Several North American celebrities have invested in English Football League and Premier League clubs in recent years, with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s ownership of Wrexham the most notable.

NFL legend and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady became a minority owner of Birmingham City last season and former NFL defensive end JJ Watt became a shareholder at Burnley in May 2023, while actor and producer Michael B Jordan invested in Bournemouth at the end of 2022.

American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook and actor Will Ferrell are also minority stakeholders in Leeds United.

Speaking to Talksport on Tuesday, Palios continued: “At the moment, if you’re looking at that particular group of people, the US market is very attractive.

“You’ve got the example of Wrexham recently, you’ve got the World Cup coming up there, you’ve got 85 million Americans watch English football.

“There’s actually a gap in the market which just happens to coincide with where we are in terms of development and taking it to the next stage.”

Since Palios and his wife bought a controlling interest in Tranmere from former owner Peter Johnson, the club have been relegated to the National League but bounced back to win promotion through to League One.

However, they were relegated back to League Two during the Covid-interrupted 2019-20 season and have remained there since, sitting 16th so far this season.

Palios, 71, made more than 280 appearances in two spells with Tranmere during his playing career.

Three FIA Formula 3 race winners are among numerous drivers from the series to step down a level of the single-seater ladder to enter next month’s Macau Grand Prix.

F3 cars have traditionally contested the Macau World Cup event, but organisers revealed earlier this year that they would swap to Formula Regional machinery for the 2024 edition on 17 November, saying it was “a natural consequence of the evolution of the junior single-seater landscape”. 

Several F3 frontrunners were unimpressed by the move at the time, with series runner-up Gabriele Mini among those believing the event could suffer as a result.

However, the change has not stopped a host of this year’s F3 racers from appearing on the 27-strong entry list that has now been announced, and these drivers include championship frontrunners Oliver Goethe and Dino Beganovic.

Red Bull junior Goethe finished seventh in the standings after foregoing his slim chance to take the title by skipping the Monza finale and instead replacing F1-bound Franco Colapinto with MP Motorsport in F2. He will now continue with the Dutch squad for another Macau attack after taking ninth in last year’s GP. 

Ferrari Driver Academy member Beganovic, meanwhile, will again race for Prema, and rounding out the F3 victors so far signed up is Mari Boya (Pinnacle), who was fourth in Macau in 2023. 

Mari Boya, Campos Racing, Sebastian Montoya, Campos Racing and Oliver Goethe, Campos Racing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

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Other F3 competitors entered include 2022 British F4 champion and McLaren junior Alex Dunne, who moves across to Prema from MP, and Noel Leon (Pinnacle).

Multiple current Formula Regional European Championship drivers have also been confirmed, including James Wharton (ART) and Tuukka Taponen (R-ace), who are second and third in the points ahead of this weekend’s Monza finale.

Meanwhile, progressing to Formula Regional competition will be Italian F4 dominator Freddie Slater, who is this week tackling the final shootout for the Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.

Alongside the FIA F3 and FRECA drivers and F4 graduates, Super Formula Lights race winners Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura (both with TOM’S) are among a Japanese contingent tackling the event. 

“I am really happy to see so many of the most talented junior drivers and teams committed to the FIA FR World Cup,” said FIA single-seater committee president Emanuele Pirro. 

“This event has always been one of the toughest and more rewarding challenges on the pathway for young drivers as they progress towards the ultimate goal of Formula 1 and our other FIA World Championships, and to have so many different former champions of F4 and Formula Regional coming to Macau really brings the spirit of this historic race.”

There are still two unconfirmed drivers on the entry, with both MP and PHM having a seat available.

TRAINERS, jockeys and TV presenters were ‘fearing the worst’ after a £3million horse caused carnage when getting spooked in a morning gallop.

Via Sistina, a Group 1-winning filly for English trainer George Boughey just last year, ran loose for three laps after throwing jockey James McDonald to the floor in a dramatic series of events.

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The horse, who was sold from Boughey’s yard for £2.8m last December, is preparing for Saturday’s £2.5m Cox Plate race at Moonee Valley in Australia.

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She took to the track for a public workout on Tuesday but hope turned to fear when she got spooked by some of her equipment.

After unshipping McDonald, track workers and even TV presenter Amy Yargi jumped in to try to calm the filly and get her to stop.

But it proved futile, with Via Sistina galloping the track as a loose bandage and other equipment flapped between her legs.

Fortunately she was caught around three laps later and, luckily, completely unscathed from the almighty scare.

Trainer Chris Waller said: “When I first saw it, I feared the worst and that something tragically might have gone wrong.

“That hasn’t happened, she’s safe. She doesn’t have any hair missing. There’s no blood, no skin off. Her heart rate’s back down.

“While it’s disappointing, I’m grateful the horse is 100 per cent.

“It’s not ideal but it’s great theatre, one I didn’t want to be part of.

“She’d normally be having a quiet gallop on Thursday. That’ll be abandoned if it’s not required.

“She’ll just have very light cantering and a trip to the beach to let her chill out.”

While jockey McDonald added: “She was working brilliantly and obviously got tangled up there with a loose bandage and tripped herself over.

“I’ve got a little bit of a sore shoulder as you’d probably expect falling that way. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

Punters were absolutely bowled over by the scenes.

One called it ‘one of the most remarkable racing moments of 2024’.

While another said: “Insane footage, how about the whiplash on James when he hits the turf.”

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The Republic of Ireland will be without Louise Quinn and Megan Connolly for their Euro 2025 play-off games against Georgia.

Centre-back Quinn has injured her hip while Lazio midfielder Connolly is out with a hamstring issue.

Republic of Ireland head coach Eileen Gleeson, who is already without several players through injury, has opted against calling up replacements.

Goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan is suspended for Friday’s first leg while Megan Campbell (ankle), Jess Ziu (knee), Ruesha Littlejohn (Achilles) and Jamie Finn (knee) are all out.

The Republic of Ireland are aiming to qualify for the European Championship for the first time after making their World Cup debut last year.

Gleeson’s side are expected to beat Georgia, who are ranked nearly 100 places below them in 118th. After Friday’s first leg in Tbilisi, the Republic of Ireland host Georgia in Dublin on Tuesday (19:30 GMT).

Victory in the two-legged tie would set up a second-round play-off against Slovakia or Wales.

Next year’s Euros will take place in Switzerland between 2 and 27 July.

Pakistan levelled the series 1-1 on a reused pitch in Multan, with spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan sharing all 20 wickets.

As England trained in Rawalpindi for the first time on this tour on Tuesday, the large fans employed in Multan were again at either end of the pitch but not turned on.

On Sunday, pictures emerged on social media of patio heaters and windbreaks being placed around the strip in an attempt to dry it. They were removed by Monday, leaving just the industrial-sized fans.

“It’s interesting and it’s unique,” said Brook. “I think everyone is just guessing. We’ll see in a couple of days.

“I’d say it will be a good pitch for the first day, two days maybe, then it will start spinning.”

With left-armer Noman taking 11 wickets and off-spinner Sajid nine in the second Test, they became the first pair of bowlers to share all 20 wickets in a Test since 1972.

In the record-breaking win in the first Test Brook made England’s first triple-century in 34 years, then was out for nine and 16 in the second Test. Sajid revealed his plan for bowling at Brook, who was twice out trying to score off the back foot.

“We’ll still look to score against them and put them under the pump,” said 25-year-old Brook. “I’ll go about it a little bit differently, so we’ll see how we get on.

“I do like to play spin off the back foot. It gives you a lot more time to play the spinning ball; it gives you different areas to play in. I’m not going to say I’m not going to do that. I’ll look to play off the back foot and look to put him under pressure.”

England are looking for a second successive series win in Pakistan, after a 3-0 victory here two years ago.

Their triumph on this ground in the first Test of that series, in fading light in the final session of the fifth day, is one of their greatest overseas wins.

“It’s very exciting,” said Brook, who scored his maiden Test century in Rawalpindi. “We want to play in the big matches. It’s like a final.

“It was a very special moment in my career and for the team. Winning in the last few moments of the game was really good.

“There’s a really good photo of the final wicket. The memory will live with me forever. Hopefully we can perform well and get another win.”

Red Bull has hinted that Yuki Tsunoda could get his first test for the team after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Motorsport.com revealed over the Austin weekend that Japanese manufacturer Honda was pushing hard for Tsunoda to be given a run for Red Bull’s main squad.

Up until now, he has tested and raced only for the junior AlphaTauri/RB operations, and his drives in a Red Bull car have been limited to demo events.

But Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has suggested that the squad could give him that first opportunity at the end of the season.

Asked by Motorsport.com if there was a chance of Red Bull accepting Honda’s request for a Tsunoda test, Marko said: “We have some plans for Abu Dhabi, yes. But we have various drivers, you know. We have [Isack] Hadjar, for example, and now we have Liam [Lawson].”

Although the specifics of what Marko is referring to are not clear, the most likely scenario could be for Tsunoda to drive the Red Bull RB20 in the post-season tyre test.

This test takes place on the Tuesday after the season finale and teams are required to run two cars in it.

One car must be piloted by a driver who holds an official F1 superlicence and is for tyre testing, while the other is for young drivers who have not competed in more than two grands prix in their career.

Liam Lawson, RB F1 Team, Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

If Red Bull’s current drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez elect to skip the test, then Red Bull could slot Tsunoda in its RB20, with Lawson driving for RB.

The team could then put a young driver like Hadjar in one of its cars, with other contenders being Honda junior Ayumu Iwasa or even simulator driver Jake Dennis, who got a run in a practice session last year.

The final choice will likely be influenced by whether Red Bull feels that one of the current RB drivers should step up to the main squad next year if Perez does not perform well enough in the closing stages of this season.

Lawson has been drafted in for the final races as replacement for Daniel Ricciardo with a view to being evaluated by Red Bull. The New Zealander impressed over the Austin weekend – coming from the back of the grid thanks to an engine change penalty to finish ninth.

Speaking about Lawson’s weekend, Marko said: “Perfect! It was already when he was P3 in Q1, then they made their tactical games [to not set a competitive time in Q2].

“To go from P19 to P9, with all his lap times, and also his overtaking with [Fernando] Alonso, because [on Saturday] Alonso was complaining.

“I think he was really surprised and all of a sudden he was there. He’s a very tough racer, and he showed that he has the speed.”

Speaking to Motorsport.com last weekend, Koji Watanabe, the president of Honda’s racing arm HRC, said he was pushing hard for Tsunoda to get a Red Bull run.

“We believe he has the talent. Of course, driver decisions are ultimately up to the team, but as a partner we’ve strongly requested that Tsunoda be given the chance to drive and test in a Red Bull car,” he said.

“We want to at least give him the opportunity to showcase his ability. I’ve also spoken directly with Christian about this. He hasn’t ruled it out. Nothing has been decided yet, but I think we need to proceed properly.”