fan for ages but don't watch the academy much, mind telling me a bit about it?

of course! i love our academy to death (mostly watch the u18s and the u21s as a disclaimer whenever i’ve got the time) and think we’ve got some great talent at the moment.

a quick rundown of some of our recent history: our academy definitely has not been the best in the country and especially the past 4 years, under mourinho and conte, has honestly been kind of a dead end for many youth players. we’ve obviously had some academy talent who have made a great impact on the first team (in recent years: kane, skipp, winks, etc. mason and tanganga to a lesser extent) but you can argue that their development happened mostly on their loans.

either way the glaring problem has mostly been that we’ve had managers who recruit big name players from outside the club rather than focusing on youth talent and development inside the club. this kind of peaked under conte where the u18s were thriving because of their complete independence from the first team (won trophies!) meanwhile the u21s got relegated (which was overturn because of some new ruling) because their players were pulled out of training sessions to essentially be stationary cones in first team training.

this could not have changed more in the first few weeks of the pl2 season! i’ve been following the u21s mostly and so far the kids have won every match, scored 15 and conceded 1 and are top of the league. they’ve just won 0-5 against colchester in the efl trophy as well. the abundance of talent we’ve got that was apparent last season also has been able to be set free because shock horror they don’t have to stand around in training sessions anymore. i think another large factor in this turnaround is the fact that ange’s style of play has been clearly implemented in this team. they build out from the back and press insistently. simply a joy to watch and refreshing to see because implementing the same play style in the first team and the academy allows an easier pathway into the senior team à la barcelona and all that. also ange generally looks towards youth talent within the academy to recruit to the first team and reports have been saying that he’s already watched over some practices and told the lads that he selects based on performance and merit so if they want a chance and work hard for it they will get a chance.

so far currently i think our standouts at academy level (not including players on loan like alfie devine and dane scarlett) are jamie donley, jude soonsup-bell, will lankshear, yago santiago, josh keeley, alfie dorrington, mikey moore, ashley phillips etc. moore especially has got a lot of hype and is regarded as one of the best youngsters in england for his age group (he’s 15 iirc). all of these kids have a lot of potential for different reasons, we’ve got an abundance of attacking talent in donley, santiago, and soonsup-bell. also keeley for example is a really talented young keeper who’s very composed for his age and communicates with his back line well.

apart from the obvious shouts the player who has impressed me time in and time out is jamie donley. super versatile along that attack line and can play as a 9 but but i think he’s best employed as a 10. he’s got good instinctive finishing and a killer passing range. this is a kid who grew up watching kane. he’s definitely one of the players who’s head and shoulders above the pl2 and i think a loan would benefit him greatly come january, really hope the club are considering that. here’s a thread on him if you’d like to read more! also recommend following this handle on twt if you’ve got it, they’re the main hub for all academy news 🤍

[mountttmase]

is it bad that i've been watching the prem a couple of months now but never bothered to figure out the differences between the competitions that they're playing? like i have a general idea of what the champions league is and a few others but dont ask me how different they are from everything else bc like if its my team playing idc im just gonna watch it and hope and pray they win?? 🤭🤭

Bestie this is also me in a nut shell

I know there’s different competitions but if I tried to explain it then it would go badly so I’ve tagged in the queen of football @carlottawllms who had presided a lovely explanation below 🩷

Bc you said Premier League it’s the easiest to focus on the competitions those teams can take part in.

There’s the domestic competitions only English teams can participate:

FA Cup: English Football Association Cup

EFL (Carabao) Cup: League Cup

They’re quite similar in their layout and participation rules, but the FA Cup is the more respected one.

= they are not for Premier League Clubs only, but also for e.g. Championship Clubs

The there’s the European competitions where English clubs amongst other European clubs can participate as long as they’re qualified for the respective one. Competitions in descending order:

UEFA Champions League

Only the best clubs of Europe’s top leagues are eligible to participate:

The 10 champions of Europe’s top 10 leagues.

The runner-ups of Europe’s top 6 leagues.

The 3rd and 4th place of Europe’s top 4 leagues.

There’s several other rules that apply like the title-holder being qualified and stuff but that would go a little too far here 🙈

UEFA Europa League

Also only European clubs. All cup winners from the 55 UEFA member associations are eligible to participate. In addition, up to three teams per association can take part if they occupy the places behind those eligible for participation in the UEFA Champions League in the final table of their league (e.g. place 5 in the PL).

UEFA Conference League

A new competition also for only European clubs. The explanation for who is eligible to participate is a little complicated tbh…basically the teams who aren’t eligible to participate in the Champions or Europa League may be eligible to participate in this competition but then again not every team. So I can’t really give a proper explanation 😂

UEFA Super Cup

Winner of the Champions League vs winner of the Europa League

I think the easiest is to take last season’s final table and look at P1 - P7 (if I’m not mistaken) and then you’ll see which team plays in which European competition 🙈

All the teams below that place aren’t eligible to play in any European competition.

[trainds]

Proven track record of success in professional football.

Nathan Noël Romejo Tjoe-A-On, born 22 December 2001 is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back, center-back or midfielder for EFL Championship club Swansea City. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Indonesia national team.

Tjoe-A-On was signed to a three-year contract with Excelsior in 2019, after developing through their youth system. However, injuries stunted his development and he lost around 14 months of playing and training time. After the 2021–22 winter break he returned to action and gained confidence in his ability and felt able to do himself justice on the football field again.

Following their promotion from the Eerste Divisie at the end of the 2021–22 season he received a contract extension in June 2022, for an additional two years. He made his Eredivisie debut for Excelsior on 12 August 2022 against SC Cambuur at Cambuur Stadion in a 2–0 victory. On 9 September 2022, he scored his first professional league goal, helping Excelsior to a 2–1 win over FC Emmen.

In October 2023, reports in Indonesia suggested that Tjoe-A-On was invited to play internationally for the Indonesia national football team through naturalization. On 12 October 2023, Tjoe-A-On watched and talked directly with PSSI Chairman Erick Thohir and Indonesian President Joko Widodo when the Indonesian national team hosted Brunei Darussalam in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

On 7 March 2024, Tjoe-A-On received a call-up to the Indonesia national team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers match against Vietnam on 21 March and 26 March 2024. On 21 March 2024, he made his international debut for Indonesia in a 1–0 win against Vietnam.

In April 2024, Tjoe-A-On was named in the Indonesia U23 final squad for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup held in Qatar. He was initially only allowed to play in the group stage and returned to the Netherlands afterward. However his club Heerenveen eventually let him return to Qatar and play in the quarter-finals.

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗥

Due to the X new rules and policy, I would like to declare that this account is just for roleplayer purpose only. I’m not the real Nathan Tjoe-A-On, I don’t have any connection to the real one. Thank you.

[novumtimes]

Abandoned ghost stadium of EFL club given new lease of life with fans given once-in-a-lifetime chance to play on pitch

SUPPORTERS longing for yesteryear can step back into the past on Friday as a “Ghost ground” re-opens its doors. Millmoor was the home of League One Rotherham United for 83 years until 2008. 5 Rotherham United played their football at Milmoor for 83 yearsCredit: MARK ROBINSON 5 But they abandoned the ground in 2008 to move to a new stadiumCredit: MARK ROBINSON 5 But the “Ghost Ground” is set to re-open it’s doorsCredit: MARK ROBINSON THE SUN Following a row over rent, the Millers moved out as their famous old ground was left desolate and decrepit. Rotherham now play in the 12,000-seater New York Stadium, which opened in 2012, and is situated just yards away. However, it is impossible to miss their former home on any visit to Rotherham and now you can take a look inside it from 2pm. After years of being known as the “Ghost ground”, long-standing landlords, the Booth family, have overseen the refurbishment to restore it to its former glory and bring it back to life. And now the doors will be opened for visitors to see the old stands, take a walk on the pitch – which is now being put into use for hire by local teams – and reminisce of the glory days. A host of the club’s heroes will also be in attendance to add to the nostalgic event. Which is in conjunction with Millers legend John Breckin, 71, as part of his dementia awareness work. A spokesman said: “This is a chance for older Millers supporters to re-visit a place where they spent so many happy times and for the younger generation. “Who have no doubt heard all about Millmoor, to get a better idea of what it is actually like. BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS 5 Milmoor is to re-open its doorsCredit: MARK ROBINSON 5 The ground is is now being put into use for hire by local teamsCredit: MARK ROBINSON “Hopefully, there will be a good turnout.” Millmoor was first used in the 1890s when it was used by the Rotherham Church Institute in the Sheffield Association League, before then being used by Rotherham County before United. Shock moment stadium bigger than Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium demolished after falling into disrepair It was home to seven promotions campaigns, eight relegations and also staged the first League Cup final in 1961 when Rotherham beat Aston Villa 2-0 in the first leg. Source link via The Novum Times

[therealefl]

Cheltenham Town - Five Potential Replacements For Wade Elliott - Opinion

Rooted to the foot of the League One table with no goals to their name and only one solitary point accumulated, it was always going to be hard for Wade Elliott to hold onto his job at a dejected Cheltenham Town. Losing 3-0 away to Peterborough United in the recent mid-week round of League One fixtures ultimately saw Elliott get the boot, Cheltenham down to 10 men after only five minutes played in…

[markwatkinsreviews]

EFL ONE MATCH REPORT: Reading (0) 2 Charlton Athletic (0) 0

Date: Saturday 31 August, 2024

Kick-off: 3pm

Despite there being no goals in the first half The Royals were well on top and several timely tackles snuffed out any rare away attacks. Charlton's Campbell tried hard but fell short as an attacking threat first 45, so no surprise he was eventually subbed. However he picked it up 2nd half and, free from his shackles, made some decent forays up field as a provider of chances before being taken off.

Second-half Charlton (unusually in canary yellow) chirped brightly and around the 60th minute had three fairly clear-cut chances from crosses deep from the wings right across Reading's goal line, but couldn't get a decent foot or a head on any of them.

Apart from missing an obviously penalty award for Reading, the ref (Thomas Kirk) kept good order in game high on action, and some play acting from Charlton to win free-kicks.

Both Reading goal's were well worked and struck home convincingly by Savage (66’) then Smith (75’) and it really was an afternoon for blue & white hooped team work shining through from the first to last minutes on a close afternoon weather-wise.

The match however was never that close; 2-0 to Reading and "The Addicks" first league defeat of the new season.

Teams:

Reading: Pereira, Dorsett (Abrefa 61’), Elliott, Craig, Savage, Ehibhatiomhan, Smith, Bindon (Dean 72’), Mbengue, Wing, Akande (Tuma 85’)

READING MOTM: Dorsett Charlton Athletic: Mannion, Ramsay, Gillesphey, Mitchell, Jones, Coventry, Campbell (Godden 67’), Ahadme (Aneke  67’), Berry (Anderson 45’), Docherty, Small

CHARLTON MOTM: Campbell

Attendance: 14,778

Entertainment value: 9/10

Mark Watkins, 31 August, 2024.

[jrpneblog]

Off to a flyer

A great first competitive week at Deepdale for Hecky with a great win over Luton Town at Deepdale last Saturday afternoon followed by a nap hand at Harrogate on Tuesday evening as North End won 5-0. The win against the Hatters was particularly impressive after just three days on the training field and by the end of the game you could see what Hecky was trying to get across. In West Yorkshire on Tuesday it was a much more comfortable ride for North End. Four up at half time it was game over with Osmajic completing his hat-trick late on. This week we travel to Oxford United for our first visit to the city of dreaming spires for 24 years. That was at the old Manor Ground, of course, so the Kassam Stadium will be a new venue for many Northenders including myself as this becomes ground number 84 of the current 92.

It could hardly have been a tougher start for the new manager against newly relegated Luton but North End showed our new leader just what they could do with a bit of positive application, good motivation and a match strategy not just written around plan A. It was a fairly even game all told with both sides having decent spells. Luton looked dangerous on the counter as you would expect but North End defended well and went into the break one up with a very well worked goal from Will Keane. After the break the visitors pushed North End hard but subs at the right time, in the right positions meant that North End held firm under pressure particularly at the end of the game. It was great to hear the boys cheered off again and it got the new management team off to the perfect start.

The game at Harrogate was a very one sided affair and it took North End just thirteen minutes to take the lead via a superb free kick from Greenwood. The Leeds loanee made it two when he converted a penalty midway through the half and when Osmajic smashed home a third it was game over. In added time in the first half Osmajic scored his second and North End`s fourth in what was fast becoming a rout. After the break the pace slowed down a little as North End knocked the ball about at will. The post and the crossbar save the Sulphurites from further embarrassment but the big Montenegran was not to be denied his hat trick and fired home late on to complete a nap hand for North End and a home tie against Fulham in round 3.

On Saturday we visit the Kassam Stadium for our first game against the U`s since March 2000 which was a 3-1 win at Deepdale in our promotion season. We had beaten Oxford 4-0 a few weeks earlier on a very rainy evening in darkest Oxfordshire to do the double. This time we are at the three sided Kassam Stadium against an Oxford side newly promoted from League One and who won their first game of the season against Norwich. They have lost the two subsequent games and sit above North End on goal difference in the Championship with each side having three points from three games. I guess to many fans Oxford are a bit of an unknown quantity but if the last week is anything to go by you can be certain that Paul Heckingbottom has done his research and has his plan in place to win the game. North End will be roared on by a sell our 1,500 at the Kassam all of whom will be looking for the boys to make it three wins in eight days and give Hecky the perfect start going into the international break.

And finally this week:- more proof if proof was needed that football is just about money these days. The absolute farce of the league cup draw keeping the top six teams in the country apart and ensuring that the big teams are in the latter stages of the competition. Quite honestly this is absolute bollocks to me and to add insult to injury, elements of the Champions League draw were done by a computer. It really has been a sad week for football off the field with the EFL pandering to the English teams in Europe and UEFA opening themselves up to allegations of draw fixing in the Champions League. Very sad indeed.

.

MATCH PREDICTION -

OXFORD UNITED (A) League - Away win

.

JR`s HIGH FIVES

Preston to beat Oxford United 15/8

A £5 Stake returns £14.38 on bet365

SEASONS STATS

Returns £00.00 Stake £15.00

Percentage profit+/-loss - 100.00%

Predictions 3 won 0 lost 3

[holyiker-blog1]

EA SPORTS FC 25 - Career Mode Deep Dive

Author: Lootbar.gg

Live Start Points

All new to both Manager and Player Career modes, Live Start Points bring you closer to your favorite clubs and leagues, allowing you to live out the biggest storylines from the real world during the 2024/2025 football season.

Women's Manager Career

In a first for any football game, players now have the option to play Manager Career in five of the top leagues in women's football. Women's Manager Career has all of the Men's Manager Career features, plus unique challenges that exist solely within the women's game.

FC IQ in Career

From creating a squad that fits your selected Team Playstyle, to pre-match analysis of your opponent's style defined by their manager's real-world tactics, FC IQ influences core Career Mode features for a more comprehensive matchday and tactical experience.

Live Start Points & Snapshots

In FC 25, you'll be able to manage some of the top men's and women's teams from any game across the 2024/2025 season. On the men's side, you can take control of teams in the Premier League, EFL Championship, LALIGA EA SPORTS, Ligue 1 McDonald's, Serie A Enilive, and Bundesliga. In women's football, you can play as teams from the Barclays Women's Super League, Arkema Première Ligue, the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga, and Liga F. In all, we have Live Start Points for 10 leagues and 12 cup competitions, enabling you to follow along with real results and jump in during any game of the season.

Each Live Start Point will reflect the current points totals, goals scored, transfers, cup progress, player form, injuries, suspensions, and even any potential points deductions. Our aim is to release new game weeks regularly, giving you the option to play alongside authentic competitions and potentially change their outcomes depending on your own goals and performance.

Additionally, Snapshots capture some of the most pivotal moments of the season, enabling you to easily jump in and take a team over across a selection of European leagues. While no one can be sure what stories The World's Game will conjure up this year, you can expect Snapshots to reflect events like manager sackings, big player transfers, surprise unbeaten streaks, and underperforming clubs turning things around. Our goal with Snapshots is to provide you with real-world scenarios to challenge yourself with and enjoy.

We'll be kicking off Live Start Points and Snapshots later in 2024 and you can keep checking in through the season for new Snapshots and game weeks right up to the end of the season. Stay tuned for an announcement soon on when this is coming.

Live Start Points and Snapshots will also be available in Player Career, where players will be able to take over real-world situations, either as real-world players or as Avatars they have created themselves, and see how they can affect the future.

FC IQ in Career Mode

While you may have heard about FC IQ in our other FC 25 Deep Dives, today we're talking about Tactical Presets, an expansion of our previous Tactical vision system.

Each Tactical Preset is defined by a set of Key Roles covering the pitch, alongside a specific build-up and defensive approach combination. All Tactical Presets are compatible with all formations available, with the formation slightly impacting the Presets requirement. For example, Tiki Taka requires a Central Midfielder to take the Deep Lying Playmaker Role, but if your formation does not have a Central Midfielder, that role can be taken by a Central Defensive Midfielder.

The refresh of Tactical Presets and introduction of Player Roles helps give new meaning to the coaching staff. On top of what they were already doing (Attribute increases), staff now also possess the ability to raise the Role Familiarity of players that are set to the key roles on the pitch by one level. For this to happen, the coach's Tactical Knowledge must be higher than the natural Role Rating of said player and the player must be able to play the position in the first place. 

Most formations require one key Player Role per department but allow more, which opens up new opportunities and dilemmas for managers. For instance, as explained above, only one Deep Lying Playmaker is needed in midfield to apply Tiki Taka. Hiring an expert Tiki Taka coach in the midfield department means you can improve any Central Midfielder who's not already a natural Deep Lying Playmaker++.  So each manager can decide, depending on the squad's natural abilities and opposition, whether to play with extra freedom and more effective playmakers in midfield or with more safety by also assigning a Holding role. 

With this new system, we want to offer players more flexibility and more possible combinations between formation, Tactical Preset, Roles, and coaching staff choices.

Additionally, scouting for players now also includes the option to look for players with specific Roles and/or fit for specific Presets, enabling you to find the perfect players for your tactical approaches.

 

Additionally, the Squad Hub and Transfer Hub are also updated to surface Role information on players.

Development Plans 2.0

Development plans are now fueled by Player Roles and include Role Growth potential, with each Role having its own Development Plan that focuses on a set of Attributes and abilities. The Role Rating of each player determines the potential of Key Attributes for that Role.

 

Over time, if a player is growing consistently on the Attributes that are Key to a Role, there's a chance to trigger a Role Rating level up. When that happens, it increases the potential of those Attributes, unlocking a new stage of growth.

Moreover, Development Plans now surface useful contextual information such as factors that influence the growth or development stage each player is in, Growth, Peak, or retirement.

Press Conferences & Morale Sweet Spot

In FC 25 we are evolving the morale system from an approach of “the more, the better” to a “sweet spot” system. That means that if players' morale gets over a certain level, players are no longer very happy, they become complacent instead. In this state, their mental Attributes are reduced instead of increased. The ideal interval for morale aka " the sweet spot" to keep the player very happy varies, with some players being more calm and professional than others. 

We've also revised Press Conferences so that questions asked by the press are now fueled by Tactical choices, opponent setup, and match statistics.

Youth Academy

The Youth Academy's scouting capabilities have been upgraded in FC 25, providing an expansive selection of over 160 countries to explore for emerging talent. Whether you're looking for the best of the best or to uncover the next great hidden gem, this extensive range of scouting locations opens the door to discovering diverse players with unique playing styles and backgrounds, with the goal of enriching your team's potential.

You can now scout up to four specific positions, allowing you to focus on areas that need reinforcement now or in the future. Whether you're looking for a commanding center-back, a creative attacking midfielder, a prolific striker, or a solid goalkeeper, the Youth Academy's scouting options let you zero in on the exact positions you're looking for.

With the introduction of FC IQ, players now also have the ability to scout for three distinct Roles within the selected positions. Regardless of what your strategy calls for, we want you to have the ability to better shape your team's future.

We're also excited to introduce a new way to interact with your Youth Academy through Rush matches in FC 25 Manager Career. Now you can engage in 5v5 matches with your youth players (with an AI-controlled goalkeeper), offering you additional control over the development of your future stars. You have the flexibility to play with these prospects using their current Overall Ratings or by using their full potential Rating to see how they might perform on the biggest stage in the future.

Rush matches in Manager Career are organized as bi-monthly tournaments, and winning these competitions can provide a significant increase to the development of your Youth Players, accelerating their growth and helping them reach their full potential faster.

And finally, youth players will now look younger and you will be able to see them physically grow during their development in the Youth Academy.

Women's Football in Manager Career

We are delighted to share that, for the first time, players will be able to manage some of the top women's teams from elite European leagues and the NWSL. Manager Career will feature 5 licensed leagues, Barclays Women's Super League, Arkema Première Ligue, the National Women's Soccer League, the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga, Liga F, and the prestigious Women's Champions League competition will be playable as well.

Women's Manager Career saves will feature all of the Manager Career features you'd expect, alongside authentic managers, financial models, contracts, and wage structures that reflect the rapidly growing women's side of the sport. We can't wait for players to jump into the world of women's football in Manager Career in which you can expect to find new and exciting challenges previously unseen in EA SPORTS FC.

For added flexibility and player choice, you can move between men's and women's leagues within the same career to experience both sides of the beautiful game.

Customization

We've been listening to player feedback on in-game customization and have focused on delivering a series of settings that will enable you to better control the way you simulate your gameplay experience and AI behavior. For example, you can now select from a series of predetermined presets tuned for specific situations and gameplay moments. 

One of the most requested features around this area relates to giving players different choices with respect to gameplay balancing. Players can toggle between a Realistic setting which would lock the gameplay sliders to values closer to current life-like football, and a Classic setting which is meant to highlight the classic feeling of playing through the established EA SPORTS FC gameplay. Of course, a very detailed Custom setting is also available, where players can adjust the toggles and the values for both the CPU and their own side, letting you set your preferred experience. 

For players who want to really challenge themselves, they can raise the difficulty of their saves by making transfer negotiations stricter, setting the board expectations to be harsh, slowing the training plan recovery rates down, creating a transfer embargo, and playing with simulation-style gameplay.

For players who want a more relaxed experience, they could create a game where a huge financial takeover has just happened, where they can't get sacked, where there's no Scouting, or where players develop faster.

Settings such as Match Settings and Gameplay Simulation Settings can still be modified mid-save and do not require you to start a new career, while other settings are locked in when a save is first created. Customization options are also available in Player Career, not just Manager Career. 

New Menu Visuals and Social Media  

 

Our FC 25 UI is not just an aesthetic upgrade for the game, but more importantly a functional one, with the addition of the Task List. 

The Task List is a dynamic rundown of pending actions that players may want to engage with during their saves. From squad management to youth academy, and other activities, all issues and points of interest are brought up front for your convenience. We want to enable you to make immediate decisions and take quick actions, ensuring you're on top of things in both the Manager Career and the Player Career. While we believe the introduction of the Task List will help players get to the most pressing items that need their managerial attention, players will still be able to use the menu to navigate as they wish. 

On the topic of being up to date, another change in FC 25 is the addition of Social Media. Social Media in FC 25 is a virtual platform where players can see the most important news regarding their achievements, match results, upcoming matches, transfer news, and much more. Clubs, Leagues, Players, Fans, and News Outlets are going to be posting, and covering narratives from both on and off the pitch. Whether you're managing a top team in a Manager Career or a player in a Player Career, you're sure to be the subject of many stories, being a hero at times, and an anti-hero at others.

We're excited to announce that we've secured some of the biggest names in sports media to deliver these social media stories. The likes of Fabrizio Romano will be helping you stay on top of all the transfer rumors and deals, while media outlets like The Athletic will keep you updated about the results and reactions across the world of FC.

Player Career with ICONs

In FC 25 Player Career, you can now play with some of the greatest names in football history and bring them into the modern game. You can dive into the Player Career experience by selecting one of the available ICONs and see how they would thrive in modern-day football. You can make your own history with ICONs presented at the peak of their ability, enabling you to jump straight into high-level action.

The list of available ICONs will update and change over time to give players different experiences. Be sure to check in throughout the season to see which ICONs you can play with.

Origin Story

Our aim with the addition of the new Origin Stories is to bring in some fresh perspectives to Player Careers. Three paths, each with its own advantages and challenges, will guide you through the start of your career, bringing in different opportunities and new approaches to Player Career.  

You can start off as a child prodigy, coming from a legendary football family, to prove that you can survive the pressures of the role and create your own legacy while taking your famous family name to the next level.

You can also play as someone coming from humble beginnings but with an unshakable dream and loads of talent. Show everyone that it's not about where you come from, but how hard you work if you're going to make your dreams come true.

And finally, you can begin your journey as a player who has known the glories of top-class football, but has sustained a career-threatening injury and is now making their comeback. Show everyone that you are stronger than ever and ready for any challenge.

If you have your own story idea for your Career, you can follow your own dreams and set up your starting conditions as part of a Custom Start. You will be able to set up your Age, Skill Level as well as Personality type. Whether you want to set up a young player with average skill but an undying love for your hometown club, an experienced player with all the skills who is a true maverick, or anything in between, Custom Start enables you to create your own story. If you're happy starting from the traditional point of a young player that you can develop and mold, you can select the Clean Slate option and see where that takes you. Whichever way you start your career, just remember that once selected, the Origin will be fixed to that particular save file.

Player Customization

In FC 25 we are looking to enhance Avatar creation. You can now create a more realistic-looking Avatar, with a large variety of new face customization options. Through the introduction of Cranium Technology, players are able to sculpt each element of their avatar's face, down to every little detail. 

You can create male and female players and be as varied as you wish in their setup, with tattoos and accessories available for your Avatars to bring out their personality and reflect your preferences. Alongside a variety of hairstyles and skin tones for everyone, we want you to have more control over the unique looks of your Avatar. 

 

You'll also be able to set new celebratory and set-piece animations, as well as a number of running styles that can complement your appearance.

Women's Football in Player Career

In addition to managing the top women's teams in Manager Career, you can start a Player Career in women's football. Similarly to the Manager career, player activities, authentic contract lengths, salary values, and our events system look to mimic the challenges of the real-world game. 

[a2zsportsnews]

Brenden Aaronson feeling "confident" heading into Leeds United season

Brenden Aaronson’s last competitive action with English club Leeds United saw the historic club relegated from the English Premier League, but after spending one season away on loan in Germany, the American attacker is focused on a new opportunity at Elland Road. Aaronson is back with the Lilywhites ahead of the start of the 2024-25 EFL Championship season. The 23-year-old recently assisted once…

[irishbettingsites]

Sky Bet Renews Partnership with English Football League with Safer Gambling Commitments

The English Football League (EFL) and Sky Bet have just made an exciting announcement: they’re extending their partnership for another five years! This means their collaboration will continue to be one of the longest-running and most significant in UK professional sport. It’s a timely decision, considering the current discussions and debates surrounding gambling sponsorships in football.

In response to this, Sky Bet has made additional commitments to promote responsible gambling and support community initiatives. The EFL and Sky Bet are working together to ensure the long-term success of their partnership while prioritizing the welfare of fans and players. Learn more about this significant agreement and its implications for betting sites.

The EFL and Sky Bet have renewed their partnership, reinforcing their long-standing collaboration and commitment to English football. This five-year extension ensures that Sky Bet will continue as the Official Title Partner of the Sky Bet EFL and the Sky Bet Play-Offs worldwide until the 2028/29 season. The renewed agreement also introduces new measures to address responsible gambling and contribute to local communities.

One of the key aspects of the partnership is the inclusion of social responsibility measures. In light of recent discussions surrounding gambling sponsorships in football, Sky Bet has agreed not to actively market its brand or products in family areas of club stadiums or with young target fans.

The EFL will play an active role in promoting safer gambling through its central inventory. A portion of this inventory will be dedicated to displaying messaging that encourages responsible gambling and supports Sky Bet’s safer gambling campaigns. This collaborative effort aims to raise awareness about the potential risks associated with gambling and provide necessary support and advice to those in need.

To further strengthen their commitment to social responsibility, Sky Bet will fund a player education program across all 72 EFL Clubs. This program has a clear objective: to educate players about the potential risks associated with gambling while providing them with the necessary knowledge and resources to make informed choices. By tackling the matter head-on, the EFL and Sky Bet are collaborating to cultivate a responsible gambling culture within the realm of professional football. Their joint efforts aim to empower players with the understanding they need to navigate this issue wisely, ensuring their well-being and promoting responsible behaviours both on and off the field.

Trevor Birch, Chief Executive of the EFL, expressed gratitude for Sky Bet’s ongoing support and emphasized the partnership’s dedication to promoting responsible gambling and community investment. He acknowledged the positive recognition the EFL and Sky Bet have received for their social responsibility measures, as highlighted in the Government’s recent Gambling White Paper. The EFL aims to build on this foundation and further enhance its commitment to promoting safer gambling during the partnership’s extension.

Steve Birch, the Chief Commercial Officer of Sky Bet, shared his deep pride in the partnership and how it has positively influenced the world of football. He specifically mentioned the introduction of the Sky Bet EFL Community Fund, a remarkable initiative with the goal of creating a positive impact in communities throughout England and Wales. This heartfelt endeavour exemplifies the unwavering dedication of Sky Bet and the EFL to uplift local communities and actively contribute to their growth and progress.

As part of the renewed agreement, Sky Bet will also continue to award prestigious accolades such as the Manager, Player, Goal of the Month, and seasonal Golden Boot and Golden Glove awards in each division. These awards recognize outstanding achievements and contribute to the excitement and competitiveness of the EFL competitions.

The partnership between Sky Bet and the EFL, established in 2013, has remained strong despite external pressure to end gambling sponsorships. The EFL’s decision to extend the partnership reflects its belief in the value that Sky Bet brings to clubs and fans across the country.

Thanks to their ongoing investment and unwavering support, Sky Bet has made a tremendous impact by assisting clubs in manoeuvring through the complex financial terrain, thus guaranteeing that fans can relish top-notch football entertainment. This renewal of the partnership between the EFL and Sky Bet signifies a substantial dedication to shaping the future of English football, highlighting the profound belief in the sport’s enduring prosperity.

By incorporating additional social responsibility measures, both parties are actively promoting responsible gambling and supporting the welfare of players and fans.

The dedication to educating players about the potential risks associated with gambling and investing in local communities demonstrates the partnership’s commitment to making a positive impact beyond the game. With the extension of this influential sponsorship, the EFL and Sky Bet are set to continue their collaboration and contribute to the growth and development of football in England.

Furthermore, the extension of the partnership between the EFL and Sky Bet holds great importance for the financial well-being of the clubs in the league. Sky Bet’s ongoing investment and support have been instrumental in assisting clubs in navigating the ever-more demanding financial terrain of professional football.

The partnership serves as a dependable and substantial revenue stream for clubs, empowering them to maintain their operations, invest in nurturing talent, and enrich the experiences of their devoted fans. This financial stability fosters a spirited and competitive atmosphere throughout the league, allowing clubs to concentrate on delivering exceptional football and cultivating a deep bond with their loyal supporters. the renewed partnership between the EFL and Sky Bet symbolizes a steadfast commitment to responsible gambling and community investment. It sets a commendable example for other betting sites, encouraging them to prioritize social responsibility and contribute to the welfare of players, fans, and local communities. This extension highlights the enduring value of collaboration between professional sports leagues and betting sites, demonstrating that a mutually beneficial relationship is possible while upholding ethical standards.

ORIGINALLY FOUND ON- Source: Irish Betting Sites(https://www.irishbettingsites.ie/sky-bet-renews-partnership-with-english-football-league-with-safer-gambling-commitments/)

[novumtimes]

Abandoned ‘ghost stadium’ of EFL club given new lease of life with fans given once-in-a-lifetime chance to play on pitch

SUPPORTERS longing for yesteryear can step back into the past on Friday as a “Ghost ground” re-opens its doors. Millmoor was the home of League One Rotherham United for 83 years until 2008. 5 Rotherham United played their football at Milmoor for 83 yearsCredit: MARK ROBINSON 5 But they abandoned the ground in 2008 to move to a new stadiumCredit: MARK ROBINSON 5 But the “Ghost Ground” is set to…

[maxtaylor5803]

Sky Sports Leeds: Making Money, Moving Leeds

(The voice of the Don Revie Stand this season have been very critical of sky sports).

The final seconds of Leeds 2022/23 Premier League campaign saw Lucas Moura in his final game for Spurs strike the ball into the back of their net. A goal that would confirm Championship football next season and a turbulent year comparable to the relegation that happened 19 years prior. Though Leeds had a troublesome summer with many departures and replacements on and off the field, they find themselves on the brink of promotion back to the Premier League.                                                                                                                                                            

See Championship table and full match list HERE

Relegated with Southampton and Former winners of the Premier League Leicester City the whites find themselves in a race for promotion with Ipswich town with both pushing for the automatic spots. After being considered a miracle days before the new year the Leeds team that was 17 points off Leicester City caught up St Patrick’s day beating Millwall 2-0 and making it 10/11 wins in the calendar year. But, with wins comes exposure.

Since the start of the Calendar year Leeds have only had 3 Saturday 3pm Kick offs. That’s the fewest of any team in the league with all games being moved to TV. Over the course of the season Leeds have had 24 games moved because of TV selection making it more than half of their games been moved and also making them the most televised team in the league (see graph below).

(This Graph shows the top 10 most televised teams in the EFL Champioship with Leeds United Playing 6 more games on TV than any other Club).

Sky Sports have been the broadcast partner for the EFL for many years with Leeds featuring the most frequently. Between 2016 and 2020 when Leeds were in the championship they were one of the most televised teams outside the so called ‘Big Six’ with games getting moved forward and backward a day just so the game could be played on the sports channel.

(This artwork was created by player Mateusz Klich after the team won the championship in 2020 a year where they were televised similar to this season).

The West Yorkshire side have a massive following worldwide with fans all over the globe from Australia to the United States. Many people follow the club from its glory days in the 60s and 70s and due to this, make it a massive attraction on Sky Sports. But Leeds fans up and down the country are the ones being punished.

https://x.com/lufc/status/1767959013935689729?s=43

(This Leeds tweet shows the frustration the club has had when sky has been moving the games).

If it’s moving their staggering 518-mile round trip at Plymouth to a 12:30 kick off or moving their final away trip of the season at QPR to a Friday night, you can tell why many of their fans have started to voice their frustration at Sky.

A commonly used chant inside Elland Road nowadays is ‘Sky TV is F***ing S**t’ a chant that was sung frequently at their Monday night trip to Middlesbrough. This chant also made sky have a meeting with the club asking how to stop the anti-sky chants with Leeds suggesting that they stop moving their games.

Jack Cornes attended the match as he will be on Friday night when Leeds play QPR away. Cornes isn’t happy with the fixture’s been moved due to his work commitment but has still attended every game

(Jack Cornes (Centre Right) has attended every Leeds game home and away this season and isn’t happy with the changes to the fixture list. This was taken at Middlesbrough away a Monday night game moved because of sky sports).

‘Sky Isn’t putting the real fans first and we’re being punished with awful kick off times’ he told us. ‘Because of our game on Friday night away like most of the fans here I will not be earning for a day as I will be making the trip down to London’.

Cornes heavily criticized Sky and claimed that Leeds weren’t the only ones being affected by it. ‘You see it in the prem all the time, its more about making money than it is about the fans that pay to attend something needs to be done about it’.

When asked what he thinks Sky should do about the situation, he replied ‘Stop Changing the games to silly days Saturday kick offs are normally okay but moving games to Mondays and Fridays when most people work through the week is ridiculous for the travelling fans I know there is midweek games but we shouldn’t be playing any more games through the week then we already do’.  

Though Leeds are frequently televised at the moment, from next season Sky will be increasing the amount of games on TV with over 4 times more games than before. If they remain in the division what will this mean for the club?

Even though Sky are affecting Travelling Leeds fans around the country is there any positives from having frequent televised games? What about the fans that can’t attend? What about the exposure that the club will receive from appearing on TV?

(Elland Road the home of Leeds United has been the home of many of Sky’s Championship fixture’s this season).

Speaking with Leeds United Season ticket holder Thomas Wigglesworth He was unhappy with the situation revolving the rescheduling on fixture’s for TV but does believe that Leeds benefit from it.  

‘Sky make money on Leeds we are by far their biggest profit from the league’. He went on to state ‘it brings a lot of expose, it brings a lot of attention but negatives are the changing of the games because when fans have booked hotels and trains they shouldn’t be able to change the games.

Like the EFL, the top flight the Premier League has come under attack for their rescheduling of fixture’s for Sky with fans feeling they are against them. With Leeds pushing for Promotion to the top flight will this happen again?

All of Leeds United's Remaining Fixtures are televised on sky sports with the final game against Southampton next Saturday at Elland Road.

By Max Taylor

[thefootballobserver]

Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest: Match Preview

Should Spurs get the three points, they’ll go forth in the table.

Spurs play Forest in what is a must-win fixture before a run of tricky fixtures, including the North London Derby, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea away, and possibly a yet-to-be-rescheduled Manchester City home game. With Aston Villa dropping points against Brentford on Saturday in a dramatic 3-3 draw, a win would put Spurs in the Champions League qualification zone thanks to goal difference with a game in hand.

Spurs’ form has been inconsistent recently like most of the season has been for them, winning their last three out of five games (including the 0-4 Villa game) but also lost poorly to Fulham and drew to West Ham in the previous game. However, they have won four out of their last five home games - only losing to Wolves - and are heavy favourites for this game, picking up an average of 2.20 points at home this season.

The Lilywhites won 0-2 in the reverse fixture, with goals from Richarlison from a Kulusevski cross and the Swede scoring later, taking advantage of a Turner mistake. There will be no Matt Turner for tonight’s game, though, as Forest now has a new number 1 in Sels. Bissouma also received a red card for a silly challenge, resulting in a four-game ban, although he didn’t miss any games through suspension due to his unavailability from AFCON. Veliz also had a great cameo, getting one zero touches of the ball as he was subbed on at the last minute to run down the time (my apologies, but this was too funny not to point out). Before all that, Johnson - on his return to the City ground after his summer transfer - received a nasty cut above his eyebrow, whose scar is still visible today. Spurs were still suffering an injury crisis with van de Ven and Maddison still injured (they ended the game with a midfield of Hojbjerg, Skipp, and Sarr), with Davies and Kulusevski replacing them, respectively.

In terms of head-to-head records, Spurs have won the last four out of their previous five games against Forest, only losing 2-0 in the EFL Cup in 2022 due to goals from Lodi and Lingard (I just saw the back five of Sess, Lenglet, Dier, Sanchez, and Doherty and shuttered). Spurs won this fixture last season 3-1, with Kane scoring a brace and Son adding to the tally (Richarlison had a goal disallowed), Worrall scoring a late consolation goal, and Ayew missing an even later penalty for the visitors.

Forest come into this game with one win in seven matches, although the win was a resounding one against Fulham in the midweek. Before that, they lost four and then drew two. They’re currently 17th in the table, only above Luton Town on goal difference, following the Hatters’ win against Bournemouth on Saturday. Forest have an abysmal away record, only picking up 10 points on the road, with a record of 2-4-9. Their 29-point haul this season includes their four-point deduction for PSR breaches, which are currently under appeal (which ironically revolves around the sale of Johnson).

Tottenham Hotspur News

Sarr should be returning back into the starting lineup.

Predicted Lineup

Guglielmo Vicario: Clean sheets have been rare for all his good performances. This game may be one of the best chances he has before the end of the season.

Destiny Udogie: He’s impressed this season but must be wary of Elanga during this game.

Micky van de Ven: Chris Wood is not known for his speed, but Micky’s pace will be helpful should Forest counter (which they will).

Cristian Romero: The vice-captain will have to keep Wood in check, and like the rest of the defenders, a clean sheet would be welcome.

Pedro Porro: He hasn’t been as free-flowing these days but remains everpresent

Pape Matar Sarr: He was benched the last game, presumably for rotation or injury concerns, but should start.

Yves Bissouma: He performed well against West Ham and was complimented by Ange. Despite inconsistencies in his games, his position is not at risk.

James Maddison: He hasn’t quite hit the heights before his injury, but his spot is secure.

Timo Werner: Although he has the right profile for this team, his goalscoring instincts still need to be improved.

Son Heungmin: With Richarlison injured for this match, Son should lead the frontline, and a goal would be great following his 400th appearance.

Brennan Johnson: The Forest Academy graduate will play against his former teammates again, hoping to last longer on the pitch and leave unscathed.

Players Dropped

Rodrigo Bentancur: He performed fine and has been for most of his appearances following his ankle injury, but Sarr should take his spot for this game.

Dejan Kulusevski: He hasn’t been dropped as he was benched in the last game, but his performances have waned after an otherwise consistent run, and Johnson should be starting, although Kulusevski will no doubt make a cameo at some point.

Players Absent

Fraser Forster (injury): Out for the rest of the season with a foot injury.

Manor Solomon (injury): Out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Richarlison (injury): He has a knee niggle, according to Postecoglou, but could return to the squad for the Newcastle game.

Ryan Sessegnon (injury): Out for the rest of the season with a thigh injury.

Nottingham Forest News

Gibbs-White has been Forest’s star player this season.

Predicted Lineup

Sels; Aina, Murillo, Omobamidele, Williams; Danilo, Yates; Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Elanga; Wood

It appears unlikely that Nuno will change the lineup that started against Fulham in midweek on his return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Players Absent

Nuno Tavares (injury): He has had a thigh injury since February, and this game will be too soon for the defender.

Taiwo Awoniyi (injury): His injury has been a blow for Forest, although Wood has done well in his absence.

Willy Boly (injury): Got injured during AFCON and probably won’t play a role in this game.

Players to Watch Out For

Brennan Johnson (TOT): He’s hit an upturn of form in recent weeks and might look to get a goal against his boyhood club as he goes up against Nigerian international Aina.

Son Heungmin (TOT): He may only have one goal in three matches against Forest, but he’s Spurs’ leading man and has the most goal contributions this season, even if he was unavailable during the Asian Cup.

Morgan Gibbs-White (NFO): He orchestrated the defeat of Fulham in midweek and is Forest’s brightest spark and chief creator. He’s also been linked with a move to Tottenham in recent weeks.

Chris Wood (NFO): Forest’s top scorer with 11 goals has been on fire, scoring thrice in their last three games, with 0.82 goals every 90 minutes this season. His aerial prowess will have to be kept in check by Spurs.

Anthony Elanga (NFO): The Swedish international equals Gibbs-White’s assist numbers at seven and will relish the space in Spurs’ high line, particularly when Udogie drifts inside.

Prediction

On paper, this should be a routine win for Spurs, but Spurs tend to hold possession of the ball and need to do more with it. Forest will be looking to capitalise on any Spurs mistakes and lapses in concentration to catch them on the counter, likely through their speedy wingers. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the home side concede first, but the visitors' poor away record should result in Spurs winning.

Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Nottingham Forest