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Sir David Beckham celebrated his knighthood with close friends Gary Neville and Guy Ritchie as he lavishly splashed out on champagne and enjoyed a party in London. The Manchester United legend's long-awaited knighthood was confirmed in the King's Birthday Honours list in June for his services to sport and charity. He received the award from King Charles III at a ceremony earlier this week in Berkshire.

• Sir David parties in style

  According to , Beckham invited around 30 people to celebrate the knighthood he received from the king earlier this week. He booked a section of Cotswolds pub The Bull, in Charlbury, where celebrity friends such as filmmaker Ritchie and former team-mate Gary Neville were also present. The guests feasted on oysters and barbecued lamb with roast potatoes, and enjoyed several bottles of rose wine, each worth £55. They also drank beer, margaritas and espresso martini cocktails.

  Beckham's son Cruz performed a specially written song, which included the line "King Charles came to David Beckham and knighted him my man". The crowd at the pub then sang along to hits by Oasis and The Rolling Stones. The 50-year-old even got up and danced as the crowd chanted, "We love you Sir David Beckham, we love you Sir David Beckham."

  The party ended just before midnight, after which the Three Lions icon posed with fans for selfies and signed autographs. While Romeo and Cruz joined in the celebration, eldest son Brooklyn was not present.

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  'Everyone was in high spirits'

  One of the party attendees told : "It was really kicking off. When the dinner finished, Becks and his crew of blokes left the pub’s safari tent and filtered into the main adjoining pub for dancing and singing. Everyone was in high spirits. The locals couldn’t believe they’d been treated to a night with Becks there. The music was blaring out and everyone was singing along. The pub was rammed and the more the word got out, the more people rammed in. The place was packed. It was like a New Year’s Eve party."

• How did Beckham react to being knighted?

  Beckham's first reaction after receiving the honour from King Charles III was priceless as he told reporters: "It's a very proud day for us as a family today. I grew up in the east end of London in a very humble family and my dream was always to become a professional footballer to play for Manchester United to play for my country. Everything else that has come with that has been incredible. But today to be honoured by one of the most important institutions in the world and one of the most respected institutions in the world, being an East End boy, it's a very proud day."

  The England legend's knighthood has been years in the making since becoming arguably the best-known English footballer in the 1990s with United. He increased his international fame by joining Real Madrid in 2003 and later LA Galaxy before becoming a co-owner at Inter Miami. Beckham, who grew up in east London but moved to United's academy as a teenager, made his Red Devils debut in 1992. He later became one of the most important players in the team's historic treble win in 1999.

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  Beckham's eyes on MLS Cup

  Currently, Beckham is anxiously waiting for Inter Miami to win their maiden MLS Cup in 2025. After winning the MLS Supporters' Shield last season, the Herons are desperate to win the Cup this year. Powered by the skill of Lionel Messi, Inter Miami finished third in the league stage and are now preparing to take on Cincinnati in the MLS Conference semi-final on November 22.

  On Saturday night, Inter Miami thumped Nashville 4-0 to reach the Eastern Conference last-four stage as Lionel Messi and Tadeo Allende bagged a brace each.

Giancarlo Stanton's latest strikeout was a big one, as it put him in an exclusive club.

In the bottom of the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night, the New York Yankees' designated hitter fell behind 1-2 against reliever Garrett Cleavinger. Then, Stanton swung and missed at an 86 mph slider to record his first strikeout of the game. It was also the 2,000th of his career.

With that swing and miss, Stanton became the eighth player in Major League Baseball history to record 2,000 strikeouts as a hitter. The others are Reggie Jackson (2,597), Jim Thome (2,548), Adam Dunn (2,379), Sammy Sosa (2,306), Alex Rodriguez (2,287), Miguel Cabrera (2,105) and Andres Galarraga (2,003).

That's some fairly lofty company. Jackson and Thome are Hall of Famers, while Cabrera will be in when he's eligible. If not for performance-enhancing drug scandals, Sosa and Rodriguez would be in as well. Only Dunn and Galarraga aren't Hall of Fame-level players.

While it's a dubious club to enter, Stanton is in some pretty great company.

Entering Wednesday night's action, the 35-year-old is slashing .275/.351/.510, with seven home runs and 20 RBIs in 30 games played. Injuries to both of his elbows have cost Stanton most of this season.

Following the Chicago Cubs' 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday afternoon, Cubs pitcher Daniel Palencia and Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras exchanged words in a brief moment of tension.

After the game, Contreras offered an apology to the Cubs for his actions.

"My reaction was bad," Contreras admitted, speaking to the media. He later added, "I apologize to the Chicago Cubs. I'm not trying to fight them. I'm not trying to fight anybody. I just [reacted] to the heat of the moment."

Contreras played the first seven years of his career with the Cubs.

The catcher had reached first base after being hit in the hand by one of Palencia's pitches in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Cubs challenged the HBP call, which was upheld. Contreras offered an explanation of what happened between him and Palencia:

"The heat of the moment, the heat of the game. I got hit in the hand… And I just turned around [after the game ended] and I said 'Just throw strikes.' That's it," Contreras said. "It looks bad," he continued. "If you're a fan and you're watching the game, it looks bad."

Palencia also chalked up the incident to the heat of the moment.

"The only thing I didn't appreciate was the way he turned around. But once again, it's just the heat of the game. He came out with good stuff," Contreras said.

Asked about a seeming increase in hit-by-pitches this year for Contreras, he admitted it's, "not fun."

"I know they're not trying to hit me but it's not fun when you're getting hit in your hand."

Benfica and Norway international footballer Andreas Schjelderup has admitted on social media that he expects to be convicted for sharing an illegal video involving minors, an offence that occurred two years ago. The 21-year-old Norwegian revealed in an Instagram post that he made a "stupid mistake" when he was 19.

• Norway international facing prosecution

  Schjelderup has explained that he forwarded the video to a friend without fully realising its contents, and deleted it immediately after being informed of its illegal nature. He has also confirmed that Danish police contacted him earlier this year regarding the incident and he has cooperated fully. Benfica president Rui Costa has expressed the club's support for Schjelderup, noting his remorse. The news broke shortly after Schjelderup was named in Norway's squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

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  Benfica player offers explanation

  In a lengthy social media statement, Schjelderup said: "Hello, everyone. I want to be honest with you about a stupid mistake I did around two years ago. At the time, I was 19 years old, and now I have to face the consequences of this mistake. I take full responsibility for what happened and what I've done, but it is important to me that you know the context of the episode. I was living in Denmark at the time. I received a short video and forwarded it to my friend a few seconds later, without thinking clearly.

  "We have always sent memes to each other, like many teenagers do. When I received this video and forwarded it, as we usually do, without thinking that this one was different. I only saw the first few seconds and not what the video developed into. My friend, after having seen it a few seconds later, reminded me directly that it was, of course, illegal to send, so I deleted it immediately. In the moment, I unfortunately didn't think about the consequences and how it could be illegal to share. I should have realised the seriousness of sending it, but I didn't at the time."

• Schjelderup expecting suspended sentence

  Schjelderup continued: "My only explanation is that I was really shocked over seeing, what appeared to be two young men, in an old quality video and sent it to a friend without thinking. My intention was never to spread anything or to harm those involved. It was a stupid mistake one-time mistake that I deeply regret. When the Danish police contacted me this year about what happened, I told them the truth and I have cooperated throughout the entire process. I was charged for this offence which I probably will be convicted for in the near future and most likely receive a suspended sentence.

  "There are no excuses from my side. What I did in Denmark at that time was illegal and not okay. I will take full responsibility for it, and I hope my mistake can mean others don't make the same mistake after hearing or reading about my story."

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  Apology for actions

  Schjelderup added: "I would like to apologise first and foremost to those affected by the video. Then, to my friends, family, employers, country, and all the fans I have disappointed. Right now, I wish I could go back in time and change my mistake. I have never done anything illegal before, or been involved with the police, so I have been in shock for a long time while this has been going on.

  "But here we are. I screwed up and I am ready to face the consequences. The offence I will be convicted for, does not reflect on who I am as a person and what I stand for. I am truly sorry for my mistake and embarrassed to be in this situation. Everyone who knows me, also knows what I stand for, so I understand this will be a shock for many people. I also know, this will be an unneeded disturbance to the national team of Norway before some of the most important games in our history. My intention was to share this after the games to avoid that, but unfortunately, that is not possible anymore.

  "And to everyone: Please do not watch or spread videos with harmful or offensive content. It is illegal. I want to apologise again and hope that you will forgive me. And I will do anything in my power to make things right again."

Celtic are currently searching for their next permanent head coach after they were rocked by the resignation of Brendan Rodgers last month.

The former Hoops boss decided to move on from Parkhead after a 3-1 defeat to Hearts that left his side eight points adrift of first place in the Scottish Premiership at the time.

As shown in the graphic above, the Northern Irish head coach enjoyed a largely successful second spell with the Glasgow giants, winning four trophies in two full seasons.

Martin O’Neill has been in interim charge of the Hoops since Rodgers moved on from Parkhead, and one manager who has been linked with the permanent role is Lee Carsley.

The latest on Lee Carsley to Celtic

It was recently reported that the Scottish giants are eyeing up the England U21 head coach as a potential replacement for Rodgers in the coming weeks.

Manager Focus

Who are the greatest coaches in the land? Football FanCast’s Manager Focus series aims to reveal all.

Celtic are said to be long-term admirers of the Irish tactician, who has won two U21 European Championship titles, and that he is one of the names under contention for the job.

However, it was also claimed that Carsley is not one of the frontrunners for the vacant position at this moment in time, which does not suggest that he is likely to arrive in Glasgow in the next few days.

The Hoops board, however, should push to bring the England U21 boss to Parkhead because he could unearth the club’s own version of Chelsea superstar Cole Palmer.

Celtic have their own Cole Palmer in the making

One of Carsley’s biggest selling points is that he has worked with and developed some of England’s finest talents. Per Transfermarkt, he has coached Cole Palmer, Jadon Sancho, Noni Madueke, Phil Foden, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Conor Gallagher. Just to name a few.

Palmer delivered five goals and five assists in 17 matches as an attacking midfield player for the head coach at England U21 level, per Transfermarkt, and he has scored 45 goals in 101 games for Chelsea so far.

Celtic could unearth their own version of the England international in Arne Engels, who could take his game to the next level under Carsley, who was hailed as “refreshing” by midfielder Declan Rice

The England U21 manager typically plays a 4-2-3-1 system, per Transfermarkt, rather than a 4-3-3, which would allow the Belgium international to push on and play as a number ten, providing him with more opportunities to showcase his quality in the final third.

Engels, with ten goals and 13 assists in 52 matches, showed glimpses of his attacking quality in the 2024/25 campaign for Celtic, but he has yet to find the back of the net in the current campaign.

As you can see in the table above, the former Augsburg central midfielder excelled among his positional peers as an attacking force in the Scottish Premiership last season.

These statistics suggest that Engels can provide a regular threat at the top end of the pitch as an outstanding contributor, just as Palmer has for Chelsea, with 45 goals and 29 assists in 101 matches, per Transfermarkt.

Engels, who assisted the winning goal against Sturm Graz in the clip above, has the potential to thrive as a natural number ten in Carsley’s 4-2-3-1 set-up.

He is also a young player, aged 22, who has time ahead of him to develop and improve, which is the profile of player that the manager has been used to working with throughout his time with England’s U21s.

Better than Ange: Celtic reach out to hire "tactically unbeatable" manager

Celtic are moving ahead with their pursuit of a new manager after Brendan Rodgers’ resignation.

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Matt Dawson

Nov 1, 2025

Therefore, appointing Carsley, who has shown that he can win trophies with England’s youth team, could help them to turn Engels into their own version of Cole Palmer in the number ten position, because of his attacking potential.

MLB has used PitchCom since 2022 so pitchers and catchers can transmit calls instead of visually giving signs. The transmitters have helped with the pitch clock, too, since pitchers now have less time to shake off signs. But have you ever heard what the system sounds like in a player's ear?

Well, SNY and New York Mets field reporter Steve Gelbs gave us a walkthrough on Thursday night of the sounds that are passed directly into the ears of MLB stars as calls are made. The default English setting sounds like a generic, almost Siri-like voice spewing pitch types and locations. You can watch the fun segment and hear it for yourself below:

Gelbs mentioned there are default Spanish sounds, too, which includes all pitches and calls except for "sweeper" because, well, there isn't a Spanish word for sweeper.

The device is customizable allowing you to record your own calls or in other languages, which some players and clubs have had fun with before. This isn't the first time we've seen a PitchCom demo at the MLB level as the Colorado Rockies went through how they use the devices last season.

Still, it's a great inside baseball segment that probably helped a lot of fans figure out why pitchers are always messing with their hats or covering their ears with their gloves.

One mystery still stands, though—who is the mysterious PitchCom voice? Gelbs asked that question and didn't get a clear answer, but he did provide a prime suspect—the PitchCom founder, which could either be John Hankins or Craig Filicetti.

Legspinner Afy Fletcher looks ahead to WI vs England

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2025Afy Fletcher, the West Indies legspinner, talks to Valkerie Baynes and Firdose Moonda about her long career, the unique challenges faced by cricketers in the Caribbean and how her side can overcome their World Cup Qualifying disappointment during the tour of England.