The play and the call!

This is lovely, on football fandom and friendships: six groups talk about how they met at the game and what it's led to

Joey Barton found guilty on six counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety

Welsh rugby is overstretched, underfunded and falling apart again. And the only unifying factor is a lack of trust in the WRU to sort the game out

Thomas Tuchel is planning to recall Jude Bellingham in his England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania

Joe Cole: ‘Anything which generates the money you get in football means the parasites come.’ Interview with @donmcrae.bsky.social on being portrayed as spoilt at 16, Max Dowman’s future, his admiration for Mikel Arteta, and a big dream of managing England

Good luck to everyone involved!

The no-look knighting, always risky

🏖️Here’s this week’s cartoon for @sport.theguardian.com 🍦 www.theguardian.com/football/pic...

'The event is about 50% social and 50% people actually wanting to play chess … It’s a nice way to decompress, which doesn’t involve going to a club to see other people my age'

Mary Earps tells @donmcrae.bsky.social the full story behind her England international retirement, her problems with eating and alcohol, and why she’d struggle on The Traitors

Mary Earps on Sarina Wiegman, Hannah Hampton, why she quit the Lionesses and much more

If you like pictures and newsletters, the new Sport in Focus @sport.theguardian.com email is out every Friday at 12pm GMT. You can/should sign up here

From bus driver to top coach: all aboard for Manolo González’s Espanyol adventure, as he talks to @sidlowe.bsky.social

🙌 🙌

Essential autumn football fashion trends, all of them rather familiar, courtesy of @davidsquires.bsky.social

Brendan Rodgers hands in his envelope

Virginia Tech have been walking out to Enter Sandman for 25 years at Lane Stadium. Not quite ECW One Night Stand level, but still always tremendous under the lights

Kenny Dalglish x Asif Kapadia x @donmcrae.bsky.social

‘The NBA gambling scandal is the biggest story of the year in US sports, a culmination of the embrace between pro leagues and the multibillion-dollar gambling industry that has crossed the line from synergy into scandal.’ By @bryanagraham.bsky.social

The magic of Mjällby

Vange axes Ange

Spectacular Base jumping shot from up just outside Kuala Lumpur. 📸 Fazry Ismail

‘Mr Mamdani, want to respond?’

‘I’ve never had a problem saying: I’m an alcoholic.’ Big interview with Oisin Murphy. By @donmcrae.bsky.social

'Maybe it’s the most difficult recovery in history. If I manage to come back it’ll be more than 1,000 days. But I’m a guy who takes care of himself and I think I can do it. If there’s one guy to do it, it’s me.' Gerard Deulofeu’s battle to play football again. By @nickames82.bsky.social

The new, hidden gambling partnerships taking root around the Premier League. By @philippeauclair.bsky.social

'Independence Day and 13 January 1991 – when the first multiparty elections were held – are the two symbolic dates that have united our people. This World Cup qualification can already be considered the third defining moment of our nation.' Dispatch from Praia as Cape Verde get the party started

This week's @davidsquires.bsky.social cartoon: plane sailing for Tuchel on the field … distractions, as always, off it

And the Next Generation global edition for 2025 …

The fall of San Siro. By @nickybandini.bsky.social

Next Generation: back for 2025 with 20 of the best Premier League talents

Next up in our reader interview series … Clive Tyldesley. Famous lines, favourite stadiums and how many times a day he gets told: ‘Not for me, Clive.’ With @sachinnakrani.bsky.social

Hello! The Guardian is expanding our American soccer coverage. In the US, we're hiring: • Reporters • Asst. editor • Audience editor • Social video producer • Sports biz reporter These are all full-time, permanent, union positions. www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-of...

Europe’s top clubs are aiming to earn at least €5bn (£4.3bn) from the sale of television rights to Champions League, Europa League and Conference League games in the next cycle, potentially sealing a 10% increase on their current value. From @nickames82.bsky.social in Rome

Tennis reaches breaking point in the heat: 'You want a player to die on the court?'

Cricket in Corfu and unexpected delight. Lovely piece this, by @benbloomsport.bsky.social

Geraint Thomas on winning the Tour, the sacrifice to succeed, Pogacar, the Rozman saga and what comes next. By @donmcrae.bsky.social

'The floodgates are open. The toothpaste has been squeezed from the tube. The foundation upon which professional football is built … is cracked.' By @leanderalphabet.bsky.social

Kilian Jornet’s latest epic: States of Elevation, climbing the 73 highest US mountains … in 31 days

'There’s people telling me I’m about to spend the rest of my life in prison over some edibles.' American basketball player Jarred Shaw talks to @matthabusby.bsky.social from prison in Indonesia

Oh Ange/Vange 📸 Robbie Jay Barratt

Cross-country running, cyclocross and even judo for the Winter Olympics? Story: @seaningle.bsky.social

‘The tale of West Ham is a parable for something larger than West Ham, something larger even than football.’ By @jonathanliew.bsky.social

Andy Young, the coach who guided Laura Muir to Olympic and world championship medals, has been banned for three years for serious misconduct, which included driving at speed with an athlete in his car following a disagreement before abandoning them at the roadside. Story: @seaningle.bsky.social

A companion piece to the article above. www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...

Rory McIlroy: ‘I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there. Golf has the ability to unite. Golf teaches you life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you to respect people. Sometimes this week we didn’t see that’

The wrong Bury

Memories of Dickie Bird from @davidkhopps.bsky.social

Why every cricket lover from Barnsley, Bridgetown or Brisbane will remember Dickie Bird with huge affection … and a smile. By Vic Marks