Key events
FA confirms kick-off time for Cup final
FA Cup news! We have just found out what time the final will kick off. And the big winner of this year’s competition is 4.30pm!
“The kick-off time has been agreed in collaboration with the competing clubs, broadcasters, local authority, police, and the Safety Advisory Group,” says the FA in a statement. “The showpiece event is going to be broadcast live in the UK on ITV1, ITVX, UTV, STV, STV Player, BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The FA will announce where it can be watched around the world in advance. The winners and the runners-up will receive £2,000,000 and £1,000,000 from the competition’s prize fund respectively.”
The pre-match view from Villa Park
Peter Lansley
News from Villa Park, where Pete Lansley is checking in:
Plenty to play for at Villa Park as Fulham keep sights set on the top-eight finish that should bring them European qualification and their highest Premier League finish.
How will Aston Villa bounce back from the crushing disappointment of their no-show at the FA Cup semi-final, against Crystal Palace any Wembley last Sunday, that followed their Champions League exit? Maatsen replaces Digne at left-back but spare a thought for Ollie Watkins, whose sustained excellence over the past 18 months plus in leading Villa to this stage had resulted in his being demoted behind Marcus Rashford in Unai Emery’s favoured starting XI – only for the on-loan Manchester United man to be ruled out with a hamstring injury. Watkins is said not to be angling for a summer move, despite interest from Chelsea following that from Arsenal, but he must wonder what he’s meant to do. Still, Watkins is quality, has character, and a great scoring record.
He’s scored in his last three meetings with Fulham and one more today will take him clear of Gabby Agbonlaor (both on 74) as Villa’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer. Robinson and Lukic return for Fulham but Sessegnon keeps his place, just higher up the pitch instead of Willian.
Ben Fisher
As a big Chesterfield fan, how do you rate their chances of making the play-offs/ Salford slipping up on final day? asks Adam. Mark Hughes surely wants to go out with a bang at Carlisle!
Salford have turned getting out of League Two into quite the chore since promotion six years ago and it wouldn’t surprise me if they suffered another hiccup today. I’d quietly fancy Chesterfield – Paul Cook knows how to get the job done. And fair play to Mark Hughes – plenty would have turned their nose up at Bradford and Carlisle given the career he has had, the bright lights he has experienced.
Ben Fisher
A special miracle-workers-of-the-season award for Burton Albion: at the start of November they had four points from 12 games and were seven points from 20th place (occupied at the time by potentially play-off-bound Leyton Orient). In mid-January they had 15 points, were still bottom, and were 11 points from 20th place. Their resurrection started with a win at Wigan on 21 January and ended against the same opponents on Tuesday, when they got the point they needed to guarantee safety. Here’s a final word from Ben Fisher:
On days like these we tend to give our flowers to those promoted or securing playoff berths. But before diving headfirst into the action, a word for Gary Bowyer, who has worked a miracle in saving Burton Albion. They were 11 points adrift of safety in January and spent five months in the relegation zone before escaping last week. Relegated Bristol Rovers will be having Burton-shaped nightmares for a while.
Rob Smyth is covering the Championship’s denouement, with kick-off in those games about 45 minutes away. You can find his liveblog here:
Ben Fisher
What does the future hold for record-smashing Birmingham?
Birmingham have blown away League One – it really has been quite easy. I’ve been very impressed by head coach Chris Davies, who previously worked as an assistant to Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou, but I expect them to make some bold calls this summer. They will spend big – chair Tom Wagner has promised as much – but they need to be ruthless. The current squad must be strengthened if they’re going to compete at the top end next season.
Team news is in for the early Premier League game, and here it is:
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, Rogers, Asensio, McGinn, Watkins. Subs: Olsen, Mings, Barkley, Digne, Garcia, Malen, Onana, Bailey, Ramsey.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson, Berge, Lukic, Sessegnon, Wilson, Iwobi, Jimenez. Subs: Benda, Reed, Cairney, Traore, Vinicius, Cuenca, Castagne, Willian, Smith Rowe.
Referee: Robert Jones.
John Brewin is your man for live coverage of this one, here:
Ben Fisher
Who’s going to take the last League Two promotion place?
Walsall have imploded and while Bradford have made a meal of things in recent weeks, psychologically Mat Sadler’s team must be floored by the way their season has capitulated. They could, of course, arrest the slide but they have opened the door for Bradford and Notts County. Notts would probably be my pick if I had to choose.
Walsall twice hit the woodwork in defeat at home to struggling Accrington and it feels luck is against them. I think they have won just three matches since Nathan Lowe returned to Stoke after his loan spell – at which point the striker was the joint-top scorer in the EFL. Walsall’s collapse, really, is one of the stories of the season.
Today’s League Two fixtures (3pm kick-off)
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Accrington Stanley v Chesterfield
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Bradford City v Fleetwood Town
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Bromley v Cheltenham Town
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Carlisle United v Salford City
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Colchester United v Barrow
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Crewe Alexandra v Walsall
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Grimsby Town v AFC Wimbledon
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Morecambe v Harrogate Town
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Newport County v Tranmere Rovers
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Notts County v Doncaster Rovers
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Port Vale v Gillingham
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Swindon Town v Milton Keynes Dons
Ben Fisher
Do Charlton rest players to get them fresh for the playoffs or do they go for the win and the theoretical advantage of the home game in the second leg?
Who will join Wrexham and Birmingham in League One? We have touched on the uplifting news for Reading before their meeting with Barnsley and Leyton Orient are also in with a shout, another team exceeding expectations. Charlton are interesting, however, reborn since Nathan Jones returned to the club where he started his coaching career. Charlton had won three in a row before having to play second-fiddle to Wrexham last time out. Jones made the mistake of describing Wrexham as a “circus” in the buildup to that one but he has suggested they will go strong at home to Burton. “If we win all four games then we know exactly where we’ll be,” he said this week. “I would like to go into the playoff campaign on the back of a bounce.”
Ben Fisher
Who’s the Championship manager of the season?
Scott Parker has got his career back on track at Burnley, whose defensive record has been borderline ridiculous. If – and it’s a big if – Bristol City make the playoffs then Liam Manning will have overachieved with a thin squad. Régis le Bris too: we possibly forget about his work at Sunderland given they’ve been coasting for a while.
Ben Fisher
Away from the top six, has anyone in the Championship had a particularly impressive season?
Plenty has been said about the lack of excitement at Vicarage Road today, with Watford hosting Sheffield Wednesday but I think Danny Röhl deserves a big doff of the cap. He has done brilliantly to keep Wednesday out of the relegation picture all season and until a few weeks ago, and the late payment of wages, they were still in the playoff mix. A word for John Mousinho who has done brilliantly to keep Portsmouth up on their return to the division and the early signs are promising for Swansea under Alan Sheehan, who this week became their permanent manager after a blinding spell in interim charge.
Ben Fisher
Sheffield United and Sunderland are in, so it’s two from five of Bristol City, Coventry City, Middlesbrough, Millwall and Blackburn. I fancy Coventry to get the job done over Middlesbrough and even if Bristol City fail to beat Preston I’m not convinced Blackburn or Millwall will win today. Famous last words.
Today’s Championship fixtures again (all 12.30pm):
Ben Fisher
Hello everybody, greetings from Bristol, where at Ashton Gate there is a mammoth final-day fixture. Bristol City hunting a playoff place, Preston desperate to avoid relegation to the third tier.
Ben Fisher will be here in a matter of minutes to answer any questions about goins-on in the Football League. Please send you questions to me by email (link in standfirst above) or post them BTL. Cheers!
Here’s a thing I wrote earlier this week about what can be decided this weekend in the third, fourth and fifth tiers of English football. The final round of fixtures in Leagues One and Two kick off at 3pm today, in the National League at 3pm on Monday:
Sell Before We Dai, the Reading fans’ protest group, has released a statement following confirmation that Rob Couhig is to buy the club from Dai Yongge. This is most of it:
We are incredibly relieved and happy that Reading Football Club are finally under new ownership. It’s a day which we thought, at times, may never happen.
In the eight years of the Dai Yongge era, every single element of our club went backwards. The first team were relegated, the women’s team were essentially folded and staff were made redundant as every operational element of the club was cut back to the bare bones. Those who remained were forced to work with tight budgets and under immense pressure. Sometimes they weren’t even sure if they’d be paid at the end of the month.
Today is a day for celebration and that starts by welcoming Rob Couhig. Thank you for not giving up on us, thank you for saving our 153-year-old club from oblivion.
While Wycombe Wanderers owner, the Bearwood fiasco saw him come into direct conflict with our powerful, passionate fanbase, culminating in the training ground remaining under Reading’s control (we imagine he’s quite grateful for that now!). Rumours of his views on both the academy – the jewel in our crown – and women’s team have also left some fans unsettled.
However, the training ground issue is now in the past and Couhig should now be judged by his actions as our owner, not by rumours which arose while he was trying to buy the club.
Some of these actions are already plain to see. The takeover process has been tortuous and – at times – ill-tempered. We know several bidders came and went, but Couhig remained, and for that alone we are incredibly grateful. He was determined, dogged and incredibly savvy. Having someone with those qualities in your club’s corner can only be a good thing and it is also worth stating that Wycombe Wanderers fans say he left them in a better place.
Reading fans are now excited to hear in an open forum from Couhig about his plans. Our gratitude is immeasurable but cannot be unconditional. We are under no illusions that steps will need to be taken to undo the damage Dai has done to this football club, but we hope Couhig runs Reading transparently, prudently, in collaboration with Reading fans and with regard for the club’s identity.
We’ve been sold before we Dai’d.
Reading sale agreed in principle
Ben Fisher
Big, positive news for Reading before a potentially pivotal final day in League One: Rob Couhig has signed a deal to buy the troubled club, who can qualify for the playoffs this afternoon.
“The EFL has received confirmation from all parties that a sale has been agreed in principle with Redwood Holdings Limited, with the transaction expected to be completed shortly, once final legal technicalities have been completed,” reads an EFL statement.
“As such, the EFL board has agreed to extend the time allowed for Mr Dai Yongge to divest his interests until Thursday 8 May, subject to compliance with all other EFL regulations.”
Hello everyone! I bring vaguely interesting if you squint a bit news about Erling Haaland! PA Media report that he “is ready to return for the season run-in to boost Manchester City’s hopes of securing Champions League football and lifting the FA Cup”, though you would have thought his appearance as an albeit unused substitute in last night’s 1-0 win over Wolves pretty much gave that away. City brought on four substitutes between the 83rd and 89th minutes but Haaaland wasn’t among them, and this is what Pep Guardiola said about it last night:
Yeah, I thought about [bringing Haaland on] but decided for energy, in the last moments. I was thinking but it was just two training sessions with us and in that moment it was a little bit [difficult] so I decided for the other type of players.
Time for me to hand over to Simon Burnton for the next couple of hours. Don’t forget we have a Football League Q&A with the brilliant Ben Fisher at 11am. Email your questions to [email protected] or post them below the line. Bye bye!
Aston Villa v Fulham (12.30pm)
“Your nothing-to-play-for correspondents have overlooked the gripping contest for eighth and the Conference League place (unless Palace win the FA Cup, so come on City),” says Richard Hirst. “It all kicks off, literally and metaphorically, at 12.30 with the mighty Whites at Villa. It’s on.”
the TV commentary to this game, which for long periods was just Rio Ferdinand saying “OH MY GOD” a lot.
That’s just about all he’s got. Zero insight, zero tactical assessment, adds absolutely nothing. Really quite surprising for someone with such pedigree as a player, who was managed by Capello, Ferguson, Eriksson and Hodgson.
I’d politely disagree with this. I don’t always have the commentary on but I thought he was really good as a third commentator (yes, yes, I know) in Bilbao on Thursday night. Perhaps it’s because his team were playing and he saw the game through different eyes – more focussed, maybe – but there were plenty of insights into the art of defending (for example body shape when Williams had that free header early on) and also the mental demands of playing in such a big game. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not Nasser Hussain, but he’s not without insight.
Another plug for Barney Ronay’s column on Lamine Yamal
So Lamine Yamal is brilliant. Brilliant is fine. We’ve seen brilliant before. But he is also fascinating in other ways. Mainly he’s something new, the first outright superstar to emerge entirely in the terminally online world, out there to be consumed, worshipped, pulled apart, and never ever left alone from his earliest years, obliged to mean something, to always perform, to a degree of soul-melting intensity only this version of the world has ever managed. What is it going to do to him?
I remember my Panini 80 sticker album and I needed the Bristol City badge to complete the album… Did Joe Royle ever play for them? I think I remember his sticker… Don’t know why, I just have a really good long term memory!
Indeed he did, from 1977-80. I think he scored four on his debut, though I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
“I’m on the train on the way to Lord’s to watch Middlesex v Kent,” writes Matt Emerson. “A day spent in the pavilion with my old friend Shep, who is now a member.
“I’ve always said that late April to early May is the best time for sport. The culmination of the league title race, the FA Cup & Champions League semi-finals (which are usually better than the finals), the snooker, the Grand National and the start of the flat season, the start of the cricket season, the Masters. It’s bliss.”
And best of all, endless pub chat about who England should/will pick for the first Test match of the summer.
What’s at stake in the big European title races
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich, without the suspended Harry Kane, will win the title with two games to spare if they beat RB Leipzig away from home this afternoon. Kane is set win his first major trophy at the age of 31, and the Banterverse may never be the same again.
“It’s kind of my story that I’ll miss the Leipzig game,” he said. “But no worries, I’ll celebrate more than anyone else.”
Serie A
Napoli have stolen a march on Inter, thanks in no small part to the goals of McAdona. They are three points clear with four games to play and both teams are in action today: Napoli visit Lecce at 5pm, Inter are at home to Verona at 7.45pm.
La Liga
Barcelona are four points clear of Real Madrid – who they meet next weekend – with five games to go. Barça are away to the bottom club Valladolid tonight; Real host Celta Vigo tomorrow afternoon.
“Off to Goodison,” says Gary Naylor. “Only going to say that once more after today.”
You could rename your shed?
Football League Q&A
At 11am, Ben Fisher will be here to answer your questions about all things EFL. Let’s be havin’ them: email [email protected] or post below the line.
Bristol City – who last appeared in the top flight in 1979-80 – are at home to relegation-threatened Preston, knowing a win will guarantee a playoff place
And so it has come to pass. The day dawns for the 46th and final game of the seemingly endless Championship slog that at regular intervals opens up the tantalising prospect of my team, Bristol City, ending up in the top 6 and causing a flurry of excitement and the downing of even more cider than we might already sensibly avoid.
As usual however there is the tantalising prospect of a last match City collapse and today’s final game is a home tie against Preston North End who are at a huge risk of relegation if they lose and Luton and Hull win.
So am I looking forward to the game?
Mixed emotions.
It would be vaguely entertaining to be in the play offs and we do actually have an outside chance of coming out on top against Sunderland, as opposed to playing Sheffield United.
So just imagine if our lads were able to put 4 wins together to end the season and give the West Country something to shout about after the relegations of the Gas and Plymouth.
That would be the perfect time for our decent but ultimately unambitious owner Steve Lansdown to flog the club to a US consortium.
Ebere Eze couldn’t be any more likeable, right? Wrong!
Not the football department
Most of the Premier League has been decided. It’s a long weekend and the weather looks pretty good. The perfect opportunity to finally get off the couch and go out and see the world in all its glory. Except the snooker is on so that won’t be happening.
Judd Trump and Mark Williams will resume at 8-8 in their semi-final; it’s the best of 33. Xintong Zhao is already into the final after a ruthless demolition of Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Birmingham City P45 W33 D9 L3 F82 A30 Pts 108
A win for blues in L1 (or even a draw ) will see them set a global record for most points in a professional football league season.
I think that’s special enough to be worthy of a mention…
It is now!
If you haven’t seen it, check out the terrific goal from Calvin Miller that sealed promotion. I can’t find a YouTube link but it’ll be in the usual places.
Well done Falkirk on back to back promotions
The Fantasy Premier League deadline was last night, ahead of Manchester City’s game v Wolves. Did you forget? I forgot, mainly because I’m seventh in the Smyth family league and I’m used to fighting for the title and I’m not handling it well.
On the plus side, I left Kevin De Bruyne as captain, so there’s that. There aren’t really any standout choices this week; most of the top teams have tough games and you’d expect some, certainly Arsenal, to rest players.
In the last few seasons, Leeds, Burnley, Southampton, Leicester and others have been trapped in a cycle of promotion and relegation. Philippe Auclair looks at the slippery problem of parachute payments.
Only once before this season and last had all three promoted clubs immediately returned whence they came, in 1997-98. It was more common for them to remain in the top division together, which has happened four times since 2002, last and most remarkably in 2021-22 when Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest not only survived but prospered and grew into contenders for a place in European competitions. This, however, looks like an aberration.
Liverpool were quiet in the transfer market last summer, which makes their title stroll even more impressive. This summer, Arne Slot will have his imaginary chequebook at the ready.
[Winning the league] definitely helps to attract new players as well because mostly the players that we want, we are not the only club who thinks they are good players, so they have more options. Then maybe it helps for them to see that the way we do things here is special. Until now, if I spoke to players who we wanted to bring in, I always told them that our fans are really special and it is special to play at this club. But after Sunday I don’t think I ever have to tell anyone again how special our fans are because that was unbelievable.
On this day in 1972… the first leg of the first-ever all-English European final. (Longer highlights, including the Wolves goal, are available.)
Football League Q&A with Ben Fisher
At 11am, Ben Fisher will be here to answer your questions about all things EFL. Let’s be havin’ them: email [email protected] or post below the line.
You think the life of an algorithm is easy? Try being an as-it-stands table on the last day of the season.
The best dead rubbers in the world
Manchester City is now nailed on to finish in top 3. 4th and 5th place race between, Newcastle, Chelsea, Nottingham and Villa is the only talking point left now in the Premier League and still there are four games to go. This may be most unexciting Premier League ever with only 4 teams now having some sort of interest left in the remaining games.
The 2000-01 season is another contender for this dubious award. The biggest thing at stake on the last day of the season was whether Liverpool would qualify for the Champions League ahead of Leeds (they did).
Man Utd won the title on New Year’s Day, pretty much; and though the bottom three weren’t quite as far adrift as this season’s, they were all relegated with games to spare.
Leicester and Southampton have had miserable seasons, picking up 18 and 11 points respectively. But at least one of them will add to that total at the King Power Stadium today.
The young are getting younger. A 14-year-old is the talk of cricket’s IPL; my friend’s nine-year-old has the vocabulary of a learned quadragenarian; and three years on from Ethan Nwaneri’s record-breaking Premier League debut, Arsenal have another 15-year-old who looks ready for first-team action.
Premier League regulations prevent players who were not 15 at the start of a season from playing, meaning Dowman will not be able to surpass Ethan Nwaneri’s record as the competition’s youngest player, set in September 2022 when Nwaneri was 15 years and 181 days old. But Arteta was asked whether the attacking midfielder, who has drawn comparisons to Martin Ødegaard, could be an option for next season after the success of the academy graduates Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
“For the near future, yes,” he said. “Now he is involved in the squad. He trains with us a lot. Does that mean he will play in the Premier League many games? I don’t know; depends how good he is and how impressive he is and how much he offers the team like Ethan, like Myles, like any other player in the squad. Let’s see how this evolves but we certainly got a big, big talent there.
Enough of Tony Adams. What are you plans for this beautiful Saturday? Going to a game? Mowing the lawn while listening to Nessun Dorma? Settling into an all-dayer at JD Wetherspoons? Let us know either below the line or via [email protected]
On this day in 1998, Tony Adams writes his own script as Arsenal win the Premier League. Wonderful commentary from Martin Tyler, too, right up there with Aguerrooooooooo.
Chelsea’s young players will form a guard of honour for Liverpool tomorrow. Jacob Steinberg has been looking at what Enzo Maresca and friends can learn from the champions.
Chelsea, who have the second-youngest squad across Europe’s top five leagues and are monitoring the 19-year-old Ajax left-back Jorrel Hato, should take note. They will give Liverpool a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon and face a team with stability at their core. Van Dijk, now 33, is still the defensive rock and has signed on for two more years. Alisson, at 32, remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world. It is a simple equation: buying the best usually makes you the best.
Barney’s regular Saturday column is about a young man who, on Wednesday night, came agonisingly close to breaking the internet
Lamine Yamal was the buildup, the takeaway and also the TV commentary to this game, which for long periods was just Rio Ferdinand saying “OH MY GOD” a lot. In the second half you kept having to check the score to make sure it wasn’t actually 6-1 to Barcelona (Lamine Yamal 6), as opposed to a 3-3 draw and a good away result for Inter.
On this weekend five years ago there was no football, just Covid and a whole lotta fear. Barney Ronay has been looking at how the pandemic changed sport – for richer and poorer.
The pandemic had a start date. But the closest we got to a national throwing-off of the shackles, our own VV day, was July 2021 and the sight of a lone England football supporter placing a flare between his buttock cheeks before releasing it into the air of central London. This was our healing moment, our iconography of closure, our own white cliffs and union flags.
This morning’s headlines
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of another super soccer-filled Saturday. This is our home for all the latest news and previews ahead of today’s action, which begins at 12.30pm with Aston Villa v Fulham and the last day of the regular Championship season. Then we have the final round of fixtures in Leagues One and Two, plus Bayern Munich’s chance to win back the Bundesliga after a shocking one-season drought.
At 11am we’ll have a special Q&A with Ben Fisher, who knows more about the Football League than 99.82 per cent of sentient beings, so please send in any questions for that. You can contact us at [email protected] or post below the line.
Before we get started, these are some of the key matches we’ll be following today.
Premier League
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Aston Villa v Fulham (12.30pm)
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Everton v Ipswich (3pm)
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Leicester v Southampton (3pm)
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Arsenal v Bournemouth (5.30pm)
Championship (all 12.30pm)
Bundesliga
League One (3pm)
League Two (3pm)
You can peruse a fuller fixture list here.
