Congratulations to the Lionesses. The England women’s team did what the men failed to do just 12 months ago and lifted the European Championship trophy at Wembley Stadium.

It was a nervy affair against Germany but Sarina Wiegman’s side claimed victory on the big stage to clinch the nation’s first major trophy since 1966.

Every member of the England team was important and influential but only five can feature on our post-tournament list of star performers.

Without further ado, sports betting fans can check out our top five Lionesses based on their performances throughout the entire Women’s Euro 2022.

Mary Earps

The England goalkeeper was a pillar of consistency throughout the competition, making a number of crucial saves and dominating her penalty area.

Earps kept four clean sheets in six appearances at the tournament, showing exactly why she has made the England number one jersey her own over the past 18 months.

She was phenomenal in the final, acting as England’s rock and urging those in front of her to push on. When called upon in the big moments, Earps stepped up to the plate.

The double save to stop Magull and Schuller will live long in the memory of those supporters in attendance at Wembley. Just how did she keep those efforts out?!

Mary Earps living her best life! 💃#BBCEuros #WEuro2022 #Lionesses pic.twitter.com/Om0m0htscA

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 31, 2022

Millie Bright

A cornerstone at the heart of the defence. Bright was brilliant from start to finish, leading by example in the opening fixture and showing those same qualities in the final.

The Chelsea defender showed immense resilience and physicality to keep opponents at bay throughout the competition – especially alongside the charismatic Leah Williamson.

England legend Kelly Smith named Bright as her defender of the tournament and that is the perfect tribute to her varied skillset and impact this summer.

She produced arguably the performance of the competition with her mountain of a display in the quarter-final victory over Spain. It was a truly masterful performance.

Leah Williamson

Williamson showed off her natural leadership qualities throughout the competition, earning comparisons to some all-time defensive greats.

She has an unrivalled ability to read the game and that means she is always one step ahead of her rivals – much like Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool.

Alex Greenwood was unlucky to miss out for the opening match of the tournament but that decision proved to be correct as Williamson was the perfect partner for Bright.

An absolute stalwart and now a household name in the sport, Williamson can be the leader of the national team for many years to come.

Ella Toone

One of Wiegman’s secret weapons off the bench, Toone isn’t a secret anymore. In fact, she finishes Euro 2022 as one of the best impact substitutes in the history of the sport.

Toone saved England on multiple occasions throughout the tournament – the 84th minute equaliser against Spain was arguably the most important goal of her career.

That is until she scored in Sunday’s final. It was a delicate chip that Harry Kane and Alan Shearer would’ve been proud of and it was a goal worthy of any showpiece fixture.

Unlike some, Toone has a personality to match and she was still hyping up the crowd and her teammates on Monday. Her attitude is infectious and we love it!

"It took about 10 minutes to go in the back of the net" 🤣

Ella Toone reflects on her #WEURO2022 final goal 💫 pic.twitter.com/0zmq86mKUu

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 1, 2022

Beth Mead

Last but certainly not least, we have Beth Mead. Officially named UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 Player of the Tournament, Mead was central to England’s offensive prowess.

The Arsenal forward notched six goals and recorded five assists throughout the competition and is now one of the leading contenders for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

She was named Player of the Match in two of England’s six matches and is now undoubtedly one of the biggest names in the women’s game.

If you’re looking at football betting odds on upcoming Women’s Super League games, be sure to keep an eye out for Mead to get her name on the scoresheet.

FIRST PUBLISHED: 1st August 2022

The last time that Alan Curbishley managed any football side, least of all a Premier League team, was all the way back in September 2008, a date so far removed from the present-day that he no longer even appears on shortlists when potential candidates are drawn up following a sacking.

For a good while, his inevitable inclusion on those shortlists became something of a running joke.

An under-performing club such as Everton would dismiss their coach and within hours the online betting would have Curbishley among the favourites to replace him, and if that seemed entirely logical, given his managerial heroics at Charlton, it became almost humorous the longer he encroached into self-imposed exile from the game.

Now, aged 60 and with only a very brief stint as a technical director at Fulham to his name since stepping into the shadows 14 years ago, it is very unlikely that we will ever see him frown or rejoice on a touchline again.

Which is a great shame because ‘Curbs’ was a genial and reasonable sort of gaffer, at odds with the ‘personality’ managers that are commonplace today. Furthermore, his achievements at Charlton were truly outstanding.

He wasn’t bad at West Ham either, guiding the Hammers to safety after taking charge mid-way through a season that seemed to have relegation written all over it.

In his only full season in East London, Curbishley oversaw a top ten finish, and that was a considerable feat in a campaign blighted by injuries to key personnel.

Only then in the summer, players were sold against his will and a bitter resignation followed, souring his experience of managing his boyhood club.

Even today he remains highly regarded by the West Ham fans, a fanbase recently voted one of the best in the top-flight.

That high regard is heightened significantly however, further south in the capital, with even legendary status not an exaggeration from the Charlton faithful who revere him still for the miracles he pulled off at the Valley across 16 years prior to moving onwards and upwards.

Not for nothing is there now a stand named after their greatest ever manager.

Having initially shared the reins with Steve Gritt, sole charge of the Addicks was undertaken in 1995 and from there the club ascended through the divisions, finally establishing themselves as a Premier League club of genuine note.

Remarkably, given their slender budget, Charlton maintained their top-flight standing for seven out of his last eight seasons at the helm. In 2003/04, against all expectations, they finished seventh.

This was done via a strict adherence to sustainability and a disciplined pragmatism in the transfer market that not only kept Charlton within their tight financial means but went against the spend, spend, spend culture that was prevalent at the top then, and now.

Having spent many years away from the Valley and always being a couple of big bills away from ruin, Charlton knew where their priorities lay.

🗣"I was stunned and honoured."

Alan Curbishley reacts to having a stand named after him at Charlton Athletic @CAFCofficial pic.twitter.com/Zbkiss2k3Y

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 30, 2021

With their prudency coupled with success, it became known as the ‘Charlton model’, with promoted clubs copying their stance and it’s likely even this summer, many years on, clubs that are prominent in the Premier League relegation odds for this season will be deliberating on purchasing a new player, and deliberating the exorbitant cost involved, and will be asking themselves: what would Charlton have done? What would Curbishley have done?

You won’t find Alan Curbishley on any lists celebrating the greatest managers in the Premier League era but by acknowledging his phenomenal achievements it follows that he deserves to be in the conversation.

For now though, this genial and ever-so-shrewd gaffer will have to content himself with being a cult hero. 

*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

FIRST PUBLISHED: 1st August 2022

The circumstances that surrounded Robinho’s switch from Real Madrid to Manchester City in 2008, for a British record transfer fee of £32.5m, is infinitely more entertaining than anything the Brazilian managed on the pitch across two largely disappointing seasons.

Heralded as a marquee coup for a newly minted club who was languishing in the third tier a decade before, the samba superstar singularly failed to ignite at the Etihad, bar an occasional flash of magic or semi-decent display, and subsequently he has gone down in the annals as a flop.

Certainly, there remains a swathe of other signings City have pulled off since, who are more celebrated and more fondly recalled.

Admittedly, few expected the then-24-year-old to ultimately threaten City’s all-time goalscoring chart, the forward having been an infrequent scorer at the Bernabeu, in between bewitching opponents with his nifty footwork.

Yet still, just 14 goals is an awfully underwhelming return for a player of his calibre. As for his performances, it can truthfully be said that a number of his team-mates showed far greater consistency across his spell in England, Steven Ireland being one.

Yet, if his time at City is now little more than a curio, prompting only hazy recollections, his signing will forever be an unforgettable event. More so, it is a pristine example of modern football at its finest and worst.

It’s hard to equate the Manchester City of today with the club that was instantly and seismically transformed on being taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) nearly 14 years ago, at a stroke made the wealthiest footballing institution in the world.

Now, they are clear favourites in the Premier League betting to land another title, their fifth in six years if they’re successful. Back then, they firmly resided in the shadow of their famous neighbours United. Back then, they were decidedly ordinary.

All of that changed in a heartbeat on September 1st 2008, and while the completed takeover of City inevitably dominated the news-cycle, journalists the world over struggled to keep up as this huge breaking story evolved at an hourly rate.

This was because of a twist that simply couldn’t be written, a twist that even now raises a smile. The takeover had taken place on transfer deadline day.

With little time to waste, the club’s new owners cast their net far and wide, reportedly putting in bids left, right and centre, and this scattergun approach has given rise to some marvelous tales, many of which will likely be apocryphal.

One such rumour has a club director claiming their frenzied activity was getting messy, with a misunderstanding leading to a hefty bid being submitted for Barcelona’s genius Lionel. The bid was swiftly rejected.

ICYMI

🗣 "Man City made 10-15 offers for the best players in the world"

Mark Hughes recalls the time Man City signed Robinho back in 2008! 👀

It's ICYMI with Tag Heuer... pic.twitter.com/rzjyd8ooYy

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 1, 2020

As an aside, just imagine the online betting in the transfer markets had they been prevalent in 2008. It would have been wild.

What we know for sure, in hindsight, is that two players went close to the wire, and with top target Dimitar Berbatov eventually choosing Manchester United, that left only Robinho in their crosshairs; that left only the prospect of one of the best players on the planet joining a club that had so recently lost 8-1 to Middlesbrough.

And as the clock ticked down, Real Madrid could essentially name their price.

It was a transfer that genuinely shocked, and not least the striker himself. Soon after putting pen to paper, Robinho was wheeled out to the press corps.

“Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted,” he stated, gently being reminded by a reporter that he had actually signed for a club 170 miles north of Stamford Bridge.

Alas, his indifference came through in his performances but who knows how good Robinho could have been in the Premier League if in his prime today, serviced by Kevin de Bruyne, arguably the biggest talent in the top-flight.

Instead, he was surrounded by team-mates with a tenth of his ability but who offered up ten times more application. This disparity became a problem.

City though had made a statement. And really, and wholly, that was what the signing of Robson de Souza, more commonly known as Robinho, was all about. 

Football writer @SamRCox_ remembers Ali Dia and his incredible transfer to Southampton...

A lot of weird transfers have happened over the last few decades. Julian Faubert signing for Real Madrid still seems like a fever dream.

Edgar Davids in a Barnet shirt still generates double takes. Julio Cesar, a couple of years removed from winning the Champions League, somehow ended up in a relegation fight with QPR.

None, though, come close to Southampton signing Ali Dia in 1996. Dia’s short-lived stint on the south coast sounds more like a concocted story the further it fades into history.

The reality is so absurd, and demonstrates how much has changed in the world of EPL predictions over the last 25-plus years.

Graeme Souness, then Southampton manager rather than a perennially angry Sky Sports pundit, was suckered into believing Dia was a cousin of Ballon d’Or winner George Weah.

Dia had made a lone substitute appearance for Blyth Spartans, yet curiously signed for Saints just a few days later. A phone call from someone pretending to be Weah convinced Souness to give Dia a chance.

This ploy was tried on Harry Redknapp, who didn’t prove to be as gullible. Tony Pulis described Dia as ‘rubbish’ after his short trial at Gillingham.

That call led to Souness handing Dia a one-month contract on the south coast, though it’s never been confirmed who was actually on the other end of phone.

In this most bizarre of transfers, speculation has been plentiful, with some claiming it was Dia himself. Pulis quickly realised Dia wasn’t up to standard, but Southampton had an altogether more embarrassing situation on their hands.

Having been due to play in a reserve match which was cancelled, Souness chucked Dia into the first team. When Matt Le Tissier was injured in the first half against Leeds, Dia was handed the most extraordinary of debuts.

It’s safe to say he didn’t aid Southampton’s Premier League Odds chances.

25 years ago today, Ali Dia 'bluffed' his way onto a Premier League pitch for 53 minutes. Then he disappeared.

We found him. This is his story: https://t.co/gNtOqW2w6v pic.twitter.com/H5hqBlviWb

— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 23, 2021

Remarkably, Dia lasted over 50 minutes on the pitch before being taken off by Souness, as it quickly became clear the former Liverpool midfielder had made an almighty, humiliating error.

Le Tissier famously referred to Dia’s cameo as like ‘bambi on ice’, and others were far less complimentary.

Souness has since tried to explain Southampton’s challenging circumstances at the time which led to Dia getting on the pitch, but his comments from when Dia was signed paint a rather different picture.

"He’s played with George Weah at Paris Saint-Germain, and last year he was playing in the second division in Germany.

"We’ve said, come down and train with us for a week or so and see what’s what … when someone like that gives you a recommendation you tend to sit up and take notice."

Southampton might not have thought Dia would be one of the best Premier League strikers, but they surely wouldn’t have put him on the pitch if they knew he was a chancing semi-professional.

Once Dia had been sent packing by Southampton, he returned to the northeast with Gateshead.

In an interview with the Gateshead Post, he even claimed to have scored in World Cup qualifying. Of course, this was also untrue, as Senegal had already been knocked out of World Cup qualification.

Dia pocketed several thousand in sign-on fees thanks to his fake relationship with Weah and hoax calls.

Such a scenario is unimaginable with the levels of scouting in elite football now, yet the protagonists (Souness, Pulis, Le Tissier) are a reminder that the Dia fiasco is recent history.