UK government commits £3m to St George’s Park

Jeremy Hunt, the UK’s Culture Secretary, announced earlier today that the government will be investing in the National Football Centre at St George’s Park to the tune of a cool £3m. By “the government” he means you, of course, but as tax-paying goes a nice big investment in SGP seems like a worthwhile one to me.

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John Terry out of Netherlands friendly through injury

And so it goes on. With John Terry’s international future still in the balance, Stuart Pearce’s selection or non-selection of the dethroned captain would have provided a big clue as to whether Terry could expect to be named for UEFA Euro 2012. But the Chelsea captain hasn’t played since his side’s FA Cup win over Queens Park Rangers on January 28th, and is now not expected to return to action for nearly another two months after aggravating his knee injury.

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You’ve Only Got One Cap: Lee Hendrie v Czech Republic, 1998

Lee Hendrie is a puzzling man. During a lengthy career at Aston Villa, the Birmingham-born midfielder fulfilled many roles, beginning as a thrilling young prospect before becoming a solid Premier League player. He was briefly excellent but was then quickly found wanting, and despite being a popular figure among large sections of the Villa support there were few that mourned his departure after more than a decade at the club.

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England Links: a bunch of Harry Redknapp stuff, really

After a frantic week of scandal, machinations and new horizons, it’s all gone a little quiet this week in the world of managerless England.

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Football v Homophobia: there’s only one winner

The issue of homophobia in football hit the news pages again recently thanks to Amal Fashanu’s BBC Three documentary ‘Britain’s Gay Footballers’, in which Amal, the daughter of John and neice of Justin, investigated the game’s continuing problem with homophobia. Although the show was far from revelatory, it at least produced worthwhile interviews with Matt Lucas and Joey Barton, and it brought the issue to an audience outside the campaigners and football geeks who already have a working knowledge of the situation.

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