Championship
Lampard: Coventry Promotion Ranks Nearly Beside My Greatest Chelsea Night
Lampard says Coventry promotion is almost as satisfying as his 2012 Champions League night to fans
Frank Lampard has framed Coventry City’s return to the top flight as a triumph that comes “very, very close” to the high of his 2012 Champions League success with Chelsea, which he still calls “the best night” of his life. After 25 years away from the summit of the English pyramid, Coventry became the first second-tier club to confirm their involvement in the 2026–27 Premier League campaign.
“We came into a bit of an unknown 15 or so months ago when we arrived in a people carrier,” Lampard reflected on the modest beginning to a rapid recovery. “We’ve fallen in love and this is right up there with what I have achieved.” The promotion was effectively secured a week before the 1–1 draw with Blackburn that rubber-stamped the result.
Lampard admitted he was taken aback by his own reaction at full time. “I’m more emotional than I thought I would be and the final whistle just caught me,” he said. “It just dawned on me then what this achievement means to our fans.
“Winning the Champions League with Chelsea was the best night of my life, but this comes very, very close.”
He allowed the squad “a bit of a party” after a goalless stalemate with already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday, only to find training standards had dropped the following week and, by his own admission, he had “the hump” with the brief lapse. Overall, Lampard’s tenure has been characterised by a close relationship with the squad and a shared focus on consistency.
“People just see him as a gaffer because they don’t know him as a person but he’s more than just a gaffer,” Jack Rudoni told BBC Sport . “He has a great relationship with everyone—he’s a good person as well.
“You can come to him with anything and he will sit there and talk to you and give you advice whether it’s football or not. There’s no-one better to learn from—he’s been brilliant with me on and off the pitch.
“He and I have a good relationship, and we talk closely. He’s always helping me with little bits and pieces, timing of runs, areas to get into, even down to shooting techniques and stuff we spoke about.
“He’s been brilliant, and it’s great to have someone of that quality that can guide me and give me tips, and I’m just happy it’s worked out for me on the pitch, which then kind of repays him working with me with the results.”
Rudoni has seven goals from midfield. U.S. men’s national team striker Haji Wright leads the club with 16 league goals and there are seven players with seven or more this season; no other Championship team has more than four. Coventry have combined careful play through the thirds with rapid transitions, exploiting errors or choosing moments to press. Lampard’s promotion completes his first successful return to England’s top flight after previous playoff disappointments and a 2020 FA Cup final with Chelsea, when they were beaten by Arsenal in front of an empty Wembley Stadium.
Championship
Carrick and Maresca renew an old rivalry in Manchester derby build-up
Carrick has won both previous meetings with Maresca, and they meet again at Old Trafford.
For the first Manchester derby in a decade without Pep Guardiola on the touchline, attention turns to another managerial meeting. After Guardiola stepped down from Manchester City at the end of last season, Sunday’s match at Old Trafford will place Enzo Maresca opposite Michael Carrick.
It is not the first time the two have crossed paths. Their previous encounters came before this Premier League setting, and before Carrick’s current role at Manchester United. The head-to-head record already carries a clear edge for Carrick, who has twice got the better of Maresca.
Their first meeting arrived in November 2023 in the Championship, when Middlesbrough hosted at the Riverside Stadium. That match was decided by a moment of quality from Sam Greenwood, whose 83rd-minute free kick proved enough to settle the contest. His strike, curled from long range into the top corner, was later chosen by fans as the club’s Goal of the Season.
The game itself was far less polished than the winning goal. It was a bruising, disjointed affair that produced seven bookings and 33 fouls, underlining how little rhythm either side managed to establish.
When the fixture was reversed later that season at the King Power Stadium, Carrick again came out on top. Middlesbrough won 2-1, extending his perfect record in the pairing and giving him another result to lean on ahead of this latest derby occasion.
With Maresca now preparing to face Carrick in a very different setting, the past meetings offer a useful reminder that this is not an unfamiliar rivalry. The names may be attached to a new stage, but the competitive pattern remains the same.
Championship
Grading the Major USMNT Moves of the 2026 Summer Window
USMNT transfer grades from a summer of World Cup momentum, fresh starts, and one Deadline Day collapse.
The 2026 World Cup changed the market for several U.S. men’s national team players. Strong performances on the biggest stage helped open doors across Europe, while others used the summer to secure fresh opportunities after productive domestic seasons. From MLS exits to moves inside Europe’s top leagues, the window produced a mix of progress, promise and one Deadline Day saga that never quite became a transfer.
Sebastian Berhalter was among the clearest beneficiaries. He was not a regular starter under Pochettino this summer, but he still logged five World Cup appearances, finishing with a goal and an assist. That followed a career-best 21 goal contributions for the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2025, and he backed it up again in 2026 with seven goals and four assists in 18 matches. Middlesbrough moved quickly, paying $2 million in July for the midfielder’s signature. The switch to England’s second tier gives him a major step up from MLS and a possible pathway toward the Premier League.
Gio Reyna needed a reset, and he got one. After managing only 20 appearances for Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2025-26, he went to the World Cup and delivered five appearances, capped by a standout goal against Paraguay. That was enough for Strasbourg to hand him a five-year deal. Reyna has already shown encouraging signs, setting up the only goal in a preseason match against Newcastle United before making his Ligue 1 debut off the bench. He then earned a start against Lens and helped Strasbourg take three points. For a player who needs rhythm, that kind of continuity matters.
Zavier Gozo’s move carried a different kind of weight. The 19-year-old left Real Salt Lake for Crystal Palace on a five-year contract, scored for the club’s U-21s against Arsenal’s youth side, and then made his Premier League debut six days later in a 4-1 loss to Manchester City. The numbers were modest, but the age profile and upside remain obvious.
Folarin Balogun did not move in the end, but his Deadline Day story was impossible to ignore. A permanent switch from Monaco to Everton fell apart after a failed medical, a brief pivot toward Joshua Zirkzee, renewed contact over Balogun, and Monaco pulling back from a separate sale involving Lamine Camara. In the end, Balogun stayed put.
Championship
PFA Awards 2026: Fernandes and Shaw lead the honours
Fernandes and Shaw headlined the 2026 PFA Awards after standout seasons in England.
The 53rd PFA Awards took place on Tuesday night at the Manchester Opera House, with the game’s leading players across England recognised for their 2025-26 seasons. The ceremony covered the Premier League, the EFL Championship, League One and Two, the Women’s Super League and the Women’s Super League 2.
Bruno Fernandes claimed the men’s Player of the Year award after a remarkable campaign for Manchester United. The midfielder set a Premier League record with 21 assists in a single season, and he became the first United player since Wayne Rooney in 2010 to win the prize.
In the women’s category, Manchester City forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw was voted Player of the Year for a second time. Shaw scored 21 goals in 22 matches last season and played a key role as City won the title. Her recognition completed a double after she was also named women’s Player of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association in May.
Fernandes also completed a double of his own after being selected as men’s Player of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association in May.
City youngster Nico O’Reilly, 21, received the men’s Young Player of the Year award, while Arsenal forward Olivia Smith, 22, won the women’s Young Player of the Year honour for the second straight season.
Elsewhere, former Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney, now with Everton, was named Championship Player of the Year. Birmingham City forward Lily Crosthwaite collected the WSL2 Player of the Year award, while former Leyton Orient forward Dom Ballard, now at Championship side Bristol City, was named League One Player of the Year.
The event also included the Premier League, WSL, Championship, League One and WSL2 Teams of the Year, with the full line-ups listed separately.
