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Paul Scholes Came Out of Retirement for Royton Town in 2018

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Imagine turning up to play for your semi-professional team on a Saturday afternoon and spotting Paul Scholes lacing up his boots for the opponents. Your first thought would be: ‘Wait a minute, is that Pau… no, can’t be!’

Stockport Georgians’ players experienced this in September 2018 when Scholes, aged 43 at the time, came out of retirement to help out his son’s team. Royton Town, who were competing in the 11th tier of English football, managed to convince the Manchester United legend to pull on their maroon strip for one game only.

They were short on players and told their opponents that they were bringing in a 43-year-old dad to help out. Little did Stockport Georgians know that the unnamed father in question was one of the greatest midfielders in the history of English football.

Bruno Fernandes at Man Utd to the left, with Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard [Chelsea], Paul Scholes [Man Utd] to the other side


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Having retired in 2013, the appearance for Royton Town was Scholes’ first bit of competitive action on a football pitch in five years. It was also officially recorded as the 500th appearance of his professional career. A couple of videos of the former midfielder in action were posted to social media at the time, and you can watch them below.

Even at 43 in a semi-pro game, Scholesy was still prepared to fly into a 50/50 tackle. You love to see it. However, the presence of a former England international wasn’t enough to prevent Royton slumping to a 1-0 defeat. If you were part of the Stockport Georgians’ team that afternoon, you’d surely mention that you beat a team containing one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history at every available opportunity. Despite the defeat, Royton manager Mark Howard had plenty of praise for Scholes.

Royton’s Manager Was Thrilled With Scholes

Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes

Despite losing the game 1-0, Howard was very happy with what he saw from Scholes and credited him for “raising the level of those around him by 10-15 per cent” – including that of his own son, Arron. The manager spoke to BBC Sport about the game afterwards and explained why the Englishman had offered to play:

“We had eight or nine of our senior players missing and Paul said he’d be happy to help out if we were ever short as his son Arron plays for us. It’s great for the league. Opponents don’t want to look stupid in front of him.”

The gaffer wasn’t the only one grateful for Scholes’ efforts and helping out in the game. Royton chairman Gary Leeming also praised the legendary midfielder following his cameo.

Scholes’ Appearance Boosted Attendance

Paul Scholes

Following Howard’s comments, Royton’s chairman also got in on the action and publicly praised Scholes. He credited the former United man for boosting the team’s attendance for the match and revealed that he’d occasionally been training with the side prior to playing for them anyway and had proven he was still very good despite his age.

“Usually, these sort of games attract 40 or 50 people but there were a lot more there when word got out that he was playing. I can’t imagine Stockport Georgians have ever had so many people on their car park.

“We were down to the bare bones. He’s 43 now but he’s still got that magic wand and he was absolutely fantastic for us. He obviously has a lot of media commitments but he occasionally trains with us when he can and is still a great player.”

Class truly is permanent. It’s not what Scholes is used to, having shone on the grandest stages such as the Premier League and the Champions League, but when you truly love the beautiful game, it doesn’t matter where you are – as long as you’ve got a ball.

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and accurate as of 10/11/2025.

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Three Teams In Talks With Bournemouth Over Alex Scott Transfer

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With a number of top midfielders already on the move this summer, the pool of options for those clubs in the market for reinforcements gets smaller.

Manchester City completed the signing of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest in a £116million, making the 23-year-old the most expensive British player in history.

Tottenham have brought in two midfielders, with Mateus Fernandes joining from West Ham United in an £85million deal and Sandro Tonali set to arrive for a fixed fee of £92.5million that could rise to £100million with add-ons.

Midfielders who could still complete transfers this summer

Ayyoub Bouaddi in action for Morocco at the 2026 World Cup Burt Granofsky/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA

Manchester United have agreed a deal with Atalanta to sign Ederson for £38million, but both they and City are still in the market for another midfielder, while the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool have also been linked with signing a central midfielder in the summer transfer window.

Carlos Baleba, Adam Wharton, Alex Scott, Aurelien Tchouameni, Manu Kone and Ayyoub Bouaddi are the other names in the frame for a summer move and three of the sides mentioned have already made inquiries over the availability of one of the players mentioned above.

GIVEMESPORT senior football correspondent Ben Jacobs revealed all in a video on TalkSport on Sunday.

He said: “City are still active in the market, they will assess another midfielder, even after the arrival of Elliot Anderson for £116million, they like Alex Scott and have made an initial approach to Bournemouth, as have Manchester United and Arsenal, these are three clubs to watch.

“Those three clubs I mentioned have all gone to Bournemouth. My information is as follows: Bournemouth want him to stay, since March there have been talks about Scott signing a new deal at Bournemouth and they are prepared to offer him a deal with a release clause for 2027.

Bournemouth make Scott transfer stance clear

Alex Scott
Alex Scott

“If he rejects, Bournemouth are comfortable, even though his value will depreciate, in just keeping him for another season on the existing terms, so they’re telling interested suitors he’s not for sale. Bournemouth value Scott at around £80million.

“Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal have all already made direct approaches to Bournemouth for Alex Scott to understand the situation and Bournemouth’s response has been that Alex Scott is not for sale.”

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Ida Wobker Instantly Disqualified From Wimbledon After Breaking Rule on Court

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Junior tennis prospect Ida Wobker was instantly disqualified from Wimbledon on Saturday due to an emotional outburst that led to her breaking tournament rules.

On paper, Wobker arrived at SW19 with high expectations. Ranked 24th in the ITF junior standings and fresh off capturing her biggest career title at the J500 in Cairo, the teenager represents the bright future of German tennis. The transition to Wimbledon’s grass, however, can be an isolating experience for a young tennis player who is still not used to playing on it.

Over the course of 91 torrid minutes, that pedigree vanished under a mountain of frustration. The statistics were staggering, highlighting a player fighting her own strings as much as her opponent. When the match was halted, Wobker had racked up an unbelievable 44 unforced errors.

Teenage Tennis Prospect Disqualified After Wimbledon Outburst

In the midst of her struggles, Wobker had a complete meltdown, launching her racket into the crowd and inadvertently striking a spectator. The umpire didn’t hesitate to bring the match to an instant conclusion, disqualifying Wobker and handing the win to her opponent, Romania’s Maria Valentina Pop.

Wobker was trapped in an exhausting sporting paradox throughout the match. She hit more winners than Pop (19 to 8), but her hyper-aggressive baseline game was bleeding points faster than she could recover them.


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Every statistical indicator pointed to a teenager entirely out of rhythm and struggling to find her footing. Wobker leaked 11 double faults, effectively handing Pop nearly three entire games without the Romanian needing to swing a racket.

The breaking point arrived cruel statistical finality. Serving at 30-0 in the eleventh game of the second set, Pop watched as Wobker sailed yet another routine return past the baseline. It was unforced error number 44. In a flash of pure, unbridled desperation from a young player watching her dream debut slip away, the German teenager slammed her racket, thus triggering an immediate default from the Grand Slam supervisor under the ITF’s unsportsmanlike conduct rules.

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Wimbledon tennis ball Andrew Couldridge via Reuters

Numbers usually tell the story of a tennis match, but during Saturday’s girls’ singles opener on court 11, they painted a picture of absolute, mounting agony. When 15-year-old German starlet Wobker was disqualified after her violently thrown racket ricocheted into the crowd, it put a dramatic end to a match that structurally and emotionally fell apart long before the default.

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While reports from The Athletic later confirmed that the racket made contact with a spectator but thankfully caused no injuries, the damage to Wobker’s Wimbledon debut was absolute. The scoreboard will forever record a standard default, but the true story of the meltdown lies in numbers; a premier young talent utterly shattered by 44 errors, 11 double faults, and the immense, suffocating pressure of the Grand Slam stage.

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Arsenal Target Igor Tyjon Rejects Triple Wage Contract Offer from Blackburn

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Arsenal are in the market for a new forward in the summer transfer window, and one of their targets has now rejected a new contract worth three times his current salary.

It’s been a slow start to the summer transfer window for the Gunners, who are yet to confirm an official signing so far.

It’s no surprise that Arsenal aren’t panicking in the market, as they have already built a squad capable of winning the Premier League and reaching the Champions League final.

There’s plenty of time remaining in the window for the Gunners to bring in new additions, and there’s no doubt they’ll still look to strengthen Mikel Arteta’s squad.


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According to journalist Alan Nixon, Arsenal target Igor Tyjon has rejected a lucrative new contract from Blackburn Rovers, who are offering him three times his current wage.

Rovers are desperate to keep the young forward, with manager Tony Mowbray making a personal appeal to him, but Arsenal are closely watching on.

Young forward Tyjon wants double what the Championship club are currently offering him, but Rovers are hopeful that he will remain at the club.

At the age of 18, Tyjon is unlikely to be a player who comes into the Arsenal senior squad if he does sign in the summer transfer window.

He has made just two Championship appearances during his career, playing a total of six minutes in England’s second tier.

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Arsenal Miss Out on Young Talent

Jeremy Monga

Arsenal were pushing to sign Leicester City winger Jeremy Monga in the summer transfer window, but they saw their move hijacked.

Premier League rivals Manchester City have now agreed a deal worth around £10m to sign the young winger after long talks with the Gunners.

Arsenal will be looking to ensure this doesn’t happen again when trying to sign young talents, so they’ll be hoping to get deals over the line quicker.

Arsenal have had a long-standing interest in Tyjon, labelled ‘eye-catching’, from Blackburn, and his rejection of a new contract could open the door for Arsenal to make a move.

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