Lescott quits England U21s role to pursue dream of becoming football director

Former England defender Joleon Lescott has left his role as England Under 21s coach as he wants to pursue a career as a sporting director.

The former Manchester City, Everton and Wolves centre back was employed as a consultant coach by the FA during this summer’s Euros, which Lee Carsley’s England side won in Georgia by beating Spain 1-0 in the final.

Carsley and assistant Ashley Cole will stay on for England’s title defence in 2025 — a campaign which begins with a qualifier against Luxembourg next month.

But Lescott, 41, will not be part of the set-up as his plan is to work as a sporting director.

He remains involved at City in ambassadorial and media roles.

Yellow card gambling probe hits dead end

Anti-corruption investigators looking into suspicious gambling activity surrounding Granit Xhaka’s infamous booking in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Leeds 18 months ago were thwarted by the fact the biggest bets were made in unregulated cryptocurrency markets.

A Crypto operator registered in the Caribbean island of Curacao lost £400,000 on bets placed on Xhaka to be booked in a Premier League game in December 2021, but the International Betting Integrity Association were unable to take up the case as the company were not members.

The FA investigated for six months before it was escalated to a criminal inquiry, but that was dropped without any charges being brought earlier this summer. Xhaka was never accused of wrongdoing.

Oldham fans slammed for pitch invasion

Chesterfield fans have been flooding message boards criticising Oldham supporters for invading the pitch after scoring an injury-time equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw last Saturday despite their own club’s recent history of ground incursion.

Pitch invasions in successive home games at the SMH Group Stadium in 2019 led to Chesterfield issuing banning orders to fans of between three and 10 years, and 17 fans were given life bans by the club back in 2011.

Derbyshire Police are investigating last weekend’s scenes which also saw Chesterfield goalkeeper Harry Tyrer pushed to the ground during the invasion.

Big shirt sales for World Champions Spain

Spain’s World Cup final victory over England in Sydney last weekend has also been replicated off the pitch, with their iconic red adidas shirt proving more attractive to fans than the Lionesses’ Nike outfit.

Sales data seen by Mail Sport shows adidas reporting a 29 per cent sell-out rate of the Spanish kit across the world compared to Nike’s 15 per cent. The German firm also fared better in selling other nations’ kits, selling out 24 per cent of all team’s shirts compared to Nike’s 12 per cent — a figure not helped by the United States’ shock second-round exit.

Their failure, until now, to produce a replica England goalkeeper shirt was an own-goal which angered Mary Earps, who won the Golden Glove award.

Des Kelly's Gundogan gag

The real story behind former BT Sport reporter Des Kelly’s request for Ilkay Gundogan’s autograph after Manchester City’s Champions League final win over Inter Milan can be revealed.

Kelly’s unusual request was a set-up for a joke involving giving Gundogan’s signature to City to place on a new contract, but time prevented him giving the punchline.

Gundogan decided against renewing his contract at City and joined Barcelona, and Kelly also left BT Sport. The signed armband was auctioned off for charity.