English Clubs

LONDON — Arsenal returned to action for the first time since the Premier League was stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic as they beat Charlton Athletic 6-0 in a friendly at an empty Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Premier League clubs were this week given the all-clear to play friendlies ahead of the scheduled restart on June 17, following a three-month stoppage.

 MATCH HIGHLIGHTS 

 Watch the main moments from today's 6-0 win over Charlton Athletic at Emirates Stadium 

Sam Kerr can claim a league title in her first season in England, even if her side wasn’t atop the Women's Super League table when the last match was played before the novel coronavirus pandemic shut down league play.

The English FA announced Friday that Chelsea would be awarded the Women’s Super League crown based on a points-per-match basis. Manchester City was atop the table with 40 points from 16 matches, but Chelsea’s 39 points from 15 matches were rewarded with the trophy.

Liverpool will resume its quest for a first top-flight title in 30 years against city rival Everton on June 21, as the Premier League released its revised fixture list for the first three weeks of the restarted season on Friday.

Soccer in England has been suspended since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but clubs have voted to restart the season on June 17 when second-placed Manchester City host Arsenal and Sheffield United visit relegation-threatened Aston Villa.

Tottenham has borrowed $220.40 million from the Bank of England to ease the financial burden due to the loss of revenue amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Premier League club said on Thursday.

The club said it estimated a revenue loss of more than $250 million for the period until June 2021 due to the loss of income from matchday revenue, third party live events and other sporting events at their stadium.

After months of speculation that Liverpool was going to acquire RB Leipzig’s star striker Timo Werner, Chelsea has come out of nowhere and snatched the 24-year-old German.

What started as a rumor that Werner was in talks with Chelsea quickly became an official signing with multiple sources confirming that the Blues had met his $62 million release clause on Thursday.

Timo Werner has agreed to join Chelsea https://t.co/2Qf7Af588F

On Monday, March 9, Leicester City defeated Aston Villa 4-0 in what’s since become the final match of the 2019-20 Premier League season. Since then fixtures have been postponed as a precautionary measure due to the coronavirus pandemic. But when will the Premier League resume?

USMNT and Newcastle United defender DeAndre Yedlin has penned a message of solidarity with George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement while revealing a gut wrenching text he received from his grandfather.

The 26-year-old has been in England since January of 2015 and with Newcastle for the past four seasons, and his grandfather said he’s glad that he’s “not living in the U.S. right now because he would fear for (his) life as a young black man.”

Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kanté is prepared to sit out the remainder of the Premier League season, if it resumes, after expressing concerns over returning to training, British media have reported.

Former Netherlands and Manchester United defender Jaap Stam has been named head coach of FC Cincinnati, the Major League Soccer club said on Thursday.

Stam replaced fellow Dutchman Ron Jans, who resigned as head coach in February following allegations he used a racial slur in front of players.

"For myself, to get the opportunity to work in America and to work in MLS for a club like FC Cincinnati, it's a dream," Stam said in a news release.