Europe's Unlikeliest Title Win

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Good morning football fans. It’s Monday, May. 4 - UEFA’s on track to exceed its $5bn media rights revenue target, a club has broken a 128-year drought for a major trophy, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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Premier League Matchday 35 (May 4): Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest, 15:00 BST / 10:00 ET. Forest are unbeaten in all three visits to Stamford Bridge since their Premier League return in 2022. Although Chelsea are looking for their second league double over Forest, they have lost and failed to score in each of their last five Premier League games. Everton vs. Manchester City, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. This will be David Moyes’ 16th Premier League meeting with Pep Guardiola, and the Scotsman is yet to record a win against the Spaniard. Everton have lost their last eight home league games against Man City, their longest run of consecutive defeats against an opponent in their history. See the Premier League table here.

Editor’s note: To our American and Canadian readers, the first kick-off is on earlier than usual due to a bank holiday in the UK.

Results…

Real Madrid are running free events across the U.S. from May 19, open to any 18–19-year-old football player who wants to show up. No fees. No camp fees. No catch.

Just for showing up, you get a free coaching session from one of the world's great clubs, a free jersey and a health tool kit. There is genuinely no downside to attending. This is a pure giveback to the football community from Real Madrid and their long-term medical partner Abbott. We thought it was too good to be true until we saw the success they had with last year's programme. 

The Route One team can personally vouch for the team behind the programme. They are extremely passionate about giving back to the football community and want as many people as possible to take advantage of the opportunity. Six cities. Six dates. Zero cost. Starting May 19 and ending June 9.

Register for your preferred venue here. Spots are nearly gone.

Annual media rights revenues for Uefa’s three men’s club competitions are projected to exceed the governing body’s $5bn (£3.7bn) target from 2027 onward, according to Bloomberg. The commercial and media rights, now managed by UC3, were sold in November for the 2027-31 cycle in key European markets. UC3 has now revealed new deals across 19 countries and territories in the Americas and Europe, helping it surpass the previous cycle’s sales by 20%.

A source close to the deal noted that the latest cycle was “pushed up” by the presence of US media giants Walt Disney Co. and Paramount Skydance Corp. in the bidding process. The 19 new deals alone are valued at $910m (£670m), a 40% increase on the previous like-for-like cycle, and include Paramount+ securing the rights for all three European competitions in Canada, and half the rights to Champions League games in Central America, Mexico, and most of South America. Meanwhile, Disney+ has secured the rights to show Champions League matches in Sweden for the first time, alongside renewed rights to the Europa League and Conference League in Sweden and Denmark.

So far, UC3 has secured more than $3.8bn (£2.8bn) in annual media-rights revenues from 2027 onwards. It still has auctions to run for the Middle East, Asia, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

FC Thun have won the Swiss Super League to secure the club’s first major trophy in their 128-year history. Thun, based in a city with a population of around 45,000, were only promoted back to the Swiss top flight last season after a five-year absence. Watch the club’s fans celebrate in the city here.

In recent memory, Thun’s best season came in 2004–05, when they finished second to Basel and secured a place in the Champions League. However, since their relegation in 2020, Thun have relied on multiple investments from Chinese-American multi-club owner Chien Lee to save the club from bankruptcy, most recently in 2024. A year later, Thun won the second division, and now their top-flight win makes them only the second Swiss club - after Grasshopper Zurich in 1952 - to win the second and first divisions in back-to-back seasons.

Thun, founded in 1898, had lost four of their previous five matches but clinched the title after second-placed St Gallen suffered a 3–0 home defeat to Sion. With three matches remaining, Thun hold an unassailable 11-point lead, despite having one of the league’s lowest-valued squads. Transfermarkt values their squad at around £13.8m, far below Young Boys at £61m and Basel at £51.5m.

Today (Monday, May 4), a Dutch court ruling could throw the Eredivisie into turmoil by triggering challenges to 133 matches in the top flight.

Dutch top-flight side NAC Breda brought a case claiming that Go Ahead Eagles defender Dean James was ineligible to play in a fixture on March 15, which saw Go Ahead win 6-0. NAC argued that James, who was born in the Netherlands, had obtained Indonesian citizenship. Under Dutch law, people who voluntarily take another nationality generally lose their Dutch citizenship as the Netherlands prohibits dual ​nationality. This rule would mean James required a work permit to play. Despite conceding that James shouldn’t have featured in the match, the Dutch FA (KNVB) rejected NAC’s claim, and the club appealed to the Utrecht court.

As first reported by ESPN, the KNVB argued that at least 11 players would be impacted by these eligibility rules. At a minimum, ineligible players were therefore involved in 133 top-flight matches this season, meaning that a ruling in NAC’s favour could set a precedent for those games to be challenged. “If NAC wins, those other clubs will also file summary proceedings. That could mean that the competition cannot be completed,” the KNVB told ESPN.

The dispute has broadened into a league-wide eligibility challenge, with clubs protesting the use of players who may have lost Dutch nationality after representing other countries. Ajax, Feyenoord, Telstar and FC Volendam have protested or reserved legal rights over matches involving those players, while some clubs temporarily withdrew affected players pending review.

> Ipswich Town have joined Coventry City in automatic promotion to the Premier League, with Millwall, Southampton, Middlesbrough, and Hull in the playoffs (More); see the playoff schedule (More) | The takeover of Championship side Sheffield Wednesday has been completed, meaning the club won’t incur a points deduction next season (More); watch the new owner’s epic points deduction reveal (More)

> Scottish Premiership’s Celtic are level on points with leaders Hearts after their 2-1 win at Hibernian (More); Hearts host Rangers on Monday (May 4), and anything less than a win for the visitors will end their title hopes (More)

> Inter Milan have won the Serie A title after beating Parma 2-0, with Napoli’s draw at Como and AC Milan’s 2-0 loss to Sassuolo ending the chase (More) | Porto have been crowned as champions of the Liga Portugal for the 31st time (More) | Schalke 04 will return to the Bundesliga next season after a three-year absence (More)

> Villarreal guaranteed themselves a Champions League qualification spot with a 5-1 victory over Levante in La Liga (More)

> Manchester City Women are on the verge of winning the WSL title following their 1-0 win over Liverpool Women (More); see every WSL result (More) and table (More)

> European countries still expect to lose money at the 2026 World Cup despite Fifa increasing the prize and participation fund again (More)

> Lionel Messi scored his 906th career goal in Inter Miami's 4-3 home loss to Orlando City, with Martin Ojeda scoring a hat-trick to help Orlando come back from 3-0 down (More); watch Messi’s goal (More) | Nashville and San Jose lead their respective Conference Standings; see all MLS results (More) and Conference Standings (More)

> NWSL’s Portland Thorns have maintained their position at the top of the standings following a 2-0 away win against Chicago Stars; see every NWSL result (More) and Standings (More)

> Canada Soccer announces that the Government of Canada has committed funding of up to $9,826,000 towards a Canada Soccer National Training Centre (More) | NSL’s Montreal Roses lead the standings after Matchday 2; see the NSL results (More) and Standings (More)

> The USL and its players’ association have tentatively agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement after over a year of negotiations (More); see every USL Championship result (More) and the Conference Standings (More)

> Al Nassr’s lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League has narrowed following their 3-1 loss to Al Qadsiah; see the Saudi Pro League table (More)

> The men’s Australian A-League semi-finals are now locked in with Auckland FC vs Adelaide United FC & Sydney FC vs Newcastle Jets FC (More)

Friday’s Poll: Will you be tuning in to the final day of the Championship?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🤩 Yes (75%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope (23%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)

Your punditry takes:

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Where do fans’ favourite songs come from?

Ed Sheeran celebrates Ipswich’s promotion with the players.

Question: Frank Lampard is the most recent former Chelsea player to go on to manage the club. In the Premier League era, excluding caretakers, four other Chelsea players have also managed the club. Can you name them?

Scroll below for the answer.

Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.

Answer

Glenn Hoddle. Gianluca Vialli. Ruud Gullit. Roberto Di Matteo.

Source.