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Former Manchester United executive vice-chair Ed Woodward has accepted a first job since departing Old Trafford last year. Woodward has joined the board of educational esports company EStars as a non-executive director. EStars is “at the heart of the fastest-growing sport in the world”, using esports to bring classmates together, both during and after school hours, to foster great academic goals, inclusion, diversity and positive outcomes. Ex-Newcastle, Netherlands and current Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul has been a shareholder in the company since its inception in 2017 and Woodward explained his decision to accept the new role. He said: “When you put together esports, education and a dynamic region such as the Middle East, where curriculum decisions can be made faster than Europe, it is a recipe for success. “Joining the team is an easy decision when you add the exceptional leadership and entrepreneurial energy of Mags [founder Mags Byrne]. I’m excited about EStars delivering a path of learning for the next generation in the (relatively) new industry of esports.” Having qualified as a chartered accountant and then worked at JPMorgan as an investment banker, Woodward joined Man United in 2005 to oversee their commercial operations, having advised the Glazer family on their purchase of the club. He was appointed to the board of directors in 2008 and became executive vice-chair in 2013 when David Gill retired. He became an incredibly unpopular figure at Old Trafford due to his association with a Glazer regime that fans turned against and despite the £1bn he sanctioned in transfer fees, his tenure is regarded as a failure, with the club struggling on the pitch – in relative terms at least – in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. It has been mooted that he could help the Glazer family negotiate any potential sale of Manchester United as the takeover saga drags on. Read More What would a Sir Jim Ratcliffe takeover mean for Manchester United Erik ten Hag unsure what funds will be available to strengthen Man Utd’s squad Louis Van Gaal suggests Ed Woodward’s departure from Man Utd could spell success

Gary Maddison was not a Tottenham supporter. Not until the last few weeks, anyway. But there was a time when he paid particular attention to Spurs, and a reason. “My dad’s favourite player when I was growing up was Gazza,” said his son, James, who has inherited the mantle Paul Gascoigne had more than three decades ago, of Tottenham’s resident creator and entertainer, part technical talent, part bubbly character. If some summer signings require time and explanation, Maddison and Tottenham seemed a synergy of player and club, a perfect match. It was the impression the £40m buy forged. “That was one of the reasons I wanted to go to Tottenham, purely because I could just see myself playing for Tottenham. I’m not even 100 percent sure what I mean by that, so don’t ask me. But I could just see myself in that team, in that kit, in that stadium. It just fitted well for me.” Even as Maddison struggled to define what a Tottenham player he is, he nevertheless appears to belong in a tradition. For a club without a league title in 62 years, Spurs have had a disproportionate number of flair players, many of them attack-minded midfielders or wingers. The club of Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle, Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa, Gascoigne and David Ginola, Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart tended to offer excitement. “And they’ve always had that type of player,” Maddison added. “And that sort of midfielder who wants to be creative and entertain the fans and be a personality. Christian Eriksen in more recent years but since him they probably haven’t had that type of player. I’d put myself in that category, I’m not putting myself on the same level. But I’m that type of player.” As he indicated, it is one they have lacked of late, under a trio of managerial puritans, in Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte. Maddison, appointed vice-captain before he debuted, can look the face of ‘Angeball’, the more attacking ethos of Ange Postecoglou. It helps that Eriksen was a player he admired during his rise. David Silva and the Liverpool version of Philippe Coutinho were other inspirations. But if his father idolised Gazza, the young Maddison also looked up to Wazza. “I would probably say Wayne Rooney was the big one in my childhood,” he said. “I used to love Wazza. He was a bit more feisty than me – a bit harder into a tackle – but his personality and the way he came through in the way he played. That childhood was videoed by his father, producing YouTube montages of an emerging talent. Maddison jokes that Premier League copyright rules prevent him from carrying on. Perhaps that explains why he has long seemed comfortable on camera, gravitating towards the limelight. “I loved watching players who had a little bit of cheekiness about them; Gazza was a perfect example,” he said, chuckling at the thought of the midfielder sticking his tongue out during the national anthem in the 1990 World Cup. Maddison’s exuberant streak is reflected in his style of play. It is an outgoing attitude, rather than arrogance. “It’s not a conscious effort to try and be the showman,” he said. “That’s just how I play football. That’s just how I am as a person, [when] I go for a roast dinner with my family, I like to be the main man.” That confidence can equip him for the most daunting tasks. Tottenham’s record scorer and, Maddison said, arguably their greatest ever player vacated the No 10 shirt this summer when Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich. He took it. “I wasn’t naive enough to go in there thinking there wasn’t a chance Harry Kane could leave Tottenham,” he said. “The club asked me, then of course I wanted to wear it. It’s my favourite number. I’ve got it tattooed on me, I loved that number growing up as a kid so I was never going to say no.” Thus far, four games in the shirt have brought a Kane-esque return of two goals and two assists, plus a place in the England squad. Once on the outside looking in, he is now becoming a regular choice. “I think I’m probably too intelligent to think that I’m in and cemented,” he nevertheless said. He only has three caps; perhaps the absences of Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling will afford him the chance to add to that against Ukraine and Scotland. That tally might be higher but for a knee injury that meant he was unavailable for the group games at the World Cup; by the time he was fit again, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford were all in form. “I think a younger version of myself would have been a bit more sulky, a bit more moody, a bit more moany,” Maddison admitted, but, more mature now, he tried to be supportive and highlighted the empathetic man-management of Gareth Southgate. “Gareth gave me a massive compliment as we were leaving,” he said. “He said he knew it has been tough with the injury and not featuring, but he was really impressed with the way I had carried myself round the group. Him putting his arm around me and saying that as we were leaving stuck with me.” It gives Maddison an extra motivation to play at Euro 2024 but, as he looks for further opportunities with England, he is looking a natural fit for a white shirt at his new club. Read More Bukayo Saka keen to improve after winning England men’s player of the year again Reinvented at new-age Brighton, Lewis Dunk has a second chance with England James Maddison grew up loving Gascoigne ‘cheekiness’ and ‘feisty’ Wayne Rooney James Maddison, Julian Alvarez and 5 players to target for FPL Gameweek 5 Ange Postecoglou expects Brennan Johnson to ‘fit in really well’ at Tottenham

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“I’ve done my knee.” Keira Walsh knew it immediately, and then came the words to devastate the Lionesses and England’s chances of winning the World Cup as well. That’s how significant a blow losing Walsh is for any amount of time, let alone the tournament and potentially beyond. If England had one irreplaceable player, it would be Walsh. If Sarina Wiegman could have chosen any star to protect for the rest of the World Cup, it would have been their holding midfielder and pass master. The Lionesses now face a terrible wait to discover the extent of Walsh’s injury. It overshadowed England’s win over Denmark, and threatens to hang over the rest of their tournament in Australia. After losing Leah Williamson and Beth Mead to ACL injuries, it looks like England have suffered another, a cruel twist that came after Wiegman made two changes to her team and the Lionesses, for the first time this World Cup, looked to have clicked into gear. Walsh was at the heart of that at the anchor of England’s midfield - as she was during the Euros and in pretty much every England game since then, playing more minutes than any other member of Wiegman’s squad over the last year. She has qualities that no other player in the squad possesses, an ability to dictate the tempo of their play, to shoulder the responsibility of linking everything, a passing range that no one else has. She’s the player that in training her teammates can’t get the ball off. It’s why Barcelona, the best team in Europe, broke their transfer record to sign her. Without her player of the match display at Wembley, or pass through to Ella Toone for England’s opening goal, the Lionesses may not have beaten Germany to win the Euros. Since then, England have lost their spine and after the joy of last summer those are the pictures that threaten to define England’s year as European champions: Mead hobbling off in tears at the Emirates; Williamson wincing as her knee buckled against Manchester United; now Walsh reaching, her studs catching the turf, before being stretchered off against Denmark. It came as England looked to have steadied the ship and found their rhythm against Denmark, Lauren James scoring the goal that looked to have given the Lionesses lift off. There was a lot of noise England had to try and shut out, questions that weren’t answered in the win against Haiti, a clamour for Wiegman to do what she never does and change her starting line-up. That Wiegman did decide to twist indicated that something was not quite right - that England had gone almost six hours without scoring a goal made that perfectly clear as well. Yet with James and Rachel Daly brought back into the side, England looked to have been recalibrated. In the opening half hour, England’s standout feature against Denmark was the time and calmness each player had on the ball - a presence of mind that radiated from James but was set by Walsh. The Lionesses found what they never managed could grasp against Haiti. They took control and dominated possession. Everyone looked more comfortable and England were finally able to take a breath. Then Walsh went down and suddenly England were faced with another problem to solve: except this one doesn’t come with a quick-fix. Despite England’s goals drying up in recent months, Wiegman has had several attacking options in which to replace Mead - with James, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly. The absence of Williamson has been felt off the pitch as much as on, but England have a ball-playing centre-back in Alex Greenwood. There isn’t a like-for-like replacement for Walsh, for her scanning, positional sense in front of the back four, or her discipline and calmness on the ball and off it. There is now a lot of responsibility placed on the shoulders of Georgia Stanway, a key player in her own right, but a midfielder who has a natural tendency to burst forward. As the new pivot of England’s midfield, Stanway will now have to control those attacking instincts. And in the second half in Sydney, while the devastating blow of losing Walsh subsided, England managed to see the game out. It wasn’t always pretty and the Lionesses certainly lost some of the fluidity they showed in the early stages, while Amalie Vangsgaard hitting the post with a late header was the let-off they needed. But that is tournament football and the victory puts England on the verge of the knockout stages - it could even be confirmed if China fail to beat Haiti later today. In doing so, England may have entered a new phase of their World Cup. The game has changed. Wiegman would not admit it, but this Lionesses team is simply not going to be anywhere near what it was when they won the Euros last summer. Mead and Williamson, even Fran Kirby, Ellen White and Jill Scott, were cracks that could have been covered up. England can still go far but losing Walsh reveals a gaping hole that can’t be filled. The Lionesses, like they managed against Denmark, now need to hang on and survive it. Read More England find World Cup balance but more adversity leaves one defining question BBC pundit slams Women’s World Cup pitches after Keira Walsh injury – ‘It’s not good enough’ England manager Sarina Wiegman reacts to ‘serious’ Keira Walsh injury England manager Sarina Wiegman reacts to ‘serious’ Keira Walsh injury England find balance but more adversity leaves one defining question Bethany England: The Lionesses’ overlooked attacking threat in profile

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