Kraft Wants Aston Villa, Report Says
Robert Kraft, owner of the NFL champion New England Patriots as well as Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution, is considering the purchase of Aston Villa of the English Premier League, according to an English tabloid newspaper.
England’s News of the World Sunday reported that Kraft was studying the feasibility of a bid for the Birmingham-based club, which is valued at a little more than $40 million.
However, Brad Feldman, the Revolution’s director of communications, told Bloomberg News on Sunday evening that the Kraft family “is not planning to buy a stake in Aston Villa at this time.”
Villa’s largest shareholder is its chairman, Doug Ellis, who owns 37% of the 130-year-old, seven-time English champion.
Ellis recently insisted he was not interested in selling, despite several overtures last summer.
Kraft’s interest in Villa comes less than a week after another NFL owner, billionaire Malcolm Glazer of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said he might raise his 16% stake in defending champion Manchester United, causing speculation that he might try to buy the team outright.
Portsmouth Prevails
One English Premier League team already in American hands scored a memorable victory Sunday when Portsmouth knocked Liverpool out of the English Football Assn. Cup, winning a fifth-round replay, 1-0.
Portsmouth, owned by California businessman Milan Mandaric, thus earned a place in the quarterfinals against Cup holder and English league leader Arsenal on March 6.
Portsmouth, the former club of U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame member Ron Newman, has won the Cup only once in its history, in 1939.
Scottish midfielder Richard Hughes scored the winning goal 18 minutes from the end after Liverpool’s Michael Owen earlier had his poorly taken penalty kick saved by Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.
With Liverpool eliminated from the F.A. Cup and only sixth in the league, the pressure will mount on Coach Gerard Houllier, who said he expected to be “slaughtered” by fans and the media because of the loss.
Celtic Record
Celtic of Scotland set a British record Sunday by defeating Partick Thistle, 4-1, to win its 24th consecutive game.
Chris Sutton and Stanislav Varga each scored twice as the Scottish Premier League leader maintained its 13-point lead over the rival Rangers, the defending champion.
Morton had held the previous mark of 23 consecutive victories, set in 1963-64.
“I’m sure it will stand for a few years,” Celtic Coach Martin O’Neill said.
AC Milan Rolls On
European champion AC Milan again underlined its pedigree by coming from two goals down to defeat rival Inter Milan, 3-2, on Saturday to keep its place atop Italy’s Serie A.
Second-place AS Roma stayed only five points behind when Antonio Cassano scored a hat trick Sunday in a 6-0 rout of Siena.
Defending champion Juventus remained third despite a 1-0 victory over Bologna.
Quick Passes
Scotland Coach Berti Vogts apologized to fans for Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to Wales in Cardiff and also revealed that he has approached former Scottish international Gordon Strachan about taking over for him after the 2006 World Cup.... Flamengo won Brazil’s Guanabara Cup when goals by Fabiano Eller, Jean and Roger gave it a 3-2 victory over Fluminense at Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.... Mexico national team defender Rafael Marquez has been sidelined for two to three weeks because of a torn thigh muscle suffered during Barcelona’s Spanish league victory over Valencia.
-- Compiled by Grahame L. Jones
