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A BBC investigation finds Birmingham council tops the list with a 500% increase between 2022 and 2023.

City demand £7m loan fee for England midfielder West Ham looking for compromise on price West Ham are pushing to complete a loan deal for Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips and are hopeful of signing the midfielder this week. David Moyes has long been an admirer of Phillips and there is growing confidence that an agreement will be reached to take the City outcast to the London Stadium. However an agreement has not been reached and the deal depends on City’s budging on their demands. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/jan/22/west-ham-hope-to-snap-up-manchester-citys-kalvin-phillips-on-loan-deal

Delays and a lack of communication from the tax authority are holding back new businesses, a group says.

Travelling supporters vent their anger and frustration against owner Dai Yongge during League One defeat at Wigan “I’m Reading ‘til I die,” came the chant at kick-off from the away end, although many fear that the club will be the first to require a lengthy eulogy if Dai Yongge continues his ­lamentable ownership. The Royals are in crisis and 90 minutes of football at least brings some normality to the supporters from Berkshire who made the trek up to Wigan, even if the match ended in a 1-0 defeat. Wigan fans know the pain of poor ownership, starting the season with an eight-point deduction after previous owners Phoenix Ltd failed to pay wages on time on five separate occasions in a season that concluded with relegation from the Championship alongside Reading. The Latics were served with a winding up petition in June relating to an unpaid tax bill and placed under a transfer embargo but a takeover from local billionaire Mike Danson has put Wigan back on firm ground after paying off o

The two Premier League clubs hoped that signing gifted young players from South America does not become a trend among their rivals For scouts from most Premier League clubs, the Under-17 World Cup at the end of last year was an opportunity to see some of the best young players on the planet in the flesh for the first time. But for a select few such as Brighton and Manchester City, who have been quick to take advantage of football’s increasingly global pool of emerging talent, the tournament in Indonesia was more about crossing fingers and hoping their secrets remained under wraps. “Whenever a player travels to an international tournament, their clubs understand that there will be a lot of foreign clubs watching them live and that always pushes up the interest,” says Matías Lipman, who works as an intermediary for South American players. “They give them a lot of visibility and the local clubs know it.” Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/foo

Gradišar scores as Slovenia beat United States 1-0 in friendly Twenty-four players make international debuts in match Nejc Gradišar scored in the 26th minute of his international debut following an American giveaway, and Slovenia extended the United States’ winless streak against European opponents to six with a 1-0 victory in a friendly on Saturday in San Antonio between nations missing top players. Twenty-four players made international debuts, including 13 Slovenians. Seven of the 11 American debutants were starters, tying the Americans’ most since modern records began in 1990. Continue reading... from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/jan/20/usmnt-slovenia-friendly-match-report