DOMINIC LAWSON: A lot of us feel a bit grim at this time of year. But we just get on with it. That's not so true of our near neighbours in France and Germany.

DOMINIC LAWSON: The founder of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong, invented a term for 'reactionaries' in the West who made threats against his regime. He called them 'paper tigers'.

DOMINIC LAWSON: Only a certain type engages in professional point-scoring in the midst of a pandemic. But Sir Paul Nurse, the Nobel prize-winning scientist, seems to fit that bill.

Hidden away by vast woodland and situated in Geres, the mansion - which includes a landing pad - was purchased for close to £3.5m seven years ago by the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Ronaldo scored the 700th goal of his career from the penalty spot in Portugal's 2-1 defeat against Ukraine on Monday - the sixth player in the history of football to reach that incredible landmark.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Alan Pardew could only sit and wait for the phone call. There was nothing else to do as the fate of ADO Den Haag's season was debated in a series of video conference calls.

Thousands of our readers have joined the campaign to 'give him a gong'. Here's a selection of the letters and emails hailing him as the the people's champion.

Take a look at Jerome Sinclair's social media accounts, and you won't find out much. No tweets since 2017, and all of his profile pictures are black. In a way, it is a sad reflection of his struggles.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY CLAIRE BLOOMFIELD: Keira Walsh felt like she had to carry the world on her shoulders amid a constant stream of negativity during the World Cup.

England manager Gareth Southgate is seriously considering calling on the 19-year-old for this month's friendlies and Guardiola believes the midfielder's stock will continue to rise.

CLAIRE BLOOMFIELD IN ORLANDO: Phil Neville insists his Lionesses are not here to make up the numbers and vows to put them to the test against the USA in Thursday's SheBelieves Cup opener.

Both sides had chances to open the scoring in the first half, with England's Nikita Parris failing to divert a header past Alyssa Naeher and Carly Telford equal to a dipping shot from Rose Lavelle.

CLAIRE BLOOMFIELD IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Carly Telford has sent a warning to Chelsea that she could leave the club in search of regular football after proving she's worthy of Phil Neville's No 1 spot.

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has refused to rule out making a return to the England squad for Euro 2020 with doubts over the fitness of Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: The FA face multi-million pound losses if they are forced to cancel games or stage them behind closed doors due to the coronavirus crisis.

The announcement of all public activities being restricted or completely shut down until March 29 include the expectation that international friendlies at the end of the month will be cancelled.

McDermott held the role as technical director at Spurs and played a key role in the development of the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Andros Townsend and Japhet Tanganga.

Jackson revealed that she believed her career was ended by the high levels of thyroxine prescribed by Chakraverty. On Friday, Chakraverty said he was stepping down from his FA post

Tottenham have told Newcastle they will be willing to sell Danny Rose. The 29-year-old moved to St James' Park in January and his loan is set to expire at the end of the season.

Southgate's team has promise but it has holes in it, too. The opposition from the best of Europe would have been a little stronger than many of the teams England defeated during their 2018 World Cup run.

AHEAD OF THE GAME: Sky Sports and BT Sport will ask the Premier League for the right to broadcast more matches next season as the price for not demanding a huge compensation fee.

The England boss will see his £3m salary cut over the next three months, sacrificing £225,000, with England Women's manager Phil Neville and Under-21s boss Aidy Boothroyd also impacted

Nicknamed 'The Cat' for his lightning reflexes, Bonetti became a club legend at Stamford Bridge after playing 729 games for Chelsea - making him their second-highest appearance maker.

Joe Cole has given insight into the Three Lions regime under Fabio Capello, admitting he did not feel the iconic boss was fully committed to the role as manager and handled situations poorly.

The FA rolled the dice in appointing Phil Neville two years ago. He had no management experience, no prior record in women's football to point to and when it is all said and done, it has backfired.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES AND DOMINIC KING: England's Under 20 team is at risk of being scrapped or merged with other sides due to cost-cutting measures set to be implemented by the FA.

JANINE SELF AT ST ANDREWS: Lee Camp saved spot kicks from Jamie Allen and Liam Walsh and Birmingham were finally home sweet home.

Reading have come from 2-0 down to defeat Championship rivals Cardiff City on penalties to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

As Allan Saint-Maximin raced over to celebrate in front of the away fans, TV viewers would have been shocked to see one fan unzipping his trousers, whipping out his penis and gesticulating with it.

MATT BARLOW AT THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM: Jose Mourinho was hired at great expense to win trophies, to end the long wait for Tottenham. Mourinho fixed his sights on the FA Cup.

Pochettino was in high demand following his successful five-and-a-half year spell at Spurs but months on he remains a bystander as clubs get down to the business end of the season.

DANNY MURPHY: There won't be any tears in the Liverpool dressing-room about failing to become Invincibles. In hindsight, you could say that this defeat at Watford had been coming.

Pompey lifted the cup in 2008 and were beaten finalists two years later before dropping out of the Premier League and plummeting through the footballing pyramid amid major financial problems.

Leroy Sane has missed the whole of the season so far after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the Community Shield against Liverpool on August 4, 2019.

Billy Gilmour has received high praise following his impressive display against Liverpool on Tuesday - and now his idol Cesc Fabregas has spoken of the young Chelsea midfielder's quality.

Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup quarter finals after seeing off Premier League champions-elect Liverpool 2-0, thanks to goals from Willian and Ross Barkley.

JACK GAUGHAN AT HILLSBOROUGH: De Bruyne missed Wednesday night's slender FA Cup victory at Sheffield Wednesday after landing awkwardly towards the end of the Carabao Cup final.

Tim Krul had Spurs' penalty takers and the directions they would shoot listed on his water bottle ahead of Norwich's shock win on spot kicks in the FA Cup on Wednesday night.

Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul saved penalties from Troy Parrott and Gedson Fernandes as Tuesday's fifth round tie at White Hart Lane was settled in a shoot-out after a 1-1 draw.

Carlo Ancelotti is braced for an emotional return to Stamford Bridge, but says Roman Abramovich never revealed why he sacked him as manager of Chelsea in 2011.

The police have opened their investigation into Eric Dier's clash with a supporter following Tottenham's FA Cup exit against Norwich on Wednesday night.

PETER CROUCH: The final game of the 2010-11 season was unremarkable. Tottenham played Birmingham at home and we won 2-1 thanks to a last-minute goal from Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Dier vaulted rows of seats at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to drag his younger brother Patrick away after he became involved in a post-match bust-up with a supporter but will face no action.

JEFF POWELL: Bonetti's long battle with Alzheimers ended this Easter Sunday, at 78, and football is in mourning for a goalkeeper so acrobatic and gravity-defying that Chelsea did indeed call him The Cat.

Khan has been scathing of Mayweather's upcoming New Year's Eve exhibition bout against 5ft 4in Japanese fighter Tenshin Nasukawa, calling it a 'joke', but now Mayweather has hit back at the Brit.

Floyd Mayweather took time out of preparations for his latest fight to watch LA Clippers lose 123-99 to Toronto Raptors at the Staples Center with his son Koraun.

Undefeated boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr joined Cristiano Ronaldo and his Juventus team-mates in the dressing room following their Italian Super Cup win over AC Milan.

The 44-year-old mom-of-four has been making the most of the nightlife in Los Angeles since filing for divorce - for the second time - from her husband of 21 years basketball legend Scottie Pippin, 53.

The Girls Trip star looked stunning in a plunging dress, as she whispered into Montana's ear at the birthday bash which was at the Reserve nightclub in Downtown Los Angeles

Floyd Mayweather and Deontay Wilder were among a number of stars in Texas on Saturday night as Errol Spence Jr dominated Mikey Garcia in their blockbuster welterweight showdown.