Aberdeen have reacted with disappointment over their Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final ticket allocation after their offer to return any unsold tickets was declined.
The Dons have been allocated 19,000 tickets for their Hampden meeting with Celtic while Hearts will say they will receive an identical initial allocation of 21,000 to their opponents, Rangers.
Both of the last-four underdogs had sought a 50-50 split but the PA news agency understands Aberdeen declined the deal Hearts accepted, to underwrite the cost of any unsold tickets.
The Scottish Football Association announced that the Dons would face Celtic at 12.30pm on April 20 with Hearts playing Rangers at 3pm the following day.
Dates and kick-off times have been confirmed for your Men s Scottis…
Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite hailed his maiden England call-up a dream come true.
The 21-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign with the Toffees, playing 31 times in all competitions after he spent last season on loan at PSV Eindhoven.
Branthwaite has benefited from injuries in the centre of England’s defence to be selected for the March friendlies with Brazil and Belgium, but promised to take in every moment when he links up with Gareth Southgate’s squad for the first time next week.
| “It is a dream come true. To represent your national team at any level is a massive achievement but for it to be the senior squad, I am over the moon and it is a dream come true.” reacts to his first senior call-up…
— Everton (@Everton)
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David Dein has been overlooked as chairman of the Football Association, with David Bernstein instead appointed for the role.
Bernstein, 67, is a chartered accountant and former chairman of Manchester City.
He presided over City s return to the Premier League following their relegation to the third tier of English Football and was involved in negotiations to move the club to the City of Manchester Stadium.
Bernstein has been a director of Wembley Stadium since 2003, becoming the chairman in 2008.
He is also the President of the National Association of Disabled Supporters.
Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein had been widely tipped for the role, but was overlooked by the nomination committee chaired by Bolton chairman Phil Gartside.
Five Premier League players have been named in Australia s squad for next month s Asian Cup in Qatar.
Everton s Tim Cahill, goalkeepers Mark Schwarzer (Fulham) and Brad Jones (Liverpool), Blackburn s Brett Emerton and David Carney (Blackpool) have been named in Socceroos coach Holger Osieck s squad.
The 23-man squad also includes Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill from Galatasaray in Turkey and AFC footballer of the year Sasa Ognevenovski.
The English Championship is also well represented with Leeds United midfielder Neil Kilkenny receiving his first call-up since the World Cup qualifier against China in 2008.
Middlesborough striker Scott McDonald and Hull City midfielder Richard Garcia are also included but Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici has surprisingly b…
Chelsea cruised to a 4-0 victory over Malmo in Champions League Group H on Wednesday despite losing Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner to injuries.
After Andreas Christensen scored his first Chelsea goal in his 137th appearance for the club, Lukaku had to go off with an apparent ankle injury after winning a penalty that was fired home by Jorginho.
Kai Havertz replaced the Belgium international and, after Werner was substituted due to a hamstring issue, increased their lead early in the second half.
Ballon d Or nominee Jorginho converted another spot-kick to round off the scoring before the hour mark, though Chelsea remain three points behind group leaders Juventus after the Italian side left it late to beat Zenit 1-0.
The offside flag spared Werner s b…
Tomas Soucek hailed Patrik Schick s long-range strike against Scotland as the goal of the tournament after the forward s double helped the Czech Republic beat Scotland 2-0 in their Euro 2020 opener.
Schick stole the show in Monday s Group D clash at Hampden Park with a towering first-half header and an incredible goal from just inside the opposition half after 52 minutes.
The second was measured at 49.7 yards, making it the longest-range goal scored at the European Championship since such data was first recorded in 1980.
Euro 2020 may still be in its early stages, but Soucek does not believe team-mate Schick s sensational strike will be bettered throughout the rest of the tournament.
It s clear we already have the goal of the tournament. No need to try t…
Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri said the abuse he receives from Arsenal supporters is stupid on the eve of the FA Community Shield.
Nasri has been targeted by Arsenal fans since his big-money switch to Premier League rivals City in 2011 with many believing the move was financially motivated.
But the Frenchman has hit back at the taunts ahead of Sunday s showdown at Wembley, claiming he was never in love with Arsenal and the decision to leave was in order to better his career.
I just think the abuse I get is stupid. I m not an Arsenal fan, I am not from London, the 27-year-old said.
To be honest we are players and we are just looking at what are the best interests for us and our careers.
When Manchester City came for me it was the best ch…
that Napoli defender Federico Fernandez is nearing a switch to Swansea.
The two clubs are reportedly set to agree on a €10 million transfer fee, allowing the Argentine to move to English Premier League.
This is enough to suggest the Swans are preparing for life without centre-back Chico Flores, who is leaving the club to join Qatari side Lekhwiya.
Federico Fernandez has been a Napoli player since the summer of 2011, when he joined from Estudiantes, but he needed quite a while to nail down a regular starting berth at Stadio San Paolo.
It was only after impressing on loan at Getafe that the 25-year-old started proving his worth in Naples, making 25 Serie A starts last season.
He in turn started four matches for Argentina at the 2014 World Cup, …
Chelsea playmaker Oscar insists he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge for the long-term and feels has no reason to change clubs.
The Brazil international, 24, was reportedly the subject of a massive £57million offer from Jiangsu Suning in China, where the transfer window is still open.
But Oscar is in no doubt that he wants to remain with Chelsea, who he joined for just over £19m from Internacional in July 2012, for as long as possible.
I want to stay here for a long time, Oscar said to Chelsea TV.
I want to win more games, more trophies, because I love Chelsea, I love the fans. I like the city, my family like it here.
I don t have [a reason to] change the club. Everyone likes me here and I am very happy here.
Oscar has made 19 Premi…
Arsene Wenger is intent on finding the new Jamie Vardy as the Leicester City forward continues his dream run in the Premier League this season.
Vardy was signed by Leicester from non-League club Fleetwood Town in 2012 for a reported £1million.
After guiding the club to the Championship title in 2013-14 with 16 goals, Vardy found the net five times in 34 appearances in his debut Premier League season.
However, the 29-year-old has been in superb form in 2015-16, netting 18 goals as Leicester incredibly sit atop the league table.
Arsenal managed to lure Leicester scout Ben Wrigglesworth away from the King Power Stadium recently, and Wenger is hoping his expertise means the London-based club can unearth the new Vardy with.
Yes, of course [Ars…