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Celtic came from behind to beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2 in James Forrest’s testimonial match.

Celtic were outplayed in the opening period and trailed 2-1 before manager Brendan Rodgers switched his entire team for the second half, and goals from Alexandro Bernabei and David Turnbull added to Reo Hatate’s first-half effort.

About 42,000 fans were inside Celtic Park to honour Forrest, who has scored 101 goals in 467 competitive appearances and won 22 trophies for the club.

However, only a few hundred supporters occupied the standing section, which is normally frequented by the Green Brigade ultras. These fans were among the most critical of Rodgers for joining Leicester.

Rodgers received a warm reception when he was re-introduced to the Celtic support ahead of his first appearance at Parkhead since returning to the club for the benefit match, which saw a “significant proportion” of proceeds promised to two charities, Kilbryde Hospice and Celtic FC Foundation.

Cameron Carter-Vickers made his first start since undergoing knee surgery while Maik Nawrocki and Hyeok-kyu Kwon were handed Parkhead debuts.

The visitors took the lead inside 90 seconds after Hatate gave the ball away and was clinically punished by Unai Gomez from 25 yards.

The hosts continued to present Bilbao with opportunities from loose passes and Hatate was fortunate not to gift another goal before levelling out of the blue in the 36th minute when he picked up a loose ball and curled in a brilliant left-footed finish from 20 yards.

The visitors were back in front within seconds of the restart. Right-back Tomoki Iwata lost possession on the edge of the box after bringing down a high diagonal ball and was punished in style by Iker Muniain.

Only Forrest came back out after the interval but just until the 49th minute, when the fans were handed the chance to give him another ovation as he was replaced by Liel Abada. Summer signings Hyun-jun Yang and Odin Thiago Holm were among the half-time substitutes.

Bernabei equalised midway through the half after linking up well with second-half captain Turnbull and Matt O’Riley, and the former Motherwell midfielder soon swept home from Oh Hyeon-gyu’s cutback.

Scottish Premiership and SWPL on Sky Sports

Sky Sports – Next season up to 48 cinch Premiership games will be available across Sky Sports’ flagship channels, including Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event, plus at least five SWPL matches. From 2024/25, up to 60 cinch Premiership will be live on Sky Sports, in addition to the SWPL.

Sky Sports News – Running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Scottish football fans can enjoy Sky Sports News’ (channel 409) rolling editorial coverage of the cinch Premiership and SWPL throughout the season.

Sky Sports Digital – Follow all the latest from Scottish football across SkySports.com and app, including exclusive features and interviews, plus dedicated live blog coverage, in-game clips from matches live on Sky Sports and free highlights.

Sky Sports Social – Alongside coverage and visibility for the league across all Sky Sports’ main social media channels, the bespoke Twitter channel @ScotlandSky will continue to be the home of all Scottish football content on Sky Sports.

Highlights show – Tune in for a dedicated round-up from the cinch Premiership every week on Sky Sports Football.

To download the Sky Sports app click here, to visit Sky Sports website click here.

Sky Sports is the home of domestic football in the UK and Ireland, with more than 400 games per season across the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Women’s Premier League, Premier League, WSL, and EFL.

Follow Celtic with Sky Sports

Follow every Celtic game in the Scottish Premiership this season with our live blogs on the Sky Sports website and app, and watch match highlights for free.

Want the Celtic latest? Bookmark our Celtic news page, check out Celtic’s fixtures and Celtic’s latest results, watch Celtic’s goals and video, keep track of the Scottish Premiership table and see which Celtic games are coming up live on Sky Sports.

Get all this and more – including notifications sent straight to your phone – by downloading the Sky Sports Scores app and setting Celtic as your favourite team.

Justin Thomas, Shane Lowry and Adam Scott are among the big names fighting to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs; Watch live coverage of the Wyndham Championship, starting on Thursday from 7pm on Sky Sports Golf

Justin Thomas has never previously failed to reach the playoffs in his PGA Tour career

Former world No 1s, major champions and Ryder Cup superstars are among the players facing a battle to extend their PGA Tour seasons this week at the Wyndham Championship.

Only the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings after this week’s event at Sedgefield Country Club will progress to the season-ending playoffs and be exempt into all full-field PGA Tour events for the following year.

Justin Thomas has never failed to reach the playoffs in his PGA Tour career and has qualified for the Tour Championship seven seasons running, but he lies 79th after missing the cut in five of his last seven worldwide starts.

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Sky Sports’ Rob Lee and Zane Scotland take a closer look at the Justin Thomas swing.

Thomas suffered an early exit at the 3M Open last week, a last-minute addition to his schedule to try and produce an upturn in results and enhance his hopes of being selected for USA’s Ryder Cup team this September.

Shane Lowry returns to action for the first time since missing the cut at The Open, with the Irishman currently 76th in the FedExCup standings and looking to make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

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Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry received a warm welcome to the tee ahead of round three of the PGA Championship…. but the announcer didn’t quite get their names right.

Matt Kuchar and Adam Scott are the only players to have qualified for every edition of the FedExCup playoffs since they were introduced in 2007, although the latter faces a battle to extend that streak and comes into the week 81st in the standings.

Former Masters champion Danny Willett (83rd) and compatriot Matt Wallace (80th) are both trying to break into the top 70, along with 2019 US Open winner Gary Woodland (97th) and Ryder Cup hopeful Alex Noren (102nd).

Elsewhere, ‘Full Swing’ favourite Joel Dahmen (82nd) is currently on the outside looking in, as is Englishman Callum Tarren (88th) and 2014 FedExCup champion Billy Horschel (117th), who is currently some near 50 spots off the pace.

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Billy Horschel threw his club back towards caddie Mark ‘Fooch’ Fulcher after making a chip-in eagle during the second round of The Players.

What happens next?

The top 70 in the FedExCup standings after the event will progress to the FedEx St Jude Invitational, beginning on August 10, with the top 50 after that tournament then progressing to the BMW Championship the following week.

Only the top 50 in the standings at the end of the season are fully exempt in 2024, including the designated events, while those who finish 51st to 70th will have their PGA Tour status secured for next season but are not at that stage guaranteed entry into the designated events.

The players ranked 51 and below will carry their FedExCup points from the regular season and first FedExCup Playoff and continue to accumulate points during the ‘FedExCup fall’, with the top 125 in the standings at the end of 2023 then exempt for the full-field events for the 2024 season.

Watch the Wyndham Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage from the opening round begins on Thursday from 1pm via the red button on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 7pm. Stream the PGA Tour with NOW.

After England drew with Australia in a thrilling Ashes series, head coach Brendon McCullum is already looking ahead to a rematch of the “great heavyweight fight”.

The series concluded with an exciting final day at The Oval, where Chris Woakes and the now-retired pair of Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad sealed a 49-run win and maintain England’s year-long undefeated streak in Test series under New Zealand’s McCullum.

“Both teams walk away with two victories under their belt. I think both sides have stayed true to their styles and that’s what makes a great heavyweight fight. It’s two different styles and total conviction in them,” McCullum said.

“The skipper [Ben Stokes was] thinking would we be able to take on a great Australian team – and they are a great Australian team – and go toe-to-toe with them? I think the answer is yes and that’s a tremendous confidence booster for the group.”

Australia came into the Ashes as newly-crowned Test world champions and provided the stiffest challenge yet of the ‘Bazball’ style of play.

“I’ve looked from afar at the Ashes and to now be a part of it and witness how special it is is something quite incredible. I don’t want it to end actually,” said McCullum.

“I think we should go round again and have another five Tests, keep doing what we’re doing. It’s been an incredible six weeks and I’m really proud to be sharing a dressing room with the England boys.”

McCullum is casting his eyes towards a rematch that lies two-and-a-half years away.

“The next one is obviously a little way away and there’s certainly different challenges to cross before then. If we look at the growth of the team in the last 14-15 months it has been quite significant,” he said.

“There will be some new faces for both sides in two-and-a-half years, no doubt, but I’d imagine again it could be another cracking series when the time comes. But firstly we’re letting this one sink in and enjoying it.”

England do not play Test cricket again until January’s trip to India but McCullum already has two holes to fill, with Broad and Moeen bowing out on a high.

“Two incredible cricketers but also wonderful people and great characters in the dressing room,” he said.

“We’ll miss them, no doubt, but they have left a huge imprint on the side. It’s been great to have them around and I’m sure their legacies will carry on to the next generation.”

Word has already been passed around the county circuit that England want to see Test hopefuls put their names forward by playing the same kind of fearless, selfless cricket McCullum and Stokes favour and events of the past seven weeks have surely left plenty with an appetite to join them.

“I certainly hope so. Naturally, places do come up when guys come to the end of their careers so there will be opportunities there,” he said.

“We’re starting to build some nice depth in batting and bowling as well, so that’s encouraging and will pose some good conversations moving forward.

“What you’re trying to do is not only inspire the next generation but the layer underneath the top team, to have them understand how we’re going to play and work out in their own heads where they fit within that and try to force a place.”

McCullum’s white-ball counterpart, Matthew Mott will take charge of English ambitions in the meantime with this autumn’s 50-over World Cup defence the next major goal.

“What will be really important for the time India comes will be trying to dial back into what we’ve achieved in the last 14-15 months and trying to make sure the team turns up with the same clarity of thought when we go about things,” the head coach said.

Moving on

The acrimony that featured in the series, especially the second test, has passed now the series is over.

In the second test at Lord’s, Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey dismissed Jonny Bairstow by underarming the ball into the stumps after Bairstow left his crease at the end of an over.

The stumping dismissal triggered loud booing from the Lord’s crowd and Australian players were verbally abused by MCC members in the pavilion.

At the time McCullum declared: “I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon.

“You’ve got to live with the decisions you make.”

But on Monday he left that in the past. “Yeah, we’ll have a beer,” McCullum laughed.

“Ashes series have all these twists and turns and moments which people talk about and are able to remember them by, and that was certainly one of those.”

The Hundred returns to Sky Sports Cricket with Trent Rockets vs Southern Brave women’s and men’s double-header live. Stream The Hundred and more with NOW.

After England slipped 2-0 down in The Ashes, questions were asked of their sloppy fielding and “reckless” batting.

But Ben Stokes’ side rallied to draw the series 2-2 and may very well have won it had it not poured with rain during the final two days of the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford.

The Ashes may not have been regained, but England entertained – with the team now mixing their Bazball style with results against the world Test champions.

Head coach Brendon McCullum told Sky Sports: “What we have seen in the last three matches in particular is a team really grow up and come to terms with the style of cricket we want to play.”

Ricky Ponting and Nasser Hussain also think the future is bright…

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting:

“England had opportunities in those first two Test matches and knew their style was standing up to what Australia had.

“You could hear the self-belief coming through Stokes, coming through McCullum, coming through all the players, whenever we spoke to them.

“They were unwavering in what they wanted to do and how they wanted to play. I think they have learnt along the way. It was just a little tweak in game awareness, that’s all it was.

Test fans around the world will have been enthralled by this series and both teams have to take a lot of credit for that. It has been played in incredibly good spirit and has been pulsating, and entertaining from ball one until the end of day five. I think 2—2 is a fair result.

“If you look at the players they have, I don’t think McCullum is asking them do anything other than be themselves. He is saying, ‘go out and trust your way’.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg, I believe. It is a relatively young team, some of the guys haven’t played a lot of Test cricket – Harry Brook, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley can all still improve.

“England will get better, tweak things along the way. I am looking forward to seeing them in the future.”

Former England captain Nasser Hussain:

“Internally, England have made subtle tweaks.

“You only have to look at how Stokes has batted, how Brook has batted, the technical changes Crawley has made to make himself more consistent.

“They are not a side who say, ‘that is the way we play’.”

It was incredible series. From the first ball Zak Crawley smashed for four at Edgbaston to the last ball where Stuart Broad nicked off Alex Carey at The Oval. England got their wish in the end – they wanted to entertain but they also wanted to win and that’s what they have done in the last two games.

“Throughout this Ashes there has been a quandary within me. I see the bigger picture that it’s about entertainment but I have also seen the historical picture of ‘we used to get battered by this lot’.

“Australia used to hammer us and when you have an Australian down, keep them down. Yes, entertain – but win as well.

“England have switched it, just tightened it up and got the right side of the line, managing to win and entertain.”

Where next for England’s Test team?

That would be India – albeit not for six months, with the rest of the international summer filled with white-ball cricket ahead of the 50-over World Cup in India in October and November and then a limited-overs tour of West Indies in December.

Stokes – who hopes to have his longstanding knee problem sorted by then – will lead England in five Tests in India across January and March, with games in Hyderabad, Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala.

England will not be able to call upon the now-retired Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali in the subcontinent but James Anderson hopes to be there having confirmed he wishes to carry on playing Test cricket despite turning 41 and enduring a lean Ashes series with five wickets at an average of 85.40 and strike-rate of 184.80.

England Test series in India 2024

First Test – January 25-29 (Hyderabad)

Second Test – February 2-6 (Vizag)

Third Test – February 15-19 (Rajkot)

Fourth Test – February 23-27 (Ranchi)

Fifth Test – March 7-11 (Dharamsala)

‘Warrior’. ‘Competitive’. ‘Clever’. ‘Skilled’.

Just some of the adjectives reserved for the brilliance of Stuart Broad after the 37-year-old England great announced he was to retire from cricket at the conclusion of the fifth Ashes Test at The Kia Oval. As well as the above, Broad’s great trademark has been his ability to sniff out a moment, sense the occasion and rise to it.

As Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton so poetically put it in a tribute video played out after Broad’s announcement: “Some people say sporting success comes from talent, raw ability and skill. It can also emerge from a more elemental force, something deep inside, a fire that flickers and then burns brightly.

“Competitive instinct, in other words. That burns deep within Stuart Broad.”

And Broad delivered one final magic moment to end his remarkable career, claiming the final two wickets as England beat Australia by 49 runs in the fifth Ashes Test at The Kia Oval to draw the series 2-2.

This is a man who has continually reserved his very best for the Ashes, relishing revving the crowd up and feeding off the febrile atmosphere – the audience at its greatest and pressure at its highest – but even within that context Broad has picked his moments superbly.

His famous, career-best 8-15 in the 2015 Ashes came not only on his home ground of Trent Bridge, but also as he stepped up in the absence of his great mate and bowling partner in crime, Jimmy Anderson – ruled out with a side strain – and his efforts would effectively win England the Ashes before lunch on day one of that fourth Test.

It was one of three Ashes-clinching spells from Broad in successive home series, his first being his 5-37 at The Oval in 2009 when bowling Australia out for 160 in the first innings to set up a 197-run win. In 2013, Chester-le-Street was the setting as Broad finished with 11 for the match, his second-innings 6-50 bundling Australia out for 224 after they were well-placed at 174-3 in pursuit of 299 to win.

When Jimmy has not been there and he [Broad] has to be the leader of the attack, he does it. He has lived in Jimmy’s shadow but when he has popped out of that shadow, he has shown what a true great he is.

While his 2015 heroics at Trent Bridge was the last time Broad would taste success in an Ashes series, he has continued to provide pure theatre on the game’s greatest stage.

Broad was England’s leading wicket-taker in 2019 with 23 wickets and finished just one shy of that mark in 2023 after dismissing Todd Murphy and Alex Carey on the final day in south London.

Broad has ticked off some sizeable milestones along the way in this series, becoming just the second seamer to take 600 Test wickets, behind that man Anderson again and with the irony not lost on him that his dismissal of Travis Head came at Emirates Old Trafford and from the James Anderson End. “There’s a nice ring to it,” Broad said at the time.

Broad also became the first Englishman and just the third bowler ever (after Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath) to take 150 wickets in Ashes cricket as he picked up Usman Khawaja lbw on day two of his final Test at The Oval.

“I’ve described him as the ultimate Ashes warrior,” former Australia captain Ricky Ponting told Sky Sports.

“You look at what he has done; over 150 Ashes wickets, he’s played in 25 consecutive home Ashes Tests. It’s hard to argue that his best cricket was played in Ashes series when his team needed him the most.”

A legend of the game. Over 600 Test wickets… only one other person will ever better that and that’s his bowling partner [Jimmy Anderson]. No-one else will ever get near that. An exceptional career.

Atherton added: “His game has improved against Australia. Like many England players, they bring their best for Ashes contests – and so that’s why he wanted to finish here, at this ground [The Oval], against Australia.”

Broad has also demonstrated his particular brand of impishness in this series, which Atherton too alluded to in his tribute video.

“He could pick a fight with the Dalai Lama, could Stuart,” Atherton said. And in his sights in particular this summer have been Alex Carey and Marnus Labuschagne.

After Jonny Bairstow was controversially given out stumped during the second Test at Lord’s, Broad told Labuschagne it was “the worst thing I’ve ever seen in cricket”, while a memorable exchange with wicketkeeper Carey caught on stump mic captured Broad saying, “that’s all you’re ever going to be remembered for, that”.

Broad was back to the dark arts in this Test match too, playing some mind games with Labuschagne in the first innings, rearranging his bails immediately prior to his dismissal to Mark Wood, infuriating the Australian batter. He then repeated the tricky before dismissing Murphy on the final day at The Oval.

Cricinfo writer Vithushan Ehantharajah put it best when talking to Sky Sports as part of Saturday’s paper review: “Broad is exactly the type of person who would walk into your kitchen and open your fridge. It doesn’t surprise me [his mind games].

“I find him remarkable. This series has been flooded with too many people saying too many things – and Broad has spoken the most – but he has backed every single one of them up.”

That’s because Broad is more than happy to put himself in the spotlight, and his decision to retire ensured he was centre stage one final time at The Oval.

Making an emotional journey out to the middle on the fourth morning through an Australian guard of honour, Broad provided one final flourish with the bat, firing what would prove to be his last ball faced in cricket for six over deep square-leg. The shot was greeted by a huge, guttural roar from the full house packed into the stands to witness Broad’s farewell.

The conditions then also seemed to play to the script, with bright, glorious sunshine for his brief wielding of the willow swiftly making way for low cloud cover to aid his and England’s work with the ball.

Even David Warner seemed to know what the occasion called for, facing up first ball to the man who has reduced him to ‘bunny’ status by dismissing him 17 times over the course of his career – just two shy of Atherton’s unwanted record of 19 to McGrath.

Sadly one final wicket of Warner wasn’t to be, but Broad will certainly settle for ending the Ashes and his career on the winning side, leading the team off at The Oval alongside Moeen Ali, who himself came out of retirement in Test cricket to play in the series.

Broad said earlier this summer: “I never felt like getting my Test cap was the dream. I wanted to make memories in it.”

As one of England’s greatest ever Test cricketers bows out of the game, there can be no argument that Broad has done just that. And then some.

Watch day five of the fifth Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket on Monday. Build-up starts at 10.15am with the first ball at 11am. Stream The Ashes and more with NOW.

A crackdown on time-wasting and dissent as well as a much stricter policing of the bench and technical areas are at the heart of new refereeing guidelines that will be in force for the start of the football season.

From the first Championship game on Friday – which sees Sheffield Wednesday take on Southampton live on Sky Sports – added minutes at the end of EFL and Premier League matches are now expected to frequently run into double digits, as they did at the last World Cup in Qatar.

One match official has told Sky Sports News it will now be a rarity if a top flight game lasts less than 100 minutes.

More accurate game time

Officials have become increasingly concerned with statistics that show how little the ball has been in play in professional matches in England, with averages last season of just 48 minutes in League Two, 50 minutes in League One, 52 minutes in the Championship and just under 55 minutes in the Premier League.

More time will be added on too for goal celebrations, which officials feel have become lengthier and more elaborate.

Referees will now be obliged to specifically time how long the game is stopped before the re-start for game interruptions, such as a goal, a substitution, injury, or preparations for a free-kick.

In further attempts to speed up play, the EFL will now have the multi-ball system for all matches, as is already the case in the Premier League.

Elsewhere, referees will be tasked with being more robust in penalising “clear and impactful actions” that waste time – those that differ from the obvious act of kicking the ball away.

EFL and Premier League football will now bear much more resemblance to the Qatar World Cup, where England vs Iran had 24 minutes of added time and the game lasted a total of 117 minutes. There were, however, two concussion-related injuries, eight goals and 10 substitutions in the 90 minutes.

Leniency on “physical” challenges

On the pitch, as an attempt to allow the game to flow better and reduce stoppages, a higher threshold will be applied to “contact” between players – meaning there should be fewer free-kicks awarded for incidents which last season might well have been penalised for being overly physical.

However, as per the existing referee guidelines, any challenge deemed “careless” will be deemed a foul, any which are “reckless” will receive a yellow card, and any player who “endangers the safety” of an opponent will be sent off.

Dissent

The threshold for a player to be shown a yellow card for dissent will be reduced this season.

Whenever more than one player approaches the referee, at least one of those players, and potentially more, will be shown an automatic yellow card. Practically, any player that runs from a distance to approach the match officials will be booked.

Policing the technical area

The behaviour of managers and their back room staff will come under greater scrutiny, with an automatic yellow card if there is ever more than one coach in the technical area, and harsher penalties for managers that leave their technical area.

Aggression from coaches, towards match officials or opponents, will be routinely met with a red card, and any club official sent off will no longer be allowed to watch the game from the stands. Instead, they must be out-of-sight of the pitch.

Nasser Hussain believes England are “slight favourites” to win the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Kia Oval.

Australia closed a rain-hit day four on 135-0 in a chase of 384 with Usman Khawaja 69 not out and David Warner unbeaten on 58.

The tourists require a further 249 runs on the final day to secure a 3-1 series victory but Hussain thinks the surface will aid Ben Stokes’ side as they pursue a 2-2 draw.

Hussain told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “My feeling is that England are still slight favourites, even after Australia’s start. The pitch is spinning and a day-five Oval pitch does turn.

“Hopefully the rain has given Moeen Ali a bit more time to get better from that groin strain and Joe Root is a very useful off-spinner.

“Australia have two left-handers in at the moment and then Alex Carey, Travis Head and Mitchell Starc. Off-spinners like left-handers.

The Ashes – Live

Monday 31st July 10:15am

“It is set up perfectly. The last day of a magnificent series and we still don’t know if it is going to be 2-1, 2-2 or 3-1.”

Karthik: Australia have chance to make amends

Hussain’s fellow pundit Dinesh Karthik marginally favours Australia.

The India wicketkeeper-batter feels the tourists will want “retribution” after losing the third Test at Headingley and then being comprehensively outplayed in the fourth in Manchester before the rain ensured they retained the Ashes.

Karthik said: “Australia have a chance of making it 3-1 and that’s where the pressure kicks in.

“I back Australia and I say that because there are people playing their last Ashes and they will want to make their mark.

“The last two games haven’t exactly gone to plan for them and here is a chance to make amends and get retribution. I am going 51 per cent Australia, 49 per cent England.”

Should Wood have come on earlier?

England did not bring Mark Wood into the attack until the 33rd over of the innings, by which time Australia were 99-0, with the paceman seemingly held back for when the ball started reverse swinging.

Hussain added: “I think Stokes could have gone earlier with Wood because of what was coming – the rain was coming and when the rain comes the reverse disappears.

“Also, just to get the crowd up. They were up this morning with the Stuart Broad factor but with the Khawaja-Warner partnership they died and got low.

“The moment Wood started warming up you could sense the crowd go, ‘this is what we have been waiting for’.”

Karthik said: “When Wood came on, straight away you saw Khawaja jumping – you could see him being hurried up and the shots that were played. In one over, things happened.”

‘Anderson not at his best’

James Anderson’s wicketless 10 overs on his 41st birthday included a chest-high beamer to Warner, which the Australia opener managed to angle down to deep third for a boundary as he fell over.

Hussain added: “Usually Anderson has metronomic accuracy, so it just goes to confirm that he is not at his best.

“On this pitch now, which has lost its pace and is more subcontinental, he is going to have to use those skills he has learnt in Abu Dhabi and Dubai – the cutters, the reverse swing.

“One thing is for certain and that is that he will keep going to the last ball of this Ashes.”

Watch day five of the fifth Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Cricket on Monday. Build-up starts at 10.15am with the first ball at 11am. Stream The Ashes and more with NOW.

Fighting for undisputed championships, headlining arenas and bringing in crowds, these are fast becoming the hallmarks of modern women’s boxing. But that hasn’t always been the case.

The forgotten pioneers of the sport had to forge a lonely path when they were trying to establish women’s boxing in America in the 1970s and 1980s.

Their stories have been documented in a new film, Right to Fight, currently available on NOW.

For the film’s director, Georgina Cammalleri, the landmark fight between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall last October made her think that today “we’re experiencing a golden era of women’s boxing”.

“I went to the Manchester Arena recently to see Savannah Marshall against Franchon [Crews-Dezurn] and again the atmosphere and everything it made me feel like they’re injecting a new energy into the sport and that’s a great thing,” she told Sky Sports.

Shields, the undisputed middleweight champion, has recently headlined in Detroit, Seniesa Estrada topped a bill on Friday in Las Vegas and is gunning for her undisputed fight next.

The excitement around today’s stars is a world away from the origins of the sport half a century ago.

Right to Fight shows these boxers being viciously booed and jeered by the crowds that watched them then.

“It’s night and day. It’s completely different,” Cammalleri said. “Going to the Manchester Arena and seeing Savannah Marshall come out and the whole stadium is vibrating with people cheering.

“You can see there’s a whole side that’s just her people and everyone’s cheering and rallying behind her.

“You compare that to Pat Pineda coming out and just being hurled abuse at, you just think, wow okay, I’m glad there’s been some change in the last 50 years.”

Boxers like Cat Davis and Marian “Lady Tyger” Trimiar had to fight just to be licensed to box in New York, the biggest athletic commission at the time. The excuse for that discrimination then was that women’s boxing could be linked to pornography. The sport had to dissociate itself from videos of ‘apartment boxing’ that were sold through seedy magazines.

“It’s mind-blowing but at the same time it kind of explains why when the commission give their reasoning as to why they don’t want them to box they go ‘it could lead to pornography’,” Cammalleri said. “You realise, well, if they were selling films of women apartment boxing topless then you start to realise the link.”

Recently, Shields had to condemn the behaviour of a Youtuber/Influencer event that saw a participant remove her top in celebration.

Looking back to the early struggles of women in boxing, that conduct is a retrograde step. Cammalleri points out that was what the sport historically was trying to move away from.

“When you see something like that it takes away from the sport,” she said. “Also who’s watching? What if it’s a teenage girl and she sees that. What is she learning? Or kids they’re being entertained by boxing and then they see that.

“As an athlete, as someone who’s in front of the media, you’ve got to uphold a certain standard.

“It’s just to be mindful more than anything and not to take it away from the sport.”

Those early days of women’s boxing were still plagued by some age-old issues. The Right to Fight film reveals that fights in the career of Cat Davis, one of the early stars, were, seemingly unbeknownst to her, being fixed.

“I have asked this woman a million times off the screen and she keeps telling me she had no clue,” Cammalleri said. “When you’re in the ring, you’re in the ring fighting… I can only go with what she tells me.

“Cat Davis did a lot for the sport but obviously the controversy that she was involved in also damaged the sport. So the other women have quite a complicated relationship with Cat Davis in that sense, naturally.

“Because on one hand she lifted it. But on the other hand also, what happened hindered it.”

They craved recognition. Instead in subsequent decades they were almost entirely overlooked. But in 2022 Marian Trimiar was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

That was an overwhelming moment for “Lady Tyger”.

“She’s someone that holds back so much of her emotion so to see [her go] from quite a subdued emotion to the extreme was really shocking. It just showed you how much it meant to her,” Cammalleri said.

“Deep down, she needed that. She needed the International Boxing Hall of Fame to say we know what you’ve done, we know your contribution.”

Right To Fight is available to watch on NOW

Charles Leclerc will start Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix from pole position; Max Verstappen topped Qualifying but starts sixth after a grid-penalty; Lewis Hamilton starts third for Mercedes; watch the race live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm on Sunday, with build-up from 12:30pm

Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc says Ferrari have a “good chance of a great result” in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix but admits he is “not confident” of holding off the Red Bulls behind him.

Leclerc inherited pole position after finishing second in Friday’s Qualifying because Max Verstappen, who topped the timesheet, incurred a five-place grid penalty after exceeding his gearbox part allowance for the season.

Having taken victory in Saturday’s Sprint to extend his world championship lead to 118 points, Verstappen will start as favourite on Sunday despite his position of sixth on the grid.

Leclerc, who has endured a tough first half of the season after being Verstappen’s nearest challenger last year, is looking for a first win and just a third podium of his campaign.

Asked about his chances of victory, Leclerc said: “Not confident, especially with two Red Bull guys right behind.

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Sky Sports’ Anthony Davidson compares the difference between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc on their qualifying laps at the Belgian Grand Prix.

“I think they’ve got a much better race car than we have.

“It’s great to be starting first and I think it gives us a good chance to have a great result, but to say that we’ll target the win, I think is probably a bit too optimistic.

“If there’s an opportunity for whatever reason, as always I’ll try to get it, but I believe it’s going to be difficult to try to keep those guys behind.”

Verstappen confident of repeating 2022 heroics

Verstappen is seeking to become just the second driver in F1 history to win eight successive races, while Red Bull can claim a record-extending 13th consecutive Grand Prix triumph.

It was around this point last season where Verstappen began to exhibit a dominance that he has almost totally maintained since, with a statement win coming at Spa last year as he won with ease from 14th on the grid.

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See how Max Verstappen climbed up the leaderboard from middle of the pack to end up winning the 2022 Belgian GP.

While the Dutchman has never won from sixth on the grid, he is unsurprisingly confident of changing that.

Verstappen said. “Last year we started 14th and I think this year the car is better, so I’m still targeting to win the race for sure.”

Reflecting on his Sprint victory, Verstappen added: “The car was quick. We knew already over one lap that we were not bad, but also it seemed like in the race we were quite good on keeping the tyres alive. So hopefully we can do the same tomorrow if it’s dry.

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Max Verstappen eases home to win the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint by almost 6.5 seconds.

“But tomorrow of course I’m starting a bit further back. I need to be careful to not have any damage on the car.

“As soon as I just have a clean lap one, I think from there onwards we can move forward.”

Hamilton hoping to ‘fight’ Leclerc, Perez

Lewis Hamilton, who has displayed encouraging pace in his upgraded Mercedes throughout the weekend, was another beneficiary of Verstappen’s demotion and will start from third behind the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

While the near-constantly changing conditions at Spa have made it difficult to assess the true dry pace of any team, Hamilton has been highly competitive.

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Lewis Hamilton believes his collision with Sergio Perez was ‘a bit of a racing incident’ while Perez claims Hamilton ‘took the whole right-hand side’ of his car off.

The seven-time world champion finished fourth in the Sprint after overtaking Perez, but was later demoted to seventh by a five-second penalty for causing a collision with the Mexican.

Like Leclerc, Hamilton isn’t optimistic about keeping Verstappen behind him, the 38-year-old is hopeful of taking the “fight” to the two cars starting in front of him, along with holding off McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

“Our pace has generally been decent,” Hamilton said.

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Sky Sports’ Anthony Davidson analyses the collision between Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.

“Third tomorrow, I’ve got a Ferrari and Perez ahead so I’m hoping I’ll be able to fight those guys.

“At some point Max will come sailing by and I’ll just try to keep the McLarens behind.”

Belgian GP provisional starting grid

1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
5) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
6) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
7) Lando Norris, McLaren
8) George Russell, Mercedes
9) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
10) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

Sky Sports F1’s live Belgian GP schedule

Sunday July 30
7.25am: Formula 3 Feature Race
8.55am: Formula 2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday – Belgian GP build-up
2pm: THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag – Belgian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

Watch all sessions of the Sprint weekend at Spa live on Sky Sports F1. Stream the Belgian GP and more with NOW.

After England bowler Stuart Broad announced he will retire from cricket after the final Test against Australia, Sky Sports pundits Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, Ricky Ponting and Mark Butcher hailed a ‘true great” and “ultimate Ashes warrior”…

Michael Atherton – ‘An undeniably great cricketer’

“Great is an overused word sometimes but he is an undeniably great cricketer – 167 games, 602 wickets and that defining performance of 8-15 against Australia at Trent Bridge.

“He has more Ashes wickets – 150 – than anybody else in an England shirt and he himself said the Ashes brought out the best in him, which I think is why he has decided to go here.

“I think it is good decision. The one thing every cricketer is in control of is when they go and I think he has made a good choice. What could be a better time and place to go out? He can look back with a great deal of pride at a great career.

“I think the essence of him as a cricketer is his competitiveness, his feistiness, and I think he would agree with that, but don’t underplay his skill. There is a real attention to detail there.

“He has benefited from central contracts and England’s desire to wrap him and Jimmy [Anderson] in cotton wool for Test cricket, which has extended their careers. But he has taken full advantage.”

Nasser Hussain – Broad all about winning games

“A great cricketer deserves to go out at the top. It’s not just what he deserves. I think the crowd here over the next couple of days would want to give him a send-off.

“What I know about Broad is that he won’t let that emotion get in the way of a performance. What has been his benchmark throughout his career is wanting to win games. I truly believe that.

“For Stuart it is all about putting in performances to win and to win Ashes games. When you talk to him about the spells he has bowled, they mean more to him because England went on to win games and Ashes series.

“He is also a very bright bowler. He will talk about seam positions and setting up batters. The way he thinks about getting wickets [is excellent]. He is the complete article – fitness, hunger, the competitiveness, the skill, brightness.

“He has loved bowling with Anderson and learnt from him but he has had to live in Jimmy’s shadow.

“When Jimmy has not been there and he has to be the leader of the attack, he does it. Jimmy has had a quiet Ashes series this summer and Stuart has upped his game.

“So, he has lived in Jimmy’s shadow but when he has popped out of that shadow, he has shown what a true great he is.”

Mark Butcher – Australians will miss him

“Broad has been talking about it for a little while in terms of when might be the right time. I think he has surprised himself by his performance and the fact he has played all five Ashes Tests.

“He has become a dad recently and is looking forward to that transition in his life. I do believe there is a spot for a fast bowler in the Sky commentary team, so who knows…

“He had been readying himself for this moment and the bonus is that he gets to go out at the top. Very few of us get the chance to do that. What a career, what a player.

“Australians will miss him as he provides that bit of edge, but they will also be happy he has gone as he has been a right pain in the backside for them for a very long time.

“I saw him as a youngster and he had the raw talent with the ball and the height, but there was a competitive spirit you saw from the off.”

Ricky Ponting – Broad ‘the ultimate Ashes warrior’

“I am a believer in judging players on longevity and maintaining such high standards at the absolute highest level. He has played 25 consecutive Ashes Tests at home, which is unbelievable in itself.

“We talk about Ben Stokes being the ultimate warrior but Broad is the ultimate Ashes warrior. All of his best cricket has been played in Ashes series.

“People’s names and reputations are forged in what they are able to achieve in Ashes series and he can be mightily proud of what he has achieved.

“He will be remembered for how good he was in his last series. It is about the perfect time to go.”