Premier League/England

Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties, win Super Cup | ESPN
The Reds keep the 7-trophy season dream alive. Maybe the Super Cup meant something at some point, but I think those days have long passed. Next trophy on offer for Liverpool — the Inter-Cities Fairs Trophy.*

Stephanie Frappart is first woman to officiate a ‘major men’s European match’ | CNN
Jurgen Klopp put it best: “finally.”

Tammy Abraham racially abused online after missing penalty | The Independent
People suck. In other news, grass is still green and water is still wet. I long for the day where I don’t come across articles like this. It’s important to point it out, call it out, and decry it. Every. Single. Time. I hope lifetime bans are incoming.

Brendan Rodgers talks about his second shot as a Premier League manager | Sky Sports
Teams are way too willing to hire retread coaches (across all sports). Take a chance. Hire somebody new like Graham Potter. Hot take: Rodgers is the next Steve Bruce / Roy Hodgson / whoever that has managed, like, every club in England.

Criminals studying footballers’ social media accounts | The Telegraph
People suck, part 2. The recent incidents with Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac are mentioned, but it’s unclear if social media is connected. It’s good reminder for all of us: if your socials are public and post from vacation, you’re telling everyone “I’m not home.”

Chelsea cracking down on touts | The Mirror
Touting: reselling tickets to events, often outside the venue.

Europe

Maybe the Super Cup stuff should have gone under this header? It’s a European competition, and it was played in Istanbul. But it was two English teams. I don’t know.

Women’s Bundesliga season starts this weekend | FIFA.com
Women’s football is awesome. And hey! It happens more frequently than one summer every four years!

UEFA Super League talks postponed | AP
Turns out, trying to close access to the slush fund makes those about to be left in the cold unhappy.

MLS/Americas

MLS to announce St. Louis expansion team | St. Louis Dispatch
Seeing MLS / soccer grow in the US is a good thing. No word on whether the “best fans in baseball” are also the best fans in soccer though. Some interesting St. Louis soccer history in there as well.

Should we have to pay for women’s soccer streaming services? | All for XI
The FA just announced a new, free streaming tool, but how can we show that the women’s game is profitable, marketable, and sustainable if we keep giving it away for free? If you haven’t already, make sure to check out All for XI. They’re doing great stuff.

Pay-to-play youth model continues to stir up controversy | The Guardian
This article has a great summary of the facts and figures. Super clickbait headline though.

Other

Ohio State is trying to trademark ‘The’ | ESPN
This is THE dumbest story of the day.

Michigan trolls Ohio State about the above | For the Win
But I’m always here for a good rivalry troll.

British triathletes disqualified for finishing together | The Guardian
The women held hands in celebration as they crossed the finish line. The rule is designed to prevent ‘contrived finishes.’ This is dumb.

Patrick Mahomes’ has a massive, custom-designed shoe closet for his 180 shoes | B/R via For the Win
The title pretty much says it all. Also, Mahomes’ voice is interesting — ESPN’s Katie Nolan said he sounds like Kermit the Frog.

*Not actually. The competition went defunct in 1971. Fun fact: Leeds United are technically the holders — it’s why their fans periodically sing about being champions of Europe.