Chelsea’s Sam Kerr has signed a two-year contract extension with the club, ending speculation over her future.

The Athletic reported in January there was an agreement in principle between Chelsea and the Australia striker but the lack of confirmation had created uncertainty, with Kerr’s existing deal due to run out at the end of the month.

Chelsea and Kerr played on that with their announcement, leaving fans in limbo for 20 minutes after posting a video that implied Kerr was leaving. It was her idea to make Chelsea fans sweat before announcing she was committing to the club until 2026.

A message from @SamKerr1… pic.twitter.com/14c1BEzzOZ

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) June 13, 2024

It is obvious why Chelsea would want to keep hold of Kerr. When fit, she is one of the best strikers in the world, having scored 99 goals in 128 games for the club. Beyond her on-pitch ability, she has become an important figurehead for Chelsea as one of the most recognisable female footballers in the world.

But with manager Emma Hayes having left at the end of the season, Chelsea have found themselves in uncharted territory. Hayes had been in position for 12 years and was a key figure in both the recruitment and development of the squad. For Kerr to choose to stay signals her own…

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou is this week back in the city he once called home, and to mark his return, The Athletic’s Abi Paterson has produced a new podcast series — Ange Postecoglou: Made in Melbourne

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In August 2023, The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare foresaw a time in Ange Postecoglou’s first season at Tottenham when pundits would just give up on the Australian’s tactics and tell him to change.

“There will come a point at which they (Tottenham) lose badly to a team they’re expected to beat because they play in a certain way,” Charlie said on The View From The Lane back in August. “And there will be a lot of pundits saying, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m all for good football, but there comes a time you’ve got to shut up shop.’”

Sound familiar?

It was around that time that I also moved out to Australia and have since felt the passion that this country has for one of, if not the greatest footballing success stories. 

Combine the Ange Factor () with the power of the Matildas — who last summer hosted the Women’s World Cup — and Australian soccer should be in a very strong position. While ticket sales for the national teams remain strong, the club game needs work. But that’s not for now.

Ange has this week returned home to his beloved Melbourne…

Chelsea striker Sam Kerr will appear in court next year charged with the alleged racially aggravated harassment of a police officer, adding a further layer of uncertainty to her future with the reigning Women’s Super League (WSL) champions.

Kerr has been ruled out until at least the end of this season since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury during a warm-weather training camp with Chelsea in January. Her contract expires this summer and, while The Athletic has reported she has agreed a new one in principle to remain at the west London side, nothing has been formally signed yet.

Here, we look at what the police charge means for the player and her club.

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What exactly has Kerr been charged with?

On Monday, it emerged Kerr, one of the global stars of women’s football, had been charged by police on January 21 under Section 4A of the UK’s Public Order Act.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the charge “relates to an incident involving a police officer who was responding to a complaint involving a taxi fare on January 30, 2023, in Twickenham”.

The 30-year-old pleaded not guilty at a hearing at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court, south-west London, on Monday. Kerr is due to appear at a trial at Wimbledon Magistrates Court, also in south-west London, on…

Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr will appear in court next year for the alleged racially aggravated harassment of a police officer.

The 30-year-old was charged with the offence on January 21 under Section 4A of the Public Order Act.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said that the charge “relates to an incident involving a police officer who was responding to a complaint involving a taxi fare on January 30, 2023 in Twickenham”.

Kerr is due to appear at a trial at Wimbledon Magistrates Court, south-west London, on February 1, 2025.

Kerr is sidelined for the remainder of the 2023-24 season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during a warm weather training camp in Morocco in January. The Australia captain underwent successful surgery shortly after sustaining the injury.

The Athletic reported in January that Kerr has agreed in principle to extend her contract at Chelsea. Her existing deal is due to expire in the summer.

Kerr joined Chelsea in 2019 after departing from Chicago Red Stars, and renewed her contract in November 2021. During her time with the Women’s Super League side, she has scored 99 goals in 128 matches, contributing to four WSL titles, three FA Cups, and two League Cups.

She represented Australia at last summer’s Women’s World Cup,…

Unless you’re thinking about an oval ball, Australia is probably not the first country that comes to mind when you’re talking about “football”. Maybe if you were eagerly following the drifting careers of Jack Rodwell, Carl Jenkinson or Joe Lolley, the A-League might have been on your radar, but chances are, the “soccer” Down Under would pass you by.

That changed in August 2023 — in Australia with the rise of the Matildas, and in England with the emergence of Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur.

Australia is taking soccer seriously. So seriously that the younger generations call it football, not to be confused with ‘footy’, the term usually reserved for one of their national sports, Aussie rules. It is on the rise. Average attendances are up from last year but still not quite what they were pre-pandemic. The women’s game appears to have had a mini boost from the World Cup staged in the country last July and August. Additionally, there was the announcement that a ‘B-League’ would be launched in 2025, creating a second tier that will include Postecoglou’s former side, South Melbourne.

However, with every hurdle cleared, another larger one stops the game’s development in its tracks. The inaugural ‘Unite’ round has just taken place, where every team…

Chelsea striker Sam Kerr has suffered an anterior cruciate knee ligament (ACL) injury, her club has confirmed.

Kerr sustained the injury during a warm weather training camp in Morocco.

The Women’s Super League side said the Australia international would be be “assessed by a specialist in the coming days and then begin her rehabilitation with the club’s medical team.”

Chelsea Football Club can confirm striker Sam Kerr has sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during our warm weather training camp in Morocco.

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) January 7, 2024

Kerr joined Chelsea in 2019 and has gone on to score 99 goals in 128 matches. She has won four WSL titles with the club, as well as three FA Cups and two League Cups.

The 30-year-old featured for Australia at last summer’s Women’s World Cup, missing the group stage with a calf injury, but returning for the knockout stage as the joint-hosts reached the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual runners-up England.

Chelsea added in a statement on Sunday: “Everyone at Chelsea would like to wish Sam the very best for her recovery.”

Emma Hayes’ side, who lead Manchester City by three points at the top of the WSL table, return to action against Manchester United on January 21.

GO DEEPER

The real and…

Nick Kyrgios is having a filtered coffee over ice at a Venice breakfast joint.

No food for him, though. He’s not a big breakfast guy anyway, and he is going on a hike in the mountains above Malibu later and doesn’t want to feel full. He’s been in Los Angeles for a month, doing some commentary at The Tennis Channel, filming interviews with a handful of other renegade athletes and celebrities for a new “video podcast”. 

Here in southern California, he can walk the streets of Venice, or along the promenade by the beach in Santa Monica, or show up at an LA Lakers NBA game without the hassles of his Australian homeland.

“I don’t really go days here without people coming up, say hello, stuff like that,” he says, “but then, you know, they let you go about your business.”

He also has another big project cooking — a deal with OnlyFans, the subscription social-media platform best known for featuring self-made pornography now trying to broaden its appeal by signing joint ventures with bold-face names who want to make money from their content rather than just sharing it on Instagram. He promises he has no plans to become a porn star, though he flashes a devilish grin when his manager shows one picture with the back of his shorts pulled down slightly.

“Behind the…

U.S. Soccer has narrowed its search for the next USWNT coach to a shortlist headed by three candidates: Australia head coach (and former USWNT assistant) Tony Gustavsson, Juventus Women head coach Joe Montemurro and OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey, according to sources briefed on the coaching search who were not authorized to speak publicly on the current status of negotiations.

Other candidates may still be on the federation’s shortlist, but sources briefed on the search indicated these three names are considered to be at the top of that list. Two sources told The Athletic that Gustavsson is unlikely to relocate to the U.S. for the role, which could affect his chances of being offered the job even if he’s the federation’s top choice.

U.S. Soccer declined to comment for this story.

The USWNT managerial role has been open since August, when Vlatko Andonovski and the federation parted ways after the team’s earliest exit ever at a World Cup in the Round of 16.

Gustavsson has been one of the top candidates not only because of the deep run from the Matildas this past summer, but his history with U.S. Soccer as part of Jill Ellis’ coaching staff for the 2015 and 2019 World Cup wins. Ellis herself endorsed Gustavsson as “a strong candidate” for the role in an interview…

Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and CF Pachuca’s Jenni Hermoso are among those nominated for The Best FIFA men’s and women’s awards 2023.

Messi, 36, won the 2022-23 Ligue 1 title with former club Paris Saint-Germain and also became the all-time goalscorer in Europe’s top five leagues. The qualification period for the award, however, does not include the men’s World Cup in 2022.

Hermoso, 33, won the women’s World Cup with Spain in August and was awarded with the World Cup silver ball following her impressive form at the tournament.

Five Manchester City players have been nominated for the men’s award after the English side won an historic treble in 2022-23. Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Rodri and Bernardo Silva are all on the shortlist. Former City captain Ilkay Gundogan, who moved to Barcelona in the summer, was also named.

Four England players occupy the women’s list, including last season’s Women’s Super League top scorer Rachel Daly, Manchester City defender Alex Greenwood, Barcelona midfielder Keira Walsh and Chelsea forward Lauren James. USWNT captain Lindsey Horan and Australia striker Sam Kerr are also among the nominees.

City manager Pep Guardiola and Tottenham Hotspur coach Ange Postecoglou have been nominated for The Best FIFA men’s…

Australia head coach Tony Gustavsson gave England the edge over Australia in terms of overall women’s football development in his remarks to the media the day before the Matildas’ semifinal match against England.

Both Gustavsson and goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold were asked repeatedly about Australia and England being a rivalry, but neither particularly agreed with that assessment given that Australia and England haven’t actually matched up all that frequently in important tournament games. England and Australia have never met in a World Cup knockout game before, although Australia did knock out Team GB from the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics. 

“Obviously there’s a massive rivalry between Australia and England with sports all over the place,” said Arnold. “And that’s obviously going to be no different tomorrow, but at the same time, we’ve got a lot of rivalries in football with Brazil, USA, New Zealand. So I think tomorrow is going to be another just another game and like Tony said, we’re trying to focus on one game at a time and really focus on ourselves and our own game plan rather than getting caught up in a rivalry.”

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However, Gustavsson also pointed out the multitude of ways that he thought England…