Latest news with #HomePark
Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Gareth Bale in talks to front US takeover of Plymouth
Gareth Bale has been lined up to front a US-based private equity group's potential takeover at Plymouth Argyle, Telegraph Sport understands. His surprise involvement comes after a rival American investment group partnered with former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric at Swansea City. Talks are taking place behind the scenes between Argyle and the investment group, which also includes members of the American-based Storch family. Bale has no historic connections with Plymouth and his involvement as a co-owner had been unexpected. However, US groups have increasingly looked to partner with famous faces in recent years to add glamour to club purchases beneath England's top tier. Modric's arrival at Swansea came after the NFL great Tom Brady became a co-owner at Birmingham City. American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas also bought shares in Leeds United prior to their return to the Premier League. Several sources close to talks confirm a US private equity group partnering with Bale is currently in talks over a bid for full control at Home Park. Argyle chairman Simon Hallett has been looking for fresh investment in the club for at least a year. Hallett, who first invested in the Pilgrims in 2016 and became majority shareholder two years later, had previously agreed in principle to sell a stake in the club to new investors, but he confirmed last month a deal fell through. Argyle were relegated from the Championship in May, having finished 23rd in the second tier. With head coach Miron Muslic joining German side Schalke, Hallett last week recruited former Watford boss Tom Cleverley as his replacement. The 35-year-old has signed a three-year contract as Argyle return to League One this season following two years in the Championship. Cleverley was sacked by the Hornets in May, having missed out on the play-offs after a poor second half of the season as Watford faded badly to finish 14th. The Bale-fronted takeover emerges after Hallett announced a previous investment proposal had fallen through. 'We have been in talks with a prospective new investor in our club for over a year – those talks led to an application for approval of that investment being lodged with the EFL in February,' he said last month. 'Unfortunately, negotiations have taken too long and the key information that both we and the EFL required to complete the deal has not been forthcoming. I no longer believe that news of the new investor is imminent.' Hallett said he and the club's existing shareholders – Argyle Green and the Holliday family – will match the level of funding they had planned with the new investor for this season, a level he says is twice the budget the club had when they won League One in 2023. Under Hallett's ownership, Argyle redeveloped the Mayflower Grandstand and are helping to fund new academy facilities at what was the Brickfields. It is unclear how Bale, the most successful Welsh footballer of all time, has become involved in the proposed takeover but he played 12 times for Los Angeles FC before retiring from the game in 2023. END
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Argyle's Talovierov named in Ukraine squad
Plymouth Argyle centre-back Maksym Talovierov has been named in the Ukraine squad for their forthcoming international take on Canada on 7 June before facing New Zealand three days later in end-of-season 24-year-old record signing has won seven caps for his country since making his debut in March has yet to play for Ukraine since moving to Home Park in January after injury forced him to miss March's Uefa Nations League games with Belgium.
New York Times
09-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Sam Byram interview: ‘Hopefully I'll be part of Leeds' future – if not, I'll always be a supporter'
If Sam Byram's association with Leeds United ends this summer after six seasons, he has made his peace with achieving a childhood dream by returning his club to the top flight. Byram spoke to The Athletic on Plymouth Argyle's Home Park pitch last Saturday, with his team-mates and the travelling Leeds fans in the background celebrating after a stoppage-time winner secured the Championship title. Advertisement The 31-year-old is emotional and, unhelpfully for an interview, almost lost for words as he reflects on what this all means. Being brought back to the club for a second spell by Daniel Farke in summer 2023 was not something he ever expected after leaving for West Ham United more than seven years earlier. The lifeline has given him the chance to find closure on what he set his mind to as a teenager under Neil Warnock, Neil Redfearn, Brian McDermott, Dave Hockaday, Darko Milanic, Uwe Rosler and Steve Evans. That roll call of managers underlines Leeds' improvement between Byram's departure to east London and the club's Marcelo Bielsa-led Premier League promotion in 2020. 'The first time I was there, we were quite a way off this sort of season and to be able to celebrate like this,' Byram says. 'It's been a childhood dream of mine, and it's finally come true. 'It's gone right down to the final game, right down to the wire, but the last-minute goal sums up our character all year. Credit to the whole squad, the whole team, it's been an unbelievable year and, as well as last year, the most enjoyable of my career.' Byram was fighting unsuccessfully to keep Norwich City in the Premier League under Farke when Bielsa was taking Leeds to that EFL title. He admits it hurt him not to be a part of the side that ended the club's 16-year exile from the top flight. Leeds had finished 13th, 15th and 15th in the second tier in the first three full seasons Byram completed at Elland Road. He was one of the few high-fliers in that middling team and felt he could not wait any longer to make the leap to the big time when West Ham came calling in January 2016. 'At the time, I was desperate to make my Premier League debut and that was the reason I went,' he says. 'When I saw Leeds get promoted a few years later, it hurt that I wasn't part of that. So to come back, unexpectedly and throughout the last two years we've had, it's been amazing.' Advertisement Yes, about that unexpected return… Byram was a free agent in the summer of 2023 after his Norwich contract expired. In the seven and a half years since leaving Leeds, he had played just 80 league games for West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Norwich — at an average of around 11 per season. The full-back had sat out 75 per cent of league games following that 2016 transfer. Bringing someone with that injury record, which includes long-standing hamstring issues and a 2018 knee operation, into Leeds' squad could only be seen as a risk. Farke had faith, however, and has since carefully guided Byram through two years which have delivered 1,933 and 1,409 league minutes respectively. The defender has not played that frequently since leaving Elland Road more than nine years ago. 'Including the last spell here, and these last two years, I've played more than the rest of my career combined,' says Byram. 'I've loved every minute. It's an incredible dressing room and staff, everyone at the club. The fans are incredible, it's been nothing but great memories, some I'll cherish forever.' Of the 317 senior appearances he has made in all competitions, 219 have been in a Leeds shirt. Farke has been the key in this second act in West Yorkshire. The German took Byram to Carrow Road from West Ham in summer 2019, then brought him home two years ago. The Thorp Arch academy graduate is eternally grateful. 'I've not said it to him, but he's probably saved my career in a way,' Byram says of Farke. 'The last year at Norwich and over a few seasons there, I'd had an incredible amount of injuries. For him to give me a chance to come back and be involved in something like this, I'll never be able to repay him. For me to be back at my boyhood club and be able to play and be involved, it's amazing.' Byram first emerged as a teenager under Warnock in 2012-13. He came through the ranks with current team-mate Alex Cairns, but also Alex Mowatt, Charlie Taylor, Kalvin Phillips, Lewis Cook and Lewie Coyle. That group are forever bonded as some of the brightest hopes the club brought through following 2004's relegation from the top flight. Byram was asked if his former colleagues had been in touch as Leeds pushed for promotion. 'They've all said they're unbelievably happy,' he says. 'Some of them are quite hard to get hold of now (laughs). Leeds lads, it's what you hope for. I said, 'If I'm not here next year, I'll watch every game with enjoyment'. When you come through Leeds, you follow them for the whole of your career. It's something you can't take out of yourself.' Advertisement Will he be a spectator or participant, though? His contract expires on June 30, and Leeds are moving back up to face far sterner opposition than they've had to deal with in his two seasons back at the club in the Championship. Byram is hopeful, but ready to cheer them from on from afar if that's his fate. 'We've been working as a team to achieve promotion,' he said. 'That's been the key focus. I've not hidden my love for the club and I'd love to stay next year. They know that. 'Now we've achieved the final target, I'm sure they'll speak as a team, investors, everyone, and make a plan for the future. Hopefully, I'm part of that, and, if not, I'll watch on and always be a supporter.'
