GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, May. 14 - Everton save Goodison Park, French football tries to switch it up, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURES

Coppa Italia Final: AC Milan vs. Bologna, 20:00 / 15:00. These sides met as recently as last week in Serie A, as AC Milan fought back to win 3-1 on home turf–they now sit two points below seventh-place Bologna in the league. While the visitors ended a run of 13 defeats and four draws against Milan in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, Bologna are winless in their last three matches in all competitions.

TV channels: UK (Premier Sports) | US (Paramount+)

Results…

• Championship Play-off, SF: Sunderland 1-1 Coventry City (Agg 3-2)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Goodison Park Saved

Goodison Park, one of the UK’s oldest football stadiums, will no longer be demolished and will become the country’s first major stadium dedicated solely to a women’s team from next season. Sunday’s match against Southampton will mark the 132-year-old stadium’s last Premier League fixture.

Everton’s former owners announced a post-demolition plan, which included housing, retail units and a park. After a feasibility study, new owners, The Friedkin Group, decided to maintain the stadium for the women’s team. Next season, the men’s side will move to a 52,888-seat stadium in Bramley-Moore Dock—see the latest footage here.

Goodison, which has hosted more top-flight matches in England than any other stadium, was also the ground that hosted a landmark women’s match between Dick, Kerr Ladies and St Helens Ladies (read more) over 105 years ago. It held the attendance record for a women’s game for 103 years.

Dive deeper into the history of Goodison Park here.

French Football Overhaul

French football aims to model the English Premier League with a club-owned entity replacing the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP). The proposal, which will be reviewed on June 10, could mark a major shift in how French football is managed and marketed, addressing years of financial instability and competitive imbalance.

A new company will be created that is part-owned by the clubs themselves. Private equity firm CVC Capital, which has invested €1.5bn in French football, and the French Football Federation (FFF) will also hold a stake in the company.

In related news, reports in France suggest the FFF is considering introducing a four-team play-off to determine the Ligue 1 champions. The aim of the mini-tournament, played between the top four teams in the league, would be to add suspense at the end of the season.

Court Rejects Uruguay’s Appeal

Sport’s highest court has rejected an appeal by five Uruguay players against their bans for clashing with Colombian fans after a Copa America semi-final in North Carolina last year. Watch the incident here. 

Moments after their semi-final loss to Colombia, several Uruguay players–including Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, Atletico Madrid captain Jose Maria Gimenez, and Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo–entered the stands to confront the rival fans who had begun brawling next to the families of those players. In their appeal, the players claimed they were protecting their families in the stands. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected this argument, and the players will face between three and five game bans.

Uruguay is on track to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as Marcelo Bielsa’s side currently sits third in the 10-team South American qualifying group with four rounds remaining. See the table standings here.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> The Premier League has informed clubs that the summer transfer window will be moved forward to 7 PM, four hours earlier than usual (More)

> Rodrygo reportedly refused to play in the Clasico on the weekend and would like to leave Real Madrid (More)

> Sara Wiegman has named a 27-player England squad for their upcoming Nations League group stage matches against Portugal and Spain; Alex Greenwood, Georgia Stanway, and Lauren Hemp return (More)

> Ruben Amorim has paid for 30 of his Manchester United backroom staff to take their families to next week’s Europa League final after being told that they would have to pay for their own tickets (More) | Chelsea are prepared to pay the £5m penalty to send Jadon Sancho back to Manchester United (More)

> Rangers have reportedly made contact with Davide Ancelotti, Carlo’s son, to become their new head coach; there is currently no leading candidate (More)

Americas

> Lionel Messi will reveal his favourite goal on May 22, and an artist will turn it into a work of art to be auctioned off for charity (More)

> 15,000 Argentine fans have been classified as violent and banned from the Club World Cup in the U.S. next month (More) | River Plate secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Argentine Apertura tournament on Monday with a 3-0 home win over Barracas Central (More)

> Pachuca won its first Liga MX Femenil Apertura championship 3-2 on aggregate over Club America despite a 2-0 loss in the return leg (More)

> History will be made on Friday as the Pittsburgh Riveters will play their inaugural game in the USL W League (More)

Rest of the World

> Wrexham AFC will play three A-League clubs as part of a preseason friendly tour across Australia and New Zealand in July (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think play-offs are the fairest way to decide promotion?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👏 Yes... (62%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (35.5%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (2.5%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👏 D.P.W: “Fully understand clubs may bemoan this system if they finish third and are, say, 10 points clear of the fourth-placed team. However, this is rarely the case. If a team misses out on third-place promotion by a point, or even goal difference, then they are going to feel aggrieved after a long season. Overall, play-offs are probably the best system.”

• 👏 D.J: “Things like goal difference aren't that reliable as a measure of team ability. Playing a game is the best way to determine their level, so it makes sense that they should be playing their way to promotion.”

• 🙅‍♂️ J.L: “I do not believe in playoffs. Promotion should be based on points, period. Points reflect a team's performance over the entire season. Any team can beat any other team on any given day in a playoff game. It's not right for a team finishing 5th or 6th on points to get a shot at promotion by winning playoff games.”

• ✍️ T.A: “The Serie B model is a good compromise—a 14-point gap results in automatic promotion. Not as exciting though, is it?!"

EXTRA TIME

New USA kits nod to iconic throwback.

Hamburg’s stadium wrecked after the weekend’s pitch invasion.

Which PL clubs will qualify for the Champions League?

Meet FC United–the team born in a curry house.

Messi attracts a crowd from his hotel in Miami.

Why has this player printed their CV on their shirt?

The reason Napoli fans love Scott McTominay.

The best names in football.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Brighton’s Danny Welbeck has scored 10 goals in a single Premier League season for the very first time in his career. How many seasons did it take for the former Man Utd and Arsenal man to do so?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Coppa Italia, Final

• AC Milan vs Bologna (20:00)

La Liga

• Deportivo vs Valencia (18:00)

• Villarreal vs Leganes (18:00)

• Real Madrid vs Mallorca (20:30)

Scottish Premiership, Top Six / Bottom Six

• Rangers vs Dundee United (19:45)

• St Mirren vs Hibernian (19:45)

• Aberdeen vs Celtic (20:00)

• Dundee vs Ross County (19:45)

• Hearts vs St. Johnstone (19:45)

• Motherwell vs Kilmarnock (19:45)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

This is his 17th campaign. Credit: Opta.

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