Not by the Playbook

The business of football: How Manchester United fell behind their rivals on and off the pitch The decision to sack Mourinho didn’t just affect performance on the pitch but off it as well. So how do you balance the two? Dr Rob Wilson from Sheffield Hallam University explains why the club needs to change its structure, which could mean the end of Ed Woodward. Whilst, sport psychologist Michael Gerva...

Boxer Patricio Manuel reflects on his first professional win since transitioning.

After 62 years of recognising the best male footballer with the Ballon d’Or award, France Football honoured a female footballer for the first time this week. But the moment was over shadowed when the host Martin Solveig asked the inaugural winner Ada Hegerberg to twerk and overlooked her footballing achievements. We hear from Hegerberg and speak to Rebecca Smith, FIFA's former manager of Strategic...

Both Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury go into the fight unbeaten in their combined 67 professional bouts in a fight expected to be watched by millions across the US and the world. After a heated press conference, all the talk will be decided when the two men enter the ring in the early hours of Sunday morning. Could this fight really be the start of something special? How will Wilder fare in his bigg...

Davis Cup – Will the new changes signal the death of the event? Two-time winner Tomas Berdych believes so – It’s the world’s largest annual international team competition in sport. This weekend, The Davis Cup final is taking place in Lille between France and Croatia - it will be played for the final time in its current format in its 118 year history. So why is it changing? ITF president David Hagg...

Sportshour comes from Ghana, where the Women's Africa Cup of Nations begins on Saturday, to celebrate women's sport on the world's second largest continent. Sarah Mulkerrins is joined by Freda Prempeh (Chairperson of the Local Organizing Committee of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations), former Ghana player Adjoa Bayor, Vice President of the Normalisation Committee to run Ghana football, Lucy Quist...

After the United States imposed arguably the ‘toughest ever’ sanctions on Iran, American-Iranian football coach Katayoun Khosrowyar says the US and Iran’s increasingly unstable relationship could harm the future of women’s football in the country. Katayoun describes the two as having a ‘love-hate relationship’, and admits it’s painful to see two countries so close to her heart in conflict. We hear...

A week ago, Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five people killed when his helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from the King Power stadium. Nusara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and his partner, Izabela Roza Lechowicz, also died in the crash. Vichai's funeral will take place in the Thailand capital, Bangkok, on Saturday, whilst Leicester will play Card...

Softball is the third most popular collegiate sport in the United States, attracting thousands of fans to the ground as well as watching home on TV. But the professional league, the National Pro Fastpitch League is under financial pressure. Cheri Kempf is the league's commissioner and she says that more businesses should invest in the sport. Plus, Japanese broadcaster NHK has commissioned several...

Floyd Landis on his cannabis company and cycling team, football history is made in Jamaica and Madagascar and the rise of teqball.

Fifty years after making what became known as the “black power salute” at the Mexico Olympics, Tommie Smith tells us about the power of the protest and the impact it had on his later life. He also reflects on the struggle Colin Kaepernick has had since taking a knee at NFL matches – and President Donald Trump’s criticism of the quarterback. A former Washington Redskins cheerleader discusses the se...

Corine Remande is now blind in her right eye after being hit by a wayward golf ball struck by America’s Brooks Koepka during last weekend’s Ryder Cup. Remande says she could have died on the golf course and says she is taking legal action to improve safety for spectators. But how does Brooks Koepka feel? One golfer who knows is James Gordon – a Scotsman who, over 10 years ago, hit a wayward ball t...

As the 42nd Ryder Cup takes place in Paris, Caroline Barker, alongside former PGA President Roger Warren and LPGA tour professional Olafia Kristinsdottir, explores whether the competition should follow its junior edition and have teams made up of men and women. When their team folded and their last chance to put themselves in the shop window for next season was taken away, professional cyclists La...

The controversy that's dominated the sporting world this week - the decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency to reinstate Russia's anti-doping agency which could see their country's athletes once again competing in international sport. The agency - known as Rusada - has been suspended since 2015 over alleged state backed doping after it was accused of covering up drug abuse, most notably during th...

A new season and the most prominent player out of work is still making the headlines... Colin Kaepernick remains the most-talked about NFL player on the planet, despite having not thrown a football since New Year's Day 2017... The American football quarter-back controversially protested against racial injustice and police brutality, by first sitting and then kneeling during the US national anthem....

CRACKING DOWN ON FOOTBALL The civil unrest and government crackdowns in Nicaragua, which led to the cancellation of the CONCACAF Women's Under-17 Championship in the country is continuing to affect the sport in Nicaragua. In a country where almost 30 per cent of girls are pregnant before the age of 18, and around half never go to secondary school, Soccer Without borders helped to break certain nor...

A new season and the most prominent player out of work is still making the headlines... Colin Kaepernick remains the most-talked about NFL player on the planet, despite having not thrown a football since New Year's Day 2017... The American football quarter-back controversially protested against racial injustice and police brutality, by first sitting and then kneeling during the US national anthem....

Earlier this year, The International Association of Athletics Federations announced a new ruling that from November 2018 onwards, female athletes with naturally high testosterone levels who wanted to continue competing in female events (400m to the mile events) would have to take medication to reduce the hormone in their bodies - or race against men. Olympic and World 800m champion Caster Semenya...

The first rule of FightTube is you always talk about FightTube. On Saturday 25th August, two youtubers will box each other in front of thousands in Manchester Arena and millions watching online around the world on youtube. Sportshour has spoken to youtuber Elliot Hackney and independent media analyst Alex Degroote about how this will change the sport and the platform. On the same day, history coul...

Football's e-scout Becoming a professional footballer is a dream shared by many children across the globe, but very few ever see that ambition become a reality. Of the 1.5 million boys who play organised youth football in England, only around 180 make it to the top level playing in the Premier League. Well two football-mad Danes decided they wanted to change this. Peter Holm and Simon Hjaere creat...

Should sport and politics mix? Lebron James has been making the headlines - not just for the school opened this week partly funded by the basketballer's foundation. An interview was aired in which James was highly critical of the President of the United States, sparking a response from President Trump and a political debate on both sides. We also mark the start of the new English Premier League se...

As England's men's cricketers play their 1000th Test, we reflect on what national identity means for sports' fans in modern day multicultural society. How far have we come from the days of Lord Tebbit, the former Chairman of the British Conservative party, who wanted to test the loyalty of British Asians based on who they support in international cricket matches? Meet the man who decided to run th...

We're with a group of women who have spent the last there weeks riding the grueling Tour de France course one day in advance of the men. We join the Des Elles au Velo, as they ride for the last stage in the hope that next year there might be an official, complete and competitive Tour de France for women. Getting Hy at the Palace Hy Money has had a long and distinguished career as a sports photogra...

As the Women's Hockey World Cup begins we look at how the sport deals with concussion. Danish Donation: FC Nordsjælland join Common Goal FC Nordsjælland have made history by becoming the first club in the world to donate 1% of their match day revenue to charity, after beating Cliftonville FC in the Europa League. The charity in question is "Common Goal", which was set up by Manchester United star...

We look ahead to 2018's biggest sporting weekend with the finals of Wimbledon and the World Cup