Mark Darbon has been appointed chief executive of the R&A and secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
Darbon, 45, is leaving his job as chief executive of rugby union side Northampton, who won their first Premiership title since 2014 last month, to succeed Martin Slumbers and will formally begin his new role in November.
“I am thrilled and honoured to be taking up these positions with The R&A and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and to be moving into golf, a sport I have always loved,” Darbon said.
Image: Mark Darbon has been at Northampton Saints since 2017
“The R&A is a globally-renowned organisation and does so much to ensure that golf prospers from grassroots through to the professional game.
“I am looking forward to working with a hugely talented team of staff, the club membership and such an impressive array of partner organisations to achieve even more success in the years to come.”
Niall Farquharson, chairman of the R&A, said: “We were greatly impressed with Mark’s knowledge and experience of the global sport industry and his ability to develop successful teams and deliver fantastic events.
“We believe he will be an excellent leader for The R&A and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and will play a key role in helping us to achieve our goal of ensuring a prosperous and sustainable future for golf.”
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In a separate press release from Saints, Darbon said: “Leaving Northampton Saints has been an incredibly difficult decision for me to make.
“Over the last seven years my family and I have loved our time in Northampton and developed a passion and attachment for Saints which will stay with us forever.
“I am very proud of what we have achieved during my tenure. Rugby has faced some significant challenges, but the club is well positioned to continue to be successful into the future, on and off the pitch, whilst remaining at the centre of our local community in Northampton.
“My family and I will remain very close to the club as fans, and I’m delighted to be staying on in some capacity at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens by remaining on the board as a non-executive director.”
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VAR did check and clear the decision not to award Scotland a penalty in their
decisive Euro 2024 group game against Hungary, UEFA referees’ chief Roberto
Rosetti has said.
Scotland felt they should have been awarded a spot-kick when Stuart Armstrong was challenged by defender Willi Orban, but their appeals were waved away by Argentinian referee Facundo Tello.
Rosetti said on Friday that the VAR had looked at the incident and decided Armstrong had moved towards the defender and drawn contact.
Hungary went on to win the match 1-0, a result which eliminated Scotland from the tournament.
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke said it was “100 per cent” a penalty and questioned the purpose of VAR “if they are not going to come in for something like that”.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke was left questioning the point of VAR after Stuart Armstrong was not given a penalty during their 1-0 defeat to Hungary
Rosetti was asked about the incident at a referees’ briefing on Friday and said: “This was a very, very tough match with a couple of controversial incidents. There was one in the 68th minute where there was a possible penalty, because John McGinn was pulling the opponent’s shirt.
“Then there was the incident at minute 79. The attacker Armstrong was in front of the Hungarian (Orban). If you watch it from the camera behind, there was movement of the attacker towards the Hungarian.
“The VARs are checking everything, the VAR checked this situation. They decided that this was just a physical contact trying to challenge the defender.”
Kris Boyd says he didn’t understand how Scotland were not awarded a penalty kick in their match against Hungary
Rosetti would not be drawn on whether, in his view, the decision was the correct one.
Rosetti did confirm that Tello has been appointed as a fourth official for Saturday’s last-16 match between Switzerland and Italy.
Dean: I’m astounded penalty wasn’t given
Former referee Mike Dean was surprised that Scotland were denied a ‘clear penalty’ following Willi Orban’s challenge on Stuart Armstrong.
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean told Sky Sports News:
“I was a bit surprised if I was being honest, there was a bit of a tangle at the start but it’s a clear foul, a clear knee on the back of the calf.
“I thought the referee was going to give a foul in real time, it just felt like it to everyone watching the game. I was even more surprised the VAR didn’t get involved.
“I think the VAR would have got involved, he’s probably looked at it and the referee’s given some kind of explanation, maybe a tangle of legs or the attacker’s instigated the contact.
“But whatever way you look at it, it’s a clear penalty. They would have looked at it, and the VAR just agreed with the referee – wrongly in my opinion, in everyone’s opinion by the sounds of it.
“Scotland defended well and had chances. If they went 1-0 up, I couldn’t see Hungary scoring a goal with how they defended for the rest of the game.
“It’s just one of those things. I was astounded it wasn’t given. The referee’s probably seen a tangle, but if I was an attacker and I get across a defender and feel contact, you expect a penalty to either be given by the referee, the assistant or by VAR.
“The referees are at that tournament for a reason, they’re the best in Europe or in South America in his case. You’re there to make the big calls, guys have made big calls all competition; this is the first one, apart from Anthony Taylor’s against France on Friday, where we’re talking about the referee and the VAR.”
Scottish Professional Football League chief executive Neil Doncaster told Sky Sports News they will be flexible but fair when dealing with Rangers’ stadium problems.
Delays to the shipment of materials from Asia mean upgrades to the Copland Road stand cannot be completed before the start of the new season, with Rangers expecting games to be impacted.
Motherwell and Ross County are both scheduled to visit Ibrox in the first three games of the new Scottish Premiership season, with Rangers also due to play in the Champions League qualifiers.
Supporters are awaiting news about how the situation will affect them amid reports that moving games to Murrayfield is a potential option.
Doncaster said the governing body will work with the club to try and resolve the issues.
Image: There have been delays to a shipment of materials
The former Norwich City chief said: “Unfortunately these things do happen. I used to run a club and we had to build a stand and worked very closely with the league to ensure our fixtures went ahead with only three parts of the ground available.
“Now the fixtures are out, we will be liaising with Rangers. Obviously they have a far better handle on the works than we do.
“We will be doing our best to work with them to try to get them through what is clearly a difficult situation.
“I have been very impressed with the way that the new chairman, John Bennett, has tried to strengthen relationships across the game and we will certainly be looking to work with him and his team to be as flexible as we can be while being fair to everyone else.”
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Mercedes chief Ola Kallenius says Max Verstappen would “look good in silver” after the team made it clear they still want to sign the Red Bull driver.
Since Lewis Hamilton announced he was leaving Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of next year, Mercedes have talked up Verstappen, who has a contract with Red Bull until 2028.
Verstappen, who won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, has consistently made it clear he wants to be in the fastest car and in the “right environment”.
It appears the most decisive factor in the 26-year-old’s F1 future is which team he thinks will be best placed when the new 2026 regulations begin, as the pecking order will almost certainly change.
“The best driver wants to have the best car. And that’s our job, to bring the best package together,” Kallenius told Sky Germany.
Max Verstappen reflected on his thrilling performance to take the win at the Spanish Grand Prix.
“The cards will be reshuffled in 2026. New order with new rules. That’s also an opportunity. Who knows.
“But I think Max would look good in silver, wouldn’t he?”
F1 2025 field
Team
Driver
Driver
Red Bull
Max Verstappen
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Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
McLaren
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri
Mercedes
George Russell
???
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
RB
???
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Haas
???
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Williams
Alex Albon
???
Alpine
???
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Sauber
Nico Hulkenberg
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Wolff: No Mercedes talks with Verstappen
Toto Wolff previously stated “no team principal wouldn’t do handstands” to sign the Verstappen and that he was “waiting” to see how the driver market develops.
Sky Sports News understands 17-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli is the leading candidate to take over Hamilton’s seat, with Verstappen still an outside target.
However, Wolff says Mercedes are not in contact with Verstappen over a shock move.
Listen in to Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton discussing the Spanish Grand Prix straight after the race.
“No, there’s no talks taking place at that stage because I think we need to look at ourselves and on improving the car,” he said.
Teenager Antonelli has been testing Mercedes’ 2021 and 2022 cars this year, as well as competing in Formula 2.
Antonelli is highly rated after he won multiple junior single-seater titles at the first time of asking since stepping up from karts to racing cars in 2021.
Who is Andrea Kimi Antonelli?
Antonelli is from Bologna, Italy
He is just 17 years old
Mercedes signed him to their junior programme in 2019
Antonelli was dominant in karting
In 2022, he won the Italian and German F4 championships in his rookie campaign
In 2023, he claimed the Formula Regional Middle East and European titles
Antonelli skipped F3 and is competing in F2 with the Prema team, where he is team-mates with Britain’s Oliver Bearman
At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May, Hamilton was asked whether Sainz would be a good fit for Mercedes but responded by saying his preference would be Antonelli.
Wolff has indicated Mercedes won’t announce who will drive alongside George Russell before the summer break in August.
“No driver decision has been made. I said we want to keep this decision as long as possible because who knows what will happen,” he said.
Sky Sports F1’s live Austrian GP schedule
Thursday June 27 12.30pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday June 28 7.50am: F3 Practice 9am: F2 Practice 11am: Austrian GP Practice One (session starts at 11.30am) 12.55pm: F3 Qualifying 1.50pm: F2 Qualifying 3pm: Austrian GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 3.30pm)*
Saturday June 29 8.25am: F3 Sprint 10am: Austrian GP Sprint (race starts at 11am)* 12.25pm: F2 Sprint 2pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up 3pm: Austrian GP Qualifying 5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday June 30 7.25am: F3 Feature Race 8.55am: F2 Feature Race 12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP build-up* 2pm: The AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX* 4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP reaction* 5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
F1’s triple-header continues at the Austrian Grand Prix this coming week – with the Sprint format returning at the Red Bull Ring. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s big race at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime
More than half a million ticketless fans from across Europe are expected to travel to Germany for Euro 2024, with FA chief executive Mark Bullingham calling on England supporters to be “a tribute to their country”.
Many of those estimated 500,000 fans will, of course, come from the United Kingdom, with England and Scotland in action at Euro 2024.
Steve Clarke’s Scotland side face hosts Germany in Friday night’s tournament opener in Munich, two days before England open their campaign against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen in a Group C fixture that has been deemed “high risk” by the German authorities.
Bullingham understands that categorisation, but says the FA has had no warnings there will be any trouble and believes the decision is more to do with the geography around the stadium, while he also has total faith in the German police.
“In 2006 [at the World Cup in Germany], our fans were the fans of the tournament,” he told Sky Sports News. “Over the last few years I think we’ve shown our fans have been great supporters of the team and behave well.
Image: FA chief executive Mark Bullingham wants England fans to be ‘tribute to their country’ at Euro 2024
“Obviously, you are going to have a big volume of people, so I think maybe that’s the factor that they do consider and we are expecting. I understand with that volume of people, they’ll be looking at that. But the reality is our plans are good.”
As for the match at the Veltins Arena, Bullingham has confirmed there will be no special protection for the players’ families at the ground.
“We always have support for the [players’] families in the stadium, but we’re not doing anything special for this game,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the game and think it’ll be a brilliant game.”
Image: Bullingham (right) says there will be no special protection for the England players’ families at Sunday’s Euro 2024 opener vs Serbia
Bullingham admits, though, there is an element of unpredictability about how England’s travelling fans may behave in Germany, with only small numbers having attended the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar respectively.
“It will be a lot of fans, and a lot of fans who haven’t travelled before,” he said. “Because if you think of the last couple of tournaments away, we’ve had less than 5,000 fans [travelling]. It’s a different dynamic. But our fans have been really good the last couple of years, and it’s a brilliant support for us, and we hope that continues.”
Even so, he has called on the England supporters to now get behind their team and do their country proud while in Germany this summer.
“Over the last few years, I think the fans have given absolutely brilliant support to us, particularly in the stadium,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of people going to come out here.
“The best thing that the fans can do to help us do well in this tournament is be a tribute to the country, and we want them to do that, reminding them that in 2006 we were the fans of the tournament and they were brilliant then.
“I think we have the environment to do that. I think the German police have proved that they’re really good at policing football tournaments, so there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case again.
“But really, the main message is get behind the team and support in the right way.”
Why has England vs Serbia been classified a high-risk fixture?
Analysis by Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
“We need to keep things in perspective. League games, international games and games at tournaments, the local authorities always classify games at low risk, medium risk and high risk.
“This one has been classified as a high-risk game by the German authorities. That’s simply because of the reputation that England fans have historically had in the past and some Serbian supporters have also had.
A real boost for England manager Gareth Southgate as all 26 players of his squad train in Germany with injury doubts hanging over a number of players
“What we do know as a fact without hyping anything up or sensationalising the potential for there to be any trouble is that there will be around 40,000 England fans going to the game at Gelsenkirchen and around five and eight thousand Serbian fans.
“The German police have some intelligence suggesting there may be around 500 Serbians who are looking to cause some sort of problem at the game but the German police are saying they can handle it and have a comprehensive plan in store.
“There will be beer available in the stadium although I think there is talk the beer is going to be not as strong as the beer available at other grounds. It’s going to be a little bit weak, and also you can only order two pints at a time inside the stadium and you can’t drink it in your seats – just the concourse.
Sky Sports News’ chief reported Kaveh Solhekol takes a closer look at England’s opening Euro 2024 game opponents, Serbia
“But a lot of fans don’t actually like beer. I go to a lot of games, and I don’t drink beer at games. It’s not talked too much about the potential for there being problems.
“All the Serbian fans I’ve spoken to about this game are very excited and I’ve been told that the Premier League is incredibly popular in Serbia. They watch it every weekend. They all have their favourite teams and players and are really looking forward to this game on Sunday.”
FA funds police unit to catch those who abuse England players on social media
The FA, meanwhile, is to pay for a specialist police officer to investigate and prosecute anyone who racially abuses England players at the European Championships, which begin in Germany on Friday.
Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were each targeted with online hate after they missed penalties in the final of the last Euros at Wembley in 2021, and the FA is determined that – even though it cannot prevent such abuse happening again at this tournament – it will have measures in place to try to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Bullingham told Sky Sports News: “In the past, what we’ve done is pull together all the data – effectively an evidence pack – to give to the police.
“This time we’ve gone a stage further, where we’re actually funding someone within the UK Football Policing Unit, so within the British police. We’re actually funding a unit which will then prosecute.
“What we don’t want to do is create a pack that we then give to the police….but then they don’t have the resource to actually take that forward. This is to make sure that….if there are instances of the vile abuse we have seen before, it gets prosecuted.”
Bullingham says the initial cost is expected to be around £25,000 – but that could be more, depending on how many incidents the police need to investigate. The FA has enough resource set aside to fund as many investigations as are necessary.
“It depends how many prosecutions there are. It is a cost per investigation,” Bullingham added.
Chief constable Mark Roberts, NPCC lead for football policing, said: “As with all international tournaments, we will have a team of officers based at the UK Football Policing Unit throughout Euro 2024 to investigate reports of offensive messages posted on social media.
“If these messages meet a criminal threshold, those people posting the comments will be prosecuted and subsequently dealt with by the courts.
“Investigating these reports takes a significant amount of policing time and resource, and we welcome the support from the FA in funding a portion of these costs. We will continue to work with our partners to help prevent and tackle the issue of online hate.”
The former chief executive of Thornaby has spoken out to address “misconceptions” over the closure of the club’s women’s section.
Trevor Wing was one of six people who resigned from the Teesside club’s nine-strong committee on Monday after voting in favour of shutting down the women’s team, a decision which prompted widespread criticism including from England forward Beth Mead.
Wing said the decision had been “portrayed as a sweeping and callous move” but the reality was far more complex.
Wing disputed a social media post from Thornaby FC’s women’s section which said the entire women’s and girls’ section had been removed, saying the committee had not voted to close down the women’s junior teams, which he said were “self-sufficient” and could have continued.
He added that the decision to shut down the senior women’s team “was not taken lightly” but that it had become evident that running a men’s and a women’s team was “financially unsustainable”.
“I feel it is important to clarify the situation and address some misconceptions,” Wing said in a statement.
“The decision to discontinue the women’s first team and junior teams has been portrayed as a sweeping and callous move, but the reality is more complex. Financial constraints have placed significant pressure on our club.
“After extensive discussions and deliberation with all stakeholders, it became evident that maintaining both the men’s and women’s first teams was financially unsustainable.
“Given the men’s team has been an established part of Thornaby FC since 2000, the difficult decision was made to prioritise its continuity.
“It is important to note that the women’s junior teams have historically operated independently, using the Thornaby FC name and badge while playing at various other venues.
“These teams were self-sufficient and their operation could have continued under the same model.
“It should be recognised that Thornaby FC has not had male junior teams for several years, further highlighting the financial limitations we face.
“My commitment to women’s football spans over five decades including 16 years of volunteer service at Thornaby FC and 15 years with the North Riding County FA.
“I have actively promoted women’s football, serving as a coach (and) secretary for Middlesbrough Ladies and as a representative on the FA’s Women’s Committee it is deeply disappointing to be mischaracterised as someone against women’s football by those who do not fully understand my history or the complete context of our decision.
“The decision was not taken lightly, and it was made with the club’s long-term stability in mind. I remain dedicated to supporting and promoting women’s football and hope that the community will continue to support Thornaby FC through these challenging times.”
The women’s team had been playing in the North East Regional Women’s Football League – tier six of the football pyramid.
Arsenal and England striker Mead, who was born in nearby Whitby, described it as a “horrible” decision.
The Labour candidate for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, Andy McDonald, said on Monday that the remaining committee members wanted to retain a female team and “build a new diverse and wide-ranging board alongside representatives from the women’s team”.
The Football Association was “very disappointed” and said its local branch, the North Riding County FA, was in contact with the club.
Julie Harrington has announced she will leave her role as chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) at the end of 2024.
Harrington has been at the helm during a period of significant change in British racing, overseeing a new governance structure, a premierisation of the fixture list and tighter rules around whip use.
In a statement confirming her departure, Harrington said: “With so much now in place to develop and grow the Industry Strategy, which will secure a brighter future for British horseracing, it felt like the right time to move on and let someone else steer the sport through its next exciting phase.
“It has been a huge privilege to lead the BHA during what has been a period of real change as the sport has developed and implemented shared strategies for a sustainable future, and an ability to speak with one united voice.
“I love working in horseracing, it is an amazing sport to be involved in. I will always be a fan and you can expect to see me at the races in the years ahead. I am proud of the progress the industry has made over the past three years, especially in improving the governance structure, and I hope that racing’s stakeholders will continue to work together cooperatively to attract new audiences, further improve the customer experience and grow the sport.
Image: Harrington during a previous role as operations director at the FA
“I am confident that if the sport continues to foster the sense of unity and shared purpose that we have developed over the past few years, then great things can be achieved.
“My future plans are likely to include a move to a varied non-executive career. Although I took the decision to stand down some time ago, I have agreed to stay on until the end of year to allow a smooth transition to a new CEO.
“The BHA board is already engaged in the search for Joe’s [Saumarez Smith] successor as chair and informing the board of my intentions now gives the nominations committee the opportunity to plan an orderly handover, consider the complementary skills of candidates and allow the new chair to be part of the final stages of CEO recruitment.
“British Horseracing is one of the cornerstones of our sporting and cultural heritage. I will be forever thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of it, both during my tenures at Northern Racing, on the BHA Board and most recently as CEO of the BHA. I wish it every success in the years to come.”
