Hutchinson signs new one-year Dons deal
AFC Wimbledon midfielder Sam Hutchinson has signed a one-year contract extension less than two months after suffering a heart attack while playing for the club.The 35-year-old played the entire match and scored the winner in the Wombles' 1-0 victory over Grimsby Town in May, despite experiencing the health issue in the sixth minute.Hutchinson underwent surgery and missed the remainder of the season as Wimbledon went on to win the League Two play-off final against Walsall at Wembley.The former Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday and Reading player initially joined Johnnie Jackson's side on a one-month deal in December.That contract was then extended to the end of the season in January and he has made 18 appearances for the club."I'm delighted to sign again. From the moment I got here everyone has made me feel so welcome - it's a proper football club," he told Wimbledon's website. "A special thank you to everyone who has looked after me with what went on at the end of last year. I can't wait to just crack on now and have a great season."
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South Wales Argus
30 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Emma Raducanu hoping to get her head right in time for Wimbledon
Raducanu almost pulled off an incredible comeback in her second-round match against Maya Joint before losing on a final-set tiebreak. The 22-year-old revealed on Tuesday after her opening round win that she had received 'some pretty bad news' and that appeared to affect her against Joint as she looked subdued on court. With her home grand slam around the corner, Raducanu says she needs to focus. 'Unfortunately I couldn't get over the line today but I can get some rest ahead of next week,' she told the BBC. 'I feel quite tired. Just going through some stuff and I need to do my best to get my head in the game ahead of next week. 'Realistically, the turnaround is pretty soon – it's only four days away really that Wimbledon starts. Emma Raducanu loses out to Maya Joint in an Eastbourne thriller Onto @Wimbledon we go #BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #LexusEastbourneOpen — LTA (@the_LTA) June 25, 2025 'I think I'm just going to start with (a day off) tomorrow and then hopefully I can get on the court on Friday.' The British number one looked dead and buried in her second-round battle with the Australian, trailing 5-2 in the deciding set. But she produced an inspired spell, breaking Joint three times when she was serving for the match, to set up a tie-break. Victory was in sight when she got a mini-break to lead 4-3 but Joint reeled off four successive points to claim a 4-6 6-1 7-6 (4) victory and move into the quarter-finals. Emma Raducanu was beaten in three sets (Adam Davy/PA) Joint said: 'Today was really tough, there was a lot of ups and downs, I was happy I was able to tough it out at the end. 'I am really glad I was able to win this match.' Jodie Burrage become the second Briton in two days to miss match points to oust former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova. Twenty-four hours after Harriet Dart spurned victory, Burrage, the British number seven, was 0-40 up on the Czech's serve at 6-5 in the deciding set, but she could not get over the line, with Krejcikova winning the tie-break. Jodie Burrage failed to take match points (Adam Davy/PA) In the men's draw, Dan Evans' recent upturn in form continued with a standout win over world number 13 Tommy Paul. The 35-year-old is trying to find his way back to the top of the game after slumping down the ranking and results like this will help. He ousted the number two seed 6-4 3-6 6-3 to set up a quarter-final tie with American Jenson Brooksby. Lucky loser Billy Harris continued to take advantage of his reprieve, winning 6-3 6-4 against Mattia Bellucci, but British number two Jacob Fearnley is out, losing 6-3 6-1 to Marcos Giron.
The Sun
35 minutes ago
- The Sun
Aston Villa's £100m stadium upgrade will create HUGE beer hall, welcome rival sport and be built in rarely-seen way
THESE are exciting times to be an Aston Villa fan - and they are about to get even better. The club tasted Champions League football for the first time this season, with memorable victories at Villa Park over Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. 36 36 36 36 Now they are progressing with plans to renovate their iconic stadium, bolstering the capacity to rival the Premier League elite while creating a giant beer hall and even hosting another sport. THE VILLA PARK STORY Villa Park opened in 1897 and has been Aston Villa's home ever since after they moved from the uneven pitch of Wellington Road. The stadium was built in the grounds of the Aston Hall stately home, owned by Sir Thomas Holte, whose name is used for the famous stand behind one goal. The pitch now sits where an ornamental pond once took pride of place. The original stadium took three years to build at a cost of £16,733, approximately £1.8m today, with a capacity of 40,000. In its early years, the pitch had a cycling track around the perimeter to host cycling and athletics events. Various renovations have taken place over the years, including an £887 terrace covering. Plans were drawn in 1914 to fit in 120,000 fans but never materialised. Everton's Goodison Park inspired the two-tier design before further updates in the 1970s once Doug Ellis became chairman. Villa Park's capacity hit 46,000 in 1994 but reduced back to 40,310 when the Holte End became an all-seater stand by the end of that year. Inside Chelsea's new £1.6BILLION stadium plans with Stamford Bridge project set to rival Tottenham's The most recent renovation work was the rebuilding of the Trinity Stand in 2000, officially opened by King Charles, whose grandfather George VI opened the previous version 77 years earlier. The current capacity is 42,918 - making Villa Park the tenth-biggest football stadium in England. 36 36 36 36 36 36 WHY NOW? There have been long-term hopes to increase the size of Villa Park for years. But they turned into genuine plans when the new V Sports owners took over from Tony Xia for good in 2019 and the club enjoyed promotion back to the Premier League. Villa received planning approval from Birmingham City Council for their new development in December 2022, prompting the expansion ideas to go public. The following year, though, the proposals to demolish the North Stand and completely rebuild it were shelved by president of business operations Chris Heck as a 'bad idea' that would see the stadium's capacity drop to 36,000 for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. But in December 2024, Villa announced new grand designs with artists' impressions of what the updated Villa Park could look like with a modernised North Stand. The timing could not have been better, coming in the year the club celebrated their 150th anniversary. And it also coincided with the Champions League campaign, which saw Unai Emery lead his side to eighth in the league phase to book their spot in the last 16 where they saw off Club Brugge before falling to PSG in a blockbuster quarter-final. 36 36 36 36 WHAT ARE THEY PLANNING? First and foremost, the standout plan is to redevelop the North Stand. Villa confirmed in April 2025 that the stand will be refurbished and expanded from 5,000 to more than 12,000 seats. The three other stands are also getting minor upgrades, too, which means the overall capacity of Villa Park will initially increase to around 50,000 - a 7,000 boost. However, eventually the hope is to bolster that total to 52,000 in the coming years. Ironically, even with the increases, Villa will slip down the Premier League pecking order because of Everton moving into their new 53,000-seater Hill Dickinson Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. Villa are also developing the area outside the ground, with a new 'plaza' complex on the site of the current car park in front of the North Stand. That will feature The Warehouse, a massive beer hall which will be the largest in the Premier League and a fan zone space for supporters to gather before matches. A brand-new two-storey club shop is also in the works for fans to stock up on all their Aston Villa merchandise. And, as part of the condition of the council's approval, the Witton train station, located just a few hundred metres north of the ground, is also set to be rebuilt with a new footbridge, larger and safer queueing systems, improved shelters and capacity for bigger trains. This is to accommodate double the number of passengers to 10,000 fans on a matchday. 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE? Villa expect the construction work to take around 24 months to complete - and are hoping it will all be done by the end of 2027. The Warehouse is set to be ready to open by Christmas 2025, though. Crucially, Villa are NOT planning to reduce Villa Park's capacity while the new North Stand is built in a rarely-seen move. The likes of Liverpool and Fulham saw their maximum attendances drop as a result of the building work. But Villa proudly announced their 'robust design process' found a way to modernise the existing North Stand 'without losing any seats during the season', meaning a full house can continue to roar the Villans on. 36 36 36 36 36 HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? As expected, the whole project will not come cheap. Aston Villa have estimated the cost will be a minimum of £100m for the improvements to Villa Park. The large bulk of that will go into the brand-new North Stand. IS IT WORTH IT? That is the big question - and it is hard to see this redevelopment being anything other than a positive for Aston Villa and the local area once the obtrusive building work is all done. A bigger ground has two key, fundamental benefits - more fans creating a better atmosphere and more money made from selling extra tickets, refreshments and merchandise. Villa also predict the renovation will help pump £120m annually into the local economy and create 1,700 full-time equivalent jobs. But there are a few other major benefits. The Warehouse will double up as a key indoor arena in the West Midlands, staging high-profile music gigs and even boxing fight nights in the new indoor arena. Lastly, and most importantly for all football fans, the work is scheduled to be done by the end of 2027 - in time for Euro 2028. Villa Park is one of the nine venues put forward to Uefa to stage matches when the UK and Ireland host the tournament. 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
Powys County Times
44 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Emma Raducanu hoping to get her head right in time for Wimbledon
Emma Raducanu admits she needs to 'get my head in the game' ahead of Wimbledon after she exited the Eastbourne Open. Raducanu almost pulled off an incredible comeback in her second-round match against Maya Joint before losing on a final-set tiebreak. The 22-year-old revealed on Tuesday after her opening round win that she had received 'some pretty bad news' and that appeared to affect her against Joint as she looked subdued on court. Magical Maya 🔮 Joint takes down Raducanu 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)! #LexusEastbourneOpen — wta (@WTA) June 25, 2025 With her home grand slam around the corner, Raducanu says she needs to focus. 'Unfortunately I couldn't get over the line today but I can get some rest ahead of next week,' she told the BBC. 'I feel quite tired. Just going through some stuff and I need to do my best to get my head in the game ahead of next week. 'Realistically, the turnaround is pretty soon – it's only four days away really that Wimbledon starts. Emma Raducanu loses out to Maya Joint in an Eastbourne thriller Onto @Wimbledon we go #BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #LexusEastbourneOpen — LTA (@the_LTA) June 25, 2025 'I think I'm just going to start with (a day off) tomorrow and then hopefully I can get on the court on Friday.' The British number one looked dead and buried in her second-round battle with the Australian, trailing 5-2 in the deciding set. But she produced an inspired spell, breaking Joint three times when she was serving for the match, to set up a tie-break. Victory was in sight when she got a mini-break to lead 4-3 but Joint reeled off four successive points to claim a 4-6 6-1 7-6 (4) victory and move into the quarter-finals. Joint said: 'Today was really tough, there was a lot of ups and downs, I was happy I was able to tough it out at the end. 'I am really glad I was able to win this match.' Jodie Burrage become the second Briton in two days to miss match points to oust former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova. Twenty-four hours after Harriet Dart spurned victory, Burrage, the British number seven, was 0-40 up on the Czech's serve at 6-5 in the deciding set, but she could not get over the line, with Krejcikova winning the tie-break. In the men's draw, Dan Evans' recent upturn in form continued with a standout win over world number 13 Tommy Paul. The 35-year-old is trying to find his way back to the top of the game after slumping down the ranking and results like this will help. He ousted the number two seed 6-4 3-6 6-3 to set up a quarter-final tie with American Jenson Brooksby.
