Henry Winter

At Hampton School in west London, Josh King played fly-half. Other footballers have been partly shaped by rugby union. Will Grigg and Scott Parker were also talented rugby union players growing up, and took elements of the sport, like reading danger and opportunity, and dodging tackles, into their football.

King, 19, newly called into the England squad, outlined how rugby union (and other sports) helped him develop into such a force for Fulham. “Other sports and other talents can cross over into football. The fact that I was quite a sporty kid growing up, and a lot of sports were integrated in the Fulham youth set-up, that's definitely had a part to play.

"In terms of fly-half, your movement and your ability to manoeuvre the ball and foot-eye coordination is really impressive. As a fly-half, I used to do a lot of kicking and that’s had an impact. The love of all sports is a massive thing and that's definitely contributed to what I’ve done in football.”

King's blessed with great stamina, partly stemming from all the sports he played growing up. He’s in the top 8% of Premier League players for distance covered this season, averaging 11.5km a game. And now in the running for his first England cap. #FFC #ENG

Josh King speaks so well, humbly, eloquently and with plenty of insight. Only 19, doing his first big media conference with England just now. A credit to his family, Fulham and their academy and to Hampton School. 🙌

Dan Burn called into England squad following the withdrawal of Marc Guéhi through injury. #ENG

Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion is on the last weekend of the season. Just saying. #AFC #BHAFC

Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada need to show some accountability. They can’t keep leaving it to Michael Carrick to take the heat for the mess Manchester United are in. Wilcox and Berrada are responsible for much of the mess. Wilcox has been United's director of football since June 2025 (and was sporting director from December 2024). Berrada has been chief executive since July 2024. They owe it to United supporters to try to explain the mess, and why a club that generates so much money ended up with two 20-year-olds at centre-back, and why the squad is imbalanced.

Even if talking only via in-house media and dodging issues of ownership and coach succession, Wilcox and Berrada need to demonstrate some contrition and give mutinous fans some hope that they will get things right (even if many fans want them gone).

Small violin but it can’t be easy sitting there in games watching this mess, hearing the chants about them, having the cameras on them. But it’s even worse for fans paying to sit there, watching Wilcox and Berrada’s poor stewardship of their beloved club. So show some leadership and address the mess. #MUFC