Banahan the small town giant makes big strides
Features
Promising young wingers come in all shapes and sizes but Matt Banahan is something else. Imagine a Pacific Islander's physique transferred to a personable 21-year-old former hockey player from Jersey who stands 6ft 7in tall, weighs 18 stone and covers the ground faster than anyone else in the west. This week he was picked for England Saxons and is aiming to blow Wasps away tomorrow en route to the Guinness Premiership grand final. The next big thing has already arrived.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
Bristol and Portsmouth primed to host 2018 World Cup matches
Features
Bristol, Portsmouth and Nottingham could stage World Cup matches in 2018 if England hosts the tournament. If successful in its bid for the Cup the FA will encourage cities across the country to bid for matches as it seeks an even geographical spread of venues.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
City's Uefa Cup plans rocked by Bon Jovi concert
Features
Manchester City face the prospect of having to start their Uefa Cup campaign next season at another stadium because of a Bon Jovi concert at their ground. The club are looking at alternative venues - with Huddersfield Town's Galpharm Stadium under consideration - amid concerns that the pitch at Eastlands will not be ready in time.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
Dallaglio sees a fitting finale for himself only in terms of Wasps' future
Features
Lawrence Dallaglio will fittingly finish his 18-year senior career at Twickenham, the scene of so many of his triumphs, regardless of whether Wasps reach the Premiership play-off final by defeating Bath at Adams Park tomorrow, but the former England captain says he is more motivated about his club maintaining their remarkable record of winning at least one trophy every season since 2003 than personal glory.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
Final reward for Redknapp revolution
Features
It is a story Harry Redknapp has told before, though, as he glances along the line of those he leads out at Wembley today, he might shudder at the memories it conjures. In December 2005 the newly re-appointed Portsmouth manager strode into the club's training ground with the team second bottom in the Premier League. "Dejan Stefanovic, who I'd brought here first time round, came up to me and said: 'Gaffer, you've got no chance here. This is the worst team I've ever seen. You must be mad,'" recalled Redknapp. "After a morning's training I realised he was right. Where they found some of them, God only knows."
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
Gloucester out to win the lap of honour as well as the main race
Features
Gloucester last week finished at the head of the Premiership for the third time in the last six seasons but they have yet to be crowned champions. Masters of the marathon, they still have to adapt to the sprint finish that is the play-off system and at Kingsholm tomorrow they face the side, Leicester, that crushed them in last year's final at Twickenham.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
'I knew I was in real trouble' - PC describes beating by fans
Features
The police officer cornered, kicked and stamped on by drunken Glasgow Rangers fans in the centre of Manchester spoke yesterday for the first time of his terror during the mob's attack.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
Johnson and Adams renew hostilities five years on
Features
Roger Johnson does not name the "long list of people who said I wouldn't make it" yet it is blindingly obvious who heads the cast of those who, privately if not in public, will wince at the Cardiff City defender's role in the FA Cup final. His name is Tony Adams, and his presence in the Portsmouth dug-out this afternoon sprinkles extra spice on the showpiece for the man he unceremoniously cast aside at Wycombe Wanderers.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
Jones says pressure on Pompey will lift Cardiff
Features
Lower-league opponents have destroyed the FA Cup ambitions of 10 Premier League clubs this season and the Cardiff City manager, Dave Jones, believes the pressure and expectation upon Portsmouth can conspire to claim an 11th at Wembley this afternoon.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
Lack of big-four class leaves plenty for neutrals to chew on
Features
This FA Cup final is so distinctive that it would fail a drugs test if romance were an illegal substance. The game is doped up with novelty. An English manager will get his mitts on the trophy and the winner will come not just from beyond the top four but perhaps from outside the Premier League. There are engrossing case histories on the field, whether, in the Portsmouth ranks, it is David James' reclassification from calamity to national treasure or, at Cardiff, the possibility of Robbie Fowler stealing into another final at some point.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: May 17, 2008
