Ronwen Williams can pinpoint when his life changed for ever. In 2002, the future South Africa captain was a 10-year-old from Gelvandale, a notorious suburb of Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, when his cousin was shot dead while working as a security guard.

“He was killed around the corner from where we were playing in the street,” Williams says. “The next thing you know, my cousin was being rushed to hospital. The area was filled with gangsterism, alcohol and drug abuse.”

Thanks to the guidance of his football-obsessed family, however, Williams was able to escape. He was spotted playing for the local side Shatterprufe Rovers and moved to SuperSport United’s academy in Pretoria two years after h…

Bayern Munich will start the defence of their Bundesliga title at home to Hertha Berlin, while they face Borussia Dortmund on matchdays 11 and 28.

After a difficult start to his Bayern tenure, Niko Kovac heads into his second season at Allianz Arena having led the club to a domestic double in 2018-19.

After taking on Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup on August 3, Bayern face lower-league side Energie Cottbus in the DFB-Pokal before kicking off the Bundesliga season with a home clash against Hertha, who finished 11th last term and are now under the tutelage of Ante Covic.

Dortmund led the way for much of the Bundesliga campaign, only to be overtaken in the end by Bayern, and Lucien Favre s side visit Munich in the first Der Klassiker of the season in November, with t…

Anthony Gordon s second-half penalty saw Newcastle United come from behind to frustrate Premier League leaders Manchester City in a 1-1 draw at St James Park.

Gordon, who has been at the centre of media speculation over his future this week, levelled the scores from 12 yards in the 58th minute, converting a spot-kick that he won after being tripped by Ederson.

Josko Gvardiol had nosed City ahead with a neat close-range finish in the 35th minute on Saturday.

Both sides saw chances go begging as they pushed for a winner, with Erling Haaland heading at Nick Pope late on as the Norway international fired a blank for the first time in the league this season.

Pep Guardiola s side sit top of the standings on 14 points, though they could be overtaken by Liverpool…

The Football Association (FA) condemned the racist abuse directed at several England players after the Euro 2020 final loss to Italy on Sunday.

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who missed penalties in the 3-2 shoot-out loss, were targeted on social media in the wake of the defeat at Wembley.

The FA slammed the abuse and called for action to be taken by government and social media companies.

The FA strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and is appalled by the online racism that has been aimed at some of our England players on social media, a statement read.

We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behaviour is not welcome in following the team. We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the t…

Arguably England s best player in their last three knockout fixtures at Euro 2020, Luke Shaw reportedly struggled through games against Ukraine, Denmark and Italy with broken ribs.

The left-back was part of Gareth Southgate s side that suffered shoot-out heartbreak against Italy in the final, but it has become apparent that Shaw was playing through the pain for his country, after suffering a blow to his ribs against Germany in the last 16.

According to the Telegraph, Manchester United will now wait to assess the left-back, whose sole goal at the European Championship represented the fastest to be scored in a final since 1964, ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

The former Southampton academy product was in scintillating form throughout Euro 2020 as he recorded three a…