Latest news with #JoieStadium
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Premier League 2 final misses out on TV broadcast after Manchester City and Southampton venue dispute
Thursday's Premier League 2 play-off final missed out on being broadcast live on Sky Sports for the first time due to a dispute between Manchester City and Southampton over the game's location. The disagreement followed City breaching Premier League 2 rules by not having the Etihad Stadium available to host the fixture. Advertisement The competition rules state that both semi-finals and the final have to be played at the main stadium of the home club, but the 53,000-seater Etihad has major development work to be completed in time for next season and City are instead holding the game at their 7,000-capacity Joie Stadium. City could be referred to the Premier League's football board to decide on potential punishments for the rule breach. Premier League 2 a youth club competition intended to smooth the transition between academy and first-team football and features under-21 players from the country's top academies. Thursday's play-off final determines the Premier League 2 champion for the 2024-25 season. Southampton were unhappy that under-21 players would miss out on a showpiece event as it could be the only time some of them play a final at a major stadium or on live television. They proposed playing the game at St Mary's to ensure the spectacle could be broadcast but it would have meant reversing home advantage, which City earned by finishing top of the league season, so it was declined. City proposed Joie Stadium, home of the women's team and their academy sides since 2014 which also staged matches at the 2022 Women's European Championship, as an alternative venue. The Premier League attempted to broker an agreement but after exhausting all avenues the only option available in the time frame was to play at Joie Stadium. Sky Sports and the Premier League worked on an agreement to broadcast the game, but the disagreement between clubs ultimately meant the game will not be aired. The date and location was only confirmed yesterday (Wednesday), which could affect the attendance. City's view is that they informed the Premier League in March and April to make them aware of the building works at the Etihad and the potential to run into rule breaches. Advertisement They staged the semi-final at the Joie Stadium against Manchester United after the Premier League worked with both clubs to agree to it. Southampton played the last-16 and quarter-final at St Mary's, while they also faced Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the semi-final. They are frustrated at what they see as the Premier League not enforcing their own rules. A win this evening would see City become the most successful PL2 side with four titles.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Out of Europe, out of ideas? Manchester City women face big summer rebuild
City's players hold up a banner saying 'Thank you' but there has been little to cheer in a season without a trophy for a third year in succession. City's players hold up a banner saying 'Thank you' but there has been little to cheer in a season without a trophy for a third year in succession. Photograph:Even as the party anthems blasted out under sunny Manchester skies and the home fans showed their appreciation after a seven-goal thriller, the celebratory mood could not fully mask the undertone of disappointment at the Joie Stadium, for a club wondering what might have been. On the season's final day 12 months ago, Manchester City missed out on the title only on goal difference. This time, they finished 17 points off the runaway champions Chelsea. Worse still, City dropped outside the European places. Advertisement It is only the third time City have finished outside the top three in 11 years in the WSL. There can be no mistaking it – this season has been a failure for a club with greater expectations and, more worryingly, their third consecutive campaign without a trophy. City have dropped 11 points from winning positions and, having missed out on Europe by one point, will rue the last-gasp equaliser they conceded at West Ham in March. There can be few arguments about the cause of their slump: injuries. City enjoyed a run of 10 consecutive wins in all competitions between late September and mid-November when most of their first-choice players were fit, including a victory over the European champions Barcelona that demonstrated City's prowess at full strength. However, long-term knee injuries to Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood as well as spells on the sidelines for the Khadija Shaw – who still ended up sharing the WSL's Golden Boot despite only playing 14 of 22 league games – and Vivianne Miedema took their toll. Mary Fowler's anterior cruciate ligament injury merely added to their woes. Their rivals have seen injuries too, and coped admirably, not least Chelsea with Sam Kerr out for the entire season – but City's injury toll has cost them dearly. Advertisement 'There'll be a review process, a reflection process for the organisation and for the people involved,' City's interim head coach, Nick Cushing, said. 'There are many things that need to be fixed, but that process I'm sure will happen. I don't know how it'll happen or when it'll happen or who will be involved, but there is a huge desire in the staff, in the leadership and in the players, to get this team back to competing [for] trophies.' Related: Arsenal WSL runners-up after resisting Manchester United fightback for 4-3 win Cushing returned to the club in March after Gareth Taylor's sacking and said on Friday that the club have had 'no conversations' with him about next season. So not unreasonably he assumed Saturday's game would be his last, although he will remain in post for the inaugural World Sevens Football event in Portugal later this month. Asked about his future again on Saturday, Cushing added: 'I'm contracted until 1 June, so once June 1st comes, I'll be back where I was in December, January, February, I'll be putting the bins out. I have a huge desire to have a team and develop that team into playing a really attacking style and compete for trophies. Where that will be, I'm really open to conversations.' Advertisement The club's search for a new coach will soon be over. City's managing director, Charlotte O'Neill, and the director of women's football, Therese Sjogran, have a huge decision to make as the club seeks a way of responding to Chelsea's dominance of the women's game in England. This City team undoubtably has potential. In Saturday's 5-2 win over relegated Crystal Palace they rallied from 2-1 down at half-time to score a flurry of second-half goals, inspired by Aoba Fujino, whose arrival last summer shows City's eye for a good player has not changed. City also possess the best winger in the division in Hemp, who finished the campaign with the highest number of assists in the WSL despite playing in fewer than half of City's league games. They will now have to replace Laia Aleixandri, the gifted centre-half who bade farewell to City after the final whistle. She is understood to be on her way to Barcelona. A busy summer of investment in the squad is sure to follow. To have the strength in depth to challenge consistently the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal, City will need it.
