An illegal streaming gang who offered cut-price subscriptions for Premier League matches to more than 50,000 people have been jailed. The Premier League said five men were convicted of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and contempt of court after generating more than £7 million in five years. Mark Gould, from London, was reported to have masterminded the operation and was handed an 11-year prison sentence at Chesterfield Crown Court on Tuesday. The 36-year-old and co-defendants Steven Gordon, Peter Jolley, William Brown and Christopher Felvus offered illegal access to matches from hundreds of channels around the world, as well as tens of thousands of on-demand films and TV shows. A sixth gang member, Zak Smith, failed to appear at court for sentencing and a warrant has been issued for his arrest, the Premier League said. We are pleased that through rulings such as this, the courts continue to show that they recognise the importance of safeguarding the Premier League's rights Kevin Plumb The league added that the illegal streaming businesses had 30 employees, with one undercover at a specialist anti-piracy company. Brown, from Stoke-on-Trent, denied the offences, claiming to have been an undercover informant acting in the interests of law enforcement authorities and broadcasters But the 33-year-old was unanimously convicted by a jury after a seven-week trial as the Premier League said he used his technical skills to hack legitimate customers’ accounts to access and copy streams – intending for them to take the blame if identified by authorities. The prosecution was supported by Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s trading standards team and the intellectual property protection organisation Fact. Premier League general counsel Kevin Plumb said: “Today’s sentencing is the result of a long and complex prosecution of a highly sophisticated operation. “The sentences handed down, which are the longest sentences ever issued for piracy-related crimes, vindicate the efforts made to bring these individuals to justice and reflect the severity and extent of the crimes. “This prosecution is another concrete example of the clear links between piracy and wider criminality, a warning we repeatedly make. “While most Premier League fans enjoy watching our games in a safe way, those who were customers of these services were effectively supporting individuals involved in other sinister and dangerous organised crime. “The Premier League’s substantial financial contribution to the entire football pyramid is made possible through the ability to sell our broadcast rights. “We are pleased that through rulings such as this, the courts continue to show that they recognise the importance of safeguarding the Premier League’s rights. “We will continue to protect our rights and our fans by investigating and prosecuting illegal operators at all levels.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Umpire Sue Redfern: I’ll feel awkward and fortunate to break new ground in Blast Daniil Medvedev dumped out of French Open in first round by Thiago Seyboth Wild Dean Windass proud as Conor McGregor splashes cash – Tuesday’s sporting social

England midfielder Ella Toone believes the Lionesses’ person-centred approach to the World Cup has prevented players from feeling “like robots” as they deal with the more difficult elements of travelling halfway around the world. Should the European champions advance from their July 22 Haiti opener all the way to the August 20th Sydney final, they will have spent nearly two months in tournament co-hosts Australia, with a nine-hour time difference and more than 10,000 miles between the Lionesses and loved ones at home. While England have quickly gotten down to business in their Queensland training sessions, they have also been permitted plenty of downtime including organised whale-watching and zoo trips or casual bonding with team-mates at the tranquil team hotel. Toone said: “We’re just normal people, aren’t we? And it’s hard to be away from home, and it’s sometimes hard to be on camp for such a long period of time, but that’s why we’ve got to make a home-away-from-home and I think that’s what we’ve done really well. “We’ve got a fantastic group of players who want the same goal, and yeah, I think we have to have that environment where we can feel like we’re at home, and we’re not just robots on camp and doing the same thing day in and day out. “It’s nice to have a bit of time off and spend time together as well, and get to see beautiful Australia as well, it definitely helps us feel like we’re not robots.” England manager Sarina Wiegman earlier in the week used the “robot” analogy when she spoke about how the holistic human approach taken by the Lionesses coaching and support staff was a deliberate choice, drawn partially from her own experience as a Netherlands international. The boss recalled moments where she found it difficult to balance the serious task of preparing for big competitions with the more fun side of travelling to take on the world with her team-mates. Toone was part of Wiegman’s squad for last summer’s Wembley triumph, and is eager to help any of the six Lionesses – Niamh Charles, Laura Coombs, Lauren James, Esme Morgan, Katie Robinson and Katie Zelem – for whom this World Cup will be their first major tournament. “Some days will be hard,” Toone added. “But you’ve got to speak to people, tell them how you’re feeling. But I think we’ve all been there, we’ve all had days where they’re all going to be a bit harder than other days. “We’re away from family for a long time which is hard, and obviously the time difference doesn’t help. You’ve definitely got to lean on the people around you, you’ve got to open up and understand that days are going to be tough but it’s how you deal with that and how you get on with it.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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Perhaps this was another hint, another example, another reason why Trent Alexander-Arnold seems to both want to play further up and why, eventually, he must. The early knockings of this fixture looked like it might be about who performed the switching six role better: the Liverpool man from right-back as usual, or Manchester City’s central defender Manuel Akanji, stepping forward to sit alongside Rodri. That rotation of position has become commonplace for both teams and continued here, albeit in different ways, and hinted that it might be a decisive factor early on. But it wasn’t; not really, not for a vast majority of the game. Until it was, and Alexander-Arnold secured a 1-1 draw with his late, bottom corner strike. On the one hand, the attacking technique, the precision, the increased proficiency in the final third and in open play, all show why there have long been calls for the No.66 to be deployed in a more advanced role. It’s why that’s where Gareth Southgate has finally found a way to get Alexander-Arnold into the England team, and it’s why this alteration was ultimately landed upon by Jurgen Klopp and his coaches last term, when the old approach fell so badly short. One of those assistants, Pepijn Lijnders, was a driving force behind the switch to this system of pushing one defender into midfield, having utilised Alexander-Arnold at the base of his own centre of the park when in charge of the Reds’ youth teams several years ago. But on the other hand, too many quickdraw conclusions about pushing Alexander-Arnold forward as a consequence of a single goal will doubtless have Klopp pointing out the remainder of this match, a game where he did still play right-back and did still contribute to a very disciplined, highly deliberate performance to contain Man City. Defensively, he wasn’t perfect. That’s a hard thing to attain against anyone, let alone the European champions. Alexander-Arnold - along with Kostas Tsimikas and Dominik Szoboszlai, plus Alisson’s kicked clearance in the first place - were all culpable in City’s opener. They made it far too easy for Nathan Ake to waltz through unchallenged and play in Erling Haaland to score. So too is it true that Alexander-Arnold faced a tough time in keeping track of Jeremy Doku’s continual chop-backs, close control and dribbles. While he didn’t stop anywhere near all of those individual moments in City’s attacking play, he did hold the Belgian off at times, made a couple of vital tackles and followed the team plan of doubling up on the inside. Additionally, he made a big challenge to clear from inside the six-yard box in the first half with Haaland lurking, and defended his post well in the final knockings of the game as City sought a late winner. Winning possession nine times across the course of the game put Alexander-Arnold top of that particular defensive cover-all metric. No defender made more than his three tackles; no player on either side in any position made more than his two interceptions. It all adds up to show he more than played his part in a resolute showing, with Joel Matip alongside him outstanding, Virgil van Dijk continuing his recent excellent form and Kostas Tsimikas also improving on the left. Perhaps it’s as well for Liverpool that the back four were near pitch-perfect, given that behind them, Alisson was erratic and fortunate with a series of misplaced passes and one dropped corner, ruled as a foul as Ruben Dias thought he had scored. Alexander-Arnold was far more withdrawn, far less adventurous even when drifting infield to pair up with Alexis Mac Allister. He roved forward down the flank just twice in the first half; delivering a cross, winning a corner. Liverpool didn’t over-commit. They waited, they probed, they let Darwin Nunez create moments of possibility. And, as time began to run down, Alexander-Arnold it was who finally surged through from deep, finally got himself on the ball in a dangerous, central part of the final third - and who took a fine first touch from Mohamed Salah’s pass, and an even better second touch to score. A low, angled drive past Ederson into the bottom corner gave him a first goal of the season to go with three assists in all competitions. While not an outrageous tally yet by his own creative standards, he has already been disrupted by injury and needed a few games back on the pitch to hit top speed. There’s unquestionably more to come from Alexander-Arnold in an attacking capacity and he might yet become a vital man in the middle. But as he showed at the Etihad, the hardest ground Liverpool or any other team will go to this year, he still has a big part to play in the Reds’ defensive gameplan too - without stopping him shining at the other end. 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Jacob Ramsey will miss the remainder of England Under-21s’ European Championship campaign with an ankle injury. The Aston Villa midfielder, who featured in England’s first four games, was replaced after 67 minutes during their 1-0 victory over Portugal and will sit out Wednesday’s semi-final.Lee Carsley’s side will look to maintain their flawless defensive record when they play Israel for the second time in as many weeks in the last four. Anthony Gordon insisted England’s 2-0 victory over Israel in the group stage is in the past and called for a fresh approach going into the tie.“The group stage games now don’t really matter,” Gordon said. “It doesn’t matter how we played against them or how we beat them. “They played really well against Georgia and won the game ultimately so it’s win or go home and hopefully we can put on another good performance and win the game.” Morgan Gibbs-White reiterated that message by highlighting Israel’s hunger to seek revenge after goals from Gordon and Emile Smith Rowe firmed England’s bid to qualify from Group C. And the Nottingham Forest midfielder, who leads the competition’s assist chart with three, admitted rest and recovery should be at the forefront of England’s thinking.“It’s a completely new game. [Israel] are even more hungry now they are in the semi-final. They are going to want revenge,” Gibbs-White said. “We beat them in the group stage and now they are going to want to beat us, so we have got to make sure we are fully prepared, well rested, fully recovered and hopefully we can go again and get to the final.”

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