Liverpool’s Babel out of Euro 2008

Scottish Clubs ready to step into Gretna’ Shoes

Germany come from behind to beat Serbia

David Beckham has been named England captain for Sunday’s friendly against Trinidad & Tobago. The 33-year-old will be making his 102nd start for his country. Fabio Capello has hinted that he will give some of the youngsters in the squad a chance.

Liverpool’s Ryan Babel has been ruled out of the Dutch squad for the Euro 2008 squad after suffering an ankle injury in training on Saturday, a replacement will be drafted into the squad.

Four Scottish clubs are waiting to apply for membership to the Scottish Football League should Gretna go out of business next week. Spartans, Annan Athletic, Preston Athletic and Cove Rangers are all preparing applications.

Germany came from one behind to beat Serbia 2-1 in their last warm-up before Euro 2008. The Germans went behind to a Bosko Jankovic goal in the 18th minute before second half goals from Oliver Neuville and Michael Ballack gave them the win.

Earnshaw completes Forest switch

Dutchman named new Saints Boss

Mancini Sacked after quitting

Ground switch for Rotherham

Striker Sebo completes Ibrox exit

City set for ‘home’ game at Deepdale

Derby snap up two Hornets

Forssell completes Hannover deal

Bostock has he or hasn’t he joined Tottenham

Frei breaks Swiss International scoring Record

Former Rangers winger Libor Sionko scored twice as the Czech Republic warmed up for Euro 2008 with a 3-1 victory over Scotland. Sionko, who made 18 league appearances at Ibrox before joining Copenhagen, opened the scoring on the hour mark. Michal Kadlec’s Czechs further ahead in the 84th minute before David Clarkson pulled one back on his debut a minute later before Sionko grabbed his second near the end of the game.

West Brom’s James Morrison, a former England youth winger, also made his long-awaited debut for a Scottish side depleted by injuries.

Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of Welsh internationalRobert Earnshaw from Derby County for £2.65m. Striker Earnshaw has signed a three-year contract at the City Ground.

Southampton have appointed ex-Holland international Jan Poortvliet as a replacement for manager Nigel Pearson. Poortvielt played at the 1978 World Cup and has won six titles as a manager in the Dutch lower divisions.

Roberto Mancini was sacked by Inter Milan after indicating he would quit after Liverpool knocked his club Inter Milan out of the Champions League in March. Mancini changed his mind the day after and led Inter to a third consecutive Serie A title but still got his marching orders from the Italian club.

The self titled ‘Special One’, Jose Mourinho, is set to take over the reigns at Inter.

Rotherham will play at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium after they were unable to agree a deal to remain at Millmoor. The Millers’ new owner Tony Stewart and stadium landlords, the Booth family, have been in talks for several weeks over the terms of the lease.

Rangers have sold striker Filip Sebo to Valenciennes for an undisclosed fee, believed to be close to £1m. The 24-year-old Slovakian spent last season on loan with the French side, scoring four goals in 32 league games. Sebo was signed on a four-year deal from Austria Vienna in 2006 by former Gers boss Paul Le Guen, but scored just twice in his time at Ibrox.

Derby manager Paul Jewell has snapped up Nathan Ellington and Jordan Stewart from Watford. Jewell signed Ellington when he was in charge of Wigan and he has now picked up the striker on a one-year loan deal which will then turn into a permanent move on a free transfer.

Mikael Forssell has left Birmingham and signed a three-year deal with Bundesliga side Hannover. The 27-year-old Finnish international striker’s current deal at St Andrews was scheduled to expire in June.

Manchester City could be set to play their UEFA Cup first qualifying round at Preston North End’s Deepdale ground. The Blues need an alternative venue to give their Eastlands pitch extra time to recover from summer events, including boxing and pop concerts. The tie will be staged on either July 17 or 31.

Confusion surrounds the future of teenage midfielder John Bostock after Crystal Palace denied they had reached agreement with Tottenham. Tottenham had announced that the 16-year-old would be making the move across London to join them, but Palace said on their website: “Contrary to reports, Crystal Palace would like to announce that no agreement has been reached. He is still registered with Crystal Palace Football Club.”

Alexander Frei scored two goals in Switzerland’s 3-0 win against Liechtenstein tonight breaking the Swiss international goalscoring record of 34. This record was held jointly by Xam Abegglen and Kubilay Türkyilmaz.

Fellow Euro 2008 hosts Austria hit five against Malta and Italy warmed up with a 3-1 win over Belgium.

Kevin Taylor

Seven rested by England for Trinidad Trip

Keane grabs Irish winner

Berger returns home to Sparta

Ten Cate follows Grant out of Stamford Bridge

Taylor confirmed as manager of Wycombe Wanderers

United unveil ‘Holy Trinity’ statue

Netherlands and Turkey warm up for Euro 2008

Fluminense hold Boca in the Copa Libertadores

Gretna will play in Scottish Division Three next season after the Scottish Football League relegated them two divisions.

The team who were relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season after going into administration could not guarantee they could fulfil next seasons fixtures at today’s League AGM and as a result they been moved down an additional two levels.

Gretna now have less than a week to escape expulsion from the League altogether as officials will not accept their continuing status as a club in administration. Airdrie United will move up to Division One and Stranraer get a place in Division Two.

The Republic of Ireland struck early at Craven Cottage to beat Colombia 1-0 in an international friendly tonight.

The Republic started brightly and Robbie Keane scored after 3 minutes to give Giovanni Trappotoni his first win in his second game in charge, and Ireland’s first win in eight games. Dean Kiely kept the Irish in the game with some great saves as Colombia controlled the game.

Seven of the England players that featured in the Champions League Final for Manchester United and Chelsea will not travel to the Port of Spain for the friendly on Sunday Evening.

Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Owen Hargreaves, Wes Brown, Wayne Rooney and last night’s captain John Terry will not make the journey while Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Bridge will still travel with the party.

Former Czech Republic international Patrik Berger has joined Sparta Praha from Aston Villa, 17 years after first leaving the club. The 34-year-old midfielder has signed a two-year deal with the 1. Liga runners-up, having begun his career with Sparta as a trainee before leaving for city rivals SK Slavia Praha in 1991.

Henk Ten Cate has been sacked as an assistant manager by Chelsea. The Dutchman arrived at Stamford Bridge in October to join Avram Grant’s backroom staff following the departure of Jose Mourinho.

Peter Taylor has been confirmed as the new manager of Wycombe Wanderers. The former Crystal Palace manager was always the firm favourite to take over the role vacated by Paul Lambert earlier this month. Taylor resigned from Blue Square Premier Side Stevenage a few weeks ago.

Forty years to the day after Manchester United lifted the European Cup for the first time a statue of three Manchester United legends has been unveiled outside the club’s Old Trafford ground. The artwork depicts United’s “Holy Trinity” of Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.

In other international friendlies the Netherlands drew 1-1 with Denmark, Ruud Van Nistelrooy scoring after 30 minutes before Christian Poulsen equalised in the second half. Turkey beat Finland 2-0 with Tuncay Sanli and Semih Senturk scoring.

Reigning Copa Libertadores holders Boca Juniors were held to a 2-2 draw by Fluminense in the first leg of their semi-final. Juan Riquelme scored twice for the Argentineans. While Thiago Silva and Thiago Neves replied for the Brazilian club.

Kevin Taylor

No 100th cap just yet for Donovan

West Brom make loan deals permanent

Thompson hangs up the boots

France leave out Cisse & Flamini

Guerreiro in final Poland squad

All level in first Copa Libertadores semi-final

England beat the United States at Wembley tonight with goals from captain John Terry in the 38th minute and Steven Gerrard in the 59th.

Joe Cole came on for England in the 77th minute to earn his 50th cap for his country.

Landon Donovan missed out on the chance of picking up his 100th cap at Wembley when he was ruled out with a groin injury.

West Brom have signed Luke Moore and Do-Heon Kim after both were on loan at the Hawthorns last year. Moore has joined for three million from Aston Villa while South Korean international Kim cost £550,000 from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma.

Leeds United club captain Alan Thompson has announced his retirement after 17 years as a professional. The 34-year-old moved to Elland Road in January 2007, making 26 appearances and scoring four goals. He was capped once by England, and also played for Newcastle, Bolton, Aston Villa and Celtic before joining Leeds.

French coach Raymond Domenech has left Marseille striker Djibril Cisse and AC Milan midfielder Mathieu Flamini out of his final 23-man squad for Euro 2008. St Etienne striker Bafetimbi Gomis gets the nod over the former Liverpool striker after scoring twice on his debut against Ecuador while Cisse was booed by fans during the game. Flamini, who left Arsenal to join Milan at the start of May, was also left out as Domenech trimmed his initial party.

Brazilian-born Roger Guerreiro who received a Polish passport in April, has made Poland’s final 23-man squad for Euro 2008. Grzegorz Bronowicki, Radoslaw Majewski and Radoslaw Matusiak were those left out when the squad was reduced from 26.

Mexico’s America drew with Liga Deportiva de Quito of Ecuador 1-1 in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores sem-final on Tuesday. The game was watched by a crowd of over 100,000.

Kevin Taylor

Bristol City release five including top scorer

Pique rejoins Barcelona

Capello makes Terry captain for United States game

FIFA set to back foreign player quota

England player numbers at new low

Euro 2008 favourites held to a draw

International Friendly Round-Up

Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan will pick up his 100th cap at Wembley if he is picked to play for USA against England on Wednesday night.

Donovan who is also the leading goalscorer in US international history with 35 goals will become the youngest American to reach the century at only twenty-six.

Donovan’s teammate David Beckham will also be presented with his 100th cap by Sir Bobby Charlton prior to the match.

Bristol City have released five players, including top goalscorer Darren Byfield, following their defeat in the Championship play-off final. Eight-goal Byfield, striker Enoch Showumni, midfielder Alex Russell and Martin Slocombe have been released while Tamas Vasko’s one-year loan deal from Ujpest has expired.

Manchester United’s Gerard Pique will rejoin Barcelona after the defender agreed a four-year deal at the Nou Camp. The 21-year-old joined United from Barcelona in 2004, but has never been a regular.

England manager Fabio Capello has named John Terry as the captain for the friendly international against USA. Terry follows Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard as captains as Capello looks for a regular skipper.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter expects his “six plus five” proposal on foreign players to be endorsed by the ruling body’s congress later this week. His plan would limit the number of foreign players in each team to five.

Blatter wants the rule in place by 2012 but said to today at Fifa’s annual conference, that the rules restricting the number of foreign players could start in the 2010/11 season, with a minimum of four home-grown players being required in each team.

In a very interesting survey compiled by the BBC in view of Blatter’s idea it has been found that only 34.1% of players who started matches in the premier league last season were English. (Only 170 of 498 players.)

The previous lowest number of English starters had been 179 in the 2002-03 season. It seems a World away from the days when Tottenham signed Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa after the 1978 World Cup.

Germany, who are the bookies favourites to win Euro 2008, were held to a 2-2 draw by Belarus after giving away a two goal half-time lead. Miroslav Klose had opened the scoring before a Korytko own goal doubled their lead but Bulyga put two past Jens Lehmann in the second half to give Belarus a share of the spoils.

Jan Koller scored twice as the Czech Republic beat Lithuania 2-0. Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria were held to a draw at home by Nigeria. Poland beat Albania 1-0 with Maciei Zurawski scoring in the 3rd minute. France beat Ecuador 2-0 with debutant Bafetimbi Gomis scoring twice on his debut after coming on as a substitute. Japan were held to a goalless draw by Paraguay but the result was good enough for the hosts to win the three-nation Kirin Cup.

Kevin Taylor

Beckham scores from 70 yards as LA Galaxy win

Four pull out of Scottish friendly with Czech Republic

Campo targeted by Premier New Boys

Iraq suspended by FIFA

Stockport County came back from behind to defeat their local rivals Rochdale at Wembley to gain promotion from League Two.

Rochdale took the lead through Rory McArdle before a Nathan Stanton own goal put the teams level at half-time. Goals from Anthony Pilkington and Liam Dickinson, his 21st of the season, gave Stockport a two goal cushion before Adam Rundle’s pulled one back to ensure a tight finish.

Rochdale are now condemned to their 35th successive season in the bottom tier of the Football League while Stockport finally won at Wembley after four previous defeats, all of which featured their manager Jim Gannon as a player.

David Beckham scored from 70 yards during LA Galaxy’s 3-1 victory against Kansas City. With Kansas ‘keeper Kevin Hartman racing back to his goal after going upfield for a corner, former England captain Beckham coolly slotted the ball into an empty net.

Scotland manager George Burley has lost four more players from his squad for Friday’s friendly against Czech Republic.

Tottenham full-back Alan Hutton, Birmingham striker James McFadden and Rangers duo Kevin Thomson and Steven Whittaker have all withdrawn from the trip to Prague through injury. Thomson and Whittaker were both in line to make their international debuts.

Premier new boys Hull City are ready to make Ivan Campo the club’s top earner.

Manager Phil Brown is looking to bring in players capable of keeping the Tigers in the Premiership and Campo who has been released by Bolton is high on the wanted list.

Fifa has suspended Iraq from international competition for a year after the Iraqi government disbanded their national football association. Iraq, the Asian champions, are due to play Australia in a World Cup qualifier in Brisbane on 1 June. Fifa say the suspension will be lifted if the decree is overturned by the Iraqi government by midnight on 29 May.

Kevin Taylor

Peterborough keeper called up by England

Benfica appoint Flores as coach

James Hayter’s second-half header secured Doncaster a place in the second tier of English football for the first time in over 50 years.

Promotion to the Championship is a remarkable feat for a club who were playing Conference football five years ago.

For Leeds, it is now a case of a second season in League One following a season clouded in controversy after they were deducted 15 points by the Football League.

Fabio Capello has called up Peterborough keeper Joe Lewis into the England squad after Chris Kirkland pulled out due to a back injury.

The 20-year-old became Peterborough’s record signing in January when he signed for £400,000 from Norwich. If Lewis makes his debut, he will join a small group of players including Johnny Byrne, Peter Taylor and Steve Bull who have played for England while plying their trade outside the top two divisions.

Benfica have ended their interest in Sven-Goran Eriksson and named Spaniard Quique Sanchez Flores as their coach for next season. Flores, 43, was sacked by Valencia in October following the team’s 3-0 defeat at Sevilla in the Primera Liga.

Kevin Taylor

Rangers end cup dream of Queen of the South

Grant sacked as Chelsea Boss

Holloway leaves Leicester

Late Equaliser saves Ireland’s blushes

Anfield Duo amongst scorers as Dutch triumph

Roma deny Inter the Italian double

International Round-up

Hull City will play in the top level of English football for the first time in their 104 year history next season after beating Bristol City 1-0 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley today.

A Dean Windass volley in the 38th minute was enough for Hull to become the 42nd different team to play in the Premier League. It was the Hull born thirty-nine year old’s 15th goal of the season and his 201st in English football and probably the most important of his career.

The first half lasted over 54 minutes because of a lengthy stoppage due to an injury for Bristol’s full-back Bradley Orr who received oxygen before being stretchered off with a suspected depressed fracture of the cheekbone.

Rangers playing their 68th game of a long season won their 32nd Scottish Cup final, their first in five years, by beating Queen of the South 3-2 at Hampden Park.

Rangers had taken a 2-0 lead through goals from Kris Boyd and DaMarcus Beasley before the first division team came back with goals from Stevie Tosh and Jim Thomson, but Boyd struck again to deny Queen of the South the chance to cause one of the biggest shocks in Scottish Cup history.

Despite reaching the Champions league final Chelsea have sacked manager Avram Grant after just eight months in charge. The decision followed two days of talks between Grant and the club’s chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Leicester City have confirmed that manager Ian Holloway has left the club by mutual consent. The Foxes were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history on the final day of last season. Holloway joined Leicester from fellow Championship outfit Plymouth Argyle in November 2007 but won just nine of his 32 games in charge.

An injury-time volley from substitute Andy Keogh saved Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni from tasting defeat in his first game in charge.

Marko Pantelic had fired Serbia ahead with 15 minutes left after a Paul McShane mistake.

The Republic are back in action on Thursday with a friendly against Colombia at Craven Cottage.

Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel were both on target as Holland beat Ukraine 3-0 in Rotterdam. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar the top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie scored the other.

Roma lifted the Coppa Italia for the second year running with victory over Serie A champions Internazionale on Saturday night.

Goals from Philippe Mexes and Simone Perrotta either side of half-time helped Roma make up for missing out on the title on the final day of the season. Pele pulled one back for Inter in the 60th minute, but Roma were not to be denied the glory in the third successive Italian cup final between the two teams.

A 31st minute goal by Robert Kovac was enough to see Croatia beat Moldova in a friendly international while Hungary beat Greece 3-2. Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland beat Slovakia 2-0 and Japan struggled to beat an understrength Ivory Coast 1-0, Nagoya striker Keiji Tamada volleyed home in the 21st minute.

Kevin Taylor

Derby’s Sterjovski scores Australia’s Winner

Russia hit Kazakhstan for Six

Owen out of England Friendlies

Arsenal granted Vela work permit

Davies ruled out of Wales games

FA expect friendly to go ahead

Fulham release eight after escaping relegation

Queen of the South aim to cause a major upset in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final against Rangers at Hampden by becoming the first team outside of the top level of Scottish Football to win the Scottish cup since East Fife 70 years ago. The First Division side from Dumfries are competing in their first-ever major final, while Rangers have lifted the trophy on 31 occasions.

Derby County’s Mile Sterjovski scored the goal that gave Australia a 1-0 win over Ghana in Sydney. Sterjovski was later red carded after being shown his second yellow card. The Australian team included Fulham’s new ‘keeper Mark Schwarzer and Harry Kewell, while West Ham’s John Panstil featured for Ghana.

Zenit St Petersburg’s Pavel Pogrebniak scored Russia’s opener from the penalty spot as they beat Kazakhstan 6-0 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Pogrebniak the top scorer in the UEFA cup this season missed the final against Rangers after picking up a booking in the semi-final.

Newcastle striker Michael Owen is likely to miss England’s forthcoming friendlies against United States and Trinidad & Tobago because of a virus.

Arsenal have been granted a work permit for teenage Mexico striker Carlos Vela. The 19-year-old, who has three full caps, has been on loan this season at Spanish club Osasuna, scoring three goals in 32 appearances.

Wales stand-in captain Simon Davies is out of next week’s friendlies with Iceland and the Netherlands due to an ankle injury. The Fulham midfielder has been Wales skipper in Craig Bellamy’s absence.

The Football Association fully expect England’s friendly against Trinidad and Tobago to go ahead next month, despite a dispute over use of the stadium on the Caribbean island.

Fulham have released Jari Litmanen, Carlos Bocanegra, Philippe Christanval, Simon Elliott, Ian Pearce, Michael Timlin, Ismael Ehui and Bjorn Runstrom following their escape from relegation. Paul Stalteri has also returned to Tottenham Hotspur following the end of his loan spell.

Kevin Taylor

Schwarzer signs for Fulham

Steele Seals Barnsley Move

Stoke release four before first premier season

Ticket sales suspended at Doncaster

Ivory Coast held by Paraguay

Celtic made it thirteen Scottish Premier titles when they beat Dundee United 1-0 at Tannadice while their near neighbours Rangers were beaten 2-0 by Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Celtic took the title by three points.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored the goal that gave Celtic their third title on the trot and their third under the management of Gordon Strachan. It is also the third time in five seasons that the title has been decided on the final day of the SPL and continued the dominance of Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Premier, the last team outside of Glasgow to win the title was Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen back in 1984-85 season.

At Pittodrie, Lee Miller and Darren Mackie scored the goals that beat the Ibrox team while Nacho Novo also got a straight red card and will miss the Scottish Cup Final against Queen of the South on Saturday.

In the other game tonight in the Scottish Premier Motherwell beat Hibernian 2-0.

Fulham have made Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer their first signing of the summer. The 35-year-old Australian has ended an 11-year career on Teesside by agreeing a two-year deal at Craven Cottage.

Luke Steele has today sealed a permanent move to Barnsley on a free transfer. The 23-year-old goalkeeper, who performed heroics in goal after joining on loan before the FA cup match against Liverpool has penned a one-year deal with the Championship club.

Stoke City have released four players ahead of their first season in the English top flight since 1985, skipper Dominic Matteo, Russell Hoult, Marlon Broomes and Robert Garrett have all left the Britannia Stadium following the club’s promotion.

Doncaster Rovers has closed its ticket office after being besieged by Leeds United fans looking for tickets to Sunday’s league one play-off final at Wembley.

The Ivory Coast and Paraguay battled out a 1-1 draw in an international friendly on Thursday in Japan. The game was part of the three-team Kirin Cup which also features Japan.

Kevin Taylor