Boyfriend of woman in rape claim ‘scuffled with footballer’ Jonny Evans

Detectives are investigating allegations that the Manchester United footballer Jonny Evans was involved in a scuffle with the boyfriend of the 26-year-old woman who claims to have been raped.

Police have been told that the incident took place in the early hours at the players’ drunken Christmas party at the Great John Street Hotel in Manchester.

It has emerged that it was the boyfriend who raised the alarm, dialling 999, to tell officers that his girlfriend had been attacked in one of the hotel’s 30 guest bedrooms.

Mr Evans, 19, a promising Northern Ireland international, spent the night in police cells. He was questioned yesterday morning by detectives before being released on bail. Earlier more than a dozen forensic science investigators returned to the hotel.

As female officers specialising in sexual offences questioned the alleged victim, guests told how the atmosphere soured in the early hours on the heady mixture of “testosterone, booze and Barry White”. They described how waitresses kept the pink champagne flowing, serving dozens of scantily clad young women, some so drunk that they were falling over.

One described how the hedonistic atmosphere changed in the early hours as a “lot of people became very drunk, boisterous and out of control”.

It was reported last night that Manchester United’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has banned Christmas parties following the rape claim.

Sir Alex gave a green light to the team’s party this year but was said to be “seething” in the wake of the allegations surrounding the behaviour of some of those who attended.

A source at the club was reported as saying: “As far as Sir Alex is concerned the sort of night they had on Monday will be a thing of the past.”

Mr Evans was questioned at Greymare Lane police station before being released soon after 2pm. He left by the rear entrance as Maurice Watkins, the club solicitor, emerged from the front door and drove away in a silver Mini.

The woman involved, believed to be a 26-year-old barmaid from Oxfordshire, has been examined at the St Mary’s sexual assault referral unit in central Manchester and later gave her account to a female officer.

A woman detective, who asked not to be identified, said: “At the moment she is being treated as a complainant in a rape allegation. Police are concerned about rumours of approaches by the media and the girl’s anonymity may be compromised. We are intent on maintaining her anonymity as we would any alleged victims of a sexual offence.”

Wives and girlfriends were not invited on the 15-hour drinking marathon, which began with Christmas lunch and ended in the company of “100 gorgeous girls” at the party at the hotel.

One guest, who asked not to be named, described the scene as a “pulling joint”. “It was a bit of a rough crowd. A lot of the guests were not the type you would normally associate with a United party. It seemed a lot of guys were looking for women, looking for sex. They were trying it on with different women — there was a lot of sexual banter going on. The girls were scantily dressed, not in their normal jeans, but in short skirts.

“A lot of women were falling over after a couple of drinks. By 3am to 4am you could sense a lot of sexual situations were going to take place.”

There were also several scuffles on the dancefloor but these were dismissed as drunken males simply being “loud and mouthy”. There have been suggestions that the girls were handpicked by a small number of trusted women close to the players. Most appeared to have been recruited from the Manchester club scene.

“A lot of girls appeared to have been picked because they knew somebody who knew somebody,” one guest said. “A lot of the girls I have seen around the Sugar Lounge or Living Room, basically in the scene.”

The Nemesis model agency and its rival, Boss Model Management, are often associated with providing glamour at celebrity events. Managements of both companies appeared anxious to distance themselves from the party.

Louise Cliffe, a former Miss Manchester, said that she had been dragged to the party with her agent, Angela De Fouw, and the singer Darren Clinton, who had enterained the players over lunch. She said: “We all had a great time and danced our socks off but for myself and Angela the party was short-lived as we left at 11.30pm.”

Mr Evans lives in Sale, near Manchester, with his parents, Dawn and Thomas, and brother Corry, 17, in a double-fronted, Victorian-styledetached house. Mrs Evans said: “Jonny won’t be making any comment. We have nothing to say. We are aware of what is in the newspapers.”

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of rape on Tuesday evening after presenting himself to police. He has been bailed until February 23 pending further inquiries.”

reference: http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Arsene Wenger’s conveyor belt of talent shows no sign of slowing down

If Arsène Wenger continues to enliven dark winter nights by parading his ever-growing band of talented youngsters, the Football League should consider changing the name of its knockout competition to the Arsenal Exhibition Tournament because for the past few seasons it has been exactly that.

Ever since a youthful Robin van Persie inspired his even less experienced teammates to a surprising run to the semi-finals two years ago, Arsenal have dominated the Carling Cup in terms of entertainment and storylines, even if they have not lifted the trophy.

The audacious way in which Arsenal’s young players took the game to Chelsea in the first half of last season’s final in Cardiff provided one of the spectacles of 2007 and Wenger is confident that they can go one step farther during this campaign by winning the only domestic competition to have eluded him.

The club’s remarkable strength in depth is shown by only four of last season’s finalists being in the team who beat Blackburn Rovers in such style on Tuesday evening, with Justin Hoyte, Abou Diaby, Armand Traoré and Denilson staying with the mid-weekers while others have graduated to the first team. With an average age of 20 years and 6 months, Arsenal appear to be following the example of policemen by getting younger and younger.

Wenger claimed to be unsurprised by his players’ performance and believes that they are all capable of playing in the Barclays Premier League, a view rival managers may be increasingly eager to exploit by taking them on loan. If even the shell-shocked Mark Hughes, whose fondness for all things Arsenal runs at the same level as that of his mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson, compares the shooting starlets to the famous Manchester United youth team of 1992, they must be something special.

Even more remarkable is that the latest batch of graduates of Liam Brady’s vaunted academy contains a smattering of Englishmen. Mark Randall, 18, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, made his full debut at Ewood Park in front of Hoyte, and Kieran Gibbs was introduced on the left wing during extra time, Hoyte’s younger brother, Gavin, remained on the substitutes’ bench.

The Hoytes hope to become only the fourth pair of brothers to play together for Arsenal, following in the footsteps of the legendary Denis and Leslie Compton, and they possess the pedigree for sporting success because their parents are former sprinters. A right back, Gavin’s route to the first team is blocked by his elder brother, although he can also play at centre back and is considered to be the more talented, presenting an interesting case study in sibling rivalry.

With 80 minutes on the pitch and an intimate involvement in the visiting team’s opening goal, Randall made the biggest impact of the young English lions in Blackburn, although Gibbs is thought of equally highly. The 18-year-old is most comfortable in central midfield, but his pace and versatility have led him to be called a “little Giggs” by Wenger and he demonstrated why in creating a goal for Eduardo da Silva in Arsenal’s 3-0 win away to Sheffield United in the previous round.

For all Arsenal’s worldwide scouting network, Gibbs demonstrates that the club also pay attention to players closer to home because he was acquired from Wimbledon when their academy relocated to Milton Keynes, along with James Dunne and Abu Ogogo, his fellow reserve players.

Of the imports, Lukasz Fabianski, the goalkeeper, is the closest to a first-team call-up, with Wenger regarding the 23-year-old Poland player as the long-term successor to Jens Lehmann, although Fran Mérida is perhaps the most highly rated. The 17-year-old is known at the club as the new Cesc Fàbregas because, like his fellow Spaniard, he left Barcelona’s academy as a teenager to sign a professional contract at Arsenal, shining in the reserves last season before making his first-team debut in the Carling Cup third-round win over Newcastle United.

Fàbregas made his debut as a 16-year-old at the same stage of the competition in a 1-1 draw against Rotherham United in 2003 and has spent the intervening years establishing himself as one of the best midfield players in Britain. If any of his successors turn out to be half as good, Wenger will be more than satisfied.

Young guns

Tuesday night Fabianski J Hoyte Senderos Song Traoré Randall Diaby Denilson Diarra Eduardo Bendtner Subs Mannone G Hoyte Barazite Gibbs Mérida

2007 Final Almunia J Hoyte Touré Senderos Traoré Walcott Fàbregas Denilson Diaby Aliadière Júlio Baptista Subs Poom Djourou Eboué Hleb Adebayor

source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Paul Jewell convinced Derby County can be his pride and joy

Bottom of the league at Christmas? Many a manager would be more likely to reach for the Prozac than ProZone, but Paul Jewell is intent on using the second half of this season to get Derby County up to speed and ready to fulfil their potential.

December may seem early to be talking about hitting the ground running next season, but as realistic as he is determined, the Derby manager is preparing to mount a promotion challenge even before he accepts relegation. If that is a paradox, this is a man who has reached his highs by avoiding the lows.

Jewell, after six months out of the game, was like a child at Christmas as he arrived for work at 8am yesterday. Since he succeeded Billy Davies three weeks ago, with Derby adrift at the foot of the Barclays Premier League, training has been brought forward by 90 minutes and he is introducing ProZone, the computerised tracking system, as he brings players in for one-on-one debriefing sessions after matches.

When he met Adam Pearson, his chairman, after training to plan their strategy for next month’s transfer window, there was no desire to mortgage the club’s future in a desperate bid to overhaul the eight-point deficit from safety. Intent on making six signings, to bolster a quiet dressing-room as much as anything, Jewell believes that the players are capable of achieving far more than they have shown since winning the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs in May.

That bittersweet Wembley triumph over West Bromwich Albion left Derby on the back foot in their belated attempted to compete in the elite transfer market and Davies, their own manager, wrote them off as Championship material. Jewell, who made his mark with late survival acts at Bradford City and Wigan Athletic, wants the club to get in early in the future. Imminent American investment may not save Derby from relegation this season, but it fuels Jewell’s conviction that a club regularly attracting 32,000 crowds can compete among the top eight of the Premier League.

“Of course it hurts me because I’m manager of a football club that’s going to be bottom of the league at Christmas and I don’t like that,” he said. “I had nothing to do with the first 14 [league] games, but I take responsibility now. To have six points in December, it’s going to take some massive turnaround. Am I going to get top- class internationals wanting to come here in January? No. I want five or six new faces, to freshen it up – I’m used to working amid a lot of noise and big characters at Wigan, I want it more vibrant – and to give this squad some help. Given the right backing, I believe we can attract top-quality players here. You only have to drive up to the gates here [at the palatial Moor Farm training headquarters] to see how impressive it is – I can’t wait to get to work every morning. My office is better than my house. The facilities are here, the history’s here, the support’s here; we just need to get it right on the pitch.

“I don’t want to be waving a white flag, but I’m also a realist. In the next two years, Derby County can be in the market for top-quality players. I’m not prone to outlandish predictions, but this club can establish itself in the top ten, the top eight of the Premier League.”

For all his achievements with Bradford and Wigan, Jewell’s previous experience at a historically big club ended in failure after only seven months in February 2001. “Sheffield Wednesday had just been relegated [from the top flight], but they were skint and most of the players didn’t want to be there,” Jewell said. “I’d just resigned from Bradford because Geoffrey Richmond [the chairman at the time] and I had come to the end of our tether and I thought beating Liverpool to stay up on the last day was a good time to leave. But the day I walked into Hillsborough, I knew I was up against it. Those seven months were absolute murder, but you need to go through difficult times to equip you for the good times.

“It’s a whole different ball game at Derby. I’m as excited as I have been in ages. I’ve given up the easy life – sitting on panels, making judgments on other people’s teams, maybe looking forward to Christmas with the family – and people outside the game said, ‘What are you doing?’ People in the game said, ‘Great move. Take the hits early on and in the long term, given the right backing, that could be a major club.”

source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Sol Campbell urges authorities to act over abuse of players

Sol Campbell has become progressively outspoken in recent months and yesterday he surprised listeners to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme by airing his views on what he considers the unacceptable level of abuse directed at players and managers by spectators.

The Portsmouth and England defender was the target of barracking by supporters of Tottenham Hotspur in the match at Fratton Park last weekend, as he is whenever he faces his former club. Tottenham fans have not forgiven Campbell, a former captain of the team, for joining Arsenal in 2001 and the vitriol has often taken the form of personal allegations about his private life.

After his experience on Saturday, he felt strongly enough to contact a programme that is hardly most people’s idea of a footballer’s early-morning listening, declaring that it is time for the authorities to act.

“I think it is out of hand now,” Campbell told Garry Richardson, the presenter. “We can all take the booing or light banter, but when it gets to the realms of verbal abuse, it’s a bridge too far. The FA, the PFA [Professional Footballers’ Association], even the Government should get involved. If this happened on the streets, you’d be arrested. This is a human rights situation, where professional sportsmen and managers want to do their job and people are abusing them verbally. I think it’s gone too far.”

Campbell suggested that the insults are as bad as racist chanting. “When it gets to that level of verbal abuse, there is no difference for me,” he said. “It’s harmful. They are trying to belittle you and it is downright out of order. The clubs should do something as well. Everyone should get involved.”

There was predictable delight on some Tottenham fan websites that a raw nerve had been touched and contributors on the BBC 606 site suggested that players should look at the way they behave towards match officials before complaining about their own treatment. Others believed that abuse comes with the territory for highly paid, high-profile footballers.

Campbell, though, was having none of it. “People say you’ve got to be immune to it, but I’m playing football and should not be subjected to that type of abuse,” he said. “It’s out of order now. People are letting it go by, not saying anything in the papers, clubs are doing nothing about it.

“I am an international player who has given his whole career to club and country and I think I deserve more than this. I know some people may be a little bit disgruntled at how I left certain clubs – or a club – and I totally understand that. But when you get to the level of personal abuse that I and other players are subjected to, it’s got to stop now.”

This is not the first time that Campbell, 33, has spoken out recently. In the summer he took Portsmouth to task for failing to invest more heavily in players last January and recently expressed dismay that Harry Redknapp, the manager, was considering selling players during next month’s transfer window.

However, this time he will have the support of Redknapp, who recently condemned supporters of Aston Villa for abuse aimed at him in the wake of his arrest as part of a police investigation into alleged illegal payments to players. Redknapp vehemently denies any wrongdoing. Ashley Cole, Campbell’s former Arsenal teammate, also received abuse on Sunday when he returned to the club for the first time as a Chelsea player.

Campbell plans to contact the Football Association, which he feels could take stronger action. “I think the FA has let down a few players up and down the league,” he said. “They have allowed this to continue, sat idle, head in the sand and tried to brush it under the carpet.”

The governing body responded quickly. “The FA works very closely with clubs and also with the Government in terms of pushing for legislation to clamp down on abusive, threatening or violent behaviour in football grounds,” it said. “But we have to be clear that on a match-by-match basis the responsibility lies with the individual clubs. When that behaviour goes into the realms of a criminal offence, then they must deal with it in conjunction with the police.”

reference: http://www.timesonline.co.uk

The top 50 stats of 2007

From the pattern that suggests Manchester United's dominance is about to end to the sharp decline in the number of wing backs, the past 12 months threw up some startling statistics. Bill Edgar has crunched the figures and chosen the best

50
Half of last season’s 16 FA Cup fourth-round ties and half of the eight fifth-round ties were played in London or its outskirts (ie, including Luton and Watford).

49
There were two Luton relegations last season: Luton Town from the Championship and Luton Shelton, of Sheffield United, from the Premier League.

48
Since June 1984, England have played 268 matches but none in South America.

47
When Iain Dowie became Coventry City manager in February, it was his third club beginning with a “C” in nine months. The others were Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic.

46
The Champions League featured the following scorelines this year: Manchester United 7, AS Roma 1; Arsenal 7, Slavia Prague 0; Liverpool 8, Besiktas 0. Yet in the three reverse fixtures, Arsenal drew and United and Liverpool lost.

45
Leicester City, Nottingham Forest and Notts County all lasted only one season on their most recent top-flight stay, and Derby County, their East Midlands' rivals, are likely to follow suit this season.

44
Excluding when Aston Villa beat their reserves-packed side in the League Cup in 1999, Manchester United are undefeated in 17 games at Villa Park – 13 away to Villa and four FA Cup semi-finals.

43
Of the 22 teams promoted to the Premier League (since its formation in 1992) who have survived beyond the first season, only four have done better in their second year. One finished in the same position and 17 were worse off.

42
Trevor Benjamin has played for 16 clubs since the turn of the Millennium: Cambridge United, Leicester City, Crystal Palace, Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion, Gillingham, Rushden & Diamonds, Brighton & Hove Albion, Northampton Town, Coventry City, Peterborough United, Watford, Swindon Town, Boston United, Walsall and Hereford United.

41
When England lost to Croatia at Wembley last month, it was the first England side (including substitutes) not to feature a Manchester United player in 115 games since they met Morocco in a friendly in May 1998.

40
In the past 35 seasons, Tottenham Hotspur have never finished closer than 13 points from the top of the table, even though there were only two points for a win in the first nine of those seasons (when gaps in the table, naturally, tended to be smaller).

39
Gary Speed, of Bolton Wanderers, is still playing in the Premier League at 38 and the other three members of Leeds United’s 1992 title-winning midfield also appeared in the top flight at an advanced age. Gordon Strachan played until 40 for Coventry City, Gary McAllister until 37 for Liverpool, and David Batty until 35 for Leeds.

38
There were 944 Premier League goals scored in 2006-07 – exactly the same as in the previous season. The rate of 2.48 goals per game was lower than every season in the top flight since 1973-74 – aside from 2.47 in 1987-88.

37
Aston Villa have conceded goals to Villa and Park – Ricky Villa, of Tottenham Hotspur, in 1981 and Park Ji-Sung, of Manchester United, in 2007.

36
Reading’s 6-0 win over West Ham United in January was the first time a newly promoted team had recorded a six-goal win in the Premier League since October 2001, when Blackburn Rovers won 7-1 against . . . West Ham.

35
There was a bigger crowd for Nottingham Forest v Cheltenham Town in Coca-Cola League One (22,640) on March 24 than at 13 of the 20 European Championship qualifying matches that day. All seven Conference attendances were bigger than for Faroe Isles v Ukraine (717).

34
In Reading’s first 11 league games this season, two of their players scored within eight seconds of emerging as a substitute and another was sent off 37 seconds after his arrival. Andre Bikey scored against Chelsea, Shane Long against Newcastle United and Dave Kitson was sent off against Manchester United.

33
Manchester United scored three goals in nine games in all competitions between May 2 to August 19. It was the first time they had scored fewer than eight goals in a nine-match stretch since 1992.

32
Last season was a good one to be docked points in Italy. In Serie A, Lazio (docked three points) and AC Milan (eight points) qualified for the Champions League, Fiorentina (15 points) made it to the Uefa Cup and Reggina (11 points) and Siena (one point) escaped relegation. In Serie B, Juventus (nine points) won the title.

31
Leeds United’s relegation from the Championship means that three of the eight stadiums to host matches at the 1996 European Championship have since staged third-tier football: Elland Road (Leeds), Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday) and the City Ground (Nottingham Forest).

30
Shaun Wright-Phillips became the fourth 5ft 6in Chelsea forward to play in an FA Cup Final in the past 13 years after Gianfranco Zola, John Spencer and Mark Stein.

29
Manchester United scored three times in eight minutes against AS Roma in the Champions League in April but they had produced faster trebles than that in three other competitions over the previous 14 months. They scored three in six minutes in the Carling Cup final against Wigan Athletic in 2006, three in four minutes against Fulham in the opening league game of last season and three in three minutes and 20 seconds against Reading in an FA Cup replay in February.

28
Danny Murphy’s move from Tottenham Hotspur to Fulham in the summer means six midfield players have played for both teams in the past four years. The others are Simon Davies, Michael Brown, Wayne Routledge, Steed Malbranque and Sean Davis.

27
March 15: Andres Palop, the Seville goalkeeper, scores against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Uefa Cup. March 16: Seville are drawn to play Tottenham Hotspur in the Uefa Cup. March 17: Paul Robinson, the Tottenham goalkeeper, scores against Watford.

26
Stuart Pearce’s last match as Manchester City manager produced the same outcome as his first. Pearce’s first game: Tottenham Hotspur 2, Manchester City 1, Premier League (March 19, 2005); last game: Tottenham Hotspur 2, Manchester City 1, Premier League (May 13, 2007).

25
Milton Keynes Dons (formerly Wimbledon) have met Bradford City in all four divisions since the turn of the Millennium.

24
The 26 goals scored at Stamford Bridge between late in the first half of Chelsea’s match against Macclesfield Town on January 6 and the end of the game against Norwich City on February 17 were all scored by Jose Mourinho’s side.

23
Sam Allardyce, the Newcastle United manager, and Sammy Lee, who replaced Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers, are the only Sams to have managed a top-flight club since Sammy Chung left Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1978.

22
Stephen and Alan Quinn, brothers and midfield colleagues at Sheffield United, spent only seven minutes together on the pitch in the Premier League last season despite totalling 35 league appearances. Stephen made 15 starts and Alan 11 starts and nine substitute appearances, yet only twice did they play in the same game. Alan came on for Stephen against Middlesbrough; and Alan played the final seven minutes, while Stephen stayed on, against Everton.

21
Derby County became only the second team in top-flight history to fail to score in their first eight away games, equalling the mark set by Everton in 1948-49.

20
Premier League clubs seem to have given up on wing back systems. In the 2001-02 season there were 132 instances of a team starting with three central defenders. Last season the figure was down to 15.

19
Are players demob happy on the last day of the season? The 15 completed seasons of the Premier League have produced an average of 2.61 goals per game, yet there have been 2.95 goals per game on the 15 final days of the season.

18
In the first seven days in October (a week taken at random), 93 hours of live football were televised on Sky Digital (counting the whole running time of programmes showing live matches) as were 297.5 hours of separate recorded football, or highlights, features or chat (repeats or full re-runs of matches already shown live are not included). To watch the total output of 390.5 hours of football, you would need two televisions running all day and all night throughout the week and a third to run for 54.5 hours. All this is not including Sky Sports News or football in news bulletins (eg on BBC, Sky News or CNN) or football accessed with a large dish that is intended for viewers in other countries.

17
Manchester City’s tally of ten home league goals last season was the smallest in league history in any division. The previous worst was by Woolwich Arsenal (1912-13 top division) and Sunderland (2002-03 top division), who both scored 11 home goals in a 38-game season. Even allowing for the fact that many divisions have featured 42 or 46-game seasons, City (who played in a 38-game season) still had the worst ever rate of home goals. The previous worst rate was Huddersfield Town’s 12 home goals scored in a 42-game season in the top division in 1971-72.

16
Alan Smith, 27, of Newcastle United, has received nine red and 78 yellow cards in his career. Alan Smith, the former Arsenal forward, was never sent off and booked once in his 13-year career.

15
Which team spent several months at the top of their league in the 2005-06 season only to finish bottom, and then, having been bottom of the table for the first few weeks of last season, they finished top? Answer: Juventus. They finished first in Serie A in 2005-06 but were subsequently placed last because of match-fixing and were thus relegated. Having also been given a nine-point penalty in Serie B for their crime, they began last season bottom of the table but proceeded to surge past all 21 divisional rivals.

14
Has Manchester United’s successful era come to an end? Liverpool have not been champions since winning the title ten times in 15 seasons between 1975-76 and 1989-90, a pattern that United have just matched almost exactly. In that 15-year period, Liverpool won the league in years 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 15. United have done so in years 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 15 (they missed out in year 13).

13
Paul Konchesky’s four-club career has taken him to North, South, East and West London. He moved from West Ham United (east) to Fulham (west) in the summer having previously played for Charlton Athletic (south) and Tottenham Hotspur (north).

12
When Manchester City sacked Stuart Peace as manager in May on the same day that Paul Jewell resigned from Wigan Athletic, it was the third time in six months that two neighbouring clubs had parted company with their manager on the same day. In November Brian Laws resigned as Scunthorpe United manager and Grimsby Town dismissed Graham Rodger. In April, Brentford sacked Scott Fitzgerald and Fulham dismissed Chris Coleman.

11
Seven players have appeared for Blackburn Rovers since 2000 having previously played in defence for Liverpool: Stephane Henchoz, Dominic Matteo, Markus Babbel, Stig-Inge Bjornebye, Steve Harkness, Jason McAteer (a wing back) and Stephen Warnock.

10
Three players scored a league hat-trick on March 31: Marek Saganowski for Southampton, Peter Crouch for Liverpool and Dean Windass for Hull City. That’s a Pole, a beanpole and (according to his critics) a roly-poly.

9
When Fulham met Portsmouth in October, the midfield featured an S Davis and S Davies for Fulham (Steven and Simon) and an S Davis who once played for Fulham but is now at Portsmouth (Sean).

8
Florent Malouda became the third midfield player to force a move to Chelsea by going on strike at his previous club. Malouda did so at Lyons, following the example of Michael Essien, also at Lyons, and Claude Makelele, at Real Madrid.

7
During the combined past 225 home games of the big four teams (Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal) against other Premier League clubs (ie, excluding matches between the big four) they have lost just four times – including league and cup matches. Of those four home defeats, three have been inflicted by West Ham United, two against Arsenal and one against United.

6
By finishing top of the Championship, Sunderland became the first league team since the war to win a division after losing their opening four league games. The previous highest was three defeats to start the season by Shrewsbury Town before winning the fourth tier in 1994 and by Ipswich Town before winning the third tier in 1957.

5
Between 1896 and 1996, only 12 teenagers played for England. Since then, 13 teenagers have done so: Micah Richards, Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon, Glen Johnson, Jermaine Jenas, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Gareth Barry, Jonathan Woodgate, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand and Phil Neville.

4
Once a big club, forever a big club, it seems. Of the nine clubs whose average league attendance was higher than 35,000 last season, eight were also in the top nine for attendances in the first season after the First World War (Manchester City were the exceptions, and they had the tenth-highest attendances that year) and eight were also in the top nine for attendances in the first season after the Second World War (Tottenham Hotspur were the exceptions, and they finished eleventh that year).

Top nine last season: 1 Manchester United, 2 Arsenal, 3 Newcastle United, 4 Liverpool, 5 Chelsea, 6 Manchester City, 7 Everton, 8 Tottenham Hotspur, 9 Aston Villa.

Top nine in 1919-20: 1 Chelsea, 2 Newcastle United, 3 Arsenal, 4 Tottenham Hotspur, 5 Aston Villa, 6 Everton, 7 Liverpool, 8 West Bromwich Albion, 9 Manchester United.

Top nine in 1946-47: 1 Newcastle United, 2 Liverpool, 3 Chelsea, 4 Manchester United, 5 Wolverhampton Wanderers, 6 Arsenal, 7 Everton, 8 Manchester City, 9 Aston Villa.

3
The meeting between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur last month was the first top-flight match to feature a Lennon against a McCartney. Aaron Lennon (Tottenham right winger) and George McCartney (West Ham left back) were in direct opposition.

2
As of last April, Dario Gradi, then the manager of Crewe Alexandra, had spent longer in charge of the club (23 years, 11 months) than the combined tenures of the other 23 managers in League One (23 years, six months).

1
It was no surprise when Scott Parker moved to West Ham United in the summer, given the similar paths he has taken to Lee Bowyer, his new team-mate. Both are London-born midfield players who have gained only brief recognition by England; both began their careers at Charlton Athletic and later played for Newcastle United before joining West Ham. And both played keepy-uppy in McDonald’s as teenagers: Parker with a football in an advert and Bowyer with some chairs, for which he was fined £4,500.

reference: http://www.timesonline.co.uk