At tonight’s League Managers Association Awards in Nottingham, Everton’s David Moyes was honoured for the third time with the prestigious LMA Manager of the Year Award. The award, sponsored by Barclays, was voted by managers from the top four leagues in England and it comes on top of the same accolade for Moyes in 2003 and 2005. He is the only manager to win the award three times.

LMA Chairman, Howard Wilkinson, said: “Since joining Everton, David has not only transformed the club’s fortunes, he has also created a huge fan base, including many of his fellow managers. With only modest financial backing, he has shown what can be achieved through discipline, dedication and an innate ability to get the best out of every player.”

Sir Alex Ferguson CBE, who was in Rome preparing for Manchester United’s UEFA Champions League final with F.C. Barcelona, scooped two awards, including one which celebrates his phenomenal success over the last 12 months. He earned the LMA Special Merit Award as recognition for winning the European Champions League Final in 2007/08 and reaching his second consecutive final this year, winning the FA Community Shield, the FIFA Club World Cup Final, the League Cup and his 11th Barclays Premier League title - his 18th title overall and the second occasion he has won the title three times consecutively.

Unsurprisingly, Sir Alex was also voted Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year by the Barclays Panel.

Richard Bevan, Chief Executive of the LMA, said: “Not only is Sir Alex one of football’s most successful managers ever, he is arguably one of team sports greatest managers. Throughout an incredibly long career, which of course continues to go from strength to strength, he has employed great skill and determination which has generated massive success for Manchester United.

“What might not be so obvious is that Sir Alex has for a long time played an influential role behind the scenes. He is a passionate advocate for the rights of managers at all levels in the game and continues to make a vitally important contribution to the work of the League Managers Association. He has been an LMA Committee member since it was formed in 1992.

“Over the years he has also reached out to younger and less experienced managers around the country, often providing both words of advice and practical support. This enormous empathy for others in the game is what helps mark him out as one of football’s most special people.”

The full list of awards, presented by Terry Venables, former England Manager and former LMA President, is as follows:

LMA Manager of the Year sponsored by Barclays - David Moyes
LMA Special Merit Award sponsored by Barclays - Sir Alex Ferguson CBE
LMA Service to Football Award sponsored by Coca-Cola - Graham Turner

Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year - Sir Alex Ferguson CBE

Coca-Cola Football League Championship Manager of the Year - Mick McCarthy

Coca-Cola Football League One Manager of the Year - Darren Ferguson

Coca-Cola Football League Two Manager of the Year - Paul Tisdale

Hall of Fame 1000 Club inductees - Steve Coppell and Graham Turner

The Hall of Fame 1000 Club recognises football managers who have reached the milestone of 1,000 competitive league and cup matches at the helm.

On Wednesday, 20th May, Shakhtar Donetsk became the first team from the Ukraine to win the UEFA Cup when they beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in the final after extra-time.
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Three of the last five UEFA Cup Finals have been won by clubs from the former Soviet Union.

In 2005, CSKA Moskow were the first club from Russia to claim the UEFA Cup before Zenit Saint Petersburg won another UEFA Cup for Russia in 2008.

Officially, it is also Ukraine?s first ever European trophy.? However, Ukrainian club side Dynamo Kyiv won the Cup Winners? Cup in 1975 and 1986 whilst representing the Soviet Union

Middlesbrough’s 3-1 defeat at rivals Newcastle on Monday (11th May) not only saw them staring the Premiership trapdoor full in the face but also set a club record for consecutive away losses in the top flight.

It was Boro’s 11th consecutive match away from the Riverside, they last gained a point on the road in the Premier league on the 16th November 2008, when they drew with Everton, 1-1.

Their previous club record in the English top flight was ten losses between December 1910 and September 1911.

They still have a long way to go to break the all-time record of losing consecutive away matches in the top flight though, the record, suprisingly, is held by Liverpool, who lost twenty consecutive games away from Anfield between March 1953 and January 1954.

Birmingham City earned promotion to the Premier League following a 2-1 win away at Reading on Sunday and in doing so it was the 13th time a team has managed to bounce back into the league at the first attempt following relegation the previous season.

Next season Birmingham will embark on their third spell in the Premier League.

It is the 12th time that Birmingham have been promoted to the top flight on the English league, overtaking Manchester City and Leicester City who have been promoted 11 times each.

Barcelona all but sealed La Liga on Saturday when they beat bitter rivals Real Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu they also reached the hundred goal with their sixth goal a feat that has only been achieved three times in Spanish top flight history.

Barcelona have four games to score eight goals to beat the all time Spanish record currently held by Real Madrid who scored 107 goals in the 1989-90 season.

Barcelona have socred 100 times on one other occasion when they scored 102 goals in 1996-97 and still ended up in second place in the league.

Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs has been named Player of the Year by his fellow professionals. He is the oldest player to win this award, breaking the record set by former teammate Teddy Sheringham in 2000/2001.

Eight different Manchester United players have now won this award, all in the last 20 years. Two of them, Mark Hughes and Cristiano Ronaldo, have won it twice.

Giggs, who could play his 800th official game for Manchester United against Arsenal this Wednesday, is the third Welsh player to win the award following Ian Rush and Mark Hughes.

While all British fans eyes seemed to be on Howard Webb after the controversial penalty he awarded to Manchester United in the game against Tottenham on Saturday, over in Spain Bernardino Gonzalez Vazquez got himself into the record books on Sunday (26th April)) when he handed out a staggering eighteen cards in the La Liga match between Athletic Bilbao and Racing Santander.

This is the most cards given out in the Premier division of Spanish football in the last decade.

Five players were sent off in the game, which is the second highest off all time in Spanish top flight history, topped on by the six players sent of Espanyol-Barcelona game on 13th December 2003.

Southampton have been effectively relegated after being docked 10 points by the Football League.

The ruling comes after Saints’ parent company went into administration, though the club and administrators say they expect to launch an appeal.

Four points off safety with two games to go, Saints will lose 10 points if they stay up in the Championship.

And if they do not avoid finishing in the bottom three then the points penalty will take effect next season.

The proposal to create a two-tier English Premier League could be discussed at the league’s Annual General Meeting in June.

Chairmen from England’s top-flight met on Thursday but BBC Scotland has learned Bolton chairman Phil Gartside’s proposal was not formally discussed.

If Gartside’s plan goes through, it could pave the way for Celtic and Rangers to play in England.

European football’s governing body UEFA say they would not oppose such a move.

Roy Keane has been appointed manager of Championship side Ipswich Town.

The 37-year-old signed a two-year contract following the dismissal of Jim Magilton on Wednesday.

Keane has been out of work since December when he resigned as Sunderland manager, having taken the club from the Championship to the Premier League.