Brighton owner Tony Bloom says it is "entirely false" that he placed bets on his team's matches since he took over the club. Reports emerged that the British billionaire was the anonymous gambler behind winnings of £52 million ($70m), which allegedly included bets on the Seagulls. Now, in a statement on behalf of Bloom, the Premier League club has responded to these "misleading" claims.

• 'Secret £600m betting syndicate'

  Earlier this week, Bloom was accused of running a 'secret £600 million ($800m) betting syndicate' and that some of the accounts used allegedly belonged to a former chief of staff of Reform UK MP Nigel Farage. Moreover, claimed that Bloom is the professional gambler known as "John Doe", who is referred to in a legal case in the United States where investigators are trying to unmask an anonymous gambler on a lucrative hot streak. The Football Association prevents club owners from placing bets on matches or competitions involving their own team. Despite that, Bloom is one of several owners allowed to continue gambling on other tournaments and games as he was included in a 2014 policy permitting such an act. Now, the 55-year-old, who is a professional gambler and runs a £600m-valued ($800m) London-based sports betting consultancy called Starlizard, has tried to set the record straight.

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  'Inaccurate and misleading report'

  A statement issued by Brighton on Bloom's behalf states that he has never placed bets on the Seagulls since taking over the club in 2009. He described these allegations as "inaccurate and misleading" and said that lawyers have made contact with The Guardian about their story.

  A statement on the club's website reads: "Following an inaccurate and misleading report in The Guardian earlier this evening, I can categorically assure our supporters that I have not placed bets on any Brighton & Hove Albion matches since becoming the owner of the club in 2009. In 2014, in addition to new rules on betting, The FA introduced a policy with quite onerous provisions for owners of football clubs with interests in betting. These provisions allow certain football club owners, including me, to continue to bet on football under strict conditions. In particular, the policy prevents me from betting on any match or competition that Brighton & Hove Albion is involved in. Since 2014, I have always fully complied with these conditions, and all of my bets on football are audited by one of the world’s leading accounting firms on an annual basis to ensure full compliance with The FA’s policy. Lawyers acting on my behalf have this evening directly contacted The Guardian to make my position on this entirely false allegation very clear. Separately, our club is in direct contact with both The Football Association and The Premier League regarding this matter."

• The rise of Tony Bloom

  To many, Bloom is best known as Brighton's owner, along with being a minority shareholder in Belgian top-flight team Union SG. He is also a minority owner of the Australian team Melbourne Victory and Scottish Premiership side Hearts. For those less accustomed to the Brighton-born businessman, Bloom started out at an accountancy firm, before becoming an options trader, and then he got into gambling professionally. Nicknamed 'The Lizard' for his poker-playing prowess, Bloom launched Starlizard in 2006, with their modus operandi focusing on using data to analyse and predict the outcome of sporting events. The success of that enterprise has allowed him to venture into racehorse ownership and charitable foundations, as well as taking Brighton from League One to the Premier League. This comes a matter of decades after the club nearly went out of existence in the late 1990s. Since then, they have played in the Europa League as well for the first time in their history.

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  What comes next for Bloom's Brighton?

  Aside from off-field matters such as this, Bloom, who is a boyhood Brighton fan, will be keeping a watchful eye on his team's Premier League clash with West Ham on Sunday. The Seagulls sit tenth in the table whereas the Hammers are third from bottom. A win could see the Albion jump into the top five if results go their way.

Essex have appointed former England spinner Stephen Parry as their new women’s team head coach.Having retired in 2020, Parry was part of the coaching structures at both Lancashire Women and Manchester Originals. He took charge of Originals in the 2023 and 2024 seasons of the women’s Hundred before being replaced by Michael Klinger.Parry, 39, will aim to oversee an upturn in fortunes for Essex after a difficult first season in the Tier 1 women’s structure that saw Andy Tennant depart as head coach after less than 12 months in the role.”I am really excited for this next journey of my cricket career,” Parry said. “I have seen the squad and I feel like I can bring my experience here to move them forward, become more competitive and work towards winning some trophies.”The squad we have here is really exciting and there is a lot of room for growth. There are some great people here, plenty to work with and the club has a real family-orientated feel to it. I am still young, thirsty to learn and want to improve myself whilst helping everybody around me and look to build something special.”The long-term goal is to build a squad where we are competitive across all formats, the first team, Academy and pathway – enhancing Essex Women’s cricket as a whole.”Parry spent his entire 13-year playing career with Lancashire and remains the club’s leading T20 wicket-taker. He was capped five times in the format by England, playing at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh, as well as twice in ODIs.Essex’s director of cricket, Chris Silverwood, said: “We are really excited to appoint Stephen as the new Essex Women’s head coach. Stephen brings a wealth of experience from his playing and coaching career, and we are delighted to welcome him to the club.”His recent appointments with Lancashire and the Manchester Originals have shown that he can lead teams in high-pressure environments, and develop, nurture, and bring through talent, which makes him the ideal person to guide our women’s squad.”We are confident that Stephen will have a major impact in shaping the current group of Essex Women, contributing to success both on and off the field.”

Liverpool manager Arne Slot’s future at Anfield has come into question after his team dropped points in their 3-3 draw with Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Dutchman, who won the title in his first season, has lost ten of his 23 matches in all competitions, including six in the top-flight, this term.

On top of that, Mohamed Salah has claimed that his relationship with the manager has broken down after being on the bench for the third straight game against Leeds.

The Salah situation and the poor results this season have put pressure on the former Feyenoord tactician, with the club reportedly looking at potential replacements.

Liverpool have admiration for national team manager

Dave OCKOP reports that Steven Gerrard has been sounded out as a potential interim to come in and steady the ship if FSG decide to part ways with Slot in the coming days or weeks.

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The report claims that Liverpool are also admirers of Germany national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann, previously of Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim.

It adds that the 38-year-old manager is expected to lead his country to the World Cup in America, Canada, and Mexico next summer, though, which means that he will not be available immediately.

Dave OCKOP suggests that the German tactician may be available after the World Cup, though, which is where Gerrard stepping in as an interim option could make sense.

If Liverpool were to eventually bring Nagelsmann in as their long-term replacement for Slot, he would be the perfect appointment to get the best out of Florian Wirtz.

Why Nagelsmann would be perfect for Wirtz

To say that Wirtz has not lived up to expectations in a Liverpool shirt so far would probably be an understatement, as he has yet to deliver a single goal or assist in the Premier League, per Sofascore.

The Reds splashed out £116m to sign the attacking midfielder from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer transfer window, and he has racked up no goals and three assists in 19 appearances in all competitions.

Slot has simply been unable to get the best out of the huge-money signing, who produced 16 goals and 14 assists for Leverkusen last term (Sofascore), but Nagelsmann could come in to get him flying at Anfield.

Wirtz’s form for Germany at international level is proof that he could shine for the Reds if Nagelsmann replaces Slot in the dugout, because he has proven that he can perform in that system.

Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany reign

Stat

Wirtz

Germany rank

Caps

27

3rd

Goals

8

1st

Assists

6

2nd

Goals + assists

14

1st

Stats via Transfermarkt

As you can see in the table above, the Liverpool attacking midfielder has been the most impactful attacker of the manager’s reign with the national team, providing more goals and assists combined than any other player.

For further context, Wirtz scored no goals and provided three assists in his first ten caps for Germany before Nagelsmann took the job, which shows that the ex-Bayern boss can get the best out of him.

The 38-year-old boss was once described as the “best young coach in Europe” by reporter Josh Bunting in 2022, and it is still hard to argue with that assessment in the present day.

Mikel Arteta, 43, and Xabi Alonso, 44, are two of the brightest young coaches in the game, managing Arsenal and Real Madrid, yet they have won as many league titles combined (one) as Nagelsmann has, having won the Bundesliga with Bayern, and he is five and six years younger than them.

The German boss won 2.31 points per game during his time with Bayern, per Transfermarkt, whilst Slot has won 2.00 points per game across 79 matches with Liverpool to date.

This suggests that Nagelsmann could come in as an upgrade on the Dutchman as an all-round manager, whilst also being the perfect appointment to get the best out of Wirtz at Anfield.

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Therefore, it could be a good move for FSG to bring Gerrard in as an interim appointment with a view to landing Nagelsmann next summer, if they decide that parting ways with Slot is the route that they want to go down in the coming weeks.

Somerset batter has had a rollercoaster six years, but is seeking to make a new role his own

Matt Roller16-Oct-2025When Tom Banton made his international debut in New Zealand shortly before his 21st birthday, he was widely considered to be England’s next white-ball superstar. A breakthrough season opening the batting for Somerset had earned him comparisons with Kevin Pietersen, and he was soon snapped up by Brendon McCullum’s Kolkata Knight Riders at the IPL auction.Six years on, Banton is back in New Zealand at a very different stage of his career. It would have been hard to believe in 2019 that he would only have played 28 times for England by now, but his story is a valuable reminder of how rare it is for any athlete to reach the top at such a young age and stay there consistently.Instead, Banton’s sharp rise was quickly followed by a steep decline. He had thrived on flat pitches with small boundaries in county cricket and was soon worked out by international-level bowlers. The franchise circuit is a lonely place for an out-of-form player at the best of times, let alone during the Covid pandemic, and he soon fell out of love with cricket altogether.Related

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He was not helped by a lack of grounding in red-ball cricket, and has admitted that he did not train as hard as he could have done. It took countless hours of hard work to gradually rebuild his confidence, but it gradually started to click again to the extent that he won an England recall earlier this year as the spare batter for their doomed Champions Trophy campaign.Banton has since been one of five ever-presents in England’s T20I side since the start of the summer, albeit recast in an unfamiliar role as a finisher. It has meant playing alongside his old Under-19s team-mates Harry Brook and Will Jacks in the middle order, and this week’s series in New Zealand is a chance to secure his spot ahead of next year’s World Cup.Understandably, he is fed up with being asked about his fallow period. “It was a long time ago, and I think everyone goes through it,” Banton told ESPNcricinfo before flying out. “Look, it’s been great for me. I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now [without it], but it’s been just one of those things… I came onto the scene at such a young age, and then just matured a little bit.”Banton walks off after his club-record 371 for Somerset•Getty ImagesBanton had a curious home summer, interrupted by his international call-ups: he made a club-record 371 against Worcestershire in April, but 298 runs in his other 16 Championship innings, and contributed to Somerset winning the T20 Blast and Trent Rockets reaching the Hundred final despite relatively modest contributions himself.But his immediate focus is to nail down his role in England’s middle order, with his early experiences highlighting the challenges of T20’s most volatile position. Banton has only faced 53 balls across seven matches since his recall, and his two match-winning innings were played at wildly different tempos.Against West Indies in June, he took down Gudakesh Motie’s left-arm spin in his 11-ball 30, walking off unbeaten in a four-wicket win. Three months later, his 37 not out off 26 balls stabilised a controlled England chase against Ireland in Malahide; for the first time in his international career, he hit the winning run.”It is different,” Banton said. “It’s about getting used to it, and different ideas: speaking to other guys that do it more often… In that West Indies game, my first thought was ‘I’m going to take my match-up down’ and luckily, it came off. It’s just small moments like that: if a bowler comes on that you want to take down, you’ve got to really back yourself to do it.”He will have the opportunity to learn from one of T20 cricket’s greatest-ever finishers in December, when he works alongside Kieron Pollard at MI Emirates. “He’s a little bit different to me – a bit bigger – so it’s a bit easier for him,” Banton said, laughing. “It’ll be great to learn from him, and from [Nicholas] Pooran as well.”