Latest news with #Stott
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Phillies' Slumping Leadoff Man Bryson Stott Gets Vote of Confidence From Rob Thomson
Phillies' Slumping Leadoff Man Bryson Stott Gets Vote of Confidence From Rob Thomson originally appeared on Athlon Sports. This season, the Philadelphia Phillies have soared to a 37-25 start, placing them second in the NL East. While most things have gone right for Philadelphia, there are a few things that simply have not. Aside from the historical Jesus Luzardo bombardment, the Phillies' few offensive woes stem from the lack of production off the bats of Brandon Marsh, Max Kepler, and Bryson Stott. Advertisement Of these three, Stott is the least concerning, but given that he is the Phillies' leadoff man and thus has the most opportunities at the plate, this warrants some added worry. Stott popped out in a big spot on Wednesday, adding to the concern. However, one person who doesn't share this concern is Phillies' manager Rob Thomson. 'I thought we were going to score (in the fifth),' he said in a postgame interview. 'Bases loaded and one out with 1 and 2 guys coming up. Stott had a good at-bat. Long at-bat, but he just popped it up.' Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Bryson Stott (5) stands on the field with manager Rob Thomson during World Series workouts at Minute Maid Taormina-Imagn Images Despite the fact that Stott is responsible for setting the tune of the Phillies' offense, Thomson still maintains the utmost confidence in him. When asked if he would move him down the lineup, Thomson responded with this: Advertisement 'I'm pretty committed, you know. The length of the at-bats are good. When we first put him in there, he was really productive. He's kind of cooled off a little bit. There's a trust factor there that as long as the at-bats look good and they're long, I'm good with it.' In the following game, Stott would go 0-for-4, bringing his stat line down to .244/.311/.347 with four home runs. While his numbers are nothing to scoff at, hitting leadoff is likely better-suited for someone with a higher on-base percentage. For instance, Kyle Schwarber, who was their leadoff man prior to this season, maintains an on-base percentage of .387. Related: Phillies Bullpen Sends Strong Message to Orion Kerkering Amid Early Struggles This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Forty years on from Heysel: The lessons football still needs to learn
The Heysel disaster embodied what were the darkest days of football. Four decades on, there are still lessons to be learned. The catastrophe took place on the game's biggest stage: the 1985 European Cup final, contested between Liverpool and Juventus. On that tragic day in Brussels, 39 fans lost their lives while 600 were left injured after fans were crushed against a wall that collapsed. Abject failures in crowd management and poor stadium design were at the heart of the disaster, as they were for the calamities of Hillsborough and the Valley Parade fire that same decade. Among the three, Heysel is somewhat the forgotten tragedy, despite its seismic short and long-term impact. There was a widespread perception that Liverpool fans were solely responsible, with the crush culminating from crowd disorder sparked by Reds supporters crossing a fence separating them and a neutral stand which contained mostly Juventus fans. Fourteen were later found guilty of manslaughter and jailed. It resulted in English clubs being banned from Europe for five years and fuelled a reputation of English hooliganism that still stands to this day on the continent. Four years later at Hillsborough, where poor crowd management once again devolved into disaster, costing the lives of 97, the fans were blamed once more, almost habitually given the precedent of Heysel. However, the systemic causes of these incidents were yet to be addressed - a problem in fan safety that was being brushed over by simply laying blame at the feet of 'unruly' supporters. After first Heysel and then Hillsborough, learning finally began to flow from catastrophe. 'You get a major disaster like Hillsborough or Bradford, and off the back of that, inquiries get developed - Taylor or Popplewell, for example - and those inquiries then highlight the broader system failure,' said Professor Clifford Stott of Keele University, a specialist in crowds and policing and the co-author of the independent report that delved into the chaotic scenes at the 2022 Champions League final in Paris. 'It was very much about unsafe stadia. Those [inquiries] have created an environment where stadium safety has advanced exponentially over the last 40 odd years.' Post-Heysel, there was a recognition that the failings of the authorities and crumbling state of the Heysel stadium were also key factors at play. However, popular understandings continued to point the finger solely at fans - with hooliganism the far more eye-catching topic to both the public and the media. As such, it was crucial that the narrative moved away from simply citing hooliganism as the overarching cause for such tragedies. 'It is completely useless as a narrative to help us to understand the nature of the problem,' Stott adds. 'What we're dealing with isn't hooligans, it's crowd management, crowd dynamics and crowd psychology.' And as the powers at be finally addressed the core issues, what evolved in the decades after were undeniable improvements in fan safety protocols - which were primarily represented in the Saint-Denis Convention. Adopted by the Council of Europe in 2016 before being officially ratified by the UK government seven years later, this effectively set the framework for how major sporting events should be managed. On paper, this was the solution to years of toil over how to make football universally safe, preventing any future disaster or case of crowd mismanagement. A continent-wide legal instrument, it set out to ensure an integrated, multi-agency approach to sporting events that prevents security from ever overruling safety and service, with no single stakeholder - such as the police - able to address an issue by itself. However, this requirement of international police co-operation for each and every event that goes beyond country lines was - and still is - aspirational, idealistic and massively difficult to implement. 'The ideal situation is the policy agreements that were reached in 2016, and they're still not being realised,' Stott said. And as we've seen across the past few years, there have been numerous shortcomings that have not only led to fan safety being put at serious risk, but also the narrative to regress back to blaming supporters. The 2022 Champions League final was the key case failing, which demonstrated that 37 years on from Heysel, the same problems still existed. Poor communication between stakeholders - something that the Saint-Denis Convention acts to weed out - was rife as the Paris police started acting by themselves, leading to Liverpool supporters being funelled into a bottleneck towards an entrance at the Stade de France that was not fit for purpose. Crowds inevitably begun to overwhelm the police as a result, culminating in fans being tear gassed. Ticketless supporters were then blamed for the ordeal by French authorities. 'There was a focus on public order at the expense of public safety,' Stott said, whose independent report found fans were not responsible for crowd problems in Paris. 'There were a lot of parallels between what went wrong at Heysel and what went wrong in Paris. So despite all of that policy development and learning, ironically, we find ourselves in 2022 in a situation that wasn't that distant from 1985.' Paris 2022 was hardly an anomaly, especially in regard to the prioritisation of order over safety, or indeed the blaming of fans. Just this week, unfounded social media speculation over the Liverpool parade crash spiralled out of control, with some baselessly accusing the fans of enraging the driver who ploughed into the crowd, injuring 79. In Wroclaw ahead of the Europa Conference League final, Chelsea fans were blasted with a water cannon by police after disorder broke out. And earlier this season, ahead of Manchester United's Europa League quarter-final first leg with Lyon, the French police once again resorted to tear gas, claiming it was 'proportionate' to restore calm. Of course, these incidents of rogue, excessive policing do not adhere to the Saint-Denis Convention. Part of the problem remains the reputation around English supporters. After all, many of the key case studies detailing recent failings of the Saint-Denis Convention involve Premier League clubs. A stereotype of dangerous hooligans that come across the channel - something that was hugely exacerbated by the events of Heysel - still exists among fans and foreign police. This is despite, as Stott insists, football culture having vastly changed in this country: 'We don't really have the risk groups operating in the way they did in the past - the legislation has gone a long way to removing that threat.' However, there is still a reflex among European states to load up increased force to prepare for the arrival of English fans, which often devolves into a harsh, unjustified and overblown police response which puts supporters at risk. 'The key problem in the European context is risk assessment,' Stott adds. 'That risk assessment is often not very sophisticated. Say you've got a host police force in somewhere like Italy, Greece or Spain. They'll say: 'Are these fans English?' If the answer is yes, they'd see it as a high risk, and then throw loads of policing resources around it that weren't necessary. The English fans travelling weren't actually going there for disorder, but they get treated as if they were. That dynamic would actually precipitate disorder.' This does not reflect the regulated, 'one approach for all' ideal that the Saint-Denis Convention, a ratified piece of legislation that is meant to tick all the boxes when it comes to fan safety, sets out. That's because at the end of the day, seven years on from the agreement, 'aspirational' is still the way the convention is described. 'The policy is there, everybody knows that policy is the way to go,' Stott asserted. 'The problem is delivery - not in its entirety because many events do deliver that. The problem is you get is these sporadic events where that policy isn't adhere to, and there doesn't appear to be any kind of regulatory mechanism to say if you don't deliver, then what's the consequence? If there's no consequence, then these deviations are just going to continue to happen.' For Stott, a huge step towards making the Saint-Denis Convention the norm regards the involvement and control of Uefa. While he notes that the governing body's adoption of the agreement has been the 'driving force' in 'shifting the agenda', the situation could be vastly improved if Uefa took a more hands-on approach to regulating match policing in its competitions. 'Uefa doesn't really control policing,' he said. 'Policing is controlled by the nation states, and those police forces and nation states will at times completely vary away from that agreement. And this is where we have argued, certainly in our report around the handling of the Champions League final in Paris, that Uefa should take more responsibility and more control over the policing of their events. It's their failure to do that which is one of the primary issues that needs to be confronted. 'It's really their failure to oversee the delivery of the safety and security operations in these locations that lies at the heart of the problem. If they took a more proactive role in overseeing that these events were going to be policed in line with these agreements, then we would have safer events. That's what went wrong in Paris, and it continues to go wrong. 'When Manchester United fans ended up getting tear gassed again, Uefa could have stepped into the fray and said 'if this continues to happen in France, your teams aren't going into the Champions League anymore'. It could take this much more assertive position, but it doesn't. We really need a much stronger and more robust regulatory framework to ensure more systematic and coherent delivery of the existing policy.' Football is obviously in a better place than it was 40 years ago. Heysel was one of a handful of tragedies that shook the game and forced change to be made. And while legislation proves that, we are still seeing shortfalls in practice when it comes to the policing of events, especially on the international stage. There is still vast work to be done to ensure the safety of travelling supporters, preventing disorder from once again unravelling into disaster.
The Advertiser
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
City fall short of $2m trophy in drama-filled final
Melbourne City have suffered a heartbreaking and drama-filled defeat to Wuhan Jiangda on penalties to fall short in the Women's Asian Champions League final. With scores locked at 1-1 after a chaotic 90 minutes and extra-time, City skipper Rebekah Stott had the chance to seal victory at 4-4 in the penalty shootout, in front of a hostile crowd at the Wuhan Sports Center Stadium. Instead, she shot tamely straight at Wuhan goalkeeper Chen Chen. Zhao Yuxin put Wuhan in front and Chen saved Bryleeh Henry's penalty to seal a remarkable shootout victory 5-4. The defeat costs City $2 million in prize money, and players had been in line to receive around $47,000 each. Instead the players each claim around $23,000 as runners up, with the club's prize money approximately $1.25 million. "It's gutting to lose like that," Stott said. "I think we played well. We dominated the game. We should have come away with the win, but football is like that sometimes. "It's disappointing. We're gutted." City had high hopes of a treble after claiming the A-League Women premiership in an unbeaten regular season, but lost to Central Coast in the semi-finals, then came up short on Saturday night. They have qualified for next season's Champions League through winning the premiership. "It's been unbelievable to be able to compete in this," Stott said. "We've loved every minute of it. "Obviously it hurts now, but to be a part of this competition has been so game changing for us and for women's football it's really important." City were unable to crack open Wuhan in the opening 45 minutes, though Malena Mieres made an incredible fingertip save to deny Wang Shuang a cracking long range goal with the final kick of the half. Three days after scoring a 94th-minute semi-final winner over Incheon Red Angels, 17-year-old Shelby McMahon's headed home a wonderful free kick from Leticia McKenna in the 76th minute to put City in front. Henry thought she'd made it 2-0 in injury time but the goal was chalked off via VAR for a foul she had committed in the build-up. From the subsequent free kick, Mariana Speckmaier was penalised for handball - after a header ricocheted into her arm - via a VAR review and Wang Shuang equalised from the spot in the 98th minute. City had two late chances to win the game in extra-time, while Stott was lucky not to be penalised for a handball in the 103rd minute. McKenna dragged a shot wide in the 116th minute while Leah Davidson was unable to meet Mariana Speckmaier's wonderful squaring ball in the 121st minute and the game went to spot kicks. "Once it went into extra-time, it got quite hectic, and not a lot of football was played," Stott said. "I think we still could have got a goal. But it wasn't meant to be." The brilliant Mieres' save from Song Duan at 3-3 put City in charge of the shootout, but they could not seal the deal. Melbourne City have suffered a heartbreaking and drama-filled defeat to Wuhan Jiangda on penalties to fall short in the Women's Asian Champions League final. With scores locked at 1-1 after a chaotic 90 minutes and extra-time, City skipper Rebekah Stott had the chance to seal victory at 4-4 in the penalty shootout, in front of a hostile crowd at the Wuhan Sports Center Stadium. Instead, she shot tamely straight at Wuhan goalkeeper Chen Chen. Zhao Yuxin put Wuhan in front and Chen saved Bryleeh Henry's penalty to seal a remarkable shootout victory 5-4. The defeat costs City $2 million in prize money, and players had been in line to receive around $47,000 each. Instead the players each claim around $23,000 as runners up, with the club's prize money approximately $1.25 million. "It's gutting to lose like that," Stott said. "I think we played well. We dominated the game. We should have come away with the win, but football is like that sometimes. "It's disappointing. We're gutted." City had high hopes of a treble after claiming the A-League Women premiership in an unbeaten regular season, but lost to Central Coast in the semi-finals, then came up short on Saturday night. They have qualified for next season's Champions League through winning the premiership. "It's been unbelievable to be able to compete in this," Stott said. "We've loved every minute of it. "Obviously it hurts now, but to be a part of this competition has been so game changing for us and for women's football it's really important." City were unable to crack open Wuhan in the opening 45 minutes, though Malena Mieres made an incredible fingertip save to deny Wang Shuang a cracking long range goal with the final kick of the half. Three days after scoring a 94th-minute semi-final winner over Incheon Red Angels, 17-year-old Shelby McMahon's headed home a wonderful free kick from Leticia McKenna in the 76th minute to put City in front. Henry thought she'd made it 2-0 in injury time but the goal was chalked off via VAR for a foul she had committed in the build-up. From the subsequent free kick, Mariana Speckmaier was penalised for handball - after a header ricocheted into her arm - via a VAR review and Wang Shuang equalised from the spot in the 98th minute. City had two late chances to win the game in extra-time, while Stott was lucky not to be penalised for a handball in the 103rd minute. McKenna dragged a shot wide in the 116th minute while Leah Davidson was unable to meet Mariana Speckmaier's wonderful squaring ball in the 121st minute and the game went to spot kicks. "Once it went into extra-time, it got quite hectic, and not a lot of football was played," Stott said. "I think we still could have got a goal. But it wasn't meant to be." The brilliant Mieres' save from Song Duan at 3-3 put City in charge of the shootout, but they could not seal the deal. Melbourne City have suffered a heartbreaking and drama-filled defeat to Wuhan Jiangda on penalties to fall short in the Women's Asian Champions League final. With scores locked at 1-1 after a chaotic 90 minutes and extra-time, City skipper Rebekah Stott had the chance to seal victory at 4-4 in the penalty shootout, in front of a hostile crowd at the Wuhan Sports Center Stadium. Instead, she shot tamely straight at Wuhan goalkeeper Chen Chen. Zhao Yuxin put Wuhan in front and Chen saved Bryleeh Henry's penalty to seal a remarkable shootout victory 5-4. The defeat costs City $2 million in prize money, and players had been in line to receive around $47,000 each. Instead the players each claim around $23,000 as runners up, with the club's prize money approximately $1.25 million. "It's gutting to lose like that," Stott said. "I think we played well. We dominated the game. We should have come away with the win, but football is like that sometimes. "It's disappointing. We're gutted." City had high hopes of a treble after claiming the A-League Women premiership in an unbeaten regular season, but lost to Central Coast in the semi-finals, then came up short on Saturday night. They have qualified for next season's Champions League through winning the premiership. "It's been unbelievable to be able to compete in this," Stott said. "We've loved every minute of it. "Obviously it hurts now, but to be a part of this competition has been so game changing for us and for women's football it's really important." City were unable to crack open Wuhan in the opening 45 minutes, though Malena Mieres made an incredible fingertip save to deny Wang Shuang a cracking long range goal with the final kick of the half. Three days after scoring a 94th-minute semi-final winner over Incheon Red Angels, 17-year-old Shelby McMahon's headed home a wonderful free kick from Leticia McKenna in the 76th minute to put City in front. Henry thought she'd made it 2-0 in injury time but the goal was chalked off via VAR for a foul she had committed in the build-up. From the subsequent free kick, Mariana Speckmaier was penalised for handball - after a header ricocheted into her arm - via a VAR review and Wang Shuang equalised from the spot in the 98th minute. City had two late chances to win the game in extra-time, while Stott was lucky not to be penalised for a handball in the 103rd minute. McKenna dragged a shot wide in the 116th minute while Leah Davidson was unable to meet Mariana Speckmaier's wonderful squaring ball in the 121st minute and the game went to spot kicks. "Once it went into extra-time, it got quite hectic, and not a lot of football was played," Stott said. "I think we still could have got a goal. But it wasn't meant to be." The brilliant Mieres' save from Song Duan at 3-3 put City in charge of the shootout, but they could not seal the deal.
West Australian
24-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
City fall short of $2m trophy in drama-filled final
Melbourne City have suffered a heartbreaking and drama-filled defeat to Wuhan Jiangda on penalties to fall short in the Women's Asian Champions League final. With scores locked at 1-1 after a chaotic 90 minutes and extra-time, City skipper Rebekah Stott had the chance to seal victory at 4-4 in the penalty shootout, in front of a hostile crowd at the Wuhan Sports Center Stadium. Instead, she shot tamely straight at Wuhan goalkeeper Chen Chen. Zhao Yuxin put Wuhan in front and Chen saved Bryleeh Henry's penalty to seal a remarkable shootout victory 5-4. The defeat costs City $2 million in prize money, and players had been in line to receive around $47,000 each. Instead the players each claim around $23,000 as runners up, with the club's prize money approximately $1.25 million. "It's gutting to lose like that," Stott said. "I think we played well. We dominated the game. We should have come away with the win, but football is like that sometimes. "It's disappointing. We're gutted." City had high hopes of a treble after claiming the A-League Women premiership in an unbeaten regular season, but lost to Central Coast in the semi-finals, then came up short on Saturday night. They have qualified for next season's Champions League through winning the premiership. "It's been unbelievable to be able to compete in this," Stott said. "We've loved every minute of it. "Obviously it hurts now, but to be a part of this competition has been so game changing for us and for women's football it's really important." City were unable to crack open Wuhan in the opening 45 minutes, though Malena Mieres made an incredible fingertip save to deny Wang Shuang a cracking long range goal with the final kick of the half. Three days after scoring a 94th-minute semi-final winner over Incheon Red Angels, 17-year-old Shelby McMahon's headed home a wonderful free kick from Leticia McKenna in the 76th minute to put City in front. Henry thought she'd made it 2-0 in injury time but the goal was chalked off via VAR for a foul she had committed in the build-up. From the subsequent free kick, Mariana Speckmaier was penalised for handball - after a header ricocheted into her arm - via a VAR review and Wang Shuang equalised from the spot in the 98th minute. City had two late chances to win the game in extra-time, while Stott was lucky not to be penalised for a handball in the 103rd minute. McKenna dragged a shot wide in the 116th minute while Leah Davidson was unable to meet Mariana Speckmaier's wonderful squaring ball in the 121st minute and the game went to spot kicks. "Once it went into extra-time, it got quite hectic, and not a lot of football was played," Stott said. "I think we still could have got a goal. But it wasn't meant to be." The brilliant Mieres' save from Song Duan at 3-3 put City in charge of the shootout, but they could not seal the deal.
Perth Now
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
City fall short of $2m trophy in drama-filled final
Melbourne City have suffered a heartbreaking and drama-filled defeat to Wuhan Jiangda on penalties to fall short in the Women's Asian Champions League final. With scores locked at 1-1 after a chaotic 90 minutes and extra-time, City skipper Rebekah Stott had the chance to seal victory at 4-4 in the penalty shootout, in front of a hostile crowd at the Wuhan Sports Center Stadium. Instead, she shot tamely straight at Wuhan goalkeeper Chen Chen. Zhao Yuxin put Wuhan in front and Chen saved Bryleeh Henry's penalty to seal a remarkable shootout victory 5-4. The defeat costs City $2 million in prize money, and players had been in line to receive around $47,000 each. Instead the players each claim around $23,000 as runners up, with the club's prize money approximately $1.25 million. "It's gutting to lose like that," Stott said. "I think we played well. We dominated the game. We should have come away with the win, but football is like that sometimes. "It's disappointing. We're gutted." City had high hopes of a treble after claiming the A-League Women premiership in an unbeaten regular season, but lost to Central Coast in the semi-finals, then came up short on Saturday night. They have qualified for next season's Champions League through winning the premiership. "It's been unbelievable to be able to compete in this," Stott said. "We've loved every minute of it. "Obviously it hurts now, but to be a part of this competition has been so game changing for us and for women's football it's really important." City were unable to crack open Wuhan in the opening 45 minutes, though Malena Mieres made an incredible fingertip save to deny Wang Shuang a cracking long range goal with the final kick of the half. Three days after scoring a 94th-minute semi-final winner over Incheon Red Angels, 17-year-old Shelby McMahon's headed home a wonderful free kick from Leticia McKenna in the 76th minute to put City in front. Henry thought she'd made it 2-0 in injury time but the goal was chalked off via VAR for a foul she had committed in the build-up. From the subsequent free kick, Mariana Speckmaier was penalised for handball - after a header ricocheted into her arm - via a VAR review and Wang Shuang equalised from the spot in the 98th minute. City had two late chances to win the game in extra-time, while Stott was lucky not to be penalised for a handball in the 103rd minute. McKenna dragged a shot wide in the 116th minute while Leah Davidson was unable to meet Mariana Speckmaier's wonderful squaring ball in the 121st minute and the game went to spot kicks. "Once it went into extra-time, it got quite hectic, and not a lot of football was played," Stott said. "I think we still could have got a goal. But it wasn't meant to be." The brilliant Mieres' save from Song Duan at 3-3 put City in charge of the shootout, but they could not seal the deal.
