Leeds coach Brian Kidd has quit his England job to concentrate on his club duties. Kidd was appointed Leeds' first-team coach on the eve of their Premiership match against his former club Manchester United earlier this month. He would have been involved with the England Under-21s for their clash with Finland at Barnsley on Friday, but has informed the Football Association of his decision.
Kidd said: "I now want to concentrate on my new job at Elland Road. I have spoken to Howard Wilkinson and thanked him for permitting me to work with the under21s."
Celtic striker Chris Sutton has been rocked by the news that he could miss out on his side's championship party. The £6 million sterling summer signing was redcarded for a petulant lunge at Gary Holt during Sunday's CIS Insurance Cup final victory over Kilmarnock.
A Scotland Football Association spokesman confirmed: "Chris Sutton will miss three matches in the Premier League for Celtic. . . he misses Celtic's next match at Aberdeen on April 1st and then the following games at home to Dundee on April 4th and St Mirren three days later."
The Basque seperatist movement ETA confirmed having demanded revolutionary tax from French footballer Bixente Lizarazu, Basque radio station Euskadi Irratia reported yesterday.
Sheffield United's Georges Santos is to take legal action against Nottingham Forest's Andy John- son over an incident which left him with a titanium plate in his eye socket. Santos sustained a double fracture of his eye socket and a broken nose during Forest's 3-1 victory at Bramall Lane on March 10th.
All 59,000 tickets for Bayern Munich's Champions League quarterfinal showdown against Manchester United in Munich's Olympic Stadium have been sold, the German club said yesterday.
"This has surpassed anything we have ever seen before," Bayern spokesman Hans-Peter Renner said. "We could easily have sold the stadium out three times for this match."
Chelsea defender Jes Hogh has been forced to retire after failing to recover from an ankle injury. The 34-year-old, who joined the club from Fenerbahce in July 1999, picked up the injury while preparing for Euro 2000 with Denmark.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink believes Chelsea are "going nowhere" and feels unlucky to have signed for them. "I'm not very lucky with the teams I choose to play for," he said. "One year I play for a team that is relegated, like Atletico, and next year I play for a team that goes nowhere, like Chelsea."
The Scottish Premier League have struck a new six-figure sponsorship deal with BSkyB.
The "substantial" agreement is set to run until the end of season 2001/02, and the SPL insist that means more financial benefits for the 12 top-flight clubs. This adds to the broadcast deals agreed between the satellite television company and the league since 1998.
