Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has scrapped plans to build a lavish £3million home after villagers in Cheshire’s exclusive ‘golden triangle’ branded it a hotel complex.
The Premier League winner and England star, 30, wanted to knock down two adjoining homes to make way for the seven-bed mansion with a trophy corridor, family pool, cinema, play room and tennis court.
But the parish council described the proposed new-build near Knutsford as ‘more akin to a commercial or industrial building than a dwelling’ following complaints from neighbours.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has scrapped plans to build a lavish £3million home
Henderson has withdrawn a planning application to Cheshire East Council to demolish the two existing properties which dated back to 1841, despite them not being deemed a heritage asset.
It brings to an end a long-running saga which even involved input from bosses at nearby Manchester Airport. They raised concerns a pond Henderson wanted to have built would attract birds that could fly into engines and endanger aircraft.
Alex is not following his father’s footsteps
Do not expect Alex Bruce to follow his dad Steve into management any time soon. The former defender, 36, is working for agency Unique Sports Management, with many of the Newcastle team — managed by Bruce’s father Steve — on their books.
Do not expect Alex Bruce to follow his dad Steve into management any time soon
Joe Hart the influence behind Tottenham’s cricket antics
Entertaining videos of Tottenham’s squad playing indoor cricket — which feature goalkeeper Joe Hart sending down nasty bouncers to a ducking Harry Kane in front of a baying slip cordon that includes Gareth Bale and wicketkeeper Eric Dier — have gone viral.
The clips, filmed at Spurs’ Enfield training base, shine a light on the culture and personalities in Jose Mourinho’s squad.
One can only imagine what officials at Amazon, who paid big bucks for last season’s documentary, think about the amusing content.
Sources have disclosed that the wickets, bat and ball were brought in by summer signing Hart, who could have chosen cricket as a career.
He was in Worcestershire’s academy before joining Shrewsbury.
Tottenham’s summer signing Joe Hart has been supplying cricket gear at training ground
Barclay questions the Big Three
Interesting to see New Zealander Greg Barclay, the new International Cricket Council chairman, question the influence of the big three when it is almost universally accepted the sport is led by the big one.
Examples of preferential treatment towards India are many, but the latest one has raised eyebrows. Cricket Australia have told English players in the Big Bash League that no families are allowed to accompany them Down Under, despite the bubble lasting until February 6.
India, however, currently touring Oz, have been permitted to bring wives and partners with them.
EFL eye up Sunderland’s Jim Rodwell for new chief
Sunderland’s Jim Rodwell is wanted by the EFL to replace outgoing chief executive Dave Baldwin, who will leave next year after less than 12 months in the job.
Rodwell was previously a director of the EFL while in charge at Scunthorpe before moving to Sunderland. There he has been instrumental in negotiating the club’s imminent takeover by Uruguayan businessman Juan Sartori and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, son of former Marseille owner Robert Dreyfus.
The FA’s search for a new chairman begins
The vacant role of FA chairman, following the resignation of Greg Clarke, will be formally advertised this week after a reshuffle of the selection panel triggered by Stacey Cartwright’s decision to quit the FA Board last week, as revealed by Sportsmail.
Prospective candidates have until January 9 to apply. The process will initially be run by management consultancy Egon Zehnder, before a seven-person panel chaired by independent non-executive director Kate Tinsley begin conducting interviews. The FA hope to have made an appointment by March.
The vacant role of FA chairman, following the resignation of Greg Clarke, will be formally advertised this week
Rooney Rule comes under fire again
Concerns remain that the EFL’s version of the Rooney Rule is not fit for purpose.
The policy, an adaptation of the groundbreaking NFL regulation, states that clubs must interview at least one black, Asian and minority ethnic candidate for a managerial vacancy.
However, a loophole, which states that the above is not necessary should the club not go through a shortlisting process and interview only one candidate, continues to be used with some frequency. Sources have voiced their frustration. ‘It makes the whole ruling pointless,’ one explained.
Former Racing Correspondent recalls famous interviews
The long weeks of this year’s initial lockdown were used by the Daily Mail’s former Racing Correspondent Colin Mackenzie to compile his memoirs Pressing My Luck (Amazon, £9.99), which are published this week.
Mackenzie, the man who found Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs in 1974, recalls when drugs baron Brian Wright had a hold over some senior jockeys in the 1980s and 1990s.
He also recounts interviews with people including the Queen Mother, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as presidents Richard Nixon and Nicolae Ceausescu.
A football agency makes a charitable move
An ethical move from a football agency? It appears so.
One of the industry’s biggest names has written to its staff to tell them they will not be able to send festive hampers to their contacts this year. Instead, the group will be making a donation to charity. 2020 — the year that never fails to surprise.
Paddy Power miss the target
The latest publicity stunt by Paddy Power appears to have backfired. A sum of £2,000 was offered to a Chelsea supporter ahead of Saturday’s clash with Leeds in exchange for wearing a green ‘spy suit’ and posing with a pair of binoculars inside Stamford Bridge in a nod to the Bielsa-Lampard ‘spygate’ saga from January 2019.
The fan declined the invitation, sent by PR firm Ready10, but another spectator did oblige. A snap of the ‘hilarious’ and not-at-all dated ‘joke’ was posted on Paddy Power’s Twitter account — and widely panned.
It also failed to impress Chelsea, who want to identify and speak to the individual involved.
The latest publicity stunt by Paddy Power backfired regarding Lampard and Bielsa’s old feud