TV presenter and Newcastle United fan Declan Donnelly has paid an emotional tribute to his “childhood hero” Kevin Keegan following the football legend’s death aged 75.

Keegan, a revered figure who managed Newcastle United and also played for the club for two years, passed away on 20 July after a battle with stage four cancer.

Donnelly, alongside his presenting partner Anthony McPartlin, honoured Keegan on their podcast, Hanging Out With Ant And Dec.

The duo hailed him as a “true legend to Newcastle United supporters,” reflecting on his profound impact.

They opened the episode by acknowledging Keegan’s immense significance to the people of the North East.

“Kevin Keegan was the reason that I really got into football, he was the David Beckham of his day. He was the Lionel Messi and the Cristiano Ronaldo of the 70s and 80s,” Donnelly said.

The 50-year-old continued: “He signed for Newcastle United in 1982, which is when my eldest brother had started taking me to football.

“Him signing for Newcastle was huge news, and that started my rollercoaster love affair with Newcastle United and football.

“He was my childhood hero. When we got the news through last week, I was absolutely devastated.

“I’m not ashamed to say I shed a tear.”

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Donnelly, who is from Newcastle upon Tyne, added: “He just meant so much to the people of the North East.

“What he gave to us in his energy and enthusiasm and the hope he gave us for our football team.

“He just meant so much beyond football to the whole region. He was just such a special man.

“We were lucky enough to meet him on a couple of occasions.”

Donnelly, known for hosting shows such as I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, also recalled meeting Keegan for the first time when he was a young boy after he won a competition.

He grew visibly emotional and said: “That was the best. They say you should never meet heroes, but he was absolutely the exception.”

“I shed a tear last week, and I shed another one this morning,” Donnelly added.

McPartlin also shared his sentiments about the football star, nicknamed “King Kev”, and said: “Words like legends and saviours get bandied around, but he did – he saved our club when he came back as manager.

“He’s a true legend of the game, and to Newcastle United supporters, and he will be missed.”

When the Minnesota Vikings traded for T.J. Hockenson back in 2022, the early results were promising. Hockenson seemed to have the world at his feet as he put forward a case to be recognized as one of the best tight ends in football. Then disaster struck.

T.J. Hockenson Out to Restore Reputation in 2026

After a strong second half in 2022 following his trade from the Detroit Lions, T.J. Hockenson was well on his way to breaking the 1,000 receiving yards mark for the first time in his career.

Playing against his former team in Week 16 of the 2023 season, Hockenson sat on 960 receiving yards and five touchdowns – reaching 1,000 seemed a formality. Then the Vikings TE1 suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee – a devastating injury.

It was a catastrophic injury that not only ended that season in its tracks but also lingered well into the 2024 season. Hockenson went from borderline top five at his position to almost becoming a forgotten man.

The Vikings and Hockenson agreed on a restructured contract in March that would save the team $5.75 million in salary cap space and make Hockenson a free agent at the end of the season – a year early. It ended speculation that Minnesota was looking to release their TE1 who was due to be the highest-paid TE in the league this season.

Two Years of Struggle

T.J. Hockenson didn’t return from his injury until Week 9 of the 2024 season but would then go on to play in every game for the rest of the season. In those 10 games, Hockenson caught 41 of 62 targets for 455 receiving yards – respectable numbers for the number of games played.

There were a few bad drops that caught the eye but most notably, for the first and to date only time in his career, Hockenson didn’t score a single touchdown across the season.

With a full preseason behind him, the hope was for a return to form for the Vikings TE1 in 2025. Hockenson did get back on the score sheet in 2025 with three touchdown catches. However, despite playing in 15 games his receiving yards actually dropped slightly to 438 from 51 receptions on 66 targets. That’s a humble 29.2 yards per game. From those statistics, something that sticks out to me is that in five extra games, Hockenson only got four more targets.

The offensive woes of the Vikings in 2025 stemmed from a complete disaster at the quarterback position, which saw three different starting QBs across the season (all of whom struggled). People jump to this fact when defending Justin Jefferson’s down season last year, but it is brushed aside when Hockenson is the subject at hand. 

Can Hockenson get Back to His Best?

Hockenson had some of his sharpness back in 2025 and his successful catch percentage of 77.3 was the highest of his career. Get accurate balls to him regularly and Hockenson will deliver. He also earned praise from the coaching staff for his blocking being the best it has been in his career so far.

Pro Football Focus recently ranked Hockenson as the 21st-best TE in football. At 29 years old, he should have plenty left in the tank and in a settled Vikings offense that needs to show much improvement from last year, there is no reason why he shouldn’t get himself back in the frame for a top 10 guy at his position.

With this now being a contract year with Hockenson playing for his future he should have all the motivation that he needs.

Proud UK Viking. Family Man. Enjoy writing about my team. Away from football an advocate for autism acceptance.

Another record-breaking season for trainer Chris Waller has been capped off with a midweek double at Randwick’s Kensington track, securing his sixteenth consecutive Sydney trainers’ premiership. The tally of Sydney metropolitan wins for the season now stands at 183.

The victories were achieved with Godolphin’s two-year-old filly Sequinned in the Inglis Xtra Bonus Plate (1100m) and Concordia Wind in the Tropicus @ Vinery Stud Handicap (1550m), adding a celebratory flourish to Waller’s dominant season.

The stable’s success was mirrored by its riders, with apprentice Siena Grima claiming the Sydney junior rider’s title with 34 wins, while James McDonald, a frequent jockey for Waller, secured the senior division for the tenth time.

Assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth commented on the driving force behind the stable’s success. “Chris is a relentless worker, and he does a lot of it himself,” Duckworth said. “Plenty of people get accolades for him, but he is the driving force.”

Duckworth elaborated on the team’s exceptional performance this season. “Amazing that he has gone and broken his own records again. He had a bumper year in terms of the top tier horses, and I think we’ve also had more provincial winners than we had last year. Every category has been stronger this year without expanding in terms of numbers. It’s pretty cool.”

Waller’s string of 22 Group 1 winners this season surpasses his previous best of 19 from the 2024-25 period. Both Sequinned and Concordia Wind showcased promising performances at Randwick, despite not yet reaching the highest echelons of racing.

Sequinned, a half-sister to Bivouac, was in just her third career start. A city win as a two-year-old was a significant achievement for the filly, given her esteemed pedigree. “The main thing is you get a metropolitan win on the pedigree page. Not that you need much on a pedigree page like hers, but it still boosts the whole family,” Duckworth stated. “Then you just try to plot a path and hopefully end up in black type if you can.”

Ridden by Zac Lloyd, Sequinned ($11) secured a 1-1/4 length victory over Wanda’s Spark ($2.50), with Eviction Notice ($2.25 favourite) finishing third.

Betting markets are already opening for upcoming races; check out the latest racing odds today.

European football’s governing body UEFA said on Thursday it would boycott the World Cup if FIFA pressed ahead with its private investor plan. “No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership,” UEFA said in a statement. FRANCE 24’s James Vasina reports.

Serie A giants AS Roma travel to Wales this weekend to face off with EFL Championship side Cardiff City in a pre-season friendly.

This will be Cardiff’s final pre-season game before their 2026-27 campaign officially begins next weekend, while Roma still have three more games following this one.

So can Roma start their time in Wales with a win, or will Cardiff pick up a big scalp?

Cardiff City vs AS Roma Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• The last time Cardiff faced off with Roma in a friendly match was prior to the 1963-64 season, when they travelled to Italy and suffered a 1-4 loss, a tour that also saw them draw 3-3 with Juventus and lose to Lazio.
• Cardiff have already played three pre-season friendlies, beginning with a bad 0-6 defeat at the hands of Midtjylland. Since then, though, the Welsh side have beaten both Forest Green Rovers and Cork City, scoring eleven goals in those two games while conceding just two.
• Roma’s first pre-season friendly saw them travel to Cannes, and they ended up drawing 3-3 with the French third-tier side. They are set to follow this match against Cardiff with one against another Welsh side, Newport County, before they play Brighton and Borussia Dortmund.
• Outside of France’s Manu Kone, who remains on an extended break following the World Cup, Roma have a full-strength squad to call upon for this match, with the likes of Paolo Dybala, Donyell Malen and Matias Soule all available.
• Cardiff’s eleven-goal haul in their last two friendly matches was not a surprise to fans who followed them in their League One campaign last season. The Bluebirds were the competition’s top scorers with 90 goals, something that heavily contributed to their promotion.

Cardiff City vs AS Roma Prediction

There’s no doubt that on paper, Roma are a far superior outfit to Cardiff, even without arguably their best player in the form of Manu Kone.

However, Cardiff are very dangerous going forward – as their recent friendly wins showed – and they do have the home advantage here. What’s more, they will be arguably better-prepared and sharper for this match after playing more games, while Roma looked rusty against Cannes.

With that in mind, then, the prediction here is a score draw,

Prediction: Cardiff City 2-2 AS Roma

Cardiff City vs AS Roma Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result – Draw.

Tip 2: Both sides to score – Yes.

Tip 3: Game to feature more than 2.5 goals – Yes.