English football's wholesale embrace of foreign ownership is about to suffer its first serious test. West Ham United, who in 2006 were bought by Icelandic duo Björgólfur Guðmundsson and Eggert Magnússon, have been caught up in the financial crisis that has engulfed the tiny country. The collapse and possible insolvency of Iceland's second largest bank Landsbanki, in which current Hammers chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson was a major shareholder, means that the club have nothing in the......

The travails of our fantasy football team of capital-born players. Read previous entries here. As the good ship Spurs sinks and every subeditor stretches for the inevitable naval metaphor, one wonders about the last time both North London teams were humbled at home in the same week. We've no Statto on the books, so anybody with an answer please leave us a comment, but it's rare that both should lose in quick succession against......

The NFL's second visit to Wembley is only three weeks away now and, if you're wishing that you'd managed to get tickets when they first emerged in the spring, then you'll be very pleased to know that tickets at all price levels are available to the general public right now. The organisers are working with an increased capacity of around 85,000 and this year's teams, the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers,......

Photo of Emirates Stadium by Herschell Hershey via the Londonist pool The travails of our fantasy football team of capital-born players. Read previous entries here Stunned Gooners fans were the rueful subjects for 24 hours worth of mirth by their north London rivals over the weekend. On Saturday, Arsenal were humbled at home by Hull, who came back from a single goal deficit to record the shock of the season by beating Wenger's team 2-1.......

The weather's looking fine for this weekend, which is good news for the Aspire Football Tournament at the Westway Sports Centre. The five-a-side event, which is raising money for the charity Aspire, is still looking for a few more teams, so round your mates up, offer a little tactical advice (maybe with a little help from Arsene Wenger's school of motivational theory), and drill them in the set pieces, then set out to win that......

It's been a difficult first week at the helm for West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola. A tidy win against Newcastle on Saturday was followed on Tuesday by a Carling Cup humbling at the hands of Watford. Now Hammers striker (and Londonist United regular) Carlton Cole has found himself under arrest on suspicion of drink driving in central London. Police apprehended the 24-year old in the wee hours of Tuesday morning as he was driving along......

Another notch on London's world class sporting host bedpost was marked up today with news that we'll be hosting the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup. Despite losing to the female All Blacks in 2006, England are reigning 6 Nations triple Grand Slam Champions, European Cup and Nations Cup champions so adding the World Cup to the trophy cabinet on home soil at Twickers, the RFU HQ, would be scrumtastically sweet. We wait to see......

The travails of our fantasy football team of capital-born players. Read previous entries here Last week's European action left us wishing Champions League or (soon to be renamed) Uefa Cup goals counted in the Prem. Chelsea's binge on Bordeaux saw Londonist United's Frank Lampard and Joe Cole on the scoresheet, while elsewhere Portsmouth's away win involved the inevitable Jermain Defoe goal and a clean sheet for Sol Campbell. There may have been a Euro......

Triathlon? Ironman? Fergeddaboutit. A stroll in the park compared to this: the Arch to Arc, a 289-mile run, swim and cycle from London's Marble Arch to Paris' Arc De Triomphe. Only five mortals have ever completed the gruelling course, and on Saturday hedge fund manager Nino Baglione set off on his own attempt to break the current record of 81 hours and 5 minutes. Sadly, having jogged the 89 miles to Dover, his plans were......

Predictably enough as there was nothing else on the table, Islington Council condemned the Sobell Centre at their last executive meeting, voting to demolish it and build a brand new centre on the site. Furious campaigners and local residents are now girding themselves for a drawn out programme of resistance to further gauge local opinion and oppose planning permission. With the Council brandishing a survey completed by under 1500 people as proof of support for......

Boris did us proud today, waving the Paralympic flag for 2012 like a pro. Clearly having taken notice of some of his critics from the closing ceremony of the Olympics 3 or so weeks ago, our Mayor appeared buttoned up, smartly tied and confident in his handling of the flagpole. The double decker bus made a second appearance too, sans dubious celebrities but featuring a tea lady and Nelson mounting his column. Thus, Beijing......

Has the return of the football season and England's phoenix-like rise from ashes of Steve McClaren's incompetence inspired you to lace those aging leather boots up again? If so, you're in luck. Saturday, 27th September will see the Aspire Five-A-Side Football Tournament kick off at Westway Sports Centre in west London. Now in its second year, the tournament raises money for Aspire, the charity wing of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore. It's the......

A fortnight free of Premier League fixtures saw redemption for the national side and the rise of a new England hero, not to mention one of the most chaotic transfer weeks in living memory. This weekend it was back to Blighty with a bump for Londonist United, our team of capital-reared characters, as we enter week four. Yesterday, new British transfer record signing Robinho lined up for his first game in England wearing a......

The word triathlon strikes fear into the hearts of us sedentary Londoners. Competitive sporting activity over 3 exhausting sports when the weather's limped from not very bright to downright miserable? You gotta be joking. And yet, Brockwell Park Lido's Aquathlon this weekend is almost beckoning seductively, teasing us with a 'number' of lengths followed by a 'gently undulating run' which finishes next to the cafe. It's like sport got inside a velvet glove and......

Sunday saw the opening stage of the Tour of Britain come Thameside. Riders raced 10 laps of a circuit around Victoria Embankment, Whitehall and Northumberland Avenue. Our Flickrpool photographers were there to capture the action. Many thanks to Daniel_c_c, Simon K, Massimo Usai, McTumshie and markstravelphotos.......

As our "summer of cycling" draws to a close with our Paralympians raking in the hardware (that's gold in 4 cycling events so far) in Beijing's VeloPark, Chris Hoy's relentless round of public appearances rolls on back home with him helping to unveil the designs for our 2012 Velodrome as they are finally put forward for planning permission. And here's a nifty animation to fly you through the plans. The BMXers are particularly cute,......

There's a storm brewing over the future of Sobell Leisure Centre in Hornsey Road, Holloway. Passionate local residents and users of the 1973, concrete block of a diverse, multi-purpose sports facility are accusing Islington Council of steamrolling ahead with plans to demolish and rebuild the centre in spite of strong local feeling in favour of refurbishment. The current plan would mean the closure of any facility at Sobell for 2 years whilst it was......

The epic saga of Dimitar Berbatov's transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United finally drew to a close in the early hours of Tuesday morning, but its repercussions could last into the New Year and well beyond. For some time Spurs have been vying with Everton for the mantle of English football's fifth best club, something that would have seemed a dubious honour ten years ago, but would now be seen by many as......

It sometimes seems like Battersea Power Station's long term prospects will never be decided and she'll turn to rubble while a tawdry procession of developers hatch unlikely plans. Under such uncertainty, however, the grand old dilapidated dame seems to be developing a maverick sub-career as venue of choice for smart opportunists in need of a Thames-side landmark with decent public transport connections. For example, this October will see World Cup snowboarding hurtling past the......

Last season Leeds United started their League One campaign fifteen points in the hole, a mandatory FA penalty for any club that goes into administration during the football year. Londonist United, our fantasy crew of London-born players, finds itself in a similar situation; not because of any financial regularity (heck, we managed to assemble a cracking capital team with change from £50m), but we were too busy clowning around in August to actually register......

At midnight on September 1st, the football transfer window will slam shut, and in the final two days a rush of players will be defenestrated, squeezed through and sent across the country and beyond as last-minute deals are sealed and questionable buys rubber-stamped by dubious chairmen. The lucre that pumps football's beating heart, one that grows increasingly sullied as morally dubious characters purchase cherished clubs, will see footballers untimely ripped from their locales and......

You may remember that we previewed the 2008 World Gay Football Championships, which took place over the last week in Regent's Park. We're happy to report that our very own Leftfooters FC organised the tournament, which seemed to embody the best of British - fun, sporting achievement, fair play, and a sense of community. Forty teams of men and women competed in three Leagues for six days, watched over by 56 referees. Today the......

Returning from the Beijing Olympics a gold medal bearing hero, boxer James DeGale must now face another kind of battle - that within himself over whether to stick it out with Team GB for London 2012 and defend his title in his hometown or to capitulate to the admittedly attractive and lucrative professional career that could instantly make him a millionaire and an even bigger celebrity. Amir Khan barely lasted a year after his......

Taking to the stage at the Handover Party in Beijing, his successful flag-unfurling and debut on the international stage complete, Mayor Boris Johnson finally returned to a theme he has occasionally expounded since his election in May: expanding the capital's lexicon. Having re-introduced us to the joys of "piffle" and "cripes" in his three months at the City Hall tiller, the Mayor used the opportunity of addressing London's bid team to discourse on the......

Well, who would have thought we'd reach our fourteenth and final London Olympic Timetable worried that a fluffed handover in the women's 4x100m relay might let the Russians chase Britain down in the overall medal table? The good news is Team GB could yet strike more gold in the final 48 hours of the game and one man in prime position to achieve just that is West London middleweight boxer James DeGale who defied......

Gold! Gold, I tell 'ee. Gold, in them thar doldrums, damn yer eyes! Ahh, hahahahahaha! We 'opes you'll forgive us old sea dogs splicin' the mainbrace in honour of our crew what's brought treasure back to these shores. Aye, aye! It's first mate Andrew Simpson o' Chertsey and his cap'n Iain Percy takin' our golden haul to five in the Star class sailing. Ahh, hahahaha... [That's enough piracy - Scurvy Landlubbing Ed] The excellent......

Unbelievably, the Olympics end this Sunday. But never fear, if your appetite for obscure sport has yet to be sated you can look forward to the World Freerun Championships coming up on 3 September. The interior of the Roundhouse in Camden will be transformed into a challenging urban landscape for the competition and 20 of the world's best freerunners will be showcasing their awesome skill, fearlessness and artistry with Britain represented by Pip Anderson......

More medals for Britain, and "Team London", yesterday, but the seemingly relentless success in some sports is causing a nervous shuffling of feet in others. After Twickenham's Mo Farah slipped out of the 5,000m heats Brendan Foster, BBC commentator and former Olympic medallist at 10,000m, could contain himself no longer: I just feel Mo Farah ran a very poor race. He needs to be taught how to run tactically. He's got a good finish......

Team GB's dominance in the Olympic cycling events was consolidated yesterday with Victoria Pendleton's women's sprint victory and Chris Hoy's third gold medal of the Games (fourth of his career) closely followed by team mate Jason Kenny with the silver in the men's sprint. Come the victory parade in October, there will be an impressive retinue of medal holders from the cycling contingent and we're holding out for more to join their ranks following......

And it came to pass that Team GB didst look upon their works and, behold, they were good. And on the twelfth day they rested. Well, comparatively speaking anyway. Today there are only eleven gold medals available across the whole games, the fewest on any official competition day except the opening Saturday where events were barely getting started. Even on the final day of competition twelve golds are up for grabs. Just like the......