GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, July. 23 - UEFA opposes the proposed changes to VAR and penalty shootouts, the NHS will offer free tickets to combat depression, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, Semi-Final: Spain vs. Germany, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Germany have not lost in any of their previous eight matches with Spain (W5, D3), including a 1-0 victory in the bronze medal match at the 2024 Olympics. They’ve also progressed from nine of their 10 semi-final ties at the Women’s Euro. Spain remain the favourite in the fixture, having won 12 of their previous 13 matches in all competitions, scoring at least three goals in 10 of those victories. The winner of this tie will play England in the final on Sunday. Read the full match report here.
TV Channels: BBC / ITV (UK) | FOX Sports (US) | TSN (Canada)
Results…
Women’s Euro 2025: England 2-1 Italy AET (Report)
UEFA Qualifying, 2nd Round: (See Results)
TOP TALKING POINTS
UEFA Opposes VAR Changes
UEFA reportedly opposes any measures to widen VAR’s powers to intervene in corner kicks and second yellow cards. The International FA Board (Ifab), football’s lawmaking body, is considering extending VAR’s powers (see previous write-up), but Uefa believes this would increase delays, negating any benefit from the extra interventions. It is also opposed to plans that would scrap rebounds on penalties, whereby the ball would be declared “dead” if the goalkeeper saves the penalty or it strikes the post or crossbar.
The European governing body was unhappy that Ifab approved changes to the laws of the game in March without consulting them. The most notable enforced change is that a goalkeeper now concedes a corner instead of an indirect free-kick for holding on to the ball for longer than eight seconds. The rule was applied for the first time at the Club World Cup–watch here.
Uefa is required to take on Ifab’s law changes. Changes approved at Ifab’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), which will next take place in March 2026, are binding and come into effect globally. While some rules can be subject to interpretation by different bodies, such as the interpretation of handball, the proposed VAR and penalty changes would not allow for that.
Doctors to Prescribe Football
Football tickets are set to be prescribed free by the National Health Service, England’s publicly funded healthcare system, as a treatment for depression. Patients in Gloucestershire will be given the chance to attend games at National League side Forest Green Rovers, and if the pilot scheme works, it could be extended across Britain.
The proposal follows suggestions by Labour MP Dr Simon Opher, who has previously championed NHS-sanctioned comedy nights and gardening to help improve mental wellbeing. Dr Opher claims that 80% of patients prescribed social activities instead of drugs continue with them after their ‘course’ runs out. Participants will also be offered the opportunity to play five-a-side or walking football for people over 50 with mental health conditions.
Forest Green owner Dale Vince, who made the club fully vegan and carbon-neutral, has agreed to donate the tickets for free for the trial. Yesterday, the club released the “world’s first” fully vegan kit, which will be worn for two seasons to reduce waste and prevent fans from needing to buy a new shirt every year–see the kits here.
NWSL Expansion Reveals Name
Denver’s NWSL expansion franchise will be known as Denver Summit FC, following a fan survey that generated more than 15,000 votes. The club’s origins trace back to 2023, when the grassroots movement “For Denver FC” formed with the singular goal of bringing a professional women’s football team to the city. The 16th franchise will begin play in 2026 along with fellow newcomer Boston Legacy FC.
The club has also released its crest, which depicts green mountains—sloped at a 26-degree angle to mark the team’s inaugural year. See the crest here. The crest was created by Matthew Wolff, who is responsible for designing numerous football identities across the U.S., as well as Jordan x PSG and Nigeria national team’s iconic 2018 look—see Wolff’s work here.
Two other teams share similar names, but the NWSL club said it has collaborated with Colorado Summit, an ultimate frisbee franchise in Denver, which plans to rebrand ahead of the 2026 season. There’s also a long-established LGBTQ+ flag football club, founded in 2007, named Denver Summit, which the NWSL club says will coexist, with potential for community crossover.
POLL
Do you think Marcus Rashford will succeed at Barcelona?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Arsenal are on the verge of signing striker Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP in a deal worth £54.8m (More); dive deeper into Gyokeres’ play-style (More) | Granit Xhaka has told Bayer Leverkusen that he wants to join newly promoted Premier League side Sunderland (More)
> Barcelona have reportedly signed Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United; not confirmed at the time of writing (More)
> Crystal Palace have submitted an appeal against their demotion from Europa League with the Court of Arbitration for Sport; decision expected on or before August 11 (More) | Premier League clubs could stop taking the knee next season amid growing division among anti-racism campaigners over the merits of the gesture (More)
> Joey Jones, the former Welsh player who won two European Cups with Liverpool and was dubbed “Mr Wrexham”, has died aged 70 (More)
Americas
> The MLS All‑Star match takes place today (July 23) at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas—marking the first professional MLS All‑Star Game ever hosted in Austin. Kick off is at 21:00 ET / 18:00 PT / 02:00 BST (Match Preview); Last minute tickets (More)
> Barcelona women will take on the top players of Liga MX Femenil in the inaugural All-Star Game in Monterrey next month (More)
> Keylor Navas, former Real Madrid goalkeeper, is set to join UNAM Pumas in Liga MX after a six-month stint in Argentina with Newell’s Old Boys (More)
Rest of the World
> Mateo Retegui, top scorer in Italy's Serie A last season, has joined Saudi Pro League club Al Qadsiah from Atalanta (More)
> Newcastle United legend Nolberto Solano has been appointed as head coach of Pakistan’s senior and under-23 teams (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think a football regulator is a good thing for the game?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (60%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (36%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (4%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 K.P: “Yes, some of the club owners are witless individuals who expect a massive return in finances. Just look at how Sheffield Wednesday are now! Other clubs have been run into the ground and nearly, if not, obliterated. I hope common sense prevails in all decisions.”
👍 D.J: “One of the biggest complaints fans have is money in the game, like how some clubs seem to be able to get around FFP rules, for example. The regulator should (hopefully) help with this, as well as other common issues fans have with the game such as transparent ownership and fan engagement.”
🙅♂️ D.B: “I struggle to come up with many positive results when government and sports mix, particularly in the UK. Like any market, financial winners and losers should be free to succeed and fail. Such dynamism made English football what it is.”
EXTRA TIME
Every transfer in Europe’s top five leagues. (live tracker)
Amateur team showboats for two minutes before scoring the winner.
Will Barcelona be able to register Rashford?
The top 10 home kits for the next season.
… and fashion-forward Venezia’s home kit has been leaked.
Ted Lasso season 4 is officially in production. (first look and cast)
Crystal Palace ultras deliver fake money to Uefa.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Nine managers have taken charge of a club for more than 250 Premier League games. Who are they?
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
UEFA Women’s Euro, Semi-Final
Germany vs. Spain (20:00)
MLS All-Star
MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars (02:00)
*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Arsene Wenger, Arsenal: 828. Alex Ferguson, Manchester United: 810. David Moyes, Everton: 446. Pep Guardiola, Manchester City: 342. Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool: 334. Joe Kinnear, Wimbledon: 278. Harry Redknapp, West Ham United: 269. Alan Curbishley, Charlton Athletic: 266. Sean Dyche, Burnley: 258. Credit: The Athletic.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
There are another six, seven, eight clubs in the [Premier] League that have the right ingredients to win.
