Former Chelsea and Leeds owner Ken Bates, who has died aged 94, was a colourful and controversial figure - but also a significant one for English football, writes Phil McNulty.

Gregor Townsend’s resurgent side made the Springboks fight to the end for their victory.

Historic 11-under 60 sets LPGA major markSouth Korean opens three-shot final-round leadRyu chasing second major in three weeksHaeran Ryu set the scoring record for LPGA majors on Saturday with an 11-under 60, giving the South Korean player a three-shot lead in the Evian Championship as she goes for a second straight major.Two weeks after winning her first …

Packed stadiums, record TV viewers, and an outlet for joyous multiculturalism under attack by Trump – the tournament has taken the US by stormThere were plenty of reasons to believe the US hosting the World Cup would be a disaster.In the year and a half leading up to the kick-off, Donald Trump had threatened to annex tournament co-host Canada, and to …

Swirl around Fifa’s machinations and about big team and big name bias creates doubt – and that’s a dangerous gameAbout 25 years ago, I was in the office of a sports newspaper in Bucharest on a Saturday afternoon following the Premier League games with some local journalists. With about five minutes to go, Chelsea trailed 2-1. Somebody had backed …

The Nations Championship is a very 21st century sort of sports tournament, which is why the Pacific nation are playing on Merseyside not SuvaSuva’s changed. I mean, I think Suva has changed. I’ve never covered one of Fiji’s home games before. Maybe there are always this many Liverpudlians around the place. The views of the Irish Sea were definitely …

Stage eight: Tadej Pogacar untroubled in overall leadMerlier produces superb sprint win for second daySunday’s ninth stage of the Tour de France has been shortened by 30km due to a red heatwave alert in the Corrèze département of central France. The stage from Malemort to Ussel will now be raced over 155.5km instead of the scheduled 185.5.In a statement …

Conor McGregor has promised many comebacks over the years. Since suffering the leg break against Dustin Poirier in 2021, he has repeatedly declared himself ready to return.

NIK SIMON AT HILL DICKINSON STADIUM: Stepping off the team bus in the Mersey docks, Steve Borthwick received an ominous Fijian welcome.

England face Norway in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Miami looking to set up a potential semi-final showdown with Argentina.

The Three Lions' World Cup clash could be delayed ahead of kick-off.

Clare Balding was on hand to provide commentary for the BBC's coverage of the Wimbledon women's final, with the broadcaster making a major change prior

A much-changed Ireland side overcame Japan 36-20 to make it two wins from two in the Nations Championship.

Steve Borthwick's England snapped a run of five consecutive Test defeats with a 73-8 thrashing of 14-player Fiji in the Nations Championship at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool. 

Lottie Woad slips off the top of the leaderboard at the Evian Championship as Haeran Ryu cards the lowest round in major championship history.

Britain's Henry Patten wins his second Wimbledon men's doubles title alongside Harri Heliovaara of Finland, defeating Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3).

Henry Pollock scores a hat-trick as England run out convincing winners against a Fiji side reduced to 14 players for the second half in Liverpool.

Blues ready to move the Argentine on after less than a year

The midfielder played in all three of his country’s group games at the tournament

Paddy the Baddy joins Conor McGregor on a huge night at UFC 329