Author: James Mclean

  • Has Politics degraded Boxing into a second-tier Sport?

    Introduction

    Since the 90s, there are many factors which show that the sport of boxing has fallen suddenly and sharply from its heyday, when the likes of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis were scrapping for heavyweight gold, bringing in millions of viewers on PPV. Even the normally exciting lower-weight divisions have fallen from the days of prime Pacquiao and Mayweather, whereas now only a small number of fighters can consistently attract major PPV audiences.

    So why has this happened? For this investigation, I will be focusing mainly on the period from the 90s, which was one of boxing’s greatest ages after the 70s, up to the present day. However, I will mention scandals from even before the 90s at the beginning, showing that politics in boxing has always been there and remains a major issue. I will focus on politics as being the influence of promoters and other infamous figures, as well as the fighters themselves, along with scandals and governing bodies like the WBC and WBA, who are constantly trying to one-up each other to the detriment of the sport.

    In this report, I aim to show that there is a historical link between similar things happening and that it isn’t a new thing, as well as giving a fair reflection of all the factors discussed. This is in the hope of finding why such things have happened and how they have caused the once-great sport to fall so drastically. Because it is both fascinating and demoralising, it is worthy of investigation.

    What is “Second Tier”?

    Describing something as second tier is subjective, but a clear threshold can be made when looking at other big sports’ viewing numbers. For the Premier League, Sports Business Journal reported an average US audience of 555,000 viewers at one stage of the 2023/24 season, an increase on the equivalent point of the previous season. Football, or soccer, is not the most popular sport in the United States by some distance, making this growth significant.

    The Premier League has also had an enormous worldwide reach. A widely quoted figure of 4.7 billion relates to the league’s estimated global audience reach during the 2010/11 season rather than 4.7 billion regular viewers. Either way, its global reach shows that football is definitely not a second-tier sport.

    Even Formula One has experienced major audience growth, particularly in the United States. In 2023, Formula One had an average worldwide television audience of roughly 70 million viewers per race. This shows there is some sort of threshold for a sport that is on the border of becoming mainstream worldwide.

    The problem with boxing is that there is very little crossover because it’s likely UK fans will watch UK-based fights and US fans will watch US fights. Obviously, the time difference plays a part, but when the likes of Tyson were around, that never used to be that big of a problem. However, now, because of the lack of big fights, nobody wants to stay up until 4 a.m. in the UK, and some UK fights aren’t even broadcast in the UK, showing why viewing figures can suffer.

    One of the biggest fights of 2023 was Gervonta Davis v Ryan Garcia, which reportedly sold more than 1.2 million PPV buys. The fight between Tommy Fury and YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul was also commercially successful, although the exact final number is disputed. The fact that crossover fights involving personalities such as Paul can compete commercially with established professional boxing events raises questions about where mainstream interest in boxing now lies.

    Not A New Thing

    Politics has always been around in boxing, causing scandals, with evidence from Bleacher Report showing that it has been a problem since at least the late 40s, when the mob had a grip over the sport. Legendary middleweight Jake LaMotta felt the force of this in 1947. The Raging Bull was denied a title shot, so was forced by the mob to take a dive against Billy Fox to get the title match. LaMotta later admitted that he deliberately lost the fight as part of an agreement that would eventually help him receive a world-title opportunity (Tate, 2011).

    Robert Pottis from Fight City highlighted another controversial event involving alleged mob influence, this time in 1965 in the infamous second fight between Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali. Even before this fight, Liston was known to have ties to figures associated with the underworld. Liston went down from a short right hand from Ali in the first round in what became known as the “phantom punch”.

    However, it cannot be stated as fact that Liston deliberately took a dive. The unusual ending, combined with Liston’s background, created allegations that the fight had been fixed, but this has never been conclusively proven. The fight therefore remains one of boxing’s most disputed moments rather than a proven example of corruption (Pottis, 2017).

    Bleacher Report also shows that, although eventually the mob moved away and notorious mobster Frankie Carbo was arrested, allegations of fixed fights and corruption didn’t disappear. Don King’s United States Boxing Championships in the 1970s became surrounded by controversy after records belonging to fighters involved in the tournament were found to have been falsified or exaggerated. Eventually, the tournament was scrapped and King’s reputation was damaged by the controversy (Tate, 2011).

    Another famous scandal which Bleacher Report highlights was the infamous second fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, which became known as the bite fight. Tyson twice bit Holyfield during the contest and was disqualified in round three, leading to chaos in the ring. Tyson was subsequently fined $3 million and had his boxing licence revoked.

    This signalled a major decline in Tyson’s career at the highest level. It was clear to everyone that this wasn’t the same Tyson from his prime. He would collect further wins but also suffer several more defeats before his final professional fight in 2005. And so went one of the biggest sources of entertainment in the sport’s history, probably signalling the start of a decline in excitement surrounding one of heavyweight boxing’s biggest stars (Tate, 2011).

    They also show that Ali had another infamous controversy in the late 60s, when his boxing licence was taken away after his refusal to be drafted into the US military during the Vietnam War. This was seen by many as very harsh because it was mixing politics with sport. Ali was convicted of draft evasion in 1967 and effectively lost several years of his boxing prime before returning to the ring in 1970. His conviction was eventually overturned unanimously by the US Supreme Court in 1971.

    By the time Ali returned, several of his best years as a professional were gone. It meant Ali lost part of his prime before his famous fights with Joe Frazier and his victory over the then-undefeated George Foreman in 1974, leaving boxing fans wondering what those missing years could have produced (Tate, 2011).

    Another scandal Bleacher Report highlights is the work of former IBF president Robert Lee and allegations that money was being used to manipulate the organisation’s rankings. Federal prosecutors alleged that IBF officials received $338,000 in bribes from promoters and managers.

    However, Lee was acquitted of the charges alleging that he personally accepted bribes. He was convicted on other charges, including tax evasion, money laundering and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. The case nevertheless badly damaged the credibility of the IBF and showed the potential for corruption within boxing’s governing organisations (Tate, 2011).

    Decline in PPV

    As reported by Business Insider, there were some huge PPV buys in the 1990s and 2000s. In the lower divisions, many of the biggest numbers were down to Mayweather and Pacquiao. When they eventually fought each other in 2015, years after fans had first demanded the fight, it generated approximately 4.6 million US PPV buys.

    There was also massive interest in heavyweight PPVs during the 1990s and early 2000s, particularly involving fighters such as Tyson, Holyfield and Lewis.

    For example:

    Holyfield v Douglas (1990) – approximately 1 million buys
    Tyson v Seldon (1996) – approximately 1.1 million buys
    Tyson v Bruno II (1996) – approximately 1.4 million buys
    Tyson v Holyfield I (1996) – approximately 1.6 million buys
    Lewis v Tyson (2002) – approximately 2 million buys
    Holyfield v Tyson II (1997) – approximately 2 million buys

    Modern heavyweight boxing has still produced major PPV events. Anthony Joshua’s fights against Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and Oleksandr Usyk all attracted significant PPV audiences. Joshua v Parker in 2018, for example, recorded around 1.8 million UK PPV buys, while Joshua v Klitschko recorded around 1.5 million.

    This means it would be inaccurate to say that no modern heavyweight fight has approached the major numbers of the 90s. However, there is still evidence that boxing’s audience has become more fragmented across different countries, broadcasters, streaming services and promoters (Dawson, 2022).

    Politics plays a definitive role in this because one of the biggest complaints from boxing fans is that the best do not fight the best regularly enough. Whereas legacy was traditionally one of the main measurements of greatness, both fighters and promoters now have enormous financial incentives to protect valuable records and negotiate the most profitable possible fights.

    This can delay the biggest fights until after the ideal moment or prevent them from happening altogether.

    The Reasons

    Promoters’ Influence / Ignorance of Fighters

    Unsurprisingly, what many people think is the main reason for the decline of the sport is the unwillingness to compromise between promoters and even fighters themselves, as especially the big promoters refuse to work with each other. They want to protect their fighter by not giving them a challenge because, if they lose, it’ll hurt the amount of money that can be made.

    As Greg Noble from NationalWorld highlights, rival promoters compete against one another financially, meaning agreements can be difficult to reach. Historically, deals between Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn were relatively rare because they were major promotional rivals (Noble, 2022).

    The promoters also mean that fighters can be on different broadcasters, making it even harder to find a deal, such as Frank Warren’s relationship with TNT Sports and Eddie Hearn’s with DAZN. Fighters becoming aligned with rival broadcasters and promoters can therefore create another barrier to making the biggest fights.

    A frequently discussed example was former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, whose 40-0 record at the time of his first fight with Tyson Fury was criticised because of the quality of some of his previous opponents. His biggest victories before Fury included wins against Luis Ortiz, who caused Wilder real trouble during their first meeting.

    He also picked up a knockout over Eric Molina, who managed to trouble the Bronze Bomber before being stopped. Anthony Joshua later destroyed Molina and put him away in three rounds. Wilder also recorded a first-round KO over another former Joshua opponent, Dominic Breazeale.

    Fury proved to be Wilder’s defining opponent. Their first fight ended in a draw, although many observers believed Fury had won. Fury then stopped Wilder in both their second and third fights.

    Wilder’s later defeat against Joseph Parker further damaged his position among the leading heavyweights. This demonstrates the danger of building a fighter’s reputation around an unbeaten record rather than consistently matching them against the strongest available opponents.

    Just some big fights that were delayed or looked unlikely at different points because of promotional and broadcasting complications include Joshua Buatsi v Anthony Yarde, Mairis Briedis v Lawrence Okolie and the mega fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury (Van Der Berg, 2019).

    The fighters themselves also have to take some of the blame, as many fighters are accused of wanting the most money for the easiest fights. Tyson Fury became an example of this criticism during his WBC heavyweight title reign, particularly when he made a third defence against Derek Chisora in 2022 despite having already beaten Chisora twice.

    Fury’s 2023 non-title fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou attracted enormous attention and money but was criticised beforehand because Ngannou had never competed in a professional boxing match. Ngannou then performed far better than expected and knocked Fury down before losing a close split decision.

    When looking at the great eras of the sport, it is clear that the willingness of elite fighters to face each other is crucial. Even the great fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather happened years after fans first began demanding it, robbing fans of the chance to see them meet while both were at their absolute peaks.

    These actions by promoters and fighters play a massive role in how politics can damage the sport because, much of the time, fighters are scared of losing their unbeaten record, so they take easier fights while waiting for the largest possible payday.

    Governing Bodies Making Pointless Fights

    It isn’t just the greedy promoters that can ruin the sport for their own gain; it can sometimes go beyond them and onto the doorstep of the governing bodies who sanction the fights.

    The amount of governing bodies itself is a problem. Boxing now recognises four major sanctioning organisations: the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. However, these four organisations did not suddenly appear in 2007. They developed separately over many decades, with the WBO eventually becoming widely recognised alongside the other three as a major sanctioning body.

    The want of every boxing fan is to have one true undisputed champion who defends against all the top competition, but the existence of four organisations makes that difficult. Becoming an undisputed champion is hard enough, but holding all the belts can be even harder when each governing body has its own mandatory challengers.

    It’s got to the point where fighters sometimes vacate a title rather than fight a mandatory challenger if a bigger fight or payday is available elsewhere. Title fights should be the pinnacle of a fighter’s career, but the politics between the different governing bodies can complicate this.

    An example of this, as Greg Noble highlights, was former undisputed light-welterweight champion Josh Taylor relinquishing titles as different mandatory obligations emerged. Mandatory challengers can delay or even prevent bigger fights from happening (Noble, 2022).

    There have also been numerous fights criticised beforehand as unnecessary or one-sided. Anthony Joshua’s first meeting with Andy Ruiz Jr seemed pointless at the time, as Joshua was expected to walk through Ruiz on his way to bigger fights. Ruiz instead produced one of the biggest heavyweight upsets of recent years, showing that supposedly pointless fights can sometimes produce unexpected results.

    Tyson Fury also fought Tom Schwarz and Otto Wallin before his second fight with Wilder. Although Fury was heavily favoured in both, Wallin gave him a significantly tougher fight than expected.

    This shows that governing bodies and promotional matchmaking can contribute to the fragmentation of the sport, although boxing’s unpredictability means supposedly pointless fights do not always turn out that way.

    Scandals and PEDs

    Scandals haven’t gone away, and Bleacher Report has highlighted that there have been many high-profile controversies involving performance-enhancing drugs and other forms of cheating since the 2000s.

    One involved Shane Mosley after his second fight against Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley later acknowledged using banned performance-enhancing substances, including EPO, during the period surrounding the 2003 fight. EPO can increase an athlete’s endurance, making its use particularly serious in a sport where fatigue is such an important factor.

    This damaged Mosley’s reputation and cast a shadow over what had been an impressive career (Tate, 2011).

    Mosley then found himself on the other side of a major cheating scandal when he faced Antonio Margarito in 2009.

    Mosley’s trainer, Naazim Richardson, objected to Margarito’s hand wraps before the fight. Officials discovered hardened pads in Margarito’s wraps. Laboratory testing later found calcium and sulfur, elements associated with plaster of Paris, in material taken from them.

    The California State Athletic Commission revoked the licences of Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo for one year. Margarito’s other victories subsequently came under greater scrutiny, although it cannot be stated as fact that he had used illegal wraps in previous fights (Tate, 2011).

    A more recent scandal involved Conor Benn and two positive tests for clomifene in 2022, which led to the cancellation of his planned fight with longtime family rival Chris Eubank Jr.

    Benn consistently denied intentionally using a prohibited substance. In 2024, the National Anti-Doping Panel concluded that it was not comfortably satisfied that UK Anti-Doping had proved Benn committed an anti-doping rule violation. His provisional suspension was lifted and the charge was dismissed.

    Therefore, it would be unfair to state that Benn was proven to have deliberately used PEDs. Nevertheless, the controversy caused the original Eubank fight to collapse and kept Benn out of British boxing for a significant period.

    Another scandal came when Dillian Whyte returned an adverse analytical finding before his scheduled 2023 rematch with Anthony Joshua. The fight was cancelled just days beforehand and Joshua instead fought Robert Helenius.

    However, Whyte was subsequently cleared after an investigation concluded that his result had been caused by a contaminated nutritional supplement and that he had not intentionally ingested the prohibited substance.

    It still damaged the event because Joshua was forced to take on late replacement Robert Helenius, who had fought only a week earlier. Although AJ dispatched Helenius in seven rounds, it wasn’t as credible a win as it would’ve been had he done the same to Whyte.

    The situation became even more remarkable when Helenius himself returned an adverse finding after the Joshua fight. Helenius was eventually found to have committed anti-doping rule violations after testing positive for clomifene and received a two-year ban.

    Former longtime pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez also tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol in 2018. His planned rematch with Gennady Golovkin was postponed and Alvarez received a six-month suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

    Canelo and Golovkin eventually met for the second time later in 2018, with Canelo winning a majority decision. Their first fight in 2017 had ended in a controversial draw, particularly because judge Adalaide Byrd scored it 118-110 for Canelo. Their second meeting was also close and disputed by some observers (Portis et al., 2021).

    Scandals about PEDs have definitely hurt the sport because they can ruin potentially great fights and significantly damage the reputation of the fighters involved. At the same time, individual cases need to be treated carefully because an adverse test does not always mean deliberate doping, as the Whyte case demonstrates.

    Other Scandalous Figures

    Jose and Mauricio Sulaiman

    Jose Sulaiman served as president of the WBC for decades before his son Mauricio Sulaiman succeeded him, and controversy has followed the organisation over issues including sanctioning fees, rankings, mandatory challengers and the creation of additional titles.

    The wider problem is not limited to the WBC. Boxing’s sanctioning bodies have frequently been criticised for creating multiple versions of titles, which can make it difficult for casual fans to understand who the true champion of a division is (Santoliquito, 2012).

    Under Mauricio Sulaiman, the WBC has continued creating special commemorative belts for major events. For Fury’s 2023 fight against Francis Ngannou, for example, the WBC produced a special commemorative belt.

    Although these belts can help promote major events, critics argue that continually creating additional belts contributes to the confusion surrounding boxing championships.

    Don King

    Scandals may as well be the middle name of Don King, as controversy followed him throughout his long career as one of boxing’s most powerful promoters.

    King developed close relationships with major sanctioning organisations and promoted many of the world’s leading fighters. In 1978, Leon Spinks was stripped of the WBC heavyweight title after choosing a rematch with Muhammad Ali rather than facing mandatory challenger Ken Norton. Norton was subsequently recognised as WBC champion before losing the title to Larry Holmes (Santoliquito, 2012).

    King was also sued by a number of fighters over financial disputes. Terry Norris, for example, sued King alleging that he had been underpaid, with the case eventually ending in a multimillion-dollar settlement.

    Mike Tyson also pursued legal action against King after their relationship broke down.

    King’s career demonstrates how much influence a single promoter could have over fighters, championships and the business of boxing (Santoliquito, 2012).

    Mike Tyson

    Kid Dynamite himself hasn’t had a career clean of controversy, especially after his mentor and father figure Cus D’Amato passed away.

    Instead of the expectation that Tyson was going to deliver a spectacular early knockout, like what he was known for in his early career, it gradually changed to the view that people were expecting crazy antics from Tyson.

    Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992 and served three years in prison before returning to boxing. His behaviour continued to attract controversy after his return, reaching one of its most infamous moments with the Holyfield bite fight in 1997.

    Before his 2002 clash with Lennox Lewis, Tyson was also involved in a chaotic press conference and made a series of notorious remarks.

    The attention around Tyson increasingly became focused not only on what he could do inside the ring but also on what he might do outside it. This represented a sad decline for one of boxing’s most renowned and exciting fighters (Santoliquito, 2012).

    The Final Verdict

    So, it’s clear there is plenty of evidence that shows politics in this context has had a huge detrimental impact on the sport of boxing, and not just in today’s crop. It’s also been a problem almost as old as the sport itself, but the modern structure of boxing means these issues remain extremely visible.

    Boxing has gone from a sport traditionally associated with the working class and a battle of the best to a sport where huge financial considerations can determine which fights happen and when. The battle has sometimes gone from finding out who is the best of the best and leaving the best legacy to who can earn the most millions while taking the least damage.

    The promoters are ultimately running businesses and have financial incentives to protect valuable fighters. The top fighters and promoters can price themselves out of fights that might be particularly dangerous. The governing bodies have their own champions, rankings, mandatory challengers and sanctioning fees, creating conflicts that can prevent boxing from consistently producing one recognised champion in each division.

    The evidence does not support the idea that PPV audiences have simply collapsed across the board. Modern boxing has still produced enormous PPV events. The bigger problem is inconsistency and fragmentation: huge fights can attract massive audiences, while many elite fighters remain divided between promoters, broadcasters and sanctioning organisations.

    The continued problem of PED controversies hurts the sport further because adverse or positive tests can cause major fights to collapse and throw fighters’ achievements into question. However, cases such as Dillian Whyte’s also show why it is important not to assume that every adverse finding proves intentional cheating.

    Politics has therefore played a major role in damaging boxing, but it would be too simple to blame every part of the sport’s decline on politics alone. Changes in broadcasting, competition from other sports and entertainment, fragmented audiences, PPV prices, fighter activity and the changing media landscape also have an influence.

    Nevertheless, boxing’s biggest problem remains that it repeatedly makes things unnecessarily difficult for itself. The sport can still produce enormous global events when the best fighters actually meet. The political and financial structure surrounding boxing too often makes those fights harder to create than they should be, and that is one of the strongest arguments that boxing has allowed itself to fall behind other major sports.

  • Remembering Jules Bianchi: 1989-2015

    The rapid Frenchman died on the 17th July 2015, after a long survival battle following his crash at the Japanese Grand Prix the year before.

    Remebering Jules Bianchi: 1989-2015
    Bianchi scored Marussia’s only point in their Formula One stay (AutoHebdo)

    Original – https://www.vavel.com/en/motorsports/2025/07/17/1227990-remebering-jules-bianchi-1989-2015.html

    The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix should’ve been remembered for another stunning display by the Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who took their 8th 1-2 finish of the season, instead the somber reaction of those on the podium, which also included the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, and the rest of the Paddock will tell you that unfortunately it is known for one of the most tragic accidents in the history of the sport.

    On Lap 46, a recovery vehicle was dispatched to recover Adrian Sutil’s Sauber. It was meant to be a standard pickup as cars spinning off was a regular thing, but what no one was expecting was another car to aquaplain with the most devastating consequences, that car was the Marussia driven by Jules Bianchi, who was having his break out season. The Frenchman slid underneath the vehicle and was knocked unconsious, after a near 9 month wait, Bianchi never opened eyes again and passed away.

    (CNN)
    (CNN)

    Though it was a cruel end to Bianchi’s career and life, he had plenty of moments that fans, friends and family will celebrate as proof that he was a diamond in the rough and of the potential that everyone knew he had but that he never got to fulfill.

    What could’ve been

    Bianchi arrived at the pinnacle of motorsport in 2013, having won French Formula Renualt in 2007, Masters of Formula 3 in 2008 and the F3 Euro Series in 2009 in his Junior career, as one of the two drivers, alongside Max Chilton, who were going to pilot the Marussia MRO2. In the nineteen races that year, Bianchi came out on top in the teammate battle fourteen times, and it should’ve been seventeen, because Bianchi failed to finish in Monaco, Britain and Singapore, only one of which was a crash. Although the team failed to challenge the points paying positions, Bianchi did achieve their highest finish of 13th place in Malaysia, which helped what was once the Virgin team, beat Catherham to tenth place in the Constructors Championship, earning the Banbury outfit $10 million.

    Both drivers were retained for 2014, the first year of the hybrid era. Both Bianchi and Chilton were given a upgraged car, now containing 1.6L turbocharged V6 hybrid engines, and now having a Ferrari engine in the back of it, replacing the exiting Cosworth. It wasn’t a great start to pre season though, as the squad missed the first test at the end of January, because the car wasn’t ready.

    They made the first race in Australia, but up until the sixth race in Monaco, they were still pointless and had suffered three DNF’s, one of which was a double retirement in the first race down under. However, it was in the principality, where Bianchi really showed his potential, as he wrestled his Marussia from 21st place up to 9th, scoring the team’s first and only points. Unfortunately, another double retirement arrived in Belgium and two further DNF’s followed, and after the tragic events of Susuka, the team wouldn’t take the grid ever again, leaving Bianchi’s Monaco heroics as the shining moment in their history.

    (XPBimages)
    (XPBimages)

    Family Roots

    Bianchi’s legacy may still be finished, by his godson, Charles Leclerc, who has also shown he has the ability to become a champion, just like his godfather, and has had several blistering starts to a season, but through both his own mistakes and car troubles, coming closest in 2022, all his challenges fell away far before the end of said season.

    (F1i.com)
    (F1i.com)

    But now, with Leclerc expressing frustration at the state of Ferrai, a move to a more consistent team could be on the cards, so the Monagasque may still have a chance to reach his potential, both for himself and for his family, and for his friend and fellow fallen racer, Anthoine Hubert.

  • Post Denies Town as FA Cup Journey Ends 

    Following a 1-1 draw in Gloucestershire, Farnham Town turned hosts for an FA Cup Second Qualifying Round replay against Cirencester. However, on the day, a 2-1 victory, for the visitors, through two by Harlie Price, saw The Town’s cup journey come to an end.

    Darryl Sanders had the first major chance to put Farnham ahead. To the left of the 18-yard box, he opted for a long-range effort with the aim of finding the bottom-left corner, but couldn’t get the direction, and it went out for a goal kick.

    Sanders did eventually find the opener thanks to Bobby-Joe Taylor drawing out Connor Johns past his left-side post before a pass across the goal left Sanders with an open goal, which he found to give the hosts the lead.

    Farnham almost got an accidental second when Mat Mackenzie’s cross from the left wing didn’t find one of his teammates but forced Johns to go off his feet to make sure it didn’t dip underneath the bar. Lucky for the Cirencester keeper, it was the bar that was hit.

    Sanders was involved again as he picked up a misplaced pass and played in Owen Dean, who was then one-on-one with Johns, but an intervention from a visiting defender changed the trajectory of the ball as it hit the post.

    The equaliser arrived in the second half when Jamol Dare was able to bypass the Farnham defence, which forced Michael Eacott to come out. Eacott timed his dive brilliantly to deny Dare, but it came back to Price, who, from within the D, found the back of the net.

    Farnham threatened to take the lead back after Rakish Bingham got a ball through to Owen Dean, who beat the offside trap. Dean then tried to backheel to Taylor but was intercepted, and the move ended with Sanders firing high over the bar.

    Sanders had a golden opportunity to get his and his side’s second after linking up with Billy Clifford inside the box. Sanders received the ball on the left side and had a clear line of sight to the opposite bottom corner. He was very unlucky to see it come off the post yet again.

    A double did arrive, but it was for Price and Cirencester. He got his first-time effort through the legs of his man, which seemed to leave Eacott unsighted as the ball swung past him into the bottom corner.

    Once again, the post cruelly denied Farnham a way back into the game when it was the recipient of a flick-on from a throw-in, which took it beyond the incoming Owen Dean.

    The full-time whistle then went to end Farnham’s FA Cup journey there, but there was a lot of luck that didn’t go the way of The Town, and for the moment, the posts at the Memorial Ground will not be in the good books.

  • At last’: Mark Nicholas on Hampshire’s 25-year journey to an Ashes Test

    Imagine the only team you played domestic cricket for as a professional, who you captained for a decade more than 20 years ago, got awarded an Ashes test. It also completes the club’s 25-year journey from near bankruptcy to hosting one of the most famous games in all of cricket.

    In his 17-year playing career, Mark Nicholas represented only one team, Hampshire, and captained them for the last ten years of his career, from 1985 to 1995. On the 21st July, the club’s home since 2001, Utilita Bowl, will host the fourth test of the 2027 Ashes series. 

    Nicholas recalls that there was a vision for a bigger future long before the move from their old ground, Northlands Road:

    “We all agreed that the Northam’s Road ground was a small cottage. We could really work for something bigger and better. 

    “When we found the right site and began to map it out, I think one really did think that Test Cricket would be very likely, because we’d be creating something so contemporary, so state-of-the-art, that we couldn’t imagine it not being given.”

    The vision was vindicated when a visit from the then chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Lord MacLaurin, put Hampshire’s chances higher than ever:

    “He said to us, if you pull this off, in terms of what you’ve shown me here today, when we presented to him, you’ll get Test Cricket very quickly, because this will be the most modern facility in the country.”

    Nicholas’ involvement in the development of the club’s image went far beyond his playing days:

    “When I think back now to how much we put into it at the time, I remember, for example, presenting to the business community of Southampton at the Guild Hall at a massive dinner for 600 people that we put on there.  

    “I remember leading the presentation of what we were planning to do and how we would need investment into it, and how the business community could support us. And the fantastic support for it and excitement around it was telling, actually, and really important for all of our motivation going forward to have the leaders in the community on board.”

    Though the need to upgrade eventually came, it was not something Nicholas saw a lot in his time playing with the Rose and Crown:

    “Hampshire had sort of chugged along, you know, a lot of good players, an attractive side to watch, some great characters. It had never been a particularly ambitious county in terms of growth of the business or growth of the venue. It was just sort of what it was.

     “It was very different, you will forget how different things were.”

    “We were operating either side of a profit and loss of £60,000. We never made much more money, and even in a golden season. We never lost much more than £60,000.”

    Mark played against the Australians on several occasions when a touring team on british shores, and now he gets to see the home of the club that means so much to him host them in one of the biggest games in world cricket:

    Whenever you played the Australians, it was a big moment. 

    “I played against the Australians, believe it or not, in 79, 80, 81, 85, 89, and 93. It was always exciting. 

    “They were the opponent, they were the enemy.”

    “To have the Australians playing on your home ground was thrilling. 

    “Especially if you were a young player getting picked, because I played against Lillian Thompson and Greg Chappell and Rod Marsh, imagine how thrilling that was, absolutely off the chart, fabulous. 

    “It was always great to have them, you can’t do better than have an Ashes Test.”

    Nicholas has seen many milestones for the club across both venues and he desperately wants to see the biggest one yet:

    “I’ll be thinking at last.

    “England-Australia is as good as it gets in a game, so I’ll be thrilled. I hope to be there. 

    “Maybe they’ll ask me, who knows? I hope they do. I’d be very proud. 

    “I’ve seen the first international games there, T20, ODI, Test match, and World Test Championship final. It’s not like we’re bringing a surprise on anybody, but the fact that it’s England-Australia and there’s this amazing history is a great thing. I’ll be thrilled.”

  • When Ferrari Painted Their Cars Blue In An Act Of Rebellion

    The colour worn by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at this year’s Italian Grand Prix is a nod to 61 years ago and a feud that meant the famous cars were decked out in something other than the trademark scarlet red.

    Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari ahead of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy on September 7, 2025. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

    Original – https://www.vavel.com/en/motorsports/2025/09/12/1233475-when-ferrari-painted-their-cars-blue-in-an-act-of-rebellion.html

    At their home race, Ferrari decided to switch up traditions and deck out Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in blue team kits, departing from the legendary scarlet red. The decision was made to honour the colours worn by an icon of the Scuderia, Niki Lauda, who was wearing blue when he won the 1975 title at Monza.

    Unfortunately for Hamilton and Leclerc, irony struck as they were left feeling blue after finishing fourth and sixth when the 53 laps came to an end, leaving a 337-point gap between them and McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.

    It may have been a risk for Ferrari to have done this, especially at the Temple of Speed, as some higher-ups at the Automobile Club d’Italia, Italy’s motorsport governing body, and even the FIA will have heard of the time when such a colour was used by Enzo Ferrari himself in a move that threatened to erase the legendary association between Ferrari and the colour red.

    Homologation Agitation

    The year was 1964. John Surtees was driving for the Prancing Horse and was locked in a three-way title fight with Jim Clark and Graham Hill. It would turn out that he would not be driving officially for Ferrari for the final two races of the season. One of those races, and where this feud came to a head, was the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

    Earlier that year, the patriarch of Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari, known for loving racing above anything else, had asked for permission to homologate their road car, the 250 LM, for GT racing. The FIA refused this request, and the governing body refused to back its most important partnership, fearing that the required 100 GT models would not be able to be made. They also had one eye on the chance that the same trick from two years ago would be attempted again.

    The 250 GTO precedent

    In 1962, Enzo had asked to do the same for the 250 GTO, and when FIA inspectors came to have a look at the 100 repurposed models, he’d instructed members of the team to move the cars around the factory to convince them that the satisfactory number of cars had been reached.

    In the lead-up to the drastic action, it is alleged that Enzo handed in his team’s racing licence and vowed that his team would never race in red again, the national racing colour of Italy.

    Ferrari turns blue

    So, in rebellion against the 250 LM rejection, Enzo decided to pull the Ferrari name out of the race at Watkins Glen, as well as the final race of the season in Mexico. Instead, the cars were painted blue and entered under the North American Racing Team banner.

    However, NART was a Ferrari operation stateside, hoping to help the Scuderia crack America, so though not officially entered as Ferraris, it was still the Ferrari team in all but name and colour. It was still enough to threaten Italy’s image as a leader in motorsport without the association of its most famous export.

    The feud went on to the final race of the season in Mexico, the race where Surtees claimed the championship. Officially, the Briton’s feat of being the only racer to have won titles in cars and on bikes was achieved in a car of the North American Racing Team.

    Peace before 1965

    The dispute was sorted out before the start of the 1965 season, and the legacy of Ferrari that endures to this day, as well as the partnership between Italy and the Prancing Horse, was protected.

  • Why Norris and Piastri’s pit-stop drama is only the latest chapter in Monza’s championship-defining tendency

    Credit: Formula One

    Original – https://www.dive-bomb.com/article/why-lando-norris-and-oscar-piastri-s-pit-stop-drama-is-the-latest-chapter-in-monza-s-championship-de

    Though neither Oscar Piastri nor Lando Norris took the top step of the podium at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the McLarens were not left out of the spotlight. A slow pit stop for the Briton allowed Piastri to take over second place, and the team were forced into a late swap of positions after promising Norris that he would emerge ahead following his final stop, having allowed the Australian to pit first to cover Charles Leclerc.

    All the debacle did was allow Max Verstappen to extend his lead on the way to his 66th race victory. Before the controversial events of Lap 47, it had been a relatively mellow outing for both of the boys in orange. Aside from some first-lap, first-corner drama between Norris and Verstappen, there had been little incident. Norris appeared to be forced onto the grass while alongside Verstappen on the approach to the first chicane, before the Dutchman was forced to cut the corner.

    However, nothing came of it and, beyond that, Verstappen was hardly challenged once the pit stops had been completed, in part thanks to his Red Bull’s superior straight-line pace. He eventually took the chequered flag.

    The events added another chapter to the Temple of Speed’s history of playing host to drama among Formula One title contenders, and, on occasion, the crowning of champions. It is a tale almost as old as the sport itself.

    With the papaya controversy the latest page in the book, you only have to go back four years for the previous instalment, when a slow pit stop again contributed to an altercation between the top two.

    That came in 2021, when Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton added more fuel to the fire of their championship battle, which became one of the most dramatic title fights in recent memory.

    A Flying Dutchman

    Before 12 September 2021, Hamilton had four wins to Verstappen’s five, with the Dutchman leading the championship. The fateful moment came on Lap 26.

    Verstappen, having made his pit stop, was running eighth. He had spent much of the race before the crash stuck behind leader Daniel Ricciardo, himself driving a McLaren. Verstappen eventually found himself on the tail of Hamilton, who was just emerging from the pits.

    The two made contact at the Prima Variante after Verstappen clipped the inside kerbs, launching the RB17 on top of Hamilton’s W12. As a result, the three-point gap between the pair in the standings remained unchanged, blowing the championship battle wide open with eight races remaining.

    After Hamilton took three wins from the final four races, the pair went into Abu Dhabi level on points. Following a decision from Race Control to allow only the lapped cars between the two protagonists to unlap themselves, Verstappen was directly behind his rival for the final lap of the season. The Dutchman took the victory and, with it, his maiden world title.

    Had both cars finished at Monza, the championship gap heading into the latter stages of the season could have looked very different.

    The Grounded Finn

    Twenty-two years earlier, in 1999, it was McLaren again who would end up in tears. Mika Häkkinen led the standings by one point from Eddie Irvine heading into the weekend and, having secured his 11th pole position of the season, led the race for the opening 30 laps.

    His race ended in the gravel at the first corner, the Prima Variante. The Finn’s anguish was evident as the cameras caught him crying beneath the trees after his retirement.

    Luckily for Häkkinen, Irvine managed only a sixth-place finish, which at the time was rewarded with just one point. Instead of Irvine taking the championship lead into the next race at the Nürburgring, the pair left Monza level on 60 points.

    Häkkinen ultimately held on to claim his second consecutive title. The Finn may have won the championship, but his costly mistake at the Temple of Speed left him under considerable pressure until he finally established an unbeatable advantage at the Japanese Grand Prix that October.

    Strained Anglo-German Relations

    Next, we go back to 1995 and another flare-up in one of Formula One’s best-known rivalries: Damon Hill versus Michael Schumacher.

    The pair had already been involved in a championship-deciding collision at the previous year’s Australian Grand Prix, where Schumacher moved across as Hill attempted to overtake. The collision sent Schumacher onto two wheels and out of the race while also damaging Hill’s suspension, forcing the Briton to retire and handing the German the title.

    The following year’s race at Monza brought another collision, their second of the season after they had also come together at Silverstone.

    Schumacher was 15 points ahead in the standings, with six wins to Hill’s three. On this occasion, however, the collision that ended both of their races was not entirely the result of their own battle. The slow-moving Taki Inoue was about to be lapped when the two championship contenders came together.

    If nothing else, it was another flashpoint in their nearly two-year rivalry and left Hill with one fewer opportunity to chase down the Benetton driver.

    Ultimately, he was unable to do so. Schumacher secured back-to-back titles at the Pacific Grand Prix at the Aida International Racing Course in Japan, leaving Hill to finish runner-up to his rival for the second consecutive season.

    Japan would also be the place where the Briton finally secured his elusive World Championship in 1996.

    When Monza rolls around during a Formula One season, fans get excited purely because of the history and stature of the circuit, as well as the extraordinary speeds it produces.

    However, the archives suggest there is another reason to pay close attention. Time and again, championship contenders have found themselves at the centre of some of the Italian Grand Prix’s biggest talking points.

    So, whenever Formula One returns to the Temple of Speed, it might be worth keeping an especially close eye on those fighting at the front.

  • Farnham’s Long Road to Step Two 

    Farnham Town Football Club have been riding a wave of success over the past three seasons. Since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, The Town have climbed a division every year, securing three consecutive promotions. The latest and most significant step came when Billy Taylor’s hat-trick inspired a 5–1 victory over Gloucester City in the Southern League Premier South play-off final, earning the club a place at Step Two of the non-league pyramid for the first time in its history.

    What makes that rise even more remarkable is that there was a time when reaching Step Four seemed an impossible task, not because of performances on the pitch, but because of the state of the Memorial Ground. On two occasions, inadequate ground grading prevented the club from taking the promotions they had earned.

    The 1991/92 season saw Farnham dominate the Combined Counties League, finishing 15 points clear of second-placed Malden Town. Their reward was promotion to Division Three of what is now known as the Isthmian League. Although the club’s application to join the league was accepted, The Town never played a match at that level. Instead, they were forced to resign from the league before the season began and return to the division they had dominated, as the Memorial Ground failed to meet the ground-grading requirements for Step Four. Through no fault of the players or management, the club missed out on the opportunity they had earned. Farnham would not make the step up until 2003, when they were finally promoted to the Combined Counties Premier Division.

    A similar story unfolded just a few years later. After spending the 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons in the Premier Division, Farnham were relegated back to Division One. They responded immediately by winning the league with 89 points, but history repeated itself. Once again, the condition of the Memorial Ground meant the club was denied promotion. The following seasons brought finishes of fifth, eighth and eleventh before Farnham finally returned to the Premier Division in 2011.

    From then on, the ground-grading issues were finally behind the club, and Farnham established themselves at the level for the next six seasons. However, another difficult period soon followed. Relegation to the sixth tier in 2018 was followed by a fourth-place finish the following year, before the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons were curtailed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Farnham emerged from that period looking like a transformed club. Beginning the 2021/22 campaign in the Combined Counties Premier Division South, they built steadily, following up tenth- and sixth-place finishes by winning the league title in emphatic fashion in 2023/24 with 108 points. Promotion to the Isthmian League South Central Division brought no slowdown, as The Town amassed another century of points, 104 this time, to secure a second successive league title.

    Although life in the Southern League Premier South proved more challenging, Farnham adapted impressively. A third-place finish secured a play-off spot, and a blistering performance at the Memorial Ground in May took the club to the highest level in its history.

    The club’s relentless progress, despite facing increasingly demanding standards both on and off the pitch over the past three seasons, demonstrates that Farnham Town are now well equipped to compete at higher levels for years to come.

  • 40 Years in the Making: Worthing, Wealdstone and the Road to the Top  

    Today’s game between Worthing and Wealdstone sees the first time the two sides have met in the top tier of non-league football, as the Rebels are now at the highest level in their history. Despite never having played against one another in the National League, through all its different names, the two clubs share an underlying link due to their shared success in the 1984-85 season, causing that season to be the closest a match in the top division of non-league would get before the present day.

    While the Stones were at the top of the non-league pile in the National League, then known as the Alliance/Gola League, and were FA Trophy winners, the boys in red had finished runners-up in the division below, the Isthmian Premier, for a second consecutive year. However, over the next 40+ years, a tie between the teams in step five of the whole English league system wouldn’t happen, as Worthing would embark on a turbulent few years that had a rather fiery beginning.

    As the summer of 1985 approached, the mood amongst the Wealdstone FC faithful in Hillingdon couldn’t have been higher. Not only had they become champions of the fifth tier, but they had also earned the distinction of being the first to achieve the non-league domestic double of the league championship and FA Trophy. In contrast, those over 80 miles south had their smiles turned upside down when, after believing massive things were just around the corner due to the league and cup performance, they saw the main stand of the stadium they had called home for over 80 years burn down.

    At first, it looked like the fire wouldn’t have much of an impact on the club, as it proved to be a catalyst for the modernisation of the whole stadium, and the Reds got to the last 16 of the FA Trophy that year. Yet it proved to be a false dawn. Firstly, manager Barry Lloyd left for Brighton at the end of the season, which then proceeded with relegation from the league that the Rebels had come so close to progressing out of two years running. The division for the 1987-88 season therefore being Division One of the Isthmian League.

    The 1987-88 season turned out to be a rocky season for both clubs. Wealdstone were relegated from the Conference into the Southern Premier League, finishing 21st. At the same time, Worthing ended 13th in step seven. That wouldn’t be the worst it got over the following years, as the end of the 1991-92 campaign saw the Stones drop down to the Southern Premier League South division, but circumstances had it that the two would avoid each other again, not just because of geography, but because Worthing had suffered another relegation the previous year and only ended up finishing 12th in Division Two of the Isthmian League.

    Geography wouldn’t be a barrier come 1995, as Wealdstone had ended up in the third tier of the Isthmian system, but, off the back of two promotions in only a few years, the Rebels had regained their place in Division One. The wait for a league meeting ended during 1998-99, and it was Wealdstone that secured the higher league position of third, compared to Worthing’s 12th. From then until 2002, the tables would turn, and it would be Worthing that would end higher.

    The four years of direct competition would then end through off-pitch matters, as the league was split up into north and south, with Wealdstone going into the North and Worthing remaining in the South. The gap lasted just one year, as a second place for the Reds and success in the play-offs for the Stones meant they would see one another again in 2004-05. That would last until 2007, when Worthing would be forced to endure more time in the Southern Division One.

    With Wealdstone becoming champions of the Isthmian Premier in 2014, the gap increased further. Worthing returned once more to the Premier Division for the 2016-17 season and were top of the table at the point where both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were abandoned due to Covid. There would be no such heartbreak in 2022, due to a title win by ten points and a place in the National League South. What came next was four years of top-four finishes, culminating in that famous last-day win over Ebbsfleet, which crowned Worthing National League South Champions and earned them a spot in the fifth tier of the English football league system for the first time ever, as well as a first meeting with Wealdstone at this level.

  • Bingham strike seals impressive pre-season finale

    Credit: Farnham Town FC

    Farnham Town’s preparation for the beginning of their first ever season in the National League South ended in perfect fashion. The Town earned a very respectable 1-0 win at the Memorial Ground against National League opposition in Eastleigh, with Rakish Bingham scoring the decisive goal, backed up by confidence in all areas of the pitch.

    The Town began with pace and immediately looked to go forward, full of belief that the Step one side could be beaten. The work of Bobby-Joe Taylor created the first chance to take the lead, after he impressively found Owen Dean, but Dean couldn’t pose a serious challenge to Nick Townsend in the Eastleigh goal. Dean then became the creator for the next opportunity; off the back of some fluid movement, he delivered to Daryl Sanders, who was waiting in the box, but he only just found the wrong side of the post.

    The visiting Spitfires couldn’t keep the flying Farnham out forever, and eventually, they didn’t. The Town relied on their ever-effective movement as a whole team. Taylor and Sanders were involved in the build-up, with the latter sending through Brandon Mason on the left side of the area. The defender crossed low into the six-yard box, which was met by the arriving Bingham, who beat Townsend to fire to the keeper’s left.

    Farnham built on taking the lead, and sensing their guests were vulnerable, pushed for a second. Bobby-Joe took an effort from outside the box, but couldn’t get the height, pace or direction as Townsend happily watched it go out for a goal kick. After a rare attack from the away side, Bingham took the ball out of the Farnham area and his lob managed to put Owen Dean through, who beat his man but could only find the arms of the Eastleigh keeper.

    The visitors had their first real period of success after the interval. However, Michael Eacott refused to be bested, rushing out to produce a wonderful save with his leg. Aaron Blair threatened once more for the team in blue, but Billy Clifford ensured Eacott wouldn’t be called into action.

    Clifford’s clearance was taken on by Trey Koukapias, who found a way into the box and got round one of the Eastleigh back line, but the defender recovered to block the shot. Townsend couldn’t relax, though, as the loose ball was fired in by Taylor near his right post, forcing him into a reaction save.

    The keeper was also made to produce a fingertip save to tip Billy Clifford’s long-range effort over the bar. The attacking presence was underpinned by a strong performance at the back, not least Eacott coming out to stop Blair getting a clear opportunity, taking a knock in the process.

    Koukapias and Miles Obodo combined late on for one last attempt at doubling the advantage, but the young striker couldn’t find the target. However, he need not worry as the clock wound down.

    When the final whistle blew, positivity radiated around the Memorial Ground, as a National League stalwart had been seen off, helping Farnham’s case that they can be competitive in a division that is three tiers above where the club were three years ago.

  • Farnham Town 0–1 AFC Totton

    Credit: Farnham Town

    History was made at the Memorial Ground as Farnham Town played their first ever National League South fixture, welcoming AFC Totton for an eagerly anticipated opening-day contest.

    The Town started brightly and showed little sign of being overawed by the occasion. An early opportunity fell to Rakish Bingham after Daryl Sanders slotted a pass through to the forward, but his effort lacked the necessary power and the chance went begging.

    Totton soon threatened at the other end and were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead when a foul inside the Farnham penalty area resulted in a spot-kick. Totton’s star striker ,Tony Lee, took responsibility from 12 yards, but Michael Eacott had other ideas. The Farnham goalkeeper guessed correctly and made an outstanding save, diving low to his right to keep the scores level.

    The hosts continued to look dangerous when they won possession and broke forward quickly. Bobby-Joe Taylor came close with a shot inside the box, while another counter-attack saw Taylor and Bingham combine, although the latter was unable to get his attempt on target.

    Eacott was again required to make a big intervention as Totton began to increase the pressure. The Farnham stopper reacted superbly to keep out another effort, ensuring his side remained in the contest.

    However, the deadlock was eventually broken by a moment of real quality. A Totton set-piece caused confusion in the Farnham defence and, after the initial clearance was only partially dealt with, the ball dropped to Christie Ward. Ward controlled it with his head before letting it fall and on the turn, striking a magnificent volley that flew into Eacott’s right-hand corner, giving him no chance.

    Farnham responded positively and continued to search for an equaliser. Brandon Mason found plenty of space on the left, while Taylor, Sanders and the Dean brothers provided plenty of energy in the attacking areas.

    Those three ,Taylor, Sanders and Jack Dean, were significant again as the second half saw the Town enjoy periods of pressure as they pushed Totton deeper. They all looked to create openings, with Farnham repeatedly working the ball into dangerous areas.

    The finishing touch, though, continued to elude the hosts. A number of attempts were sent over the crossbar, while Totton’s defence stood firm whenever Farnham threatened to break through.

    Despite a determined effort right until the final whistle, Farnham could not find the goal their performance deserved and were forced to settle for a narrow 1–0 defeat.

    While the result was disappointing, there were plenty of positives from a historic first appearance at this level. Farnham showed they can compete with National League South opposition and will now look ahead to a trip to Dagenham & Redbridge before welcoming Billericay Town to The Memorial Ground.