The BBC has renewed its Premier League football highlights licence for another three years. That means Match Of The Day will continue to be on our screens until at least 2022. Match of the Day 2, Football Focus, The Premier League Show and the Sunday repeat of MOTD are also staying put for the time being. The Director of BBC Sport, Barbara Slater said: 'To keep Premier League highlights on the BBC is testament to the continued success and popularity of Match Of The Day. Our long-standing partnership with the Premier League continues to flourish and evolve, as seen with the recently launched Super Movers initiative. The new deal strengthens that relationship even further and ensures the nation's favourite sport will continue to be seen by the widest possible audience.'
Yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved (though unsellable) Magpies loan signing of Islam Slimani from Leicester City on transfer deadline day means Th' Toon now have Islam, Mohamed (Diame), Jesus (Games) and a Christian (Clark) currently on their books. As their supporters look for some sort of divine intervention to keep us up, no doubt. (This blogger is indebted to the lads over at the always excellent nufc.com website for that joke!)
West Hamsters United have extremely sacked their director of player recruitment, Tony Henry, over claims that he said the club would not sign any more African players. The decision follows a report by the Daily Scum Mail which carried alleged quotes allegedly from Henry stating that African players 'cause mayhem' when they are not in the team. The club said that his alleged comments were 'unacceptable,' adding that they had conducted 'a full and thorough investigation.' West Hamsters United said that they will not tolerate any type of discrimination and have 'therefore, acted swiftly due to the serious nature of these claims.' A statement continued: 'The West Ham United family is an inclusive one where, regardless of gender, age, ability, race, religion or sexual orientation, everybody feels welcome and included.' The Professional Footballers' Association said that it was 'shocked'and 'stunned' by the reported comments and was 'encouraged' by West Ham's response. 'The PFA strongly condemn any such views and there is no place for them in football,' it said. West Hamsters United currently have six first-team squad members of African descent: Cheikhou Kouyate, Pedro Obiang, Joao Mario, Angelo Ogbonna, Arthur Masuaku and Edimilson Fernandes. Senegal striker Diafra Sakho left the club in the January transfer window to join Rennes, with Ghana international Andre Ayew heading to Swansea. Henry, who has previously worked for Everton, Blunderland and Moscow Chelski FC, joined West Hamsters United in 2014. He played professionally for several clubs, including Sheikh Yer Man City, Notlob and Oldham Not Very Athletic.
A footballer has described being 'taunted' by fellow players and opposition fans after he spoke out publicly about his mental health struggles. David Cox, who plays for Scottish League Two side Cowdenbeath, said that he had been called 'a psycho' and mocked about 'slitting his wrists.' The twenty eight-year-old has called for the game's authorities to act on the abuse in the same way they do against racism. Speaking to Radio Scotland's John Beattie, Cox claimed that he had been abused by football fans and colleagues alike since revealing that he had self-harmed and attempted suicide. He said: 'I had fans shouting on the pitch to me shortly after I did my story, "go and hang yourself and do it right this time." I've had other players mentioning me slitting my wrists and stuff. You get the fans that come in and pay their money, they say what they want and then they go home and forget about it and I'm the one that it affects. It bothers me for the rest of the weekend. It gets me in a bad place again.' The former Forfar Athletic striker claimed that on the pitch, opponents had used his depression to 'undermine his efforts' during games. He said: 'Maybe after a bad tackle, or if it's been rough and stuff like that, [they'd say] "watch your wrists wee man, oh, I better not wind you up cos you're a psycho."' He added: 'I've had them apologising and messaging me after games and stuff. What makes it even worse is that they will say things like "I'm really sorry, I had a mate who killed himself through mental health" and I'm like "why would you even mention that?." It's all good and fine saying you're sorry, but to have that bit in you to mention it in the first place, when you know you've seen someone deal with that situation or you've seen people go through that kind of thing. Why does it make it okay for you to say it to someone else just because you don't like the way they're playing against you? It's a game of football.' Cox said that attempts to deal with the stigma surrounding mental health had to be matched with efforts to challenge other social issues, such as racism and bigotry. He said: 'It's just as bad as being racist for me. If you were racist on the pitch, if a fan was racist at football games, you'd get done for it. People don't see mental health as an illness, you can't physically see it, it doesn't mean it's not there. It's got to the point that if somebody shouts it to me again in a park, I will walk off.' He said that unless clubs and the authorities were willing to take the taunts seriously, his abusers would continue to feel they could behave as they pleased. 'I'm not saying what I've been through is the worst thing that anybody could ever go through, because there's people out there that are worse off than me. But for me, I've been through the worst period of my life ever and to have people mocking you about it and making fun, and to think that it's okay and just shake hands with you after the game and it's forgotten about, it's not on.' A Scottish government spokeswoman said: 'One of our priorities is to work on achieving parity between mental and physical health. Already work is being carried out by the players' union, PFA Scotland and the Sports Chaplaincy Network, which provides support and advice to players and staff. The SPFL Trust has also undertaken mental health first aid training for club staff, which players will benefit from.'
