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Hurtling towards relegation – but can Port Vale shock Chelsea in FA Cup?

​Image source, Getty Images. ByNeil Johnston in Burslem. BBC Sport journalist. 3 April 2026. 176 Comments. It’s the start of FA Cup quarter-final week at Port Vale and manager Jon Brady is spelling out some home truths to his players after another demoralising defeat.. “It’s just not good enough,” says the Australian. “When you have players who play really well one week and the following two weeks don’t, it’s hard to fathom.”. Since landing a money-spinning away tie against Chelsea after the headline-grabbing win over Sunderland on 8 March, Vale have lost four out of six in League One, the latest a 4-0 hammering at Wycombe Wanderers last Saturday.. Bottom of the table, 14 points from safety with just eight games left, Vale are hurtling towards relegation in their 150th anniversary year.. “I don’t care about the Chelsea game, the season cannot end soon enough,” messaged one angry fan to BBC Radio Stoke’s post-match football phone-in show Praise and Grumble after the Wycombe game.. There are, however, many who do care about Vale’s first meeting with Chelsea since 1929.. Despite the closure of Euston train station over Easter, 6,000 are travelling to Stamford Bridge for Saturday’s last-eight tie (live on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer, 17:15 BST kick-off) in the hope of seeing their side pull off the unthinkable.. “Who knows, the players might actually turn up for this one,” Jonny Hancock from Ale and the Vale, external podcast says.. Bottom of the league, magic in the cup – Port Vale’s ‘incredible’ run. 8 March. ‘I’m a Chelsea fan but my grandad was a Vale hero’. 12 March. ‘Burslem needs some love’. Port Vale are the last club standing in the FA Cup from outside the Premier League and Championship. Despite a season to forget in the league, there is genuine excitement about their best run in the competition for 72 years.. More than a dozen coaches will head to Chelsea from the Ye Olde Crown, a few minutes walk from the ground in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.. When Vale clinched automatic promotion from League Two last season, supporters packed the pub to celebrate and sing ‘The Wonder of You’, the Elvis Presley hit played before home games.. “I couldn’t fit anyone else in that night,” landlady Charlotte Ratcliffe recalls.. “The Vale players came in and it was so busy that they went behind the bar and started serving customers.”. Charlotte’s dad, Shane, a Port Vale season ticket holder, ran the pub up until he passed away in 2022.. “All I’ve heard from customers since Vale were drawn with Chelsea is: ‘I hope I can get a ticket’,” adds Charlotte. “It’s big for the town.”. Port Vale is not named after a specific town or borough like most clubs, with Burslem one of six towns that form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire.. In 1876 a meeting took place in Port Vale House with the idea of forming a football team. Whether the club was named after the house is unclear, external but fans are proud of their club’s identity.. A banner displayed at matche  

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Outrage builds over illegal immigrant ‘invasion’ after suspect allegedly executes teen who begged for life

​NEW Now you can listen to Fox News articles! The fatal ambush of a 15-year-old Missouri boy, who pleaded for his life, has sparked widespread outrage. Republican leaders are highlighting the suspect’s illegal immigrant status and urging officials to back stricter border controls. “Sadly, this is merely the most recent case of a Missourian slain by an illegal alien,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, Republikaner aus Missouri. Rep. said, calling for sweeping deportation efforts. Vertreter. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) , said the killing highlights public safety concerns, adding that “dangerous individuals who shouldn’t be here are still in our communities.” Miles Young ought to still be alive. “It’s tragic,” he wrote in an X post. “Justice must be swift.”  

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Boatyard employee found ‘exhausted’ missing American’s husband when he washed ashore after night adrift

​NEW Now you can listen to Fox News articles! MARSH HARBOUR, Bahamas – EXCLUSIVE: An overnight security guard at a boatyard on a Bahamian island came across American Brian Hooker after he washed ashore roughly eight hours following his wife’s disappearance into a dark, stormy sea last weekend. Edward Smith, employed at Marsh Harbour Boatyards—a boat storage and repair site in the tourist spot—was notified by a colleague that a man had staggered onto the premises, muttering about a key and a woman. The individual was 58-year-old Hooker, now detained in a Freeport, Bahamas jail, who claimed his wife, Lynette Hooker, fell from their dinghy as they motored back to their yacht from a bar in Hope Town. DAUGHTER OF MISSING AMERICAN WOMAN IN BAHAMAS CITES ‘PRIOR ISSUES,’ URGES COMPLETE PROBE. On Saturday, April 4, Hooker and his wife were eating and drinking at the Abaco Inn—a restaurant in Hope Town, known locally as “Elbow Cay”—several miles by sea from the small, jagged-rock beach where he came ashore in Marsh Harbour. “He said he was on a cay, like at a bar, having something to eat or drink, and they came out to go to another place or back to their boat, but somehow they got out in the rough weather, and they had that incident, the lady [went] overboard, or whatever,” Smith told Fox News Digital on Saturday. Smith declined to be video recorded or photographed. Hooker was arrested for questioning as police investigate Lynette’s disappearance. He informed police that the seas were rough shortly after sundown as the pair tried to return to their yacht, and Lynette fell overboard with the dinghy’s key in her pocket, which cut off the engine. For the next several hours, Hooker drifted and paddled the dinghy, eventually reaching the boatyard’s shore around 4 a.m. The following day… “He drifted from that moment until he arrived here,” Smith said. HUSBAND OF AMERICAN WOMAN MISSING IN THE BAHAMAS SPEAKS OUT FOR FIRST TIME, SAYS HE IS ‘HEARTBROKEN’. No charges have been filed against Hooker by police, and he insists Lynette’s falling overboard was accidental. On Wednesday, he was taken into custody and transferred to Freeport, a distinct island in the Bahamas.  

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Union Berlin appoint first female head coach

​Photo credit: Getty Images. By Elizabeth Botcherby. Un journaliste sportif pour la BBC. 9 minutes ago. Marie-Louise Eta has made history as the first woman to lead a men’s team in one of Europe’s top five leagues, taking over as interim head coach for Bundesliga club Union Berlin. Her role through the season’s end comes after Steffen Baumgart’s sacking, following his team’s 1-3 defeat to last-placed FC Heidenheim on Saturday. Union Berlin, currently 11th in the 18-team Bundesliga, holds an 11-point buffer above the automatic relegation spots with five games left, but has managed just two wins in 14 league matches in 2026. The 34-year-old Eta, known for shattering barriers, was the Bundesliga’s first female assistant coach with Union Berlin starting in November 2023. She stepped in for then-manager Nenad Bjelica during his three-match ban, guiding the team to a 1-0 victory over Darmstadt in January 2024 and becoming the first woman to manage a Bundesliga side from the sidelines. A former Germany youth international and Women’s Champions League champion with Turbine Potsdam, Eta has coached Union Berlin’s under-19s since July 2025 and will take on the club’s women’s senior team in the summer. “We’ve endured a deeply disappointing second half of the season and won’t let our current standing fool us,” stated Horst Heldt, Union’s director of men’s football. “Our position is still fragile.” Recent weeks’ performances fail to inspire confidence that we can reverse our fortunes with the existing setup. We have thus chosen to start anew. Eta highlighted the difficulties ahead, as Union leads by seven points over St Pauli, who occupy the relegation play-off position. “With the points gap in the bottom half of the table, our Bundesliga status is not yet assured,” she stated. “I’m thrilled that the club has given me this tough responsibility.”  

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The decade-long struggle to get AJ & Fury together

​ByKal Sajad. BBC Sport boxing reporter at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. One hour ago. Even after all these years, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua remain at odds. After Fury’s commanding win over Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it momentarily seemed like the time had come for them to align. The Gypsy King draped himself over the ropes and called Joshua over. The rivalry suddenly sprang back to life. Joshua wasn’t entertaining any mind games, however. Fury goaded him to enter the ring; Joshua remained in place. Yet another instance of the subtle power dynamic that has shaped their rivalry. Joshua refused to be rushed, yet Team Fury—and the Saudi organizers—appeared to anticipate a different outcome. Prior to and right after the fight, Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh—a key influencer in contemporary boxing—spoke as though the fight announcement was about to drop. Netflix, which aired Saturday night’s comeback event, even promoted the all-British matchup on social media for autumn in the UK, only for Fury’s promoter Frank Warren to swiftly refute it. Fury overpowers Makhmudov and demands a bout with Joshua next.  

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Ulberg stuns Prochazka despite knee injury as Trump watches

​Photo credit: Getty Images. Paul Battisonin kirjoittama. – Mikä tuo on? Journalist for BBC Sport. One hour ago. Carlos Ulberg stunned Jiri Prochazka with a first-round knockout to claim the vacant light-heavyweight title at UFC 163 in Miami, Florida, even after suffering a knee injury. The New Zealander stumbled several times in the opening five minutes after tweaking his right knee on an awkward landing. Yet, as Prochazka pressed forward to capitalize while Ulberg struggled to bear weight on his right leg, the 35-year-old landed a devastating left hook on the Czech fighter to finish the bout. Celebrating his first world title and 10th consecutive UFC win, Ulberg addressed the injury’s severity: “I blew out my knee, but I knew all I needed was that one shot and I ended up getting it,” he said. “I knew Jiri would come forward and as soon as I landed my left hand, he’s gone.” Now I have to fix this knee… “It’s about seizing those moments.” He said he’d hunt me, but you can’t hunt what you can’t kill. Former champion Prochazka, 33, closed his eyes in dejection after the bout, later admitting he let his guard down out of “mercy” for Ulberg upon noticing his injured knee. “It happened.”  

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