Inside Football

Few financial mechanisms in English football generate as much debate as parachute payments. Depending on who you ask, they are either a lifeline that prevents clubs from financial ruin or a structural problem that has turned the Championship into a two-tier competition. In reality, they are a bit of both. Here is a complete breakdown

The final weeks of the football season always arrive with a strange mix of energy. Title races and European spots get most of the headlines, but down at the bottom of the table, something far more serious is playing out. The clubs fighting to stay up are not just protecting their place in the league.

Every football match has one. One player with a strip of fabric around their upper arm, singled out before kick-off, handed something that looks almost ceremonial. The captain’s armband is one of football’s most recognised symbols, but ask most fans why captains wear armbands in football and you will get tradition as the answer. Tradition