Valley Viewpoint

Over the past few years, heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury has risen to the top, beaten one of the best in Wladimir Klitschko, but sadly fell on hard times and took a two-year break. In that two years, Fury battled his demons, facing alcohol and drug problems, as well as suffering mental health issues. However, this year he has inspirationally come back fighting on all cylinders. Despite the official result being a controversial draw, Fury won much more than just the boxing. After beating his personal alcohol, drug and mental issues, Fury deserves huge praise and credit for returning to the ring and doing so in such a spectacular manner, taking on none-other than current heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder. While the first few rounds were evenly contested, with both Wilder and Fury doing well. It was thought that the majority of the rounds went mostly in the favour of Fury. However, after a strong finish by Wilder and a miraculous recovery from Fury in the 12 th and final round, with ...

England’s 3-0 victory over the USA on Thursday night saw Wayne Rooney make his final England appearance, albeit as a substitute. However, this sparked quite the debate amongst football fans across the country. Is it unfair to just hand out appearances and should appearances be earned? Or as one of England’s greatest ever players and our record goal scorer, has he already earned the right to a celebratory match? Rooney has been performing well consistently in the MLS for DC United and has helped them push for a place in the Play-off positions, a feat they weren’t largely expected to achieve. These performances have earned him a place in the MLS Best XI, suggesting he has been performing well enough to have earned the cap, regardless of his already-established England legend status. Rooney holds the accolade of England’s all-time top goal scorer with 53 goals, more than the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton (49) and Gary Lineker (48). As the top goal scorer and one of the nation’s greatest...

Promotion, relegation and 4 qualification spots for Euro 2020 at stake. The inaugural UEFA Nations League (UNL) has the potential to be an exciting competition for all involved. The tournament was designed to remove 'meaningless' friendlies and allow national teams to play competitive fixtures in the break between tournaments, making every game matter. As well as opening 4 new qualification spots to Euro 2020. The UNL will be held every two years between September and November, with the finals being held in June the following year. The 55 UEFA nations will compete in 4 leagues, A, B, C and D. Leagues A and B will contain 12 teams, League C will contain 15 and League D will include 16. The leagues will be determined in correlation to the UEFA rankings. Each league is then divided into 4 groups of 3 or 4 teams. This is where it gets confusing! Each of the 16 group winners will be entered into the Euro 2020 Play-offs. These 16 teams will be placed in 4 groups of 4 teams and will...

Before the transfer window started, many fans were questioning if there would be many transfers and whether controversial owner, Roland  Duchâtelet, would continue to deplete the already threadbare squad. The Addicks have relied heavily on loans for the past few seasons, and it could be the same situation this season. Lee Bowyer and Steve Gallen will have to work miracles to give Charlton any sort of side that resembles a squad. They'll undoubtedly have their hands tied with little to no backing and it could be a long transfer window! Incomings Lyle Taylor - With the departure of Josh Magennis and a serious lack of goals and finishing chances that annoyingly impacted the Addicks dramatically last season, Lyle Taylor is exactly what is needed. A clinical striker who has scored 10-20 goals on a consistent basis at League One level, with 14 goals last season. Darren Pratley - The experienced defensive midfielder has won promotion at this level before with Bolton and ...

Darragh MacAnthony Vs Roland  Duchâtelet. One of the best owners in the Football League Vs one of the worst. MacAnthony is an owner any club would love to have in charge; willing to invest, cares about the club he owns and understands football; as well as being clear, open and transparent with fans. On the other side of the spectrum,  Duchâtelet was, and still is, hated by fans of the clubs he owns. No investment and a failing European network led to Charlton's relegation from the Championship and halted any progress the club was making.  After taking over the club in 2014, Charlton finished 9th in their first season back in the Championship, 3 points away from the Play-offs, after being crowned League One champions with a record 102 points the previous year under club legend, Chris Powell.  Duchâtelet sacked Powell the following season when the club were in a relegation battle, but news leaked that  Duchâtelet sacked Powell on the basis that he wouldn't use the...

Both teams have had rather poor Summers in terms of transfers, Charlton much more so, however. Shrewsbury have lost the majority of their key players in their promotion chasing team of last season. With the likes of Toto Nsiala, Jon Nolan and manager Paul Hurst joining Ipswich, Stefan Payne and Alex Rodman joining Bristol Rovers and Abu Ogogo and Junior Brown joining newly promoted Coventry City. The players that have been signed also haven't matched the calibre or quality of the players that have left. After the departure of Paul Hurst to Ipswich, Shrewsbury turned to Macclesfield's John Askey, who won promotion to the football league with the Silkmen last season. Whether he will be able to prove successful at League One level will be found out this season. It would always have been hard to match last season's efforts even with the same players or players of a similar quality, but with the losses and the signings made, I'd back them for a lower mid-table finish. Meanw...