Despite Wrexham’s slow start to the campaign, they have the same number of points now as they did at the same stage last term.
Parkinson’s team are bidding to respond to last weekend’s 2-0 loss at Blackburn Rovers when they return to action against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Friday (20:00 GMT).
The Blades fixture comes almost exactly five years on from the day co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac attended their first Wrexham match.
The Hollywood pair watched on as Parkinson’s side – then in the National League – were beaten 3-2 at Maidenhead United in October 2021.
Having masterminded three promotions and the club’s highest-ever league finish since being appointed in the summer of 2021, Parkinson stated that Wrexham’s upcoming opponents serve as a reminder of the immense progress made during his tenure.
“I think this week alone, it’s Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and Wolves – what a week for everyone connected with the club to look forward to,” he added.
“Five years ago, when Rob and Ryan came to Maidenhead away, that was an eventful game to say the least.
“It was a great introduction for them into the world of the National League. Then they came up at the weekend [for a draw with Torquay], which was a fantastic occasion for them to be at the Racecourse.”
Real Madrid and Barcelona offer messages of support following train crash as Spanish football orders Copa postponement.
Published On 28 Oct 202628 Oct 2026
Spain’s national football federation has postponed all 24 Copa del Rey games scheduled for Wednesday because of a train accident that killed at least 30 people in the country’s central region.
About 80 people were injured and the death toll could rise, authorities said, after a high-speed train slammed into the rear of another one that had stopped on the track.
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“Shocked by the tragic train accident,” the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said.
It said it ordered the postponement of the games “in solidarity with the victims”.
“The entire Spanish football community stands united in grief over this tragedy and has made itself available to the authorities to assist the victims of this devastating accident,” RFEF added.
It said it would later provide a revised tournament schedule. First-round games on Thursday have not been postponed. Games were played on Tuesday as well.
The Spanish league has not announced any postponements for the weekend’s games.
Among Wednesday’s games to be postponed were Navalcarnero against Real Betis, Salamanca against Celta Vigo and Tavernes against Valencia.
Several Spanish football clubs expressed their condolences and solidarity following the incident.
“The club wishes to convey its support and solidarity to the families and friends of the victims and to wish all those injured a speedy recovery,” FC Barcelona said on social media.
Real Madrid also offered condolences and in a statement said the club shared “in the grief of everyone impacted during these moments of profound sadness”.
Sevilla FC took a moment of silence ahead of their training on Wednesday and cancelled manager Luis Garcia Plaza’s press conference, which was scheduled for Wednesday ahead of their match against Sporting de Hortaleza.
British light-welterweight Adam Azim is set to face Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela at London’s Copper Box on 4 December.
Azim last fought in May when he stopped Steve Claggett in three rounds at Wembley Arena live on BBC Two.
The 24-year-old is undefeated in 15 professional fights, winning 12 by stoppage, while Mexico’s Valenzuela holds a record of 32 wins, five losses and one draw.
BBC Sport understands the bout will serve as an IBF title eliminator, with the winner in line to challenge for the belt in early 2027.
Azim, who made his professional debut in 2020, has won each of his last six fights by knockout.
Valenzuela has lost two previous world title eliminator fights against Subriel Matias and Lindolfo Delgado in 2025.
The 32-year-old has earned 18 of his 32 wins by stoppage, including a knockout win in his last fight in May.
One demerit point added to the Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf’s disciplinary record for conduct during ODI against England.
Published On 28 Oct 202628 Oct 2026
Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf has been reprimanded and fined 20 percent of his match fee for “displaying conduct contrary to the spirit of the game” against England, while the visitors were fined for a slow over-rate, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.
Rauf breached Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during Sunday’s One-Day International (ODI) tri-series match against England, which Pakistan unexpectedly won by one wicket thanks to batting heroics by Shadab Khan.
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The right-arm fast bowler breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “displaying conduct contrary to the spirit of the game”, according to the ICC.
One demerit point was also added to his disciplinary record, bringing the total to five, since this was his third offence within 24 months.
The incident occurred at the end of the 46th over of Pakistan’s innings, where Rauf appealed for a wide at the non-striker’s end before arguing with England all-rounder Will Jacks.
Per the ICC, Rauf raised his bat and continued the exchange with Jacks despite a warning from umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid. He then brushed past the umpire while walking towards Jacks.
Separately, England were fined 15 percent of their match fee for being three overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into account.
Players are fined 5 percent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl within the allowed time, according to Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
Rauf and England captain Harry Brook admitted their respective offences and accepted the sanctions proposed by Jeff Crowe of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. As a result, no formal hearings were required.
The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Rashid Riaz and Sharfuddoula, third umpire Wayne Knights and fourth umpire Nassir Hussain.
Pakistan are through to the two-series final, while England take on Sri Lanka on Thursday for a shot at redemption and a chance at making the final after being thrashed by the Lions last week.
To stage the largest Olympics in history, LA28 is looking toward the cosmos for inspiration.
The committee in charge of bringing the Games back to L.A. for the first time in 44 years announced its slogan for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games on Wednesday, hoping to rally athletes, volunteers and fans behind a simple call: “Stars align.”
“‘Stars align’ is when preparation meets opportunity,” LA28 chief marketing officer Alex Merchán said. “So together that creates something extraordinary, and that’s what we seek to do here.”
The slogan that will set the stage for the next 21 months developed organically within the organizing committee over several years, Merchán said. Only during the past 12 or 13 months did the team really start imagining ways to bring the phrase to life.
“Stars align” is a nod to the “stars in motion” emblem for the 1984 Olympics. It takes inspiration from the 50 stars on the U.S. flag. It speaks to L.A.’s Hollywood reputation.
But it also captures how the largest sporting event in history came to L.A. By the time the Olympics open on July 14, 2028, it will have been 11 years since the city won the original bid. More than a decade of planning and a lifetime of training for competitors align during the once-in-a-generation sporting event.
“Athletes commit so much and dedicate so much and sacrifice so much to get [to the Games] that we ground the idea in that effort, in that alignment,” Merchán said. “Alignment is teamwork, coordination, hard work and commitment.”
Along with the International Olympic Committee’s official motto of “Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together,” each organizing committee uses a slogan to share its vision for the Games. The 1984 Games in L.A. pioneered the marketing tactic with “Play a Part in History.” Those Games then turned into the most financially successful in history, relying largely on private sponsorship to produce a $235 million profit that has sponsored youth sports in L.A. for decades. Now official slogans are as ubiquitous as the Olympic rings when walking around the Games.
LA28 looked at translations of the slogan in the next 14 most-popular languages within the Olympic and Paralympic movement, finding equivalent messages. Some were exact translations. Others needed a different collection of words. The message always stayed the same.
“The simple idea of stars and constellations have, in recorded history, been a part of every group around the world,” Merchán said. “Every country, every tribe if you will, have looked upon stars as something filled with optimism.”
The Games return to L.A. at a high point. The popular Paris Games, which used the motto “Games wide open” to set the tone for a resurgent post-pandemic movement, reinvigorated the Olympics with international broadcast records and 12 million tickets sold across the Olympics and Paralympics.
LA28 is on pace to exceed some of those marks. With more than 6 million Olympic tickets already sold, the private organizing committee will open first-come, first-served Olympic ticket sales next year. Tickets for the first Paralympics in L.A. will go on sale in 2027. The Olympic torch relay will begin in spring 2028, uniting all 50 states en route to the opening ceremony. Wednesday’s slogan is only the starting point of LA28’s constellation of events, Merchán said.
“If we get this right,” Merchán said, “we like to think that we can bring the world together and connect people under this banner.”
A look at four of this week’s top football games in the Southland:
FRIDAY
Garfield (8-1) vs. Roosevelt (1-8) at East L.A. College, 7:30 p.m.
It’s rivalry week highlighted by the East L.A. Classic that annually draws the most fans for a regular-season game in Los Angeles. Garfield is heavily favored, led by running back Ceasar Reyes, who has gone past 2,000 yards rushing this season. Roosevelt was shut out last week by Bell, so the Rough Riders will need to improve fast. The pick: Garfield.
St. John Bosco (6-2) vs. Mater Dei (6-2) at Santa Ana Stadium, 7 p.m.
Second place in the Trinity League is on the line, along with a top-four seeding in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. Both teams have rising running backs, with Maliq Allen for St. John Bosco and Asir Nembhard for Mater Dei. Let’s see which team can deny the big play. The pick: St. John Bosco.
San Juan Hills (8-1) at Mission Viejo (7-1), 7 p.m.
This is the Alpha League championship game. Mission Viejo’s powerful offensive line allows the Diablos the option to pass or run. San Juan Hills’ defense got a shutout over San Clemente last week. The pick: Mission Viejo.
Bishop Amat (8-1) at Sierra Canyon (9-0), 7 p.m.
Bishop Amat has already taken a big leap in the second season for coach Kory Minor. But beating Sierra Canyon on its home field will be tough. Sierra Canyon’s ability to run the ball with Jaxsen Stokes is key. The pick: Sierra Canyon.
Scotland men emulated their female counterparts by opening the European Curling Championships with victory.
Grant Hardie’s rink triumphed 8-4 in Ostrava in the Czech Republic and face Belgium later on Wednesday.
The men picked up two at the opening end and three at the third to lead 5-1. The Dutch were 6-4 down after six ends but Scotland picked up two more at the seventh to see out the win.
Fay Henderson’s Scotland women began their campaign with a comprehensive 12-3 victory over Denmark.
They edged the opening two ends by single points before the Danes halved the deficit.
However, the Scots took control of their opening, surging into a five-point lead by the close of the fourth end.
Although Denmark scored two points in the fifth, Scotland ended the contest emphatically with a six-point haul in the sixth and final end.
Alonso is one of a number of managers who have become increasingly guarded when discussing team news in media conferences.
Last month, he said: “I prefer not to give more information than needed.”
On that occasion, his side went on to lose 3-0 at Brentford, having kept several injury concerns, including one involving Joao Pedro, under wraps.
Yet such is the popularity of Fantasy Premier League – a game played by more than 11 million people according to official figures – that many staff members, players and relatives of footballers also take part.
By identifying leagues or teams linked to players, staff or family members through the game, which provides an open database of participants, it can be possible to infer what is happening behind closed doors at various training grounds.
Leicester’s manager at the time, Brendan Rodgers, admitted he had heard about the issue before the match, while Villa boss Dean Smith reportedly banned figures inside the club from playing FPL after the 2-1 defeat.
There have been many further examples, claiming to suggest players from clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester and Newcastle made revelatory changes to their teams.
Often that information is widely shared on social media, but it is also known that some top FPL players will withhold information for smaller circles to gain a competitive advantage in the game itself.
BBC Sport was able to find accounts that trackers claim are linked to staff, players and family members at clubs across the Premier League.
One of the experts in finding these club-linked accounts is FPL Focal, who told BBC Sport: “I am sure there are many more that have not been found. I have noticed some players have started using aliases. I’ve also had a couple of requests over the years to remove accounts, which I have always respected.
“The FPL leaderboard is completely public, so it is straightforward to look players up. Verifying that an account genuinely belongs to a player takes a bit more time.”
The other memory Carney hopes proves ineradicable is the powerful feeling that accompanied carrying Sam onto Achill Island alongside team-mates Donnacha McHugh and Diarmuid O’Connor.
Carney has deep family roots on the island. His father and grandfather hail from there and both were present as Carney, McHugh and O’Connor – soundtracked by more than 100 bagpipers, including his father – carried the famous trophy across the Michael Davitt Bridge and onto the island.
Given his connection to Achill, the power and significance of the moment was not lost on Carney.
“According to my father and grandfather, that’s never happened before [bringing Sam Maguire on to the island], so I recognised the cultural importance of it – and you could feel it,” says Carney.
“That originally wasn’t on the calendar as a club until further down the line. The island empties when summer is over. People return to where they’re from originally, Dublin or Galway or wherever, and I really wanted to get the trophy down there while the island was vibrant and alive.
“My grandfather was the sergeant on Achill Island. My father grew up in the barracks and the GAA pitch was the back garden. They kind of claim me as half one of their own.”
Carney, whose two-point score launched Mayo’s All-Ireland final comeback against Kerry, added: “With no Achill player on the team, it was really important that both myself and Donnacha – both our fathers are from there – to get down there and show our appreciation for what they’ve done for us and our families.
“And Diarmuid O’Connor just has a sense of knowing when something will be good and when to be there.
“He came down with us and I’m delighted he was there because someone who didn’t really understand the weight of it all – when we were crossing the bridge, he could say he could just feel it, he said, ‘this is something different here’.”
Dundee United are emerging as one of the stories of the season as Jim Goodwin’s side continue to thrive following a radical change in style from their manager.
As a coach, and certainly as a player, expansive, continental-inspired football was never really something associated with Goodwin, a Scottish football veteran who has been part of the furniture for more than 16 years.
But the former Aberdeen and St Mirren boss has said he has taken inspiration from Jens Berthel Askou’s work at Motherwell last season to reshape himself, and his side are lighting up the league after overcoming a difficult start.
An exhilarating 3-2 victory over Aberdeen in chaotic weather at Tannadice extended United’s unbeaten run to five matches, moving them up to fourth.
Now they face the Premiership’s acid test: a trip to Celtic Park.
Goodwin has got the better of the champions in two of his past three encounters with them, but both of those victories came at Tannadice last season.
Staggeringly, Celtic are unbeaten in 51 home games against United in all competitions since a 1-0 league defeat in December 1992.
Goodwin will be wary of the way Martin O’Neill’s men dismantled a bold Hearts side at Parkhead last time out, but the reinvented Irishman is urging his players to embrace a trip to the venue where his life in the Scottish game began.
The surprising loss to Fleetwood, a team 84 places below Arsenal in the football pyramid, was made even worse by the fact that the Gunners’ under-21 team had beaten AFC Wimbledon, a side in a division higher than the hosts, on the same night in the EFL trophy.
The first incident of the match came with under two minutes on the clock when the game was stopped for more than eight minutes when a drown was flown above the pitch.
Perhaps Arsenal should have taken that as a warning.
Arteta named an experimental side and gave a debut to 18-year-old Ceadach O’Neill, started 17-year-old Marli Salmon at centre back, 16-year-old Dowman on the wing while goalkeepr Illan Meslier was making his first start for the club too.
But the Gunners boss surrounded that inexperience with seasoned internationals such as Jurrien Timber, Piero Hincapie, World Cup winner Martin Zubimendi, Champions League winner Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.
All of those players played a huge part in the Gunners winning the Premier League title last season.
However, even after introducing captain Martin Odegaard and £75m signing Bruno Guimaraes from the bench, Arsenal produced a poor performance.
“First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for going through the next round. The manner that they have done it, and for us a very sad day.” Arteta said of the result.
“There is nothing to criticise the players for their attitude, their application. The determination – you could see that was there from the start.
“Even with 10 men, we conceded a really poor goal to start with that gave them some momentum.”
The loss in this competition is not the Gunners’ first, but it does mean they have not won the League Cup for 33 years.
In 2012, Arsenal lost to League Two side Bradford City on penalties and they were also beaten by Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in 2015 at the same stage too.
With Dowman now suspended, Saka out for around six weeks, Tzolis working to return and Arteta revealing after the match that Madueke was unavailable with an injury, their options in the wide areas for the match with Liverpool on Sunday are looking slim.
CHICAGO — Wyatt Kaiser snapped a third-period tie, Spencer Knight made 25 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Samuel Helenius scored for the Kings in the finale of a 3-2-0 trip. The Kings’ Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots.
Chicago stopped a three-game slide while improving to 3-4-0 on a seven-game homestand. Roman Kantserov scored in the second, and the Blackhawks killed off a double-minor penalty on defenseman Sam Rinzel for high-sticking.
Kaiser picked up his first goal of the season at 7:17, beating Forsberg through the goaltender’s legs with a well-placed shot from the left circle. It was the 11th goal for the defenseman in 187 career games.
Kings captain Drew Doughty and forward Corey Perry were scratched after they played in Monday night’s 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers.
The Blackhawks played without defenseman Bowen Byram, who missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.
The Kings got off to a fast start. Jared Wright’s shot trickled past Knight, and Helenius poked it home at 2:31 for his first goal of the season.
The Kings carried their 1-0 lead deep into the second period. But Joel Armia was whistled for tripping at 14:26 and interference at 16:29, and Connor Bedard set up Kantserov for the rookie’s team-high fifth goal at 16:40.
The Blackhawks improved to four for 38 (10.5%) on the power play in 12 games. They converted 16.9% of their chances last season, ranking 29th in the NHL.
As questions swirl this week about his future at USC and his potential fit elsewhere, Lincoln Riley didn’t mince words about where he wants to be coaching when asked Tuesday.
“I love it here,” the fifth-year coach said.
“Listen if I didn’t want to be at this place, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. If I didn’t want to be at this place, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to leave. This is where I want to be. This is the right place for me. I’m the right person to be here. And that’s as honest and transparent as I can be with you guys.”
Whether Riley will actually have a say in that decision remains to be seen. After falling 24-7 to Wisconsin in one of the worst defeats of Riley’s tenure on Saturday, USC can’t afford another loss this season if it hopes to make the College Football Playoff for the first time.
Lincoln Riley says he’s “the right person to be [at USC].”
“Listen, if I didn’t want to be at this place, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. If I didn’t want to be at this place, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to leave.
That was the bar all parties at USC appeared to agree on ahead of Riley’s fifth season with the program. The coach himself said in August that expectations should be “through the roof.”
“We do expect to make the playoff,” USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen said in May. “We do expect to have a championship run. We do expect to be competing for championships every single year. I think that’s what’s awesome about USC, is that that’s what we all expect of it.”
That looks unlikely now, with three of USC’s final four games coming against top-10 teams, beginning with No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. It has led to speculation that USC is bound for a breakup with its football coach.
But when asked about Cohen on Tuesday, Riley heaped praise on the athletic director. He said they had “an incredible working relationship.”
“She’s a tremendous AD,” Riley said. “Even though she’s not the AD I came here with, and I’m not the head coach she hired, [we have a] fantastic relationship. She’s been a huge part of the progress that we’ve made and has been incredibly supportive.”
It’s unclear how long Riley will hold on to that support if USC’s season starts to slip away. A person familiar with discussions around the coach’s future told The Times after USC’s loss to Oregon that “all options are on the table” with Riley. The trajectory of the Trojans’ season has turned downward since.
That’s led to further speculation that Riley and USC could potentially agree to a mutual parting of ways after this season. And that Riley could land at a program like Baylor, which just fired its coach.
Riley still has six years remaining on his contract at USC, according to a person familiar with the deal, due to an automatic one-year extension he accrued after the Trojans earned a New Year’s Six bowl bid in 2022. Buying Riley out of his deal would mean forking over upwards of $70 million, plus more for his assistants.
If Riley were to find another landing spot, though, it would allow the Trojans to offset the otherwise astronomical cost of his departure.
USC coach Lincoln Riley talks with quarterback Jayden Maiava during the team’s win at Penn Sate on Oct. 10.
(Barry Reeger / Associated Press)
Riley said Tuesday that was nowhere near his mind.
“Like I told you guys a lot of times, there’s not a lot of people in college football history that gave up what I gave up to come here,” Riley said. “I came here because this is where I want to be. I came here because I believe in this place. And none of that has changed whatsoever.”
The question is whether USC still believes in Riley.
Inside the locker room, at least, there seems to be no doubt whether Riley should be USC’s coach.
“I know he’s the right guy,” said left tackle Elijah Paige. “I believe there’s not a better leader in the country.”
“He’s the greatest coach I’ve been around,” added freshman wideout Trent Mosley. “We’re all right there with him.”
The Colorado Buffaloes coach told reporters on Tuesday that he actually would not be willing pay them or any of their colleagues to refrain from covering him, despite what a close associate of his said during a livestream days earlier.
“Oh, no, no, no. I think you misinterpreted that,” Sanders said. “That was a joke. That’s what we were saying, like, some people live on your name.”
YouTube host and documentary maker Christopher Neely brought up the topic on Saturday during a livestream on “Thee Pregame Network.” A longtime videographer for Sanders, Neely mentioned that some members of the media seem to thrive off of negative coverage of Sanders, nicknamed Coach Prime.
“For the most part, the people that attack him wouldn’t be making the money they were making if he wasn’t here to attack,” Neely said, “which is why he told some of them, ‘Hey man, let’s just do this. I’ll give you $50,000 to not mention my name for a year.’ And ain’t nobody took the deal yet.”
Neely added: “You love talking about this man so much, and you make so much talking about this man that you turn the deal down. That’s what we’re dealing with.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Neely addressed the matter on “TMR Live,” the daily livestream he co-hosts with BiggDogg Chico. Neely clarified that Sanders made the so-called offer while joking around on the show in May and hadn’t actually floated the idea to actual media members.
“This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek, joking example to prove a point that there’s so many people who are negative toward us and they’re making so much money being negative toward us that even if I offered them what they were making or more, they still wouldn’t stop,” said Neely, who played the clip of a smiling Sanders making the comment in the spring.
“All I did this weekend on like October 26 was say, ‘Hey, by the way, ain’t nobody still reached out to Coach Prime and say, ‘Hey, give me that 50, I’ll stop talking about you.’ And then what do they do? [They said] ‘Neely says Coach Prime’s feelings are hurt and he wants to pay people to not talk about him.’”
Neely added: “He was clearly playing. Do you think this man with all he’s worth and been through and been talked about since he first caught a ball that he would literally pay somebody in Colorado to stop talking about him? He’s got better ways to blow $50,000.”
Although amused by the notion, Sanders made it clear that reporters aren’t going to get a dime from him.
“I would never offer a man money not to say — I don’t give a darn what you say about me,” Sanders said. “That was really a joke about someone who is prospering off of your name and your brand but they don’t like you.”
A two-time Super Bowl champion, one-time NFL defensive player of the year and a 2011 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Sanders became Colorado’s head coach in 2023. Since then, the Buffaloes have gone 18-26, including a 9-4 effort from a 2024 roster that including his son Shedeur Sanders, who is now with the Cleveland Browns, and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, now with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The team is 2-5 and 0-4 in the Big 12 Conference this year. It hosts conference foe Kansas State (4-3, 1-3) on Saturday.
If you need permission to watch “The Permission” — a.k.a. Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream — try to keep her team’s WNBA championship dreams alive, Flavor Flav’s got you covered.
The rapper issued signed permission slips Tuesday on social media for everyone to be excused from work on Thursday to watch Game 6 of the WNBA Finals. The next matchup in the best-of-seven championship series between the Dream and the Golden State Valkyries is set to tip off at 9:30 a.m. Pacific that day, when many people would be at work.
“Thursday is a paid holiday. Because Flavor Flav said so,” Flav, whose name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., declared on Instagram and Threads. “Everyone should be able to watch Women’s Sports.”
The document, which includes a blank space for fans to fill in their own names, urges bosses to “go ahead and approve that day off” for the “very important” Game 6 of the WNBA Finals.
“You support women’s sports, RIGHT?!” the self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Hype Man” wrote in the note. “Consider it your contribution to gender equality.”
The Valkyries clinched Game 5 at home at the Chase Center on Monday night 64-55 to move within one game of the team’s first-ever WNBA title. The Bay Area expansion team, led by head coach Natalie Nakase and known for its emphasis on defense, is just in its second season.
Flav’s note echoes the message Valkyries stars Veronica Burton and Kiah Stokes sent after Monday’s win to encourage their fans to tune in to Game 6.
“Call in sick,” Burton said. “I recommend it.”
“Y’all know how to fake a cough,” Stokes added.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also shared a statement Tuesday on Threads asking employers and educators to “show a little love and extend a little grace” to those who may be cheering the Dream on during their school or work hours.
“Lean into the historic moment, embrace the excitement and let Atlanta show up for Atlanta,” he wrote.
The WNBA announced Monday that Game 6 would be played at State Farm Arena in Atlanta with the earlier start time. The game was originally scheduled for 5 p.m. Pacific but was rescheduled so it could be played in the larger arena. Games 3 and 4 of the series were also moved to the larger venue.
The Dream normally play at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena at College Park. State Farm Arena, which can seat around 17,000 for basketball games, will host all Dream home games starting in the 2027 season.
The matinee timing of Game 6 is because of Atlanta’s NBA team, the Hawks, also being scheduled to play at State Farm Arena on Thursday. The team will face the Cleveland Cavaliers for a regular-season matchup at 5 p.m. Pacific.
“Thank you for your cooperation and for doing the right thing,” Flav wrote.
No one in Angel City history has played in more games or worn the captain’s armband more often than Sarah Gorden. So it’s unlikely any player has enjoyed this season, Angel City’s fifth in the NWSL, more than her.
With Saturday’s 2-0 win over Bay FC, the team extended its franchise record for wins (14) and points (49) with one game to play. It has averaged more goals scored (1.7) and fewer goals allowed (1.07) than any team in franchise history, has the best goal differential (plus-19) in the league and has qualified for the postseason for just the second time.
If Angel City (14-8-7) beats Boston in its regular-season finale Sunday, it could play host to a playoff game for the first time. For Gorden, none of that success is surprising. What is surprising is that it took so long to achieve.
“Did I think we’d get here? Yeah,” she said. “I always felt like we take two steps forward, one step back. Maybe two steps forward, three steps back. But I always felt like strategically, at some point, the right pieces would be here and we’d be doing the right things at the right time.
“The backing was always there, the passion was always there, the vision was always there. For a long time it was just about getting the right pieces together.”
That was the part that took a bit of trial and error, with the team going through 64 players, five coaches, three general managers/sporting directors and two controlling ownership groups since its founding. And Gorden, who became the second player in team history when she was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Red Stars in December 2021 — five months before Angel City’s first game — has been with the team for all of it.
Gorden missed Angel City’s inaugural season after tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament in preseason training. But she’s missed just three games and four starts since then, which gives her a unique take on the team’s journey, from losing records in three of its first four seasons to the possibility of hosting a playoff game.
“This is my job and my life,” said Gorden, 34, who is finishing her 11th NWSL season. “If I’m not believing in the plan and the vision of what the people ahead of me are saying, then I wouldn’t be able to put my heart and my passion into it.
“Maybe blind faith, maybe not. But you have to believe or how are you going to continue to grow?”
Angel City finally found its stride this summer when it fired manager Alexander Straus and replaced him with assistant Leif Gunnar Smerud. Under the interim coach, Angel City has lost just twice in 18 matches and is unbeaten since Aug. 26. Smerud, however, declines to take credit for the turnaround.
“A lot of players have stepped up,” he said. “It’s the details. It’s part[ly] how we organize, especially in the defensive part.”
Since Smerud took over, Angel City keeper Angelina Anderson has had eight shutouts and given up just a goal five other times — a hot streak that coincides with the July hiring of goalkeeper coach Louis Hunt.
“We managed to build momentum,” Smerud continued. “If we can sustain that, we have proven we are not easy to beat. I don’t think a lot of teams want to play us.”
Smerud, 49, had a 12-year playing career in Norway that included 24 appearances for the country’s youth national teams before he turned to coaching, where he lost more often than he won before taking over for Straus. But his biggest strength as a manager isn’t something he learned on the soccer field. It’s something he learned in school, where he earned a psychology degree.
“The mental part of the game is big,” said Smerud, who has a license to practice psychology as well as a UEFA Pro coaching license. “I’m a big believer in building a culture, building a mentality in a group, and we have done quite a bit of work on that.
“How do you compete in training? How do you prepare? How do you get that calmness and that focus that you need in the key moments? So of course that informs a lot of my decision-making and the work I do.”
That philosophy fits in well with Angel City, which, under sporting director Mark Parsons and majority owners Willow Bay and Bob Iger, has expanded its support staff to include a psychologist and a mental performance coach.
Angel City’s Sveindis Jonsdottir passes during a match against Portland at BMO Stadium in April.
(Jessie Alcheh / Getty Images)
It’s also been helpful that the league’s youngest team has gotten nine goals each from Sveindis Jónsdottir, 25, and Maiara Niehues, 22, and eight assists from Evelyn Shores, 21.
Everything resets going into the postseason, however. But if Angel City manages at least a draw with Boston on Sunday, it will enter those playoffs riding a franchise-best 10-game unbeaten streak; no other NWSL team has been as hot over the past two months.
Moreover, if Angel City wins and Kansas City does not win its finale in Louisville, Angel City would jump to fourth in the table, earning the right to open the playoffs at home. One win in the postseason would mark another franchise record while two would get Angel City into the NWSL Championship at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
But wherever the playoffs end, it’s likely to be a bittersweet finish for Gorden and Smerud. Both will see their Angel City contracts expire when the season does, and both appear ready, if not eager, to move on.
“This has been, of all my experiences in 11 years, my favorite locker room by far,” Gorden said. “But the job is bigger than just the locker room and you have to be where you’re valued and people want you and people see you for the future.
“Wherever that is for me, I’m still figuring it out.”
“The focus was on doing the job now and then take it from there,” added Smerud, whose family remains in Norway. “I was asked to do a job and my focus has been on doing that. And then I’ll take it from there.
“It’s not really for me to answer.”
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“Having a target on your back means that you’re worried about what someone else is going to do,” she added. “That’s an outcome-based [way of] thinking, and we have to be obsessed with our process, obsessed with our standards.”
As the Bruins prepare to open the season at Pauley Pavilion against Lehigh on Monday, they are focused on getting better every day and following the championship-level process the program established. It’s not their job to worry about what others think about them, forward Sienna Betts said.
“I don’t really care what the media has to say or whatever,” Betts said. “It really is just a matter of what is in these four walls and what we know we’re putting into practice every day.”
UCLA forward Sienna Betts shoots under pressure from Texas’ Breya Cunningham at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas, on Sunday.
(Scott Wachter / Getty Images)
While the Bruins are maintaining the same championship standards as last year, the group tasked with meeting them looks considerably different than last season.
UCLA will begin the 2026-27 season with five players returning from the championship team, Betts being one of them. None of the returning players were starters, with the top six performers getting selected in the 2026 WNBA draft. The rest of this season’s Bruins consists of seven newcomers, including two freshmen and five transfers.
“We’re not trying to repeat an outcome, we’re repeating a process,” Betts said. “We’re our own group and I don’t think it’s fair to put the weight of last year on this group.”
Close’s roster includes the No. 5 transfer portal class in the nation, according to ESPN. The group includes Donovyn Hunter, who transferred from TCU and described the process of transferring as uncomfortable. She also said adjusting to a new system is difficult.
“We’re going to mess up, we’re going to make mistakes, we’re not going to get it on the first try, but knowing that there’s a coach that’s behind you, that knows you’re going to get to that level has been the most important thing for all of those transfers and the freshmen,” Hunter said.
Three of the five transfers are international players learning English, including Elina Aarnisalo, who returned to Westwood after spending a season at North Carolina.
UCLA guard Donovyn Hunter drives to the basket in front of Texas’ Breya Cunningham in Cedar Park, Texas, on Sunday.
(Scott Wachter / Getty Images)
“We spent a lot of time together … so that’s helped us on court and obviously practicing every day,” Aarnisalo said. “… Even though there might be a language barrier, sometimes we’re just spending time together and learning [from] each other so that relationship part comes pretty naturally for all of us.”
Regardless of the language barriers, Betts said building the team’s chemistry is a good start and a work in progress as they enter the start of the season.
“I think our connection on the court, it’s really showing and we’re still just learning how to play with each other. … It takes time,” she said. “The team last year, they were playing with each other for four years and over.”
Even with the added pressure that comes with last year’s championship run, Aarnisalo isn’t worried about the expectations. She’s enjoying the kind of media attention the Bruins are getting.
She’s happy the returning players were able to lift the trophy last year and says the exposure that goes with it is an opportunity to show off the newly reloaded UCLA team.
“We’re making our own process out of this,” she said. “Obviously, the standards are the same, like it’s championship standards, but it’s completely new people, new personalities. [We’re] just trying to create our own storyline for this year.”
Quinn brings new perspective to UCLA
Breeze coach Noelle Quinn directs players during an Unrivaled game against the Laces on Feb. 27 in Medley, Fla.
(Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)
After spending 12 years as a professional player and six years coaching in the WNBA, Noelle Quinn has returned to Westwood. She is a two-time WNBA champion, winning a title as a player and a coach.
“I have not been able to find anyone else that has won a conference championship in college, a WNBA championship as a player and as a coach,” Close said. “You don’t think when she talks, they listen?”
The fourth overall pick in the 2007 WNBA draft has had an influence among the UCLA coaches, with Close noting associate head coach Tony Newnan told Quinn during a staff meeting that she was making him a better coach.
On the court, Quinn’s defensive expertise is creating an environment that has helped Bonnie Deas get excited about playing defense.
“I love defense and she brings so much energy to our defensive side of the game,” Deas said. “She’s so switched on with our scout and film, she makes defense really, really exciting.”
Betts describes her defensive presence as calming.
“I love the way she just talks and the way she talks about defense and just the game,” she said. “She brings such warmth to this gym.”
Hundreds of people gathered outside the London Palladium to try to get a glimpse of the biggest stars in football on the red carpet. A security perimeter of metal fencing and barricades had been erected to try to keep those without a ticket out.
But the BBC Sport team witnessed those barriers being scaled, broken and ripped down and several people being evicted by security after making their way through.
The atmosphere at times was tense, with footage on social media appearing to show fans clashing with security and police.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told BBC Sport that officers were requested to help “after concerns were raised about crowd behaviour and the potential for a breach of the peace”.
“A Section 35 dispersal order was authorised at 19:49 GMT and was in place until 04:00 on Tuesday, 27 October,” a statement read.
“Officers cleared the crowd, who began throwing scaffolding clips and bricks towards police. No officers were injured.
“Later in the evening, officers dealt with a relatively small number of individuals who had climbed a neighbouring building.”
It added that two arrests were made – one for breaching the dispersal order and another for affray and violent disorder.
England’s preparations have also been affected by the Prem schedule, with players involved in Sunday’s fixtures having less time for full squad training.
“We had a session today really that was affected obviously by the fact that we had a Sunday game in Prem Rugby,” Borthwick explained.
“Fortunately, we don’t have any Sunday games this coming week in Prem Rugby, which I’m pleased about.
“So that should allow players to be recovered in a proper run into the Test match.”
Borthwick acknowledged the challenge of balancing club and international commitments, but said playing at the weekend could benefit England.
“They’ll go back and play the rugby and in so many ways that will be a positive for us for next weekend,” he said.
“The players are match fit at club level, playing regularly at club level, and as long as they don’t get injured, then they’re all available for selection next week, then that will be positive.
“I’d say on one side, I think it’s a real strength of English rugby that the players have such great loyalty and passion for their clubs as we saw very evidently in this last round with the derbies that went on.
“They are team-mates and best of mates the next day for a couple of days [with England] and then they go back to being rivals again until they come back into camp next week.”
Borthwick also identified the breakdown as an area where England need to adapt to the demands of international rugby.
He pointed to the recent European fixtures, in which English clubs collectively lost more of their own breakdown ball and won less opposition breakdown ball than teams from other competing nations.
“Part of my job is identify those bits of where I need to bridge from where the players are in Prem rugby to where they are in Test rugby,” he said.
“The level of competition [at the breakdown] is at a different level in Test rugby.”
