Championship
Late McBurnie strike settles a stormy Championship play-off and sends Hull back to the top flight
Hull returned to the top flight as McBurnie’s stoppage-time strike closed a tumultuous playoff saga.
Hull City secured promotion to the Premier League with a 1–0 victory over Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final, Oli McBurnie’s stoppage-time winner providing a decisive end to a highly divisive post-season.
The route to Wembley was overshadowed by an espionage row. Southampton analyst intern William Salt was found filming Middlesbrough’s training from behind a pine tree and was detained by indignant Boro staff. Southampton revealed this was not the first instance of spying sanctioned by manager Tonda Eckert. Saints had prevailed across the two legs of the play-off semifinal against Middlesbrough, only for an unprecedented English Football League ruling to expel Southampton from the final and reinstate Boro.
“We can say everything is unfair in this last two weeks,” Hull manager Sergej Jakirović sighed on the eve of the final.
The final itself was a tight, attritional contest. Only one Championship play-off final in the past decade has been decided by more than a single goal, Brentford’s 2–0 win over Swansea City in 2021, which was aided by Jay Fulton’s red card in the 65th minute. Middlesbrough supporters had gathered in Trafalgar Square the day before, but the match struggled for fluency. The first shot on target did not arrive until the 61st minute and stifling heat contributed to a subdued tempo.
When the breakthrough came it arrived in dramatic fashion. In the 95th minute McBurnie reacted quickest to a poor save from Solomon Brynn, gobbling up the rebound from a cross to find the goal that would send Hull back to the top flight for the first time since 2017. The late strike closed a tumultuous play-off campaign and spared Hull any need for legal action.
After 10 months, 370 Championship matches and 1,021 goals, attention now turns to the Premier League. The final table remains undecided, with Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United the last two sides still fighting to secure top-flight survival with 90 minutes of the season remaining.
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.
