Manchester United ban 685 season-ticket holders over touting; Watford sign Antonio: football news – live

That concludes the blog for today. Join us over the weekend for plenty more coverage.

Andy Hunter spoke to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, a player from the Everton School of Science.

“I get where people are coming from; everyone wants to sign everyone and have the perfect squad. But there are still 19 lads in this building who are going to hopefully take this club to good things this year. That was getting disregarded.

“I saw people saying: ‘We’ll be lucky to stay up this year.’ What message is that sending to the lads who are already here? I’m not blaming anyone. We get it. It didn’t work. But let’s all be positive – right, it’s done, bang, let’s go – and that’s what we’ve been trying to say in the dressing room. Of course we would have wanted to sign a couple more, but we’re happy with what we’ve got and it’s given us more impetus now to move on.”

Via Sky News’ Rob Harris: Gianni Infantino has announced his Fifa re-election slogan:

“Football belongs to everyone, everywhere in the world.”

The bumph continues: “We want to give everyone the opportunity to dream, to participate... to narrow the gap between the big and all the others & that’s what I will continue to be doing.”

Rangers news: Dan Purdy is to step down from his role as technical director.

A statement on Rangers’ website read: “We can confirm today that Dan Purdy will step down from his position as technical director. Dan will continue to work with the club’s ownership group, supporting the transition and other football projects. The board would like to thank Dan for his commitment and contribution during his time at Rangers and wishes him every success for the future.”

Purdy joined Rangers in the summer of 2025.

Fifa news, via Associated Press:

Fifa have imposed life bans on two former soccer federation presidents for financial misconduct, including one who stayed in office since being sanctioned in 2011 as part of a notorious election bribery scandal in the Caribbean.

Montserrat’s long-time soccer leader Vincent Cassell was charged with “abuse of position, systemic conflicts of interest” and misuse of Fifa and federation funds, Fifa said in a statement on Friday.

The former president of the Maldives soccer federation, Bassam Adeel Jaleel, was expelled from the sport for “misusing Fifa Covid-19 Relief Plan funds for his personal benefit,” FIFA said. During the pandemic in 2020 Fifa said it would make up to $1.5 billion available in grants and loans.

Maldives media reported this year that Jaleel was sentenced to 23 years in prison for embezzling $1.2 million from Fifa. The money was intended for local soccer clubs and was reportedly used to buy apartments.

Both Cassell and Jaleel, who was elected like Infantino in 2016, were presidents of their federations the next year during the Fifa congress in Bahrain. Infantino told his audience in a keynote speech in Manama, “We don’t want you,” if they were corrupt.

“If there’s anyone in this room or outside of this room who still thinks he can enrich himself,” Infantino said in 2017, “that he can abuse football, I have one clear and strong message to tell him: Leave football and leave football now.”

Lamine Camara was the midfielder who got away from Chelsea but he now says he’s focused on playing for Monaco.

The deal was suddenly scrapped when Everton reversed its decision on Folarin Balogun and attempted to get that signing done. In the end, neither player moved and both are still at the French club.

“There was a possibility I could leave. It didn’t go through at the last minute and that’s part of football,” Camara said. Monaco play Strasbourg on Saturday. “I’ve turned the page and am focusing on the season.”

“It’s part of a professional player’s life. I managed to stay professional and not dwell on it too much,” he said. “Once it’s happened there’s no point in thinking about it again.”

Some World Cup 2030 developments, via Reuters

The battle over who will host the 2030 ⁠World Cup final has intensified after Morocco’s prime minister told his country’s football federation head to stop making promises before the ⁠Spanish FA chief insisted ⁠it should ​be held in Spain.

Moroccan PM Aziz Akhannouch took aim at Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) President Fouzi Lekjaa, who boldly declared at ⁠a political party event that Casablanca would have the “honour” of hosting the final.

Fifa have not yet announced which of the three ⁠co-hosts – Spain, Portugal or Morocco – will host the final in 2030, with a spokesperson saying ​a decision would be made in due ‌course. “Do not offer to ‌host the big final game in Morocco while we still have not discussed the matter ‌with our allies, Spain and Portugal. There should be some respect, brothers,” Akhannouch said at a rally ahead of elections later this month. “Stop using electoral promises to pull the rug out from under us. These are huge matters. Deciding where the final will be held is a major issue.”

More De Zerbi on Tottenham’s winless start: “We are better than last season. We are not winning and we are not scoring, but I am positive because I believe in my players and this group. The players have big qualities and potential. We are working well. I am not happy because I suffer from defeats and when we don’t score, but I am experienced enough to see improvement.”

Roberto De Zerbi has been speaking about Richarlison’s future, with the Brazilian not included in Tottenham’s Premier League squad: ““I don’t know. It’s not my job. What I can say, is that I know very well what the club has done for Richarlison, and very well what Richarlison has done for the club in the last two months. I know, he knows, the club knows, his agent knows. Everyone knows, better than you [the media]. Much better.”

Meow.

Peter Oh gets in touch: “I for one find Mikel Arteta’s psychological tricks as cringe-inducing as Brendan Rodgers’ three envelopes stunt when he was at Liverpool. If he really wants his players to overcome challenges, how about paying them normal people’s wages for a season?”

Ahead of the first anniversary of his passing, a private ceremony was held at the club’s training ground for players, staff and Matt Beard’s family, where a memorial garden in his name – which will provide a quiet space for reflection and remembrance – was officially unveiled.

This was followed by the planting of a commemorative tree in his honour on 97 Avenue, outside Anfield, creating a permanent place where fans can visit and remember Beard.

Beard was women’s manager from 2012 to 2015 and again from 2021 to 2025. Under his leadership, the Reds won back-to-back Women’s Super League titles in 2013 and 2014, before securing promotion to the Women’s Super League with the FA Women’s Championship title in 2022.

Liverpool have joined other clubs in supporting the Premier League’s ‘Together Against Suicide’ initiative, to raise awareness of suicide prevention and remind people that support is available.

Brentford visit Bournemouth on Saturday, with Keith Andrews backing Brazil striker Igor Thiago to get back on the Premier League goal trail: “The goals will come, I’ve no doubt about that. I’m not worried about that and he’s performing to a really high level for us.”

Thiago got 25 last season but has scored just once this season, and that against Birmingham in the Carabao Cup.

And with that, give it up once more for Mr John Brewin, who’ll see you home. Bye.

Football Daily has landed, and is on that irrepressible prankster Mikel Arteta:

The use of psychological stratagems and pitchside or locker-room sabotage has long been employed by football managers trying to give their teams an edge over visiting rivals. Whether it’s placing the pegs too high or the seats too low, painting the walls an aggression-lowering shade of pink or deliberately moving the advertising hoardings to prevent long throws, there are apparently no stones conniving coaching staff will leave unturned if they think their team’s chances of winning may be improved by such shenanigans. Almost 40 years ago, Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang famously used to leave visitors to Plough Lane without any hot water, a plan that seemed stunning in its simplicity, until you realise – as Football Daily has just done after nearly 40 years – that footballers generally tend not to shower until after the game is over, rendering their attempt at disruption decidedly redundant.

A man who has previously attracted ridicule for hiring a team of pickpockets to pinch his players’ watches, phones and wallets during a team dinner to teach them the value of vigilance and focus, it ought to come as no surprise that Mikel Arteta has now hit upon the psychological wheeze of disrupting his own team’s preparations for matches as a way of keeping them on their toes. The Arsenal manager has revealed that he occasionally has dressing-room thermostats turned up to 11, delays meal and transport times, or has physio room massage beds “disappeared” to ensure Arsenal’s finest are prepared for any curveballs life might pitch their way. And while such half-baked amateur psychology will almost certainly provide more grist to the mill of Arteta haterz, if inducing mild anxiety in Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka over a toasty canteen or slightly late bus is all it takes to finally win a league title, then who are we to carp?

Some interesting transfer news from the Championship. Michail Antonio has returned to English football to join Watford on a one-year deal. The former West Ham forward had been with Al Sailiya SC in Qatar but has not played in England since being injured in a horrific car accident in December 2024. The 36-year-old might even be in the bench for Saturday’s match against Stoke at Vicarage Road.

One of the most eye-catching matches in Europe this weekend is Elversberg’s home Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich on Sunday afternoon, and the good news for the top flight newcomers is that their coach, Vincent Wagner, has been cleared to be in the dug-out after the referee of last week’s win over Borussia Mönchengladbach admitted making a mistake in sending him off.

The team from a town of only 13,000 people have made a stunning start to life in the Bundesliga, beating Bayer Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach.

Wagner was due to sit out the big Bayern clash but his one-game ban was overturned on appeal on Friday after referee Martin Petersen made an admission of an error.

Stephan Oberholz, chair of the German federation’s tribunal, said Petersen admitted he got it wrong when he showed Wagner a second yellow card as the coach walked on to the field at halftime. Oberholz said the referee now accepted Wagner hadn’t been trying to confront him and had instead been heading toward his own players.

More developments in today’s twistiest, turniest story – Fenerbace are now reported to have accepted coach Ismail Kartal’s resignation, having earlier insisted he would be carrying on despite announcing he was quitting after last night’s Champions League draw with Roma. Here’s AP’s latest:

Fenerbahce have accepted coach Ismail Kartal’s resignation on Friday, Turkish media reports said, after failing to convince him to stay at the helm of the Istanbul side.

Kartal announced he was stepping down following Thursday’s draw against Roma in a Champions League game. He did not explain why he was quitting just three months after taking up the position and refused to take questions.

Fenerbahce initially refused to accept his resignation following the 1-1 draw in Istanbul but failed to persuade him to stay, NTV television and other media reported. Assistant coach Dirk Kuyt would temporarily manage the team, the report said. There was no immediate official statement from Fenerbahce.

David Moyes speaks. And he sas that Jack Grealish might be ready to start for Everton at Tottenham, who have only 17 players available for the trip to north London. "Jack’s a special case and I think he is ready to play from the start – he is a boy who needs the football more than he needs the training but he’s still building up to his best. He’s incredibly exciting if he gives us what he gave us at the start of last season.”

Moyes added that Everton might still dip into the free transfer market having endured a frustrating summer window but it wouldn’t deliver exactly what he needs. “Having a bigger squad helps if anything goes wrong – we’re looking in the free transsfer market and to see if there’s players out there but to get players at the level we’re at will not be easy.”

Thank you, Mr JB. Afternoon everyone. To Scotland, and the first Old Firm meeting of the season, in the League Cup quarter-finals at Ibrox on Sunday, which will lack some of its usual bite due to away fans being, predictably, banned again following some equally predictable naughtiness between the two sets of fans when they met in the Scottish Cup in March. Here’s PA’s take:

Martin O’Neill revealed Celtic were given a “general behaviour” warning by Police Scotland ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Rangers at Ibrox.

There will be no Hoops fans in the 50,000-capacity stadium at the order of the authorities amid a ticket allocation spat between the two Glasgow giants. The spat is partly a result of the last Old Firm clash in Govan in March, which was marred by fans’ disorder as Celtic won the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes.

The two clubs have both been ordered to play their next home Scottish Cup matches behind closed doors and have also been handed a £100,000 compensation bill, paid to whichever team is drawn as the away side in their next respective fixtures in that competition. The 74-year-old Hoops boss admitted that “it’ll be a bit strange not having the (Celtic) fans in but I’m nervously and excitedly looking forward to it, it’s a great fixture” and also spoke about the police visit.

O’Neill said: “We had the police come in today, just a little 15 minute meeting with us, just reminders of our behaviour, which I think is actually a timely reminder. It a good thing as well. I think it’s the overall picture. Gosh, it’d be nice to have something to celebrate. I think it’s just general behaviour from us.

“They didn’t mention this but I would have assumed that one of the things that they considered is what happens on the field of play, because these things can be taken further. You don’t want any sort of punch-ups for a start, secondly, you don’t want too excessive celebrations, stuff like that, if that was the case.

“I mean, I’d be delighted to be celebrating something in the game. But it’s the behaviour in the light of what has happened in recent fixtures.”

And the sides meet again on Sunday week in the league, this time at Celtic Park.

Right, time to hand back to Mr Tom Davies.

Bournemouth v Brentford on Saturday, with Marco Rose looking for his first league win; his team beat Lincoln in the Carabao Cup. “It’s important and I would love to have it done already but it’s not the case.

“We need to work for it. We have to stick together, we have to believe in it. If you start a season, if you win your first game, it’s like, ‘OK, now we can go’, so we need to do it. I think a home game with our fans is a big chance to do it and always the next game is a chance to change things, to change situations. We are quite confident.”

It’s been two draws and a defeat so far. Both the Everton and Newcastle games saw Rose’s team pegged back.

Russell Martin corner. He’s been talking about the ownership of Leicester, the club on open sale: “I don’t know if the club is up for sale completely I don’t know when the deadline is. It’s not my job to know any of that really. I think Khun Top, Jon [Rudkin] and the guys, we spoke a lot over the transfer window and they’ve supported us hugely.

“He’s [the owner] still hugely invested in the club, otherwise we wouldn’t have signed 14 players and tried to rebuild the energy and team at this club that will hopefully bring success. So as long as everyone’s really supportive of that and we’re all open lines of communication, which it has been, then we’ll have to wait and see on the other stuff.”

The club is yours for £200m.

Andrew Beasley has run the numbers on this week’s Champions League action.

Despite 16 of the 18 matches being won, there were no shocks. For the bloated league phase to generate serious excitement, it needs major upsets. Only two wins were secured by the underdog according to bookmakers, and one of those was Europa League champions Aston Villa beating Club Brugge. Hardly an upset when you compare their finances.

Xabi Alonso dead-batted questions of the changing Chelsea ownership: “I’m not the guy to give you information about those things. Nothing I have and not my knowledge. I’m working fine, I’m very happy with how we have started and how we are working together aligned and this is all I can say at the moment.”

Further detail from that Chelsea story on the departure of Enzo Fernandez: “Neto’s determination to stay contrasted with the stance of Enzo Fernández, who was sold to City for £125m during the closing hours of the transfer window.

“He was not handed a new contract after initial discussions were held. The Argentina midfielder raised questions over his future in March, criticising January’s departure of Enzo Maresca as head coach and sparking talk of a move to Real Madrid by expressing a desire to live in the Spanish capital. Chelsea responded by banning Fernández for two games.

“Madrid downplayed their interest in Fernández but the 25-year-old continued to push for a new challenge. City, who appointed Maresca as Pep Guardiola’s replacement, emerged as Fernández’s strongest suitors. Chelsea were prepared to hold on to him if their valuation were not met but concluded that selling was the right long-term move. There was disappointment that one of the team’s senior players did not show better leadership when Chelsea were struggling. They missed out on European qualification after finishing 10th.”

Athletic Bilba’s Inaki Williams has retired from ⁠international football after four years with Ghana

The ​32-year-old made his final appearance for Ghana in their 1-0 defeat ⁠by Colombia at the World Cup. “Ghana has given me much more than football,” Williams said. “It has allowed me to come back home, feel even closer to my ⁠roots and experience the enormous pride of representing ​my ​country and wearing ​this flag on my chest. Ghana will ​always be ‌a part ​of me.”

His younger brother, Nico Williams, was part of the Spain side that won this year’s World Cup.

It’s new contract day, it seems. To follow Lewis Hall and Lucas Bergvall, Pedro Neto has signed on the dotted line.

Chelsea have rewarded Pedro Neto’s strong start to the season and commitment to the club by handing the winger a new contract. The Portugal international had summer interest from several Premier League clubs including Manchester City, but indicated a desire to stay and play for Xabi Alonso. He has signed a five-year deal with the option of an extra year and is to receive a pay rise.

Carrick also spoke about his own future: “I think I said it pretty early on, all decisions were made were as if we were going to be here for a period of time. I didn’t how long that was going to be, I still don’t.

“We were planning for the future and what we wanted it to look like and that was from day one. The performance the lads gave on that City game was incredible with all that. From the start it was planning to where we want to get this club to in the long term”.

Michael Carrick was asked about Elliot Anderson’s “kings of Manchester” comment: “I’m definitely not using that phrase at all, no. I understand it and I think going into the Champions League game (against Sabah) and talking about the expectation there, I think it’s a really good thing that it’s shifted in a way.

“All of a sudden there’s different things asked of us now to maybe what was a few months ago and we’re in the Champions League. That in itself shows the steps we’ve made, and we need to be in the later stages of that, and then the expectations around that.

“We know that, and we’re humble enough and realistic enough to know where we’ve come from in recent history, and we need to and want to be better, and we want to be challenging more. So, that’s where we’re at. It doesn’t mean that we can’t and we won’t. It means we still hope, we believe, and we expect that we can be and we should be, but I understand the bigger picture.”

The latest Football Weekly is here.

Michael Carrick’s press conference for the Manchester City game took place after the Sabah game, and he had this to say about Marcus Rashford: “Really pleased with him in so many ways. He was a real threat on Sunday, unfortunate to not get more success but he was a real threat. I’m not sure what else to say just really pleased to have him. We have good options so trying to keep everyone fresh.”

Here’s the week’s Champions League review, starring Troy Parrott, Jose Mourinho and Regis Philbin.

The latest on Fenerbahce’s coach is that he has failed to turn for training.

Via AFP Fenerbahce coach Ismail Kartal failed to appear at training on Friday, Turkish media reports said, a day after he announced he was stepping down following a draw against Roma in a Champions League game but the club refused to accept his resignation.

Kartal failed to attend training ahead of a Superlig game against Gaziantep FK on Friday, NTV television and other media reports said, deepening confusion over his status.