Watford sign Tom Ince from Reading

Watford have announced the signing of Tom Ince for an undisclosed fee from Sky Bet League One side Reading.

The 31-year-old arrives at Vicarage Road having signed a two-year contract with the option of a further season.

Ince has a wealth of experience in the Championship having featured for Derby, Nottingham Forest, Stoke, Luton and most recently Reading. He has also played in the Premier League for Hull and Crystal Palace before joining Huddersfield during the 2017-18 season.

Ince’s nine goals in 38 games last season was not enough to save Reading from being relegated to the third tier.

The son of former England and Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince has scored 96 times in the Championship over 365 games and becomes Valerien Ismael’s second signi…

Prediction: Spain vs England

Best Odds: 11/8

Bookmaker:

With all eyes falling on Berlin this weekend, Spain and England will meet in this summer’s European Championship final.

Spain

Starting with Spain, only continuing on what has been a real EURO 24 romp this summer, La Roja have continued to receive a string of plaudits from across the continent. Collecting another heavyweight scalp on Tuesday night as they secured a thrilling 2-1 victory against former world champions France, Luis de la Fuente s men find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Opening their European adventure on June 15th with a thumping 3-0 win against World Cup bronze medalists Croatia, Spain have won all of their six appearances this summer and have laid down quite the marker. Sending host nation Germany packing …

Man Utd ´a better buy´ than Liverpool for investors, says Neville

Manchester United are a better buy than Liverpool for potential investors and will generate more interest, according to former Red Devils defender Gary Neville.

England s two most successful clubs are on the market, with United and Liverpool s American owners open to offers.

The Glazer family have been in charge of United since 2005, while fellow Americans Fenway Sports Group have owned Liverpool since 2010.

Liverpool may have enjoyed far greater success than United over the past decade, but Neville insists his former side will be considered the more attractive club to purchase.

I don t want to be disrespectful to Liverpool at all because they re a massive football club, Neville told Sky Sports.

When you look at the height of English football w…

Sarina Wiegman awed by England’s off-pitch advocacy but knows performance is key

England boss Sarina Wiegman is awed by her World Cup hopefuls’ advocacy away from competition but readily recognises their performance on the pitch is what ultimately provides the platform.

Just days after winning their first major tournament at last summer’s home Euros, the Lionesses collectively released a letter to then-Conservative leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss with a host of demands including a school football provision for girls identical to that offered to boys.

Their campaign paid off in March when the government responded with a new package of measures designed to grant equal access to all school sport, backed by over £600million in funding over the next two academic years.

We see this as only the beginning.

An open lette…

Defoe accepts England recall unlikely after Euro 2016 snub

Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe concedes his international career is probably over after he was left out of England s provisional squad for Euro 2016.

Former Tottenham star Defoe returned to the Premier League from Major League Soccer side Toronto FC to join Sunderland midway through last season and his 15 top-flight goals this term were a key factor in Sam Allardyce s men escaping relegation.

But England boss Roy Hodgson plumped for uncapped Manchester United teenager Rashford to complete the line-up of forwards in his initial 26-man group, alongside the expected picks of captain Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge.

In an interview with Sky Sports News, Defoe revealed Hodgson did not contact him over his prospects of selec
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Manchester United 2-1 Crystal Palace: Fernandes and Rashford stretch winning run as Casemiro sees re

Manchester United had Casemiro sent off but racked up a sixth consecutive Premier League home win as Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford scored in a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

Palace were on the back foot from the off in Saturday s game and fell behind to Fernandes typically cool penalty inside the opening 10 minutes, before Rashford added a second goal shortly after the hour.

Casemiro was then dismissed following a VAR review after he put his hands around Will Hughes neck during an altercation between both sets of players, and Jeffrey Schlupp set up a tense finale with a goal 14 minutes from full-time.

United held on, though, to move three points behind second-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand – while Palace remain 12th, six points clear of…

Poland´s Catholic church gears up for Euro 2012

Poland s influential Roman Catholic church is gearing up for the UEFA Euro-2012 football championships slated to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, the Polish Episcopate confirmed Thursday.

It is the vocation of the church to accompany man everywhere, including sport, the physical dimension of which must have a spiritual dimension also, Father Edward Plen, a priest serving Poland s sports community, told AFP.

If we want these championships to make history, we must all react together. It is not just a matter of building stadiums and highways, but also of creating a great team, a big family of supporters, he said.

The church intends to create a network of young, competent English-speaking volunteers to help fans who will arrive in Poland for the Euro 2012 play-…

Arsenal and Liverpool can challenge Man City in ´open´ title race, believes Anderton

Both Arsenal and Liverpool are capable of pushing Manchester City close in what promises to be the most open Premier League title race in recent years.

That is the view of former Tottenham and England midfielder Darren Anderton, though he says Pep Guardiola s men are still the team to beat as they chase an unprecedented fourth successive English top-flight title.

Ahead of Saturday s Premier League fixtures, just two points separated leaders Arsenal and fourth-placed Aston Villa, with City and Liverpool nestled between that pair.

The 2015-16 season, when Leicester City stunned the football world by winning the title under Claudio Ranieri, is the only previous Premier League campaign to feature such a slender gap between first and fourth after 13 matchdays.

Atletico aiming to right Champions League wrongs by making Europa League – Simeone

Diego Simeone acknowledged Atletico Madrid are still hurting from their early Champions League exit but vowed to battle with the same intensity to qualify for the Europa League.

Atleti failed to make the knockout stages of Europe s premier club competition for the first time in five years after a 2-2 home draw with Bayer Leverkusen last week, in which Yannick Carrasco missed a late penalty.

Simeone s side also trail LaLiga leaders Real Madrid by nine points, while they are winless in their past four Champions League games, their longest run since between December 2008 and December 2009.

Atleti failed to win in nine games in that period before the appointment of Simeone, who admitted he and his players are still reeling from their elimination ahead of Tuesday s cl…

Raphael Varane believes heading the ball has ‘damaged’ his body

Manchester United defender Raphael Varane believes his body has been “damaged” due to effects of continually heading the ball.

Varane says that he advises his seven-year-old son not to head the ball when he plays.

The 30-year-old also revealed that he finished a World Cup last-16 game for France against Nigeria in 2014 on “autopilot” after suffering concussion.

“Personally, I don’t know if I’ll live to be 100, but I do know that I’ve damaged my body,” Varane told L’Equipe.

“The dangers of headers need to be taught on all amateur football pitches and to young people.

“My seven-year-old son plays football, and I advise him not to head the ball. For me, that’s essential.

“Even if it doesn’t cause any immediate tr…