mjslater.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

I was in Bangkok last May when FIFA announced it was clearing space in the 2026 calendar for a 16-team Women’s Club World Cup & it seemed pretty set in stone. Apparently not. That said, pushing this back a year or so sounds sensible. Let’s do it right. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/617...

submitted 16 hours ago • 0 comments

When each team in this season's FA Cup quarter-finals last won the competition: Bournemouth: Never Brighton: Never Crystal Palace: Never Fulham: Never Preston North End: 1938 Aston Villa: 1957 Nottingham Forest: 1959 Manchester City: 2023

submitted 16 hours ago • 4 comments

Club bosses in the EFL & PL seem united in misery. They moan about money, agents, media, fixtures, the regulator. There are no easy answers but I think the answers get easier if the EFL & PL were united under one body again. Football is better together. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/613...

submitted 23 hours ago • 1 comment

Napoli & Inter's draw was a perfect demonstration of what Serie A is all about in 2024-25. In an era where much of European football seems to have converged stylistically, Italian football remains an outlier. And it is fascinating, writes @zonal-marking.bsky.social...

submitted 23 hours ago • 0 comments

Club bosses in the EFL & PL seem united in misery. They moan about money, agents, media, fixtures, the regulator. There are no easy answers but I think the answers get easier if the EFL & PL were united under one body again. Football is better together. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/613...

submitted 23 hours ago • 1 comment

English football is booming and broken. Time to bring it all back together? @mjslater.bsky.social argues for reuniting the men's professional game as one league, with one rulebook and one sales team.

submitted 1 day ago • 4 comments

I was at a game this afternoon when a goalie held onto the ball for 25 seconds while 2-1 up with 10 mins to go. But nobody complained because we’ve all got used to it. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/616...

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

The Norwegian Football Federation has taken lots of brave positions on the global stage in recent years, often standing up for basic democratic principles. Today was not a great day for democracy in Norwegian football. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/616...

submitted 2 days ago • 6 comments

VAR’s red card in Norway has been rescinded. Pro clubs, which actually use it, don’t want it. The Norwegian Football Federation and the 100s of amateur clubs that don’t use it, do.

submitted 2 days ago • 4 comments

Referees will award corners, not indirect free-kicks, if goalkeepers try to waste time by holding onto the ball for more than eight seconds from next season. Full story from @mjslater.bsky.social ⤵️ 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/616...

submitted 2 days ago • 41 comments

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has defended himself from suggestions he is jeopardising the sport’s traditional independence from politics by getting too close to U.S. President Donald Trump in the build-up to this summer’s Club World Cup and next year’s World Cup. More from @mjslater.bsky.social

submitted 3 days ago • 21 comments

Women’s Super League to consider scrapping relegation in major revamp

submitted 4 days ago • 8 comments

one of the odd things about the economics of sports fandom in England the the US is how different the levels of profit maximizing by clubs and leagues are in TV and live events US sports are pretty cheap to watch on TV and crazy expensive in person and UK sports are the exact opposite

submitted 5 days ago • 8 comments

La Liga boss Javier Tebas has accused Manchester City of trying to circumvent football’s financial fair play rules by hiding their costs in affiliated companies and likened the situation to the infamous Enron accounting scandal of 2001. More from @mjslater.bsky.social

submitted 4 days ago • 13 comments

Rest easy, Leeds United fans. Your owners still love you and want to make your “cauldron” of a home, bigger, better and louder, but still just as uncomfortable for visitors. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/616...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

I know this is the type of story that has many of you looking for your smallest violins but I suspect your favourite teams have been bankrolled by pay-TV money, so there are consequences to pinching this stuff. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/616...

submitted 5 days ago • 11 comments

Chapter & verse on the planned Leeds Utd/Rangers union, including a bit from me on the bizarre & slightly unionist approach the EFL takes to “dual interests” in British football leagues. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/615...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

A well-known figure in English football arranged “cash for sex” sessions with a teenage girl he is accused of raping at his house and leaving with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to court documents. ✍️ @dtathletic.bsky.social & @jacobwhitehead.bsky.social

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Mohamed Salah says that he is having his best season for Liverpool because he is helping make his team-mates better. The 32-year-old forward has 51 goal contributions in all competitions this campaign with 30 goals and 21 assists. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/616...

submitted 6 days ago • 10 comments

An email sent to broadcasters, seen by The Athletic, makes clear that Tottenham do not want to be referred to as 'Tottenham', but rather 'Tottenham Hotspur' or 'Spurs'. But for many fans the name of the area is synonymous with the club... ✍️ @jackpittbrooke.bsky.social

submitted 10 days ago • 44 comments

Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth & Mary Shelley: a fascinating coach at a developing club in a town with some buried treasures. www.nytimes.com/athletic/614...

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

Exclusive interview with Raphael Varane: ▪️Art of defending ▪️Contrasting coaching styles at Real Madrid & #MUFC ▪️"Complicated" relationship with Ten Hag, their “robust discussion” & "surprise" he stayed ▪️Playing schedule getting "worse" @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/614...

submitted 13 days ago • 4 comments

Special report: Viral claims about the goalscoring exploits of the sons of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been seen by millions - except they are not true. Is it being fuelled by a guerrilla advertising campaign involving betting company Stake? www.nytimes.com/athletic/613...

submitted 13 days ago • 2 comments

🎙️ You asked, we listened. An acronym special! PSR, SCR, FFP, APT (1 &2!)…I think I may have invented a new one up at some point. @jwhitey98 & @AyoAkinwo even talk about actual football for a while. Something for everyone! 🔗 pod.fo/e/2ae7a9

submitted 13 days ago • 2 comments

🚨 Premier League summer series in U.S. currently due to be a 4-team affair: Man Utd, Bournemouth, Everton & West Ham. Contingent on all teams remaining PL clubs. Games in New Jersey, Atlanta, Chicago. PL hoped to get one of Arsenal/Liverpool but failed. www.nytimes.com/athletic/614...

submitted 14 days ago • 6 comments

The full story of why Stefano Vukov was given one-year coaching ban after creating a ‘relationship of dependence’ with Elena Rybakina. Harrowing details from the WTA letter about his alleged abuse, which Vukov denies. Investigation with @mattfutterman.bsky.social ⬇️ www.nytimes.com/athletic/613...

submitted 14 days ago • 7 comments

In the latest coincidence, Saudi investment fund SURJ buys 10% of DAZN for $1bn. Perhaps more relevant than trying to work out what this means for DAZN’s enterprise value is the mention of a DAZN MENA joint venture. Sounds like a better plan than beoutQ. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/614...

submitted 14 days ago • 1 comment

Gary Neville turns 50 on Tuesday. Relentless Holdings, Relentless Investments and Relentless Developments are the names of just some of his businesses. Relentless by name, relentless by nature. @theathleticfc.bsky.social @mjslater.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/613...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Gary Neville set up his first company in 1996, three years before Manchester United won the treble. Now, as he turns 50, he is a director of 50 businesses, including hotels, a production company, a football club and a university. www.nytimes.com/athletic/613...

submitted 16 days ago • 8 comments

Vindication for those who called initial award a City win? ✅ Embarrassing for PL/their lawyers? ✅ Were City/Villa right to tell PL to wait for this clarification? ✅ A green light for big compo claims? 🤷 Anything to do with Everton/Forest PSR cases? ❌ 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/613...

submitted 17 days ago • 5 comments

Sponsorship rules in place in the Premier League for nearly three years have been deemed to be “void and unenforceable” in a blow to the league and a significant win for Manchester City. More from @dansheldon.bsky.social & @colinmillar.bsky.social

submitted 17 days ago • 9 comments

BREAKING: The USL intends to launch a 12- to 14-team Division One league in 2027-28. USL believes the U.S. is more than capable of accommodating more D1 teams. “If soccer in the country is truly going to grow, it's going to grow outside of 30 or 32 markets." www.nytimes.com/athletic/612...

submitted 19 days ago • 16 comments

New. Fifa has been laundering its reputation through partnerships with UN bodies. WHO and UNHCR are declining to disclose the amount they are receiving from the fund meant to provide remedies to migrant workers. By @samindrakunti.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2025/02/12/b...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Seven years after they thought they’d be sharing €1bn/season, French clubs are splitting €500m. Well, they were but now DAZN thinks that’s too much. Having upset its old media partners & failed to attract/keep new ones, Ligue 1 may have to go it alone. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/613...

submitted 19 days ago • 2 comments

For those wondering why Todd Boehly, Tom Brady & lots of Silicon Valley tech bros have joined Indian billionaires in investing in English cricket, here’s why. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/565...

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment