Welcome to Melbourne’s ‘Global Football Week’!

Come Wednesday night, the iconic MCG will be filled with fans of English Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, as the two face off in a post-season exhibition match.

Then, on Friday night, we’ll get a double header - a chance to see Arsenal’s women’s side take on an A-League Women’s All Stars side, and Newcastle United take on the A-League Men’s All Stars. What a week for football.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

"...We really want to engage our supporters as much as we can, and Harley [Reid] obviously is the new toy, but he's pretty good to play with." West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson on 19-year-old AFL player Harley Reid. Reid played a significant role in West Coast’s win over the Demons on Sunday.

Stat of the day

$US3.3 million ($AU4.92m)
The prize money awarded to American golfer Xander Schauffele for winning the PGA Championship, one of the four major men’s golf tournaments of the year. That prize money is a record for the tournament since its inception in 1914. Min Woo Lee was the highest-finishing Australian player in equal 26th place.

Random fact of the day

Pittsburgh is the only city in the U.S. where the football (Steelers), ice hockey (Pirates), and baseball (Penguins) teams wear the same colours: black and gold.

I’ve got 1 minute

Kate Jenkins, Australia’s former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, has been announced as the new Chair of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) for a five-year term.

What is the ASC?

The ASC is the federal government body responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. It also operates the Australian Institute of Sport. This year, the ASC has focused on curbing the prevalence of head injuries sustained in sport, particularly community sport where the participants are under 18. It has also announced the introduction of a new standardised course aimed at supporting, attracting, and retaining volunteer officials.

Criticism

In 2021, the ASC Board apologised for the historic mistreatment of athletes from all sports at the AIS, after a Human Rights Commission report - led by Jenkins - found there to be a culture of abuse, predominantly against young women in Australia’s gymnastics community. The body has also faced criticism for its financial management, particularly in relation to the AIS. 

Who is Kate Jenkins?

While Jenkins has most recently been in the public eye for her position as Sex Discrimination Commissioner, she also has experience directly in sport via her board position at the Carlton AFL club. She also led the independent review of Gymnastics Australia.

Federal Sport Minister Anika Wells said Jenkins “is an outstanding administrator who has improved systems and sectors throughout a decorated career that includes significant reforms in sport.”

I’ve got 2 minutes

Over the weekend, Manchester City won its fourth consecutive English Premier League (EPL) title, and Chelsea won its fifth consecutive Women’s Super League (WSL) title. It concludes both seasons.

How it works

In both the EPL and WSL, there are no finals series like in the NRL or AFL. Instead, the team that finishes at the top of the ladder after all matches have been played in a season is crowned the winner.

If teams are tied after all matches, it then goes to which team has the best ‘goal difference’. That’s the difference between the number of goals they’ve scored and the number of goals scored against them over the year.

EPL

Manchester City and Arsenal went into their last games of the season (against West Ham, and Everton respectively) with the same number of wins over the year - 27. However, Manchester City drew seven games and lost three, while Arsenal drew five games and lost five, meaning Manchester City was above Arsenal on the ladder.

That meant for Arsenal to win its first title since 2004, it needed to both beat Everton and for Manchester City to lose to West Ham.

Both teams won their games - Arsenal beat Everton 2-1, and Manchester City beat West Ham 3-1 - meaning Manchester City won the title of Premier League champions. This is the first time in English history that a club has won four titles in a row.

WSL

It was a similar situation in the WSL - both Chelsea and Manchester City were in contention to win the title going into the final round of the season. Chelsea just needed a win to secure the title, while Manchester City needed to win by at least three goals and Chelsea had to either record a narrow win, draw or lose in order for them to win the title.

Both teams won their matches - Chelsea beat Manchester United 6-0 (not the narrow win Manchester City needed), and Manchester City beat Aston Villa 2-1 - meaning Chelsea were crowned champions.

It was the perfect send-off for Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who coached her last game at the club after 12 seasons to take up a position as the coach of the U.S. national women’s team. It was Chelsea’s fifth consecutive title, a record for the WSL.

Chelsea was without Matildas captain Sam Kerr, who remains out of action because of an ACL tear.

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