Football regulator may have popular support but many will be disappointed January 22, 2026 The Independent Football Regulator will not be the panacea for all of the English game’s ills that some are hoping for, says Ed Warner. To a stimulating conference titled “The Independent Football Regulator: challenge or opportunity?” There I found myself a minority voice in an echo chamber of regulatory advocates. An opening poll of the [...]
Magic of the FA Cup has resisted tinkering and is only getting stronger January 15, 2026 Macclesfield’s historic defeat of Crystal Palace warmed even this Eagles fan’s heart and shows the FA Cup retains its powerful magic, writes Ed Warner. The first WhatsApp arrived seconds after the final whistle. “Will this get a mention in the next edition of your column?!!!” Of course it does. After Macclesfield went ahead against Crystal [...]
Manchester United head coach’s job is to be a fall guy and human shield January 8, 2026 AI is the scourge of the modern employment market. Applicants generate automated covering letters that tick off every requirement in a job spec, and are then interviewed by robots which provide almost instantaneous rejections. Reluctant to be a Luddite in this mind-scrambling new world, here is my open letter to Sir Jim Ratcliffe applying to [...]
Why 2026 is the year sport needs to confront the man vs machine question January 1, 2026 Man vs machine is the future of sport, whether we like it or not, but what do we want it to look like? If you want to understand where sport is heading, don’t look at the Olympic programme or the Premier League fixture list. Look instead at the strange, noisy, algorithm‑friendly world growing just outside [...]
Is the Premier League decoupling from the rest of English football? December 18, 2025 Ed Warner pores over a report on the polarisation of English football and comes up with a solution to the Premier League’s stand-off with the EFL for the new regulator. “I just hope they don’t mess it up.” The Premier League club chairman’s answer to my question about his hopes for the Independent Football Regulator [...]
Greedy Fifa rinsing fans over World Cup tickets – even Americans are baulking December 11, 2025 Ed Warner finds that even Americans accustomed to paying through the nose for live sport are outraged at the prices Fifa is allowing to be set for tickets at the 2026 World Cup. It was a bitterly cold evening in Boston, the temperature well below zero, and yet the Bruins fans still rolled up to [...]
The best sport to watch live and solving your Christmas present dilemma December 4, 2025 “What’s the best sport you’ve ever seen, Ed?” The question from a young friend gave me pause. Not the best sporting event I’ve ever seen. That might not be easy, but some parameters immediately spring to mind to help refine my choice. No: the best sport, period. I’ve seen a fair few, after all. Got [...]
Stokes, McCullum, ECB: Who’s to blame for England’s latest Ashes failings? November 27, 2025 Assessing true accountability for England’s Ashes collapse requires tracing failure back through the chain, argues Ed Warner. “Still seething!” The WhatsApp from a prominent cricket podcaster arrived a full 48 hours after England’s capitulation in the opening Ashes Test. Did I want to provide him with a sound-bite on what appeared more than just a [...]
Why tribes are everything in sport, but growing them is no easy task November 20, 2025 Tribalism is key to fandom in sport but the challenge is commercialising and gorwing them, writes Ed Warner. To the Kia Oval for an exercise in tribe creation. Conscious that in most enterprises the whole is stronger than the sum of its parts, I have been working with the help of chairs across Britain’s sporting [...]
It’s time for BBC Sport to ditch the corporation and go it alone November 13, 2025 The BBC lurches from existential crisis to existential crisis, and yet fundamental questions about its remit and structure are rarely addressed during the frenzied bouts of self-flagellation that Britain’s public broadcaster indulges in at times such as these. Although its latest crisis – widely described as its greatest since the last greatest one – has [...]
