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Club World Cup Play-off
Football regulator changes | Wrexham's record growth | Peruvian ref karate kicks coach
GM football fans. It’s Tuesday, Apr. 01 - Fifa consider a Club World Cup playoff, the UK government’s latest football regulator amendments, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
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KEY FIXTURES
Premier League MW30: Arsenal vs Fulham, 19:45 / 14:45. While Arsenal are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions, they have not beaten Fulham in their last three meetings and were held to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in December. Wolverhampton Wanderers vs West Ham United, 19:45 / 14:45. Wolves have lost five of their last seven home games in the Premier League, and have lost their three meeting with West Ham. Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United, 20:00 / 15:00. United are looking to win back-to-back league games for the first time this season, but Forest have won six and drawn two of their last eight league home games. See every Premier League MW30 fixture here.
Editor’s note: The semi-finals for the Copa del Rey, DFB Pokal, Coppa Italia and Coupe de France will be played today (Apr. 01). See times in On Today.
Results…
TOP TALKING POINTS
Club World Cup Play-off
Fifa is considering having a one-off playoff match between MLS side LAFC and Liga MX side Club America for the right to participate in this year’s Club World Cup. The winner would replace Club Leon, who were removed from the tournament for violating Fifa’s multi-club ownership rules.
LAFC lost to Leon in the 2023 CONCACAF final, and Club America are ranked just behind Leon in the confederation. Despite this, Costa Rica’s Alajuelense believe they should replace Leon, based on their continental club ranking. The 30-time champions initially urged Fifa to enforce their multi-club rules to remove Leon, and have since filed a formal complaint to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to be included in the Club World Cup.
The expanded Club World Cup will distribute $1bn in prize money to the 32 participating clubs, with the winner of the tournament potentially earning $125m. This would be the largest reward ever issued for a seven-game format. See every team competing in this year’s tournament here.
Football Regulator’s Amendments
The UK government has published its list of amendments to the Football Governance Bill. The independent regulator is the first of its kind to oversee men’s professional football in England.
A notable amendment is that the backstop powers, allowing the regulator to impose a financial distribution agreement on the Premier League, can only be used as a last resort. Another small win for the critics of the plans is that the “financial growth of English football” has been added as the regulator’s secondary duty. This is an attempt to prevent it from inhibiting top clubs’ prosperity.
Demands for a sunset clause, where the regulator could be scrapped after a set period of time if deemed ineffective, have been rejected. However, five years after its implementation, the Secretary of State will formally review how well the regulator performs.
See other key amendments to the Bill here.
Wrexham’s Record Revenue
Wrexham—owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney—secured record revenue of £26.7m as a League Two club last year. Four years ago, before the club’s Hollywood takeover, Wrexham’s revenue in non-league football was recorded at £1.148m.
The now-League One side generates more revenue than most Championship clubs. A report from Deloitte found that the average revenue in England’s second division—excluding clubs receiving parachute payments—is £22m. In League One, where Wrexham competed during the accounting period, the average is £5.4m.
The Welsh side say they generated more than half (52%) of the record turnover from outside Europe—primarily North America. While the club didn’t earn money directly from Disney Plus’s ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series, the global exposure has allowed them to attract sponsorship agreements that would otherwise not be possible.
Dive deeper into Wrexham’s growth here.
POLL
Do you think there is still a strong pool of world-class centre-forwards in today’s game?Leave your initials if you'd like to be featured in tomorrow's edition. |
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka is fit again after missing three months with injury and could feature in today’s game against Fulham (More) | Erling Haaland could miss most of the season as the Man City striker seeks specialist treatment for a left ankle injury (More)
> The NBA is speaking with European football clubs on a possible joint venture to create a new basketball league in Europe using the names of established football clubs (More)
> Ticket prices have been announced for the 2025 UEFA Nations League finals in Munich and Stuttgart (More)
> Borussia Dortmund plan to power 1,000 matches with solar panels (More) | RB Leipzig have placed Zsolt Low as their interim coach after sacking Marco Rose (More)
> Yeovil Town owner Martin Hellier intends to put the club up for sale due to the “abuse” he has received from fans; a fan was banned for two years by the club after criticising Hellier (More)
Americas
> Sporting Kansas City has mutually agreed to part ways with manager Peter Vermes, ending his run as MLS’s longest-tenured head coach; he has spent 20 seasons in managerial positions at the club (More)
> Former USWNT star Alex Morgan announces the birth of her second child Enzo with former MLS midfielder Servando Carrasco (More)
> Club America remain three points ahead of second-place Toluca in the Liga MX Clausura after a 3-0 win over Tigres UANL (Table)
> Fortaleza, Juventude, Vasco de Gama, Cruzeiro and Gremio have won their opening matches in the Brazilian Serie A; Neymar-less Santos lost their opening game 2-1 (Table)
Rest of the World
> The first ever north London derby outside the UK will be played in Hong Kong for a pre-season fixture this summer (More) | Liverpool have confirmed pre-season matches against AC Milan in Hong Kong, before a first ever visit to Japan (More)
> Sam Kerr will remain as captain of Australia after she was found not guilty in February of racially abusing a British police officer; she also avoids an FA sanction (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: When it comes to major changes like VAR, who should have the final say — clubs, fans, or governing bodies?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏟️ Club... (26%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🧑 Fans... (25%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 ⬜️ 🌐 Governing bodies... (46%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (3%)
Your punditry takes:
🏟️ J: “Whilst the governing bodies should officially make the decision, those who bear the impact of VAR, i.e. the clubs directly involved, should have the final say. They are experiencing the positives and negatives of the system and are best positioned to weigh these factors.”
🧑 C.C: “Keeping fans happy and engaged with the sport is what keeps the club going. Over time, if the governing bodies keep implementing technology and rules that no longer make the game fun on a spectator level, fans sooner or later will look elsewhere for their fix. One study found that the average Premier League supporter spends £3000 per season, and up to 13% of their annual salary to follow their team. What happens when fans get so fed up of the leagues' governing bodies that they weigh up the pros and cons and decide the cons are far too great?”
🌐 J.M: “The governing bodies are there to govern. They should be making the decisions that affect the league(s) that they govern.”
✍️ T.P: “I think the correct answer here is all three–the opinions of the fans should be considered by their clubs, and the clubs should put pressure on governing bodies to make changes. It's democracy vs. dictatorship, and ultimately the fans are the ones who keep the whole thing afloat.”
EXTRA TIME
Football's best and worst April Fool's jokes.
The forgotten story of Arsenal’s wooden training shed.
This keeper won Man of the Match—and three boxes of eggs.
Football’s most complicated league, explained simply.
A Peruvian ref karate kicked a coach mid-match. (video)
When a tifo reveal goes badly wrong.
… and the best tifos in football history.
Seven years since Ibrahimovic’s incredible LAFC debut brace. (via X)
The interesting history of the Golden Goal.
Best-ever World Cup stoppage time goals.
GAME FACE ON
Who Am I:
I am a World Cup winner and my nation’s record scorer with 57 goals.
I won the 2017 Puskas Award.
I appeared as a voice actor in a dubbed version of Spider-Man, playing the Green Goblin.
In six appearances for my new club this season, I am yet to score or assist.
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
Premier League
Arsenal vs Fulham (19:45)
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs West Ham United (19:45)
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United (20:00)
Spanish Copa Del Rey, Semi-final
Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad (Agg 1-0) (20:30)
German DFB Pokal, Semi-final
Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayer Leverkusen (19:45)
Coppa Italia, Semi-finals
Empoli vs Bologna (20:00)
Coupe de France, Semi-finals
Dunkerque vs PSG (20:10)
*All time in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Olivier Giroud. See a video of his Puskas Award goal here.
Hansi Flick is entirely responsible for our performances. We imposed a different style of play than last season, especially in terms of the defensive line and the pressing we apply.