Luton Town

The Premier League will not put its controversial “anchoring” proposal to a vote at its annual general meeting on Thursday after the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) made it clear it would fight the cost-control measure. A de facto hard salary cap, anchoring would limit the amount any club could spend on its first-team squad to five times the amount the bottom-placed team receives from the league in centralised media and sponsorship income. Aston Villa, Manchester City and Manchester United voted against the idea at a league shareholders’ meeting in April, with Chelsea...

Super-rich American sports stars suddenly seem very interested in humble old English football clubs. Why?

There's a lot going on in the coming months and our reporters will bring you in-depth coverage of the things you care about

Nearly one in five professional footballers use snus or nicotine pouches, a new study from The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and Loughborough University has found. Snus is a smokeless nicotine product, traditionally from Sweden, placed between the upper lip and gum line. Despite its growing use in the UK, its effects on footballers had not been formally studied until now. The study has revealed significant insights into the prevalence, usage patterns, and health impacts of snus and nicotine pouches among male and female footballers. Its key findings include: 18 per cent of...

This is the story of 2023-24 Premier League told from seven locations on the final day of a thrilling, fractious season

The Premier League title, European places and the final relegation spot were all decided on the final day

Luton Town have been relegated from the Premier League. Rob Edwards’ side were all but demoted a week ago and required a significant goal-difference swing on the final day of the campaign on Sunday to stand any chance of a miracle turnaround. It wasn’t to be, however, with a combination of a 4-2 home defeat to Fulham and 17th-placed Nottingham Forest’s win at Burnley ensuring they go back down after just one year back in the top flight. Defeat in a six-goal thriller on the final day. pic.twitter.com/4kQBw1rCkE — Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) May 19, 2024 Luton secured...

Our writers dissect a Premier League season that has been memorable for both good and bad reasons

The Football Association (FA) has announced a plan to phase out heading in matches for players under the age of 12 over the next three seasons. The decision follows the successful completion of a two-year trial initiated by football’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB). Starting from the 2024-25 season, the new rule will be implemented at the Under-7 to Under-9 levels. It will then extend to the Under-10 level in the 2025-26 season and finally to the Under-11’s in the 2026-27 season. The rule will apply to all affiliated grassroots youth football,...

In this age of PSR, FSR and other confusing financial acronyms, every penny counts for Premier League clubs. That is why, although there may not appear to be much difference between coming 14th and 15th in the table, each finishing position matters a great deal. Aside from the obvious — winning the title, avoiding relegation, qualifying for Europe — there are millions at stake per place in the Premier League so getting that all-important final result on Sunday could be crucial as clubs look ahead to the transfer window and try to avoid those pesky points deductions. Heading into the final...

We asked followers of Premier League clubs and the promoted Championship sides how they want their teams to vote in the VAR referendum

Have your say on the Premier League VAR vote

We take a look at the key controversial VAR incidents in the Premier League this season and the reactions to them

Premier League clubs are set to hold a vote at their annual general meeting next month on a proposal to abolish the video assistant referee (VAR) system from the start of next season. VAR has been used in the English top-flight since 2019, helping improve decision making but also generating persistent controversy. The 2023-24 campaign has featured many contentious incidents, which has heightened the criticism of VAR and led some teams and fans to question the competition’s integrity. A resolution has now been formally submitted to the Premier League by Wolverhampton Wanderers calling for VAR...

Nuno Espirito Santo says he is disappointed to see Nottingham Forest fail to officially secure survival at the City Ground — and insists he will not relax until their Premier League place is absolutely certain. Forest are realistically all but safe, despite a 3-2 defeat to Chelsea. Burnley were relegated following a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham, while Forest still hold a three point advantage over Luton Town, after they lost 3-1 at West Ham. Crucially, Forest’s goal difference of -19 is vastly superior to that of Rob Edwards’ side (-31) and it would require Forest to suffer a remarkably heavy...